European Aristocracies and Colonial Elites

Paul Janssens is Professor at the Katholieke Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium. Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla is Professor at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.

• Contents: Introduction, Paul Janssens & Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla; Old regime aristocracies, colonial elites and economic development: a reconsideration, Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla. Northern Europe: Landlords and economic development in England, 1450-1800, Robert C. Allen; The characteristics of an aristocratic economy in France, 16th-18th centuries, Jean Duma; The economic role of the Belgian aristocracy in the 17th and 18th centuries, Karel Degryse and Paul Janssens. Southern Europe: From political and social management to economic management? Castilian aristocracy and economic development, 1450-1800, Bartolomé Yun-Casalilla; the aristocratic estates in Portugal and their management, 1600-1834, Nuno Gonçalo Monteiro; The structure of aristocratic patrimonies in the kingdom of Naples: management strategies and regional development, 16th-18th centuries, Giovanni Muto. Central and Eastern Europe: Two ages of seigniorial economy in Brandenburg-Prussia: structural innovation in the 16th century, productivity gains in the 18th century, William W. Hagen; Entrepreneurship and management on the estates of the Austrian nobility, 1550-1780, Herbert Knittler; Economic activity of the Polish nobility and its consequences: the manorial system in the early modern times, Jerzy Topolski; Early modern Russian estate management and economic development, Richard Hellie. Colonial America: The role of aristocratic management strategies in the economic development of the British North American Chesapeake, Lorena S. Walsh; Ephemeral splendor and a lengthy tradition: the Peruvian aristocracy of the late colonial period, Juan F. Marchena; Brazilian sugar planters as aristocratic managers, 1550-1825, Stuart B. Schwartz; Final considerations: Aristocracies and economic progress under the Ancien Régime, Patrick Karl O'Brien. Selected bibliography; Index.

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