Book Series The Medieval Countryside, vol. 4

Survival and Discord in Medieval Society

Essays in Honour of Christopher Dyer

Richard Goddard, John Langdon, Miriam Muller (eds)

  • Pages: viii + 307 p.
  • Size:156 x 234 mm
  • Illustrations:1 b/w, 7 tables b/w.
  • Language(s):English
  • Publication Year:2010

  • € 75,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-52815-1
  • Hardback
  • Available
  • € 75,00 EXCL. VAT RETAIL PRICE
  • ISBN: 978-2-503-53926-3
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Review(s)

"It is a fitting tribute to Dyer's career thus far, and as such, is well worth a read by students of medieval socio-
economic history, both rural and urban."    (Bethany J. Hamblen, in The Medieval Review, 11.05.24)

"This is an excellent tribute volume. A diverse range of subjects, sources, chronologies, and methodologies are addressed within the themes of survival, discord, and the scholarly output of Christopher Dyer himself."    (Nicholas Brodie, in Parergon 28.1, 2011, p. 222)

"This is a welcome and much deserved volume."    (John Hare, in Reviews in History, no. 1162, November 2011, URL http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1162)

"Overall, this is a largely well-balanced volume, featuring studies from established and highly regarded scholars alongside emerging talent." (Susan Kilby, in: Journal of Rural History, Volume 24/2-2013, p. 219)

Summary

This book, a tribute to an exceptional scholar known for his broad-ranging interests, brings together the new work of students, friends, and colleagues of Prof. Dyer. The volume reflects his interests in the twin disciplines of history and archaeology and his ground-breaking work in medieval standards of living, social tensions, and town-country relations. The varied and stimulating essays presented in this volume examine a host of critical issues dealing with diet, settlement, employment opportunities, taxation, credit and debt, and the tensions felt in town and country alike which often exploded into full-scale revolt. This new work not only looks at these issues from the standpoint of new evidence and theoretical perspectives, but also imparts a strong sense of the controversy surrounding many of these central issues in medieval history, ranging from how well common people managed to live and reproduce to the nature of their relationships with each other and with their social superiors. The volume, in short, stimulates a vital reconsideration of many of the key concerns pertaining to the study of medieval societies.