Adam Franklin-Lyons, Shortage and Famine in the Late Medieval Crown of Aragon. Iberian Encounter and Exchange 475‐1755, 6. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2022, 253 p., xii, ill.

Abstract

Abstract: Late medieval Europeans knew the constant threat and intermittent reality of food insecurity. Shortages and famines played a role in some of the most significant events of the fourteenth century, from urban riots to international wars. The consequences ranged broadly from the promulgation of poor laws and the regulation of charity to creative efforts to secure supplies and control prices. The development of policies to manage supplies often strengthened municipal and royal administrative authorities and helped commercial networks to gain coherence and flexibility.