DownloadThe Portobello Bookshop Gift Guide 2024

Life in Medieval Landscapes

People and Places in the Middle Ages

Sam Turner author Bob Silvester author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Windgather Press

Published:3rd Dec '11

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Life in Medieval Landscapes cover

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. Contributors include Chris Dyer, Bruce Campbell, Andrew Fleming, Della Hooke, Jem Harrison, Ros Faith, Peter Herring, Mark Gardiner, Angus Winchester, Andrew Jackson, Alan Fox, Mark Page, Mike Thompson, Mike Thornton, Matt Tompkins, Penelope Upton and Richard Jones.

'All in all, this is a fascinating collection of studies across a wide range of fields within medieval social and economic history, historical geography, landscape archaeology and settlement studies. The recurrent emphasis on human communities and their interaction with the physical and social environment is well reflected in the volume's title, settlements, farms, fields and woods being shown as the stage for human activity as well as the products of that activity. As such it both forms a fitting tribute to Harold Fox, and makes an important contribution to many debates and areas of active research.' -- Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement Newsletter Group for the Study of Irish Historic Settlement Newsletter 'This wide-ranging set of essays is fitting tribute to Fox's longstanding interest in transhumance.' -- Agricultural History Agricultural History a valuable collection of papers, not least for non-British readers who here get an introduction to several aspects of this lively scholarly field. -- European Journal of Archaeology European Journal of Archaeology

ISBN: 9781905119400

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

240 pages