Land, Family and Inheritance in Transition

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.