Peter L. Larson - Rethinking the Great Transition: Community and Economic Growth in County Durham, 1349-1660

Note on currency:

The primary units of curreny in England in this period were:

A crown was worth 5vs. The mark was a unit of account worth 13s. 4d.

Note on spelling:

Note on dates:

This book has been a long time in the making. I am grateful to the Huntington Library and British Academy for a Short-Term Fellowship that let me begin this project, and to the University of Central Florida for additional support. Jeffrey Moore, Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities at the University of Central Florida, has been consistently supportive as I finished writing while chairing a department.

The research for this book took place at several archives. The archivists, librarians, assistants, and those who have reproduced documents are invaluable in historical research. The staff of Durham University Archives & Special Collections deserve especial praise for their unstinting support and patience through the years. Durham County Record Office, Lambeth Palace Library, London School of Economics, and The National Archive in Kew have likewise been welcoming and professional; I simply have not had the pleasure of spending more time there. I have been fortunate to have been supported by numerous research assistants at UCF: Danielle Aguirre, Luke Bohmer, Jessica Hoeschen, and Alexis Rodriguez. Ryan Wicklund at Durham University photographed numerous probate documents for me when administrative work limited my travel. Matthew Patsis created the maps in GIS.

I have benefitted from the support, encouragement, and friendly critique of many colleagues. I am especially indebted to James Davis and Ben Dodds, who read the entire manuscript. The support I have received has been invaluable in keeping me going; in this regard, notably from Jim Masschaele, Mark Bailey, Judith Bennett, Chris Briggs, Chris Dyer, Maryanne Kowaleski, and Steve Rigby, but also many others. I have also had productive discussions on Durham with

Alex Brown. Much of this is possible thanks to the triennial Anglo-American Seminar on the Medieval Economy and Society, founded by Bruce M.S. Campbell and convened by Phillipp Schofield for the past several sessions. The seminar has been a delightfully warm and intellectually stimulating space to test out ideas.

The anonymous readers for the proposal and manuscript prodded me to expand the scope of my argument: they saw more potential than I did. Along with the patience of the editors at OUP, who let this project develop at its own pace, they have made the book all the stronger. This book was completed and revised during the COVID-19 pandemic, and I gratefully acknowledge the tireless work of the Interlibrary Loan staff at the University of Central Florida Library and libraries around the country.

My wife likely knows this book better than I do, and my gratitude knows no bounds. The evolution of my writing over the years owes much to herjust ask my undergraduate and graduate advisors what my writing used to be like. She has provided intellectual and emotional support: a sounding board, reader, and answerer of apparently random questions (how much does a pound of saffron cost today?). It is good to be married to a librarian with an interest in English history.