Peasant Communities
While intellectual figures played major roles in Early Modern intellectual movements, agrarian peasant communities remained the backbone of society. Their labor provided the food and textiles that fueled society, particularly through grain-based agriculture (Wiesner-Hanks, 220). Peasants ranged from relatively wealthy landowners to landless and migrant wage-workers (Wiesner-Hanks, 32). Wealth divided European society—peasants ranked close to last on this societal hierarchy so they were subject to the whims of nobility and members of the upper classes.
European scientific, philosophical, and political advancements had little effect on the lives of ordinary peasants. For the most part, the peasant population continued living modest lifestyles. Those who lived in more rural areas worked in agriculture, while those living in urban communities worked in industrial positions as wage-workers. In spite of the progress being made in education, most of the peasant population was still illiterate towards the middle of the 15th century, and most information was transmitted orally (Wiesner-Hanks, 43).
Most rural towns and villages elected local officials in the 15th century, developing systems of self-governance that coordinated farming and other local tasks, largely without the interference of a lord or nobleman (Wiesner-Hanks, 219). At the start of the 16th century, however, political and agricultural shifts placed new burdens on peasant families. The enclosure of previously communally-owned lands increased land prices and led the nobility to raise taxes. Rising inflation due to the Price Revolution compounded these changes, forcing many peasants to sell their lands. Eventually, political conflicts sparked periods of protest and rebellion from the peasant population.
Despite political shifts, agricultural yields remained relatively consistent over the next two centuries. About two-thirds of the working population was still working in agriculture at the turn of the 17th century (Wiesner-Hanks, 479). However, Dutch developments made agricultural processes like draining more efficient (Wiesner-Hanks, 481).
Written by Sylvia Dixon
England’s agriculture in the early 18th century was characterized by an open field system, in which land was communally owned but sections were maintained by individual farmers. In the mid 18th century, most of the commons were enclosed and came under individual ownership. Peasants found that this system limited their access to the land and contributed to deforestation. It gained popularity as more farmers struggled to make ends meet and resorted to renting land or abandoning farm ownership altogether. Large proportions of England’s rural population were forced to become wage-workers.
Written by Becca Madsen and revised by Sylvia Dixon
Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg’s “Spinning, Warping, and Weaving” depicts a domestic workshop in the city of Leiden, where women were tasked with preparing wool, winding it into thread, and weaving fabric. The cloth production industry played a key role in shaping gender norms in the 17th century. Entrepreneurs and officials sought to develop spinning as a “domestic industry” for female laborers (Wiesner-Hanks, 499). Though spinning was one of the few paid positions available for women, men could expect to earn four times more than female spinners (Wiesner-Hanks, 499).
Written by Peter Marshall and revised by Sylvia Dixon
Southern German peasants published these Twelve Articles during the German Peasants’ War (1524-26) as religious justification for their rebellion. They demanded freedom from serfdom, power to appoint and remove pastors, changes to land ownership laws, decrease of peasant labor burden, fair rent prices, fair punishment and treatment from lords, and abolishment of the death tax (Baylor, 77-82). Many historians point to this document as the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. Imperial mercenaries eventually suppressed the fighting (Wiesner-Hanks, 189).
Written and revised by Sylvia Dixon