Dukes and abbots : essays on the economics of estate management in the Southern Netherlands (ca. 1600-1820)

The historiography concerning the economy of rural societies in the Southern Netherlands—and that of Europe in general—has received significant attention from researchers in recent years. Earlier research on this theme primarily focused on major economic movements such as the evolution of food, labor, and land markets, as well as social phenomena like inequality. While such research is crucial for understanding early modern society, it often lacks deeper insight into the mechanisms behind these evolutions: What drove people in a certain position to make specific economic choices and thus contribute to broader economic processes? This dissertation specifically examines the management (which can be seen as an economic choice) of the estates of large landowners. Large landowners played a crucial role in the early modern economy. These powerful figures and their organizations exerted a disproportionately large socio-economic and political influence on local communities. In this capacity, they could, especially when making similar choices, have a significant impact on how the economy and society took shape. This dissertation, therefore, seeks to answer the question: how did the management of large estates in the Southern Netherlands influence production (processes) and the social relationships that were part of these production processes? In answering this question, three key factors influencing management are considered: the organization of property, the socio-economic environment, and short-term economic fluctuations. This was done through case studies of three large landowners: the Dukes of Arenberg, the Abbey of the Dunes (Roosewalle), and Abbot De Loose of Ename. Based on these cases, I arrived at several important conclusions and contributions to the literature. This dissertation demonstrates that management decisions could have a significant impact on the local population. However, these decisions were made in relation to the local population and could sometimes lead to a form of counterreaction. At the same time, the choices available to landowners were largely path-dependent. Furthermore, this dissertation shows that the direct exploitation of part of the land was more common than previously assumed. Moreover, this dissertation contributes to the field of business economics. It appears that landowners consistently aimed for maximum personal revenue rather than the highest production, which would have been more beneficial for the population. Finally, this dissertation addresses the criticism that research on the principal-agent relationship is ahistorical, acontextual, and static by employing the historical method.