Inequality and commons in the Ardennes in the second half of the eighteenth century

This article examines the impact of the commons on economic inequality in the eighteenth-century rural society of the Ardennes in the Duchy of Luxembourg. A unique set of cadastral sources provides an opportunity to quantify the distribution of the income derived from the commons on the level of households. More precisely, we ask if and how the distribution of common land rights diminished or strengthened existing inequalities in private land use. This brings more direct empirical evidence to bear on the historiographical observation that commons were not institutions that generally and automatically improved equality among rural societies. Indeed, in contrast, there were substantial differences not only between community members and outsiders, but also between the commoners themselves. The following case study brings the socially differential use of common rights to the fore as an important indicator for rural inequality, hence contributing to historical research on rural inequality and commons.