EH.Net Abstracts in Economic History

                ABSTRACTS IN ECONOMIC HISTORY
                     (c) 2001 EH.Net
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Name: John Komlos
Email: jk at econhist.de
Institution: University of Munich

Co-author: In collaboration with Michel Hau and Nicolas Bourguinat, 
University of Strasbourg

Title: The Anthropometric History of Early-Modern France

Internet Address of abstracted work:
http://www.econhist.de/papers/france.pdf

By mail:
John Komlos
University of Munich
Ludwigstrasse 33/IV
80539 Munich, Germany

Language: English

Abstract:
The physical stature of the French male population of the Ancien 
Regime is estimated on the basis of military records. Men were 
extremely short on average in the 17th century: 161.7 cm. Evidently, 
"the crisis of the 17th century" had an immense impact on the human 
organism itself. The improvement in climatic conditions at the turn 
of the 18th century, through its impact on agriculture as well as 
through its direct impact on biological processes, the human organism 
responded to an unprecedented degree, increasing in size by some 3.8 
cm within a short span of 12 years. The physical stature of men 
increased until the birth cohorts of the 1740s, to decline 
thereafter, in keeping with the European norm, but the decline of the 
1750s was not unusually severe. Rather, the threat of a Malthusian 
crisis was mild by 17th-century standards, and its intensity in 
France was not more powerful than in other parts of Europe. France 
was not suffering from a prolonged period of malnutrition of unusual 
severity. Hence, the anthropometric evidence supports the notion that 
the French economic performance was not a fundamental cause of the 
political turmoil. To be sure, there were incredible social 
differences, which could have clearly fueled the fires of the 
revolution. The height of the upper classes was well above those of 
the average Frenchman, but, that, too, was the European norm of the 
time. In final analysis, the evidence suggests that the events of 
1789 were rooted more in political than in economic forces.

Bibliography: Komlos, John, Michel Hau and Nicolas Bourguinat. "The 
Anthropometric History of Early-Modern France." Working Paper, 
University of Munich, 2001.

Subject: U
Geographical Area: 4
Country/Region: France
Time Period: 6

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