Peasants making history : living in an English region 1200-1540 / Christopher Dyer

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dyer, Christopher, 1944- author.

Series:

Oxford Academic

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Economic history.

Historians--Great Britains.

Historians.

Regionalism--Political aspects--Great Britain.

Regionalism.

Decentralization in government.

Decentralization in government--England.

West Midlands (England).

Politics and government.

Regionalism--Political aspects.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (396 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2022

Summary:

This book appraises the role of peasants in the past. Historians and archaeologists, after disparaging and ignoring peasants, are treating them more positively, and this book is taking that view forwards. Using as its example the west midlands of England, this book examines peasant society, in relation to their social superiors (their lords), their neighbours, and their households and finds them making decisions and taking options to improve their lives. Peasants played an active role in the development of towns, both by migrating into urban settings, but also trading actively in urban markets. Industry in the countryside was not imposed on the rural population, but often the result of peasant enterprise and flexibility. If we examine peasant attitudes and mentalities we find them engaging in political life, making a major contribution to religion, recognizing the need to conserve the environment, and balancing the interests of individuals with those of the communities in which they lived. Many features of our world have medieval roots, and peasants played an important part in the development of the rural landscape, participation of ordinary people in government, parish church buildings, towns, and social welfare. The evidence to support this peasant-centred view has to be recovered by imaginative interpretation, and by using every type of source, including the testimony of archaeology and landscape. This work is intended to be accessible to a wide readership.

Contents:

List of figures

List of tables

Preface

Notes on boundaries and measures

Abbreviations

1. Introduction

2. Peasants and landscapes

The west-midland region

Human impacts on the land

Lords and landscapes

Peasants and the making of the landscape

Peasants, lords, and the changing landscape after 1350

Conclusion

3. Peasant society: Landholding and status

Holding land before 1349

Changing circumstances: Entry fines

Landholding 1349-1540

Serfdom, 1200-1540

4. Peasants changing society

Migration

Social mobility

Poverty

Village community

5. Family and household

The size and composition of the household

Space for households

The character of family life

6. Peasants and their crops

Fields and their regulation

Changing agriculture: Managing the fields

Crops and their use

Arable husbandry

Farming methods and techniques

Conclusion on husbandry and techniques

Arable and pasture: Managing change

7. Peasant farming: Livestock and pasture

Horses

Cattle

Sheep

Goats

Pigs

Poultry

Bees

Animal husbandry on the peasant holding

Animal welfare

Marketing animals and animal products

8. Peasants and towns

Origins of towns

Peasant migration into towns

Occupations and commerce: Peasant influence on towns

Peasant consumption and towns

Peasants and changing fortunes of towns

Peasants and money

Town and country: Cultural connections

9. Peasants and industry

The role of lords in creating industry

Urban entrepreneurs and rural industry

Poverty and industry

Industry within peasant society

10. Peasant outlook, values, perceptions, and attitudes

Piers Plowman

Peasants and the state

Peasants and lords

Peasants and religion

Peasants and the environment

Individuals and communities

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description based on Publisher website; title from home page (viewed on May 21, 2022)

ISBN:

0-19-258653-X

0-19-188212-7

0-19-258652-1

OCLC:

1330933323