BOOK: Tore IVERSEN, John Ragnar MYKING & Stefan SONDEREGGER, Peasants, Lords, and State: Comparing Peasant Conditions in Scandinavia and the Eastern Alpine Region , 1000-1750 (Leiden: Brill, 2020). ISBN: 978-90-04-42970-3, pp. 375, €119.00

(Source: Brill)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Peasants, Lords and State: Comparing Peasant Conditions in Scandinavia and the Eastern Alpine Region, 1000-1750 challenges the once widespread view, rooted in the historical thinking of the nineteenth century, that Scandinavian and especially Norwegian peasants enjoyed a particular “peasant freedom” compared to their Continental counterparts. Markers of this supposed freedom were believed to be peasants’ widespread ownership of land, extensive control over land and resources, and comprehensive judicial influence through the institution of the thing. The existence of slaves and unfree people was furthermore considered a marginal phenomenon. The contributors compare Scandinavia with the eastern Alpine region, two regions comprising fertile plains as well as rugged mountainous areas. This offers an opportunity to analyse the effect of topographical factors without neglecting the influence of manorial and territorial power structures over the long time-span of c.1000 to 1750. 

With contributions by Markus Cerman, Tore Iversen, Michael Mitterauer, John Ragnar Myking, Josef Riedmann, Werner Rösener, Helge Salvesen, and Stefan Sonderegger.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Tore Iversen, Dr. Art (1994), Professor emeritus in medieval history at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. He has published monographs and articles on medieval slavery, property and land tenancy in a Scandinavian and European context. 

John Ragnar Myking, Dr. Art (2003), Professor emeritus in medieval and early modern history at Western Norwegian University of Applied Sciences. He has published monographs and articles on land tenancy in a European context and local and regional history. 

Stefan Sonderegger, Dr. (1994), Professor in medieval history at the University of Zurich and Head of the City Archive of St.Gallen, Switzerland. His research focuses on economic history and the editing of documents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface 

  Acknowledgements 

  List of Figures 

  Notes on Contributors 

Part 1: Introduction

1 Historiographical and Methodological Reflections 

    Tore Iversen and John Ragnar Myking 

Part 2: Comparing Scandinavia and the Eastern Alpine Region

2 Slavery and Unfreedom from the Middle Ages to the Beginning of the Early Modern Period 

    Tore Iversen 

3 Leasehold and Freehold c. 1200–1750 

    John Ragnar Myking 

4 Peasant Participation in Thing and Local Assemblies c. 1000–1750 

    Tore Iversen and John Ragnar Myking 

5 Summary and Conclusion 

    Tore Iversen and John Ragnar Myking 

Part 3: The Portrayal of Peasants in National Historiography

6 The Historian as Architect of Nations: A Historiographical Analysis of the Norwegian Peasantry as Carrier of National Ideology and Identity in the Medieval and Early Modern Period 

    Helge Salvesen 

7 The Participation of the Tyrolean Peasantry in the Government of the Country: Theory – Reality – Ideology 

    Josef Riedmann 

8 Peasant Ideology in German Historiography 

    Werner Rösener 

9 Switzerland – A ‘Peasant State’? 

    Stefan Sonderegger 

Part 4: Appendix

The Sub-peasant Strata in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Eastern Alpine Region 

    Markus Cerman and Michael Mitterauer 

Active Manorial Lords and Peasant Farmers in the Economic Life of the Late Middle Ages: Results from New Swiss and German Research 

    Stefan Sonderegger 

  Glossary 

  Bibliography 

  Index 

More information with the publisher.