From one mortality regime to another? mortality crises in late-medieval Haarlem, Holland, in perspective

Description

This paper employs a large database of 10,360 deaths taken from registrations of graves dug and church bells tolled at Haarlem between the years 1412 to 1547 (the ‘klok en graf’) – one of the largest samples and longest series ever produced for mortality evidence in medieval Holland. The data reveals not one overarching ‘medieval mortality regime’ but distinct changes between fewer but severe spikes in the first half of the fifteenth century, and higher frequency of smaller spikes later on – especially in the period 1480-1530 – with a dampening down of mortality activity after 1530. A highly comparable early modern source has also allowed the mortality findings to be placed in a broader temporal perspective
leading to the conclusion that mortality crises in the late Middle Ages in Haarlem were more severe than those seen in the seventeenth century.

Period	12 Feb 2020
Event title	Medieval Economic and Social History Seminar
Event type	Seminar
Location	Cambridge, United KingdomShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International