Land, Family and Inheritance in Transition
Kibworth Harcourt 1280–1700

Dr Howell examines Kibworth Harcourt between the later Middle Ages and the early modern period where English rural society changes.

Cicely Howell (Author)

9780521142519, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 10 June 2010

352 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.52 kg

The nature and organisation of English rural society changes considerably between the later Middle Ages and the early modern period. In this book Dr Howell makes use of both the medieval and the early modern sources relevant to the economic, social and administrative history of Kibworth Harcourt, a village in Leicestershire, in order to identify, date and describe the phases of this transition: a transition from a close-knit society of self-sufficient peasants to a diversified, regionally orientated society of commercial farmers, artisans and landless labourers. Particular attention is paid to the composition and age structure of the peasant family, polarisation in the size of holdings, increasing specialisation in land use and improvements in diet, housing and the standard of living. The book will appeal to all serious students of social and economic history, to geographers, and in Britain to professional and amateur local historians.

Aerial view of Kibworth Harcourt, 1947
List of figures
List of maps
List of tables
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
1. Kibworth Harcourt: it geography and early history
2. Land and tenants
3. Administration
4. The plagues and their consequences, 1348–1450
5. Kibworth in the early modern period, 1450–1700
6. The open fields and husbandry
7. Village morphology and buildings
8. The economy of the small landholder
9. The size and composition of the peasant household
10. Inheritance strategies
Appendices
Notes
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Sociology & anthropology [JH]