Peasant Economic Development within the English Manorial System

by Raftis

Overview

Offering a revisionist theory that shifts the focus from labour services required by the lord to capital required by the customary tenant, Raftis reveals that "peasant economic development" and "manorial economy" are not mutually exclusive terms. Using account rolls, charters, court rolls, and lay subsidy rolls he demonstrates that lords subordinated their power to tax and to extract labour services to a policy of capital maintenance. This breakthrough allows him to develop a more rational explanation for the growth of markets and wealth in a countryside not exclusively dependent on the economy of lords. Peasant Economic Development within the English Manorial System is a ground-breaking analysis that redefines the social and economic history of rural medieval England and changes the direction of medieval scholarship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780773514034
Publisher:	McGill-Queens University Press
Publication date:	11/18/1996
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	(w) x (h) x 1.10(d)

Editorial Reviews

"Raftis brings us much closer to the medieval peasant by giving evidence of his/her standing and economic decision making. He makes a major contribution to our understanding of the emergence of the farmer or yeoman. His perspective is quite unique and very important and will inspire further studies on this group." David Gary Shaw, Department of History, Wesleyan University. "Peasant Economic Development within the English Manorial System represents a major advance in thinking on the rural medieval world." [translation] Denise Angers, Département d'histoire, Université de Montréal.

From the Publisher

Challenges the view that English peasants were serfs at the disposal of their lord, arguing that tenants were in considerable control of the manorial regime and were able to take advantage of aspects of the medieval agricultural economy. Draws on documents of the period to demonstrate that lords subordinated their power to tax and to extract labor services to a policy of capital maintenance, leading to a rational explanation for the growth of markets and wealth not exclusively dependent on the economy of lords. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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