Grain at any price: New project investigates food supply variations in early modern Europe

Dock Scene at a British Port, Jacob Knijff (1639–1681), National Maritime Museum, London, via Wikimedia Commons

Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist, Professor of History, especially Historical Geography, has as the main applicant, together with co-applicants, the geographer Andrea Seim, the mathematician Gudrun Brattström, and the economic historian Rodney Edvinsson, been granted over 3,8 million SEK for the project “Grain at any price: Geographical patterns of food security in pre-industrial Europe” by the Swedish Research Council. The project starts in 2024 and will run at least until 2026.

Central to the project is the interdisciplinary approach, where grain harvest data and grain prices are utilized to investigate food security through, among other things, geostatistical analyses.

It is a field that has previously been almost exclusively studied using economic and economic-historical methods, while geographical perspectives and methods, for example, have been notably absent.

– By collecting a range of different expert competencies, we hope to broaden perspectives and deepen knowledge about the early modern European grain market and food supply. It is a field that has previously been almost exclusively studied using economic and economic-historical methods, while geographical perspectives and methods, for example, have been notably absent, emphasizes Fredrik Charpentier Ljungqvist, the project leader.

By systematically studying a large number of grain price series, using methods including geostatistical analysis, the project aims to understand the relationship between changes in grain harvest and prices and the role various factors played in determining the functionality and security of the grain market.

– We also want to gain a better understanding of which regions in Europe that constituted a common, integrated grain market during different periods, says Fredrik.
 

Read more about the project here