Description
Book SynopsisThis book follows the renovation of European economic history towards a more unified interpretation of sources of growth and stagnation. It looks at Portuguese agricultural development across the second Millennium, showing a sector that was often adaptive and dynamic. Portugal’s economic backwardness was not overcome at the end of the period, but that is now only part of the story.
Trade Review"A pioneering collaborative effort, based largely on a rich but 'hidden' literature in Portuguese. It opens the distinctive and fascinating history of Portuguese agriculture over a millennium to the outside world." – Cormac O’ Grada, University College Dublin "This book is a very significant contribution to the economic history of Europe.Since the formation of Portugal to the present, it offers a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of Portuguese agriculture by the best specialists in the subject." – Vicente Pinilla, University of Zaragoza
Table of ContentsList of Maps, Tables and Graphs Notes on the Contributors Introduction Dulce Freire and Pedro Lains Part I – State formation and Malthusian growth Chapter 1 – The Reconquista and its legacy, 1000-1348 António Henriques Introduction The Reconquista Institutional developments Cities, markets and agrotowns Production and productivity Conclusion Chapter 2 – The Black Death and recovery, 1348-1500 Ana Maria S. A. Rodrigues Introduction Plague, war and demographic decline The reversal of fortunes Commercialization The impact of the overseas expansion Conclusion Part II – New frontiers, crisis and growth Chapter 3 – Coping with Europe and the Empire, 1500-1620 Susana Münch Miranda Introduction Population pressure and urban expansion Institutional framework and output cycles The landscape and the production structure The marketplace Conclusion Chapter 4 – Conflict and decline, 1620-1703 Margarida Sobral Neto Introduction Domestic settlements and emigration Colonial trade Subsistence farming and the market Output cycles Conclusion Chapter 5 – Extensive growth and market expansion, 1703-1820 José Vicente Serrão Introduction The rural landscape The macroeconomic context Grain issues Property rights Conclusion Chapter 6 – Gross agricultural output: a quantitative, unified perspective, 1500-1850 Jaime Reis Introduction Method and data Trend, cycles and short term fluctuations Are the results consistent? Conclusion Part III – Growth, structural change and economic policy Chapter 7 – Growth and structural change, 1820-1929 Amélia Branco and Ester G. Silva Introduction Land, output and productivity Institutional change Agrarian innovation Conclusion Chapter 8 – Economic policy, growth and the demise, 1929-2000 Luciano Amaral and Dulce Freire Introduction Quantitative evolution Protectionism State and corporatist organizations The Common Agricultural Policy Conclusion Part IV – Lessons from the second Millennium Chapter 9 – Agriculture and economic development on the European frontier, 1000-2000 Pedro Lains Introduction Lessons from the European frontier Convergence and divergence in European agriculture Conclusion Appendix – Maps and data for climate, relief, administrative divisions, urbanization, agricultural output and infrastructures in Portugal, 1000-2000 Index
