Author: HOU Jianxin

Publisher: The Commercial Press

Publication Date: December 2023

ISBN: 9787100230155

Introduction:

The relationship between peasants and land is a longstanding and significant topic in the history of human civilization. Private ownership of land did not exist since ancient times. The property rights system in which property rights boundaries are blurred, peasants' rights are lacking, and individuals are dependent on the land has been prevalent in human history, including in Europe. While Europe was the first to abolish it.

This volume explains the changes in land property rights for European peasants. The growth of personal freedom and private property rights are interconnected historical processes. Following England, more and more free farmers emerged in regions like Northwest Europe. Implementing modern land property reforms gradually shed the political fragments from the cloak of land rights, allowing land to take on a purely economic form, laying the foundation for the agricultural and industrial revolutions. Why did Europe prosper first? The pinnacle of institutional construction may have been in modern times, but the roots lie in pre-modern society. From this perspective, the interpretation of medieval Europe becomes increasingly important. This interpretation holds global significance.