Famine---preparation and response in Catalonia after the Black Death

This dissertation is an analysis of various shortcomings in the Catalan food supply systems and of the aftermath of food crises including the treatment of the poor and newly destitute. Using extensive data on market prices from the archive of the Pia Almoina in Barcelona as well as a collection of other related archival material, this work provides a new structure for understanding the course and nature of late medieval famine. Far from the positivist idea that the providing of food was the fundamental driver of human action, I show that a number of economic, legal, social and even aesthetic preferences, such as the cultural primacy of white, wheat bread and poor understanding and regulation of economic systems undermined the long term food security of late medieval Catalonia. Some of the most salient economic facets of medieval famines closely resemble problems that continue to occur in modern food shortages. Responses such as export bans or draconian measures against hoarding continue to negatively impact modern food distribution. Additionally, the use of modern famine theories, particularly the "Entitlement" theory of Amartya Sen, provides new insight into the workings of both poverty and medieval food distribution. By taking seriously the question of individual access and ability to command food, we can better understand the mechanisms people used to survive famines as well as the responses of political leaders attempting to regulate the movement of people. The dissertation investigates each of the areas in turn and places them all in context with a detailed description of the particular events of the famine of 1374--1376 which affected Catalonia as well as much of the Western Mediterranean.