The European Crisis of the 1590s: Essays in Comparative History

by Peter Clark (Editor)

Overview

First published in 1985, The European Crisis of the 1590s (now with a new preface by Peter Clark on the current literature on crisis and catastrophe) investigates in depth for the first time the origin and scale of the critical problems of the 1590s and their impact on European society. Among the contributors are many leading scholars working on European history during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The book is divided into two parts. The first analyses the particular mesh of difficulties in different areas of Europe, covering all the major countries—England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy. The second part discusses more general issues such as the impact of war and the role of the state. From a systematic, comparative examination of one period of acute difficulty and upheaval we gain valuable insights into the general nature of the economic and social crises which recurred in the early modern era. Important and vivid light is also shed on the long-term social, economic, and institutional changes affecting European countries c.1550-c.1650. General findings are emphasised in the editorial introduction and in the wide-ranging conclusion by J.H. Eliott which offers a powerful evaluation of the historical significance of the 1590s.

This volume will be essential reading for academics, students and others interested in the economic, social, and political history of Britain and continental Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It will also be valuable for all those working in the new field of crisis and catastrophe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781003863663
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	05/01/2025
Series:	Routledge Revivals
Pages:	342
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Peter Clark is Emeritus Professor of European Urban History at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has published extensively on European and global urban history

Table of Contents

Part One  1. Introduction  2. Dearth, the English Crown and the ‘Crisis of the 1590s’  3. A Crisis Contained? The Condition of English Towns in the 1590s  4. Dearth, Famine and Social Policy in the Dutch Republic at the End of the Sixteenth Century  5. Civil War and Natural Disaster in Northern France  6. The Later Wars of Religion in the French Midi  7. The European Crisis of the 1590s: the Situation in German Towns  8. Northern Italy in the 1590s  9. Southern Italy in the 1590s: Hard Times or Crisis?  10. Village-Building in Sicily: an Aristocratic Remedy for the Crisis of the 1590s  11. Spain: a Failed Transition  Part Two  12. Demographic Crisis and Europe in the 1590s  13. Popular Disorder  14. The Impact of War  15. The Roles of the State and the Town in the General Crisis of the 1590s  16. Yet Another Crisis?

Editorial Reviews

Reviews of the first publication:

‘… a highly successful volume of comparative history…’

— Kristen B. Neuschel, The Journal of Modern History

‘Peter Clark has assembled a first-rate collection of essays which no student of early-modern Europe can afford to ignore. They are likely to stimulate much fruitful debate and investigation for years to come.’  

— Roger B. Manning, The Sixteenth Century Journal

From the Publisher