Stream@ESHD in Pecs

Article:

Devos, Isabelle. Geographies of population, health and wealth in early modern Flanders. Results from the Stream project. Third conference European Society of Historical Demography Conference, 1-25. Pecs, 2019.

Abstract:

“This paper examines the geography of demographic and socio-economic performance in early modern Brabant and Flanders in a comparative perspective. Drawing on a wide range of original and locally diversified demographic, social and economic data made available via the STREAM database together with a tailored historical Geographical Information System (based on the Map of Ferraris (1778)), we investigate spatial (in)equalities and evaluate the relative importance of local variation versus regional clustering. By delivering a panoramic vista of local and regional developments within early modern Flanders, we are able to move beyond the well-known urban-rural dichotomies, and examine spatial patterns in population and their interrelationship with socio-economic conditions such as occupational structure and poor relief. As such, this paper links up with current international discussions on the origins of modern economic and population growth and with recent historiographical trends that strongly advocate a regional approach.”