Decision-Making in Medieval Agriculture - Hardcover

Stone, David

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199247765 ISBN 13: 9780199247769

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2005

Synopsis

This fascinating and important book uses a wealth of contemporary sources to reconstruct the mental world of medieval farmers and, by doing so, argues that there has been a stereotypical interpretation of the middle ages. David Stone overturns the traditional view of medieval countrymen as economically backward and instead reveals that agricultural decision-making was as rational in the fouteenth century as in modern times. Investigating agricultural mentalities first at a local level and then for England as a whole, Dr Stone argues that human action shaped the course of the rural economy to a much greater extent than has hitherto been appreciated, and challenges the commonly held view that the medieval period was dominated by ecological and economic crises. Focusing in particular on responses to commercial forces and the adoption of agricultural technology, this book has significant implications for our understanding of agricultural development throughout the last thousand years.

About this title

About the Author:

David Stone currently teaches history at Dulwich College. Previously he was a Research Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.

Review:

`Consistently thought provoking...the most advanced attempt yet to reconstruct the mental world of medieval farmers from account rolls. the consistently fascinating findings demonstrate a greater responsiveness to the market on the
part of medieval estate managers than economic historians have hitherto comprehended.'
Christopher Thornton, Cambridge University Press, Rural History, Volume 17/2

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0199247765
• ISBN 13: 9780199247769
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 328