Vol. 89 (2020): Vorträge und Forschungen: Landwirtschaft und Dorfgesellschaft im ausgehenden Mittelalter

Agricultural economy and the village were decisive for the way most people in Europe lived in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Times. Research into the rural world is therefore of fundamental importance. The spatial focus of the present volume is Central Europe and the chronological one is the late Middle Ages. The period around 1500 in particular, with its dense sources, now opens up rewarding research perspectives for rural areas. This applies not only to classical areas of agricultural history such as the regionally very different agricultural constitutions and the forms of agricultural production: arable farming and animal husbandry as well as special crops such as viticulture. In addition central problems such as the environment and climate, the market orientation, the organisation and everyday life of the village society, the rural life in art and other central issues can also be examined more closely in this period. Agricultural history has proved to be a fruitful field of work for medieval research for regional history. The present volume offers numerous new results, but also provides a variety of suggestions for further research into agricultural history and rural life in the late Middle Ages.