The crisis of the 14th century

The Crisis of the 14th Century

• Crisis factors:
  1.) saturation (overpopulation); 2.) the plague; 3.) uprisings; 4.) the "Little Ice Age".
• Around 1300, Europe became saturated: with the existing technology, the growing population could no longer be fed. Productivity had already increased fivefold, and further growth was no longer possible. Even marginal lands were cultivated, and one third of the population was no longer engaged in agriculture.
• A structural constraint emerged: grain production in a given area was closely linked to large-scale livestock farming and the feeding of the population; 5–6 times more land would have been needed to ensure adequate nutrition.
• Grain was the main staple food; in its absence, biological deterioration became noticeable. Weather-related difficulties led to famines and epidemics.
• Large areas of land received too little manure, which reduced yields.
• Increasing the amount of labor did not help either: lands were abandoned and labor shortages developed.
• In the 14th century, the agrarian price scissors opened: falling grain prices were unfavorable for those living from agriculture.
• Large estates broke up, and landlords concluded new agreements with serfs: they abolished labor services (corvée) and demanded cash rents instead, while the personal freedom of peasants increased.
• This was the first crisis of feudalism, caused by the stagnation of agricultural technology.
• The crisis spread to urban handicrafts as well, restraining the guilds.
• The famine of 1315 was severe and, for the first time in Western Europe, created a pauperized social stratum.
• Until then, society had been able to integrate such groups.
• This was followed by the outbreak of the plague.