S. A. Mileson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565672
- eISBN:
- 9780191721748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565672.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This concluding chapter provides a summation of the main findings of the book as a whole. Parks were much more important to the concerns of the aristocracy than has usually been suggested, and they ...
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This concluding chapter provides a summation of the main findings of the book as a whole. Parks were much more important to the concerns of the aristocracy than has usually been suggested, and they had a strong, and often negative, effect on many rural communities and some urban ones. The central place of hunting in the creation of parks is emphasized, along with the significance of organized hunting as an expression of power and authority. It is also suggested that an interest in leisure, as expressed through the reservation of land for hunting, had an impact on the extent to which lords organized their estates in a commercial or market-focused way. The negotiations and confrontations that surrounded parks are shown to have been an important part of the early history of enclosure, a process that involved the shaping of social norms as well as of agrarian practices.Less
This concluding chapter provides a summation of the main findings of the book as a whole. Parks were much more important to the concerns of the aristocracy than has usually been suggested, and they had a strong, and often negative, effect on many rural communities and some urban ones. The central place of hunting in the creation of parks is emphasized, along with the significance of organized hunting as an expression of power and authority. It is also suggested that an interest in leisure, as expressed through the reservation of land for hunting, had an impact on the extent to which lords organized their estates in a commercial or market-focused way. The negotiations and confrontations that surrounded parks are shown to have been an important part of the early history of enclosure, a process that involved the shaping of social norms as well as of agrarian practices.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198282969
- eISBN:
- 9780191684425
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198282969.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This book traces the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture. It explores their importance for productivity growth, income distribution, and the contribution of agriculture ...
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This book traces the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture. It explores their importance for productivity growth, income distribution, and the contribution of agriculture to British economic development. The author study shows that, contrary to the assumption of many historians, small-scale farmers in the open-field system were responsible for a considerable proportion of the productivity growth achieved between the middle ages and the nineteenth century. The process of enclosure and the replacement of these yeomen by large-scale tenant farming relying on wage labour had relatively little impact on the agricultural contribution to economic development during the Industrial Revolution. Enclosures and large farms enriched landowners without benefiting consumers, workers, or farmers.Less
This book traces the shift from medieval to modern institutions in English agriculture. It explores their importance for productivity growth, income distribution, and the contribution of agriculture to British economic development. The author study shows that, contrary to the assumption of many historians, small-scale farmers in the open-field system were responsible for a considerable proportion of the productivity growth achieved between the middle ages and the nineteenth century. The process of enclosure and the replacement of these yeomen by large-scale tenant farming relying on wage labour had relatively little impact on the agricultural contribution to economic development during the Industrial Revolution. Enclosures and large farms enriched landowners without benefiting consumers, workers, or farmers.
Doris Gottemoeller
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195178067
- eISBN:
- 9780199784905
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195178068.003.0013
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
The Council of Trent's mandate to women's religious lives consisted of an insistence on the rules of enclosure. The Second Vatican Council mandated religious worship to examine every aspect of ...
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The Council of Trent's mandate to women's religious lives consisted of an insistence on the rules of enclosure. The Second Vatican Council mandated religious worship to examine every aspect of women's lives in order to discard outmoded customs and practices in light of the needs of their times. This chapter explores the complexities and results of these two movements for renewal, focusing on the situations prior to the councils, the conciliar mandates, their implementation, and their short- and long-term effects.Less
The Council of Trent's mandate to women's religious lives consisted of an insistence on the rules of enclosure. The Second Vatican Council mandated religious worship to examine every aspect of women's lives in order to discard outmoded customs and practices in light of the needs of their times. This chapter explores the complexities and results of these two movements for renewal, focusing on the situations prior to the councils, the conciliar mandates, their implementation, and their short- and long-term effects.
Timothy Fitzgerald
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195300093
- eISBN:
- 9780199868636
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195300093.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The changes in typical usage of the various key categories discussed in previous chapters become more pronounced in certain contexts after the late seventeenth century, and the connection with ...
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The changes in typical usage of the various key categories discussed in previous chapters become more pronounced in certain contexts after the late seventeenth century, and the connection with colonies, plantations, and the increasing need for new forms of classification tends to relativize Religion as Christian Truth. This should not be exaggerated. In England the dominance of the church state continues, and the social order is still characterized more in terms of a hierarchy of rank and degree than in terms of Dissenting Individuals motivated by the need for justification and economic salvation. Even Locke's contemporary John Bunyan, whose pilgrimage is an interior moral one, and whose use of the term religious does not refer at all to monastic orders but to a special kind of inner life, still has no concept of a world which is neutral to religion. However, by the early nineteenth century in England there is a clearly gathering momentum to the discourse on “politics” as essentially separate from “religion,” even though the boundaries are hotly disputed and thus by no means yet inscribed into the order of things.Less
The changes in typical usage of the various key categories discussed in previous chapters become more pronounced in certain contexts after the late seventeenth century, and the connection with colonies, plantations, and the increasing need for new forms of classification tends to relativize Religion as Christian Truth. This should not be exaggerated. In England the dominance of the church state continues, and the social order is still characterized more in terms of a hierarchy of rank and degree than in terms of Dissenting Individuals motivated by the need for justification and economic salvation. Even Locke's contemporary John Bunyan, whose pilgrimage is an interior moral one, and whose use of the term religious does not refer at all to monastic orders but to a special kind of inner life, still has no concept of a world which is neutral to religion. However, by the early nineteenth century in England there is a clearly gathering momentum to the discourse on “politics” as essentially separate from “religion,” even though the boundaries are hotly disputed and thus by no means yet inscribed into the order of things.
Denis J. Murphy
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199207145
- eISBN:
- 9780191708893
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207145.003.0014
- Subject:
- Biology, Plant Sciences and Forestry
The Renaissance provided some stimulus to European agriculture but a far more profound phenomenon after 1550 CE was a ‘neonaissance’ involving the creation and publishing de novo of reliable ...
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The Renaissance provided some stimulus to European agriculture but a far more profound phenomenon after 1550 CE was a ‘neonaissance’ involving the creation and publishing de novo of reliable knowledge based on systematic observation. This was paralleled by the emergence of an entrepreneurial culture, especially in the maritime nations of England and the Netherlands, that encouraged exploration and agrarian innovation for private profit. In England, land enclosure began as a way to establish farming as a profitable business venture rather than as a socially based subsistence activity. Practical scientific breeding began to emerge in the 17th century with a newly united Britain and the independent Netherlands as major centres. This process was assisted by improved literacy and the establishment of agricultural and scientific societies, such as the Royal Society in London.Less
The Renaissance provided some stimulus to European agriculture but a far more profound phenomenon after 1550 CE was a ‘neonaissance’ involving the creation and publishing de novo of reliable knowledge based on systematic observation. This was paralleled by the emergence of an entrepreneurial culture, especially in the maritime nations of England and the Netherlands, that encouraged exploration and agrarian innovation for private profit. In England, land enclosure began as a way to establish farming as a profitable business venture rather than as a socially based subsistence activity. Practical scientific breeding began to emerge in the 17th century with a newly united Britain and the independent Netherlands as major centres. This process was assisted by improved literacy and the establishment of agricultural and scientific societies, such as the Royal Society in London.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198282969
- eISBN:
- 9780191684425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198282969.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter discusses the history of enclosure in the midlands, specifically 1,568 parishes in the counties of Northampton, Rutland, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Oxford, and Bedford, to name a few. ...
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This chapter discusses the history of enclosure in the midlands, specifically 1,568 parishes in the counties of Northampton, Rutland, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Oxford, and Bedford, to name a few. Enclosures were considered as pivotal events during the development of agrarian relations in the early modern England, which was due to the official responses and its direct effects. It has been determined that enclosure was disruptive in the midlands, which was influenced by London and a handful of other industrial cities, thus making it the ideal place to conduct an analysis of the effects of enclosure.Less
This chapter discusses the history of enclosure in the midlands, specifically 1,568 parishes in the counties of Northampton, Rutland, Cambridge, Huntingdon, Oxford, and Bedford, to name a few. Enclosures were considered as pivotal events during the development of agrarian relations in the early modern England, which was due to the official responses and its direct effects. It has been determined that enclosure was disruptive in the midlands, which was influenced by London and a handful of other industrial cities, thus making it the ideal place to conduct an analysis of the effects of enclosure.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198282969
- eISBN:
- 9780191684425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198282969.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter discusses the second kind of evidence for the importance of enclosures. The first evidence, which was discussed in the previous chapters, was the observation that land use changed after ...
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This chapter discusses the second kind of evidence for the importance of enclosures. The first evidence, which was discussed in the previous chapters, was the observation that land use changed after enclosure and that the enclosed farmers were more likely to adopt those improved methods than the open field farmers. The second evidence that is discussed in this chapter is the increase in rent that usually followed enclosures.Less
This chapter discusses the second kind of evidence for the importance of enclosures. The first evidence, which was discussed in the previous chapters, was the observation that land use changed after enclosure and that the enclosed farmers were more likely to adopt those improved methods than the open field farmers. The second evidence that is discussed in this chapter is the increase in rent that usually followed enclosures.
Christopher Dyer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199214242
- eISBN:
- 9780191740954
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214242.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Economic History
A wool merchant on the edge of the Cotswolds, John Heritage of Moreton in Marsh, traded between 1498 and 1520, and kept a record of his business in an account book. At this time commerce played a ...
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A wool merchant on the edge of the Cotswolds, John Heritage of Moreton in Marsh, traded between 1498 and 1520, and kept a record of his business in an account book. At this time commerce played a major role in English society, and although the wool trade was in decline, Heritage was still active in gathering wool from the producers and supplying the London merchants who sent it overseas. He was also making large profits from farming, by grazing large flocks of sheep and selling wool and animals. The general trends in society that are illuminated by this one trader include the importance of the enclosure movement, which enabled a small number of graziers and farmers to supply the market for wool and meat efficiently from specialized pastures. More important, however, were the large numbers of peasant producers who each sold relatively small quantities of wool, but cumulatively provided a high proportion of the surplus. Peasants could make a profit from the skilful management of the open fields which were attached to their villages, and this was not therefore just an age of rampant individualism. The village was still very active, and there were tensions between acquisitive individuals and the peasant communities, which could lead to the collapse of the village, but sometimes the encloser and grazier met with effective resistance.Less
A wool merchant on the edge of the Cotswolds, John Heritage of Moreton in Marsh, traded between 1498 and 1520, and kept a record of his business in an account book. At this time commerce played a major role in English society, and although the wool trade was in decline, Heritage was still active in gathering wool from the producers and supplying the London merchants who sent it overseas. He was also making large profits from farming, by grazing large flocks of sheep and selling wool and animals. The general trends in society that are illuminated by this one trader include the importance of the enclosure movement, which enabled a small number of graziers and farmers to supply the market for wool and meat efficiently from specialized pastures. More important, however, were the large numbers of peasant producers who each sold relatively small quantities of wool, but cumulatively provided a high proportion of the surplus. Peasants could make a profit from the skilful management of the open fields which were attached to their villages, and this was not therefore just an age of rampant individualism. The village was still very active, and there were tensions between acquisitive individuals and the peasant communities, which could lead to the collapse of the village, but sometimes the encloser and grazier met with effective resistance.
Peter White
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195388510
- eISBN:
- 9780199866717
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388510.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The editor of Cicero's correspondence did not publish all the letter files that Cicero left when he died. Many letters were omitted that did not concern politics or involve members of the political ...
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The editor of Cicero's correspondence did not publish all the letter files that Cicero left when he died. Many letters were omitted that did not concern politics or involve members of the political class. Among those selected, the preference shown for enclosures, recommendations, and letters addressed to Cicero had the effect of highlighting his influence at every level of Roman society. The editor also made a point of creating arrangements of the letters that emphasized Cicero's role in dramatic events. The published correspondence thus served to project an image of Cicero as an important public man.Less
The editor of Cicero's correspondence did not publish all the letter files that Cicero left when he died. Many letters were omitted that did not concern politics or involve members of the political class. Among those selected, the preference shown for enclosures, recommendations, and letters addressed to Cicero had the effect of highlighting his influence at every level of Roman society. The editor also made a point of creating arrangements of the letters that emphasized Cicero's role in dramatic events. The published correspondence thus served to project an image of Cicero as an important public man.
Christopher Dyer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199214242
- eISBN:
- 9780191740954
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214242.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History, Economic History
This chapter shows how sheep were kept and wool produced in a thinly populated countryside, with some flocks kept on specialized pastures, including the sites of abandoned villages, while others ...
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This chapter shows how sheep were kept and wool produced in a thinly populated countryside, with some flocks kept on specialized pastures, including the sites of abandoned villages, while others grazed on the fallows and stubbles of the corn-producing open fields of still surviving villages. Heritage himself kept sheep on both types of pasture. Pastures were organized in different ways, and the process of enclosure is discussed. The names in the account book allow the producers to be identified, and they reflect the whole social structure, from gentry to the shepherd who were allowed to keep a few sheep with their employers’ flock. Among the larger producers were the farmers and graziers who leased large pastures, or kept sheep on demesnes which practised mixed husbandry. A high proportion of the wool came from modestly-sized peasant flocks.Less
This chapter shows how sheep were kept and wool produced in a thinly populated countryside, with some flocks kept on specialized pastures, including the sites of abandoned villages, while others grazed on the fallows and stubbles of the corn-producing open fields of still surviving villages. Heritage himself kept sheep on both types of pasture. Pastures were organized in different ways, and the process of enclosure is discussed. The names in the account book allow the producers to be identified, and they reflect the whole social structure, from gentry to the shepherd who were allowed to keep a few sheep with their employers’ flock. Among the larger producers were the farmers and graziers who leased large pastures, or kept sheep on demesnes which practised mixed husbandry. A high proportion of the wool came from modestly-sized peasant flocks.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- August 2004
- ISBN:
- 9780199241019
- eISBN:
- 9780191601217
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199241015.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Development, Growth, and Environmental, South and East Asia
This chapter presents an alternative interpretation of the open fields based on historical research in the last thirty years. Open fields were an efficient institution for meeting the needs of ...
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This chapter presents an alternative interpretation of the open fields based on historical research in the last thirty years. Open fields were an efficient institution for meeting the needs of small-scale, grain growing farmers. However, market capitalism undermined the open field community from within, which precipitated its demise.Less
This chapter presents an alternative interpretation of the open fields based on historical research in the last thirty years. Open fields were an efficient institution for meeting the needs of small-scale, grain growing farmers. However, market capitalism undermined the open field community from within, which precipitated its demise.
S. A. Mileson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565672
- eISBN:
- 9780191721748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565672.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter introduces the nature and significance of medieval parks and explains how they have been studied by previous scholars. It then sets out the many aspects of the subject which remain ...
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This chapter introduces the nature and significance of medieval parks and explains how they have been studied by previous scholars. It then sets out the many aspects of the subject which remain uncertain or controversial and makes clear the wider importance of the topic in terms of the history of medieval culture, jurisdiction, society, and economy. Two key questions are posed which the rest of the book will attempt to answer. Firstly, what was the purpose of parks? Were these royal and aristocratic reserves mainly important as hunting grounds, economic assets, ‘designed landscapes’, or status symbols? Secondly, what impact did these numerous private enclosures have on wider society? Did park creation pose more of challenge to the king and other lords, who had their own strong interest in game and hunting, or to peasants and townsmen, who wanted access to woods, pastures, roads, and fields?Less
This chapter introduces the nature and significance of medieval parks and explains how they have been studied by previous scholars. It then sets out the many aspects of the subject which remain uncertain or controversial and makes clear the wider importance of the topic in terms of the history of medieval culture, jurisdiction, society, and economy. Two key questions are posed which the rest of the book will attempt to answer. Firstly, what was the purpose of parks? Were these royal and aristocratic reserves mainly important as hunting grounds, economic assets, ‘designed landscapes’, or status symbols? Secondly, what impact did these numerous private enclosures have on wider society? Did park creation pose more of challenge to the king and other lords, who had their own strong interest in game and hunting, or to peasants and townsmen, who wanted access to woods, pastures, roads, and fields?
S. A. Mileson
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199565672
- eISBN:
- 9780191721748
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199565672.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter uses landscape and documentary evidence to uncover for the first time how park-making affected wider communities, including townsmen as well as peasants. The analysis takes in the whole ...
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This chapter uses landscape and documentary evidence to uncover for the first time how park-making affected wider communities, including townsmen as well as peasants. The analysis takes in the whole of the middle ages, providing separate discussion of the earlier and later parts of the period, with their very different demographic and economic conditions and social climate. It is shown that park-making frequently led to the confiscation of farmland from peasants — often with little or no compensation — as well as ensuring that woods and wastes were excluded from assarting and arable expansion. At the same time, parks reduced access to the vital resources of woods and common pastures and led to the blocking and re-routing of roads and tracks. Parks are thus shown to have been an important element in medieval enclosure and an area where the priorities of lords and tenants were often strongly opposed.Less
This chapter uses landscape and documentary evidence to uncover for the first time how park-making affected wider communities, including townsmen as well as peasants. The analysis takes in the whole of the middle ages, providing separate discussion of the earlier and later parts of the period, with their very different demographic and economic conditions and social climate. It is shown that park-making frequently led to the confiscation of farmland from peasants — often with little or no compensation — as well as ensuring that woods and wastes were excluded from assarting and arable expansion. At the same time, parks reduced access to the vital resources of woods and common pastures and led to the blocking and re-routing of roads and tracks. Parks are thus shown to have been an important element in medieval enclosure and an area where the priorities of lords and tenants were often strongly opposed.
Anne D. Wallace
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183280
- eISBN:
- 9780191674006
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183280.003.0003
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
At the same time in which the transport revolution was happening in England, enclosure in agriculture in the country was taking place, displacing small farmers and rural labourers. This chapter ...
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At the same time in which the transport revolution was happening in England, enclosure in agriculture in the country was taking place, displacing small farmers and rural labourers. This chapter discusses land enclosure and its results for the culture of walking during the mid-18th century. In this chapter, the multiplying frames of reference and the shifting perceptions caused by changes in the physical environment are discussed within the literatures produced in this period. In this chapter, the effect of enclosure on public footpaths which caused massive changes in traditional economics and traditional perspectives, are discussed. The importance of walking and peripatetic theory in mitigating the ill-effects of enclosure and in preserving old landscapes from changes and in preserving cultural values are discussed as well.Less
At the same time in which the transport revolution was happening in England, enclosure in agriculture in the country was taking place, displacing small farmers and rural labourers. This chapter discusses land enclosure and its results for the culture of walking during the mid-18th century. In this chapter, the multiplying frames of reference and the shifting perceptions caused by changes in the physical environment are discussed within the literatures produced in this period. In this chapter, the effect of enclosure on public footpaths which caused massive changes in traditional economics and traditional perspectives, are discussed. The importance of walking and peripatetic theory in mitigating the ill-effects of enclosure and in preserving old landscapes from changes and in preserving cultural values are discussed as well.
Frédérique Apffel-Marglin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199793853
- eISBN:
- 9780199919246
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199793853.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Chapter 3 focuses on the pre-modern European oral peasantry and their gift economy and rituals on the commons. The chapter argues that the eradication of this world is in great part due to the ...
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Chapter 3 focuses on the pre-modern European oral peasantry and their gift economy and rituals on the commons. The chapter argues that the eradication of this world is in great part due to the enclosure movement and the rise of the market economy. The transition from the gift (or moral) economy to the market economy is said to play a central role in the de-spiriting of the non-human world. The work of Elizabeth Potter on the debate between Robert Boyle and the hylozoist Franciscus Linus, and the defeat of hylozoism, a non-dualistic, non-mechanistic worldview, is presented. Using other historical works, it is argued that hylozoism was the worldview of those who lost out in the struggles of the times, namely the peasantry, the working classes, the heretics, and the “witches.” The new order required a new worldview, the dualist mechanistic one we have inherited.Less
Chapter 3 focuses on the pre-modern European oral peasantry and their gift economy and rituals on the commons. The chapter argues that the eradication of this world is in great part due to the enclosure movement and the rise of the market economy. The transition from the gift (or moral) economy to the market economy is said to play a central role in the de-spiriting of the non-human world. The work of Elizabeth Potter on the debate between Robert Boyle and the hylozoist Franciscus Linus, and the defeat of hylozoism, a non-dualistic, non-mechanistic worldview, is presented. Using other historical works, it is argued that hylozoism was the worldview of those who lost out in the struggles of the times, namely the peasantry, the working classes, the heretics, and the “witches.” The new order required a new worldview, the dualist mechanistic one we have inherited.
Dana D. Nelson
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780823268382
- eISBN:
- 9780823272525
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823268382.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: early to 18th Century
Chapter 3 studies Cooper’s early novel The Pioneers (1826). So familiarly analyzed by the myth and symbol critics as an account of the conflict between “nature and civilization,” and by environmental ...
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Chapter 3 studies Cooper’s early novel The Pioneers (1826). So familiarly analyzed by the myth and symbol critics as an account of the conflict between “nature and civilization,” and by environmental critics as a depiction of man’s inherent greed and wastefulness, it becomes something more nuanced and historical when viewed with questions of the commons in mind. From this angle, Cooper’s novel, set in the 1790s, appears less a simple, mythic account of “man’s” transition from the state of “nature” into “civilization,” and more a carefully historicized account of how people distributed access to shared goods and constructed vernacular systems of social order, “fair play,” or “the peace,” on the frontier. In particular, it details how local actors reacted to the imposition of a top-down and more systematized (“modern”) legal system, engineered through the combined force of state/federal government and private capital.Less
Chapter 3 studies Cooper’s early novel The Pioneers (1826). So familiarly analyzed by the myth and symbol critics as an account of the conflict between “nature and civilization,” and by environmental critics as a depiction of man’s inherent greed and wastefulness, it becomes something more nuanced and historical when viewed with questions of the commons in mind. From this angle, Cooper’s novel, set in the 1790s, appears less a simple, mythic account of “man’s” transition from the state of “nature” into “civilization,” and more a carefully historicized account of how people distributed access to shared goods and constructed vernacular systems of social order, “fair play,” or “the peace,” on the frontier. In particular, it details how local actors reacted to the imposition of a top-down and more systematized (“modern”) legal system, engineered through the combined force of state/federal government and private capital.
Juan Carlos Moreno-Brid and Jaime Ros
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195371161
- eISBN:
- 9780199870608
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371161.003.0003
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
Chapter 3 analyzes the Mexican economy's structural transformation and fast expansion during the Porfiriato. It argues that the achievement of political stability—through the establishment of a ...
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Chapter 3 analyzes the Mexican economy's structural transformation and fast expansion during the Porfiriato. It argues that the achievement of political stability—through the establishment of a strong state—plus a change in development strategy and institutional modernization permitted the removal of key constraints on Mexico's economic growth starting in the 1870s. This economic and political change transformed the economy in many ways: the railway system modernized the nation's infrastructure and integrated the domestic market. Primary exports boomed and a modern manufacturing sector emerged. It shows that, however, the distribution of economic benefits was highly uneven, in particular market concentration in industry, banking, and most conspicuously land resulting from what amounted to an enclosure movement in which federal and peasant communal lands were redistributed to land development companies and rich individuals. The chapter concludes by stating that the process of increasing inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth proved to be the Achilles' heel of the regime.Less
Chapter 3 analyzes the Mexican economy's structural transformation and fast expansion during the Porfiriato. It argues that the achievement of political stability—through the establishment of a strong state—plus a change in development strategy and institutional modernization permitted the removal of key constraints on Mexico's economic growth starting in the 1870s. This economic and political change transformed the economy in many ways: the railway system modernized the nation's infrastructure and integrated the domestic market. Primary exports boomed and a modern manufacturing sector emerged. It shows that, however, the distribution of economic benefits was highly uneven, in particular market concentration in industry, banking, and most conspicuously land resulting from what amounted to an enclosure movement in which federal and peasant communal lands were redistributed to land development companies and rich individuals. The chapter concludes by stating that the process of increasing inequalities in the distribution of income and wealth proved to be the Achilles' heel of the regime.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198282969
- eISBN:
- 9780191684425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198282969.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Aside from being disruptive in the midlands (a topic discussed in Chapter 2), it has been determined that enclosure is the oldest explanation for the destruction of the English peasantry. This ...
More
Aside from being disruptive in the midlands (a topic discussed in Chapter 2), it has been determined that enclosure is the oldest explanation for the destruction of the English peasantry. This chapter discusses an argument about enclosures, which states that early enclosures often did eliminate peasant agriculture and instead concentrate on the ownership of property in the hands of manorial lords. This argument rests on the evidence of the land tax assessments; taxes were noted to be first imposed in 1692.Less
Aside from being disruptive in the midlands (a topic discussed in Chapter 2), it has been determined that enclosure is the oldest explanation for the destruction of the English peasantry. This chapter discusses an argument about enclosures, which states that early enclosures often did eliminate peasant agriculture and instead concentrate on the ownership of property in the hands of manorial lords. This argument rests on the evidence of the land tax assessments; taxes were noted to be first imposed in 1692.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198282969
- eISBN:
- 9780191684425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198282969.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter discusses the way the peasantry consolidated its control over land in the sixteenth century. Prior to this, the English peasants slowly disappeared in two phases. The first phase was due ...
More
This chapter discusses the way the peasantry consolidated its control over land in the sixteenth century. Prior to this, the English peasants slowly disappeared in two phases. The first phase was due to early enclosure, while the second phase was when peasant farmers also disappeared from the open fields in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Sections on farm life and labour are included in this chapter.Less
This chapter discusses the way the peasantry consolidated its control over land in the sixteenth century. Prior to this, the English peasants slowly disappeared in two phases. The first phase was due to early enclosure, while the second phase was when peasant farmers also disappeared from the open fields in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Sections on farm life and labour are included in this chapter.
Robert C. Allen
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198282969
- eISBN:
- 9780191684425
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198282969.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter discusses the implications of enclosure for the output of livestock products, while taking into account changes in animal numbers as well as improvements in breeds. The chapter also ...
More
This chapter discusses the implications of enclosure for the output of livestock products, while taking into account changes in animal numbers as well as improvements in breeds. The chapter also presents a computation of the changes in farm output that followed enclosure. Enclosure was determined to cause productivity growth in English agriculture, and that it did accelerate the adoption of new crops, draining, and livestock.Less
This chapter discusses the implications of enclosure for the output of livestock products, while taking into account changes in animal numbers as well as improvements in breeds. The chapter also presents a computation of the changes in farm output that followed enclosure. Enclosure was determined to cause productivity growth in English agriculture, and that it did accelerate the adoption of new crops, draining, and livestock.
