Question

Explain why in the 17^th century the merchants of towns in Europebegin employing peasants and artisantswithin the villages.

Answer 1

The 17^th century merchants of towns in Europe begin employing peasants and artisans from the villages because new merchants could not flourish their business in towns due to the domination of the trade and craft regulating associations known as guilds. They controlled both competition and prices and made the entry of the new merchants difficult. Hence, these merchants had to offer advances to the village peasants and artisans to produce goods. This provided an additional source of income to the peasants as well who could not earn much from their small plots of land.