Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T18:56:45.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Smallholders, Spinners, Weavers and the ‘scarcity of markets’ in the Flemish Countryside, c. 1780–1850: Motivations behind the Multiplication of Periodic Markets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2014

WOUTER RONSIJN
WOUTER RONSIJN*
Affiliation:
Ghent University, Department of History, EED Research Group, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, B-9000 Ghent, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Between the last decades of the eighteenth century and the middle of the nineteenth century, a large number of new markets were established in the Flemish countryside. The multiplication of rural markets tends to be seen as part of the process of market integration, with rural producers responding to the opportunities provided by increasing external demand, such as that from the growing towns. However, an analysis of the motivation behind new establishments, based on the files treating the requests for new markets, reveals that markets were more often established for entirely different reasons. In this period, markets were expected to permit households to intensify their activities in order to overcome increasing economic difficulties. Developments within rural society, particularly rising population pressure, the need to produce and sell more, and deteriorating informal exchange networks among countrymen, coupled to a decline in demand for rural industrial products, were the main drives behind the multiplication of markets. This contribution shows it is important to pay attention to how new markets and market integration in general fitted within the goals and strategies of the country dwellers themselves.

Type
Research Article
Information
Rural History , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , April 2014 , pp. 39 - 60
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baert, G. 1986. ‘Een marktoktrooi voor Meulebeke (1784)’, De Leiegouw, 28, 171–81.Google Scholar
Bateman, V. 2011. ‘The Evolution of Markets in Early Modern Europe, 1350–1800: A Study of Wheat Prices’, Economic History Review, 64, 447–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Capper, B. P. 1801. A Statistical Account of the Population and Cultivation, Produce and Consumption of England and Wales (London).Google Scholar
Chartres, J. A. ed. 1990a. Agricultural Markets and Trade, 1500–1750 (Cambridge).Google Scholar
Chartres, J. A. 1990b. ‘The Marketing of Agricultural Produce, 1640–1750’, in Chartres, J. ed. Agricultural Markets and Trade, 1500–1750 (Cambridge), pp. 157–274.Google Scholar
Chartres, J. A. 1996. ‘Foires et marchés en Angleterre de 1500 à 1850’, in Desplat, C. ed. Foires et marchés dans les Campagnes de l'Europe médiévale et moderne (Toulouse), pp. 153–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dejongh, G. 1999. Tussen immobiliteit en revolutie. De economische ontwikkeling van de Belgische landbouw in een periode van transitie (1750–1850) (onuitgegeven doctoraatsverhandeling, Universiteit Leuven) (Leuven).Google Scholar
Dejongh, G., et al. 2000. ‘In de greep van de markt. De integratie van de regionale landbouwmarkten in België, 1700–1850’, Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis, 30, 5–47.Google Scholar
Dupâquier, J. and Goy, J. 1988. ‘Révolution et population’, in Dupâquier, J. ed. Histoire de la population française: 3 - De 1789 à 1914 (Paris), pp. 63–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Everitt, A. 1990. ‘The Marketing of Agricultural Produce, 1500–1640’, in Chartres, J. ed. Agricultural Markets and Trade, 1500–1750 (Cambridge), pp. 15–156.Google Scholar
Haagen, W. 1983. ‘‘Uitbuiting-door-handel’ als verklaringsfactor voor de vertraagde industrialisering van de linnennijverheid in Vlaanderen’, Handelingen der Maatschappij voor Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde te Gent, 37, 215–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacks, D. S. 2005. ‘Intra- and International Commodity Market Integration in the Atlantic Economy, 1800–1913’, Explorations in Economic History, 42, 381–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacquemyns, G. 1929. Histoire de la crise économique des Flandres (1845–1850) (Brussels).Google Scholar
Jaspers, L. and Stevens, C. 1985. ‘Arbeid en tewerkstelling in Oost-Vlaanderen op het einde van het Ancien regime. Een socio-professionele en demografische analyse’, Kultureel jaarboek voor de provincie Oost-Vlaanderen. Bijdragen, 23, 179.Google Scholar
Lambrecht, T. 2002. Een grote hoeve in een klein dorp: relaties van arbeid en pacht op het Vlaamse platteland tijdens de 18de eeuw (Ghent).Google Scholar
Lambrecht, T. 2003. ‘Reciprocal Exchange, Credit and Cash: Agricultural Labour Markets and Local Economies in the Southern Low Countries during the Eighteenth Century’, Continuity and Change, 18, 237–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambrecht, T. 2009. ‘Peasant Labour Strategies and the Logic of Family Labour in the Southern Low Countries during the 18th Century’, in Cavaciocchi, S. ed. The Economic Role of the Family in the European Economy from the 13th to the 18th Centuries (Florence), pp. 637–49.Google Scholar
Margairaz, D. 1986. ‘La formation du réseau des foires et des marchés: stratégies, pratiques et idéologies’, Annales. Économies, Sociétés, Civilisations, 41, 1215–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Margairaz, D. 1988. Foires et marchés dans la France préindustrielle (Paris).Google Scholar
Margairaz, D. 2001. ‘Résaux de marchés et dispersion des prix’, in Cavaciocchi, S. ed. Fiere e mercati nella integrazione delle economie europee, secc. 13–18 (Florence), pp. 205–219.Google Scholar
Martyn, G. 2002. ‘Een publiekrechterlijk dispuut tussen stad en platteland naar aanleiding van laat-achttiende-eeuwse Zuid-West-Vlaamse marktprivileges’, De Leiegouw, 44, 91–103.Google Scholar
Mendels, F. F. 1972. ‘Proto-Industrialization: The First Phase of the Industrialization Process’, The Journal of Economic History, 32, 241–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendels, F. F. 1975. ‘Agriculture and Peasant Industry in Eighteenth-Century Flanders’, in Parker, W. N. and Jones, E. L. eds. European Peasants and their Markets. Essays in Agrarian Economic History (Princeton), pp. 179–204.Google Scholar
Michielsen, A. [1938]. De evolutie van de handelsorganisatie in België sedert het begin der 18de eeuw (Turnhout).Google Scholar
O'Flanagan, P. 1983. ‘Settlement Development and Trading in Ireland, 1600–1800: A Preliminary Investigation’, in Devine, T. M. and Dickson, D. eds. Ireland and Scotland 1600–1850 (Edinburgh), pp. 146–50.Google Scholar
O'Flanagan, P. 1985. ‘Markets and Fairs in Ireland, 1600–1800: Index of Economic Development and Regional Growth’, Journal of Historical Geography, 11, 364–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ronsijn, W. 2009. ‘De oprichting van een wekelijkse markt in Opbrakel, begin negentiende eeuw’, Triverius, 39, 34–46.Google Scholar
Ronsijn, W. (2012). ‘The Establishment of New Market-Places in East-Flanders, 1750–1900’, EED Working Paper, Ghent University.Google Scholar
Sabbe, É. 1975. De Belgische Vlasnijverheid. Deel 2: Van het verdrag van Utrecht (1713) tot het midden van de XIXe eeuw (Kortrijk).Google Scholar
Thoen, E. 2001. ‘A ‘Commercial Survival Economy’ in Evolution: The Flemish Countryside and the Transition to Capitalism (Middle Ages-19th century)’, in Hoppenbrouwers, P. and van Zanden, J. L. eds. Peasants into Farmers? The Transformation of Rural Economy and Society in the Low Countries (Middle Ages-19th Century) in Light of the Brenner Debate (Turnhout), pp. 102–57.Google Scholar
Thoen, E. 2002. ‘Transitie en economische ontwikkeling in de Nederlanden met nadruk op de agrarische maatschappij’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis, 28, 147–74.Google Scholar
Thoen, E. 2004. ‘Social Agro-Systems as an Economic Concept to Explain Regional Differences: An Essay taking the Former County of Flanders as an Example (Middle Ages - 19th Century)’, in van Bavel, B. J. P. and Hoppenbrouwers, P. eds. Landholding and Land Transfer in the North Sea Area (Late Middle Ages - 19th Century) (Turnhout), pp. 47–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thoen, E. and Vanhaute, E. 1999. ‘The ‘Flemish Husbandry’ at the Edge: The Farming System on Small Holdings in the Middle of the 19th Century’, in Thoen, E. and van Bavel, B. J. P. eds. Land Productivity and Agro-Systems in the North Sea Area. Middle Ages-20th century. Elements for Comparison (Turnhout), pp. 271–96.Google Scholar
Unger, R. W. 1983. ‘Integration of Baltic and Low Countries Grain Markets, 1400–1800’, in Van Winter, J.M. ed. The Interactions of Amsterdam and Antwerp with the Baltic Region, 1400–1800 (Leiden), pp. 1–10.Google Scholar
Van Aelbroeck, J. L. 1823. Werkdadige landbouw-konst der Vlamingen, verhandeld in zes samenspraken tusschen eenen grond-eigenaar in zijnen pachter (Ghent).Google Scholar
Vandenbroeke, C. 1979. ‘Sociale en konjuncturele facetten van de linnennijverheid in Vlaanderen (late 14de-midden 19de eeuw)’, Handelingen der Maatschappij voor Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde te Gent, 33, 117–74.Google Scholar
Vandenbroeke, C. 1982. ‘Krachtlijnen van de sociale- en economische mutaties in Vlaanderen tijdens de proto-industriële fase, 1650–1850’, Economisch- en Sociaal-Historisch Jaarboek, 44, 136–44.Google Scholar
Vandenbroeke, C. 1985. ‘De proto-industriële en de industriële ontwikkeling van België in het kader van de internationale historiografie’, Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Filologie en Geschiedenis, 63, 310–23.Google Scholar
Vandenbroeke, C. 1996. ‘Proto-industry in Flanders: A Critical Review’, in Ogilvie, S. C. and Cerman, M. eds. European Proto-Industrialization (Cambridge), pp. 102–17.Google Scholar
Vanhaute, E. 1994. ‘‘De meest moordende van alle industrieën’. De huisnijverheid in België omstreeks 1900’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Geschiedenis, 20, 461–83.Google Scholar
Vanhaute, E. 2001. ‘Rich Agriculture and Poor Farmers: Land, Landlords and Farmers in Flanders in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries’, Rural History, 12, 19–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vanhaute, E. 2004. ‘Ricardo in Flanders: Landlords and Tenants in Flemish Agriculture in 18th and 19th Centuries’, in van Bavel, B. J. P. and Hoppenbrouwers, P. eds. Landholding and Land Transfer in the North Sea Area (Late Middle Ages-19th Century) (Turnhout), pp. 67–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanhaute, E. 2007. ‘‘So worthy an example to Ireland’: The Subsistence and Industrial Crisis of 1845–1850 in Flanders’, in Ó Gráda, C., Paping, R. F. J. and Vanhaute, E. eds. When the Potato Failed: Causes and Effects of the ‘Last’ European Subsistence Crisis, 1845–1850 (Turnhout), pp. 123–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanhaute, E. and Lambrecht, T. 2011. ‘Famine, Exchange Networks and the Village Community: A Comparative Analysis of the Subsistence Crises of the 1740s and the 1840s in Flanders’, Continuity and Change, 26, 155–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vanneste, D. A. G. 1997. ‘Rural Economy and Indigence in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Belgium’, Journal of Historical Geography, 23, 3–15.Google Scholar
Verhaegen, B. 1961. Contribution à l'histoire économique des Flandres (Louvain-Paris).Google Scholar
Vermoesen, R. 2008. ‘Gescheiden door wallen? Commerciële circuits in de stad en op het platteland, 1650–1800’, Stadsgeschiedenis, 3, 105–121.Google Scholar
Vermoesen, R. 2010. ‘Paardenboeren in Vlaanderen. Middelaars en commercialisering van de vroegmoderne rurale economie in de regio Aalst 1650–1800’, Tijdschrift voor Sociale en Economische Geschiedenis, 7, 3–37.Google Scholar
Vermoesen, R. 2011. Markttoegang en ‘commerciële’ netwerken van rurale huishoudens. De regio Aalst, 1650–1800 (Ghent).Google Scholar
Wante, L. 1978. ‘De markt en het ontstaan van het Waregemse verzorgingsgebied’, De Gaverstreke, 6, 7–11.Google Scholar
Wante, L. and Vandermaelen, L. 1979. ‘De markt en het ontstaan van het Waregemse verzorgingsgebied’, De Gaverstreke, 7, 15–21.Google Scholar
Wante, L. and Vandermaelen, L. 1984. ‘De zaterdagmarkt te Waregem’, De Gaverstreke, 12, 243–67.Google Scholar
Willcox, M. 1996. ‘Inrichting van een wekelijkse markt te Opwijk in 1838’, HOM-tijdschrift, 9–14.Google Scholar
Wrigley, E. A. 2007. ‘English County Populations in the Later Eighteenth Century’, Economic History Review, 60, 35–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar