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This book presents ten case-studies by eminent scholars dealing with food supply, storage and markets from c. 1600 to c. 2000. Together they present a long-term history of the tools for regulating the rhythms and the seasonal patterns of the agricultural production. How were the vast flows of staple food needed for metropolitan areas organised? What practical difficulties had to be overcome to preserve this food safely? Did people respond to price patterns in search for profit? Were governments successful in imposing regulation? In dealing with these issues, the contributing authors adopt different approaches and investigate cases from England, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Mexico. The focus on the stocks and flows of grains and other foodstuffs raises new questions combining economic, social, political, and environmental issues in the study of agricultural markets and food policies.

With special emphasis on the period following the Black Death, this new collection of essays explores agriculture and rural society during the late Middle Ages. Combining a broad perspective on agrarian problems--such as depopulation and social conflict--with illustrative material from detailed local and regional research, this compilation demonstrates how these general problems were solved within specific contexts. The contributors supply detailed studies relating to the use of the land, the movement of prices, the distribution of property, the organization of trade, and the cohesion of village society, among other issues. New research on regional development in medieval England and other European countries is also discussed.