Despite increased commercialization and an efficient network of local markets in 1300s Europe—as well as significant costs and risks associated with the production, transportation, and storage of food—some landed lords, monasteries, and convents continued to rely on the produce of their own estates. This detailed study sets out to account for the puzzling situation, covering the period between 1260 and 1536, with an in-depth analysis of the changing patterns and fortunes of the provisionin...

This collection of essays brings together historians examining social and economic crises from the thirteenth century to the twenty-first. Crisis is an almost ubiquitous concept for historians, applicable across (amongst others) the histories of agriculture, disease, finance and trade. Yet there has been little attempt to compare its use as an explanatory tool between these discrete fields of research. This volume breaks down the boundaries between traditional historical time periods and s...

From silly chuckles to rueful ironic glee to deep cosmic laughter, this new volume of humorous tales samples the best of recent seasons of the popular public radio series Selected Shorts.