Environmental conflict, rural communities and political centralisation in the Burgundian-Habsburg Low Countries (c.1300-c1570): test-case: the duchy of Brabant.

The environmental impact of late-medieval state formation is questioned through an in-depth analysis of the interventions of local officials of the central state in the organisation and regulation of the environment in Brabantine rural communities (14th-16th centuries). This will allow us to analyse if and how the central government acquired a significant influence in the social distribution of environmental costs and benefits already in the late medieval period, at the expense of traditional environmental knowledge and management systems.

Keywords:ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICT, RURAL COMMUNITIES, ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY, STATE FORMATION

Disciplines:History