“In England in the seventeenth century, almost two-thirds of land was owned by landlords and worked by peasant tenants. The previous two centuries were characterised by violent struggles between peasant tenants and landlords over the rents and fines the latter could impose on the former. It was, Brenner observed, the victory of the landlords over the tenants that created the incredibly unequal property relations that would characterise English land ownership up until the present day.”