Sam Riding

Research Topic

‘Changing Cultures of Common Land After the Black Death in England, 1300-1500’.

The primary focus of my research is the role that common land and rights of common had in structuring English village society in the 14th and 15th centuries, and how that role was altered by the Black Death. To do this, I will be investigating the use, misuse, and regulation of common land and related rights of common in multiple manors in 14th and 15th century England.

My research intersects with several existing strands of research and debate: the impact of the Black Death on the English peasantry in the short and medium term; the structure and organisation of peasant society at the village and manor level; the use of common land by the English peasantry; changing access to the commons; and the impact of that change on late medieval England's economy and society in the context of a longer-term transition from feudal to capitalist modes of production.

Supervisor: John Watts and Tom Johnson