Innovative feudalism. The development of dairy farming and Koppelwirtschaft on manors in Schleswig-Holstein in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

Agricultural History Review

Volumn 58, Issue PART 2, 2010, Pages 172-190

  Rasmussen, Carsten Porskrog ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 79951546421     PISSN: 00021490     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (84)

1. The terms Grundherrschafi and Gutsherrschaft have played an important role in the German literature on early modern agrarian history for more than a hundred years, but the exact meaning and usage of the terms varies a great deal. A good survey of the literature on Gutsherrschaft, including theoretical positions relating to or definitions contrasting it to the term Grundherrschafi can be found in H. Kaak, Die Gutsherrschaft (1991). K. Schreiner, 'Grundherrschaft, Entstehung und Bedeutungswandel eines geschichtswissenschaftlicen Ordnungs und Erklärungsbegriffs', in H. Patze (ed.), Die Grundherrschaft in späten Mittelalter (1983), pp. 11-74,
2. gives a good overview of the usages of the term Grundherrschafi among medievalists, which - alas - differ from those of early modernists employed here. My usage of the words owes much to the classic definition by G. von Below, Territorium and Stadt (1900), and is further discussed and explained in my dissertation: C. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedgàrdsdrift, Godsstrukturer og godsøkonomi i hertugdømmet Slesvig (2 vols, 2003), I, pp. 15-33.
3. In my understanding Gutsherrschaft signifies the totality of a manorial system centered around demesnes which are to a significant degree farmed with the use of labour service, whereas Gutswirtschaft signifies labour servicebased demesne farming as such. To avoid misunderstandings of the word Grundherrschafi, I prefer the more specific Rentengrundherrschaft, as suggested by F. Lütge in Zur ostdeutschen Agrargeschichte. Ein Colloquium (1960), pp. 83-84.
4. Classical examples in the Anglo-Saxon literature include I. Wallerstein, The Modern World System (2 vols, 1974-80), esp. I, pp. 15-17, 67-70, 876-129;
5. R. Brenner, 'Agrarian class structure and economic development in pre-industrial Europe', Past and Present, 70 (1976), pp. 30-75, repr.
6. in T. H. Aston and C. H. E. Philpin (eds), The Brenner Debate. Agrarian class structure and economic development in pre-industrial Europe (1985). A grand survey of the German literature can be found in Kaak, Die Gutsherrschaft and for a critical review,
7. W. Hagen, "The descent of the Sonderweg. Hans Rosenberg's History of Old-Regime Prussia', Central European Hist. 24 (1991). PP- 24-50.
8. Amongst many examples, J. Peters (ed.), Gutsherrschaft als soziales Modell (1995);
9. J- Peters (ed.), Konflikt und Kontrolle in Gutsherrschaftsgesellschaften (1995)
10. and J. Peters (ed.), Gutsherrschaftsgesellschaften im europäischen Vergleich (1997);
11. W. Hagen, Ordinary Prussians: Brandenburg Junkers and Villagers, 15001840 (2002);
12. L. Enders, Die Uckermark. Geschichte einer kurmärkischen Landschaft vom 12. bis zum 18 Jahrhundert (1992).
13. W. Hagen, 'How mighty the Junkers? Peasant rents and seigneurial profits in sixteenth-century Brandenburg', Past and Present 108 (1985), pp. 80-116;
14. id. 'Two ages of seigneurial economy in Brandenburg-Prussia: structural innovation in the sixteenth century, productivity gains in the eighteenth century', Zeitenblicke 4 (2005), http://www.zeitenblicke.dc/2005/2/Hagen.
15. Hagen, 'Two ages of seignerurial economy';
16. M. North, 'Die Entstehung der Gutswirtschaft im südlichen Ostseeraum', Zeitschrift für Historische Forschung 26 (1999), pp. 43-59;
17. Enders, Die Uckermark. Hagen uses the term 'structural innovation'.
18. C. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Modern Manors? The character of some manors in Denmark and SchleswigHolstein', in K. Sundberg, T. Germundsson and K. Hansen (eds), Modernisation and tradition. European local and manorial societies, 1500-1900 (2004), PP- 48-77.
19. Wallerstein, Modern world system, I, p. 91.
20. M. North, 'Die frühneuzeitliche Gutswirtschaft in Schleswig-Holstein. Forschungsüberblick und Entwickungsfaktoren', Blätter für deutsche Landesgeschichte 126 (1990), pp. 223-42.
21. Hagen, 'Two ages of seigneurial economy'.
22. The natural regions: D. Meyer, 'Sønderjylland fra natur- til kulturlandskab' in Lennart S. Madsen and Orla Madsen (eds), Det Sønderjyske Landbrugs Historie. Sten- og Bronzealder (2000), pp. 11-62;
23. for land use in the early modern period: C. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Godsejermagt eller naturtilpasning? De regionale monstre i det slesvigske landbrug i 1700-tallet og deres sammenhaeng med naturforhold og godssystemer' in Per Grau Møller and Mette Svart Kristiansten (eds), Bygder. Regionale variationer i det danske landbrugfra jernalder til 2000 (2006), pp. 41-62, at pp. 45-6.
24. See generally U. Lange (ed), Geschichte SchleswigHolsteins - von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart (Neumünster 1996, sec. edn 2004);
25. H. Schultz Hansen, L. Henningsen and C. Porskrog Rasmussen (eds), Sønderjyllands Historie, I, Indtil 1814 (2008).
26. For Schleswig, C. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods oghovedga· rdsdrift, I, pp. 96-114;
27. for Holstein, W. Prange, 'Landesherrschaft, Adel und Kirche in SchleswigHolstein, 1523 und 1581', Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte (1982), pp. 51-90.
28. C. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Property rights in the duchy of Schleswig', in Tore Iversen and John Ragnar Myking (eds), Land, Lords and Peasants. Peasants' right to control land in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period - Norway, Scandinavia and the Alpine region (2005), pp. 259-70;
29. id., 'Bonder under Gutsherrschaft og Grundherrschaft', Scandia, 68 (2002), pp. 219-47.
30. This description is mainly based upon my dissertation: Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift. It does only cover Schleswig, but things were not so very different in Holstein, as can be seen from W. Prange, Die Anfänge der grossen Agrarreformen in Schleswig-Holstein bis zum 1771 (1971), particularly pp. 19-26, 266-279, 370-397, 591-600;
31. id., 'Das Adlige Gut in Schleswig- Holstein im 18. Jahrhundert', in C. Degn and D. Lohmeier (eds), Staatsdienst und Menschlichkeit, (1980), pp. 57-75.
32. Figures from Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift, I, p.383.
33. K.-S. Kramer and U. Wilkens, Volksleben in einem holsteinischen Gutsbezirk (1979), pp. 218-20.
34. C. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Corvée and paid work. Work and workers at manors in Schleswig and Holstein in the eighteenth century' in Kerstin Sundberg (ed.), Work and production on manors in the Baltic Sea region, 1700-1900 (2002), pp. 165-92, esp. pp. 175-79.
35. G. Heitz, 'Die Agrarstruktur vor den bürgerlichen Reformen', Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissensdhaft 25 (1977), PP-910-27, here pp. 917-8;
36. H.Harnisch, 'Probleme einer Periodisierung und regionalen Typisierung der Gutsherrschaft im mïtteleuropäischen Raum', Jahrbuch für Geschichte des Feudalismus 10 (1986), pp. 251-74, especially pp. 272-3.
37. For Mecklenburg see T. Rudert, Gutsherrschaft und Agrarstruktur. Der ländliche Bereich Mecklenburgs am Beginn des 18. Jahrhunderts (1995), pp. 90-99;
38. J. Nichtweiss, Das Bauernlegen in Mecklenburg. Eine Untersuchung zur Geschichte der Bauernschaft und der zweiten Leibeigenschaft in Mecklenburg bis zur Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts (1954), pp. 68-9;
39. and for Pomerania, R. Schilling, Schwedisch-Pommern um 1700. Studien zur Agrargeschichte eines Territoriums extremer Gutsherrschaft, Untersucht auf der Grundlage des Schwedischen Matrikelwesens, 1692-1698 (1989), pp. 18-21, 42-3 and 45-6.
40. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rds- driftj, I, pp. 564-69.
41. Ibid., I, p. 365.
42. Ibid., I, PP. 476-491, 567.
43. C. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Bønder under Gu s herrschaft og Grundherrschaft';
44. id., 'Godsejermagt eller naturtilpasning?' In the former article I explicitly argue against views of Edgar Melton expressed in his article 'Gutsherrschaft in East Elbian Germany and Livonia, 1500-1800: A critique of the model', Central European Hist. 21 (1988), pp. 315-49.
45. Hagen, 'Two ages of seigneurial economy'.
46. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedgȧsdrift, I, pp. 164-178 and II, pp. 401-426. This is based upon studies of a large number of royal and princely estate accounts and a somewhat small number of accounts from private estates.
47. Hagen, 'Two ages of seigneurial economy'.
48. H. Kellenbenz, 'Die wirtschaftliche Rolle des schleswig-holsteinischen Adels im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert', in D. Lohmeier (ed.), Arte et Marte. Studien zur Adelskultur des Barockzeitalters in Schweden, Dänemark und Schleswig-Holstein (1978), pp. 15-32.
49. Kramer and Wilkens, Volksleben, pp. 23-38 and 177-79;
50. G. Hanssen, Agrarhistorische Abhandlungen (1880), pp. 423-8, 463-4 and 471-5.
51. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og ovedgȧsdrift, I, pp. 409-26.
52. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Corvee and paid work', pp. 169-70;
53. Kramer and Wilkens, Volksleben, pp. 23-38 and 177-9.
54. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og ovedgȧrdsdrift, I. P- 455.
55. P. K. Iversen, 'Hollasnderier i Sønderjylland 11600og 1700-a·rene', Sønderjyske Arbøger (1992), pp. 73-112, especially pp. 73-75 and 110-111;
56. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift, I, p. 407.
57. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods oghovedga·rdsdrift, I, pp. 449-454. The study is based upon tax lists in the Rigsarkivet (The Danish National Archives), Copenhagen, Rentekammerets tyske afdeling, Ekstraskattekommissioner, G.74-79.
58. Iversen, 'Hollasnderier', pp. 83-5;
59. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift, I, pp. 453-4.
60. The estimate is based on a major study of peasant farming which I am currently undertaking. Figures from around half of the parishes outside the marshes total c.26,000 cows.
61. See e.g. C. Danckwerth, Newe Landesbeschreibung der zwey Herzogthümer Schleswich vnd Holstein (1652). Danckwerth talks a great deal about grain and less about oxen and sheep, but dairy products feature only prominently in his description of Eiderstedt.
62. Iversen, 'Hollaenderier', pp. 93-102.
63. K. E. Frandsen, Vang og tœgt (1983), pp. 250-60.
64. C. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Koppelwirtschaft', in Enzyklopädie der Neuzeit, VIII (2008), pp. 37-9.
65. Examples: U. Bonsen: Die Entwicklung des Siedlungsbildes und der Agrarstruktur der Landschaft Schwansen vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart (1966), pp. 209-15;
66. P. von Hedemann-Heespen, Geschichte der adeligen Güter Deutsch Nienhof und Pohlsee in Holstein (3 vols, 1906), II, pp. 8-10 and 30-6;
67. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift, I, pp. 455-9.
68. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·;rdsdrift, I, pp. 462-4.
69. Ibid, pp. 476-91 and 500.
70. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'Corvee and Paid Work', pp. 172-80.
71. Ibid., pp. 180-82.
72. Ibid, pp. 184-186.
73. Ibid., pp. 185-86;
74. Wolfgang Prange, 'Flucht aus der Leibeigenschaft', in K. Köstlin and K. D. Sievers (eds.), Das Recht der kleinen Leute. Beiträge zur Rechtlichen Volskunde. Festschrift für K. S. Kramer (1976), pp. 166-78.
75. For Schleswig: Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift, I, pp. 501-2.
76. Prange, Die Anfänge, pp. 258-59; 372-76;
77. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift, I, pp. 248-50, 314-5. 505-8.
78. A. J. Cord, Der Strukturwandel in der ostholsteinischen Gutswirtschafi um 1800 (1997).
79. Porskrog Rasmussen, Rentegods og hovedga·rdsdrift, I. PP. 444-45. 501-02.
80. Cases on private manors: Prange, Die Anfänge, pp. 189-255.
81. A description is to appear in C. Porskrog Rasmussen, 'An English or a Continental way? The great agrarian reforms of Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein in the late eighteenth century', in R. Santos and R. Congost (eds), Contexts of property: The social embeddedness of property rights to land in Europe in historical perspective (forthcoming).
82. For Niendorf: Bregentved Manor, private archives of Count Adam Gottlob Moltke. For Lindenborg, L. Bobe, G. Graae, F. Jürgensen West, Danske Len (1916), p. 317. The calculation of acreage for Lindenborg is my estimate from data of total cadastre value and typical acreage of farms in the area.
83. Soils of Lindenborg were somewhat poorer than those at Nienhof, but the picture still applies if we look at Danish manors on good soils.
84. S. P. Jensen, 'Kobbelbrug, kløver og kulturjord', Bol og by. Landbohistorisk tidsskrift, 1998, pt 1, pp. 36-59.