Working Time, Holidays, and Labour Conditions in Early Modern Normandy

Paul Maneuvrier-Hervieu () and Cédric Chambru
Additional contact information
Paul Maneuvrier-Hervieu: UNIMI - Università degli Studi di Milano = University of Milan, Institut d’histoire économique Paul Bairoch

Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: This chapter examines the evolution of working conditions in pre-industrial Normandy, focusing on the longstanding debates over working time and public holidays. During the Middle Ages. theologians like Nicolas de Clamanges criticised the rising number of non-working religious days, arguing that they promoted non-religious behaviour and harmed poor workers. This debate persisted in the following centuries, particularly between Catholic and Protestant intellectuals. More recently, seminal works in economic history have emphasised the significance of working days for our understanding of past living standards, prompting further methodological refinements. Using new data on religious holidays and payment records, we assess the actual versus theoretical working days in Normandy from the fourteenth to the eighteenth century. Our analysis suggests that the common assumption that 250 working days per year was the norm for many labourers during the late Middle Ages. This figure seems, however, higher for the later period. By the mid-eighteenth century, it was not uncommon for individuals to work as many as 290-300 days per year. We further explore changes in labour regulations to document daily working conditions, showing that working hours increased by one to two hours per day between the Middle Age and the late eighteenth century. While we focus on Normandy, an important commercial and industrial centre in France, we believe this study offers valuable insights into the economic history of early modern Europe.

Keywords: Working time; Labour conditions; Normandy; Middle Ages; Early Modern period (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-01
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04630438v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-04630438v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-04630438

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().