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The economy and society of the Ancien Régime, image, image, image, image,…
The economy and society of the Ancien Régime
ECONOMY
characteristics
traditional agriculture with very low productivity
Agriculture was not commercial
people farmed to meet their own needs and used outdated techniques and tools
guilds
These were associations of craftsmen in the same trade
They regulated aspects such as working hours, prices, wages and tools
trade
domestic trade grew very little due to
poor quality of the roads
internal customs duties
foreign trade was expanding due to
the establishment of new sea routes to Asian markets
the discovery of America
mercantilism
Europe's absolute monarchs imposed a new economic system
it was based on the idea that a country's wealth depended on how much gold and silver it possessed.
protectionist policies
Monarchs implemented this to accumulate more precius metals
It consists in
Limited exports
encouraged exports by maiking foreign products very expensive
This way they keep gold and silver in the country
economic crisis
In Spain and in most parts of Europe
why
American markets had stopped due to agriculture in these colonies becoming more self-sufficient
Spanish craftsmen could not compete with products made in other countries because the monarch did not protect them
Prices in general increased because from the 16th century onwards so much gold and silver was brought to Europe from America
As a result of this problems
many farmlands were abandoned and craft production fell
Royal finances were also in crisis because spending was much higher than income
SOCIETY
The estates of the realm
First and Second Estates
clergy and nobility
maintained their traditional privileges
didn't pay taxes
collected tithes from the peasants
through the income they received from their lands
the lower clergy and nobility were very poor
Third Estate
ordinary people
did not have any privileges
groups
petite bourgeoisie
small merchants and craftsmen
declined because they could not compete with new forms of production
peasantry and day labourers suffered
rising prices
higher taxes which they had to pay to the crown, nobility and clergy
poor harvests
bourgeoisie
merchants and business owners
became richer and more powerful as the European economy developed
In Spain
characteristics
a sense of honour
the idea that work was dishonourable
Priviliged groups
The number of people entering the clergy increase, this was a way to survive during the 17th-century economic crisis
the nobles did not usually invest in productive or profit-making activities
unpriviliged groups
The commercial bourgeoisie was small and insignificant
The petite bourgeoisie and the peasantry became poorer
This poverty caused some people to become
beggars
thieves
bandits
