Thanks for your kind words about the lecture series!
Competition in agriculture would have been very limited throughout this period. Generally the only imported foods were spices, luxury goods only the nobility could have afforded in small quantities.
In terms of property rights, there is slow but gradual movement toward the abolition of serfdom in Western Europe. This picks up as the use of money becomes more common late in the period and landlords see the value of making a transition from in-kind services to money rents.
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