Conflict and Compromise in the Late Medieval Countryside: Lords and Peasants in Durham, 1349-1400 [Hardcover]

Larson examines the changing relations between lords and peasants in post-Black Death Durham. This was a time period of upheaval and change, part of the transition from medieval to modern. Many historians have argued about the nature of this change and its causes, often putting forth a single all-encompassing model; Larson presses for the importance of individual choice and action, resulting in a flexible, human framework that provides a more appropriate explanation for the many paths followed in this period.

The theoretical side is balanced by an on the ground examination of rural life in Durham-- an attempt to capture the raw emotions and decisions of the period. No one has really examined this; most studies are speculative, relying on theory or statistics, rather than tracing the history of real people, both in the immediate aftermath of the plague, and in the longer term. Durham is fortunate in that records survive in abundance for this period; most other studies of rural society end at 1300 or 1348.

As such, this book fills a major gap in medieval English history while at the same time grappling with major theories of change for this transformative period.

Acknowledgments  Notes on References, Translations, and Currency  List of Abbreviations  Introduction  Part 1  1. Lords and Peasants, Estates and Villages  2. Durham: Historians, Records, and the Recovery of History  3. Durham on the Eve of the Black Death  Part 2  4. Durham and the Black Death, 1349 5. Oppressions and Extortions: The Seigniorial Response to the Black Death, 1349-1357  6. Until God Brings a Remedy: Peasant Strategies and Resistance, 1349-1357  7. Administrative Changes, 1358-1384  8. Troublemakers and Rebels: Violence in the Villages , 1358-1384  9. Crisis and Stability, 1384-1400  Conclusions: PeasanlcÎ