POPULATION DENSITY IN FIFTEENTH CENTURY FRANCE AND THE LOW COUNTRIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although the history of population in Europe is known in broad outline, there are few precise estimates of its size and distribution in pre-censal periods. An attempt is made to review the evidence for population size and population change in the fifteenth century; to calculate densities for as many areas as possible, and by extrapolation, to prepare a population map for France and the Low Countries in the fifteenth century. The primary sources are the hearth rolls, which were compiled for tax purposes, and give the number of hearths in each named settlement in a number of areas. Collateral materials of similar quality were used for some urban places not included in the hearth rolls. The map compiled from these data indicates that France and the Low Countries in the fifteenth century were a well-peopled region in which the density of population varied directly with the quality of the soil. Land quality was utilized in extrapolating from the areas for which population density is established to the...