Making a living in the middle ages : the people of Britain 850-1520 / Christopher Dyer.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dyer, Christopher, 1944-

Series:

New economic history of Britain

The new economic history of Britain

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Population.

History.

Cities and towns.

Social classes.

Working class.

Industries.

Great Britain--Economic conditions.

Great Britain.

Economic conditions.

Great Britain--Social conditions.

Social conditions.

Great Britain--History--Medieval period, 1066-1485.

England--Economic conditions--1066-1485.

England.

Scotland--Economic conditions.

Scotland.

Wales--Economic conditions.

Wales.

Industries--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Working class--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Social classes--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Social change--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Social change.

Cities and towns--Great Britain--History--To 1500.

Great Britain--Population--History--To 1500.

Middle Ages.

Physical Description:

x, 403 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New Haven [Conn.] : Yale University Press, [2002]

Summary:

In this masterly survey, Christopher Dyer reviews our thinking about the economy of Britain in the middle ages. By analysing economic development and change, he allows us to reconstruct, often vividly, the daily lives and experiences of people in the past. The period covered here saw dramatic alterations in the state of the economy; and this account begins with the forming of villages, towns, networks of exchange and the social hierarchy in the ninth and tenth centuries, and ends with the inflation and population rise of the sixteenth century. This is a book about ideas and attitudes as well as the material world, and Dyer shows how people regarded the economy and how they responded to economic change. We see the growth of towns, the clearance of woods and wastes, the Great Famine, the Black Death and the upheavals in the fifteenth century through the eyes of those who lived through these great events.

Changes were not always planned or directed by the rich and powerful, but arose from the uncoordinated ambitions and actions of thousands of ordinary people. Making a living in a changing world presented peasants, artisans and wage workers, as well as barons and monks, with dilemmas and decisions. The lives of these individuals were also subject to impersonal forces, such as the climate, but the author emphasizes the choices that were made. This book will guide readers through the controversies of the impact of the Vikings and the Norman Conquest, the importance of population growth, the fourteenth-century crisis and urban decline. Dyer deals with issues in social history which had an impact on the economy, such as family structures, social control and social protest. He uses the evidence of archaeology and the landscape as well as the more conventional records. Clearly and robustly written, this book sets a new standard for the understanding of medieval life.

Contents:

Introduction: Approaching the economic history of medieval Britain 1

Part 1 Origins of the medieval economy, c.850-c.1100 11

1 Living on the land, c.850-c.1050 13

i. Farming 13

ii. Expansion 17

iii. Estates and lords 26

iv. Peasants 35

2 Crisis and new directions, c.850-c.1050 43

i. The Viking invasions 43

ii. The growth of the state 50

iii. The origins of towns 58

3 Conquest, c.1050-c.1100 71

i. Old aristocracy 71

ii. New aristocracy 80

iii. England in 1086 91

Part 2 Expansion and crisis, c.1100-c.1350 101

4 Lords, c.1100-c.1315 106

i. Aristocracy and property 106

ii. Managing the estate 119

iii. Lords and peasants 137

iv. Lords and towns 145

v. Knights and gentry 147

vi. Aristocratic achievement? 152

5 Peasants, c.1100-c.1315 155

i. Families and population 155

ii. Peasants and their holdings 160

iii. Peasants and the market 163

iv. Peasants and lords 178

v. Individuals and communities 183

6 Towns and commerce, c.1100-c.1315 187

i. Urban expansion 187

ii. The urban environment 197

iii. Urban occupations 201

iv. Techniques of trade and manufacture 212

v. Urban government 218

vi. Towns in a feudal economy 225

7 Crisis, c.1290-c.1350 228

i. Great Famine and Black Death 228

ii. Contraction and change 236

iii. Historical debate 246

iv. Crisis in Scotland 251

v. Explanations 254

Part 3 Making a new world, c.1350-c.1520 265

8 The Black Death and its aftermath, c.1348-c.1520 271

i. Plague and population, c.1348-c.1520 271

ii. Low population, c.1348-c.1400 278

iii. Revolts 286

iv. The economy, c.1348-c.1400 293

9 Towns, trade and industry, c.1350-c.1520 298

i. Urban fortunes 298

ii. Urban economies 313

iii. Consumers 322

iv. Old and new 327

10 The countryside, c.1350-c.1520 330

i. Landlords 330

ii. Gentry 340

iii. Farmers 346

iv. Peasants 349.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [366]-389) and index.

ISBN:

0300090609

OCLC:

48053812