Why did landlords and farmers in commercialized, monetized economies prefer in-kind payments over cash? In the urbanized core regions of late medieval Europe, urban households and institutions often managed extensive estates in the countryside. This phenomenon, primarily viewed as a capital investment – termed "La trahison de la Bourgeoisie" by Fernand Braudel in 1949 – has been predominantly analyzed in terms of monetary returns, impact on wealth inequality, and agrarian development. However, urban landownership also entailed the potential for direct food deliveries to city dwellers. This paper examines the differing roles of land for urban households in two key medieval Low Countries cities, Ghent and Antwerp, investigating the circumstances and agents behind the use of rents-in-kind as an alternative form of currency. We argue that rents-in-kind were not merely converted into cash as cities expanded. For instance, while Antwerp's population grew in the fifteenth century, so did the significance of cereals as currency in lease contracts. Given the volatile and unpredictable nature of grain markets, having a stable, market-independent access to cereals remained a potent symbol of social status and privilege.
Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0003-1040-5266
Universiteit Antwerpen, Belgium - ORCID: 0000-0002-0203-092X
Chapter Title
Alternative Food Supplies, Alternative Currencies? Food deliveries by tenant farmers in the late medieval Low Countries
Authors
Tim Soens, Cécile Bruyet
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0.28
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
Mezzi di scambio non monetari. Merci e servizi come monete alternative nelle economie dei secoli XIII-XVIII / Alternative currencies. Commodities and services as exchange currencies in the monetarized economies of the 13th to 18th centuries
Editors
Angela Orlandi
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
592
Publication Year
2024
Copyright Information
© 2024 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0347-0
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0346-3
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0347-0
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0348-7
Series Title
Datini Studies in Economic History
Series ISSN
2975-1241
Series E-ISSN
2975-1195