TY - BOOK AU - Whittle,Jane AU - Lambrecht,Thijs AU - Lambrecht,Thijs AU - Whittle,Jane TI - Labour Laws in Preindustrial Europe: The Coercion and Regulation of Wage Labour, c.1350-1850 T2 - People, Markets, Goods: Economies and Societies in History SN - 9781805430070 PY - 2023/// CY - Woodbridge PB - Boydell & Brewer KW - Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 KW - bicssc KW - Economic history KW - Legal history KW - Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 KW - early modern KW - medieval KW - western Europe N1 - Open Access N2 - Explores the variety of legal and regulatory regimes that existed in Western Europe to control labour and how workers experienced those controls. Many economic historians have assumed that labour in Western Europe was 'free' after the end of serfdom in the fifteenth century. These assumptions are increasingly being questioned and labour laws have been identified as creating significant restrictions on workers' freedom. This collection is the first book to look at labour laws across Western Europe from a longer-term perspective. It is interdisciplinary in nature bringing together studies in social, political, economic and legal history. Elements of labour legislation appeared before the Black Death, but were strengthened afterwards particularly in places and periods where labour became scarce. The collection focuses on the rural economy in the late medieval and early modern period. It provides a series of studies which introduce a range of approaches to labour regulation and the very idea of labour across Europe. Uniquely, the collection offers observations on the impact of labour laws on everyday social relations. Attempts to regulate work and labour varied widely: in places they amounted to wishful thinking on the part of the regional authorities, whereas elsewhere they could impose severe limitations on individual freedoms. Contributors: Davide Cristoferi, Theresa Johnsson, Thijs Lambrecht, Charmian Mansell, Francine Michaud, Hanne �sthus, Raffaella Sarti, Carolina Uppenberg and Jane Whittle UR - https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/13137517-31cd-49c4-aa92-19752ddfd71c/9781805430087.epub UR - https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/cc61ae7b-b2cf-4d7a-8131-2ee8f4d02024/9781805430070.pdf UR - https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/86000 ER -