A Commercialising Economy

A commercialising economy focuses upon a formative period in the development of the English economy. Between the making of Domesday Book and the end of the thirteenth century far-reaching changes occurred in the scale and organisation of economic activity.

The volume of trade expanded and involved a greater proportion of both the population and goods produced. New financial and commercial institutions were created, more business-like attitudes became prevalent, and the market came increasingly to determine what was produced. In short economic life became more commercialised.

This book examines the course and the consequences of these changes. It considers the impact of commercialisation upon different commodities and different producers and the effect of that process upon traditional relationships between landlords and tenants. More fundamentally, it questions whether people were better off in 1300 than in 1086 and whether or not there was real economic growth over this period.

The contributors to this volume employ a range of sources and approaches to bring fresh light upon these important questions and open up a major field of historical debate. Amongst other innovations, estimates of English national income in the Middle Ages are here attempted for the first time.