Enterprising villages, seignorial control and urban monopolies. Rural trade venues in Holland, England and Flanders in the late Middle Ages

This paper compares the development and role of rural trade venues in Holland in the 13th, 14th and early 15th century to the situation in England and Flanders. Even though a growing body of research stresses the importance of markets for medieval economies, the timing and the extent of the commercialisation of the countryside are still subjects of debate. The idea that peasants were by nature subsistence-oriented and only turned to the market if they were forced to, has proved incorrect: the production of foodstuffs and raw materials for the market was an integral part of peasant agriculture.... Mehr ...