Holderness: Human/Environment Interaction in a Dynamic Landscape A Regional Study from the Norman Conquest to the Dissolution of the Monasteries

This dissertation examines historical interactions between humans and the environment in the Holderness region of Yorkshire from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. Holderness' history has been shaped by dynamic coastal and environmental processes and the later Middle Ages marked the beginnings of a significant transformation of Holderness' low-lying, watery landscape. While the persistence of the institutions of Crown and Church in Holderness had implications for the short-term resilience and long-term adaptation to environmental change in rural and urban contexts, the Holderness environment was an adynamic structure which also set important framework conditions for human activities.