The Routledge handbook of Medieval rural life The Routledge Handbook of Medieval Rural Life brings together the latest research on peasantry in medieval Europe. The aim is to place peasants as small scale agricultural producers firmly at the centre of this volume as people with agency immense skill and resilience to shape their environments cultures and societies. The volume examines the changes and evolutions within village societies across the medieval period over a broad chronology and across a wide geography. Rural structures families and hierarchies are examined alongside tool use and trade as well as the impact of external factors such as famine and the Black Death. The contributions offer insights into multidisciplinary research incorporating archaeological as well as landscape studies alongside traditional historical documentary approaches across widely differing local and regional contexts across medieval Europe. This book will be an essential reference for scholars and students of medieval history as well those interested in rural cultural and social history