ABSTRACT
The half-century after the Black Death saw considerable upheaval in Durham, from Bishop Hatfield’s feudal reaction, to the struggle over the Priory village communities, and beyond. The pattern of events on both estates is clear, but some points require further elaboration or clarification. One of these is the choice of conflict or negotiation and the factors that influenced those choices, along with any conclusions about lord-peasant relations that may be drawn from this. A related issue is the uniqueness of the period, that is, the extent to which the changes documented here could or could not have occurred in any other given span. Although marked by natural disasters, which created demographic and economic difficulties, the reactions to these crises were distinctly manmade. The Black Death set the stage; but lords and peasants made their own distinct choices. The events in Durham were tumultuous and illuminate various trends in the rest of England, and a full understanding of the causes and choices is necessary to make best use of the pattern.
