Famine and Scarcity in Late Medieval and Early Modern England... - 9781107121829

Famine and Scarcity in Late Medieval and Early Modern EnglandThe Regulation of Grain Marketing, 12561631\nAuthor(s): Buchanan Sharp\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9781107121829, 978-1107121829\nSynopsis\nSurveying government and crowd responses ranging from the late Middle Ages through to the early modern era, Buchanan Sharp's illuminating study examines how the English government responded to one of the most intractable problems of the period: famine and scarcity. The book provides a comprehensive account of famine relief in the late Middle Ages and evaluates the extent to which traditional market regulations enforced by thirteenth-century kings helped shape future responses to famine and scarcity in the sixteenth century. Analysing some of the oldest surviving archival evidence of public response to famine, Sharp reveals that food riots in England occurred as early as 1347, almost two centuries.