ABSTRACT
The peasant revolts in traditional aristocratic empires were rare seems confirmed by the fact that so few are mentioned even in the literature specifically devoted to peasant revolts. That literature on Western and Eastern Europe, on China and Japan, concentrates almost exclusively on revolts in and after the period of commercialization. In the case of Normandy at the turn of the eleventh century, a better case can probably be made for a link between the peasant revolt and commercialization. The peasant's very way of life and work and the close interconnection between the two predispose him to be peaceable. Only a peasant revolt spread over a fairly large area can pose both a military and an economic threat to aristocrats. The aristocrats of one empire are likely to be frequently in touch with one another as they carry out their various governmental and ceremonial functions— at least the high aristocracy is sometimes concentrated in a single capital city.
