England Farmers Identity (13-16 Century)

Peasant status is an important and a difficult subject in Middle Ages. Under the different status, Peasant appellation, right and obligation are differing. Their economic and legal station are also inequality. The standard of dividing the status as peasant changing with the economic and class structure.In the 13th—14th, Legalists simply divided the peasant into freeholder and villein according with the Roman law. Villeinange is prosperous times in 13th, villein accounted for the majority of the peasant. But in the 15th-16th, under the advantage of economic and peasant's struggling, Serfdom has collapsed basely. Peasant's status has completely changed, Most of peasant has access to personal freedom, meantime the measure of dividing the peasant stratum has changed, Peasant social status was unimportant gradually. But the peasant economic station was more and more important. In late medieval, peasant was divided three types by their defferent land tenure, which including copyholder, leaseholder and freeholder.The thesis is formed by four chapers: the first chapter is Introduction; The second chapter analyses England peasant's appellation and the meaning of the peasant status during the Middle Ages; ChapterⅢI discusses the different status and stratum of peasant; The last chapter mainly analyses the changing of the peasant status and the classes of the peasant, Focusly discussing the copyholder's origin,type and the tenure of land.