Pere Benito i Monclús (Vilassar de Dalt, 1967) has a PhD degree in Medieval History from the University of Barcelona (2001). He was a post-graduate student at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail (1990-1991), he was a University Research Training Project sholarship holder (1991-1994) and a researcher, hired by the Milà i Fontanals Institution (CSIC), associate professor (1999), working associated scholarship holder (2000) and postdoctoral scholarship holder (2002-2004) at the Department of Medieval History, Paleography and Diplomatics, for the University of Barcelona, and visiting researcher and "Marie Curie Intra European" scholarship holder at the Laboratoire de Médiévistique Occidentale de Paris (Université de Paris I - Panthéon – la Sorbonne, 2005-2008). He is currently a "Ramón y Cajal" researcher, at the History Department, for the University of Lleida, where he directs two research projects funded and recognized by the Ministry of Science and Innovation Ministério de Ciéncia y Innovación) and the European Commission and gives classes in his specialization's subjects. He specialized in history of the peasantry and Catalan rural lordship, subject of his doctoral thesis " Señorío de la tierra y tenencia campesina en el condado de Barcelona (siglos XI-XIII) " (2001), awarded with the " XVIIIè Ferran Soldevila de Biografías, Memorias y Estudios Históricos " and published by the CSIC (Barcelona, 2003) and wrote various articles for specialized press. In recent years he has studied history of famine in Western Europe in the central centuries of Middle Ages and has collaborated on several projects editing historical sources of the medieval period of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute of Catalan Studies). Since 2002 is part of the Observatori de l'Alimentació (Odela) of the University of Barcelona and since 2008 takes part in he research group of Medieval Studies " Espai, poder y cultura " at the University of Lleida (http://www.medieval.udl.cat).

pere.benito@historia.udl.cat