An Anthropometric History of Early-Modern France

The height of the French male population of the Ancien Régime is
estimated, on the basis of military records, to have been about 162
cm in the 17th century. This extremely short stature implies that,
"the crisis of the 17th century" had an immense impact on the human
organism itself. The improvement in climatic conditions at the turn
of the 18th century had an ameliorating effect on the human
organism, increasing in size by nearly 4 cms within a span of 12
years. Improved weather had a beneficial impact on agricultural
conditions as well as a direct effect on biological processes. The
physical stature of men increased until the birth cohorts of the
1740s, to decline thereafter, in keeping with the European pattern,
although the decline of the second half of the 18th century was not
more severe than elsewhere in Europe. France was not suffering from
a prolonged period of malnutrition of unusual severity, and the
threat of a Malthusian crisis was mild compared to 17th-century
conditions. Hence, the anthropometric evidence supports the notion
that the French economic malaise was not a fundamental cause of the
political turmoil. To be sure, there were very large social
differences in the biological standard of living, which clearly
fuelled the fires of revolution. The height of the French upper
classes was 7 cm above average, but, that, too, was standard for
contemporary Europe.