S John Ross's site is great. Historically you didn't get more than about 10% urban population, and it took at least 4 farmers/peasants to support 1 non-farmer - who could be a rural blacksmith or priest, or an urban townsman. No more than about 5% of population would be knights/upper class. Medieval France's overall population was 118 per square mile, and particularly fertile areas could be higher, eg the Nile river valley. 50 per square mile would be fairly typical for medieval Europe; Britain was lower, ca 30/sq m.
Demographic Questions
- Thread starter Roman
- Start date
Baron Opal
First Post
Roman-
Would magic skew the infant / child mortality rate? Would the presence of monsters skew the adult mortality rate?
Other questions I've thought about when persuing these questions.
Would magic skew the infant / child mortality rate? Would the presence of monsters skew the adult mortality rate?
Other questions I've thought about when persuing these questions.
That depends on how widespread magic was and also on the type of magic that was most available. In any case, I do not necessarily plan to stick with the real life demographic limits, but if I do break them in some circumstances I want to be able to do so in an informed manner and with full knowledge that I am transcending real life limits.
Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
You could find some useful and interesting information here
http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/city.htm
and also here
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Book/contents.html
Cheers
http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/city.htm
and also here
http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Book/contents.html
Cheers
Griffith Dragonlake
First Post
Another thing to keep in mind is that rice farming is more labor-intensive than other forms of farming but also supports a higher population density.
Also, in the sub-tropics and tropics you have more growing seasons (no frost) which when given good irrigation and/or precipitation can produce more food year round.
Whether or not magic has an impact is still a highly controversial topic as is the precence of monsters. A rule of thumb that some use is that decreased infant mortality and increased food production is counterbalanced by increased monster violence. Thus the overall mortality rate in a fantasy world is equivalent to historical Earth.
Also, in the sub-tropics and tropics you have more growing seasons (no frost) which when given good irrigation and/or precipitation can produce more food year round.
Whether or not magic has an impact is still a highly controversial topic as is the precence of monsters. A rule of thumb that some use is that decreased infant mortality and increased food production is counterbalanced by increased monster violence. Thus the overall mortality rate in a fantasy world is equivalent to historical Earth.
Thondor
I run Compose Dream Games RPG Marketplace
Interesting thread, it be great to repost what you felt were somewhat reasonable answers.
1) Literacy in the best case was actually much higher then any of us would believe. Pre-printing press (the most important invention in regards to literacy) Burma or Myanmar had literacy rates between 80-90% depending on the scholar you ask. This was because the buddist monks were extremely dominant, and took it on themeselves to educate every single child and teach every child how to read and write.
This is certainly the exception, but it is possible in a 'different' society. The relization needs to be that for such a high rate, there must be some body or bodies providing education.
This is not outside of the realm of possibilities in a fantasy setting where monks, wizards or clerics chose to play an active role in educating the young.
Age ratio's Children per Adults
My best answer is that it can very. But take a look at population pyramids. On wikipedia Afganistan is a classic example of a population distribution by age in a pre-modern society.
I can't find one that actually lists percents. or I'd tell you. basically though there are always about twice as many 0-4 year olds as there are 20-24, twice as many 5-9 as 25-29, excetera. Diviations would happen if there is a plague or similar catastroph or some major social change meaning people live longer. (Steadier food supply, more healing etc)
A couple would generally have 4 - 8 children, of these a few would likely die. (if they died early 0-5 - the most likely time for them to die- the couple would be more likely to have more kids)
It is not uncommon of for a man to have several wives all who die in childbirth. Having mutiple wives ( I am still talking mohogamy here) can push up that number, 5-12 would be a decent estimate.
If death of children/adults were less common (ie. lower infant mortality and other deaths due to healing magic) then the number of children would be lower, however the number of surviving children -- assuming that the fall in the death rate is not sudden, ie, suddenly there are more healers -- would remain about the same.
as there are no forms of social security, trust funds, savings plans, the only way Adults can garantee being look after as elders is if they have children willing to support them. Moreover children represent valued Labour in premodern times.
1) Literacy in the best case was actually much higher then any of us would believe. Pre-printing press (the most important invention in regards to literacy) Burma or Myanmar had literacy rates between 80-90% depending on the scholar you ask. This was because the buddist monks were extremely dominant, and took it on themeselves to educate every single child and teach every child how to read and write.
This is certainly the exception, but it is possible in a 'different' society. The relization needs to be that for such a high rate, there must be some body or bodies providing education.
This is not outside of the realm of possibilities in a fantasy setting where monks, wizards or clerics chose to play an active role in educating the young.
Age ratio's Children per Adults
My best answer is that it can very. But take a look at population pyramids. On wikipedia Afganistan is a classic example of a population distribution by age in a pre-modern society.
I can't find one that actually lists percents. or I'd tell you. basically though there are always about twice as many 0-4 year olds as there are 20-24, twice as many 5-9 as 25-29, excetera. Diviations would happen if there is a plague or similar catastroph or some major social change meaning people live longer. (Steadier food supply, more healing etc)
A couple would generally have 4 - 8 children, of these a few would likely die. (if they died early 0-5 - the most likely time for them to die- the couple would be more likely to have more kids)
It is not uncommon of for a man to have several wives all who die in childbirth. Having mutiple wives ( I am still talking mohogamy here) can push up that number, 5-12 would be a decent estimate.
If death of children/adults were less common (ie. lower infant mortality and other deaths due to healing magic) then the number of children would be lower, however the number of surviving children -- assuming that the fall in the death rate is not sudden, ie, suddenly there are more healers -- would remain about the same.
as there are no forms of social security, trust funds, savings plans, the only way Adults can garantee being look after as elders is if they have children willing to support them. Moreover children represent valued Labour in premodern times.
Similar Threads
