The landed class occupied an important position in the transition from an agrarian to a capitalist economy in modern Europe. During the period from the mid-eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century, European societies experienced major changes in landownership, agricultural production, markets and social relations. The landed class, consisting mainly of large landowners, aristocrats and wealthy farmers, adapted to these changes in different ways and remained influential even as industrial capitalism expanded. In Britain, the landed aristocracy was particularly significant. Large estates provided landowners with considerable economic resources as well as political and social influence. The Agricultural Revolution encouraged many landlords to introduce new methods of cultivation, crop rotation, selective breeding and improved farm management. The enclosure movement consolidated scattered holdings into larger units and facilitated more commercially oriented agriculture. Land increasingly became a commodity and agriculture was progressively linked to markets. Thus, sections of the landed class became active participants in capitalist transformation rather than simply preserving traditional feudal relations. The growth of capitalist agriculture also transformed relations between landlords and cultivators. Traditional customary arrangements