Peasants Mowing
Title
Peasants Mowing
Description
Written in 1302, Pietro de Crescenzi’s famous “Ruralia Commodia” offers a unique perspective on rural peasant life in the early modern era. This particular illustration depicting two peasant men mowing hay was included in the book’s first publication and was widely distributed throughout Europe as a sort of gardening and horticulture manual. In fact, Henry VIII was said to have a copy of this very book in his personal library (Carley, 292).
The development of merchant capitalism brought sweeping changes to rural life across Europe. With it came a fundamental reorganization of capital distribution and ownership structures. As Merry Wiesner-Hanks put it, “any discussion of the European economy must begin in the countryside” (Wiesner-Hanks, 206). And, indeed, the end of serfdom in rural Europe fundamentally transformed ideas of private property and ownership and marked the beginning of capitalism as we know it.
The development of merchant capitalism brought sweeping changes to rural life across Europe. With it came a fundamental reorganization of capital distribution and ownership structures. As Merry Wiesner-Hanks put it, “any discussion of the European economy must begin in the countryside” (Wiesner-Hanks, 206). And, indeed, the end of serfdom in rural Europe fundamentally transformed ideas of private property and ownership and marked the beginning of capitalism as we know it.
Creator
Pietro de Crescenzi, translation by Jean Corbechon
Source
Pietro de Crescenzi. Peasants Mowing, 1478-1480, The British Library. https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/9200397/BibliographicResource_3000126283275.html?q=peasants+mowing+
Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Carley, James P. "The Libraries of King Henry VIII : An Update of the Westminster Inventory of 1542." The Library 16, no. 3 (2015): 282-303.
Wiesner-Hanks, Merry E. Early Modern Europe, 1450-1789. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Carley, James P. "The Libraries of King Henry VIII : An Update of the Westminster Inventory of 1542." The Library 16, no. 3 (2015): 282-303.
Date
c. 1478-1480
Contributor
Zach Irvin
Rights
Free Re-use
Citation
Pietro de Crescenzi, translation by Jean Corbechon, “Peasants Mowing,” HIST 139 - Early Modern Europe, accessed April 25, 2026, https://earlymoderneurope.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/50.