The Great Famine of 1315-7 is one of the key moments in the social and economic history of Northern Europe during the late Middle Ages. The adverse weather conditions of 1315-6 combined with high demographic pressures resulted in extreme poverty, famine and ultimately crisis mortality. In this paper we focus on the impact of these events in the Low Countries and the county of Flanders in particular. The aim of our paper is twofold. In the first part, we present new data about the effects of the adverse weather conditions of 1315 on agricultural output and food prices. Our data indicate that Flanders was particularly vulnerable to food shortages and famine due to its reliance on grain import from neighbouring regions. The second part focuses on the socially differentiated impact of the famine. Whereas large farms were able to secure enormous profits due to high food prices, smallholders were forced to sell their holdings to survive.
Ghent University, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0001-7094-0231
Ghent University, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0001-5587-5128
Chapter Title
Social Inequalities and the Great Famine in the County of Flanders (1315-7)
Authors
Mathijs Speecke, Thijs Lambrecht
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0705-8.12
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Socio-Economic Inequalities during the Conjuncture of the Fourteenth Century
Book Subtitle
Sources and Methods, Dynamics and Representations (Italy and Europe, c. 1270 - c. 1350)
Editors
Davide Cristoferi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
458
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0705-8
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0699-0
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0705-8
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0707-2
Series Title
Reti Medievali E-Book
Series ISSN
2704-6362
Series E-ISSN
2704-6079