A Diversified Economy
Later Medieval Cornwall
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3211604 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Hatcher (University of Kent, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1969 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 208 |
| Publication date | 1969-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2593768 |
| OpenAlex | W4248294121 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 1 |
in some way from the once supposedly ubiquitous classical manor, with its demesne, villein and freehold lands, and copious supplies of compulsory labour. Theories based upon a limited range of evidence, in this case drawn mainly from large ecclesiastical estates in the midlands and the south, were bound to present a distorted picture when applied to English rural life as a whole. We may now be in danger of creating new myths by accepting hypotheses on economic fluctuations in the agrarian sector as uniformly applicable to all regions of medieval England. The boom of the thirteenth century, with its soaring rents and emphasis on Colonization, and its rising prices for foodstuffs and low wages for labour, has justifiably been seen as largely a manifestation of the spectacular growth of population; and the depression of the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, with the reversal of previous economic trends, as a result of the substantial decrease in numbers. It cannot be disputed that in a peasant agricultural system changes in population must have a direct effect upon demand for land;2 attempts to explain vicissitudes in the agrarian economy of medieval England in terms of monetary fluctuations3 or economic developments of national significance outside the agrarian sector4 have been unconvincing. Nevertheless, the existence of considerable diversity in the effects wrought upon regional economies by demographic change needs to be emphasized. Although in very general terms the fall in population which occurred in the course of the fourteenth century did tend to express itself in a contraction in the area under cultivation, in falling land values, high wages, and relatively low prices for foodstuffs, the impact of demographic decline upon the particular
Archaeology · Economics · Economy · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Medieval Literature and History · Scottish History and National Identity
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 1979 - 2016 (38) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |