Evolution of wheat prices in Early Modern Spain

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:46 +0000

During the Modern Age, the availability of food was, to a large extent, a determining factor in the standard of living of the population. One of the great economic efforts for most families was the acquisition of the food necessary for survival, with cereals, especially wheat, and bread, accounting for between 65 and 70% of current expenditure. Because of its importance, the demand for wheat tended to be inelastic. Consequently, changes in its price marked the rise and fall of living standards. At the regional level, the behaviour of the price of wheat showed divergences depending on whether one lived in the centre or on the coast of the peninsula. While the price fluctuation was greater in the Meseta, the coastal areas, with their international trade routes, showed less variation. Thus, throughout the modern period, Barcelona and Valencia had lower prices than in Castilla la Nueva, Segovia or León. Periods of crisis were also important. In Castilla la Nueva, price volatility conditioned the market every 9.8 years; in Andalusia every 10.6 years; in Segovia every 14.1 years; in Navarre every 36.8 years; in Valencia every 38.4 years and in Barcelona every 69 years. Climatic disturbances also affected markets with less international trade capacity. However, from the beginning of the 16th century until the end of the 18th century, the common price tended to fall in parallel with the process of integration of the peninsular markets, a process which, although timid during the first two centuries of modernity, increased with the actions of the Enlightenment reformers.

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Evolution of the population of Castile between 1591 and 1787

ad_hlab_min — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 16:28:40 +0000

For the elaboration of this resource the author uses secondary sources that compile the population of the Crown of Castile between 1591 and 1787. The historical sources used were the Censo de Millones (1591), Censo de la Sal (1631), Vecindario de 1683, Catastro del Marqués de la Ensenada (1752) and the Censo de Floridablanca (1787). In general terms, the population increased in these two centuries, from 5,302,000 to 7,298,000 inhabitants, with periods of demographic decline explained by the crises of the 17th century. Between 1591 and 1683 the growth rate was negative, -0.27, although the decline was not generalised; Galicia and the Cantabrian coast increased their population in this period. The great leap was between 1683 and 1752 with a growth rate of 0.47, a positive differential of 1,822,000 inhabitants. In the first half of the 18th century, the territories of Andalusia, Extremadura and both Castiles recovered, with growth slowing down in the second half of the century, and even falling between 1760 and 1770 in Castile la Nueva.

The post Evolution of the population of Castile between 1591 and 1787 first appeared on History Lab.

Castilla la Nueva - History Lab

Evolution of wheat prices in Early Modern Spain

Evolution of the population of Castile between 1591 and 1787