Money, Land and Marriage
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| money economy/ˈmʌni ɪˈkɒnəmi/ | An economic system in which money is widely used to exchange goods and services. |
| serfdom/ˈsɜːfdəm/ | A condition in which peasants are legally tied to an estate and owe labour or other obligations to its lord. |
| Little Ice Age/ˈlɪtl aɪs eɪdʒ/ | A period of relatively cool conditions in parts of the world from the late medieval era into the nineteenth century. |
Banking and a money economy 货币经济
- Innovations in banking and finance promoted the growth of urban financial centres and a money economy.
- A money economy is one in which obligations are settled in coin or credit rather than in labour or produce.
- So the same century that produced the Renaissance produced the instruments that paid for it.
A money economy is one in which obligations are settled in...
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Banking and finance innovations promoted its growth.
But most people still farmed
- Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the seasons, the village or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and power.
- The CED writes the continuity first and the change second — the same shape as 1.1's notwithstanding.
- Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status continued.
Commercial agriculture freed peasants in the west and bound them in the east
As western Europe moved toward a free peasantry, in the east...
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One commercial pressure, two opposite legal outcomes.
East and west went opposite ways
- As western Europe moved toward a free peasantry and commercial agriculture, serfdom 农奴制 was codified in the east, where nobles continued to dominate economic life on large estates.
- One commercial pressure, two opposite legal outcomes — which makes this the unit's best controlled comparison.
- The same demand for grain that freed labour in one place bound it in another.
Change, continuity, or a response to pressure?
Sort each development in European society 1450-1648.
Landlords restricting or abolishing traditional peasant rights led to ____.
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The countryside and the town were under pressure from the same change.
One commercial pressure produced opposite legal outcomes east and west. Western Europe moved toward a free peasantry; in the east serfdom was codified. Treating rising grain demand as a single force with a single effect misses the unit's sharpest comparison.
Select both effects the CED gives the European marriage pattern.
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The Little Ice Age is one of the challenges it responded to.
Pressure produced revolt
- The attempts of landlords to increase their revenues by restricting or abolishing the traditional rights of peasants led to revolt.
- Migrants to the cities challenged the ability of merchant elites and craft guilds to govern, and strained resources.
- So both the countryside and the town were under pressure from the same commercial change.
The CED writes the economic change before the agricultural continuity.
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False. The CED puts the agricultural continuity first and the economic change second, the same shape as 1.1's notwithstanding.
The European marriage pattern
- From the late 16th century on, Europeans responded to economic and environmental challenges, such as the Little Ice Age 小冰期, by delaying marriage and childbearing.
- This European marriage pattern restrained population growth and ultimately improved the economic condition of families.
- It is a rare case of a demographic decision taken widely and privately, with a measurable economic result.
Grain prices rise across Europe. In one region landlords respond by hiring wage labour and renting land; in another they respond by tying peasants to the soil so the labour cannot leave. The market signal is identical, and the institutions it met were not.
Banking and finance innovations promoted urban financial centres and a money economy, but most Europeans still derived their livelihood from agriculture and traditions of hierarchy and status continued. Western Europe moved toward a free peasantry while serfdom was codified in the east. Landlords restricting peasant rights led to revolt, migrants strained cities, and the European marriage pattern restrained population growth and improved families' economic condition.