Leasehold and tenancy in late medieval Eakring: exploring the economic links and religious provision between Rufford Abbey and Eakring, c. 1300-1500

Abstract

This thesis explores the rental agreements and contracts between the monks of Rufford Abbey and the residents of Eakring made between 1300 and 1500. Principle resources for this study have been The Rufford Charters, an edited collection of sources, and the Saville Records, which are held at Nottingham County Archives. This study aims to shed light on the social relationship between the monks and the villagers by exploring the many varieties of lease holdings and contractual agreements made between the two parties. Successive chapters explore the different variations of tenancy agreements, place Eakring as a nucleated rural settlement and extracted evidence from maps locates Eakring in an agrarian community. Focused case-studies are drawn from original manuscript charters to demonstrate how the relationship between landlord and tenant was expressed. This study makes connections between the economic ties and religious provisions of the monks alongside the social challenges of the time, such as The Great Famine, the Black Death and the Peasants Revolt. This thesis establishes that the social contacts expressed in the monastic charters were varied, with the many types of lease holdings catering for the individual requirements of the laity