Hi, I have been reading Fernand Braudel's The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II and I have found it incredibly interesting. Now, I would like to learn more about structural (long dure) topics related to agriculture and peasant life. Some of the key ideas that I would like to know more about are:
- Cycles of farming: seeding, collecting, selling, in general the main routines in the life of peasants throughout the year. Also interested in animal breeding.
- Overview of the main food sources across countries/regions. For example the cereals (wheat, oats, barley), fats (oil, butter), milk products (cheese, milk, yogurt), salt, wine, etc.
- Implication of the previous in larger scale events like famines, man power limits, city development, etc.
The period that I am targeting is Medieval and Modern (but it could include more).
And the region which I would be interested in are Europe and/or the Mediterranean.
Do you happen to know any good book that could be useful? I guess that it is very unlikely that there will be a single solid book that happens to cover this but any suggestion is highly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!
PS: Re-posted since I did not get any reply when I asked 2 months ago.
There’s a really good first chapter which covers at least some of this in William Chester Jordan’s Europe in the High Middle Ages, “Christendom in the Year 1000”. He lays out the framing material facts for the rest of the narrative, aka peasant life: they increased in population, fought for freedom, adopted new technology & farming techniques, and became more dependent on artisanal production. Definitely check that out and see if it is at least a good start.
The next couple of chapters went into a little more detail in the specific regions and their crops, but they are more focused on state-building if I recall.