Busy Tenants: Peasant Land Markets in Central Europe (15th to 16th Century)

Pre-modern commercialisation and a long-term decrease in transaction costs are not only mirrored in the expansion of goods markets but notably in the development of factor markets. Medieval markets for rural land and credit have been addressed systematically with a focus on Western Europe, but to a far lesser extent for Central European regions. The contributions in this volume examine tenure and circulation of rural properties in Central Europe with a focus on the 15th and 16th centuries, combining an in-depth analysis of selected case studies north and south of the Alps and a discussion within the broader picture of the research on pre-modern land markets. The comparison between four Austrian, one Czech, one South-Tyrolian and one Italian case study aims to determine the elements which prove relevant, decisive, or obstructive to the tenant’s agency and the development of flexible land markets. The case studies address different methodological issues and specific regional features and in summary, reveal active rural land markets in Central Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. The mobility of rural properties thrived in an institutional framework that in economic history research has mostly been associated with stability and a lack of dynamism.