Page 1 of 1Kenneth Brate 15 October 2015 Dr. Sutherland Comparison assignment Comparison Assignment In comparing the book Peasants in the Middle Ages by Werner Rosener to Judith Bennet’s A Medieval Life one could almost immediately notice that the two texts focus on very similar characteristics of medieval culture. Bennet’s book focuses on the social, political and economic history of a single English peasant named Cecilia Penifader, whereas in Rosener’s book he writes on peasant life as well but in broader terms as he focuses on the social, political and economic history of all peasants. One distinct difference between two authors is their area of Focus. Bennet is focusing on Peasant life in England whereas Rosener is focusing on Peasant life in Germany. Although the
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Another similarity that we see between Bennet’s book and Rosener’s is that they both emphasize the importance of land ownership and that how that overall relates to more power in the society in which they lived. Rosener argued this by stating “The social position of the peasant within the manorial system depended very largely on the size of the demesne in relation to the size of its holdings.”1 Showing the direct correlation between the amounts of power a peasant had was based directly on the amount of land they had in their possession. In A Medieval Life Judith Bennet gives us an almost identical position by putting an emphasis on the amount of Land that Cecilia’s family owned and how that allowed Cecilia as well as her brothers to be better off than other peasants around her. We can see an example of this through Bennet’s statement “Cecilia was a privileged woman, holding much property and having many kin in Brigstock”2 Showing the privileged power she had in society because of her possession of land. A major difference amongst the two books is the fact that Rosener’s book focuses entirely on medieval peasants as one class and fails to delve into the distinctions of men in women during this
Another similarity that we see between Bennet’s book and Rosener’s is that they both emphasize the importance of land ownership and that how that overall relates to more power in the society in which they lived. Rosener argued this by stating “The social position of the peasant within the manorial system depended very largely on the size of the demesne in relation to the size of its holdings.”1 Showing the direct correlation between the amounts of power a peasant had was based directly on the amount of land they had in their possession. In A Medieval Life Judith Bennet gives us an almost identical position by putting an emphasis on the amount of Land that Cecilia’s family owned and how that allowed Cecilia as well as her brothers to be better off than other peasants around her. We can see an example of this through Bennet’s statement “Cecilia was a privileged woman, holding much property and having many kin in Brigstock”2 Showing the privileged power she had in society because of her possession of land. A major difference amongst the two books is the fact that Rosener’s book focuses entirely on medieval peasants as one class and fails to delve into the distinctions of men in women during this