The Agrarian History of England and Wales: Volume 2, 1042-1350

Book excerpt: This 1988 volume deals with the agrarian history of England and Wales from the beginning of the reign of Edward the Confessor to the outbreak of the Black Death in 1348. It divides the counties into regions and deals with each under the headings of new settlements, agriculture and pastoralism (crops and stock), yield ratios and techniques (including field systems, crop nutrition and drainage). There are also sections on the Late Saxon period, Domesday England, wages and prices, vernacular architecture, and the life of the people. The volume as a whole offers a detailed description of trends, both economic and social, between 1042 and 1350 and of the complexities of an economy and society split into many and various sub-economies and sub-societies, all very different from one another but closely knit and interdependent.