I analyze the grownup age at demise of 115,650 European nobles from 800 to 1800. Longevity started rising lengthy earlier than 1800 and the Industrial Revolution, with marked will increase round 1400 and once more round 1650. Declines in violent deaths from battle contributed to a few of this enhance, however the majority should mirror different adjustments in particular person conduct. There are historic spatial contours to European elite mortality; Northwest Europe achieved better grownup lifespans than the remainder of Europe even by 1000 AD.
Right here is the paper by Neil Cummins, by way of Matt Yglesias.