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Project

The struggle for the commons in the late medieval Campine area: an unexplored field.

Commons have recently gained importance in historiography, but most studies tend to limit themselves to economical or political transition periods that led to the disappearance of the commons. Tensions and conflicts on the commons however, were not limited to these periods of large-scale transformation. Even where commons continued to be the economic and institutional corner-stone of rural society, as was the case in the Campine area in the north of Brabant throughout the medieval and early modern period, their use and regulation were permanently debated. In this project, actors, arguments and outcomes of these conflicts are analysed, not only to reveal changing uses and expectations on the commons by different stakeholders, but also to reveal changes in the local balance of power within and beyond the village community. Through an investigation of litigation processes on the Campine commons this project questions how control over the vital commons was used by different groups to gain influence in the village society and how these power struggles affected the use and management of the commons. By doing so, it aims to offer an innovative view of the hidden dynamics of the late medieval Campine society and its use and management of the natural environment.
Date:1 Oct 2010 →  30 Sep 2012
Keywords:MEDIEVAL HISTORY, CONFLICTS
Disciplines:History