Landlords and Tenants in Britain, 1440-1660: Tawney's Agrarian Problem Revisited

Description

R.H. Tawney's 'Agrarian Problem in the Sixteenth Century' (1912) surveyed landlord-tenant relations in Britain from 1440 to1660, the period of emergent capitalism and rapidly changing property relations that stands between the end of serfdom and the more firmly capitalist system of the eighteenth century. Here, Tawney's book is re-evaluated by leading experts in agrarian and legal history and those who have conducted important local studies. The balance of power between landlords and tenants determined how the wealth of agrarian England was divided in this crucial period of economic development - this book reveals how this struggle was played out. Frontcover Contents List of Figures List of Tables Abbreviations List of Contributors Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction: Tawney’s Agrarian Problem Revisited 1. The Agrarian Problem, 1440–1520 2. Common Law and Manor Courts: Lords, Copyholders and Doing Justice in Early Tudor England 3. Negotiating Enclosure in Sixteenth-Century Yorkshire: The South Cave Dispute, 1530–1536 4. The Politics of Enclosure in Elizabethan England: Contesting ‘Neighbourship’ in Chinley (Derbyshire) 5. The Loss of Athelstan’s Gift: The Politics of Popular Memory in Malmesbury, 1607–1633 6. In Search of the Scottish Agrarian Problem 7. The Transfer to Leasehold on Durham Cathedral Estate, 1541–16 8. The Financial Rewards of Winning the Battle for Secure Customary Tenure 9. Risks and Rewards in Wasteland Enclosure: Lowland Lancashire c.1500–1650 10. Improving Landlords or Villains of the Piece? A Case Study of Early Seventeenth-Century Norfolk 11. The Agrarian Problem in Revolutionary England 12. Agrarian Capitalism and Merchant Capitalism: Tawney, Dobb, Brenner and Beyond Conclusions Select Bibliography Index Backcover