Agricultural History Review, Volume 56 Part 2 (2008), pp. 123–141

The peasant sector of the agricultural economy is much less well documented than the seigneurial sector in the late middle ages. This paper is an attempt to use tithe data to shed light on cropping patterns outside manorial demesnes in six parishes in south-east England. Tithe receipts are compared with output from demesnes and the similarity of cropping in the two sectors is revealed. Peasant cultivators were clearly able to adopt intensive cropping regimes in response to various incentives like their seigneurial counterparts. Tithe data are found to be a problematic source since they reflect aggregate output levels. The impact of this difficulty on the conclusions is discussed and differences between large and small peasant holdings are suggested. 

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