Agricultural History Review, Volume 62 Part 2 (2014), pp. 187–209

This article presents an analysis of Ellwangen Abbey’s polyptych of 1337, with a view to understanding better the nature of the south German rural economy in this period. It is generally accepted that in England by this time, rural society was highly commercialized, despite (or because of) the survival, at least formally, of the manorial system. In contrast, there was little direct management of demesne lands in much of Germany at this date, but the evidence suggests that rural society was, here as well, highly commercialized. Although this article is an analysis of only one source for one micro-region, its results suggest that the situation in England might have been less exceptional than is often supposed, and in the final section of the article some further suggestions are advanced regarding the implications of this point. 

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