Church Building and Society in the Later Middle Ages

Almost every English town and village has a parish church, but how was its construction financed and managed? This original and authoritative study explains how economic change, local politics and architectural creation combined in late-medieval England to complete one of the most demanding tasks that any parish could undertake.

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The construction of a church was undoubtedly one of the most demanding events to take place in the life of a medieval parish. It required a huge outlay of time, money and labour, and often a new organisational structure to oversee design and management. Who took control and who provided the financing was deeply shaped by local patterns in wealth, authority and institutional development - from small villages with little formal government to settlements with highly unequal populations. This all took place during a period of great economic and social change as communities managed the impact of the Black Death, the end of serfdom and the slump of the mid-fifteenth century. This original and authoritative study provides an account of how economic change, local politics and architecture combined in late-medieval England. It will be of interest to researchers of medieval, socio-economic and art history.