First published 1995 by Longman Group Limited.
This book is intended as a complement to "Medieval England: Rural Society and Economic Change, 1086-1348", even though other inescapable commitments have meant that it appears more tardily than we had hoped. Since each volume is designed to be read independently there are some overlaps between the two volumes and, in particular, the final chapter of the present volume seeks to present some general conclusions about the character and achievements of the medieval English economy. As in the earlier volume we have located places in the historic counties or other English districts; and we have used the medieval monetary system and medieval measures, although we have thought it wise to include brief notes on both.
Author(s): Edward Miller, John Hatcher
Series: Social and Economic History of England, 2
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2014
Language: English
Pages: XVIII+470
List of abbreviations viii
A note on medieval English measures and money xi
Preface and acknowledgements xiii
Map of medieval England xvi
1. Domesday Book and beyond 1
Crafts and craftsmen 2
Trade and traders 10
Urban beginnings 18
Conquest and consequences 38
The king’s rights and the Domesday economy 44
The Anglo-Saxon legacy 49
2. Medieval industries 51
Some characteristics of medieval industries 52
Some industrial raw materials: wood, leather and clay 56
Mining and smelting 58
The consumer goods industries 74
Special cases: i. the building trades 85
Special cases: ii. the textile industry 93
Industrial specialization and its limits 128
3. The inland trade 135
The background of commerce 137
Communications 144
Transport costs 149
Markets and marketing 155
Fairs 166
Markets, fairs and urban development 176
4. Overseas trade 181
The thirteenth century and before 182
Changes in England’s commerce, c. 1303-1348 210
The rise of an English merchant class 225
5. Medieval English towns 255
Some features of medieval English towns 257
A period of urban growth, 1086-1348 263
Boroughs and towns 279
Municipal development 290
Town governments 308
English towns in the early fourteenth century 320
6. Medieval townsfolk 323
Towns and their inhabitants 324
The limits of urban solidarity 356
The quality of urban life 389
7. England under the three Edwards, 1272-1348 393
The economic and social background, 1086-1300 393
England before the Black Death: forces of change, c. 1300-48 409
England before the Black Death: economic problems, c. 1300-1348 418
Crisis or equilibrium? 426
Select Bibliography 430
Index 457
