Urban agriculture in the Netherlands during the long sixteenth century (1500-1650)

In this thesis the function of urban agriculture and its economic and social importance to five early modern towns in the Dutch Republic has been studied: Delft, Leiden, Zutphen, Kampen and Leeuwarden. Early modern maps have been used in combination with various documentary sources relating to these towns. The study sheds light on the changes that urban agriculture underwent during the long sixteenth century (1500–1650) with respect to competition for space, contribution to feeding a growing population, economic importance to inhabitants and involvement of the population. Modern concepts were applied to structure the study. The thesis showed similarities and differences between the western and eastern part of the Republic, caused by the institutional context and by the historical context of the towns. In particular, the duration of war in the vicinity of a town had a major impact.