Freedman, The origins of peasant servitude in medieval Catalonia.

Condition : good, minor shelf wear, otherwise very good.

This book, the original edition of which was published in 1991, describes the history of the peasants in Catalonia, the richest and most politically dominant part of the medieval kingdom of Aragon, between the 9th and 15th centuries. It focuses on the period from 1000 to 1300, when free peasants who had held property in favourable border conditions were gradually subjugated by their lords. Between 1462 and 1486, Catalan peasants organised the most successful peasant war of the Middle Ages and achieved the formal abolition of servitude. Professor Freedman seeks to explain both the process by which serfdom was strengthened over the centuries and its eventual weakening in the face of direct moral and military challenge. He addresses both the causes of bondage and the limits of its effectiveness. The book integrates archival evidence with theories of society developed by medieval jurists. Comparisons are made between Catalonia and other regions, and its experience is situated within a spectrum of different social and economic conditions.