Village communities were the heart of the medieval countryside. But how did they operate? This book seeks to find some answers to that question by focusing on late medieval Drenthe, a region situated in a remote corner of the Holy Roman Empire and part of the prince-bishopric of Utrecht. Drenthe was an overwhelmingly localized, rural world. It had no cities, and consisted entirely of small villages. The social and economic importance of traditionally privileged sections of medieval society (clergy and nobility) was limited; free peasant landowners were the dominant social class. Based on a careful reading of normative sources (Land charters) and thousands of short verdicts given by the so-called 'Etstoel' or high court of justice in Drenthe, this book focuses on three types of conflict: conflicts between villages, feud-like violence, and litigations about property. These three types coincide with three levels of involvement: that of village communities as a whole, that of kin groups, and that of households. The resulting, comprehensive analysis provides a rigorous interrogation of generalized notions of the pre-industrial rural world, offering a snapshot of a typical peasant society in late medieval Europe.

This is a comparative study of the role of English and French towns in feudal society in the middle ages. In bringing together much material which dissolves old categories and simplifications in the study of medieval towns, Professor Hilton provides an important new perspective on medieval society and on the nature of feudalism. He argues that medieval towns were not, as is often thought, the harbingers of capitalism, and emphasises the way in which urban social structures fitted into, rather than challenged, feudalism.

This is the first collection of translated sources on towns in medieval England. It draws on the great variety of written evidence for this significant and dynamic period of urban development, and invites students to consider for themselves the challenges and opportunities presented by a wide range of primary written sources. The introduction and editorial commentary situate the extracts within the larger context of European urban history, against a longer chronological backdrop and in relation to the most up-to-date research. Suggestions for further reading enable the student to engage critically with the materials and encourage new work in the field. Collectively, the texts and commentary provide an overview of English medieval urban history, while the emphasis throughout is on the particular character and potential of each type of written evidence, from legal and administrative records to inventories of shops, and from letters and poetry to legendary civic histories.

The late Middle Ages (c.1200-1500) was an age of transition. The major events of this period - the Black Death, the Hundred Years War, the rise of Parliament, the depositions of five English kings between 1327 and 1483 - are examined in detail in this book.

Professor Palliser focuses here on towns in England in the centuries between the Norman Conquest and the Tudor period, on which he is an acknowledged authority. Urban topography, archaeology, economy, society and politics are all brought under review, and particular attention is given to relationships between towns and the Crown, to the evidence for migration into towns, and to the vexed question of urban fortunes in the 15th and 16th centuries. Two essays set urban history in a broader framework by considering recent work on town and village formation and on the development of parishes. The collection includes two hitherto unpublished studies and is introduced and put in context by a new survey of English towns from the 7th to the 16th centuries.