Corn sold from church tithes. Prices in Östergötland during Sweden´s period as a great power

The thesis presents annual price series for rye and barley in Östergötland during the period 1592-1735. Prices of wheat, oats, animal products, building materials, iron, nails, horse shoes and horse shoe nails from about the mid-17th century up to 1735 are also presented and analysed. New data has been excerpted from four hospitals and about fifty parishes in Östergötland. Prices from other provinces have also been excerpted for the study. This nes data is compared to already published prices from Sweden´s capital and from several provinces in central parts of the western national region of Sweden of that time. This area constituted Sweden´s core region. By linking the studies results to previous research, a description is made of the price developments for rye, butter and tallow up to 1775, that is, during Sweden´s period of great power and age of freedom. A principal result for the roughly 150 years primarily covered by the thesis is that it was chiefly the prices of rye and barley, the most important food at the time, that fluctuated in twelve cycles. Periodically there were large fluctuatons. The price cycles for corn (half rye, half barley) had an average amplitude of somewhat more than 100 % and a duration of 11 years on average. The prices were on average higher further north in the country. The causes of the price fluctuations are complex. During the major part of the period studied, Sweden was at war or in armistice period, which occupied a large part of the male population. Politically, increasingly great power was gradually concentrated to the king and autocracy was introduced, culminating at the end of Charles XII´s regency. The peasantry was burdened by high taxes and other onuses. After the middle of the 17th century the country was no longer self-subsistent but largely dependent on corn import. The production of foddstuffs decreased, partly through a smaller part of the country´s resources beeing used for production, and partly due to bad harvests. Recurrent epidemics reduced the population even up to the early 18th century