Life in Medieval Landscapes

Life in Medieval Landscapes presents new studies on key themes in the economic and social history of the medieval landscape. The book draws together papers by medieval historians and archaeologists, with contributions by leading scholars in each field. The first part explores the nature of landscape [...]
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Life in Medieval Landscapes presents new studies on key themes in the economic and social history of the medieval landscape. The book draws together papers by medieval historians and archaeologists, with contributions by leading scholars in each field. The first part explores the nature of landscape regions in Britain and Ireland. Chapters explore the use and experience of different types of landscapes including marshlands, uplands, woodland and woodpasture. The papers analyse a wide variety of sources from detailed archival work on medieval records to place-names, archaeological survey and the study of veteran trees. A particular theme in several papers is the exploration of social, economic and spatial marginality. The second part presents new studies of labour and lordship. The contributions focus on medieval England, including aspects of the land market before the Black Death, the organisation of village communities and how changing settlements related to demography and occupations. There is a particular focus on understanding the lives of peasants and labourers. The main themes of the book reflect the interests of Professor Harold Fox, whose death in 2007 was marked by a number of conferences in different parts of the UK. The papers in this volume have been offered by Harold's colleagues, friends and former research students as a tribute to his work. They showcase some of the best research in the fields of medieval landscape and social history.