FREE SHIPPING on Orders of $40 or More!
Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland
This book re-examines the ancient landscape divisions of medieval northern Scotland and discusses these in a European context. It demonstrates for the first time that the secular and ecclesiastical units of lordship across more than half of medieval and later Scotland were built out of an earlier Pictish (pre-ad 900) unit of land assessment, the dabhach (plural dabhaichean). It is also demonstrated that these dabhaichean remained in use as viable units of land assessment for many hundreds of years. Some were still being listed in estate rentals in the 1930s, giving them a working lifespan of over 1000 years. Essentially, dabhaichean were the building blocks from which the medieval kingdom of the Scots was largely founded. They formed the basis of larger units of secular and ecclesiastical lordship, parishes, tax assessments, and common services. The latter included bridge service, road service, fighting service, and hunting service. They provided order for society. Importantly, this book also argues that each of these units contained all of the natural resources required to sustain communities from year to year, such as access to fishings, woodland, peat, meadows, arable land, and grazings. In terms of environmental history, the division of the landscape into dabhaichean resulted in the increasingly efficient exploitation (and management) of these resources across time.
1120751819
Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland
This book re-examines the ancient landscape divisions of medieval northern Scotland and discusses these in a European context. It demonstrates for the first time that the secular and ecclesiastical units of lordship across more than half of medieval and later Scotland were built out of an earlier Pictish (pre-ad 900) unit of land assessment, the dabhach (plural dabhaichean). It is also demonstrated that these dabhaichean remained in use as viable units of land assessment for many hundreds of years. Some were still being listed in estate rentals in the 1930s, giving them a working lifespan of over 1000 years. Essentially, dabhaichean were the building blocks from which the medieval kingdom of the Scots was largely founded. They formed the basis of larger units of secular and ecclesiastical lordship, parishes, tax assessments, and common services. The latter included bridge service, road service, fighting service, and hunting service. They provided order for society. Importantly, this book also argues that each of these units contained all of the natural resources required to sustain communities from year to year, such as access to fishings, woodland, peat, meadows, arable land, and grazings. In terms of environmental history, the division of the landscape into dabhaichean resulted in the increasingly efficient exploitation (and management) of these resources across time.
130.0 Out Of Stock
Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland

Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland

by Alasdair Ross
Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland

Land Assessment and Lordship in Medieval Northern Scotland

by Alasdair Ross

Overview

This book re-examines the ancient landscape divisions of medieval northern Scotland and discusses these in a European context. It demonstrates for the first time that the secular and ecclesiastical units of lordship across more than half of medieval and later Scotland were built out of an earlier Pictish (pre-ad 900) unit of land assessment, the dabhach (plural dabhaichean). It is also demonstrated that these dabhaichean remained in use as viable units of land assessment for many hundreds of years. Some were still being listed in estate rentals in the 1930s, giving them a working lifespan of over 1000 years. Essentially, dabhaichean were the building blocks from which the medieval kingdom of the Scots was largely founded. They formed the basis of larger units of secular and ecclesiastical lordship, parishes, tax assessments, and common services. The latter included bridge service, road service, fighting service, and hunting service. They provided order for society. Importantly, this book also argues that each of these units contained all of the natural resources required to sustain communities from year to year, such as access to fishings, woodland, peat, meadows, arable land, and grazings. In terms of environmental history, the division of the landscape into dabhaichean resulted in the increasingly efficient exploitation (and management) of these resources across time.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9782503541334
Publisher: Brepols Publishers
Publication date: 12/31/2015
Series: Medieval Countryside Series , #14
Pages: 393
Product dimensions: 6.40(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.20(d)

Table of Contents

Introduction: The European and Scholarly Contexts Chapter 1. A New Look at an Old Tub: The Historiography of the Dabhach Chapter 2. Moray and the Dabhach Chapter 3. Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, the Northern Hebrides And the Dabhach Chapter 4. The Dabhach In Its European Context Appendices Appendix 1: Moray Parishes and Dabhaichean Appendix 2: 'Lesser' Caithness Parishes and Dabhaichean, Post-C.1239 Appendix 3: Sutherland Parishes and Dabhaichean Appendix 4: Ross Parishes and Dabhaichean Appendix 5 Bibliography
From the B&N Reads Blog
Page 1 of

Customer Reviews