Peasant and Community in Medieval England, 1200-1500

In recent years, work on the medieval English peasant has emphasised the degree of interaction between the rural community and the world beyond its bounds. Using a combination of original sources and historical analyses, Peasant and Community in Medieval England, 1200-1500 not only provides a valuable overview of this research, but also develops this approach. Clear and accessible, the study describes the everyday experience of the peasant - including lord-tenant relations, landholding, and the peasant family - in relation to the wider political, legal, spiritual and commercial contexts of the medieval community. Phillipp R. Schofield argues that, far from being narrowly contained, a medieval peasant's existence was very much subject to a range of external forces; what is more, the role of the peasant in shaping the world in which he or she lived was of huge significance. An ideal introduction for those new to this important subject, Schofield's book will also appeal to specialists in the field.