Dyer - Making a living in the Middle Ages the people of Britain, 850-1520

MAKING A LIVING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Christopher Dyer is director of the Centre for english local history in the University of leicester. among his recent publications are An Age of Transition?: Economy and Society in England in the Later Middle Ages (2005), and The Self-Contained Village, edited with harold Fox and nigel goose (2007). he has been president of the society for medieval archaeology and of the British agricultural history society. he was awarded the CBe in 2008.

THE NEW ECONOMIC HISTORY OF BRITAIN

Making a Living in the
Middle Ages

THE PEOPLE OF BRITAIN 8501520

CHRISTOPHER DYER

YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
NEW HAVEN AND LONDON

The New Economic History of Britain
General Editor: David Cannadine

Copyright 2002 by Christopher Dyer

First printed in paperback (US) 2005

First printed in paperback (UK) 2009

The right of Christopher Dyer to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dyer, Christopher, 1944

Making a living in the middle ages: the people of Britain 8501520/Christopher Dyer.

p. cm. (The new economic history of Britain)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0300090609 (cloth: alk. paper)

1. Great Britain Economic conditions. 2. Great Britain Social conditions. 3. Great

Britain History Medieval period, 10661485. 4. England Economic

conditions 10661485. 5. Scotland Economic conditions. 6. Wales Economic

conditions. 7. Industries Great Britain History To 1500. 8. Working class Great

Britain History To 1500. 9. Social classes Great Britain History To 1500. 10. Social

change Great Britain History to 1500. 11. Cities and towns Great Britain

History To 1500. 12. Great Britain Population History To 1500. 13. Middle Ages.

I. Title. II. Series.

HC 254.D93 2002

330.941'03 dc21 2001046865

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9780300101911 (pbk)

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Approaching the economic history of medieval Britain

Origins of the medieval economy, c.850c.1100

i. Farming

ii. Expansion

iii. Estates and lords

iv. Peasants

i. The Viking invasions

ii. The growth of the state

iii. The origins of towns

i. Old aristocracy

ii. New aristocracy

iii. England in 1086

Expansion and crisis, c.1100c.1350

i. Aristocracy and property

ii. Managing the estate

iii. Lords and peasants

iv. Lords and towns

v. Knights and gentry

vi. Aristocratic achievement?

i. Families and population

ii. Peasants and their holdings

iii. Peasants and the market

iv. Peasants and lords

v. Individuals and communities

i. Urban expansion

ii. The urban environment

iii. Urban occupations

iv. Techniques of trade and manufacture

v. Urban government

vi. Towns in a feudal economy

i. Great Famine and Black Death

ii. Contraction and change

iii. Historical debate

iv. Crisis in Scotland

v. Explanations

Making a new world, c.1350c.1520

i. Plague and population, c.1348c.1520

ii. Low population, c.1348c.1400

iii. Revolts

iv. The economy, c.1348c.1400

i. Urban fortunes

ii. Urban economies

iii. Consumers

iv. Old and new

i. Landlords

ii. Gentry

iii. Farmers

iv. Peasants

A woodland village and its fields: Great Hampden, Buckinghamshire

Distribution of nucleated villages

A champion village and its fields: Crimscote, Warwickshire

A great estate: Meddyfnych, Carmarthenshire

Town plans of a) Winchester and b) Northampton

Boroughs in Domesday Book (1086)

Distribution of population according to Domesday Book (1086)

Examples of estates in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries

Scottish burghs in existence by 1300

Debts owed to Londoners, c.1400

Changes in the distribution of lay wealth, 1334 and 1515

Grain prices in England, 11601520

English population, 8501550

Wage rates in England, 12101520

English exports of wool and cloth, 12791544

This book surveys the society and economy of medieval Britain. It covers the seven centuries from the Vikings to the Reformation, and it aims to deal with Britain, that is England, Scotland and Wales. I have approached the subject by seeking to understand the perspective of those who lived at the time. Changes in the society and economy came about because men and women, as individuals or in groups, made decisions and acted accordingly. We can therefore appreciate why they behaved and acted as they did if we can reconstruct their thinking in the light of their circumstances. Such an exercise requires some imagination, as one of the purposes of this book is to explore the economic contribution of the working population, who are not very fully documented. This is difficult, but is intended to add to the interest of the book, and in the same spirit while scholarly debates and controversies are reflected in these pages, they will be presented without lengthy accounts of the views of contending schools of historians. The writing consciously avoids jargon and technicalities and the more specialized terms will be explained when they are first mentioned.

A book dealing with a long period and many themes is inevitably the product of many years of research, reading, listening and conversation. I could not possibly name the dozens of people who have helped me in various ways, and I hope that they will understand and forgive the omission. The only exception must be Rodney Hilton, whose early tuition and later advice has been an influence and inspiration. To focus on those who helped specifically with the production of this book, David Cannadine suggested that I write it, and commented helpfully on a first draft. I was advised and encouraged by the editors for Penguin and Yale, Simon Winder and Robert Baldock. Chapters were read and improved by Dawn Hadley, Keith Stringer, Phillipp Schofield and two anonymous readers. The final version of the typescript was prepared by Sue Bowen and Nancy Moore. Jenny Dyer read drafts and helped in other ways. John and Geraldine Brown gave me hospitality when I worked in Edinburgh. Help with preparing illustrations came from Duncan Brown, Bob Croft, Geoff Egan and Andy Isham. Candida Brazil of Yale University Press gave care and encouragement. The University of Birmingham and the Arts and Humanities Research Board allowed me a generous period of study leave.

Christopher Dyer

Birmingham, April 2001

Note on the text. Places are identified here with reference to the counties before the reorganization of local government in the 1970s. Money, length, distance, area, volume and weight are given in measures prevailing before metrication. There were 240d (pence) in a pound (1), and 12d (pence) made a shilling (1s). To gain a sense of the value of money, a cow could be bought for about 24d (2s) or 36d (3s) before 1200, and between 6s and 11s after that date. A foot is equivalent to 0.3 metre, a yard to 0.9 metre, and a mile to 1.6 kilometres. An acre is 0.4 hectare. Grain was measured in bushels (36 litres) and wine in gallons (4.5 litres). Wool and tin were weighed in pounds (0.45 kilogramme).