Reddit mentions of Emigrants and Society: Extremadura and Spanish America in the Sixteenth Century

People were incredibly mobile in the early modern period, despite the many obstacles which made travel difficult. Hundreds of thousands of people emigrated to the new world in the 16th century, and there was plenty of movement within Europe itself (and not just by the wealthy).

For a study of the movement of ordinary people across the Atlantic in the 16th century, see I. Altman, Emigrants and Society: Extremadura and Spanish America in the Sixteenth Century ( http://www.amazon.com/Emigrants-Society-Extremadura-Spanish-Sixteenth/dp/0520064941 ).

For a very interesting microhistorical study of how much one peasant could move around in southern France and norther Spain in the 16th century, see N. Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre ( http://books.google.com/books?id=5f46_hWsJAkC ). This book is a really fun read - it's about a peasant who leaves his wife, travels away from his village, joins the army, and then comes back many years later - only people are pretty sure the guy who comes back isn't the same person as the man who left (but his wife backs him up, and no one can prove he's an impostor). Peasants could get around.