Carnegy-Arbuthnott, Frederick Thomas; (2020) Revolts in Andalusia, 1647-1652: The Little Ice Age, Markets and Popular Politics. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This work uses a series of urban revolts that occurred in Andalusia, Spain between 1647 to 1652 to investigate the links between past climate, grain markets, and popular politics. It builds on theories about the disruptive impact of Little Ice Age climate in the seventeenth century, advanced by historians such as Geoffrey Parker, and tries to think more concretely about how episodes of extreme climate can help explain episodes of popular unrest. Using data from recent climate reconstructions it finds that there is suggestive evidence that Andalusian cereal harvests were negatively affected by Little Ice Age climate in the mid-seventeenth century. But rather than drawing a simple straight line between poor harvests, high food prices, and revolt, this work tries to drill down into the political economy of grain provisioning in the region, in order to explain why markets were so badly affected by regional crop failures. Using a large range of sources from Andalusia's municipal archives, I take a qualitative approach to investigating market integration in the region, positing that the particular structure of the Habsburg monarchy, which left substantial power in the hands of local municipal governments, was a major factor in increased market disintegration during times of dearth. When local shortages hit, the poorly coordinated and often competing policy efforts of both national and municipal governments in Andalusia led to intense competition over grains, a plethora of local and international trade embargoes, and disputes over import tax regimes; which only served to further hinder provisioning efforts. With municipal governments being responsible for provisioning and bread price controls, their failure to uphold either of these responsibilities converted the issue into a political one, which in turn can help shed light on the nature of and participants in popular politics in early modern Europe.

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