Europeans on the move

About this book

This book considers the phenomenon of European migration during the three centuries following the first Columbus voyage to America. A survey of the medieval background shows that Europeans were adept at long-distance travel in search of employment and opportunity, well before the encounter with America, and that some of these medieval adventurers had long been pressing beyond the perimeter of Europe. The ensuing essays reveal that established patterns of migration persisted well into the early modern period, and that the 'Discoveries' had merely added new and more exotic destinations to those already open to people in Europe who were forced to leave home to make careers for themselves. Though these studies focus on a range of countries, they collectively point to the fact that migration previous to the mid-eighteenth century more frequently led to an early death than to a quick fortune. . The conclusions that are drawn from the experiences of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as from the Netherlands and Germany, demonstrate that the Spanish concentration upon America as the land of opportunity was exceptional. France, too, is shown to be exceptional because of the small number of emigrants it produced. This is a wide-ranging and original exploration of early modern migration, which offers a useful summary of existing knowledge and makes an important contribution to the subject.