Clermont de Lodève 1633–1789
Fluctuations in the Prosperity of a Languedocian Cloth-making Town

Describes the economic and social manifestations of the two cycles of prosperity and decline in Clermont-de-Lodève.

J. K. J. Thomson (Author)

9780521541091, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 25 September 2003

520 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm, 0.811 kg

'… both James Thomson and Colin Jones have chosen areas of particular interest to historians which take up new avenues. The more important and original work … is that of James Thomson. The Languedoc woollen industry in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries cried out for detailed examination.' Olwen Hufton, European Studies Review

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Clermont-de-Lodève, a Languedocian cloth-making town, experienced two major cycles in its development. In the seventeenth century unprecedented prosperity was followed by deep and prolonged depression, and in the eighteenth a rapid, if irregular, industrial expansion was interrupted by a major crisis and followed by a painful and protracted decline. The purpose of this book is to describe the economic and social manifestations of these cycles as precisely as the sources permit, focussing in particular on the varying characteristics of Clermont's elite.

List of illustrations
List of maps
List of tables
Preface
List of abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. Languedoc
3. Clermont-de-Lodève
4. Clermont during the seventeenth century
5. Colbert, Languedoc, Saptes, Villenouvette
6. Villenouvette succeeds
7. Villenouvette and Clermont
8. The first thirty years, 1695–1724
9. The second thirty years, 1725–54
10. A change in policy and its consequences, 1754–9
11. The last thirty years, 1760–89, 'The Age of Iron': an explanation
12. Conclusion
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], European history [HBJD]