The first section addresses the organisation of rural society. Every locality was subject to instruments and processes regulating the exploitation of the landscape, whether administrative or co‐operative in nature, and whether operating on a regional or manorial scale. A second group of essays considers how the rural population was classified, and how this reflected or obscured realities on the ground. Administrative documents employed social categories which did not necessarily align with everyday usage, while people whose livelihood was not wholly agricultural, or not entirely encompassed by the manor, had a light documentary footprint. Further papers address the practicalities of agricultural production. While much was dictated by universal constraints, scientific and topographical studies shed light on adaptations in technology and cultivation systems.

The expert contributions assembled in this lively volume include local studies ranging from Devon to Lincolnshire and will be of interest to anyone thinking about the social history of medieval England.

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