Susan Kilby Peasant Perspectives on the Medieval Landscape: A Study of Three Communities Hatfield, University of Hertfordshire Press, 2020, 238 ...
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Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312 DOI 10.26882/histagrar.084r09b © 2021 The Author(s)
■ ■ ■
Susan Kilby
Peasant Perspectives on the Medieval Landscape: A Study of Three
Communities
Hatfield, University of Hertfordshire Press, 2020, 238 pp.
n 1939, in his seminal work The feudal
I
post-modern and identity studies played a
society (1993), Marc Bloch wrote: “let major role during the 1980s and the 1990s
us take for example a mini agglomera- in the evolution of social and economical
tion. The family law of the peasants nor- studies centred upon the medieval peas-
mally followed much the same rules in the antry. This line of inquiry has, nevertheless,
whole of the surrounding region. Their maintained its vitality through the last
agrarian law, on the other hand, conformed decades and is currently a popular topic
to usages peculiar to their community” (p. again. This latest wave of studies on the me-
115). Bloch’s monumental work was one of dieval peasantry not only engages with re-
the founding and fundamental landmarks cent theoretical debates and methodolo-
of the study of medieval peasantry, estab- gies, but also challenges some of those
lishing an approach that lasted for decades, founding ideas about the medieval peas-
as seen in, for example, the considerations antry. Susan Kilby’s book Peasant Perspec-
made in the abovementioned citation. Even tives on the Medieval Landscape is a clear
though the analysis of medieval peasantry example of this historiographical trend.
has been a common topic since Bloch’s The book comprises the outcome of a
times, it has also had an irregular develop- doctoral thesis defended by the author at
ment, including historiographical periods the University of Leicester and it is pub-
in which other subjects and objects of study lished within the collection of Studies in
blurred the significance of the majority of Regional and Local History edited by the
the population during the Middle Ages. As University of Hertfordshire. As the author
C. Wickham (2007) has correctly stated, states, the main aim of the study is “to es-
271Crítica de libros
tablish what it might be possible to deter- agency and interaction that the peasantry
mine about peasants’ varied relationships establishes directly with the landscape or,
with their local environment using the indirectly, with other social groups through
sources that remain to us” (p. 18). For this their interactions within the landscape. This
purpose, Kilby analyses a wide range of is quite compelling for three reasons. The
information on three rural settlements lo- first one is that this approach gives a cen-
cated in the eastern part of England, specif- tral place to action and practice as a way of
ically the settlements of Elton in Hunting- creating subjectivity –even though E.P.
donshire, Castor in Northamptonshire, and Thompson (1991) is not directly cited,
Lakenheath in Suffolk, in a period com- there is a close similarity with his line of
prised between the years c.1086 and thinking. A second reason is that, chal-
c.1348. As the main focus is the variety of lenging traditional views on medieval peas-
ways with which medieval peasants en- antry, Kilby bestows a specific agency to
gaged with the landscape, the author uses medieval peasantries; in other words, she
and connects a wide range of different his- seeks to overcome traditional passive views
torical fields such as landscape archaeology, on a peasantry crushed beneath the
historical geography, ethnography and art seigniorial fist. The last reason is that this
history (p. 3). However, the core of the re- approach opens the possibility of delving
search is based on documentary sources into the question of social differences
and the analyses of onomastics and to- within peasant societies, which is precisely
ponymy taken from a variety of documen- one of the most interesting aspects of the
tary material such as court and account book.
rolls, manor surveys, hundred rolls or in- Even though the specific topics devel-
quisitions post (p.18). oped through the book are enormous, I will
Landscape is, without a doubt, the cen- highlight three that I consider are its main
tral concept of the book from which the au- contributions as a whole. The first one is, of
thor approaches the medieval peasantry. course, the peasant’s perspectives on the
Each of the chapters focuses on different landscape and the social relationships that
actions that can be taken upon the land- surround and determine them. How to
scape, such as “Ordering the land- achieve this level of perception from the
scape”(ch. 3), “The unseen landscape” (ch. peasant point of view which, obviously, did
4) or “Managing the Landscape” (ch. 8). not leave direct sources, is the main task of
The landscape, conceptualised from a post- Kilby’s study. The path she chooses is to
processualist view as a social and symbolic combine different indirect sources aiming
construction (repeated citations here from at extracting hypotheses and ideas on the
Tilley, 1994; and Johnson, 2012), is the matter. The starting point and the nucleus
point of departure to engage with the me- of this line of work are, as already men-
dieval peasantry. Thus the main lines of in- tioned, onomastics and toponymy: “This
quiry of the book are the different forms of idea suggests labelling was a mechanism
272 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
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designed to demystify the landscape in or- peasants not only distinguished between
der to possess and control it more thor- different areas but also ordered the land-
oughly” (p. 107). It is therefore through the scape and transmitted this knowledge
different names, labels and bynames to subsequent generations (pp. 130-31).
recorded on the documentary sources that Something similar can be said about names
the author is able to hypothesise how peas- referencing soil types, since “they only re-
ants “possessed” and perceived the land- ally make sense when we realise that their
scape. A landscape with which, and this is environmental context is noteworthy” (p.
crucial, “the peasants had direct and fre- 180). Moreover, she suggests the possibil-
quent interaction with and, fundamentally, ity of a kind of adaptive trend of the field
some element of control over were deemed names as “clearly some of these survive
by them to be significant enough to name while other names became obsolete” (p.
with precision” (p. 100). Topography, then, 180).
was an important marker in the naming Connected to this question of how peas-
practices of societies living in direct contact ant perception on landscapes was con-
with the landscape (p. 109), which implies structed through practice is the issue of
an interesting comparative analyses be- peasant agency as another pillar of the
tween the three case studies, pointing out book. The central idea defended by the au-
their similarities and differences (p. 118). thor is that by ordering the landscape be it
This central idea is developed in differ- through naming or through direct action
ent parts of the book through a diverse peasants manifest their agency and their
range of case studies. Perhaps the most ev- immediate experience with the spaces they
ident examples are exposed in chapters 7, live in. This, in fact, is considered a form of
8, the former being dedicated to the eco- possession: “The use of these names, how-
nomic landscapes and the latter being ever narrowly confined that may have been,
aimed at “assessing some of the more was undoubtedly designed to emphasise
widely used natural resources in each place the strong sense of possession these peas-
in context” (p. 171). By analysing the spe- ants felt regarding their holdings... to name
cific place names coming from the docu- a place is also to exert some form of control
mentary sources, the author not only over it” (p. 59). Naming that represented a
makes a thorough reconstruction of the form of folk and practical perception over
landscape as a whole but also suggests how the landscape was opposed to the instru-
this landscape was perceived and managed mentalist view of the elites, as “their rela-
by its more direct users, as “the mainte- tionship with the landscape was, for the
nance of the agricultural landscape was most part, not one of intimate association,
largely the responsibility of the peasantry” but rather practical and economic” (p. 40).
(p. 199). As an example, using specific flo- Although this opposition is never cate-
ral place names, combined with others re- gorised by the author as resistance or
ferring to open fields, Kilby suggests a way counter-hegemony, she analyses different
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
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273Crítica de libros
forms of peasant agency such as illegal ac- plistic binary opposition between lords and
tions and voluntary opposition against the peasants is inappropriate” (p. 207).
seigniorial law, one of the most interesting While the work is generally solid, the au-
of which was the creation of alternative thor is aware that some of her assertions are
and more practical routes for peasant hypothetical. Examples include the argu-
movement through fields (pp. 60-6). ment in Chapter 3 that there is a correla-
The third idea which may be considered tion between the creation of boundaries
central to this book is the analysis of social for the tofts and the level of peasant free-
differences, both between lords and peas- dom (p. 55-6), or the observation in Chap-
ants as already seen but also among peas- ter 6 where interpretations of the cultural
ants themselves. By analysing the topogra- and perceptive implications of historical
phy of the three abovementioned villages myths and local religious sculpture may
and the organization of tofts (pp. 50-5), present some alternative views. On the con-
the adoption of bynames as a strategy to trary, the author’s interpretation of the Lut-
achieve higher status (pp. 72-6), or the trell Psalter from the point of view of rural
commerce in manure to increase the unit’s social relationships is very compelling (pp.
income (p. 196), Kilby compellingly sug- 25-9).
gests the possibility of delving into the so- More problematic is, perhaps, her ap-
cial differences between free and unfree proach to the economic aspect of the case
peasants. Perhaps the more interesting, due studies, developed in Chapter 7, “The eco-
to their material significance, are the dif- nomic landscape”. Although the analyses of
ferences the author describes between peas- the economic bases of each of the studied
ant dwellings and plot size. Thus, “it was villages is very convincing, the author con-
commonly the case that cottagers had cludes that “we should be thinking in terms
smaller plots, typically consisting of a of economies, rather than economy. The
dwelling and one or two acres for agricul- documents emphasise peasants’ distinctive
tural use, while customary tenants occu- experiences from both financial and prac-
pied a toft or messuage, which was usually tical perspectives” (p. 169). Even though
a uniform size in each manor” (p. 50). Fur- the basic premise is evident –each family
thermore, analysis of the topographical experienced economical practices in a par-
plan from different villages suggests a cor- ticular way– the general conclusion for the
relation between the uniformity of the plots existence of different “peasant economies”
and the greater influence of lords (as seen may be misleading for three reasons. First,
in the case of Lakenheath) against those the existence of different means for eco-
free families who were better able to define nomic subsistence does not equate per se
the distribution of the plot (p. 55). In sum- with different economies. Second, under-
mary, what the author aims, and certainly scoring different perceptions of economic
achieves trough her suggestions, is to show practices over the general economic back-
that a “narrative based on an overly sim- ground within which these societies were
274 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
■ ■Crítica de libros
embedded may blur the larger picture of REFERENCES
how social inequality and exploitation oc- BLOCH, M. (1993). The Feudal Society, Rout-
curred and was legitimized. Third, empha- ledge. [Originally published in H. Berr, L’évo-
sizing the particularities of economic per- lution de l’humanité, vols. XXXIII and XXXIV,
ceptions may contradict the study’s general Paris, A. Michel, 1939 and 1940].
argument for the existence of a “peasant JOHNSON, M. (2012). Phenomenological Ap-
perspective” as a valid abstraction. This proaches in Landscape Archaeology. Annual
question is perhaps affected by a general Review of Anthropology, (41), 269-84.
lack of definition of what a peasant is and THOMPSON, E. P. (1991). Customs in common.
how peasant communities were con- New York: New Press.
structed, issues suggested through the book TILLEY, C. (1994). A Phenomenology of Land-
but not completely explored and defined. scape. Oxford: Berg.
The author’s considerations on these ques- WICKHAM, C. (2007). Memories of Underdevel-
tions would have been extremely useful opment: What Has Marxism Done for Me-
and interesting. dieval History, and What Can it Still Do? In C.
Peasant Perspectives on the Medieval WICKHAM (Ed.), Marxist History-Writing for
Landscape: A Study of Three Communities the Twenty-First Century (pp. 32-48). Oxford:
is, without a doubt, a compelling book on Oxford University Press.
the nature of medieval peasantry and on
the means and mechanisms of being-in-
the-world they developed regarding the so-
cial construction of landscapes. This study
will interest a wide range of specialists on
medieval and peasant studies and repre-
sents an important historiographical land-
mark. I began this review by citing the im-
portance of Bloch’s work as one of the
starting points for the analyses of medieval
peasantry in contemporary historiography,
but also for its argument for the need to
overcome traditional views on the topic
through alternative and stimulating ana-
lytical and interpretative paths. That path is
clearly taken by this book, and will lead to
further interesting results.
Carlos Tejerizo-García
orcid.org/0000-0001-9479-2720
Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
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275Crítica de libros
Briony McDonagh
Elite Women and the Agricultural Landscape, 1700-1830
London and New York, Routledge, 2018, 190 pp.
T
he period from 1700 to 1830 saw cent of land. The majority of these were
the landscape of rural England re- sole owners, many of them single or wid-
modelled through a range of im- owed women, but some married women
provement schemes including parliamen- also owned land as separate estates (a legal
tary enclosure. Whilst historians have loophole which enabled them to retain con-
debated the winners and losers in this pro- trol of property and land in marriage). The
cess, one of the key assumptions underly- research shows conclusively that female
ing this scholarship has been that landown- landowners were certainly not rare and in
ing and estate management was a male fact almost every parish included at least
affair. Women’s contribution to English one female landowner. The book concen-
country estates has usually been seen as trates on a database of 70 landowning
largely domestic or ornamental (in garden women ranging from those who owned
design, interior décor or household man- modest estates, to those titled women from
agement). Briony McDonagh’s book, writ- aristocratic families who had control of
ten from an explicitly feminist geography hundreds of acres. The database also in-
perspective, overturns previous assump- cludes wives and mothers who were not the
tions and shows that women played an im- legal owners of land but who made vital
portant role in owning, managing and im- contributions to estates and were active de-
proving large agricultural estates in the 18th cision makers in the absence of their hus-
and early 19th centuries. bands or sons.
Although definitions are difficult to pin One of the key questions that McDon-
down the focus of the book is on a group la- agh asks is: what did these women do with
belled as the “country gentry”, families their land and property? Although their ex-
with large, landed estates. Although the le- periences were diverse, she argues that a
gal doctrines of primogeniture (whereby significant proportion of women were en-
titles and property were inherited by the el- ergetic and dedicated landowners and es-
dest son) and coverture (whereby a married tate managers. One activity that many
woman had no legal identity separate from women excelled in was account keeping, as
her husband) constrained women in Eng- Chapter 3 “Managing the Estate” high-
land in many ways, McDonagh shows that lights. Some women, such as Elizabeth
there were in fact many different routes Prowse, a widow who controlled a 2,200-
that enabled women to become landown- acre estate at Wicken in Northamptonshire
ers. Using a sample of parliamentary en- between 1767 and 1810, kept their own ac-
closure awards from 10 counties, she esti- counts, often using highly organised and
mates that women owned just over 10 per methodical systems. Others left the ac-
276 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
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counts to their estate stewards but kept tive industries, in turnpike roads and in the
careful oversight of them. The manage- building of canals. Others took charge of
ment of accounts was a way of keeping a managing the coal mines and stone quar-
record of decision making and achieve- ries on their land themselves, boosting their
ment, but it also enabled women to main- income considerably. Elizabeth Montague
tain fiscal control over their estates. took interest in the coal trade from her
Chapter 4 goes on to analyse the ways husband’s estate at Denton (Northumber-
women set about improving their estates. land) during his lifetime, which she con-
Some were instrumental in driving through tinued into widowhood, maintaining regu-
enclosure and in major rebuilding of their lar correspondence with her agents and
estates in its aftermath. This often included managers. Anne Lister, who inherited Shib-
a reorganisation of tenancies, the restruc- den Hall in West Yorkshire from her uncle
turing of farm buildings and even the com- in 1826, took personal control of the estate
plete replanning of estate villages, and some coal mining operations in astute and ruth-
female landowners were able to significantly less style. Women read the latest agricul-
increase their rental income on their es- tural literature, took on board the advice of
tates after enclosure. In Northamptonshire, experts and some even contributed to de-
Jane Ashley, a widow who controlled 1,300 bates in the leading journals and newspa-
acres of land, was actively involved in the pers of the day, such as the Annals of Agri-
enclosure of Ashby in 1764. Through en- culture. Its editor, Arthur Young, talked to
closure she reduced the number of tenants women on his tours of the country, and
on the estate and significantly increased published articles and letters by female cor-
their rents. In 1797 Henrietta Masterman respondents. Women were therefore part of
Sykes petitioned parliament for an enclo- scientific correspondence networks and ex-
sure act for the village of Settrington, North changed information about experimenta-
Yorkshire. Although she had married two tion, improvement and land management,
years earlier, the petition was in her name although McDonagh concedes later in
and she most likely owned the property Chapter 6 (“Representing Women and
under separate estate. She oversaw a radi- Property”) that the numbers who did this
cal scheme of improvement that included were relatively small.
the demolition and rebuilding of the manor Women were also active in improving
house, village cottages, farm buildings, gar- their houses, gardens and parklands.
den pavilions and estate offices. Again, this could take many forms. Mc-
Women were also involved in other agri- Donagh uses examples such as Mary
cultural improvements, experimenting with Howard, duchess of Norfolk, and Sarah
crop production and rotation, introducing Churchill, duchess of Marlborough, both of
new machinery and technology, and con- whom took a keen interest in architecture
tributing to costs of drainage and mainte- and were the driving forces behind the plans
nance works. Some invested in the extrac- for redesigning Worksop Manor in Notting-
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
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277Crítica de libros
hamshire and Blenheim Palace in Oxford- on the fact that women’s experiences did
shire. Other women focused on the land it- not simply replicate those of landowning
self, commissioning and laying out new gar- men. These women were not “honorary
dens and woodlands. Women also men”; gendered barriers were very real and
patronised the founding, rebuilding and had to be continually negotiated. As well as
restoration of local churches, almshouses the legal constraints placed on women,
(usually for the aged and poor in the local- their education was different to men’s and
ity), schools and cottages for workers on they did not have the same practical expe-
their estates.They distributed gifts of money, rience of managing estates as men. Also on
food, clothing and medicine to those in need a practical level, women’s clothes and shoes
on a regular basis. Some also instituted made it difficult for them to walk or ride
schemes to provide affordable foodstuffs to across their estates. Contemporary under-
their tenants (selling produce from the standing of women’s roles and gender
home farm direct to labourers) and others norms made it difficult for women’s voices
gave land for allotment provision. to be heard and taken seriously in the mas-
Women’s involvement in these activi- culine worlds of architecture, building,
ties were for a range of personal and polit- landscaping, agriculture and politics. Fe-
ical reasons. For some women, planning male landowners had to negotiate relation-
gardens and other projects gave them per- ships with a wide range of men (their hus-
sonal fulfilment and purpose in a life that bands –if married–, their sons, their
was otherwise restricted and sometimes stewards and bailiffs, their lawyers, archi-
lonely. For other women the impulse be- tects, gardeners, tenant farmers, and their
hind such actions was driven by religious labourers). All of these were potentially
belief. But whilst charitable and philan- tricky. Whilst some female landowners, par-
thropic work in the community has long ticularly widows and single women, may
been understood by historians as a key role have seen their work as subverting expected
played by the lady of the manor (“Lady norms and were able to actively defy ex-
Bountiful”), building and landscaping an pectations, other women, particularly those
estate was also a public statement, a fash- managing estates on behalf of absent hus-
ionable display, and showed neighbours, bands or under-age sons, saw it as marital
tenants and observers the scale of the and maternal duty. The book reminds us
wealth, ambitions and influence of the that whilst women’s experiences could be
owner. Like landowning men, women were personally rewarding and bestow agency,
able to assert their social and cultural au- their roles and ambitions could also be
thority through remodelling estate villages, severely impeded by institutional, social,
and therefore strengthen the power they legal and political impediments.
held over their tenants and workforce. This book is important for a number of
Whilst landowning women were able to reasons. It is the first large-scale quantita-
play a public role, McDonagh is very clear tive study of female landownership in Eng-
278 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
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land between 1700 and 1830 (and comes women from the archives. The book is
with a very useful appendix of the female meticulously researched, is written in an
landowners featured in the book). It over- engaging and vivid style, and includes some
turns previous assumptions about gender beautiful illustrations. Its importance has
and landowning and shows convincingly been recognised by the award in 2018 of
that landowning women were an impor- the Joan Thirsk Memorial Prize (presented
tant, and not unusual, part of the land- by the British Agricultural History Society)
scape in 18th and early 19th century Eng- and the Women’s History Network Book
land. It shows the divergence between legal Prize. It is an essential book for anyone in-
theory (which placed many constraints on terested in women, property, landscape and
female land and property ownership) and constructions of gender and will shape the
lived practice, which meant many more historiography of feminist geography, land-
women of different ages and marital status, scape history, rural and gender studies for
owned and controlled landed estates than many years.
might be expected. Finally, it showcases
the numerous and varied ways women were Nicola Verdon
actively involved in their estates, based orcid.org/0000-0002-3538-9496
upon a range of case studies of individual Sheffield Hallam University
Amanda L. Capern, Briony McDonagh and Jennifer Aston (Eds.)
Women and the Land, 1500-1900
Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2019, XII + 294 pp.
T
his edited collection of essays sets references to aristocratic women who ran
out to re-examine assumptions estates and built country houses should al-
about the history of women’s own- most as a matter of course characterise
ership and control of land in England. A se- these figures as “exceptional” (p. 272). But
ries of ten case studies, all based on origi- the book sets out to counter persistent as-
nal research and detailed engagement with sumptions about the experience of separate
the primary sources, take the reader from spheres, about the boundaries to female
women’s experience of work on the land in property ownership in the era before the
16th century Essex to the wills of business Married Women’s Property Acts of 1870
men and women in 19th century Birming- onwards, and about the extent to which
ham. In an afterword to the volume, Amy stories of land use and landscape design can
Louise Erickson notes that it is many ways be framed in almost exclusively masculine
surprising that the idea that women owned terms. In their place, it illustrates the com-
or occupied land in the early modern pe- plexities of the legal framework within
riod should need asserting at all, and that which women of varying social status in-
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
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279Crítica de libros
herited, owned and controlled property, day, but Flather argues that it is wrong to
and tests out the degree to which women assume that they were in any way confined
might indeed have felt at home in the land- to the home. They were outside and visible,
scape and contributed to its shaping. moving around the landscape, and experi-
Women and the Land has its origins in encing that space in particular, gendered
a conference on the theme of women, land ways. The common local occupation of
and landscape, though in practice the vol- spinning saw women sitting in their door-
ume is often a story about property more ways, to maximise the light, interacting
broadly. Several of the papers use wills and with people as they went past and chatting
probate records to examine how women with their neighbours. They went out into
bequeathed and inherited the ownership or the landscape to participate in the harvest,
use of land, but also livestock, various to glean, to care for livestock and to gather
kinds of urban property and businesses wood. Women also walked through the
and personal possessions. For the editors, landscape, often in small groups with other
though, the key contribution of the collec- women, to collect wool and deliver fin-
tion lies in addressing misconceptions ished work, and Flather argues that it is this
about women’s relationship to land, argu- mobility which contributed to women’s
ing that –in spite of many legal and cultural reputation as conveyors of news and gossip.
inequalities which were heavily gendered – The legal proceedings on which the ac-
“the story of land was the story of women’s count is based expose the perils that
lives too” (p. 1). women sometimes faced when out in pub-
One of the chapters which goes fur- lic spaces in this way, from attracting sus-
thest to placing women back into the his- picions of immorality associated with a
tory of the landscape is the first essay in the woman being found alone out in a field, to
collection, by Amanda Flather. Flather uses the danger of being subject to male vio-
court records from the county of Essex, in lence. But Flather’s use of this rich mate-
southern England, to piece together a pic- rial demonstrates that the gendering of
ture of how –and importantly where– space in early modern England needs to be
women in the 17th century spent their understood in the context of specific local
working days, reconstructing from these experiences, and that it is misleading to
testimonies a detailed picture of the bal- assume that the open landscape was some-
ance between running the home and vari- how a male domain.
ous types of paid work. She points out that Ideas about women’s relationship to
even “housework” often took women out landscape appear in very different social
of doors, to bring in pre-prepared food like contexts in some of the other contributions
bread and beer, to forage, and to do the to the volume, notably in Jon Stobart’s es-
laundry. Looking after children and prepar- say on Lady Sophia Newdigate’s travel
ing meals meant that women were more writing about her sightseeing around south-
likely than men to be at home during the ern England and in Derbyshire in the mid
280 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
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18th century, and in Stephen Bending’s Huntington Library in California, to ex-
study of Elizabeth Montagu’s remodelling plore the significance of the pastoral for
of her estate at Sandleford. Newdigate’s this wealthy and influential “Bluestocking”,
journals of her tours, surviving as who linked the style again and again to
manuscripts in Warwickshire Record Of- classical mythology, and notably Ovid’s ac-
fice, document her responses to the coun- count of Baucis and Philemon, associating
try houses she visited, but also her verdict the grounds around her country house with
on the countryside through which she trav- simple hospitality and humble pleasure.
elled –often judging its value on the basis of One of the notable themes that Bending
how many trees there were. Parts of Der- brings out through his analysis of Mon-
byshire did not fare well on that basis: the tagu’s letters, offers an interesting angle on
area around Buxton was damned as “Bleak the well-established critique of 18th cen-
Country” with “many miles without ye tury landscape art, about the ways in which
sight of a Tree or even a Shrub” (p. 145). re-modellings and revaluings of the “natu-
Stobart is interested in Newdigate’s ac- ral” landscape often exiled the rural
count as a counterbalance to the emphasis labourer from that picture, concealing the
on the Grand Tour in the 18th century, physical work which sustained both leisure
looking to accounts of domestic tourism parklands and the agricultural economy.
and travel writing by women. He finds that Montagu’s reflections on the creation of
Newdigate was “confident” in her reac- her pastoral, Brown-designed grounds, by
tions to the aesthetic qualities of land- contrast, laid heavy emphasis on the work
scapes, at times describing views in the as a source of local employment, and the
artistic framings of the picturesque, yet also moral responsibility that came with her role
recording her emotional response to her as landowner. Bending makes a convincing
experience of these places. case for the meanings which the Sandleford
Montagu’s story, on the other hand, is landscape held for Montagu, who under-
about a woman’s self-conscious shaping of took its transformation, alongside the re-
a landscape, and what this reveals about her modelling of the house, in her widowhood,
sense of herself and her ideas about the conscious of the way that this projected
ways in which her estate should reflect her messages about how she used her wealth,
personality and standing. Bending frames and about her character and reputation.
his account of Montagu’s engagement with Elite women feature prominently in the
pastoral ideals in terms of her relationship collection, offering cases for which we have
with “Capability” Brown, who was com- detailed biographical material and where is-
missioned to design the landscape at San- sues about land management, control of
dleford in 1781, with much of the work tak- land and the transfer of property are espe-
ing place after his death just a couple of cially prominent. Two heiresses are the sub-
years later. The chapter makes use of Mon- ject of case studies here: Anne Clifford as
tagu’s correspondence, now held at the the heiress fighting for what she considered
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
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281Crítica de libros
her rightful inheritance, and Arabella Al- ownership was, occupy a number of the es-
leyn, whose inheritance made her the sub- says. One of the prominent questions here
ject of predators. Jessica L. Malay’s essay on is about the terms on which married
Anne Clifford makes use of correspon- women could own property, the effects of
dence and Clifford’s own historical writings the 19th century legislation to change
about her family to examine this 17th cen- women’s legal status within marriage away
tury woman’s sense of her particular con- from the earlier notion of coverture, and
nection to the county of Westmorland, her the ways in which patterns of inheritance
celebration of her female ancestors, and had an impact on the division of assets be-
her struggles to establish her rights to the tween men and women. Judith Spicksley
lands that had been owned by her father. examines probate records to assess the land
Clifford’s story offers interesting contribu- held by spinsters in early modern England
tions to the book’s interest in how women and finds spinster landowners to be a small
contributed to the shaping of the land- category, but one which offers interesting
scape, as she restored castles and built examples of landholding as a facet of
monuments as well as engaging in more women’s money-lending activity. Joan K. F.
ephemeral but persuasive methods of im- Heggie draws on research on the Register
posing her authority over the area, going on of Deeds to compare women’s involvement
progress through her lands, even into old in the property market in Yorkshire in the
age. Arabella Alleyn’s inheritance was of a late 18th century and in the period follow-
rather different order from Clifford’s, and ing the reforms to allow married women to
here the story was really about money own property in their own right. She finds
rather than territory. Alleyn inherited a sub- that women in fact represented a smaller
stantial landed fortune from her father as a proportion of property owner in the later
young child, and Amanda L. Capern uses period, though argues that married women
her life story (drawing on a remarkable au- in the sample were able to operate more in-
tobiographical account surviving in dependently in their business dealings by
manuscript in the archives in Hull) to ex- the 1880s, and also points to variations in
pose the perils of being an heiress in 17th women’s ownership of property in different
century England, as girls were abducted local settings. Janet Casson’s chapter
and forcibly married in order to appropri- searches for the “invisible women” in the
ate their wealth. Capern explores issues of history of small-scale land ownership, pre-
consent and sexual violence to re-examine senting a series of biographical case studies
this phenomenon of the abduction of to examine female land ownership in prac-
heiresses, recorded here, unusually, through tice. Jennifer Aston’s chapter turns the fo-
the woman’s own testimony on that expe- cus specifically on urban property in the
rience. 19th century, arguing for women’s agency in
Questions about what property women determining how businesses and personal
held and how prevalent female property property were inherited.
282 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
■ ■Crítica de libros
The business management of property duced, with the introduction and afterword
is the subject of Briony McDonagh’s chap- framing it with a coherence that edited col-
ter for the book, on elite women’s involve- lections can so often struggle to achieve.
ment with estate accounts in the 18th cen- The editors even go so far as to present it
tury. She points out that “bookkeeping with a broader mission: that the book may
functioned as a source of power for prop- “stimulate […] debate and further research
ertied women” (p. 174), and that a knowl- in women’s experiences not only in early
edge of how accounts worked, the ability to modern and modern England but also in
keep them oneself or to be able to audit the contemporary world”. (p. 20).
those kept by the estate’s steward or man-
ager, could give a woman more control, Clare V. J. Griffiths
even in a system which seemed to place orcid.org/0000-0001-5735-3104
men firmly in charge. The details of indi- Cardiff University
vidual women’s practical knowledge of and
engagement with the business of running
an estate do much to dismiss any residual
attachment to historical generalisations
about women’s estrangement from the
ownership and management of land. As
Erickson points out, “Claiming female
agency in the past … does not negate the
powerful structure of patriarchy which em-
powered men in inheritance and marriage”
(p. 273). But this collection of essays serves
to demonstrate, across different localities,
classes and individual biographies, that the
gendering of property was often more com-
plicated in practice. The editors present
the book as an act of recovery: to demon-
strate that female ownership did exist in
this period, but also that women’s engage-
ment with land and property needs to be
understood in a broader sense than simply
legal title. The overall story seems to be
about continuity rather than change, and
indeed the introduction frames the research
within reflections about the role of property
within gender inequalities in the present.
The volume as a whole is excellently pro-
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
■ ■
283Crítica de libros
Anne-Lise Head-König, Luigi Lorenzetti, Martin Stuber and Rahel Wun-
derli (Eds.)
Pâturages et forêts collectifs: Économie, participation,
durabilité/Kollektive Weiden und Wälder: Ökonomie, Partizipation,
Nachhaltigkeit
Zürich, Chronos Verlag, 2019, 294 pp.
T
his volume of the Histoire des speaking Alpine historiography and sociol-
Alpes/Storia delle Alpi/Geschichte ogy in the collective management of natu-
der Alpen”, published by the In- ral resources (pastures, forests, but also wa-
ternational Association for the History of ter). The particular focus of the recently
the Alps, is dedicated to “Pastures and col- concluded project was on institutions of
lective forests” and represents a significant collective natural resources management,
collection of the many reflections made in and the researches therefore centred on
recent years on the subject. Its special in- one of the most classic themes of economic
terest lies in the fact that it has collected in- and social history: that of ownership. The
terventions with a particular focus on the project, a true “collective action research”
rural and alpine environment, helping to re- was led by Rahel Wunderli and Martin Stu-
fine the analysis of an issue that has become ber (Historical Institute of the University of
pervasive in the historiographical debate, Bern), who are also the two editors that
often losing sight of its disciplinary bound- coauthored the introduction of the volume
aries. Never before has there been such a (pp. 17-22). Having had the pleasure of
need to bring the subject of the commons participating in the project’s final work-
back into deep-rooted and contextual re- shop, I can testify that SCALES was indeed
search, and this issue of Alpine History re- an example of shared and participatory
sponds to that call. The essays, published in thinking, as unfortunately rarely happens in
German, French and Italian (but all with a research. This can be felt in the threads
final abstract in English), revolve around that weave around the essays collected in
the theme of collective resources in the this volume.
Alpine area, seen through the prism –or The case studies presented in the vol-
rather prisms– of economics, participation ume show the multifaceted declination of
and sustainability. the commons in relation to economic, po-
The reflections that were later published litical and environmental variables, with
in this volume arose in an international different chronologies and topographies.
workshop held in Altdorf (Switzerland) in Fabrice Mouthon presents a research on
2018, organised by the Swiss research the French Alps in the Middle age: “La
group of the SCALES project. Financed by naissance des communs dans les Alpes
the Swiss National Fund, SCALES françaises (XIIIe–XVe siècles)” (pp. 23-42).
pointed out a renewed interest in German- Natural resources were subject either to
284 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
■ ■Crítica de libros
the feudal authority, secular or clerical, or Italian Eastern Alps, with an interesting
to the monasteries; but these forms of own- historical perspective that relates the dif-
ership, as a result of administrative and in- ferent conflictual components economic,
stitutional changes, were transferred (in political and social of the local space, be-
whole or in part) either to parish commu- tween the 16th and 19th centuries.
nities or to peasant unions. The essay fo- Sandro Guzzi-Heeb, on the other hand,
cuses on the negotiation strategies that led in “Religion, biens communs et organisa-
to this transformation, with a disciplinary tion de l’espace dans les corporations
approach involving the history of law. alpines, XVIIIe–XIXe siècles” (pp. 105-23),
In “Begehrte Weiden und Wälder am proposes a completely different perspec-
Berg” (pp. 43-64), Stefan Sonderegger tive for the analysis of Alpine corporations
analyses the alpine economy of Eastern in the 18th and 19th centuries: that of reli-
Switzerland in the 15th and 16th centuries, gious affiliation. “The religion of our fa-
showing the economic (and social) rele- thers”, the motto of the corporations, was
vance of livestock commercialisation, which used as a means of claiming decision-mak-
changed the ownership systems and the ing and ultimately political autonomy. Their
ways of farming in relation to different ar- collective management ranged from reli-
eas and altitudes, and also provoked reac- gious infrastructures to forest resources,
tions from those who exercised collective fields and alpine pastures, showing similar
rights over pastures and forests (the elements of common action.
Alpengenossen). The collective essay “Vermittlung, Ein-
In her comparative essay between the bau, Komplementarität” (pp. 125-49), by
European and Swiss systems of access to François-Xavier Viallon, Karin Liechti,
and enjoyment of the commons, “Les mul- Martin Stuber and Rahel Wunderli, the re-
tiples facettes de l’accès aux biens com- searchers of the SCALES project, is dedi-
munaux et de leur jouissance” (pp. 65-86), cated to the forms of state access to collec-
Anne-Lise Head-König deals with the pro- tive pastures and forests in Switzerland at
gressive transformations observed in ac- the end of 19th century. The title itself (“me-
cess to the commons, which she relates to diation, incorporation, complementarity”)
demographic pressure. The author focuses reveals the forms identified in the research
on the (spatial, social, economic) variations for negotiation, activation and durability
that have affected collective ownership over in the management of common resources,
time, also due to institutional changes. in the light of the creation of the modern
“Montagne condivise, montagne con- State. The authors deeply investigated the
testate” (“Shared mountains, disputed relations between State actors and corpo-
mountains”) is the title of Giacomo Bonan rate actors, with all their forms of mutual
and Claudio Lorenzini’s essay (pp. 87-103), integration.
which is dedicated to the analysis of local In “Persistenz verstehen” (pp. 151-69),
communities and their social actors in the Gerhard Siegl concentrates, applying the
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
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285Crítica de libros
parameters of Ostrom’s analysis, on the commons “label”, under which all research
community of the town of Imst and shifts on corporations and collective institutions
the focus to the Tyrolean rural commons, is now catalogued. The author proposes
assuming them to be more fragile than their both a theoretical and methodological re-
centuries-old robustness would suggest. flection that offers a clear epistemological
The essay “Der gemeinschaftlich be- framework within which to put decades of
wirtschaftete Wald in der Geschichte der research on the subject into perspective.
Hohen Tauern (heute Nationalpark Hohe “Complementary contrast” is the ana-
Tauern Kärnten)” (pp. 171-96) by Elisa- lytical tool used by Antonio De Rossi in his
beth Johann is dedicated to the commons essay “La costruzione del paesaggio alpino
in Upper Carinthia. The surveyed area is attraverso il dispositivo del contrasto com-
nowadays very touristic and is part of a plementare” (pp. 239-66), which is devoted
National Park, which makes the author’s to the artistic interpretation and definition
analysis even more interesting. of the alpine landscape. In addition to the
Martin Schaffner’s essay “Kategorien well-known tradition of the concept of the
des Wissens” (pp. 197-214) takes us back to sublime, the author identifies in the idea of
Switzerland, to the Canton of Uri, Ursern the picturesque the aesthetic approach that
valley, where common environmental re- has contributed most to this definition, re-
sources are owned and managed by the lo- lating it to the 20th century Modernism
cal corporation. With an original approach, stream.
the author discusses the cognitive ways of Digital humanities (declined in the
approaching resources, identifying a double quantitative tools of statistics and
model of knowledge: a first, and primary, databases, and qualitative tools of reading
“category of learning” (quoting Gregory textual sources) gave Jordan Girardin the
Bateson) linked to the daily management of opportunity to render the results of his re-
pastures, and a secondary category ap- search on tourism in the Lake Geneva re-
plied to the systems of land uses in the gion between the 18th and 19th centuries
common pool resources areas of Ursern through data visualisation. The essay “L’arc
valley. lémanique, berceau du tourisme alpin” (pp.
In “Konzeptionelle Überlegungen zu 267-84) aims to show that the Geneva area
einem universellen Paradigma anhand der has been perfectly equipped to welcome
Commons in der frühneuzeitlichen elite tourism since the end of the 18th cen-
Schweiz“ (pp. 215-35) Daniel Schläppi tury. As we know, the history of travel in the
challenges himself in a general theoretical Alps is closely linked to the economic and
reflection, which is rooted, however, in the social development of those areas, and has
specific case studies of the Swiss commons. helped to shape the local landscape by call-
The essay traces the conceptual develop- ing on social actors to make (collective)
ment and the historiographic and socio- choices regarding the environmental re-
logical fortune of what he defines as the sources they historically managed.
286 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
■ ■Crítica de libros
Almost all the contributions in this vol- textual restitution of individual researches,
ume, which focus with different perspec- which together clarify analytically and not
tives on different geographical areas of the synthetically the contours of a theme so
Alps, show firstly how the approach to the well-known that it risks becoming a slogan
topic can only be –or at least try to be– in- –and therefore no longer an object of re-
terdisciplinary. Historical, anthropological, search.
sociological, economic, but also geograph-
ical, ecological, archaeological and even Giulia Beltrametti
artistic approaches help to interpret the orcid.org/0000-0001-9293-6954
complexity of these environmental man- University of Primorska
agement institutions, which are often diffi-
cult to define. All the more valuable, in this
case, is the chorus of essays and the con-
Stuart G. McCook
Coffee Is Not Forever: A Global History of the Coffee Leaf Rust
Athens, Ohio University Press, 2019, 281 pp.
E
xistía la necesidad de un trabajo cinturones altitudinales dentro de los tró-
como el de Stuart G. McCook, que picos, que conllevan tres grados de afecta-
nos ofrece la primera historia am- ción de la roya. En el de menor altitud, las
biental realmente global del café. Lo hace elevadas temperaturas y humedad convier-
de una manera original y novedosa, reco- ten en imposible la lucha eficaz contra la
rriendo 150 años de historia de la epidemia plaga. En el de mayor altitud, las tempera-
que ocasiona los efectos más devastadores turas relativamente más frías hacen que la
en el cultivo del café, la conocida como afectación del hongo en las plantas de café
plaga de la roya causada por el hongo He- sea reducida. En el intermedio se puede
mileia vastatrix, un patógeno que se ali- combatir la propagación del hongo, pero
menta del tejido foliar de las plantas de con dificultades, y en él se centra la narra-
café provocando la caída prematura de las ción del libro.
hojas, una reducción de la fotosíntesis y fi- La historia de esta plaga ha venido de-
nalmente un descenso en el rendimiento de terminada por una compleja interacción de
la planta, que puede llegar a ser severo si el factores ambientales, tecnológicos, socia-
hongo causa una amplia defoliación y con- les, económicos y políticos. El hongo ataca
lleva la muerte de ramas de la planta. fundamentalmente a la especie Coffea ara-
Los dos primeros capítulos, de carácter bica. Aunque existen más de un centenar de
introductorio, trazan el marco teórico y la especies del género Coffea, originarias del
etiología de la roya. El autor demarca tres África ecuatorial, la especie Coffea arabica,
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
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287Crítica de libros
que supone el 60% del consumo mundial, como protagonistas a pequeños y medianos
es nativa de los bosques ubicados entre productores que no obedecían únicamente
1.300 y 2.000 metros de altitud en el suro- a una lógica de maximización de las ga-
este de Etiopía, en las regiones de Illubabor nancias, ya que sus prácticas agrícolas con-
y Kaffa ubicadas al oeste del valle del Rift, cebían una mirada de más largo alcance
donde coevolucionaron la planta y el hongo. que se correspondía con lo que actual-
Las pautas de crecimiento de los cultivos en mente se entiende por sostenibilidad eco-
su región originaria y la resistencia genética nómica y ecológica. A medida que la pro-
de las plantas mantuvieron la población del ducción de café fue absorbida por
patógeno dentro de unos límites poco dis- monocultivos condicionados por las ideas
ruptivos. europeas sobre la racionalidad, la diversi-
De su oriunda región etíope, el cultivo dad biológica de las explotaciones fue erra-
saltó a la costa del mar Rojo en Yemen. El dicada, con lo que también se eliminaron
transporte de la Coffea arabica mediante los obstáculos físicos y genéticos que per-
semillas en lugar de plantas y las cuidado- mitían controlar enfermedades y plagas.
sas prácticas agrícolas de los campesinos La historia de la roya se desarrolló en
yemeníes evitaron la presencia del hongo. tres fases sucesivas de expansión. La pri-
Tampoco el clima seco y cálido resultaba mera, comprendida entre 1869 y la década
propicio para la propagación del hongo, de 1920, estuvo condicionada por la ex-
que requiere de la presencia de gotas de tensión del colonialismo europeo en las re-
agua en las hojas durante al menos seis ho- giones tropicales, que generó el contexto
ras para que germinen las esporas. Desde el idóneo para la diseminación de las plagas
siglo XVIII, plántulas de la especie C. arabica en un mundo crecientemente interconec-
fueron embarcadas desde el Yemen con tado: redes de ferrocarriles y de navegación
destino al océano Índico y al Caribe, y la que transportaban más lejos y más rápida-
producción de café acabó siendo incorpo- mente tanto los patógenos como sus hués-
rada al moderno sistema de agricultura de pedes (personas, plantas y animales), y las
plantación. nuevas condiciones sociales y ecológicas
A partir del tercer capítulo, el libro de bajo las que pasó a desarrollarse la agricul-
Stuart McCook narra cómo Hemileia vas- tura. El primer brote con afectación masiva
tatrix se diseminó por toda la franja inter- en el cultivo del café se produjo en 1869 en
tropical del planeta y se unió de nuevo a su la isla de Ceilán (hoy Sri Lanka). El régi-
planta huésped, a través de sucesivas etapas men de monocultivo, la escasez de franjas
de expansión del cultivo, afectación del boscosas que pudieran ejercer de freno para
hongo y medidas correctoras y preventivas el avance de la plaga y la presión existente
adoptadas por científicos, productores y hacia la producción masiva, que llevó el
estados. El aumento de la producción, es- cultivo hacia hábitats más favorables para el
poleado por la creciente demanda en las hongo, crearon las condiciones propicias
metrópolis colonizadoras, inicialmente tuvo para el primer gran ataque de la plaga.
288 pp. 271-312 Agosto 2021 Historia Agraria, 84
■ ■Crítica de libros
Desde finales de la década de 1870 y hasta parte del paquete tecnológico promovido
los años 1890, el hongo fue afectando las por instancias gubernamentales. Cabe aña-
plantaciones de café del océano Índico y dir que el cultivo del café en Latinoamérica
del Pacífico. Entre los años 1890 y 1920 se presentó una ventaja comparativa respecto
desplazó al este y el centro del continente de otros continentes: la mayor altitud me-
africano. dia y por lo tanto las menores temperatu-
La segunda ola expansiva comprende el ras en las que tenía lugar su producción.
periodo que va desde mediados de los años La tercera fase, denominada por el au-
1950 hasta mediados de los años 1980. tor alternativamente fase neoliberal y Big
Los productores de café de América Latina Rust (aludiendo a la virulencia que oca-
contemplaban esta plaga como algo muy sionó sobre la producción), dio inicio en el
remoto hasta que a principios de la década año 2008 en Colombia. En el año 2012 el
de 1950 comenzó a afectar a las plantacio- hongo se diseminó por Centroamérica y
nes del oeste de África. En 1970 fue de- acabó englobando una vasta área delimi-
tectada por primera vez en Brasil, y en la tada por México, Puerto Rico y Perú. Re-
primera mitad de los años 1980 estaba pre- sulta inquietante que esta tercera fase no
sente en casi cada explotación cafetalera del fuera desencadenada por la migración del
continente. Esta segunda etapa estuvo de- patógeno a un área que previamente había
cisivamente marcada por la geopolítica de estado libre de la enfermedad, sino que
la Guerra Fría, que incluyó el Acuerdo In- tuvo como combustible un conjunto de pa-
ternacional del Café, diseñado fundamen- trones climáticos cambiantes.
talmente para evitar conflictividad y movi- Otro factor que contribuyó a la con-
lizaciones sociales en el ámbito rural. tundencia de la afectación sobre el cultivo
Estados Unidos asumió un papel de lide- fue el contexto institucional y económico.
razgo y, de la mano de institutos naciona- La derogación en 1989 del Acuerdo Inter-
les del café, como el Instituto Brasileiro do nacional del Café, que mantenía las varia-
Café, el CENICAFE en Colombia, el ciones de los precios dentro de unos lími-
ICAFE en Costa Rica o el INMECAFE en tes mediante la asignación de cuotas de
México, promovió el paquete tecnológico exportación a los países miembros, pro-
de la revolución verde basado en variedades vocó una nueva era marcada por amplias
de porte bajo con elevados rendimientos oscilaciones en los precios. En los ciclos ba-
aptas para el cultivo intensivo, junto con la jistas, muchos productores no realizan la-
masiva aplicación de fertilizantes y pestici- bores de mantenimiento de sus cafetales,
das químicos. Asimismo, se incentivó la re- con lo que la plaga se encontró con unas
ducción o eliminación de la sombra, bajo la explotaciones cafetaleras en un deficiente
premisa de que el sol es un enemigo de la estado de conservación y por lo tanto más
roya. No obstante, un notable porcentaje frágiles. Si en los años 1980 y 1990 los
de pequeños productores nunca llegó a po- productores contaban con instituciones pú-
ner en práctica la totalidad o ni siquiera una blicas que proveían investigación, asistencia
Historia Agraria, 84 Agosto 2021 pp. 271-312
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