Amanda Coate: How early modern people experienced and made sense of hunger

What did hunger mean for the people of early modern Europe? How did they understand their own and others’ experiences of famine, scarcity, and food insecurity? My research examines understandings of hunger in Europe (specifically Britain, France, and the Holy Roman Empire) during the period 1500-1700. My project seeks to bring together different discourses and genres (such as news pamphlets, sermons and religious writing, medical texts, and diaries) to investigate the multifaceted ways in which early modern people experienced and made sense of hunger. Ultimately, my research aims for a comparative examination of English, French, and German sources to determine if, how, and why understandings of hunger differed across these European cultures.

Thanks to the generous support of the Europe Center, I was able to conduct research at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris. At the BnF, I examined part of the manuscript collection formed by commissaire de police Nicolas De La Mare (1639-1723). This collection contains several sections on grain scarcity in the city of Paris and surrounding areas during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The documents in this collection are mainly administrative records: for instance, reports of official investigations into grain scarcity, depositions against those accused of hoarding or reselling grain, copies of royal proclamations, and correspondence to and from De La Mare and his colleagues.

The documents in the De La Mare collection revealed an administrative perspective on grain scarcity that focused on human malfeasance and deliberate actions taken by merchants, bakers, and others to increase the price of grain for their personal benefit. The officials’ primary concern was not scarcity, but cherté—an unreasonable expensiveness of grain and grain-derived goods. The solutions outlined in royal decrees and De La Mare’s notes thus concentrated on preventing and punishing behaviors that led to cherté. There were also attempts to counteract some harmful effects through various initiatives, such as distributing bread to the poor and supervising marketplaces to ensure that prices remained under control.

I am indebted to the Europe Center. Their support allowed me to conduct this research, which will contribute greatly to my project. The goals of my project necessitate the consultation of early modern materials in multiple languages. In addition, because my project is interested in more than just literary understandings of hunger, it is imperative that I consult both published materials and unpublished manuscript materials. Access to foreign libraries and archives is therefore essential.