The enclosure movement of England in the 16th century was the first market-oriented land ownership establishment movement in history. It defined mixed land ownership with community nature as exclusive private property rights, thus simulating economic efficiency. After centuries of accumulation of material, rights and ideas, the deep structure of society had undergone quite profound changes, among which land marketization and farmer socialization were the basic variable parameters, and enclosure was a historical summary of such changes. As the carrier of agricultural capitalism, the “large peasant-gentry class” was the most dynamic and important driving force of the enclosure movement. The common way for the lords’ enclosure was by contract, by court and by agreement, which was mainly legal enclosure. The illegal and violent enclosure of the lords did exist, which was a naked plunder and exposed the anomy and greed of the early capital; the violent and illegal enclosure of the lords was resisted by the tenant’s land rights, and the tenant’s resistance had certain legitimacy and effectiveness. However, the “percentage of violent enclosure is very small”. After the mid-16th century, more and more land was enclosed by agreement, indicating that the establishment of land ownership was on the track of rule of law, and the development of “parliamentary enclosure” in the 18th century was matter of course. At a basic level, enclosure was not trampling on land ownership, but rather clarifying and defining land ownership. In short, the impact of the enclosure movement is so far-reaching and it is necessary to give new attention to the enclosure movement.

Keywords: the enclosure movement; the class of ferment and gentry; enclosure by contract; enclosure by court; enclosure by agreement; enclosure by compulsory

Published on Journal of Historical Science, Issue 10, 2019.