Village Elites and Social Structures in the Late Medieval Campine Region

The late medieval Low Countries are often represented as characterised by dynamism and growth. However, several regions within this larger entity followed an alternative path of development. One example of this is the Campine area, a communal peasant region, situated to the northeast of the 16th-century 'metropolis' of Antwerp. This region was characterised - in stark contrast with the Low Countries' core regions - by a remarkable stability of structures. Van Onacker's work focuses on social structures, the elites and the characteristics of inequality in a region on a different road to economic development, and shows how they contribute to this societies' stability. The peasant elite of this region - the 'independent peasants' - are at the heart of this book. This work combines a wide variety of sources to grasp the nuances of inequality in a communal society, looking past the classical parameter of property distribution, by taking into account other economical factors, such as control over the commons and market integration. It also focuses on political and social inequality, shedding light on aspects of inequality in village politics, social life and poor relief. Therefore it sketches an encompassing image of inequality and elite groups in a communal peasant society, differing from the dominant image for pre-modern societies on the road to capitalism.