What were the benefits of proto …

Proto-industrialization refers to the earliest phase of industrialisation, whereproduction was mainly done by hands. It was controlled by merchants or trade guilds having a monopoly over production and trade. Household members carried out the production process. The production units were set up in the countryside. 

1. In the 17th and 18th centuries, merchants from towns in Europe began moving to the countryside, supplying money to the peasants and artisans, to produce for the international market.
2. It was a period when open fields were disappearing and commons were fenced. Poor peasants, who were earlier dependent on common land, had to find a new way of survival. When merchants offered advances, they readily agreed.
3. Many had a tiny plot of land which could not provide work to all the members of the family. It supplemented their incomes. By working for the merchants, they could remain in the countryside and continue to cultivate their small plots which supplemented their shrinking income from cultivation. 
4. They could now remain in the villages, retain their production on land and produce for the merchants also.
5. The whole family was engaged in production work which further increased their earnings.