The wars fought until the mid-seventeenth century froze economic activity, destroyed vast wealth and created voids scary, especially in Germany.
Pure harvests were disastrous, and all this resulted in a decrease in the European population. Governments, in order to survive, increased the tax burden and this led to a worsening of the already poor situation of the people.
Source:
http://xoomer.virgilio.it/parmanelweb/europaXVII.htm