Rural Society - Rural social relations

7 important questions on Rural Society - Rural social relations

What did involvement in the marketplace vary on socially?

  • An understanding of relations within rural society depends upon recognition of the relationships between various groups within the rural economy.
  • The greater and lesser nobilities throughout the Continent expressed their social power, whether it had been achieved by military glory, bureaucratic service, economic success or inheritance, in their ownership of land.

What did fortunes of farmers depend on?

The circumstances of those who farmed land therefore varied widely across Europe and their fortunes depended on a series of factors, but most fundamentally upon the nature of their tenures, the terms on which they held their land, and the size of the farms that they occupied.

What was the most fundamental distinction in terms of tenure?

In terms of tenure, the most fundamental distinction was between those who held land on customary terms and those who paid commercial rents.
  • Higher grades + faster learning
  • Never study anything twice
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Discover Study Smart

What does lex loci mean?

Custom was lex loci, the law of the locality, and could vary enormously even within a particular region: within customary economies, landlords and tenants might enjoy various privileges but they would more usually be guaranteed in a local manorial court in which tenants enjoyed significant rights and responsibilities.

What securities did locals have under customary terms?

They enjoyed varying degrees of security: they might enjoy a right of inheritance or hold the farm for a specified number of years or lives; they might enjoy fixed or negotiable rents; and they might gain access to their holding by the payment of a fixed or customary fee or fine.

What characterized the English land market in the early eighteenth century?

By the early eighteenth century, the English land market, the most commercialized in Europe, was characterized by a very significant proportion of labourers who occupied cottages without gardens, let alone access to more substantial plots, and made a living dependent only on their ability to sell their labour at the annual hiring fair.

Why did larger farms emerge in the late medieval period?

Even in the late medieval period, the peasantry had not been a homogeneous group, and the degree of differentiation within the farming classes began to increase significantly: larger farms emerged as the marked shortage of tenants caused by the demographic contraction of the late Middle Ages made more and more tenancies available for those who were producing sufficient surplus to buy them up.

The question on the page originate from the summary of the following study material:

  • A unique study and practice tool
  • Never study anything twice again
  • Get the grades you hope for
  • 100% sure, 100% understanding
Remember faster, study better. Scientifically proven.
Trustpilot Logo