The Social and Economic Crisis in France at the End of theAncien Régime

Environmental shocks, religious struggle, and resilience: a contribution to the economic history of Ancien Régime France

“…93 per cent of the clergy, was in charge of the daily religious celebrations as well as the registration of births, deaths and marriages. These churchmen were living on wages from £300 to 1,500 a year (Jessenne, 2012). Although being above the poverty level, such salary and their social background tended to strongly link them to the lower strata of the population.…”

“…The population growth was, however, neither steady nor equally distributed across the French généralités. For instance, over the 18th century, population rose by 80 per cent in Lorraine, but only by 20 percent in Limousin (Jessenne, 2012). It doubled in Alsace, but increased by 15 per cent in Brittany and Normandy (Garnot, 1988).…”

“…About 40 per cent of the children reached the age of five, and in average marriages lasted for 11.4 years before the decease of a spouse, to be compared with the national average of 24 years (Minvielle, 2010). In the 1780s, more than 40 per cent of the population was under 20, and the life expectancy at birth was as low as 27.5 years for men and 28.1 years for women (Jessenne, 2012). 56 These figures have to be read with care, given that the extremely high infant mortality pulled the averages down.…”

“…For instance, Favier (1992) notes that the timing of the decline of the woollen industry in Dauphiné was concomitant with the emergence of silk-weaving and stocking production. In Alsace and Normandy, the woollen industry was not very dynamic, but growth in cotton and printed reached four per cent a year (Jessenne, 2012). 101 Overall, Markovitch has estimated that the value of industrial production increased by a factor of 4.5 between the first decade of the 18th century and the decade preceding the French Revolution (Lemarchand, 2008).…”