Agricultural History Review, Volume 59 Part 2 (2011), pp. 239–258

The original concept of East-Elbian ‘demesne lordship’ (Gutsherrschaft), coined more than a century ago, provided the basis for later interpretations that assumed the existence of a fundamental divide between the early modern agrarian systems of Western and Eastern Europe. Within this ‘agrarian dualism’, East Central and Eastern Europe became associated with the rise of a commercial demesne economy and a strengthening of landlord powers over the rural population. While not ignoring the negative consequences of demesne lordship, recent approaches deal with the experience of lordship at the village level and point to the variety of agrarian structures within East Central and Eastern Europe. The results challenge traditional images of a general imposition of a ‘second serfdom’ and long-term economic stagnation and backwardness. The research focus has recently shifted to a reassessment of the social and legal conditions of the villagers and of the performance of the demesne and the tenant economic sectors in a comparative European perspective, casting further doubt on the existence of uniform ‘agrarian systems’ and ‘agrarian dualism’. 

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