There’s an old proverb about England, current in the sixteenth century, that it was a hell for horses, a paradise for women, and a purgatory or prison for servants.
Great article. Do you think this may explain that other European regions, in that period, showed a better behaviour in demographic and economic growth, or it is not the case?
Yes, I think the more frequent adjustment of the currency elsewhere meant they saw much faster demographic (and this economic) recovery from the plague.
Thanx very much for this, which I found most informative, tho also rather depressing.
Were many people engaged as sailors, and were many engaged as soldiers? I suppose they had press gangs to enforce their own forms of exploitation. But fighting wars in France does not seem calculated to improve the labour supply in England.
Great article. Do you think this may explain that other European regions, in that period, showed a better behaviour in demographic and economic growth, or it is not the case?
Yes, I think the more frequent adjustment of the currency elsewhere meant they saw much faster demographic (and this economic) recovery from the plague.
Thanx very much for this, which I found most informative, tho also rather depressing.
Were many people engaged as sailors, and were many engaged as soldiers? I suppose they had press gangs to enforce their own forms of exploitation. But fighting wars in France does not seem calculated to improve the labour supply in England.