Medieval history studies in the world

Author: Chen Xiwen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: Feudal land ownership is the foundation of feudalism. To eliminate feudalism, it ultimately involves dismantling feudal land ownership and simultaneously dismantling the peasant "landholding system" (i.e., the incomplete and conditional land tenure of peasants). Due to differences in the specific economic development of each country and influenced by the progress of class struggle, the process of eliminating feudalism follows different paths. In England, it began with the elimination of the peasants' "landholding system," with its typical manifestation being the "Enclosure Movement." The Enclosure Movement experienced two peaks: one occurred in the late 15th century and lasted until the late 17th century, while the other took place from the mid-18th century to the early 19th century. The former represented the initial impact on peasant landholdings, while the latter marked the final elimination of small farmers, leading to the complete abolition of the landholding system that sustained them. At the very moment capitalism was budding in England, the violent expropriation of individual peasant landholdings transformed some of them into wage laborers, fostering the development of capitalist tenant farming. In this process, a class of tenant farmers gradually emerged. In a certain sense, the Enclosure Movement around the 16th century was a landmark event in England's economic transformation. The period from the last 30 years of the 15th century to the first decade of the 16th century, roughly corresponding to the end of the Lancastrian Dynasty and the early establishment of the Tudor Dynasty, marked the initial launch of the first peak of the Enclosure Movement. Marx referred to this period as the "prelude to the transformation that laid the foundation for the capitalist mode of production." Therefore, understanding the circumstances of the Enclosure Movement during this period, analyzing its nature and outcomes, is the cornerstone for comprehending the disintegration of feudal rural production relations and the emergence of capitalist relations in England.