Department of History and Civilization In the Doorway to Development: An enquiry into market oriented structural changes in Norway ca. 1750-1830 Ragnhild Hutchison Thesis submitted for assessment with a view to obtaining the degree of Doctor of History and Civilization of the European University Institute Florence, June 2010 EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE Department of History and Civilization Examining Board: Jan de Vries, Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History and Economics, University of California at Berkeley. Ida Bull, Professor in History, The University of Science and Technology NTNU, Trondheim. Giovanni Federico, Professor in History, Department of History and Civilisation, European University Instoitute, Florence. Bartolomè Yun Casalilla, Professor in History, Department of History and Civilisation, European University Instoitute, Florence. © 2010, No part of this thesis may be copied, reproduced or transmitted without prior permission of the author 2 Hutchison, Ragnhild (2010), In the Doorway to Development: An enquiry into market oriented structural changes in Norway ca. 1750-1830 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/19493 Contents Contents ................................................................................................................................................... 3 Acknowledgments ................................................................................................................................... 7 Weights, measures and currencies ........................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Hypothesis: .................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Structure of thesis ........................................................................................................................ 11 1.3 Theory ......................................................................................................................................... 12 1.4 Historiography of consumption in the early modern period ........................................................ 16 1.5 The methods to be used ............................................................................................................... 23 1.6 The sources; their possibilities and challenges ............................................................................ 24 Chapter 2: Politics, Population and Production. Norway at the turn of the 19th century .................... 35 2.1 Politics ......................................................................................................................................... 36 2.2 Population and social groups ....................................................................................................... 39 2.2.1 Social differentiation ............................................................................................................ 40 2.3 Production ................................................................................................................................... 45 2.3.1 Agriculture ............................................................................................................................ 46 2.3.2 The export trades .................................................................................................................. 50 2.3.3 Pre-industrial manufacturing ................................................................................................ 65 2.4 Imports ........................................................................................................................................ 79 2.5 Financial system .......................................................................................................................... 81 2.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 3: The development of an internal market in pre-industrial Norway. ...................................... 85 3.1 Internal market formation ............................................................................................................ 87 3.2 Signs of market integration in Norway ....................................................................................... 91 3.3 The process of market integration in Norway ............................................................................. 92 3.3.1 Transportation infrastructure ................................................................................................ 93 3 Hutchison, Ragnhild (2010), In the Doorway to Development: An enquiry into market oriented structural changes in Norway ca. 1750-1830 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/19493 3.3.2 Jurisdictional change: the opening of trade .......................................................................... 99 3.3.3 New retail forms: Guesthouses and rural shops ................................................................ 111 3.3.3a Rural shops ....................................................................................................................... 115 3.3.3b Other new retail forms ...................................................................................................... 118 3.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 119 Chapter 4: Rural households’ allocation of resources and material wealth......................................... 121 4.1 Norwegian rural farmers’ annual budget ................................................................................... 122 4.1.1 Incomes .............................................................................................................................. 126 4.1.2 Expenditures ....................................................................................................................... 137 4.2 Material wealth seen through probate inventories ..................................................................... 140 4.2.1 Wealth disparities as seen using probate inventories ......................................................... 141 4.2.2 Material wealth tied up in goods ........................................................................................ 147 4.3 General trends ............................................................................................................................ 161 4.4 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 165 Chapter 5: Changing trends in housing, furnishings and smaller household goods ............................ 167 5.1 Comfort ..................................................................................................................................... 169 5.1.1. Housing ............................................................................................................................. 169 5.1.2 Furnishings ......................................................................................................................... 179 5.1.3 Smaller household goods .................................................................................................... 183 5.2 How were the changes possible? ............................................................................................... 193 5.2.1 Predictability and security: taxation and rents .................................................................... 195 5.2.2 Breakability ........................................................................................................................ 196 5.3 Social and economic consequences ........................................................................................... 204 5.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 207 Chapter 6: Bites, nibbles, sips and puffs – new foodstuffs in rural Norway ....................................... 209 6.1 From proteins to carbohydrates ................................................................................................. 210 6.2 The spread of exotic goods ........................................................................................................ 219 4 Hutchison, Ragnhild (2010), In the Doorway to Development: An enquiry into market oriented structural changes in Norway ca. 1750-1830 European University Institute DOI: 10.2870/19493 6.2.1 Sugar and chocolate ............................................................................................................ 221 6.2.2 Coffee and tea ..................................................................................................................... 226 6.2.3 Tobacco .............................................................................................................................. 230 6.2.4 Share of wages spent on exotic goods. ............................................................................... 234 6.2.5 Norwegian exotic goods consumption compared ............................................................... 235 6.4 The circumstances of the consumption ....................................................................................