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The Economy of England in the Middle Ages

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15th-century hay-making, depicted in an English stained glass window.

The economics of English agriculture in the Middle Ages is the economic history of English agriculture from the Norman invasion in 1066, to the death of Henry VII in 1509. England's economy was fundamentally agricultural throughout the period, though even before the invasion the market economy was important to producers. Norman institutions, including serfdom, were superimposed on an existing system of open fields.

Over the next five centuries the English agricultural economy grew but struggled to support the growing population, and then suffered an acute crisis, resulting in significant political and economic change. By the end of the period, England would have an economy dominated by rented farms, many controlled by the rising class of the gentry.

Ploughmen at work with oxen.

Agriculture formed the bulk of the English economy at the time of the Norman invasion. Twenty years after the invasion, 35% of England was covered in arable land, 25% put to pasture, with 15% covered by woodlands and the remaining 25% predominantly being moorland, fens and heaths. Wheat formed the single most important arable crop, but rye, barley and oats were also cultivated extensively.

In the more fertile parts of the country such as the Thames valley, the Midlands and the east of England, legumes and beans were also cultivated. Sheep, cattle, oxen and pigs were kept on English holdings, although most of these breed were much smaller than modern equivalents and most would have been slaughtered in winter.

The open field system, central to many medieval English communities.

These new villages had adopted an open field system in which fields were divided into small strips of land, individually owned, with crops rotated between the field each year and the local woodlands and other common lands carefully managed. Agricultural land on a manor was divided between some fields that the landowner would manage and cultivate directly, called demesne land, and the majority of the fields that would be cultivated by local peasants who would pay rent to the landowner either through agricultural labour on the lord's demesne fields, or through cash or produce.

The Normans initially did not significantly alter the operation of the manor or the village economy. William reassigned large tracts of land amongst the Norman elite, creating vast estates in some areas, particularly along the Welsh border and in Sussex. The biggest change in the years after the invasion was the rapid reduction in the number of slaves being held in England. In the 10th century slaves had been very numerous, although their number had begun to diminish as a result of economic and religious pressure.

Nonetheless, the new Norman aristocracy proved harsh landlords. The wealthier, formerly more independent Anglo-Saxon peasants found themselves rapidly sinking down the economic hierarchy, swelling the numbers of unfree workers, or serfs, forbidden to leave their manor and seek alternative employment. Those Anglo-Saxon nobles who had survived the invasion itself were rapidly assimilated into the Norman elite or economically crushed.

Mid-medieval growth (1100-1290)

The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of huge economic growth in England. The population of England rose from around one and a half million in 1086 to around four or five million in 1300, stimulating increased agricultural outputs and the export of raw materials to Europe.

In contrast to the previous two centuries, England was relatively secure from invasion. Except for the years of the Anarchy, most military conflicts either had only localised economic impact or proved only temporarily disruptive. English economic thinking remained conservative, seeing the economy as consisting of three groups: the ordines, those who fought, or the nobility; laboratores, those who worked, in particular the peasantry; and oratores, those who prayed, or the clerics. Trade and merchants played little part in this model and were frequently vilified at the start of the period, although increasingly tolerated towards the end of the 13th century.

An English serf at work digging, c. 1170.

Agriculture remained by far the most important part of the English economy during the 12th and 13th centuries. There remained a wide variety in English agriculture, influenced by local geography; in areas where grain could not be grown, other resources were exploited instead. In the Weald, for example, agriculture centred on grazing animals on the woodland pastures, whilst in the Fens fishing and bird-hunting was supplemented by basket making and peat cutting.

In some locations, such as Lincolnshire and Droitwich, salt manufacture was important, including production for the export market. Fishing became an important trade along the English coast, especially in Great Yarmouth and Scarborough, with the herring a particularly popular catch; salted at the coast, it could then be shipped inland or exported to Europe. Piracy between competing English fishing fleets was not unknown during the period.

Sheep were the most common farm animal in England during the period, their numbers doubling by the 14th century. Sheep became increasingly widely used for wool, particularly in the Welsh borders, Lincolnshire and the Pennines. Pigs remained popular on holdings because of their ability to scavenge for food. Oxen remained the primary plough animal, with horses used more widely on farms in the south of England towards the end of the 12th century.

Sheep, shown here c. 1250, became increasingly important to English agriculture.

During the 12th century major landowners tended to rent out their demesne lands for money, motivated by static prices for produce and the chaos of the Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. This practice began to alter in the 1180s and 1190s, spurred by the greater political stability. In the first years of John's reign, agricultural prices almost doubled, at once increasing the potential profits on the demesne estates and also increasing the cost of living for the landowners themselves. Landowners now attempted wherever possible to bring their demesne lands back into direct management, creating a system of administrators and officials to run their new system of estates.

New land was brought into cultivation to meet demand for food, including drained marshes and fens, including Romney Marsh, the Somerset Levels and the Fens; royal forests from the late 12th century onwards; poorer lands in the north, south-west and in Welsh Marches. The first windmills in England began to appear along the south and east coasts in the 12th century, expanding in number in the 13th, adding to the mechanized power available to the manors.

By 1300 it has been estimated that there were more than 10,000 watermills in England, used both for grinding corn and for fulling cloth. Improved ways of running estates began to be circulated and were popularised in Walter de Henley's famous book, Le Dite de Hosebondrie, written around 1280. In some regions and under some landowners investment and innovation increased yields significantly through improved ploughing and fertilisers, particularly in Norfolk where yields eventually equalled later 18th century levels.

Fountains Abbey, one of the new Cistercian monasteries built in the medieval period with wealth derived from agriculture and trade.

The Church in England was a major landowner throughout the medieval period and played an important part in the development of agriculture and rural trade in the first two centuries of Norman rule. The Cistercian order first arrived in England in 1128, establishing around eighty new monastic houses over the next few years; the wealthy Augustinians also established themselves and expanded to occupy around 150 houses, all supported by agricultural estates, many of them in the north of England.

By the 13th century these and other orders were acquiring new lands and had become major economic players both as landowners and as middlemen in the expanding wool trade. In particular, the Cistercians led the development of the grange system. Granges were separate manors in which the fields were all cultivated by the monastic officials, rather than being divided up between demesne and rented fields, and became known for trialling new agricultural techniques during the period. Elsewhere, many monasteries had significant economic impact on the landscape, such as the monks of Glastonbury, responsible for the draining of the Somerset Levels to create new pasture land.

The military crusading order of the Knights Templar also held extensive property in England, bringing in around £2,200 per annum by the time of their fall. It was primarily rural holdings rented out for cash, but also some urban properties in London. Following the dissolution of the Templar order in France by Philip IV of France, Edward II ordered their properties to be seized and passed to the Hospitaller order in 1313, but in practice many properties were taken by local landowners and the hospital was still attempting to reclaim them twenty-five years later.

The 12th century also saw a concerted attempt to curtail the remaining rights of unfree peasant workers and to set out their labour rents more explicitly in the form of the English Common Law. This process resulted in Magna Carta explicitly authorising feudal landowners to settle law cases concerning feudal labour and fines through their own manorial courts rather than through the royal courts.

Mid-medieval economic crisis - the Great Famine and the Black Death (1290-1350)

The Black Death reached England in 1348 from Europe.

The Great Famine of 1315-1317

The Great Famine of 1315 began a number of acute crises in the English agrarian economy. The famine centred on a sequence of harvest failures in 1315, 1316 and 1321, combined with an outbreak of the murrain sickness amongst sheep and oxen between 1319-21 and the fatal ergotism fungi amongst the remaining stocks of wheat. In the ensuing famine, many people died and the peasantry were said to have been forced to eat horses, dogs and cats as well to have conducted cannibalism against children, although these last reports are usually considered to be exaggerations.

Sheep and cattle numbers fell by up to a half, significantly reducing the availability of wool and meat, and food prices almost doubled, with grain prices particularly inflated. Food prices remained at similar levels for the next decade. Salt prices also increased sharply due to the wet weather.

Various factors exacerbated the crisis. Economic growth had already begun to slow significantly in the years prior to the crisis and the English rural population was increasingly under economic stress, with around half the peasantry estimated to possess insufficient land to provide them with a secure livelihood. Where additional land was being brought into cultivation, or existing land cultivated more intensively, the soil may have become exhausted and useless.

Bad weather also played an important part in the disaster; 1315-6 and 1318 saw torrential rains and an incredibly cold winter, which in combination badly impacted on harvests and stored supplies. The rains of these years was followed by draught in the 1320s and another fierce winter in 1321, complicating recovery.

The Black Death epidemic first arrived in England in 1348, re-occurring in waves during 1360-2, 1368-9, 1375 and more sporadically thereafter. The most immediate economic impact of this disaster was the widespread loss of life, between around 27% mortality amongst the upper classes, to 40-70% amongst the peasantry. Despite the very high loss of life, few settlements were abandoned during the epidemic itself, but many were badly affected or nearly eliminated altogether.

Late medieval economic recovery (1350-1509)

The events of the crisis between 1290-1348 and the subsequent epidemics produced many challenges for the English economy. In the decades after the disaster, the economic and social issues arising from the Black Death combined with the costs of the Hundred Years War to produce the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Although the revolt was suppressed it undermined many of the vestiges of the feudal economic order and the countryside became dominated by estates organised as farms, frequently owned or rented by the new economic class of the gentry.

The English agricultural economy remained depressed throughout the 15th century, with growth coming from the greatly increased English cloth trade and manufacturing. The economic consequences of this varied considerably from region to region, but generally London, the South and the West prospered at the expense of the Eastern and the older cities. The role of merchants and of trade became increasingly seen as important to the country and usury became increasingly accepted, with English economic thinking increasingly influenced by Renaissance humanist theories.

The ruined church in the deserted village of Embleton, County Durham, one of nearly 1,500 medieval villages abandoned after the agrarian crisis of the 14th century.

As the major estates transformed, a new economic grouping, the gentry, became evident, many of them benefiting from the opportunities of the farming system. Land distribution remained heavily unequal; estimates suggest that the English nobility owned 20% of English lands, the Church and Crown 33%, the gentry 25%, with the remainder (22%) owned by peasant farmers. Agriculture itself continued to innovate, and the loss of many English oxen to the murrain sickness in the crisis increased the number of horses being used to plough fields in the 14th century, a significant improvement on older methods.

Bailey, Mark. (1996) "Population and Economic Resources," in Given-Wilson (ed) 1996.

Cantor, Leonard. (1982a) "Introduction: the English Medieval Landscape," in Cantor (ed) 1982.

Cantor, Leonard. (1982b) "Forests, Chases, Parks and Warrens," in Cantor (ed) 1982.

Douglas, David Charles. (1962) William the Conqueror: the Norman Impact upon England. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Fryde, E. B. and Natalie Fryde. (1991) "Peasant Rebellion and Peasant Discontents," in Miller (ed) 1991.

Hatcher, John. (1996) "Plague, Population and the English Economy," in Anderson (ed) 1996.

Keen, Laurence. (1989) "Coastal Salt Production in Norman England," in Brown R. (ed) 1989.

Kowalski, Maryanne. (2007) "Warfare, Shipping, and Crown Patronage: The Economic Impact of the Hundred Years War on the English Port Towns," in Armstrong, Elbl and Elbl (eds) 2007.

Lee, John. (2001) "The Trade of Fifteenth Century Cambridge and its Region," in Hicks (ed) 2001.

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Economics of English agriculture in the Middle Ages - Wikipedia

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The economics of English agriculture in the Middle Ages is the economic history of English agriculture from the Norman invasion in 1066, to the death of Henry VII in 1509. England's economy was fundamentally agricultural throughout the period, though even before the invasion the market economy was important to producers.

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Our list of the best medieval maps - ten maps created between the sixth and sixteenth centuries, which offer unique views into how medieval people saw their world. These maps are arranged chronologically, which helps to reveal some of the changes that took place during the Middle Ages in how people created maps. Madaba Mosaic Map
In 542 AD, a Byzantine church was built at Madaba, Jordan. When it was built, or in the first thirty years after, a large mosaic was laid which depicted the Holy Land with Jerusalem. An earthquake struck Madaba in 746 and the town was abandoned. It was not until 1884 the mosaic was rediscovered.

Only part of the mosaic survives, but it reveals much about the Holy Land. Jerusalem, in particular, is finely detailed, showing streets and buildings.
The T-O Map of Isidore of Seville
Isidore of Seville (c. 560 - 636) was one of the leading scholars of the Early Middle Ages. Near the end of his life he wrote Etymologiae, a kind of encyclopedia of world knowledge that filled 20 volumes. Among the pages of this work is a map of the world he created. Isidore describes the world this way:

The mass of solid land is called round after the roundness of a circle, because it is like a wheel [...] Because of this, the Ocean flowing around it is contained in a circular limit, and it is divided in three parts, one part being called Asia, the second Europe, and the third Africa.

This type of map, which historians refer to as a T-O map, became the basis for many medieval maps.
The Mappa Mundi of Saint Beatus of Liébana (c.730 - c.800)
Beatus of Liébana was a monk geographer from the Iberian Kingdom of Asturias during the eighth-century. He created this world map around the year 776, basing it on the accounts given by Isidore of Seville, Ptolemy and the Holy Bible.

The original version of this map does not survive, but several copies were made, including the one shown here, which comes from the monastery of St.Sever in France. Some interesting details including placing the Garden of Eden at the end of Asia and locating a fourth continent beyond Africa.

See also: The Osma Beatus Map: A Medieval and Christian View of the World
Tabula Rogeriana
Muhammad al-Idrisi (1099-1165 or 1166) was born in the north African town of Ceuta but spent much of his early life traveling around the known world, going as far as York in England, Hungary and Anatolia. He settled on the island of Sicily and began working for the Norman King Roger II. In 1154 he created for him the Tabula Rogeriana, which offers a description of the world and over 70 maps of various places. The centre-piece of this book is his world map, which depicts Europe, Asia and the northern part of Africa (the southern part of the world is at the top of the map). Al-Idrisi states that it shows "the seven climatic regions, with their respective countries and districts, coasts and lands, gulfs and seas, watercourses and river mouths."

See also: Al-Idrisi and His World Map (1154)
Matthew Paris' Map of Britain
Matthew Paris (c. 1200 - 1259) is one of the most well-known people from 13th century England. This Benedictine monk wrote many works and illustrated them himself. He also created several maps, including this one of Britain which he drew around 1250. This map features over 250 place names and includes such features as Hadrian's Wall and Mount Snowdon in Wales. You can read more about this map from the British Library.

See also: "Queen of All Islands": The Imagined Cartography of Matthew Paris's Britain

Hereford Mappa Mundi
Created around 1290, this large map of the world is another version of the T-O map but much more detailed. Owned by Hereford Cathedral for hundreds of years, they almost sold it off in the 1980s, but a public outcry led to a £3 million donation which created a new home for the map in Hereford.

In his book On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks, Simon Garfield gives his own own vivid description of the Hereford Mappa Mundi: "The map is frantic - alive with activity and achievement. Once you grow accustomed to it, it is hard to pull yourself away. There are approximately eleven hundred place-names, figurative drawings and inscriptions, sourced from biblical, classical and Christian texts...In its distillation of geographical, historical and religious knowledge the mappa serves as a itinerary, a gazatteer, a parable, a bestiary and an educational aid. Indeed, all history is here, happening at the same time: the Tower of Babel; Noah's Ark as it comes to rest on dry land; the Golden Fleece; the Labyrinth in Crte where the Minotaur loved. And surely for contemporaries - locals and pilgrims - it must have constituted the most arresting freak show in town. With its parade of dung-firing animals, dog-headed or bat-eared humans, a winged sphinx with a young woman's face, it seems closer to Hieronymus Bosch than to the scientific Greek cartographers."

See also: Making a Mappamundi: The Hereford Map
The Vinland Map
Scholars are not sure if this is genuine map from the 15th century, as it was only revealed to the public in 1965 under somewhat suspicious circumstances. But if the map is real, it is the earliest depiction of North America, revealing new details about the Norse settlement of Vinland.

See also: Analysing the Vinland Map: A Critical Review of a Critical Review

See also: Vinland Map is authentic, expert confirms
The Maps of Piri Reis
The Ottoman Admiral Piri Reis (ca. 1470 - 1553/4) compiled his Book on Navigation in 1521 - it contains detailed information on navigation, and includes accurate charts and maps of Europe and the Mediterranean area. He included maps of ports such as Istanbul, Venice and Alexandria (which is displayed above). He also produced two maps of the world, the first in 1513 and the second in 1529.

See also: Piri Reis' Book on Navigation (Kitab-i Bahriyye) as a Geography Handbook
Carta Marina
This map was first printed in Venice in 1539 - it was created by the Olaus Magnus, a Swedish ecclesiastical official who lived in Italy from 1524 to his death in 1567. This map of Scandinavia is very large (125 cm tall and 170 cm wide) and is colourfully illustrated with various animals and monsters.
The Gallery of Maps
When visiting the Vatican Museum, one will enter a long hallway known as The Gallery of Maps. The gallery was commissioned in 1580 by Pope Gregory XIII, with the 40 panels created by Ignazio Danti. They depict Italy and its various regions, including this map of Sicily.

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Our list of the best medieval maps - ten maps created between the sixth and sixteenth centuries, which offer unique views into how medieval people saw their world. These maps are arranged chronologically, which helps to reveal some of the changes that took place during the Middle Ages in how people created maps.

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Whether you're trying to spend time at work or sneak in one last match before bed, you may need to get a little creative to sneak in some time with your computer games. There are a couple of simple measures you can take to avoid getting caught while playing. You'll want to optimize the settings in your game to avoid unwanted detection, and prepare a decoy screen in case you get an unwanted visitor. You can also rearrange your room or office to prevent people from being able to easily see what you're doing. More often than not, you'll want to take multiple precautions in order to consistently get away with playing computer games.

1. Turn the sound off on your computer speakers. While a computer game's sound is often an important part of the playing experience, you'll want to turn the sound off completely if you want to avoid getting caught playing a game. The sounds of your game will tip off anyone in earshot, and you won't be able to hear anyone approaching from other parts of the house or office.

While it's a little riskier, you can always choose to play with headphones on and just leave one of the earbuds or headphones in.

Try to avoid playing games that require sound if you're trying to play a game undetected.

2. Switch your game from fullscreen to windowed mode. A game in fullscreen mode will take up the entire monitor. Windowed mode will make your game show up on a portion of your screen, and you'll see the border around the game with the three buttons at the top of the window. You want quick access to those buttons, since they allow you to minimize and exit the game immediately.

Borderless is not the same as windowed mode. Borderless means that you can move your mouse off of the game when it's in fullscreen mode and on to a second monitor if you have one.

3. Open a page or screen that you want people to see if they interrupt your game. A screen with homework, email, or a spreadsheet open are all good options depending on whether you're at work, school, or somewhere else. Open a decoy page that you'd be comfortable with people seeing and then open your game and begin playing.

Tip: Switch between different decoy screens if you have someone checking on you regularly to avoid suspicion.

4. Switch between screens quickly if someone walks in while you're playing. If you're using a Windows computer, press the alt and tab buttons at the same time. Then, with your finger still on alt, press the tab button again to switch to the next window. If you're using a Mac computer, press the command button and W key at the same time to open all the tabs on your computer. Choose your decoy tab to quickly switch screens.

5. Delete your browser history and recent downloads when you're done playing. That way, your parents or boss won't come across the games you've been playing if they use your computer. You can clear browsing data and your download history in the settings or history tabs in most browsers.

If your parent or boss is particularly tech-savvy, you'll want to clear your cookies too. This is usually an option in your browser's history tab as well.

1. Use your laptop in bed so you can act like you're asleep if someone comes in. If you have your games on a laptop, play them in bed so that you can quickly close your computer and roll over to play like you're asleep. You can always slide your bed sheet over the top of your screen as well so that your computer is fully hidden under your bed when you close it.

If it's late at night, play your computer games on your laptop under the covers so you're even more hidden if someone comes in.

2. Avoid games that can't be paused. If you're hoping to sneak in some time playing Fortnite or League of Legends, be aware that these games can't be paused. If you have to switch screens or close the game quickly, you'll be unable to protect yourself in the game. Try to stick to single-player games that have pause menus like Minecraft or others.

Tip: Many online games have an offline mode, which allows you to practice the game. Use this is if you don't want to risk losing a match by having to minimize it mid-game.

3. Choose games that don't require your undivided attention. If you are one of those hardcore gamers that gets totally focused whenever you play an intense game, try playing something simpler and calmer. It is essential that you keep an eye and ear out for anyone that may be making their way towards your room if you want to avoid detection.

Puzzle and base-building games tend to be good choices. They don't have intense timers and can easily be ignored for a few minutes if you're interrupted.

1. Lock your door to avoid unwanted interruptions. If your door is locked, you won't be caught in the act while playing your game. You'll have a second to switch screens before you have to get up and unlock the door. Be careful though, this will raise suspicions if you aren't supposed to lock your door during work or homework time.

Tip: If your door doesn't have a lock, you can put a chair underneath the handle at a 45-degree angle to brace it in place. Be prepared to explain yourself though if someone tries to enter your room or office.

2. Arrange your room so that your screen isn't facing the door. If someone walks into the room and can see your screen over your shoulder, you won't have any time to minimize your game or switch windows. Position your desk in a way where you're facing the door so that you buy enough time to change screens if someone wants to see what you're doing.

Set the brightness to low on your computer game if your desk is facing the door so that bright lights and colors don't reflect all over the walls or windows behind you.

Add New Question

My dad has a program that lets him watch my computer screen, AND he blocked Task Viewer. What should I do?

Surrender to the fact that until you are an adult, you will have to submit to some degree to your parents' authority. If your dad has put these measures in place, it's because he's looking out for your best interest. Find something you can do online that won't violate his computer games policy, whatever that may be.

How do you not get caught playing games online when at school?

Oliver Tubert-Barrios (SquareFoil31362)

Don't play online games at school. If you don't play, you don't get caught.

Try not to make a lot of noise clicking or tapping the space bar when playing certain games. A parent, sibling or coworker may begin to wonder why you would need to click that many times.

Try to avoid your siblings when sneaking games. Even if they're in a good mood now, they could always snitch in the future!

Use incognito mode on your browser if you're playing a browser game.

Show More Tips
Tips from our Readers

The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you'd like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

When using a decoy tab, make sure it makes sense with the game you're playing. For example, if you are playing a game in which you need to press a lot of keys, open a Word doc to explain the typing. If you're playing a game that requires a lot of mouse-clicking, your decoy page should be a website for school.

Avoid playing games on your work or school wifi network. Your network administrator might be able to get ahold of your browser history, even in incognito mode.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Eric McClure. Eric McClure is an editing fellow at wikiHow where he has been editing, researching, and creating content since 2019. A former educator and poet, his work has appeared in Carcinogenic Poetry, Shot Glass Journal, Prairie Margins, and The Rusty Nail. His digital chapbook, The Internet, was also published in TL;DR Magazine. He was the winner of the Paul Carroll award for outstanding achievement in creative writing in 2014, and he was a featured reader at the Poetry Foundation's Open Door Reading Series in 2015. Eric holds a BA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an MEd in secondary education from DePaul University. This article has been viewed 141,450 times.

Updated: January 22, 2024

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 141,450 times.

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3 Ways to Not Get Caught Playing Computer Games - wikiHow

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Whether you're trying to spend time at work or sneak in one last match before bed, you may need to get a little creative to sneak in some time with your computer games. There are a couple of simple measures you can take to avoid getting...

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Throughout the medieval era, many multi-ethnic states emerged - some lasting for just a generation, while others would endure for centuries. Here is our list of 25 empires from the Middle Ages, starting with the most successful.
Byzantium / Eastern Roman Empire (c. 330-1453)

Long after the Western half of the Roman Empire had broken up, the Eastern half, known as Byzantium, would continue to flourish. Based out of Constantinople, the empire would last over a thousand years, and at the height of its power, controlled most of the coastal lands surrounding the Mediterranean, including Egypt, North Africa and parts of Italy and Spain.

Byzantium would see many periods of decline and return to prosperity. Constantinople itself was besieged several times and nearly conquered - in all but two cases it was able to survive. On the first fall of Constantinople, in 1204, it would take more than fifty years before a Byzantine emperor could regain control. However, when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453, that marked an end to its empire.

Byzantium has had a huge influence on the medieval world, carrying on the idea of the Roman Empire and becoming an important centre of Christianity throughout the Middle Ages. Its endurance and impact on history make it, in our opinion, the most successful medieval empire in the Middle Ages.

Mongol Empire (1206-1368)

After uniting the Mongol people, Chinggis Khan (c.1162-1227) and his successors would use their military power to conquer state after state. By the mid-thirteenth century the Mongols would establish the largest contiguous land empire in history, stretching from Korea to the Middle East. Its military might was unrivalled, but it also allowed for relatively peaceful conditions to exist within its border - this allowed for more international trade and travel, spreading goods and ideas across Eurasia.

The Mongol Empire did not last long - it was so large and spread out that by the second half of the thirteenth century it would break apart into several empires, including the Yuan Dynasty in China and the Ilkhanate in the Middle East. These successor states would themselves only usually last for a few generations.

Republic of Venice (697-1797)

The Most Serene Republic of Venice began in a lagoon at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea and was something of a vassal state to the Byzantine Empire. It would make use of its maritime assets to become one of the most important economic powerhouses of the medieval world. The Venetians would take control of parts of Italy, the Adriatic coast, Crete and Cyprus while setting up commercial posts in the Western Mediterranean and Black Seas. However, it was not really a land empire, but rather a sea-power that grew enormously wealthy through trade and made sure it had enough naval strength to defend its interests.

Tang Dynasty (618-907)

The period of the Tang Dynasty is regarded as one of the most prosperous times in Chinese history. With a population of around 50 million, rising to nearly 80 million at the end of the ninth century, the empire was able to build military forces that moved westward and conquered parts of Central Asia. Moreover, the dynasty became a leader in establishing economic, cultural and technological innovation, greatly influencing its neighbours such as Japan and Korea.

Ottoman Empire (1299-1923)

It would be the Ottomans that would bring an end to the Byzantine Empire, and then establish its control over southeastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Ottoman Empire's greatest period would be the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but the state would continue to endure, although gradually declining, until the twentieth century.

Carolingian Dynasty (800-888)

The reign of Charlemagne (768-814) was pivotal in changing the map of medieval Europe - much of the western half of the continent would fall under his rule, and on Christmas Day in the year 800 he was crowned Emperor. However, his sons and grandsons would have trouble holding onto this vast empire, and before the end of the ninth century it would split into what we now call today France and Germany.

Umayyad Caliphate (661-750)

After Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan became the ruler of the Muslim world and established his own Umayyad Dynasty based out of Damascus, his military forces would conquer large swaths of territory. At its height the Umayyad Caliphate would extend from India to the Atlantic Ocean. However, as military success subsided and the Islamic religion changed, the Umayyads were overthrown by the Abbasid Revolution. A branch of the Umayyad family would continue to rule in Spain until the eleventh century.

Khmer Empire (802-1431)

For over six hundred years the Khmer peoples of South East Asia were able to create a dominant state. From its magnificent capital city of Angkor, the Khmer Empire stretched out over what today is Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, and southern Vietnam. However, by the fourteenth century the empire was declining and Angkor was eventually abandoned due to attacks from neighbours and environmental changes.

Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258)

Uprisings within the Middle East against the Umayyads would lead to the Abbasid Revolution, which ushered in a new Caliphate. The Abbasids would build an empire centred around Baghdad, and during the ninth century they could claim to be the political and cultural centre of the world.

When it started, the Abbasid Caliphate extended from North Africa to Central Asia, but its borders gradually declined as new states emerged and the Abbasids themselves fell under the control of military commanders. By the eleventh century, the Abbasids controlled a territory that only reached as far as present-day southern Iraq, although they still had a significant religious importance for many Muslims. The caliphate lasted until 1258, when the Mongols conquered Baghdad and killed Caliph al-Musta'sim.

Chola Empire (848-1279)

While the Chola Dynasty can trace its origins back to the third century BCE, it was in the ninth century that this Tamil-based state created a maritime empire that dominated the Indian Ocean. At its height, the Chola Empire ruled much of southern India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Furthermore, they used naval campaigns to establish a large degree of control over parts of Southeast Asia.

First Bulgarian Empire (681-1018)

After the Bulgars settled in the Balkans in the seventh century they would carve out for themselves a growing state that eventually would encompass much of southeastern Europe. Simeon I (893-927) would even assume the title of Emperor as the Bulgarians threatened to conquer Byzantium. A Second Bulgarian Empire emerged in 1185 and would last for another two hundred years before being defeated by the Ottomans.

Jagiellonian Dynasty (1386-1572)

The marriage of Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania and Queen Jadwiga of Poland in 1386 helped establish a multi-ethnic regional power in Eastern Europe. At its greatest extent, the Jagiellonians would rule territory from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea, and would also briefly rule Hungary as well.

Song Dynasty (970-1269)

After uniting China in the tenth century, the Song Dynasty established a period of prosperity. Reaching a population of over a hundred million, the people of this state would be responsible for a number of scientific and technological innovations, including the introduction of paper money and gunpowder.

The dynasty is divided into two periods: Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279), which is defined by the loss of much of its northern territory in the early twelfth century. The Southern Song was defeated and conquered by the Mongols.

Crown of Aragon (1137-1716)

This Mediterranean maritime empire began in 1137 with the marriage of Raymond Berenguer IV and Petronilla of Aragon, uniting the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon. Their descendants would continue to add states and principalities to their own personal rule, so that by the Later Middle Ages they would have domain over the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta, Southern Italy, and parts of Greece.

Mamluk Sultanate (1250-1517)

The Mamluks were slaves - taken from parts of the Steppe and Central Asia and trained to be the best military forces in the medieval world. Even after they overthrew the Ayyubid Dynasty and took control of Egypt and Syria they would continue to replenish their ranks and leadership with slaves. The Mamluks were able to hold off repeated Mongol invasions, remove the Crusader States from the eastern Mediterranean, and hold onto power for over 250 years.

Angevin Empire (1154-1214)

Henry II would amass a series of titles during his reign: Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Lord of Ireland and King of England. While some lands he inherited and others were gained through marriage, Henry seems to have been up to the task of maintaining and enhancing an empire that included almost half of France. The French king was surprised by what an active ruler Henry was, commenting "The king of England is now in Ireland, now in England, now in Normandy, he seems rather to fly than to go by horse or ship." However, family infighting and lacklustre reigns by his sons Richard and John would strip the Angevin empire back down to the Kingdom of England.

Mali Empire (c. 1235-c. 1600)

Established over large parts of West Africa, this state was centred around the city of Timbuktu, which would become a trading, educational and cultural hub. It might be best known for the rule of Mansa Musa (1312-1337) who is believed to have been one of the wealthiest individuals in world history.

Holy Roman Empire (962-1806)

In 962 the German Otto I reinstated the position of Emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne. Although the empire theoretically extended from northern Italy to Austria, Germany, the Low Countries and the present-day Czech Republic, it was a very decentralized state with many of the city-states and principalities ruling themselves. The position of emperor was actually elected among the high-ranking families of the empire, which usually further limited its power.

Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526)

An empire that was ruled by five different dynasties, the Delhi Sultanate would eventually stretch out to encompass nearly the entire Indian subcontinent. It would be a period that would see Islamic and Asian peoples and cultures become more integrated into Indian society.

Kalmar Union (1397-1523)

Between 1387 and 1389 Queen Margaret I of Norway was able to become the ruler of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, the latter of which also made her the sovereign over Iceland and Greenland. This Scandinavian union was formalized on 17 June 1397 by the Treaty of Kalmar, which stipulated an eternal union of the three realms under one king, and while they were to be governed separately, the foreign policy was to be conducted jointly by the monarch. However, the eternal union would not last, with Sweden reestablishing its own kingdom in the sixteenth century.

Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171)

The Fatimids, an Ismaili Shia movement, had fled into northern Africa to escape Sunni persecution. With the help of the local Berber tribes, the Fatimids were able to carve out a kingdom in what is present-day Algeria and Tunisia. By the year 969 they conquered Egypt and established Cairo as the capital of their caliphate and as one of the most important and prosperous cities in the world. The empire would expand into the Red Sea and Syria, but began to decay in the late eleventh century, challenged by Turks and Crusaders. Eventually, their own military commanders would seize control of Egypt and usurp the Fatimid Caliph.

Hunnic Empire (c. 420-469)

Around the year 420 the Hun brothers Octar and Rugila began to establish a confederacy of nomadic tribes in the western half of the Great Steppe. The Hunnic Empire would reach its greatest strength under the rule of Attila (434-453) stretching out from Germany to central Asia. Attila launched invasions of both the Eastern and Western portions of the Roman Empire and may have even conquered Rome itself if he had not died on his wedding night, with one account suggesting it was from a severe nosebleed. After his death the empire quickly collapsed.

Timurid Empire (1370-1507)

In 1370 the Turco-Mongol warlord Timur, also known as Tamerlane, began his reign and his attempt to restore the Mongol Empire. He would take control of much of Central Asia, Iran, Iraq and the Caucasus, and would even challenge the Ottomans and Mamluks in the Middle East. However, after Timur's death in 1405 the empire he built up would decline and break up, with various Timurid rulers continuing to rule smaller states for the next hundred years.

Ghaznavid Empire (977-1186)

It is largely due to the efforts of Mahmud of Ghazni (998-1030) that the Ghaznavid Dynasty flourished in the eleventh century, taking control of parts of Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. It would be during this period that Persian culture thrived.

North Sea Empire (1016-1035)

The Viking ruler Cnut earned the moniker of 'the Great' by becoming the king of England, Denmark and Norway. The historian Laurence Larson commented, "When the eleventh century began its fourth decade, Cnut, was with the single exception of the Emperor, the most imposing ruler in Latin Christendom." After his death in 1035 each of the three kingdoms went their separate ways.

A final thought about these medieval empires - in nearly every case, they largely achieved this power by subjugating other states and peoples, often impoverishing them and taking their wealth. Some of these empires would be very shortlived, lasting little more than a generation. Only a few of them would endure for a long period, a testament to their ability to forge an administration that could control /co-opt different peoples into accepting the legitimacy of these empires.

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Here is our list of 25 empires from the Middle Ages, starting with the most successful.

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https://academic.oup.com/book/28406/chapter-abstract/228822944?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

This is a website that talks about the economy in England (Middle Ages)

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Abstract. In the eleventh century, England was predominantly an agrarian economy. Over 90 per cent of the people lived in the country. 'The Economy in the

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this website has information on the diffrent innovations made in the Middle Ages

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A number of very important inventions were made in medieval times such as the Spinning Wheel, Stirrups, Astrolabe, Eyeglasses, Compass, Tidal Mills, Gunpowder and Printing Press.

A large number of inventions came to be during the medieval period. Given that the medieval period was marked by warfare throughout the different parts of Europe, most of the significant inventions of the period were directly or indirectly related to warfare. However, there were other inventions such as the clock, printing press and architectural innovations which played a critical part in shaping medieval Europe. Here are some of the most important of these inventions from the medieval period.

Medieval Inventions List

Astrolabe was an important Medieval invention, They were used by navigators, astronomers who studied the movement of celestial bodies Read more about the Astrolabe >>

The Astrolabe is a device which is used to measure the position of the Sun and different stars in the sky accurately. It was invented during the medieval ages with the earliest astrolabes appearing in Moorish Spain during the 12th century. From Spain, the astrolabe reached wider Europe and in time, became one of the preeminent devices used for astronomical purposes. Given the application of astronomy in many related sciences, the astrolabe is considered one of the most important scientific inventions of the medieval period.

Medieval Inventions - It was in medieval Europe that the earliest versions of the modern compassas we know it were invented Read more about the Compass >>

Important Medieval Inventionssuch as Eyeglasses, were not invented until around the 13th Century, Early Medieval Eyeglasses were fairly basic in their design Read more about the Eyeglasses >>

The invention of Gunpowder had a massive impact on Medieval Warfare, with the invention of Gunpowder came decline of the legendary 'Medieval Knight'.Read more about the Gunpowder >>

The Medieval 'The Mechanical Clock' was an Important Invention in Medieval Times, Christian monks who had extensive knowledge of astronomy invented Mechanic Clocks Read more about the Mechanical Clock >>

The Printing Press was a very important invention in the Medieval history, Invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th Century and creating a 'printing revolution' Read more about the Printing Press >>

The basis for the modern printing press were laid in 15th century when Johannes Guttenberg in Germany invented a unique printing press of his own. By using the prevalent printing mechanism, he used new methods and equipment to speed up and automate the process of printing.

Before his press, books which had to be printed required a lot of labour and took a lot of time to make, essentially limiting the use of books to the rich and wealthy. The Gutenberg press became a precursor to cheaper printing presses which were established all over Europe and became one of the key inventions that made the European Renaissance possible.

Gunpowder

Before the invention of gunpowder, warfare in the medieval period remained more or less the same as the warfare in the antique period. Although armour's evolved significantly and weapons corresponded in this evolution, warfare still required men to ride on horses or close in for on-foot combat, wield different weapons, defend themselves with armour and face an enemy at close quarters.

All of this changed with the invention of the gunpowder. Gunpowder had been invented in China as early as the 9th century but reached widespread use in Europe only by the 13th century, possible due to battlefield interactions with the Mongols. By the 14th century, gunpowder weapons were being used by the European armies and by the 15th century, these weapons had effectively replaced most of the conventional weaponry.

Tidal Mills

Tidal mills were an important medieval invention dating back to the 8th century. They were usually employed near natural water bodies such as rivers and were driven by the high tides of the water body. In the countryside, such mills were frequently used to accomplish different mechanical tasks, the force of the water itself was used to drive the water wheel on its own. Such early use of mechanical energy can be seen as precursors to the use of electricity in modern period.

Compass

Naval warfare remained a part of the military lifestyle of medieval Europe since the beginning of the medieval period. This was evident in the naval battles between Arabs and the Byzantines in the 8th century and the ongoing naval conflict for supremacy in the Mediterranean.

Navigation in the sea was critically important for longer sea voyages and it was only in the 13th century that the invention of a compass made sea navigation easy for sailors. The dry compass was invented in Europe sometime during the 13th century while a compass more aptly suited for naval use was invented by the Arabs in the 14th century.

Stirrups

Stirrups refer to a sort of frame that can securely hold the feet of a horse rider. The stirrup essentially allows a rider to keep both his feet securely in the flexible frame, thereby allowing him to wield a weapon or otherwise ride effectively when on the horse.

Stirrups arrived in Eastern Europe around the 7th century and over subsequent centuries, found adoption in the Western Europe. It is argued that stirrups played a critical role in developing the military warfare of the medieval period.

They probably made cavalry the supreme unit of an average medieval army, undermining or reducing the significance of infantry units . It was largely thanks to the stirrups that cavalry riders could wield weapons, fight on the go and even shoot arrows while riding their horse with minimal risk of falling off.

Spinning Wheel

The spinning wheel was originally invented before the medieval period but in Europe, it came to be widely used only in the medieval era. In contrast to the earlier spinning methods used in Europe, the spinning wheel was far more efficient and allowed a spinner to spin greater amounts of thread in less time. This finally made it possible for well-spun clothes to be worn by an increasingly greater section of population in medieval Europe.

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Mechanical Clock

Until the High Middle Ages, there was no accurate and accessible way of measuring time. People had to rely on natural phenomenon, such as the movements of the Sun, or on contraptions such as the hour glass or calibrated candles.

It was only in the 14th century that innovations in Church bell-ringing mechanism evolved to give birth to the earliest mechanical clocks. The first of these dates back to 1344 being used in a cathedral in Padua. In subsequent decades and centuries, clocks began to become more accurate, sophisticated and compact. In time, these clocks would give birth to pocket watches and in more recent times, to wrist watches.

Information Source: https://www.medievalchronicles.com/medieval-history/medieval-inventions-list/

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MFG LibGuides All: Medieval World: Inventions in the Middle Ages

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Resources to support the Year 8 Humanities Unit: Medieval world - The Middle Ages

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This link will further highlight a section on England's association with the trade in Medieval parts of Europe, but it will also help you understand different aspects of Medieval life such as: sources of income, economic systems, religious traditions, agricultural related innovations, and even how people of nobility/aristocracy would live.

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The following represent some of the important economic changes that took place in Medieval civilization, especially in the High Medieval period (10th-14th centuries):

A. Time Consciousness

Monastic communities that followed the Benedictine rule prayed six to eight times a day, depending on the system. This lead to an overarching theological and temporal mentality of omnia horis competetibus compleantur ("all things in their proper time"). Because the system of prayers included night prayers and a more exacting sense of the hours of the day, the need for punctuality and time-consciousness eventually lead to the regular use of time pieces, then clocks. Along with ordering prayer, this approach with a stress on hard work and avoiding idleness also gave a new meaning to the importance of ordered work. In the 10th and 11th centuries, this monastic stress carried over into town and commercial life.

B. Incorporation

Medieval ecclesiastical, or canon, law refined early on the notion of the corporation (Lt. universitas, corpus, or collegium) as a distinct entity from the state or the family. A corporation was a social and legal entity that could both act and limit actions and that had a limited decision making ability regarding its members and property. Such ideas became settled law by the 13th century and would influence all later business models concerning economic models of business cooperation.

A. Growth of Commercial Districts

While the old administrative centers of the Western Roman Empire continued to form the nucleus of urban existence, they mostly existed as small towns attached to cathedrals. In the 10th and 11th centuries, as trade began to expand between the West and the Byzantium and the Islamic worlds and new wealth poured in, true cities began to arise. Attached to these cities were the burghs or commercial districts, whose class of people eventually was called bourgeoisie. Important trade cities included Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Milan, Florence, Flanders, and Ypres. Important goods included wool, salt, timber, beer and wine. At the same time, trade with the East was mostly in imports since these regions had their own native agricultural classes. The real impact of the new trade routes were to increase trade across Europe.

B. Town charters & Urban leagues

In the 12th century and following, towns often organized to force aristocratic lords to grant charters that guaranteed a district's property rights, taxation and toll controls, local legal codes and judicial courts, as well as limited political rule. These were not true democracies in any sense of the word, since they tended to be headed by networks of wealthy merchants, yet they were steps toward local control that helped promote a healthy economy.

Some towns began to form leagues to suppress piracy, police roads, or raise armies to oppose predatory rulers and aristocrats. Some eventually formed their own political leagues. The Hanse is a good example. A federation of German towns, they controlled the North and Baltic Sea regions until 1300.

A. Guilds

Merchant and craft guilds arose for similar reasons though with differing structures. Merchants formed guilds as economic negotiating blocks to force concessions from local leaders for tariff controls or safe-passage agreements. Craft guilds, on the other hand, established a system of apprentices, journeymen, and masters as a way of both learning a trade and controlling the product. Guilds developed systems of "law merchants" to handle matters of moneychanging, credit and debt, bankruptcy, billing and invoicing, and contracts. Craft masters often met together to set prices and discuss market needs, as well as enforce standards of quality. Many journeymen never reached master-status, and increasingly, masters maintained quasi-monopolies, not allowing others to set up shop.

Merchants also found ways to organize labor. They set up "putting out" systems in which an agent would contract with a large number of producers, purchasing raw materials, such as wool, then having garments stitched by other rural families in order to then take the finished product to far away markets. Eventually merchants also pioneered proto-factory production sites, locating all the materials and work needed at one site. This trend was heavily resisted by the craft gilds, though eventually over the centuries it won out.

B. Usury, Credit, Banking

For much of the early and middle medieval period loans, especially loans with interest, were considered "usury" by church and society, and such loans were either considered immoral, or at least suspect. As a result, Christians could not engage in the practice, which left it open for Jewish families. Jews were considered and treated as second-class citizens, but Jewish lenders and merchants were prosperous and generally protected by royal and papal forces until the 14th century when Italian credit replaced the earlier Jewish families; kingdoms, then, began to expel them and/or gather them into ghettos. Changes in canon law made Christian credit and interest possible. This was in part due to the Crusades of the 13th century. The need to transfer quickly large sums of money to finance the long-distance wars lead to new methods of checking and accounting, as well as making credit more respectable. Florence eventually became the largest European center of banking. By the 1320's, the Bardi and Peruzzi families became the largest banking families with branches as far away as England.

A. New Noble Relations

With the new money economy, rulers could now obtain at times paid staff or mercenaries to populate their armies as opposed to their former dependence upon noble gifts and military support, though these traditional relationships continued for several more centuries in most places. Likewise, the distinction between nights and nobility began to blur, so that knights were increasingly wealthy, and nobles were willing to be considered knights.

B. New Trade Goods

With the growth in trade, the wealthy were now able to obtain new spices for their kitchen staff (e.g. pepper, cinnamon, ginger), new items for their homes (carpets, tapestries, costlier furniture), and better clothing and jewelry. The quality of castle quarters improved, and with the new luxuries, a more courtly gentility arose among the upper-classes. Recreations, such as hunting, falconry, and maying became popular. Kings often became indebted due to such luxuries, but they also commonly defaulted on their loans, dissolving banking families as a result.

One should keep in mind that the mostly 20th century division of public work and private family life into two separate spaces is a modern invention and one that medieval people would not have recognized at any level of society, from aristocrats to the peasantry. This meant that as changes to labor and trade took place, they tended to be picked up by all members of the family. Women in trade homes often learned the craft or the family business along with the men in the household, and in times of duress wives might be called on to manage the family business, though they typically could not assign themselves to guilds or own property.

Chimneys lead to improved heat regulation and cleaner homes for the better off; this in turn, lead to the rise of private quarters for members of the family, as well as the servants. Before this change, aristocratic families tended to live in close proximity to their servants and livestock.

Improved diet and health also resulted from the growth and prosperity. In particular, more protein and iron, from peas, beans, eggs, fish, and cheese. This increased the overall population, especially women, placing pressure on existing economic systems.

A. New Technologies

Technologies arose after the year 1000 that improved agricultural yield. A heavier metal plow made possible deeper furrows for better irrigation; windmills improved and sped up the processing of grain; the horse collar replaced the yoke, allowing for better and longer work by animals; the axle on wagons improved foodstuff transportation.

About this time as well, the three-field system of crop rotation replaced the two-field system, allowing a field to be fallow every third year, thus improving overall soil fertility. This often resulted in surplus crops.

As trade increased and a money-based economy became more wide-spread, specialization in certain crops became possible. While certainly the majority of farming was still far-removed from the large single cash crops of 20th century agriculture, a system began to develop where certain regions in Europe were noted for their wool, wine, or lumber.

B. New Social Systems

Likewise, large forests that acted as boundaries between villages began to disappear as more clearing of fields and establishment of new villages was undertaken. This lead to the waning of serf systems, as villages became more informed about the life of nearby communities that has previously been separated. With agricultural growth, serfs were motivated to produce beyond the amount owed their landlord and thus increase their own standing wealth. Yet at the same time, lords began employing landless laborers who had less negotiating power than serfs. Taxation also increased on the grinding of grain and the transportation of it to markets.

Additional primary sources on economic life can be found at Medieval Source Book.

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Changes in Medieval Commerce and Production

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The following represent some of the important economic changes that took place in Medieval civilization, especially in the High Medieval period (10th-14th centuries): A. Time Consciousness Monastic communities that followed the Benedictine rule prayed six to eight times a day, depending on the system.

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This link helped showed England's involvement in the process of trading, but this site also shows an insight on people's life during the Medieval.

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Standard of Living

Between 1315 and 1322, the Great Famine, brought about by unusually prolonged periods of heavy rainfall and cold spells, killed 10-15% of the population. The social fabric was strained from horrific reports: from rumours of men and women eating dogs and horses in Northumbria to cases of cannibalism. Many people were forced to sell land and anything they could to try to raise money to buy ever more expensive food and livestock levels fell as they were slaughtered for meat. Rents and incomes, however, had recovered by the 1330s and the new prosperity was founded upon the interrelationship between the countryside, manorial households and the newly expanding market towns.

Wider trading networks were also established. Italian merchants in England were deeply involved in the wool trade, dealing in over half of the wool exported and bringing in bullion, Mediterranean goods and exotica. Portuguese ships offloaded cargoes of figs, raisins, dyes, leather and honey and left laden with broadcoths, hangings, tin, lead and Welsh cloth. The ability to move food and livestock around the country with relative speed facilitated the commercialization of medieval England but it was not always easy when encumbered. A drover's diary of 1323 describes the progress of John the Baker, a valet of the royal household from Holland in Lincolnshire to Tadcaster in Yorkshire with 19 cows, a bull, 313 ewes, 192 young sheep, 272 lambs and a ram, assisted by eight boys and a shepherd.

On 13 May they set off, picking up more help and animals as they went. The trip took twelve days and involved passage of the Trent on a ferry at Littleborough. In the later fourteenth century diets became more diversified. In London, in 1378 a tariff was established for the foods habitually prepared by its cooks, including roasts and pasties of fish, fowl and game. The patrons for these fast foods were not only travellers and single people but also the urban poor who could not afford to maintain a kitchen and even middle sized houses often did not have their own ovens and relied on the services of bakers for their pies and flans. Spices such as pepper, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and saffron were desired for preservation and flavouring but could not be afforded by all. Peasants ate more vegetables than their lords and richer neighbours and taverns proliferated, providing the thick nutritious ale which formed a growing part of the nutrition of rich and poor alike.

In 1348, however, a new import came to England. The Black Death reached the shores of England at Melcombe Regis (now Weymouth) in Dorset in June, perhaps carried by a ship which had crossed from Gascony to Bristol. Those infected usually died just days after the appearance of buboes under their armpits and in their groins. By 1349 it had killed around a third of the population. This left much land unworked and with insufficient manpower to continue with labour intensive arable farming, new solutions had to be found. Some landlords cut costs by investing more in horse power, many moved over to pasturing sheep or cattle.

By the later fourteenth century consumption of meat, particularly by urban populations had significantly increased. With land prices low and wages high, many who survived the plague experienced a higher standard of living. Ale consumption, for example, had increased, probably to around three pints per person per day by the late fourteenth century. Many deserted the countryside in favour of wage earning in the towns and traditional landlord tenant relationships and communal methods of working the land had to be redefined.

Currency

Silver pennies remained the primary currency and the silver groat was issued in significant numbers from 1351 with a value of 4d. It was copied in Scotland from 1357. By the 1320s exports of English wool were declining both in quantity and price and in the late 1330s most of the wool trade's earnings were spent abroad by Edward III without reaching England at all. Imports drained the economy of silver until the private export of wool was again permitted and in 1344, the gold noble was introduced with a value of 6s. 8d. In the same year, Edward III reduced the weight of silver in the penny from 22 grains to 20.3.

In 1346 it was devalued further to 20 grains and by 1351 had been reduced to 18 grains. The inflationary effect of devaluation was encouraged by the swift revival of wool exports after the Black Death and renewed inflow of silver.

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Living in the 14th century - Currency converter

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Between 1315 and 1322, the Great Famine, brought about by unusually prolonged periods of heavy rainfall and cold spells, killed 10-15% of the population.

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This link would take you to a link explaining the Medieval trade routes and goods , the description below explains that England's economy heavily relied on the exportation of it's wool.

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We might think of the Afro-Eurasian trading system as an archipelago of trade-a chain of overlapping trade circuits and trading cities. In the thirteenth century, England was at the far end of this archipelago of trade. England's most valuable trade good was wool, which it exported to Western Europe and the Mediterranean. The best wool in Europe came from England, and England's economy ran on wool. The wool trade helped empower an English merchant class. By the fourteenth century, these merchants organized into a guild that gave them more power and privileges in English society.

Website: https://www.oerproject.com
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/OERProject. Created by World History Project.

Video transcript

NICK: Hello, I'm Nick Dennis, fellow of the school city projects and a history teacher in the UK. TREVOR: And I'm Trevor Getz, professor of World History at San Francisco State University. We're standing here in the February cold in a field in southern England, with some sheep, for some reason. NICK: It's to talk about medieval trade routes. TREVOR: Right. And all I'm saying is, we could easily be standing in a field in India where they grow cotton, or a silk farm in China, or a salt mine in the Sahara Desert - all places where people were actively producing highly desired goods in the 13th century, and all places that are a lot warmer than this one. NICK: Traditionally, historians who have written or thought about medieval Europe, Asia, and Africa, have thought of them as separate places, but we now understand that these communities were connected to each other in a big trading system - one stretching far back in time. This system sometimes grew, sometimes shrank, and reconfigured several times, but it turns out it was especially large and complex in the century between 1250 and 1350 CE. So rather than think of these 14th century trading centers as lonely islands, separated by a vast ocean, let's think of them as an archipelago: a chain of islands that were all connected to each other. TREVOR: Historian and anthropologist, Janet Abu-Lughod, saw this archipelago as a world system. A vast and integrated network, with a bunch of circuits running within it. Groups of merchants moved within each circuit in caravans of camels, or with mule trains, or by ship. Where the circuits intersected, there was trade between these groups of merchants. NICK: One circuit operated in Europe, connecting wool producers in England and Flanders in northwest Europe, to markets in France and traders in Italy and the Mediterranean. One way to study this vast trading system, and the circuits within them, is to follow one particular product, how it is made, and how it gets traded. For example, we can look at wool, the product that dominated English exports in the 13th century, and was part of that European circuit. TREVOR: Why did England export wool? Wool, of course, gets turned into cloth, and cloth gets turned into clothing - and everyone needs clothing. In the 13th century, the biggest cloth manufacturing regions in Europe were in northern Italy and in Flanders, just across the channel from England. But although people in these regions were good at turning raw wool into cloth, they didn't really produce much high-quality wool of their own. The best wool in Europe came from England. In fact, English wool was so good, that when the duke of Austria captured the English King Richard the 1st, his ransom was largely paid in wool instead of money. 14th century English documents even describe wool as "the sovereign merchandise and jewel of this realm of England". In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, large portions of the English population were involved in producing wool. Some individual peasants owned small flocks of sheep, while many villagers held their flocks in common, sharing ownership. Noblemen, like the Duke of Lancaster, or the wealthy Clair family, owned big flocks. So did the church. The Bishop of Winchester was one of the largest producers of wool of all, owning 29,000 sheep in 1259. In just one county, Hampshire, as much as 30% of all land belonged to the Bishop of Winchester for the use of his sheep. NICK: At first, much of the wool trade was dominated by merchants sent by the manufacturers in Flanders and Italy, but English merchants soon became important. In both cases, the merchants often advanced money to the owners of the sheep, in essence, guaranteeing they would get wool every year, and sometimes charging interest of a sort. The merchants would then go around and gather the wool every year. By the 14th century, some wool merchant families living in towns across England, had become as rich as the nobility. These merchants were called Woolmen. NICK: I'm here with Bill Clark, Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Woolmen. So when was the company set up? BILL: Well, we don't know for sure, but we've got records that show it was around in 1174, when they began to build the original London Bridge, and we definitely know they were around in 1180, because they were fined that year for operating without the King's license. NICK: And why was it set up? BILL: It was set up because a lot of other organizations were getting together - all the grocers were getting together, the pepper importers were getting together - it just made sense for them to form a guild for mutual support and mutual profit. The Worshipful Company of Woolmen is a livery company. Now, livery companies, I think there are about 110 in the city of London at the moment, are groups of people who used to work in the same trade, live in the same areas, and were there as a sort of self-help organization to make sure that everybody thrived and prospered in that particular trade. And as such, they would go to the same churches and get involved in the same activities. And eventually, the idea came that they'd wear the same clothes, and their clothes were known as livery. And so they became called Livery companies. Now, to become a liveryman, you, first of all, have to be a freeman of the City of London, and being a Freeman of the City of London, the biggest advantage of that was that you could trade in the city, and you couldn't do that unless you were actually free of the city, as they say. And so, if you were free of the city, you had a number of advantages. Not just trading in the City of London, but you were also allowed to carry a naked sword in public, so that you could defend yourself, if you, um, overindulged one night, and you weren't too steady on your feet, then the watch would see you home and nothing further was said. If you committed a capital offense, you could be hung with a silken rope, which is probably not much different from being hung with a hempen one, but anyway, it was a privilege and a right. And of course, you had the right to take the tools of your trade across London Bridge, and of course for the woolmen, the tools of their trade were their sheep. NICK: Why was wool important for England? BILL: Wool was known as the sovereign merchandise for two reasons. One was, it was the king of merchandise as it was so valuable, and the other reason was that the King traded in wool, and so it was also a sovereign merchandise for that reason. Certainly in the early 12th century, there were English traders who were trading in wool and so on, but then of course Flanders got involved. When they had their shortage of wool, they came across and they were buying all our wool, and most of the wool went to the Flemish cities of Ghent and Bruges and so on. And then of course, the Italians got involved. The Italians suddenly thought that, um, if there's money in wool, we want to be there, and they were the ones who actually got very close to the king and said to the king, "if you want to make some money, just add a bit more tax on the wool, and then everybody collects the taxes all the way along, and you'll get an extra bonus". And so the king thought this was a good idea, because several kings in a row wanted to fight quite a number of wars, and so Edward the 1st, Edward the 2nd, and Edward the 3rd financed all their wars from wool. In fact, he even bought allies with wool. And so, wool was, as I've said before, it was a sovereign merchandise, it would open all doors. NICK: In return for their wool, English merchants would buy all kinds of goods - French wine of course, and ceramics from Flanders just across the channel, but also Russian and Swedish furs, precious metals from Central Europe, and silks from as far away as Asia. In the late 14th century, with the advent of the plague known as the Black Death, and a 100-year war between England and France, the English wool trade collapsed. However, it would recover in the later centuries, and eventually form the basis of the first industry of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century - an era where England would dominate the world of cloth, not only as a producer of wool, but also as a manufacturer of cloth, made of wool, cotton, and other fibers. TREVOR: Some of the best wool in the world still comes from England - heck, I'm wearing some right now! NICK: Often when we think about continuity and change in history, we focus on wars, personalities, and disputes. What we can miss by focusing on these large, eye-catching events, is that there are currents under the surface, moving steadily. By looking closely at trade during this period, we can see how the lives of ordinary people, thousands of miles apart, were connected. And we marvel that many of these networks still exist today, and still shape the clothing that we wear.

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WATCH: Guilds, Wool, and Trade ⁠- Medieval England in a Global Economy (video) | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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This site gives insight on how Merchants were viewed as during the Middle Ages, and even how they went from terrible sinners to eventually having better accessibility to certain things than the the common folk/citizens.

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Medieval Merchant Culture

The 13th and 14th centuries saw a tremendous growth in commercial activity, and a consequent restructuring of society, away from the feudal system. Changing attitudes towards trade and the merchant class marked this period. The merchant himself changed in his attitude towards his work, in his duties and abilities, and in his educational background. All of this, combined with the Church's criticism of commerce and usury, created a multi-layered complex of attitudes towards those who made their living by buying and selling goods or dealing with money. Boccaccio reflects these changes in several of his novellas, as he portrays merchants as victims of the times, and also as heroes on the forefront of social change.

The old, feudal model of society was dominated by the concept that there were three divinely ordained orders: knights, clergy, and peasants. Each of these groups had a role to play, either defense of the realm, maintenance of the soul of society, or the growing of essential foodstuffs. The merchant, as a class, was discriminated against for not contributing to these essential duties, but rather for aiming to get rich himself. His pursuit of gain was considered against the laws of God, because he was not a producer of real goods, but rather a resaler, or a usurer. Although medieval society increasingly came to rely upon the merchant's services in distributing and obtaining items not produced locally, he was nonetheless considered a parasite and a sinner, barely tolerated for his questionable contribution to society's output. The objection to the presence of commerce and banking in early medieval times was spearheaded by the clergy, who thundered against the sinful nature of their calling. No sin was worse than that of the usurer, no activity more repugnant to the Lord. But by the time of Boccaccio, the merchant's place in society was much more secure, his numbers had proliferated, his standing in society backed up by land and power, and his services accepted as essential to urban life. They were still hated, especially during certain periods when they were blamed for natural occurrences, thought to be God's punishment for the excesses of greed and usurious activity, but their numbers had grown so large, and their services so essential, that they were not in danger of extinction.

The merchant, during this transitional period, had to contend for respect and honor with the nobility and the knighthood, that traditional order that stood at the head of medieval civic society. The knighthood's pre-eminence had been guaranteed by the vital role they played in the period of feudal wars that accompanied the chaos of early medieval politics. The nobility cultivated a disdain for the petty details of moneymaking and money-saving, which were the domain of the merchant. The nobility prided themselves on their ability to spend, to be showy and magnanimous. These qualities were directly at odds with the careful attention to profit and loss which characterized the commercial man. By Boccaccio's era, however, the merchant class was very rich, often intermarrying with impoverished members of the nobility, and they held positions of power in civic government. But they never completely overcame the general contempt for the way in which they acquired their wealth.

As commercial activity grew and developed in complexity, new methods of tracking and distributing information grew at the same time. Education, no longer solely an avocation of the aspiring clergyman, became the means by which a new generation of merchants increased their ability to think and count. The need for current, up-to-date information about distant parts of Europe and the world required that letters be sent back and forth with increasing volume. Coupled with the need to hear and report news, was the need to record and compute numbers, reflecting more complicated transactions and banking instruments, such as bills of credit, interest rates, and exchange rates. Merchants left a large body of literature of their own, as they wrote about current events, family histories, and economic changes and fluctuations. The mental world of the merchant reflected their difficult and ambivalent place in society. The derision leveled at the merchant by clergy and others had an effect, and often merchants left instructions in their wills to repay those to whom they had lent money and charged interest, or to the poor of the city, in reparation. The traditional role of the merchant in popular literature reflected their lost status, whereby in the exempla (short moral tales) they are subjected to a variety of tortures in hell, or dreams, as a result of their evil way of life. In spite of this prejudice, merchants dressed more elaborately, were housed more elegantly, and enjoyed greater entertainment than most of their fellow citizens. They had officially entered medieval society, by Boccaccio's time, and ceased to be merely on the margins.

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The 13th and 14th centuries saw a tremendous growth in commercial activity, and a consequent restructuring of society, away from the feudal system. Changing attitudes towards trade and the merchant class marked this period. The merchant himself changed in his attitude towards his work, in his duties and abilities, and in his educational background.

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Medieval Geography | St John’s College, University of Cambridge

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People in medieval Europe had lost all the knowledge about the world that classical civilizations like the Greeks and Romans had discovered. They found their own ways of picturing the earth.

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There was a very distinctive social class system during the Middle Ages. Most Medieval people were peasants, over 90%, but the divide between peasants and nobility was very clear-cut. Clergy were also an important part of the social order during the Middle Ages, though they were not necessarily considered a separate class.

Royalty

The Royalty were the highest of the Social Classes in the Middle Ages. The Royalty included Kings, Queens, Princes, and Princesses. Royals had complete power over the land and political and economic decisions during the Middle Ages.
Kings
The King was the highest authority in the land. The King had to make laws, attempt to remove poverty from the Kingdom and take care of the citizens in his kingdom.
Queens
Though they did not often rule alone, Queens played an important part in the Medieval class system. Queens were usually second in command to Kings, and often served as regents when their King was unfit to rule, either because he was ill or considered too young to make intelligent decisions. Queens also served as hostesses and event planners.
Princes
Depending on their birth order, a prince may have been next in line for the throne when his father died. Princes most likely sat in on courtly meetings.
Princesses
Princesses were not usually next in line for the throne unless there was no male heir who could take the place on the throne that was being left. Princesses were oftentimes married off to princes in other countries in order to secure long lasting friendly economic and political ties with those countries. Sometimes this was successful, but more often than not it backfired.

Nobility

After the Royals, Nobility had the most power of the social classes in the Middle Ages. Nobility included hereditary nobility, which were those whose power was bestowed on them through blood relations, and non-hereditary nobility, which included those who rose to power through non-familial means.

Hereditary Nobility
Dukes
The main responsibility of a Duke was to be the ruler of a province. A Duke was also the direct superior of a Count. The Duke was the highest ranking in the nobility. The female equivalent of a Duke was a Duchess.
Barons
A baron was responsible first to his king and second to the people who lived on his manor. The king might require the baron to serve in the military or engage in various other activities. By complying with the King's requirements the Baron was possibly able to earn a higher title, more land, or prosperous marriages for his children and other family members.

If he did not comply, the baron could lose his manor, his luxurious lifestyle, or maybe even his life. As a percentage of each manor's crops was sent to the King, a baron also had to make sure that all of the serfs on his estate was protected in order to ensure that a plentiful crop was produced. A baron also sometimes served as judges in a court of crime or passed out sentences in court.

Non-Hereditary Nobility
Knights
Knights often served as vassals during the Middle Ages. Their primary duty as a vassal was to aid and protect the lord in his army. They also would assist their lord in court and watch over their lord's manor, keeping an eye on the day-to-day activities of the manor.
Peasants
The lowest social rank in the Middle Ages were the peasants. The peasant class included Freemen, who had some rights and land, serfs, who had no rights, and slaves, who were bought and sold.
Freemen
Freeman were poor farmers who had control of small portions of land. Freeman usually made just enough money to live on. They sold their crops and may have worked with a trade. Wives of freeman sometimes did "stay-at-home" trades, such as brewing ale.
Serfs
Serfs had no political power and were not allowed having control of property. They lived on the property of a noble vassal, and, in order to repay the vassal for letting the serf live on his property, the serf worked the land and was at the disposal of the vassal. Serfs were slaves in all but name.
Slaves
Slavery, the practice of buying and selling human workers, was outlawed for much of the Middle Ages, but it was still conducted throughout Europe for most of the time period. Slavery was a favored practice among the Vikings, who took slaves when they invaded and raided new territories.
Clergy
The clergy was not considered one of the social classes of the Middle Ages, but it did play an important and influential role at the time and did have a hierarchy of its own. The Pope was, naturally, at the top of the order, while nuns and monks were at the lowest end.
Popes
For much of the Middle Ages, Popes were the last word in anything to do with the church. Popes had a heavy influence over political and economic decisions as well for a time. However, towards the end of the Middle Ages Popes lost their political power when the Catholic Church came under a lot of scrutiny from the public.
Bishops
After the Pope, the Bishop was the highest ranking official in the church. Bishops were considered to be nobility and were usually very wealthy. They had many responsibilities such as settling annulments of marriages.
Priests
Priests gave Mass in Church and in the Castle. They were also responsible for collecting church taxes and spreading alms to the poor. Because they were usually the only people in the village who could read and write, priests often were the ones who kept records for the church.
Monks
Monks were the lowest ranking in the church. Monks lived in monasteries and usually wore brown robes. Monks devoted their lives to learning and they could usually read and write in Latin. Some of the first Bibles were scribed by monks as the printing press had not yet been invented.

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Social Classes in the Middle Ages - The Finer Times

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There was a very distinctive social class system during the Middle Ages. Most Medieval people were peasants, over 90%, but the divide between peasants and nobility was very clear-cut. Clergy were also an important part of the social order during the Middle Ages, though they were not necessarily considered a separate class.

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GDP per capita in England, from 1270 to 1530

The medieval English saw their economy as comprising three groups - the clergy, who prayed; the knights, who fought; and the peasants, who worked the land and towns involved in international trade. Over the five centuries of the Middle Ages, the English economy would at first grow and then suffer an acute crisis, resulting in significant political and economic change. Despite economic dislocation in urban and extraction economies, including shifts in the holders of wealth and the location of these economies, the economic output of towns and mines developed and intensified over the period. By the end of the period, England had a weak government, by later standards, overseeing an economy dominated by rented farms controlled by gentry, and a thriving community of indigenous English merchants and corporations.

The 12th and 13th centuries saw a small development of the English economy. This was partially driven by the growth in the population from around 1.5 million at the time of the creation of the Domesday Book in 1086 to between 4 and 5 million in 1300. England remained a primarily agricultural economy, with the rights of major landowners and the duties of serfs increasingly enshrined in English law. More land, much of it at the expense of the royal forests, was brought into production to feed the growing population or to produce wool for export to Europe. Many hundreds of new towns, some of them planned, sprung up across England, supporting the creation of guilds, charter fairs and other important medieval institutions. The descendants of the Jewish financiers who had first come to England with William the Conqueror played a significant role in the growing economy, along with the new Cistercian and Augustinian religious orders that came to become major players in the wool trade of the north. Mining increased in England, with the silver boom of the 12th century helping to fuel a fast-expanding currency.

Economic growth began to falter by the end of the 13th century, owing to a combination of over-population, land shortages and depleted soils. The loss of life in the Great Famine of 1315-17 shook the English economy severely and population growth ceased; the first outbreak of the Black Death in 1348 then killed around half the English population, with major implications for the post-plague economy. The agricultural sector shrank, with higher wages, lower prices and shrinking profits leading to the final demise of the old demesne system and the advent of the modern farming system of cash rents for lands. The Peasants Revolt of 1381 shook the older feudal order and limited the levels of royal taxation considerably for a century to come. The 15th century saw the growth of the English cloth industry and the establishment of a new class of international English merchant, increasingly based in London and the South-West, prospering at the expense of the older, shrinking economy of the eastern towns. These new trading systems brought about the end of many of the international fairs and the rise of the chartered company. Together with improvements in metalworking and shipbuilding, this represents the end of the medieval economy, and the beginnings of the early modern period in English economics.

William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, defeating the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings and placing the country under Norman rule. This campaign was followed by fierce military operations known as the Harrying of the North in 1069-70, extending Norman authority across the north of England. William's system of government was broadly feudal in that the right to possess land was linked to service to the king, but in many other ways the invasion did little to alter the nature of the English economy. Most of the damage done in the invasion was in the north and the west of England, some of it still recorded as "wasteland" in 1086. Many of the key features of the English agricultural and financial system remained in place in the decades immediately after the conquest.

Agriculture formed the bulk of the English economy at the time of the Norman invasion. Twenty years after the invasion, 35% of England was covered in arable land, 25% was put to pasture, 15% was covered by woodlands and the remaining 25% was predominantly moorland, fens and heaths. Wheat was the single most important arable crop, but rye, barley and oats were also cultivated extensively. In the more fertile parts of the country, such as the Thames valley, the Midlands and the east of England, legumes and beans were also cultivated. Sheep, cattle, oxen and pigs were kept on English holdings, although most of these breeds were much smaller than modern equivalents and most would have been slaughtered in winter.

In the century prior to the Norman invasion, England's great estates, owned by the king, bishops, monasteries and thegns, had been slowly broken up as a consequence of inheritance, wills, marriage settlements or church purchases. Most of the smaller landowning nobility lived on their properties and managed their own estates. The pre-Norman landscape had seen a trend away from isolated hamlets and towards larger villages engaged in arable cultivation in a band running north-south across England. These new villages had adopted an open field system in which fields were divided into small strips of land, individually owned, with crops rotated between the field each year and the local woodlands and other common lands carefully managed. Agricultural land on a manor was divided between some fields that the landowner would manage and cultivate directly, called demesne land, and the majority of the fields that would be cultivated by local peasants, who would pay rent to the landowner either through agricultural labour on the lord's demesne fields or through cash or produce. Around 6,000 watermills of varying power and efficiency had been built in order to grind flour, freeing up peasant labour for other more productive agricultural tasks. The early English economy was not a subsistence economy and many crops were grown by peasant farmers for sale to the early English towns.

The Normans initially did not significantly alter the operation of the manor or the village economy. William reassigned large tracts of land amongst the Norman elite, creating vast estates in some areas, particularly along the Welsh border and in Sussex. The biggest change in the years after the invasion was the rapid reduction in the number of slaves being held in England. In the 10th century slaves had been very numerous, although their number had begun to diminish as a result of economic and religious pressure. Nonetheless, the new Norman aristocracy proved harsh landlords. The wealthier, formerly more independent Anglo-Saxon peasants found themselves rapidly sinking down the economic hierarchy, swelling the numbers of unfree workers, or serfs, forbidden to leave their manor and seek alternative employment. Those Anglo-Saxon nobles who had survived the invasion itself were rapidly assimilated into the Norman elite or economically crushed.

The Normans also established the royal forests. In Anglo-Saxon times there had been special woods for hunting called "hays", but the Norman forests were much larger and backed by legal mandate. The new forests were not necessarily heavily wooded but were defined instead by their protection and exploitation by the crown. The Norman forests were subject to special royal jurisdiction; forest law was "harsh and arbitrary, a matter purely for the King's will". Forests were expected to supply the king with hunting grounds, raw materials, goods and money. Revenue from forest rents and fines came to become extremely significant and forest wood was used for castles and royal ship building. Several forests played a key role in mining, such as the iron mining and working in the Forest of Dean and lead mining in the Forest of High Peak. Several other groups bound up economically with forests; many monasteries had special rights in particular forests, for example for hunting or tree felling. The royal forests were accompanied by the rapid creation of locally owned parks and chases.

Although primarily rural, England had a number of old, economically important towns in 1066. A large amount of trade came through the Eastern towns, including London, York, Winchester, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich and Thetford. Much of this trade was with France, the Low Countries and Germany, but the North-East of England traded with partners as far away as Sweden. Cloth was already being imported to England before the invasion through the mercery trade.

Some towns, such as York, suffered from Norman sacking during William's northern campaigns. Other towns saw the widespread demolition of houses to make room for new motte and bailey fortifications, as was the case in Lincoln. The Norman invasion also brought significant economic changes with the arrival of the first Jews to English cities. William I brought over wealthy Jews from the Rouen community in Normandy to settle in London, apparently to carry out financial services for the crown. In the years immediately after the invasion, a lot of wealth was drawn out of England in various ways by the Norman rulers and reinvested in Normandy, making William immensely wealthy as an individual ruler.

The minting of coins was decentralised in the Saxon period; every borough was mandated to have a mint and therefore a centre for trading in bullion. Nonetheless, there was strict royal control over these moneyers, and coin dies could only be made in London. William retained this process and generated a high standard of Norman coins, leading to the use of the term "sterling" as the name for the Norman silver coins.

William I inherited the Anglo-Saxon system in which the king drew his revenues from: a mixture of customs; profits from re-minting coinage; fines; profits from his own demesne lands; and the system of English land-based taxation called the geld. William reaffirmed this system, enforcing collection of the geld through his new system of sheriffs and increasing the taxes on trade. William was also famous for commissioning the Domesday Book in 1086, a vast document which attempted to record the economic condition of his new kingdom.

The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of huge economic growth in England. The population of England rose from around 1.5 million in 1086 to around 4 or 5 million in 1300, stimulating increased agricultural outputs and the export of raw materials to Europe. In contrast to the previous two centuries, England was relatively secure from invasion. Except for the years of the Anarchy, most military conflicts either had only localised economic impact or proved only temporarily disruptive. English economic thinking remained conservative, seeing the economy as consisting of three groups: the ordines, those who fought, or the nobility; laboratores, those who worked, in particular the peasantry; and oratores, those who prayed, or the clerics. Trade and merchants played little part in this model and were frequently vilified at the start of the period, although they were increasingly tolerated towards the end of the 13th century.

Agriculture remained by far the most important part of the English economy during the 12th and 13th centuries. There remained a wide variety in English agriculture, influenced by local geography; in areas where grain could not be grown, other resources were exploited instead. In the Weald, for example, agriculture centred on grazing animals on the woodland pastures, whilst in the Fens fishing and bird-hunting was supplemented by basket-making and peat-cutting. In some locations, such as Lincolnshire and Droitwich, salt manufacture was important, including production for the export market. Fishing became an important trade along the English coast, especially in Great Yarmouth and Scarborough, and the herring was a particularly popular catch; salted at the coast, it could then be shipped inland or exported to Europe. Piracy between competing English fishing fleets was not unknown during the period. Sheep were the most common farm animal in England during the period, their numbers doubling by the 14th century. Sheep became increasingly widely used for wool, particularly in the Welsh borders, Lincolnshire and the Pennines. Pigs remained popular on holdings because of their ability to scavenge for food. Oxen remained the primary plough animal, with horses used more widely on farms in the south of England towards the end of the 12th century. Rabbits were introduced from France in the 13th century and farmed for their meat in special warrens.

The underlying productivity of English agriculture remained low, despite the increases in food production. Wheat prices fluctuated heavily year to year, depending on local harvests; up to a third of the grain produced in England was potentially for sale, and much of it ended up in the growing towns. Despite their involvement in the market, even the wealthiest peasants prioritised spending on housing and clothing, with little left for other personal consumption. Records of household belongings show most possessing only "old, worn-out and mended utensils" and tools.

The royal forests grew in size for much of the 12th century, before contracting in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Henry I extended the size and scope of royal forests, especially in Yorkshire; after the Anarchy of 1135-53, Henry II continued to expand the forests until they comprised around 20% of England. In 1217 the Charter of the Forest was enacted, in part to mitigate the worst excesses of royal jurisdiction, and established a more structured range of fines and punishments for peasants who illegally hunted or felled trees in the forests. By the end of the century the king had come under increasing pressure to reduce the size of the royal forests, leading to the " Great Perambulation" around 1300; this significantly reduced the extent to the forests, and by 1334 they were only around two-thirds the size they had been in 1250. Royal revenue streams from the shrinking forests diminished considerably in the early 14th century.

Sheep, shown here c. 1250, became increasingly important to English agriculture.

The Normans retained and reinforced the manorial system with its division between demesne and peasant lands paid for in agricultural labour. Landowners could profit from the sales of goods from their demesne lands and a local lord could also expect to receive income from fines and local customs, whilst more powerful nobles profited from their own regional courts and rights.

During the 12th century major landowners tended to rent out their demesne lands for money, motivated by static prices for produce and the chaos of the Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. This practice began to alter in the 1180s and 1190s, spurred by the greater political stability. In the first years of John's reign, agricultural prices almost doubled, at once increasing the potential profits on the demesne estates and also increasing the cost of living for the landowners themselves. Landowners now attempted wherever possible to bring their demesne lands back into direct management, creating a system of administrators and officials to run their new system of estates.

New land was brought into cultivation to meet demand for food, including drained marshes and fens, such as Romney Marsh, the Somerset Levels and the Fens; royal forests from the late 12th century onwards; and poorer lands in the north, south-west and in the Welsh Marches. The first windmills in England began to appear along the south and east coasts in the 12th century, expanding in number in the 13th, adding to the mechanised power available to the manors. By 1300 it has been estimated that there were more than 10,000 watermills in England, used both for grinding corn and for fulling cloth. Fish ponds were created on most estates to provide freshwater fish for the consumption of the nobility and church; these ponds were extremely expensive to create and maintain. Improved ways of running estates began to be circulated and were popularised in Walter de Henley's famous book Le Dite de Hosebondrie, written around 1280. In some regions and under some landowners, investment and innovation increased yields significantly through improved ploughing and fertilisers - particularly in Norfolk, where yields eventually equalled later 18th-century levels.

The Church in England was a major landowner throughout the medieval period and played an important part in the development of agriculture and rural trade in the first two centuries of Norman rule. The Cistercian order first arrived in England in 1128, establishing around 80 new monastic houses over the next few years; the wealthy Augustinians also established themselves and expanded to occupy around 150 houses, all supported by agricultural estates, many of them in the north of England. By the 13th century these and other orders were acquiring new lands and had become major economic players both as landowners and as middlemen in the expanding wool trade. In particular, the Cistercians led the development of the grange system. Granges were separate manors in which the fields were all cultivated by the monastic officials, rather than being divided up between demesne and rented fields, and became known for trialling new agricultural techniques during the period. Elsewhere, many monasteries had significant economic impact on the landscape, such as the monks of Glastonbury, responsible for the draining of the Somerset Levels to create new pasture land.

The military crusading order of the Knights Templar also held extensive property in England, bringing in around £2,200 per annum by the time of their fall. It comprised primarily rural holdings rented out for cash, but also included some urban properties in London. Following the dissolution of the Templar order in France by Philip IV of France, Edward II ordered their properties to be seized and passed to the Hospitaller order in 1313, but in practice many properties were taken by local landowners and the hospital was still attempting to reclaim them twenty-five years later.

The Church was responsible for the system of tithes, a levy of 10% on "all agrarian produce... other natural products gained via labour... wages received by servants and labourers, and to the profits of rural merchants". Tithes gathered in the form of produce could be either consumed by the recipient, or sold on and bartered for other resources. The tithe was relatively onerous for the typical peasant, although in many instances the actual levy fell below the desired 10%. Many clergy moved to the towns as part of the urban growth of the period, and by 1300 around one in twenty city dwellers was a clergyman. One effect of the tithe was to transfer a considerable amount of agriculture wealth into the cities, where it was then spent by these urban clergy. The need to sell tithe produce that could not be consumed by the local clergy also spurred the growth of trade.

Mining did not make up a large part of the English medieval economy, but the 12th and 13th centuries saw an increased demand for metals in the country, thanks to the considerable population growth and building construction, including the great cathedrals and churches. Four metals were mined commercially in England during the period, namely iron, tin, lead and silver; coal was also mined from the 13th century onwards, using a variety of refining techniques.

Iron mining occurred in several locations, including the main English centre in the Forest of Dean, as well as in Durham and the Weald. Some iron to meet English demand was also imported from the continent, especially by the late 13th century. By the end of the 12th century, the older method of acquiring iron ore through strip mining was being supplemented by more advanced techniques, including tunnels, trenches and bell-pits. Iron ore was usually locally processed at a bloomery, and by the 14th century the first water-powered iron forge in England was built at Chingley. As a result of the diminishing woodlands and consequent increases in the cost of both wood and charcoal, demand for coal increased in the 12th century and it began to be commercially produced from bell-pits and strip mining.

A silver boom occurred in England after the discovery of silver near Carlisle in 1133. Huge quantities of silver were produced from a semicircle of mines reaching across Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland - up to three to four tonnes of silver were mined each year, more than ten times the previous annual production across the whole of Europe. The result was a local economic boom and a major uplift to 12th-century royal finances. Tin mining was centred in Cornwall and Devon, exploiting alluvial deposits and governed by the special Stannary Courts and Parliaments. Tin formed a valuable export good, initially to Germany and then later in the 14th century to the Low Countries. Lead was usually mined as a by-product of mining for silver, with mines in Yorkshire, Durham and the north, as well as in Devon. Economically fragile, the lead mines usually survived as a result of being subsidised by silver production.

After the end of the Anarchy, the number of small towns in England began to increase sharply. By 1297, 120 new towns had been established, and in 1350 - by when the expansion had effectively ceased - there were around 500 towns in England. Many of these new towns were centrally planned: Richard I created Portsmouth, John founded Liverpool, and successive monarchs followed with Harwich, Stony Stratford, Dunstable, Royston, Baldock, Wokingham, Maidenhead and Reigate. The new towns were usually located with access to trade routes in mind, rather than defence, and the streets were laid out to make access to the town's market convenient. A growing percentage of England's population lived in urban areas; estimates suggest that this rose from around 5.5% in 1086 to up to 10% in 1377.

London held a special status within the English economy. The nobility purchased and consumed many luxury goods and services in the capital, and as early as the 1170s the London markets were providing exotic products such as spices, incense, palm oil, gems, silks, furs and foreign weapons. London was also an important hub for industrial activity; it had many blacksmiths making a wide range of goods, including decorative ironwork and early clocks. Pewter-working, using English tin and lead, was also widespread in London during the period. The provincial towns also had a substantial number of trades by the end of the 13th century - a large town like Coventry, for example, contained over three hundred different specialist occupations, and a smaller town such as Durham could support some sixty different professions. The increasing wealth of the nobility and the church was reflected in the widespread building of cathedrals and other prestigious buildings in the larger towns, in turn making use of lead from English mines for roofing.

Land transport remained much more expensive than river or sea transport during the period. Many towns in this period, including York, Exeter and Lincoln, were linked to the oceans by navigable rivers and could act as seaports, with Bristol's port coming to dominate the lucrative trade in wine with Gascony by the 13th century, but shipbuilding generally remained on a modest scale and economically unimportant to England at this time. Transport remained very costly in comparison to the overall price of products. By the 13th century, groups of common carriers ran carting businesses, and carting brokers existed in London to link traders and carters. These used the four major land routes crossing England: Ermine Street, the Fosse Way, Icknield Street and Watling Street. A large number of bridges were built during the 12th century to improve the trade network.

In the 13th century, England was still primarily supplying raw materials for export to Europe, rather than finished or processed goods. There were some exceptions, such as very high-quality cloths from Stamford and Lincoln, including the famous "Lincoln Scarlet" dyed cloth. Despite royal efforts to encourage it, however, barely any English cloth was being exported by 1347.

There was a gradual reduction in the number of locations allowed to mint coins in England; under Henry II, only 30 boroughs were still able to use their own moneyers, and the tightening of controls continued throughout the 13th century. By the reign of Edward I there were only nine mints outside London and the king created a new official called the Master of the Mint to oversee these and the thirty furnaces operating in London to meet the demand for new coins. The amount of money in circulation hugely increased in this period; before the Norman invasion there had been around £50,000 in circulation as coin, but by 1311 this had risen to more than £1 million. At any particular point in time, though, much of this currency might be being stored prior to being used to support military campaigns or to be sent overseas to meet payments, resulting in bursts of temporary deflation as coins ceased to circulate within the English economy. One physical consequence of the growth in the coinage was that coins had to be manufactured in large numbers, being moved in barrels and sacks to be stored in local treasuries for royal use as the king travelled.

The first English guilds emerged during the early 12th century. These guilds were fraternities of craftsmen that set out to manage their local affairs including "prices, workmanship, the welfare of its workers, and the suppression of interlopers and sharp practices". Amongst these early guilds were the "guilds merchants", who ran the local markets in towns and represented the merchant community in discussions with the crown. Other early guilds included the "craft guilds", representing specific trades. By 1130 there were major weavers' guilds in six English towns, as well as a fullers' guild in Winchester. Over the following decades more guilds were created, often becoming increasingly involved in both local and national politics, although the guilds merchants were largely replaced by official groups established by new royal charters.

The craft guilds required relatively stable markets and a relative equality of income and opportunity amongst their members to function effectively. By the 14th century these conditions were increasingly uncommon. The first strains were seen in London, where the old guild system began to collapse - more trade was being conducted at a national level, making it hard for craftsmen to both manufacture goods and trade in them, and there were growing disparities in incomes between the richer and poorer craftsmen. As a result, under Edward III many guilds became companies or livery companies, chartered companies focusing on trade and finance, leaving the guild structures to represent the interests of the smaller, poorer manufacturers.

The market place at Bridgnorth, one of many medieval English towns to be granted the right to hold fairs, in this case annually on the feast of the Translation of St. Leonard

The period also saw the development of charter fairs in England, which reached their heyday in the 13th century. From the 12th century onwards, many English towns acquired a charter from the Crown allowing them to hold an annual fair, usually serving a regional or local customer base and lasting for two or three days. The practice increased in the next century and over 2,200 charters were issued to markets and fairs by English kings between 1200 and 1270. Fairs grew in popularity as the international wool trade increased: the fairs allowed English wool producers and ports on the east coast to engage with visiting foreign merchants, circumnavigating those English merchants in London keen to make a profit as middlemen. At the same time, wealthy magnate consumers in England began to use the new fairs as a way to buy goods like spices, wax, preserved fish and foreign cloth in bulk from the international merchants at the fairs, again bypassing the usual London merchants.

Some fairs grew into major international events, falling into a set sequence during the economic year, with the Stamford fair in Lent, St Ives' in Easter, Boston's in July, Winchester's in September and Northampton's in November, with the many smaller fairs falling in-between. Although not as large as the famous Champagne fairs in France, these English "great fairs" were still huge events; St Ives' Great Fair, for example, drew merchants from Flanders, Brabant, Norway, Germany and France for a four-week event each year, turning the normally small town into "a major commercial emporium".

The structure of the fairs reflected the importance of foreign merchants in the English economy and by 1273 only one-third of the English wool trade was actually controlled by English merchants. Between 1280 and 1320 the trade was primarily dominated by Italian merchants, but by the early 14th century German merchants had begun to present serious competition to the Italians. The Germans formed a self-governing alliance of merchants in London called the " Hanse of the Steelyard" - the eventual Hanseatic League - and their role was confirmed under the Great Charter of 1303, which exempted them from paying the customary tolls for foreign merchants. One response to this was the creation of the Company of the Staple, a group of merchants established in English-held Calais in 1314 with royal approval, who were granted a monopoly on wool sales to Europe.

Clifford's Tower in the city of York, a major hub for Jewish economic activity and the site of an early Jewish pogrom in 1190

The Jewish community in England continued to provide essential money-lending and banking services that were otherwise banned by the usury laws, and grew in the 12th century by Jewish immigrants fleeing the fighting around Rouen. The Jewish community spread beyond London to eleven major English cities, primarily the major trading hubs in the east of England with functioning mints, all with suitable castles for protection of the often persecuted Jewish minority. By the time of the Anarchy and the reign of Stephen, the communities were flourishing and providing financial loans to the king.

Under Henry II, the Jewish financial community continued to grow richer still. All major towns had Jewish centres, and even smaller towns, such as Windsor, saw visits by travelling Jewish merchants. Henry II used the Jewish community as "instruments for the collection of money for the Crown", and placed them under royal protection. The Jewish community at York lent extensively to fund the Cistercian order's acquisition of land and prospered considerably. Some Jewish merchants grew extremely wealthy, Aaron of Lincoln so much that upon his death a special royal department had to be established to unpick his financial holdings and affairs.

By the end of Henry's reign the king ceased to borrow from the Jewish community and instead turned to an aggressive campaign of tallage taxation and fines. Financial and anti-Semite violence grew under Richard I. After the massacre of the York community, in which numerous financial records were destroyed, seven towns were nominated to separately store Jewish bonds and money records and this arrangement ultimately evolved into the Exchequer of the Jews. After an initially peaceful start to John's reign, the king again began to extort money from the Jewish community, imprisoning the wealthier members, including Isaac of Norwich, until a huge, new taillage was paid. During the Baron's War of 1215-17, the Jews were subjected to fresh anti-Semitic attacks. Henry III restored some order and Jewish money-lending became sufficiently successful again to allow fresh taxation. The Jewish community became poorer towards the end of the century and was finally expelled from England in 1290 by Edward I, being largely replaced by foreign merchants.

During the 12th century the Norman kings attempted to formalise the feudal governance system initially created after the invasion. After the invasion the king had enjoyed a combination of income from his own demesne lands, the Anglo-Saxon geld tax and fines. Successive kings found that they needed additional revenues, especially in order to pay for mercenary forces. One way of doing this was to exploit the feudal system, and kings adopted the French feudal aid model, a levy of money imposed on feudal subordinates when necessary; another method was to exploit the scutage system, in which feudal military service could be transmuted to a cash payment to the king. Taxation was also an option, although the old geld tax was increasingly ineffective due to a growing number of exemptions. Instead, a succession of kings created alternative land taxes, such as the tallage and carucage taxes. These were increasingly unpopular and, along with the feudal charges, were condemned and constrained in Magna Carta of 1215. As part of the formalisation of the royal finances, Henry I created the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a post which would lead to the maintenance of the Pipe rolls, a set of royal financial records of lasting significance to historians in tracking both royal finances and medieval prices.

Royal revenue streams still proved insufficient and from the middle of the 13th century there was a shift away from the earlier land-based tax system towards one based on a mixture of indirect and direct taxation. At the same time, Henry III had introduced the practice of consulting with leading nobles on tax issues, leading to the system whereby the Parliament of England agreed on new taxes when required. In 1275, the "Great and Ancient Custom" began to tax woollen products and hides, with the Great Charter of 1303 imposing additional levies on foreign merchants in England, with the poundage tax introduced in 1347. In 1340, the discredited tallage tax system was finally abolished by Edward III. Assessing the total impact of changes to royal revenues between 1086 and 1290 is difficult. At best, Edward I was struggling in 1300 to match in real terms the revenues that Henry II had enjoyed in 1100, and considering the growth in the size of the English economy, the king's share of the national income had dropped considerably.

In the English towns the burgage tenure for urban properties was established early on in the medieval period, and was based primarily on tenants paying cash rents rather than providing labour services. Further development of a set of taxes that could be raised by the towns included murage for walls, pavage for streets, and pontage, a temporary tax for the repair of bridges. Combined with the lex mercatoria, which was a set of codes and customary practices governing trading, these provided a reasonable basis for the economic governance of the towns.

The 12th century also saw a concerted attempt to curtail the remaining rights of unfree peasant workers and to set out their labour rents more explicitly in the form of the English Common Law. This process resulted in Magna Carta explicitly authorising feudal landowners to settle law cases concerning feudal labour and fines through their own manorial courts rather than through the royal courts. These class relationships between lords and unfree peasants had complex economic implications. Peasant workers resented being unfree, but having continuing access to agricultural land was also important. Under those rare circumstances where peasants were offered a choice between freedom but no land, and continued servitude, not all chose freedom and a minority chose to remain in servitude on the land. Lords benefited economically from their control of the manorial courts and dominating the courts made it easier to manipulate land ownership and rights in their own favour when land became in particularly short supply at the end of this period. Many of the labour duties lords could compel from the local peasant communities became less useful over the period. Duties were fixed by custom, inflexible and understandably resented by the workers involved. As a result, by the end of the 13th century the productivity of such forced labour was significantly lower than that of free labour employed to do the same task. A number of lords responded by seeking to commute the duties of unfree peasants to cash alternatives, with the aim of hiring labour instead.

The Great Famine of 1315 began a number of acute crises in the English agrarian economy. The famine centred on a sequence of harvest failures in 1315, 1316 and 1321 and combined with an outbreak of murrain, a sickness amongst sheep and oxen in 1319-21 and the fatal ergotism, a fungus amongst the remaining stocks of wheat. Many people died in the ensuing famine, and the peasantry were said to have been forced to eat horses, dogs and cats as well as conducted cannibalism against children, although these last reports are usually considered to be exaggerations. Poaching and encroachment on the royal forests surged, sometimes on a mass scale. Sheep and cattle numbers fell by up to a half, significantly reducing the availability of wool and meat, and food prices almost doubled, with grain prices particularly inflated. Food prices remained at similar levels for the next decade. Salt prices also increased sharply due to the wet weather.

Various factors exacerbated the crisis. Economic growth had already begun to slow significantly in the years prior to the crisis and the English rural population was increasingly under economic stress, with around half the peasantry estimated to possess insufficient land to provide them with a secure livelihood. Where additional land was being brought into cultivation, or existing land cultivated more intensively, the soil may have become exhausted and useless. Bad weather also played an important part in the disaster; 1315-16 and 1318 saw torrential rains and an incredibly cold winter, which in combination badly impacted on harvests and stored supplies. The rains of these years were followed by drought in the 1320s and another fierce winter in 1321, complicating recovery. Disease, independent of the famine, was also high during the period, striking at the wealthier as well as the poorer classes. The commencement of war with France in 1337 only added to the economic difficulties. The Great Famine firmly reversed the population growth of the 12th and 13th centuries and left a domestic economy that was "profoundly shaken, but not destroyed".[dubious ]

The Black Death epidemic first arrived in England in 1348, re-occurring in waves during 1360-62, 1368-69, 1375 and more sporadically thereafter. The most immediate economic impact of this disaster was the widespread loss of life, between around 27% mortality amongst the upper classes, to 40-70% amongst the peasantry. Despite the very high loss of life, few settlements were abandoned during the epidemic itself, but many were badly affected or nearly eliminated altogether. The medieval authorities did their best to respond in an organised fashion, but the economic disruption was immense. Building work ceased and many mining operations paused. In the short term, efforts were taken by the authorities to control wages and enforce pre-epidemic working conditions. Coming on top of the previous years of famine, however, the longer-term economic implications were profound. In contrast to the previous centuries of rapid growth, the English population would not begin to recover for over a century, despite the many positive reasons for a resurgence. The crisis would dramatically affect English agriculture, wages and prices for the remainder of the medieval period.

The events of the crisis between 1290 and 1348 and the subsequent epidemics produced many challenges for the English economy. In the decades after the disaster, the economic and social issues arising from the Black Death combined with the costs of the Hundred Years War resulted in the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Although the revolt was suppressed, it undermined many of the vestiges of the feudal economic order, and the countryside became dominated by estates organised as farms, frequently owned or rented by the new economic class of the gentry. The English agricultural economy remained depressed throughout the 15th century; growth at this time came from the greatly increased English cloth trade and manufacturing. The economic consequences of this varied considerably from region to region, but generally London, the South and the West prospered at the expense of the Eastern and the older cities. The role of merchants and trade became increasingly seen as important to the country, and usury gradually became more widely accepted, with English economic thinking increasingly influenced by Renaissance humanist theories.

Even before the end of the first outbreak of the Black Death, there were efforts by the authorities to stem the upward pressure on wages and prices, with parliament passing the emergency Ordinance of Labourers in 1349 and the Statute of Labourers in 1351. The efforts to regulate the economy continued as wages and prices rose, putting pressure on the landed classes, and in 1363 parliament attempted unsuccessfully to centrally regulate craft production, trading and retailing. A rising amount of the royal courts' time was involved in enforcing the failing labour legislation - as much as 70% by the 1370s. Many land owners attempted to vigorously enforce rents payable through agricultural service rather than money through their local manor courts, leading to attempts by many village communities to legally challenge local feudal practices using the Domesday Book as a legal basis for their claims. With the wages of the lower classes still rising, the government also attempted to regulate demand and consumption by reinstating the sumptuary laws in 1363. These laws banned the lower classes from consuming certain products or wearing high-status clothes, and reflected the significance of the consumption of high-quality breads, ales and fabrics as a way of signifying social class in the late medieval period.

The 1370s also saw the government facing difficulties in funding the war with France. The impact of the Hundred Years War on the English economy as a whole remains uncertain; one suggestion is that the high taxation required to pay for the conflict "shrunk and depleted" the English economy, whilst others have argued for a more modest or even neutral economic impact for the war. The English government clearly found it difficult to pay for its army and from 1377 turned to a new system of poll taxes, aiming to spread the costs of taxation across the entirety of English society.

Peasants' Revolt of 1381

One result of the economic and political tensions was the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, in which widespread rural discontent was followed by an invasion of London involving thousands of rebels. The rebels had many demands, including the effective end of the feudal institution of serfdom and a cap on the levels of rural rents. The ensuing violence took the political classes by surprise and the revolt was not fully put down until the autumn; up to 7,000 rebels were executed in the aftermath. As a result of the revolt, parliament retreated from the poll tax and instead focused on a system of indirect taxes centring on foreign trade, drawing 80% of tax revenues from the exports of wool. Parliament continued to collect direct tax levies at historically high levels up until 1422, although they reduced them in later years. As a result, successive monarchs found that their tax revenues were uncertain, and Henry VI enjoyed less than half the annual tax revenue of the late 14th century. England's monarchs became increasingly dependent on borrowing and forced loans to meet the gap between taxes and expenditure and even then faced later rebellions over levels of taxation, including the Yorkshire rebellion of 1489 and the Cornish rebellion of 1497 during the reign of Henry VII.

The agricultural sector of the English economy, still by far the largest, was transformed by the Black Death. With the shortage of manpower after the Black Death, wages for agricultural labourers rapidly increased and continued to then grow steadily throughout the 15th century. As their incomes increased, labourers' living conditions and diet improved steadily. A trend for labourers to eat less barley and more wheat and rye, and to replace bread in their diet with more meat, had been apparent since before the Black Death, but intensified during this later period. Nonetheless, England's much smaller population needed less food and the demand for agricultural products fell. The position of the larger landowners became increasingly difficult. Revenues from demesne lands were diminishing as demand remained low and wage costs increased; nobles were also finding it more difficult to raise revenue from their local courts, fines and privileges in the years after the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Despite attempts to increase money rents, by the end of the 14th century the rents paid from peasant lands were also declining, with revenues falling as much as 55% between the 1380s and 1420s.

Noble and church landowners responded in various ways. They began to invest significantly less in agriculture and land was increasingly taken out of production altogether. In some cases entire settlements were abandoned, and nearly 1,500 villages were lost during this period. Landowners also abandoned the system of direct management of their demesne lands, which had begun back in the 1180s, and turned instead to "farming" out large blocks of land for fixed money rents. Initially, livestock and land were rented out together under "stock and lease" contracts, but this was found to be increasingly impractical and contracts for farms became centred purely on land. Many of the rights to church parish tithes were also "farmed" out in exchange for fixed rents. This process was encouraged by the trend for tithe revenues being increasing "appropriated" by central church authorities, rather than being used to support local clergy: around 39% of parish tithes had been centralised in this way by 1535. As the major estates transformed, a new economic grouping, the gentry, became evident, many of them benefiting from the opportunities of the farming system. Land distribution remained heavily unequal; estimates suggest that the English nobility owned 20% of English lands, the Church and Crown 33%, the gentry 25%, and the remainder was owned by peasant farmers. Agriculture itself continued to innovate, and the loss of many English oxen to the murrain sickness in the crisis increased the number of horses used to plough fields in the 14th century, a significant improvement on older methods.

Forests, fishing and mining

The royal forests continued to diminish in size and decline in economic importance in the years after the Black Death. Royal enforcement of forest rights and laws became harder after 1348 and certainly after 1381, and by the 15th century the royal forests were a "shadow of their former selves" in size and economic significance. In contrast, the English fishing industry continued to grow, and by the 15th century domestic merchants and financiers owned fleets of up to a hundred fishing vessels operating from key ports. Herring remained a key fishing catch, although as demand for herring declined with rising prosperity, the fleets began to focus instead on cod and other deep-sea fish from the Icelandic waters. Despite being critical to the fishing industry, salt production in England diminished in the 15th century due to competition from French producers. The use of expensive freshwater fish ponds on estates began to decline during this period, as more of the gentry and nobility opted to purchase freshwater fish from commercial river fisheries.

Mining generally performed well at the end of the medieval period, helped by buoyant demand for manufactured and luxury goods. Cornish tin production plunged during the Black Death itself, leading to a doubling of prices. Tin exports also collapsed catastrophically, but picked up again over the next few years. By the turn of the 16th century, the available alluvial tin deposits in Cornwall and Devon had begun to decline, leading to the commencement of bell and surface mining to support the tin boom that had occurred in the late 15th century. Lead mining increased, and output almost doubled between 1300 and 1500. Wood and charcoal became cheaper once again after the Black Death, and coal production declined as a result, remaining depressed for the rest of the period - nonetheless, some coal production was occurring in all the major English coalfields by the 16th century. Iron production continued to increase; the Weald in the South-East began to make increased use of water-power, and overtook the Forest of Dean in the 15th century as England's main iron-producing region. The first blast furnace in England, a major technical step forward in metal smelting, was created in 1496 in Newbridge in the Weald.

The percentage of England's population living in towns continued to grow but in absolute terms English towns shrunk significantly as a consequence of the Black Death, especially in the formerly prosperous east. The importance of England's Eastern ports declined over the period, as trade from London and the South-West increased in relative significance. Increasingly elaborate road networks were built across England, some involving the construction of up to thirty bridges to cross rivers and other obstacles. Nonetheless, it remained cheaper to move goods by water, and consequently timber was brought to London from as far away as the Baltic, and stone from Caen brought over the Channel to the South of England. Shipbuilding, particular in the South-West, became a major industry for the first time and investment in trading ships such as cogs was probably the single biggest form of late medieval investment in England.

Cloth manufactured in England increasingly dominated European markets during the 15th and early 16th centuries. England exported almost no cloth at all in 1347, but by 1400 around 40,000 cloths a year were being exported - the trade reached its first peak in 1447 when exports reached 60,000. Trade fell slightly during the serious depression of the mid-15th century, but picked up again and reached 130,000 cloths a year by the 1540s. The centres of weaving in England shifted westwards towards the Stour Valley, the West Riding, the Cotswolds and Exeter, away from the former weaving centres in York, Coventry and Norwich.

The wool and cloth trade was primarily now being run by English merchants themselves rather than by foreigners. Increasingly, the trade was also passing through London and the ports of the South-West. By the 1360s, 66-75% of the export trade was in English hands and by the 15th century this had risen to 80%; London managed around 50% of these exports in 1400, and as much as 83% of wool and cloth exports by 1540. The growth in the numbers of chartered trading companies in London, such as the Worshipful Company of Drapers or the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, continued, and English producers began to provide credit to European buyers, rather than the other way around. Usury grew during the period, and few cases were prosecuted by the authorities.

There were some reversals. The attempts of English merchants to break through the Hanseatic league directly into the Baltic markets failed in the domestic political chaos of the Wars of the Roses in the 1460s and 1470s. The wine trade with Gascony fell by half during the war with France, and the eventual loss of the province brought an end to the English domination of the business and temporary disruption to Bristol's prosperity until wines began to be imported through the city a few years later. Indeed, the disruption to both the Baltic and the Gascon trade contributed to a sharp reduction in the consumption of furs and wine by the English gentry and nobility during the 15th century.

There were advances in manufacturing, especially in the South and West. Despite some French attacks, the war created much coastal prosperity thanks to the huge expenditure on shipbuilding during the war, and the South-West also became a centre for English piracy against foreign vessels. Metalworking continued to grow, and in particular pewter working, which generated exports second only to cloth. By the 15th century pewter working in London was a large industry, with a hundred pewter workers recorded in London alone, and pewter working had also spread from the capital to eleven major cities across England. London goldsmithing remained significant but saw relatively little growth, with around 150 goldsmiths working in London during the period. Iron-working continued to expand and in 1509 the first cast-iron cannon was made in England. This was reflected in the rapid growth in the number of iron-working guilds, from three in 1300 to fourteen by 1422.

The result was a substantial influx of money that in turn encouraged the import of manufactured luxury goods; by 1391 shipments from abroad routinely included "ivory, mirrors, paxes, armour, paper..., painted clothes, spectacles, tin images, razors, calamine, treacle, sugar-candy, marking irons, patens..., ox-horns and quantities of wainscot". Imported spices now formed a part of almost all noble and gentry diets, with the quantities being consumed varying according to the wealth of the household. The English government was also importing large quantities of raw materials, including copper, for manufacturing weapons. Many major landowners tended to focus their efforts on maintaining a single major castle or house rather than the dozens a century before, but these were usually decorated much more luxurious than previously. Major merchants' dwellings, too, were more lavish than in previous years.

Towards the end of the 14th century, the position of fairs began to decline. The larger merchants, particularly in London, began to establish direct links with the larger landowners such as the nobility and the church; rather than the landowner buying from a chartered fair, they would buy directly from the merchant. Meanwhile, the growth of the indigenous England merchant class in the major cities, especially London, gradually crowded out the foreign merchants upon whom the great chartered fairs had largely depended. The crown's control over trade in the towns, especially the emerging newer towns towards the end of the 15th century that lacked central civic government, was increasingly weaker, making chartered status less relevant as more trade occurred from private properties and took place all year around. Nonetheless, the great fairs remained of importance well into the 15th century, as illustrated by their role in exchanging money, regional commerce and in providing choice for individual consumers.

The first studies into the medieval economy of England began in the 1880s, principally around the work of English jurist and historian Frederic Maitland. This scholarship, drawing extensively on documents such as the Domesday Book and Magna Carta, became known as the " Whiggish" view of economic history, focusing on law and government. Late Victorian writers argued that change in the English medieval economy stemmed primarily from the towns and cities, leading to a progressive and universalist interpretation of development over the period, focusing on trade and commerce. Influenced by the evolution of Norman laws, Maitland argued that there was a clear discontinuity between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman economic systems.

In the 1930s the Whiggish view of the English economy was challenged by a group of scholars at the University of Cambridge, led by Eileen Power. Power and her colleagues widened the focus of study from legal and government documents to include "agrarian, archaeological, demographic, settlement, landscape and urban" evidence. This was combined with a neo-positivist and econometric leaning that was at odds with the older Victorian tradition in the subject. Power died in 1940, but Michael Postan, who had previously been her student but later became her husband, brought their work forward, and it came to dominate the post-war field.

Postan argued that demography was the principal driving force in the medieval English economy. In a distinctly Malthusian fashion, Postan proposed that the English agrarian economy saw little technical development during the period and by the early 14th century was unable to support the growing population, leading to inevitable famines and economic depression as the population came back into balance with land resources. Postan began the trend towards stressing continuities between the pre- and post-invasion economies, aided by fresh evidence emerging from the use of archaeological techniques to understand the medieval economy from the 1950s onwards.

A Marxist critique of Postan emerged from the 1950s onwards, captured in the academic journal Past & Present. This school of thought agreed that the agrarian economy was central to medieval England, but argued that agrarian issues had less to do with demography than with the mode of production and feudal class relations. In this model the English economy entered the crisis of the early 14th century because of the struggles between landlords and peasant for resources and excessive extraction of rents by the nobility. Similar issues underpinned the Peasants Revolt of 1381 and later tax rebellions. Historians such as Frank Stenton developed the " honour" as a unit of economic analysis and a focus for understanding feudal relations in peasant communities; Rodney Hilton developed the idea of the rise of the gentry as a key feature for understanding the late medieval period.

Fresh work in the 1970s and 1980s challenged both Postan's and Marxist approaches to the medieval economy. Local studies of medieval economics, often in considerable detail and fusing new archaeological techniques and rescue archaeology with historical sources, often ran counter to their broader interpretations of change and development. The degree to which feudalism really existed and operated in England after the initial years of the invasion was thrown into considerable doubt, with historians such as David Crouch arguing that it existed primarily as a legal and fiscal model, rather than an actual economic system. Sociological and anthropological studies of contemporary economies, including the work of Ester Boserup showed many flaws with Postan's key assumptions about demography and land use. The current academic preference is to see the English medieval economy as an "overlapping network of diverse communities", in which active local choices and decisions are the result of independent agency, rather than a result of historically deterministic processes.

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Bayley, J. (2009) "Medieval Precious Metal Refining: Archaeology and Contemporary Texts Compared," in Martinon-Torres and Rehren (eds) 2009.

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Cantor, Leonard. (1982b) "Forests, Chases, Parks and Warrens," in Cantor (ed) 1982.

Coss, Peter. (2002) "From Feudalism to Bastard Feudalism," in Fryde, Monnet and Oexle (eds) (2002)

Douglas, David Charles. (1962) William the Conqueror: the Norman Impact upon England. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Fryde, E. B. and Natalie Fryde. (1991) "Peasant Rebellion and Peasant Discontents," in Miller (ed) 1991.

Geddes, Jane. (2001) "Iron," in Blair and Ramsay (eds) 2001.

Hatcher, John. (1996) "Plague, Population and the English Economy," in Anderson (ed) 1996.

Hatcher, John. (2002) "The great slump of the mid-fifteenth century," in Britnell and Hatcher (eds) 2002.

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Keen, Laurence. (1989) "Coastal Salt Production in Norman England," in Brown R. (ed) 1989.

Kowalski, Maryanne. (2007) "Warfare, Shipping, and Crown Patronage: The Economic Impact of the Hundred Years War on the English Port Towns," in Armstrong, Elbl and Elbl (eds) 2007.

Langdon, John, Grenville Astill and Janken Myrdal. (1997) "Introduction," in Astill and Langdon (eds) 1997.

Lee, John. (2001) "The Trade of Fifteenth Century Cambridge and its Region," in Hicks (ed) 2001.

Nightingale, Pamela. (2002) "The growth of London in the medieval English economy," in Britnell and Hatcher (eds) 2002.

Postan, M. M. (1942) "Some Social Consequences of the Hundred Years War," in Economic History Review, XII (1942).

Ramsay, Nigel. (2001) "Introduction," in Blair and Ramsay (eds) 2001.

Reyerson, Kathryn L. (1999) "Commerce and communications," in Abulafia (ed) 1999.

Richardson, Amanda. "Royal Landscapes," in Hamilton (ed) 2006.

Stacey, Robert C. (2003) "The English Jews under Henry III," in Skinner (ed) 2003.

Swanson, Robert N. "A universal levy: tithes and economy agency," in Dodd and Britnell (eds) 2008.

Swedberg, Richard. (2004) "On Legal Institutions and Their Role in the Economy," in Dobbin (ed) 2004.

Woolgar, Christopher. (1995) "Diet and Consumption in Gentry and Noble Households: A Case Study from around the Wash," in Archer and Walker (eds) 1995.

Bolton, J. K. (1980) "The Medieval English Economy. 1150-1500"

Bland, A.E., P.A. Brown and R.H. Tawney, eds. English economic history: select documents (1919). online 733pp; covers 1086 to 1840s.

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Economy of England in the Middle Ages - Wikipedia

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The medieval English saw their economy as comprising three groups - the clergy, who prayed; the knights, who fought; and the peasants, who worked the land and towns involved in international trade. Over the five centuries of the Middle Ages, the English economy would at first grow and then suffer an acute crisis, resulting in significant political and economic change.

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Religion in the Middle Ages, though dominated by the Catholic Church, was far more varied than only orthodox Christianity. In the Early Middle Ages (c. 476-1000), long-established pagan beliefs and practices entwined with those of the new religion so that many people who would have identified as Christian would not have been considered so by orthodox authority figures.

Practices such as fortune-telling, dowsing, making charms, talismans, or spells to ward off danger or bad luck, incantations spoken while sowing crops or weaving cloth, and many other daily observances were condemned by the medieval Church which tried to suppress them. At the same time, heretical sects throughout the Middle Ages offered people an alternative to the Church more in keeping with their folk beliefs.

Jewish scholars and merchants contributed to the religious make-up of medieval Europe as well as those who lived in rural areas who simply were not interested in embracing the new religion and, especially after the First Crusade, Christians and Muslims interacted to each other's mutual benefit. As the medieval period progressed, the Church exerted more control over people's thoughts and practices, controlling - or trying to - every aspect of an individual's life until the corruption of the institution, as well as its perceived failure to offer any meaningful response to the Black Death pandemic of 1347-1352, brought on its fracture through the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

Early Middle Ages & Pagan Christianity

Christianity did not immediately win the hearts and minds of the people of Europe. The process of Christianization was a slow one and, even toward the end of the Middle Ages, many people still practiced 'folk magic' and held to the beliefs of their ancestors even while observing Christian rites and rituals. The pre-Christian people - now commonly referenced as pagans - had no such label for themselves. The term pagan is a Christian designation from the French meaning a rustic who came from the countryside where the old beliefs and practices held tightly long after urban centers had more or less adopted orthodox Christian belief.

The belief in fairies, sprites, & ghosts was so deeply embedded that parish priests allowed to continue practices of appeasement.

Even though there is ample evidence of Europeans in the Early Middle Ages accepting the basics of Christian doctrine, most definitely the existence of hell, a different paradigm of life on earth and the afterlife was so deeply ingrained in the communal consciousness that it could not easily just be set aside. In Britain, Scotland, and Ireland, especially, a belief in the "wee folk", fairies, earth and water spirits, was regarded as simple common sense on how the world worked. One would no more go out of one's way to offend a water sprite than poison one's own well.

The belief in fairies, sprites, and ghosts (defined as spirits of the once-living) was so deeply embedded that parish priests allowed members of their congregations to continue practices of appeasement even though the Church instructed them to make clear such entities were demonic and not to be trifled with. Rituals involving certain incantations and spells, eating or displaying certain types of vegetables, performing certain acts or wearing a certain type of charm - all pagan practices with a long history - continued to be observed alongside going to Church, veneration of the saints, Christian prayer, confession, and acts of contrition.

A central concern of the Church, however, was right practice which reflected right belief, and the authorities struggled constantly to bring the population of Europe to this understanding. The problem, though, was that the rites of the Church did not resonate with a congregation like folk belief. The parish church or cathedral altar, at which the priest stood to celebrate the mass and transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, was far removed from the congregation of onlookers. The priest recited the mass in Latin, his back to the people, and whatever went on up there at the front had little to do with the people observing it.

The baptismal font, therefore, became the focal point of church life as it was present at the beginning of one's life (through infant baptism), at confirmation, weddings, and funerals - even if it was not used at all of these events - and most notably for the ritual known as the ordeal (or Ordeal by Water) which decided a person's guilt or innocence.

The baptismal font was often quite large and deep and the accused would be bound and thrown into it. If the accused floated to the top, they were guilty of the charges while, if they sank, they were innocent. Unfortunately, the innocent had to enjoy exoneration post-mortem since they usually drowned. The ordeal was used for serious crimes in a community as well as charges of heresy, which included the continued practice of pre-Christian rites.

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High Middle Ages & the Cult of Mary

The tendency of the laity to continue these practices did not diminish with time, threats, or repeated drownings. Just as in the present day one justifies one's own actions while condemning others for the same sort of behavior, the medieval peasant seems to have accepted that their neighbor, drowned by the Church for some transgression, deserved their fate. There is certainly no record of public outcry, and the ritual of the ordeal - like executions - were a form of public entertainment.

How the medieval peasant felt about anything at all is unknown as they were illiterate and anything recorded about their beliefs or behavior comes from Church or town records kept by clerics and priests. The peasants' silence is especially noted regarding the Church's view of women, who worked alongside men in the fields, could own their own businesses, join guilds, monastic orders and, in many cases, do the same work as a man but were still considered inferiors. As scholar Eileen Power observes, the peasants of a town "went to their churches on Sundays and listened while preachers told them in one breath that a woman was the gate of hell and that Mary was Queen of Heaven" (11). This view, established by the Church and supported by the aristocracy, would change significantly during the High Middle Ages (1000-1300), even though whatever progress was made would not last.

The Cult of the Virgin Mary was not new to the High Middle Ages - it had been popular in Palestine and Egypt from the 1st century onward - but became more highly developed during this time. Pope Gregory I (l. 540-604) established the two poles of womanhood in Christianity by characterizing Mary Magdalene as the redeemed prostitute and Mary the Mother of Jesus as the elevated virgin. Scholars still debate Gregory's reasons for characterizing Mary Magdalene in this way, conflating her with the Woman Taken in Adultery (John 8:1-11), even though there is no biblical support for his claim.

Mary Magdalene, linked through her sins to Eve and the Fall of Man, was the sexual temptress men were encouraged to flee while the Virgin Mary was beyond the realm of temptation, incorruptible, and untouchable. Actual human women might at one time be Magdalene and another the Virgin and, whether one or the other, were best dealt with from a distance. The Cult of the Virgin, however, at least encouraged greater respect for women.

At the same time the Cult of the Virgin was developing most rapidly (or possibly because of it) a genre of romantic poetry and an accompanying ideal was appearing in Southern France, known today as courtly love. Courtly love romanticism maintained that women were not only worthy of respect but adoration, devotion, and service. The genre and attendant behavior it inspired are closely linked to the queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (l. c. 1122-1204), her daughter Marie de Champagne (l. 1145-1198), and writers associated with them such as Chretien de Troyes (l. c. 1130-1190), Marie de France (wrote c. 1160-1215), and Andreas Capellanus (12th century). These writers and the women who inspired and patronized them created an elevated vision of womanhood unprecedented in the medieval period.

These changes occurred at the same time as the popularity of a heretical religious sect known as the Cathars was winning adherents away from the Catholic Church in precisely the same region of Southern France. The Cathars venerated a divine feminine principle, Sophia, whom they swore to protect and serve in the same way that the noble, chivalric knights in courtly love poetry devoted themselves to a lady. Some scholars (most notably Denis de Rougemont) have therefore suggested that courtly love poetry was a kind of code of the Cathars, who were regularly threatened and persecuted by the Church, by which they disseminated their teachings. This theory has been challenged repeatedly but never refuted.

The Cathars were destroyed by the Church in the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) with the last blow struck in 1244 at the Cathar stronghold of Montsegur. The crusading knights of the Church took the fortress after the Cathars' surrender and burned 200 of their clergy alive as heretics. The Inquisition, led by the order of the Dominicans, rooted out and condemned similar sects.

Islamic & Jewish Influences

The Cathars were not alone in suffering persecution from the Church, however, as the Jewish population of Europe had been experiencing that for centuries. Overall, relations between Jews and Christians were amicable, and there are letters, records, and personal journals extant showing that some Christians sought to convert to Judaism and Jews to Christianity. Scholar Joshua Trachtenberg notes how "in the tenth and eleventh centuries we hear of Jews receiving gifts from Gentile friends on Jewish holidays, of Jews leaving keys to their homes with Christian neighbors before departing on a journey" (160). Relations between members of the two religions were more or less cordial, in fact, until after the First Crusade (1096-1099).

Jewish & Islamic scholasticism contributed more significantly to the culture of Europe than any Christian efforts outside of the monasteries.

Jews were forbidden to bear arms and so could not participate in the crusade, which seems to have upset their Christian neighbors whose husbands and sons were taken by the feudal lords off to the Holy Land. Economic hardships caused by lack of manpower to work the fields further damaged relationships between the two as many Jews were merchants who could continue their trade while the Christian peasant was tied to the land and struggled to plant, tend, and harvest a crop.

The First Crusade had the opposite effect on Muslims who, outside of Spain, had previously only appeared in Europe as traders. The crusade opened up the possibility of travel to the Holy Land, and a number of scholars took advantage of this to study with their Muslim counterparts. The works of Islamic scholars and scientists found their way to Europe along with translations of some of the greatest classical thinkers and writers such as Aristotle, whose works would have been lost if not for Muslim scribes. Jewish and Islamic scholasticism, in fact, contributed more significantly to the culture of Europe than any Christian efforts outside of the monasteries.

The Church's insistence on the absolute truth of its own vision, while condemning that of others, extended even to fellow Christians. The Catholic Church of the West quarreled with the Eastern Orthodox Church in 867 over who had the true faith, and the Eastern Orthodox Church finally broke all ties with its western counterpart in 1054, the so-called Great Schism. This was brought on by the Church's claim that it was founded by Saint Peter, was the only legitimate expression of Christian faith, and should therefore rightly be able to control the policies and land holdings of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

In the Late Middle Ages (1300-1500), the Church continued to root out heresy on a large scale by suppressing upstart religious sects, individually by encouraging priests to punish heterodox belief or practice, and by labeling any critic or reformer a 'heretic' outside of God's grace. The peasantry, though nominally orthodox Catholic, continued to observe folk practices and, as scholar Patrick J. Geary notes, "knowledge of Christian belief did not mean that individuals used this knowledge in ways that coincided with officially sanctioned practice" (202). Since a medieval peasant was taught the prayers of the Our Father and Hail Mary in Latin, a language they did not understand, they recited them as incantations to ward off misfortune or bring luck, paying little attention to the importance of the words as understood by the Church. The mass itself, also conducted in Latin, was equally mysterious to the peasantry.

Consequently, the medieval peasant felt far more comfortable with a blending of the old pagan beliefs with Christianity which resulted in heterodox belief. Parish priests were again instructed to take heretical practices seriously and punish them, but the clergy was disinclined, largely because of the effort involved. Further, many of the clergy, especially the parish priests, were seen as hypocrites and had been for some time. One of the reasons heretical sects attracted adherents, in fact, was the respect generated by their clergy who lived their beliefs. In contrast, as Geary notes, the Catholic clergy epitomized the very Seven Deadly Sins they condemned:

The ignorance, sexual promiscuity, venality, and corruption of the clergy, combined with their frequent absenteeism, were major and long-standing complaints within the laity. Anti-clericalism was endemic to medieval society and in no way detracted from religious devotion. (199)

A parishioner could loathe the priest but still respect the religion that said priest represented. The priest, after all, had little to do with the life of the peasant while the saints could answer prayers, protect one from harm, and reward one's good deeds. Pilgrimages to saints' sites like Canterbury or Santiago de Compostela were thought to please the saint who would then grant the pilgrim favors and expiate sin in ways no priest could ever do.

At the same time, one could not do without the clergy owing to the Church's insistence on sacerdotalism - the policy which mandated that laypersons required the intercession of a priest to communicate with God or understand scripture - and so priests still wielded considerable power over individuals' lives. This was especially so regarding the afterlife state of purgatory in which one's soul would pay in torment for any sins not forgiven by a priest in one's life. Ecclesiastical writs known as indulgences were sold to people - often for high prices - which were believed to lessen the time for one's soul, or that of a loved one, in purgatorial fires.

The unending struggle to bring the peasantry in line with orthodoxy eventually relented as practices formerly condemned by the Church - such as astrology, oneirology (the study of dreams), demonology, and the use of talismans and charms - were recognized as significant sources of income. Sales of relics like a saint's toe or a splinter of the True Cross were common and, for a price, a priest could interpret one's dreams, chart one's stars, or name whatever demon was preventing a good marriage for one's son or daughter.

For many years, medieval scholarship insisted on a dichotomy of two Christianities in the Middle Ages - an elite culture dominated by the clergy, city-dwellers, and the written word, and a popular culture of the oral tradition of the rural masses, infused with pagan belief and practice. In the present day, it is recognized that pagan beliefs and rituals informed Christianity in both city and country from the beginning. As the Church gained more and more power, it was able to insist more stridently on people obeying its strictures, but the same underlying form - of the Church trying to impose a new belief structure on people used to the one of their ancestors - remained more or less intact throughout the Middle Ages.

Conclusion

As the medieval period wound to a close, the orthodoxy of the Church finally did permeate down through the lowest social class but this hardly did anyone any favors. The backlash against the progressive movement of the 12th century and its new value of women took the form of monastic religious orders such as the Premonstratensians banning women, guilds which had previously had female members declaring themselves men's-only-clubs, and women's ability to run businesses curtailed.

The ongoing crusades vilified Muslims as the archenemy of Christendom while Jews were blamed for practicing usury (charging interest) - even though the Church had more or less defined that role in finance for them through official policy - and were expelled from communities and entire countries. Pagan practices had now either been stamped out or Christianized, and the Church held significant power over people's daily lives.

The corruption of the medieval Church, however, against which critics and reformers had been preaching for centuries, finally grew too intolerable and general distrust of the Church and its vision was further encouraged by its failure to meet the challenge of the Black Death pandemic of 1347-1352 which resulted in a widespread spiritual crisis. The Protestant Reformation began as simply another attempt at getting the Church to pay attention to its own failings, but the political climate in Germany, and the personal power of the priest-monk Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546 CE), led to a revolt by people who had long grown tired of the monolithic Church.

After Martin Luther initiated the Reformation, other clerics followed his example. Christianity in Europe afterwards would frequently show itself no more tolerant or pure in Protestant form than it had been as expressed through the medieval Church but, in time, found a way to coexist with other faiths and allow for greater freedom of individual religious experience.

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Religion in the Middle Ages, though dominated by the Catholic Church, was far more varied than only orthodox Christianity. In the Early Middle Ages (c. 476-1000), long-established pagan beliefs and...

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What the Islamic civilization traded during the middle age

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In the last two decades, economic historians have paid increasing attention to the construction of real wage and GDP per capita series for premodern economies to learn more about their performance and structural characteristics as well as their standards of living. Detailed real wage series have been developed for leading cities in Europe from the Black Death to the Industrial Revolution, for example. These have provided significant insights into the timing of the divergence in incomes between the northwest and the rest of the Continent (Van Zanden Reference Van Zanden1999; Allen Reference Allen2001; Clark Reference Clark2005; Pamuk Reference Pamuk2007). Similarly, a good deal of effort has been devoted to quantifying wage differentials between different parts of Europe and Asia during the centuries before the Industrial Revolution (Özmucur and Pamuk Reference Özmucur and Pamuk2002; Allen et al. Reference Allen, Bassino, Ma, Moll-Muarata and Luiten Van Zanden2011; Scheidel Reference Scheidel2010). More recently, attempts have also been made to estimate real wages and GDP per capita as well as the degree of income inequality in the ancient and medieval economies, such as Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Greece, Roman, and Byzantine Empires.

This study aims to establish long-term trends in the purchasing power of the wages of unskilled urban workers and develop preliminary estimates for GDP per capita for parts of the Middle East during the medieval era. We also offer some comparisons with other preindustrial economies across time and space. Although, the Middle East had one of the most vibrant medieval economies through the end of the eleventh century, it has been underrepresented if not conspicuously absent in the recent literature. Located between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean and at the center major intercontinental trade routes, the region enjoyed a strong urban network and wide range of manufacturing activities. Middle Eastern merchants also developed complex institutions including credit arrangements, commercial and other business partnerships, long-distance trade, and shipping contracting. After the eleventh century, however, the center of gravity of the medieval world shifted away from the urban centers of the Middle East towards those of Italy (Ashtor Reference Ashtor1976; Abu-Lughod Reference Abu-Lughod1989; Shatzmiller Reference Shatzmiller2011; Findlay and O'Rourke 2007, pp. 48-61 and 88-101; Udovitch Reference Udovitch1962; Issawi Reference Issawi1980).

Slave labor existed in the Middle East during the medieval era, but most urban labor was not coerced. It was either self-employed or paid a wage. One conclusion we reach in this study is that two powerful and long-lasting demographic shocks caused large and long-term changes in the purchasing power of wages and per capita incomes in the medieval Middle East. As is well-known for Europe and the Middle East, wages rose sharply and remained high during the Black Death that began in the middle of the fourteenth century and lasted until the sixteenth century and even later (Herlihy Reference Herlihy1997; Pamuk Reference Pamuk2007; Voigtlander and Voth Reference Voigtlander and Voth2009; Dols Reference Dols1977; Borsch Reference Borsch2005). Our evidence indicates that the Justinian Plague that began in the sixth century and lasted at least until the middle of the eighth century had equally profound consequences on wages and per capita incomes. In both episodes, population recovered slowly in part because the plague kept recurring and because fertility also seems to have remained low. Wages did not remain permanently high, however, and they began to decline after more than two centuries.

Our study of wages also sheds light on the causes of economic prosperity during the so-called Golden Age of Islam, which centered in Iraq from the eighth to the tenth centuries. Our knowledge about this episode is limited but it is clear this was a period of intensive growth including expansion of irrigation, productivity increases in agriculture, higher rates of urbanization, growth of manufacturing, development of long-distance trade, and a burst of technical innovation as well as cultural achievements. Our calculations indicate that wages of unskilled workers as well as average incomes was significantly above the subsistence minimum during this period. Such episodes of "economic efflorescence" occurred many times if not often in the Old World during the millennia before the Industrial Revolution (Goldstone Reference Goldstone2002, pp. 339-59). Our wage series also suggest that the environment of labor shortages, high labor incomes and high per capita wealth in the aftermath of the Justinian Plague stimulated agricultural productivity, the urban economy, and long-distance trade by creating demand for income elastic goods, both domestic and imported.

Our findings thus suggest that the view that preindustrial societies were always or mostly near the edge of subsistence is mistaken. In fact, both the purchasing power of the daily wages of unskilled workers and average incomes in the Middle East exhibited significant medium- and long-term fluctuations. Both also remained well above the subsistence minimum for much of the medieval era. We estimate that the purchasing power of unskilled wages in the region fluctuated mostly between 1.3 and 2 times subsistence minimum and average incomes remained mostly within an interval that ranged from 2 to 3 times the subsistence minimum during the medieval era.

SOURCES AND DATA COLLECTION

Medieval Middle Eastern sources contain abundant price and to a lesser extent wage data. For the urban areas in Lower Egypt (Fustāt, Cairo, and some other cities), one source is the Arab chroniclers who provide price observations more frequently, if not mostly, for periods of great abundance or famine, or periods of unusual lows and highs. In contrast, data from two other main categories of primary sources, papyri and the Geniza documents offer price and wage data for "normal" times as recorded in contemporary contracts and accounts. As a result, they are usually more useful than the chroniclers. The papyri are private and administrative documents written in Greek, Coptic, or Arabic. Tens of thousands of papyri documents are housed in libraries around the world and in various degrees of conservation. They allow us to cover better seventh through the tenth centuries.

The Geniza documents refer to more than 350,000 private and administrative accounts and literary texts mainly covering from eleventh through the thirteenth centuries. They are written mostly in the local Arabic language of the time but in Hebrew characters by members of the Jewish community and were preserved in the synagogue of Fustāt-Cairo. The documents used here, such as merchants' accounts, relate to a variety of economic transactions by individuals and expenses by public institutions. They refer mostly to dealings between Jews but they provide information on economic conditions not only in Egypt but also in North Africa, Sicily, Syria-Palestine, and Iraq (Goitein Reference Goitein1967, vol. I, pp. 9-17).

In addition, waqf making documents from Mamluk Egypt offer a good deal of price and to a lesser extent wage data for the thirteenth through the fifteenth centuries. Similarly, the Italian, French, and Catalan archives documenting trade with Egypt provide some commodity prices during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The wage and price data used in our calculations for Egypt were selected partly from the documents themselves and partly from studies devoted to them such as S. D. Goitein's Mediterranean Society (1967 and Reference Goitein1971), and Eliyahu Ashtor's Prix et Salaires (1969).

There are no archival documents available for medieval Iraq. Government correspondence written on papyri imported from Egypt did not survive in the humid climate. However, after the introduction and spread of paper during the eighth and ninth centuries, the region experienced a burst of literary activity which resulted in an array of book length manuscripts many of which have survived. Some of these include price and wage observations. Among them are geographical works known as Books of Routes and Kingdoms, kutūb al-masālik wa'l-mamālik, mostly written in the ninth and tenth centuries by authors such as Abū 'l-Hasan Ali b. al-Husayn al-Mas cūdī and Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Muqaddasī, and chronicles written by historians such as Muhammad b. Jarīr al-Tabarī, Hilāl b. Muhassin al-Sābī, and Muhammad b. Abdus al-Jahshiyārī. They provide wage and price information mostly for Baghdad. A list of the sources for the wage and price observations we have used in our calculations for Fustāt-Cairo and for Baghdad is presented by period in Table 1.

Independent observations of unskilled urban workers' wages in these sources are not very large. For Egypt, our efforts produced about a dozen observations for the early period 700 to 1000 and about a dozen observations for the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In addition, the same sources provide larger numbers of observations for wages of various kinds of skilled workers which were helpful for placing the unskilled wages in context. In contrast, the Geniza documents yielded many dozens of wage observations for urban unskilled workers for the period eleventh through the thirteenth centuries. For Iraq, we uncovered less than a dozen observations for the early period 750 to 1000 and less than a dozen observations for the later period 1000 to 1258. For Iraq too, the same sources provide larger numbers of observations for wages of various kinds of skilled workers. These observations are mostly for monthly wages, usually stated to be 25 working days, and in gold dinars, but some daily wages are given in terms of the local silver currency. Most wage observations for unskilled workers excluded or did not mention additional food or lunch. Food in addition to the money wage is mentioned more often for skilled workers. When the sources stated that some form of food was provided to the unskilled workers, we added roughly one-fifth of the money wage. As was the case in most preindustrial societies, nominal wages available from these sources were often slow to change. The medium- and longer-term fluctuations in nominal as well as real wages indicate, however, that they did respond to changes in supply and demand.

The volume of evidence on prices is larger although not large enough to build annual series. However, prices were also less stable than nominal wages. This was especially true for wheat prices which were usually expressed in gold dinars per irdabb (70 kilograms). Moreover, the available price observations are biased towards the extraordinary years, since extraordinarily high and low prices arising from fluctuations in the weather or in the level of the Nile, in the case of Egypt, were recorded more often in the sources. We tried, instead, to identify and use average or "normal" wheat prices associated with "average" harvests as cited by the observers for each benchmark year. Short-term price fluctuations were more limited in the case of other goods, especially nonfood items.

PURCHASING POWER OF THE WAGES OF UNSKILLED WORKERS

Table 2 presents the prices of the leading items of consumption in Fustāt-Cairo and the prices of wheat in Baghdad as well as the nominal monthly wages of unskilled urban workers for our benchmark years. Prices provided in Table 2 together with price data for a few other commodities enabled us to calculate a simple consumer price index for Fustāt-Cairo and another index for wheat prices in Baghdad (see Figure 1). In the calculation of the consumer price level, we tried to use the basket of the average consumer and for that purpose employed a mixture of the respectability and bare-bones baskets which will be discussed below. We also chose to present the long-term price and nominal wage indices in terms of gold because although many prices and some nominal wages are available in terms of the silver dirham, there is often uncertainty regarding the silver content of the dirham while data on the exchange rates between the silver dirham and the gold dinar and the gold content of the dinar are more reliable. Furthermore, in late medieval Egypt prices began to be quoted mostly in copper and gold as silver coinage disappeared. Figure 1 makes clear that consumer price levels in Egypt expressed in gold rose significantly from the eighth through the tenth centuries and then fluctuated within a more narrow range before rising again in the fourteenth century. Prices of wheat and other goods for which we have evidence showed similar increases in Baghdad from the eighth to the tenth centuries. As a result, we can conclude that prices in Egypt and Iraq expressed in gold, as well as silver, were significantly higher at the end of the tenth century in comparison to both the end of the Roman or Byzantine eras and the beginning of the Islamic era in the seventh or eighth centuries. These rising trends in prices and nominal wages are probably related to the growing availability of specie in the region during the early centuries of Islam and it would be interesting to see to what extent the same increase occurred in other parts of the Old World.

Comparing the purchasing power of real wages of specific occupations, most often of unskilled construction workers in leading cities in a region or country has long been a basic approach for comparing levels of per capita income or the standards of living. Real wage data are of far better quality than per capita GDP estimates especially for earlier periods for which other data is often limited. The most basic way to calculate the purchasing power of daily wages would be in terms of wheat or bread. It may also be the only way to do so if prices for other consumer goods are not available. Figure 2 presents the purchasing power of the daily wages of unskilled, urban, male workers in Fustāt-Cairo and Baghdad in terms of the kilograms of wheat for the benchmark years for which both wage and price data exist. Figure 2 indicates that not only were there large changes over time in the purchasing power of daily wages ranging between more than 10 kilos to 3.5 kilos of wheat but also suggests that there were differences in the wage levels between Fustāt-Cairo and Baghdad and more generally between Egypt and Iraq. We will elaborate on the reasons for these differences below.

One important question at this stage would be to relate these wheat wages to the subsistence minimum. It is not easy to express the level of the subsistence minimum in wheat equivalents but estimates have been given ranging from 250 kilos to 300 kilos per person per year (Scheidel and Friesen Reference Scheidel and Friesen2009; Lindert, Milanovich, and Williamson Reference Lindert, Milanovich and Williamson2007). Under the assumption 250 working days a year and a family of four, two adults and two children as the household of a wage worker, we arrive at a range of 3.2 to 3.7 kilograms of wheat equivalents per day as the subsistence minimum for the purchasing power of the daily wage. Our calculations summarized in Figure 1 thus suggest that daily wages of unskilled urban workers in Egypt and in Iraq were generally above the subsistence during the medieval era. Moreover, from the eighth to the tenth centuries and again during the fourteenth century, the purchasing power of wages in Egypt was quite high.

It is possible that the high purchasing power of urban unskilled wages shown in Figure 2 exaggerates the living standards of the unskilled urban workers especially during the eighth to the tenth centuries and during the fourteenth century because these workers may have worked less than 250 days at these rates (Hatcher Reference Hatcher, Dodds and Liddy2011). However, urban unskilled workers did not have to work 250 days a year to attain these standards of living. Indeed, it is likely that their employment fluctuated but the income of the male wage earner was often supplemented by the returns to the labors of other members of the household, thanks to small-scale gardening, animal husbandry, and other activities as well as wage labor. Nonetheless, we chose to use the 250 days in order to facilitate intertemporal and interregional comparisons. Moreover, two surviving children per urban household may seem low to the modern observer, yet it is a reasonable number in view of what we know about the fertility behavior and rates of infant mortality in Middle Eastern cities at the time. Many studies state that average size of urban households in the medieval Middle East were below four. At any rate, in cases where there were more surviving children, they either worked to add to the household income or the amount of time they lived with the household tended to be limited.

For most economies before the early modern era, it would not be possible to go beyond the calculation of the wheat or grain wage. However, for Cairo and to a limited extent for Baghdad we have data on the prices of a wider range of consumer goods and can calculate the purchasing power of daily wages in terms of a standard basket of consumer goods. The same data also give us insights into the long-term trends in the general price level for the medieval Middle East. Two different consumer baskets have been developed in recent years for more detailed comparisons of the purchasing power of daily wages across time and space (Allen Reference Allen2001, Reference Allen, Bowman and Wilson2009). A respectability basket was established primarily after studying the consumption patterns of European workers in the late medieval and early modern eras. It contains the following items with fixed weights: wheat or rye bread, beans/peas, meat, butter or olive oil, cheese, eggs, beer or wine, soap, linen, candle, fuel, and housing. This basket yields approximately 1,940 calories per day. Multiplying its cost by three, gives the cost of maintaining a family of four, consisting of a man, a woman, and two children.

The problem with the respectability basket is that it was too costly for most people in premodern economies including most of medieval and early modern Europe and the Middle East. For this reason, Robert C. Allen and others have found it more realistic to employ another basket called the bare-bones basket which allows lower income consumers to acquire the same level of daily calories at 40 to 50 percent of the cost of the respectability basket. This is achieved by significantly lowering the consumption of animal protein, meat, cheese, and eggs as well as alcohol and shifting to lower priced grains.

Given our focus on unskilled workers, we chose to do our calculations in terms of the bare-bones basket. We were not able to do this fully, however, as prices of lower-quality grains were not always available, for example. The Mediterranean bare-bones basket yielding approximately 1,940 calories per day for one person for one year which we employed in our calculations included the following: 172 kilograms of wheat, 20 kilos of beans, 5 kilos of meat, 8 kilos of olive oil, which included an allowance for soap, 3 meters of linen, and 15 percent of the total cost of previous items for fuel and rent. In cases where price data for one of these items was missing for a benchmark year, we estimated it by making use of the prices of other items for the same year. Figure 3 presents the long-term trends in the purchasing power of the daily wages of unskilled male workers in the urban areas of Egypt and Iraq during the medieval era, from the rise of Islam to the end of the fifteenth century in terms of the Mediterranean bare-bones basket for a family of four. Wheat had the largest share and its total cost in this bare-bones basket ranged from 30 percent in the eighth century, when the relative price of wheat was exceptionally low, to 60 percent in the tenth and eleventh centuries and averaged around 50 percent for Fustāt-Cairo in the medieval era. For Baghdad, our estimates of the trajectory of the purchasing power of wages is subject to a higher margin of error because we have limited data on commodities other than wheat. For that reason, we chose to present that trend with a broken line in Figure 3. A good deal of additional evidence, mostly from chroniclers and others, corroborate that pattern, however.

We know that the purchasing power of the wages of unskilled workers occasionally declined below subsistence because of sharp increases in wheat and to a lesser extent in other food prices, due to weather, floods, famine, wars, and other events. However, since we have used only the long-term average or "normal" prices of grains, our calculations do not take into account these shorter-term fluctuations in the purchasing power of wages; 1530s has been examined in some detail. Figure 3 indicates that the long-term purchasing power of unskilled urban wages fluctuated within a more narrow range, from somewhere above subsistence to an upper range which was more than twice as high as the subsistence minimum during these eight centuries.

PLAGUES AND WAGES

As summarized in Tables 3a and 3b, the medieval Middle East experienced two long bouts of plague. Both the Justinian Plague and the Black Death were followed by many recurrences. We know less about the impact of the Justinian Plague that broke out in 541 AD and recurred through the eighth century and even longer in some areas. In contrast, the impact of the Black Death that struck 1347 and then recurred through the 1530s has been examined in some detail. While we have estimates regarding the mortality caused by the initial plagues, we know much less about the loss of life associated with each of the many recurrences. Moreover, the evidence on wages and prices for both of these periods is not very detailed. For these reasons, it is not possible to evaluate the impact of any one of the recurrences on the level of wages. In our view, these demographic shocks and the slow recovery of the population afterwards were key determinants of labor market outcomes namely the long-term changes in the purchasing power of wages in the medieval Middle East as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Our knowledge of the economic impact of such long-lasting plagues is based mostly on the experience of Europe during the Black Death and is broadly consistent with what we would expect on the basis of economic theory. With the decline in population, total output went down sharply, but less so than population. Thus, output per capita increased after the initial impact of the plague. The jump in the land-labor ratio resulted in dramatic changes in relative factor prices and in the sectoral terms of trade. Real wages rose sharply in the decades following the first occurrence of the plague. Higher per capita wealth, per capita incomes, and higher labor incomes also led to major changes in patterns of demand, relative prices, and output. Prices of agricultural goods declined relative to manufactures, especially manufactures with high labor content and labor cost. Land rents as well as interest rates went down both in absolute terms and relative to wages. Owners of land began to lose while incomes of laborers, peasants, and women rose (Herlihy Reference Herlihy1997, pp. 39-57; Findlay and Lundahl Reference Findlay, Lundahl, Findlay, Jonung and Lundahl2002, Reference Findlay, Lundahl, Findlay, Henriksson, Londgern and Lundahl2006; Pamuk Reference Pamuk2007; Voigtlander and Voth Reference Voigtlander and Voth2009).

With higher per capita wealth and incomes and changes in the distribution of income in favor of labor, patterns of demand also began to change from basic goods and necessities towards goods with higher income elasticity or luxuries. The composition of agricultural output thus shifted from cereals towards other crops. There was a rise in land intensive activities, most notably sheep and cattle raising. There were similar changes in the composition of manufactured goods and services. The rise in wages and per capita incomes were not always sustainable, however. Where the decline in population led to the decline of agriculture or trade, per capita incomes came down more quickly. Either way, mortality rates eventually fell as the plague lost momentum. How quickly population began to recover, however, depended upon a host of factors. In addition to the recurrences of the plague, low levels of fertility tended to slow down population recovery. In both respects, there were important differences between different regions. As population began to increase, so did output and new and less productive land was brought under cultivation. Wages and per capita incomes then began to decline towards their pre-plague levels in both agriculture and the urban economy (Herlihy Reference Herlihy1997, pp. 39-57; Findlay and Lundahl Reference Findlay, Lundahl, Findlay, Jonung and Lundahl2002 and Reference Findlay, Lundahl, Findlay, Henriksson, Londgern and Lundahl2006; Voigtlander and Voth Reference Voigtlander and Voth2009). For the Middle East, several studies have attempted to examine the economic consequences of the Black Death in Egypt with mixed results (Lopez, Miskimin, and Udovitch Reference Lopez, Miskimin, Udovitch and Cook1970, pp. 115-28; Dols Reference Dols1977, pp. 255-80; and Borsch Reference Borsch2005).

Since more is known about the impact of the Black Death in the Middle East, we will begin with that latter plague. For Egypt, it has been estimated that roughly one-quarter to one-third of the population died and the economy contracted sharply beginning in 1347. The population then continued to decline until the end of the fifteenth century and the total fall may have topped 40 percent due to the recurrences of the plague as can be seen from Table 3b (Dols Reference Dols1977, pp. 193-235 and Reference Dols and Udovitch1981). However, the incomes of those who survived were often higher, at least initially (See Figure 3). Even though direct observations of daily or monthly wages of urban unskilled workers are scarce for the Black Death era, the voluminous writings of the chronicler Ahmad ibn cAlī al-Maqrīzī leave no doubt that after the initial impact of the plague, wages of unskilled as well as skilled workers rose (al-Maqrīzī Reference Quatremère1845, Reference Wiet1962; Dols Reference Dols1977, pp. 257-71; Ashtor 1966, pp. 372-74). Yet, just as the longer-term trajectory of wages and economic consequences may have differed between southern and northwestern Europe (Pamuk Reference Pamuk2007), we should not expect the longer-term economic impact of the Black Death in the Middle East to be similar to that in one region or other of Europe. Stuart Borsch has recently suggested, for example, that because agriculture in Egypt required the regular maintenance of irrigation systems, labor shortages in the aftermath of the Black Death may have led to their disrepair and decline in agricultural productivity and per capita income (Borsch Reference Borsch2005, pp. 40-66). Elsewhere in the Middle East, the initial outbreak of the plague and its recurrences had a lasting impact on Syria and the Byzantine Empire including Constantinople and Asia Minor or present- day Turkey (see Table 3b). While reliable estimates on the decline of population during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries are lacking for Syria and Asia Minor, estimates based on Ottoman archival sources indicate that the population of Asia Minor increased by about one-third during the sixteenth century (Barkan Reference Barkan and Cook1970). In contrast, information about the impact of the Black Death on Iraq is very limited. No wage evidence has been uncovered on Iraq for this period.

In Figures 4 and 5, we extend the trajectory of urban unskilled wages in Cairo and Constantinople-Istanbul into the early modern era. These figures indicate that wages of unskilled workers in Cairo declined somewhat in the second half of the fourteenth century and the first half of the fifteenth century. In contrast, in Ottoman Istanbul, they were still quite high at the end of the fifteenth century but began to decline with the increase of population during the sixteenth century. Moreover, in both cities the post-Black Death peak in wages was not surpassed during the early modern era. At the end of the eighteenth century, wages in both Cairo and Istanbul were not higher than their levels at the end of the fifteenth century.

As summarized in Table 3a, there is a good deal of evidence now regarding the Justinian Plague. Some historians as well as archeologists of Late Antiquity had been skeptical of its impact (Banaji Reference Banaji2001, pp. 16-20; Magness Reference Magness2003). Recent archeological work, however, points to abandoned towns and villages and more generally demographic decline in Egypt, Syria-Palestine, and Iraq beginning in the sixth century (Alston Reference Alston and Scheidel2001; Kennedy Reference Kennedy and Little2007; Adams Reference Adams1965). Michaels Dols ( Reference Dols1974) had listed six major epidemics ravaging the region between 627 and 717. More recently, Dionysios Stathakopoulos ( Reference Stathakopoulos and Little2007) has provided more detailed evidence regarding the recurrences of the plague until the eighth century, which is included in Table 3a. The plague was at least partly responsible for the collapse of the Byzantine military system which allowed the Sassanid army to easily conquer Egypt and Syria-Palestine during the first two decades of the seventh century and the ease of the Islamic conquest in the following decades (Cameron Reference Cameron1993, pp. 186-96; Foss Reference Foss1975). It is also likely that the plague had less impact on the Arabian Peninsula which helps explain the Islamic expansion in the rest of the region (Pellat Reference Pellat1971).

Population figures for this period are not very reliable and they should be treated as no more than best guesses. However, the broad picture offered by the existing estimates does point to heavy loss of population due to the plague and slow recovery beginning during or after the eighth century. Warren Treadgold ( Reference Treadgold1997, p. 278) suggests that the Byzantine Empire's population fell from a high of 26 million in 540 just before the outbreak of the plague, to 17 million in 610 when the Byzantine Empire still included Egypt and Syria as well as Asia Minor and further declines after that date. Angeliki Laiou and Cecile Morrison ( Reference Laiou and Morisson2007, pp. 38-39) identify the Justinian Plague as a turning point in the economic history of the Byzantine Empire and estimate that the plague and its recurrences until the eighth century may have reduced the population by as much as 30 percent. Treadgold, Laiou and Morrison, and Stathakopoulos (2008) all point to demographic and economic recovery beginning late in the eighth century or early in the ninth century. Charles Issawi ( Reference Issawi and Udovitch1981) confirms the same pattern of sharp decline in most parts of the region beginning in the sixth century followed by recovery of about 25 percent from the middle of the eighth century until about 1000.

The existing estimates of population for Egypt and Iraq before and after the Justinian plague are also subject to a high degree of uncertainty. These estimates do indicate, however, that the decline of population from the middle of the sixth century until the end of the eighth century was greater in Egypt and in Syria than it was in Iraq. Josiah C. Russell argues, for example, that the population of Egypt may have declined by as much as one third or more from the middle of the sixth century to the tenth or eleventh century. It then began to increase and may have doubled until the Black Death in the fourteenth century (Russell Reference Russell1966; Dols Reference Dols1974; McEvedy and Jones Reference McEvedy and Jones1978). Ashtor also emphasizes that the population of Egypt increased significantly from the eighth to the eleventh centuries but declined at the beginning of the thirteenth century (Issawi Reference Issawi and Udovitch1981, pp. 384-85).

The population and cultivated area in Iraq also declined in the aftermath of the Justinian Plague, but it began to recover much sooner. This was in large part due to the new Islamic rulers' encouragement of migration from Arabia and elsewhere (Adams Reference Adams1965, pp. 74-81; Lapidus Reference Lapidus and Udovitch1981, pp. 41-53). As a result, some scholars estimate that by the eighth and ninth centuries the population of Iraq exceeded the levels in the sixth century. For the ninth century, the descriptions of the Arab geographers leave the impression of a thickly settled and intensely cultivated country (Issawi Reference Issawi and Udovitch1981, p. 386). Although there are higher estimates, the population of Baghdad during the ninth and tenth centuries was probably somewhere between 300,000 and 400,000. Together with the population of other urban centers such as Basra, Kufa, Wasit, and others, the share of urban population must have been above 20 percent of the total population of Iraq.

Our wage and price data allow us to examine the impact of the Justinian Plague for the first time from this perspective not only for the Middle East but for anywhere in the Old World. The wage and price evidence presented in Figures 2, 3, and 4 begins for Egypt not with the outbreak of the plague in the sixth century but early in the eighth century. However, the data are consistent with demographic decline due to the Justinian Plague and its recurrences until the middle of the eighth century. First, they show that the purchasing power of the wages of urban unskilled workers in Egypt during the eighth and ninth centuries was much higher than those in Egypt during the Hellenistic and Roman eras (Scheidel Reference Scheidel2010a, pp. 443-44; and Allen Reference Allen, Bowman and Wilson2009) as well as those in Egypt during the later centuries. It is highly unlikely that the purchasing power of wages had been this high during the Roman period. In another recent and unpublished paper, Walter Scheidel has argued that wages in Roman Egypt increased by about 20 percent in the aftermath of the Antonine Plague in 165 AD but declined subsequently. In the same paper, he points to the high level of wheat wages in Egypt during the seventh and eighth centuries and links it to the Justinian Plague (Scheidel Reference Scheidel2010b, pp. 15-23). Finally, a good deal of qualitative evidence from contemporary sources also indicate that the purchasing power of unskilled wages showed short- and medium-term fluctuations but remained quite high during the eighth and ninth centuries (Ashtor Reference Ashtor1968, pp. 90-93).

The evidence also indicates that while nominal wages rose sharply, relative prices moved against agricultural products. Both the absolute and relative price of wheat in Egypt was lower during the eighth and ninth centuries than any later period during the medieval era. As a result, the rise in wheat wages was stronger than the rise in the purchasing power of the wages in terms of the bare-bones basket during this period as can be seen from a comparison of Figures 2 and 3. These low prices of wheat in Egypt were probably related also to the impact of the plague beyond Egypt. In the earlier period, Egypt had been a major exporter of wheat to the rest of Byzantine Empire. When the population of the Byzantine Empire and especially of Constantinople declined after the Justinian Plague and its recurrences, demand for wheat from Egypt also dropped (Teall Reference Teall1959, pp. 91-97).

Data for Iraq during the centuries before and after the Justinian Plague are more limited. While we are unable to say anything about the sixth and seventh centuries, the evidence on wages and prices for Baghdad summarized in Table 2 and Figures 2 and 3 suggests that labor shortages were more intense in Egypt than in Iraq during the eighth and ninth centuries. The purchasing power of wages of unskilled workers in Baghdad was well above subsistence but lower than that in Fustāt-Cairo during these two centuries. This is consistent with an earlier recovery of population in Iraq than in Syria and Egypt led by the large waves of in-migration discussed above. With population recovery, prices of wheat began to rise faster than nominal wages and other prices in both Egypt and Iraq but the decline in the purchasing power of wages during the following centuries was slower and more modest in Iraq as we will discuss in the next section.

The evidence we have analyzed thus point to big drops in population and persistent labor shortages during both plagues in the Middle East. Although the frequent recurrences of the plague are one important reason for the slow recovery of population, it would be also useful to explore, for example, whether the environment of labor shortages and high wages changed, for whatever reason, women's fertility behavior and slowed down the population recovery. This is precisely what Basim Musallam observed: in the aftermath of the Black Death fertility rates in the region remained low. After extensive research in literary, medical, and legal sources, he concluded that birth control was widely practiced in medieval Islamic society. While evidence is scant for the earlier period, his conclusion could be extended to the era of the Justinian Plague. In fact, Musallam has demonstrated that the Islamic law had sanctioned birth control by the ninth century (Musallam Reference Musallam1983). It is likely that longer-term consequences of low levels of fertility in the face of labor shortages extended to other areas and may have played a role in the shaping of other institutions. For example, Islamic law on women's legal rights over reproduction, rights to participate in the labor force as wage laborers and keep their earnings, and women's property rights in general, such as the right to inherit and bequeath, the right to gift, endow, and be gifted, the right to make independent decisions over property, and especially the strict separation of property ownership during marriage, were developed during these early centuries of Islam under the same environment (Shatzmiller Reference Shatzmiller2007, pp. 93-117, 149-75).

HIGH WAGES AND THE GOLDEN AGE

The Middle East region had one of the most vibrant economies in the world from the eighth until the end of the eleventh century, "the Golden Age of Islam." The prosperity was based, above all, on highly productive agriculture and the gains from long-distance trade. These were, in turn, closely related to political stability, greater security and expansion of irrigation. There is also a good deal of evidence that division of labor expanded and the fraction of the labor force in occupations requiring specific skills increased significantly during this period. In this section, we explore the causal linkages between the high wage environment created by the Justinian Plague and its recurrences and the emergence of the Golden Age and argue that the high wage environment contributed to the rise of the Golden Age. In some respects, this was a process similar to the emergence of new tastes and demand for luxuries in Europe in the aftermath of the Black Death (Herlihy Reference Herlihy1997; Voigtlander and Voth Reference Voigtlander and Voth2009). There were important differences as well. Some of what follows is necessarily speculative as the existing historical literature has not focused adequately on the causal connections between the plague and aspects of the Golden Age.

High levels of wages and per capita wealth contributed to the increases in agricultural productivity in the aftermath of the Justinian Plague through the rise of demand for high income or income elastic goods. Iraq became during this period the first home in the Middle East to a variety of new plants, food plants such as sorghum, rice, lemon and lime, spinach, watermelon, and sugar cane as well as industrial plants including Old World cotton, as described in detail by Andrew Watson. Evidence from cookery books and more generally about diets also indicate that mutton, lamb, chicken, and dairy products played an important role in the diets of the salaried middle classes, and to a lesser extent of the poor. Since obtaining the same amount of calories from meat and dairy products can be as much as ten times more costly to produce than from grain products, the extent to which meat and dairy products are included in the diets and more generally the contribution of animal husbandry to the economy provides us clues about how far levels of income had moved above the subsistence minimum. The list of ingredients found in cookery books dating from the early Abbasid period also include a wide range of vegetables, fruits, and aromatic herbs also produced by local cultivators (Arberry Reference Arberry1939; Rodinson Reference Rodinson1949, pp. 145-46). The growing demand for labor necessary for the cultivation of the new crops was met in part by the use of imported slaves. However, after the powerful Zanj Rebellion of East African slaves in southern Iraq during 869-883, use of slaves in agriculture declined sharply if not ended entirely (Popovic Reference Popovic1976).

Perhaps the strongest evidence for rising productivity in agriculture in Iraq comes from the urbanization rate which exceeded 20 percent in the eighth century. The dense settlements and high rates of urbanization in southern Iraq described by the Arab geographers of the ninth century were not possible without higher levels of productivity in agriculture and long distance trade. The same high rates of urbanization, however, may have also increased rates of mortality, however. Similarly, the growth of long-distance trade may have made it easier for the disease to spread and prolonged the environment of high wages.

The high wages and the rise of demand for income elastic goods may have also helped the emergence of new tastes and expand demand in the urban economy as well for new products, both domestically produced and imported including more expensive varieties of cloth, household goods, utensils, and others as well as demand for literacy and books. The expansion in demand, in turn, supported the growing specialization within manufacturing industries such as food, textiles, ceramics, ivory, leather, metal, paper, wicker, wood, and others as revealed by a recent compilation of trade names and occupations (Shatzmiller Reference Shatzmiller1994, pp. 101-323). Imported items during this period included more expensive varieties of foodstuffs, cloth and clothing, and household goods. The varieties range of imported ingredients cited in the cookery books were equally wide, including spices such as pepper, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg from China, India, and East Africa (Arberry Reference Arberry1939; Rodinson Reference Rodinson1949, pp. 145-46). Market transactions were necessary to obtain the cash for these goods and the demand for greater monetization was met by the growing supplies of silver from the mines in Central Asia and elsewhere (Noonan Reference Noonan1986; Burjakov Reference Burjakov and De la Vaissière2008). It is also possible that some of the long and impressive list of technical adaptations and innovations in agriculture and food production, shipbuilding and navigation, textiles, leather and paper, chemicals, soap making, glass and ceramics, mining and metallurgy, mechanical engineering including the use of water power and others that took place during this period represented responses to the same environment of high wages and labor scarcity (Ahmad al-Hassan and Hill Reference al-Hassan and Hill1986; Mokyr Reference Mokyr1990, pp. 39-45). The deepening of the division of labor, the growth of new occupations and skills in manufacturing and services as well as agriculture and the long list of technical innovations all point to an episode of intensive growth and economic efflorescence in Abbasid Iraq of the kind that has been observed many times but not regularly or frequently in the preindustrial era (Goldstone Reference Goldstone2002, pp. 339-59; Jones Reference Jones1988). These developments must have raised productivity and help explain why the purchasing power of wages declined less in Iraq than in Egypt despite the more rapid and stronger recovery of population in the aftermath of the Justinian Plague and why wages of urban unskilled workers did not go down to the levels of subsistence ( Figures 2 and 3).

This interaction between the environment of high wages that emerged in the aftermath of the Justinian Plague and the Golden Age in Iraq was not the only possible outcome, however. While the Black Death led to sharply higher wages in Egypt in the near term, longer consequences may have been very different. It has been suggested that the labor shortages and fiscal difficulties in the aftermath of the Black Death led to deteriorating infrastructure in irrigation and declining productivity in agriculture. In short, one cannot talk about the same pattern in the aftermath of each and every plague. Conditions of high mortality and high wages interacted differently with different geography, institutions, and other existing conditions to produce different outcomes.

ESTIMATES FOR GDP PER CAPITA

An alternative method for comparisons of income and standards of living across time and space is to construct estimates of GDP per capita or average income. Until recently, GDP per capita in most medieval and ancient economies was assumed to remain close to subsistence levels. With growing interest in recent years in medieval and ancient economies, however, new estimates began to emerge which suggest that GDP per capita was often significantly higher than the subsistence minimum, even if some large fraction of the population lived close to subsistence, others had significantly higher levels of income and consumption, pushing the averages higher.

Due to the absence of data, modern methods of constructing GDP cannot be applied to the medieval Middle East. Indeed estimates of both total population and production are subject to large margins of error. We adopt, instead, an income side approach and begin with the purchasing power of the wages of unskilled workers and then proceed by making some assumptions about the structure of the economy, the labor force and income distribution. The purchasing power of the wages of unskilled urban workers in terms of the bare-bones basket reflects the average purchasing power for those segments of the population whose incomes were derived from unskilled labor. However, due to the presence of higher income groups whose incomes are derived from skilled labor as well as ownership or control of land and capital, average incomes for the economy as a whole were higher than the average incomes of unskilled urban and landless agricultural workers. Recent data gathered on inequality in preindustrial societies suggest that average incomes were usually 1.5 to 2 times the wages of landless agricultural workers (Lindert, Milanovich, and Williamson Reference Lindert, Milanovich and Williamson2007). We should expect that the ratio of average incomes or GDP per capita to the urban unskilled wage or k for short would vary in preindustrial economies within a similar range depending upon a number of factors including the rate of urbanization and the degree of complexity of the economy. Even in the case of the same economy, we should expect k to vary over time depending on the position of urban unskilled wages in the income hierarchy and the structure of income inequality. For example, the larger share of the skilled workers in the labor force and the larger size of manufacturing incomes in Iraq during the Golden Age suggest that GDP per capita exceeded the incomes of unskilled wage laborers by a larger margin. For this reason, we should expect that the ratio between GDP per capita and the average incomes of households dependent on the unskilled wage was higher in Iraq during the Golden Age.

Moreover, in view of the importance of demographic cycles in the determination of wages and the distribution of income in the medieval Middle East, it is most likely that k also varied over the demographic cycle depending upon the extent of the labor shortages. We expect that the ratio of incomes derived from skilled labor, land, and capital to the average unskilled wage was higher during periods when population was relatively high and wages relatively low and the opposite occurred when population began to recover. In other words, average incomes for the population as a whole did not necessarily move together with the purchasing power of the wages of urban unskilled workers during the demographic cycle (Hatcher Reference Hatcher, Dodds and Liddy2011). Nonetheless, in the absence of additional information about the structure of income inequality, it is difficult to arrive at point estimates for k and in turn for GDP per capita for any part of the medieval era. Given the limitations of the available evidence, the best we can do is to offer a range for both k and for GDP per capita for each of the benchmark years ( Table 4).

Accordingly, from purchasing power of urban unskilled wages, we estimate that the peak for GDP per capita in the medieval Middle East was reached in southern Iraq during the second half of the eighth century or early in the ninth century at somewhere between 890 and 990 in purchasing power parity (PPP) adjusted 1990 U.S. dollars as used in the Maddison estimates. The peak in GDP per capita in medieval Lower Egypt was reached also during the eighth century at an estimated range between 800 and 910 dollars. We similarly estimate that the low point in GDP per capita in these two areas during the medieval era was reached in Lower Egypt when GDP per capita fell to a range of 590 to 680 dollars during the second half of the twelfth and early thirteenth century ( Table 4). In the short term, due to a poor harvest, GDP per capita may have declined to even lower levels. Nevertheless they remained well above the subsistence minimum level of GDP per capita, usually considered to be around 250 to 300 in PPP adjusted 1990 U.S. dollars.

CONCLUSIONS

This article provides insights not only into the economies of the Middle East during the medieval period but also more generally into the comparative study of the preindustrial economies of Europe and the Mediterranean. We have tried to establish the long-term trends in the purchasing power of urban wages and develop some preliminary estimates for GDP per capita for Egypt and Iraq from the eighth to the fifteenth centuries. We were also able to combine these with detailed wage and price information for the Ottoman era to extend our wage series to the end of the eighteenth century.

Our quantitative work suggests that one important determinant of the long-term changes in the purchasing power of wages and average incomes in the medieval Middle East was the demographic shocks. Each of these plagues caused the death of large fractions of the total population but they also led to higher levels consumption and standards of living. These were not simple demographic cycles, however. Population recovery was not rapid not only because of the frequent recurrences of the plague but also because of low levels fertility which may have been supported by institutional including legal changes. Eventually, with some partial if not full recovery of the population, both real wages and per capita incomes began to decline from these high levels. This pattern is reasonably well-known and had been studied in some detail in the case of the Black Death in Europe and to a lesser extent in the Middle East. Less well-known until recently is the impact of the Justinian Plague. The wage and price evidence for Egypt and to a lesser extent for Iraq makes clear that the Justinian Plague had a similar and long-lasting impact in the region.

The environment of labor shortages, high labor incomes, and high per capita wealth in the aftermath of these plagues could stimulate increases in productivity in agriculture, urban economy, and long-distance trade by creating demand for income elastic goods, both domestic and imported. The so-called Golden Age of Islam which was centered in Iraq from the eighth through the tenth centuries and which included expansion of irrigation, productivity increases in agriculture, greater urbanization, expansion of manufacturing, development of long-distance trade, and possibly a burst of technical innovation was one such period. Our calculations indicate that wages of unskilled workers as well as average incomes in Iraq stayed well above the subsistence minimum during this period. The wage increases were not permanent, however, and they did decline as the favorable conditions faded or disappeared.

The evidence we have presented also shows that one can no longer simplify preindustrial societies as economies on the edge of subsistence. Wages of unskilled urban workers approached the subsistence minimum and may have even gone below that minimum at times, especially during periods of harvest failure. However, both because of slow recovery of population during the long lasting demographic cycles and one episode of intensive growth, the purchasing power of the daily wages of unskilled workers as well as the average incomes in the Middle East remained above the subsistence minimum for large part of the medieval era.

Finally, our real wage and to a lesser extent GDP per capita series help us better understand the relative performances of the Middle East from antiquity to the early modern era. In what follows, we prefer to interpret our findings qualitatively since the margins of error associated with the existing estimates of real wages and per capita incomes do not allow a high degree of precision. The wage data allow us to talk with greater certainty about the "Golden Age of Islam" in both absolute and relative terms. In the aftermath of the Justinian Plague, during the early centuries of Islam, real wages and per capita incomes in Iraq and Egypt rose well above the subsistence level and well above those for Roman and Byzantine Egypt in the centuries preceding the plague. This environment of high wages and high incomes contributed to and, in turn, was supported by the productivity increases associated with the Golden Age of Islam. As population levels began to recover first in Iraq and then in Egypt, real wages and per capita incomes began to come down. However, because of the period of intensive growth from the eighth through the tenth centuries, productivity, incomes, and standards of living remained significantly above subsistence for long periods of time.

Our calculations as well as the high rates of urbanization and manufacturing output suggest that around the year 1000 and possibly until a later date sometime in the eleventh century, real wages and incomes in the more prosperous regions of the Middle East were comparable if not higher than those in the more prosperous regions of Europe. After that date, however, the divergence between the Middle East and parts of Europe began to emerge. Parts of the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, and Syria but not Egypt were adversely affected by the Mongol invasions during the thirteenth century although the long-term implications of these invasions may not have been as significant as many have assumed. More importantly, southern and later northwestern Europe began to experience increases in per capita incomes, during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries if not earlier.

We can follow the impact of the Black Death in the Middle East from the wage series for both Cairo and Istanbul in Figures 4 and 5. The initial impact in the Middle East was similar to that in most parts of Europe as real wages and per capita incomes rose sharply in both regions. Beyond that basic similarity, however, there was a good deal of variation. The extent to which wages and incomes rose, how long they remained at those high levels, and how rapidly or slowly they came down depended very much on the initial conditions and subsequent developments. Nonetheless, recent research on Europe has been pointing to an important pattern. As population began to recover, real wages began to decline. For most countries in Europe for which we have evidence, real wages in the fifteenth century were higher than those towards the end of the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. Similarly, recent GDP per capita estimates for these countries suggest that in many cases average incomes in the 1780s were not higher than the peaks reached in the aftermath of the Black Death during the fifteenth century. Trends in the Middle East were broadly similar. Our estimates indicate that real wages in Cairo around 1780s were not any higher than the peak levels attained during the fourteenth century. Similarly, real wages in Istanbul towards the end eighteenth century were close to but not higher than their levels at the end of the fifteenth century.

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Plagues, Wages, and Economic Change in the Islamic Middle East, 700-1500 | The Journal of Economic History | Cambridge Core

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Plagues, Wages, and Economic Change in the Islamic Middle East, 700-1500 - Volume 74 Issue 1

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These are a list of different medieval rulers who've achieved something, like conquering a country.

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Many rulers of the medieval era got nicknames, ranging from the Magnificent to the Crazy. Some monarchs even got the title 'The Great'. What did they do to deserve such an honour? Here is a guide to 20 'Great' medieval rulers, arranged chronologically.
Theoderic, King of the Ostrogoths

The King of Ostrogoths for over fifty years (475-526) he led his people into Italy, conquered the country, and established his own kingdom based out of Ravenna. His reign marked a return to prosperity for much of the Italian peninsula.

Justinian I, Byzantine Emperor

Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565 - his reign saw an attempt to restore the Roman Empire, with military campaigns launched against Persia, North Africa, Italy and Spain. While he is also known for his extensive judicial reforms and for the construction of new buildings, Justinian was almost driven from power by civilian riots in Constantinople, and his reputation among contemporary writers of this period was mixed. See also: "The Great Emperor": A Motif in Procopius of Caesarea's Wars

Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Holy Roman Emperor

The name Charlemagne comes from Karolus Magnus, or Charles the Great. He became King of the Franks in 768, and for the next 46 years would build the Carolingian Empire, and become the first Emperor in Western Europe in about three centuries. See also: The Scholar and the King: The story of Alcuin and Charlemagne

Alfred, King of Wessex

English king from 871 to 899 - he successfully defended his kingdom from Viking attacks, promoted education and learning, and instituted legal reforms. Click here to read more about his life and reign.

Alfonso III, King of León, Galicia and Asturias

King of León, Galicia and Asturias from 866 to 910. During his long reign, Alfonso was able to consolidate power over northern Spain and had numerous military victories over Islamic and Christian opponents.

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor

After becoming King of Germany in 936, Otto would work to establish greater authority over his aristocracy. In 955 he defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld, one of the most important battles of the tenth century. Otto followed this victory with the conquest of Italy. In 961 he was crowned the King of Italy, and the following year he became the Holy Roman Emperor. Otto died in 973, having started an era known as the 'Ottonian Renaissance'.

Vladimir Sviatoslavich, Grand Prince of Kiev

After killing his half-brother, Yaropolk I, Vladimir ruled as Grand Prince of Kiev from 980 to 1015. His conversion to Christianity in 988 was an important moment in the Christianization of Kievan Rus, and he is considered a national symbol by both Ukraine and Russia.

Rajaraja I, King of Anuradhapura and Chola Emperor

Coming to power in the year 985, this 'King of Kings' created a naval force that dominated the Indian Ocean. His conquests include much of southern India. Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Under his administration, the Chola Empire grew wealthy as it took control of maritime trade between East Asia and the Middle East.

Sancho III, King of Pamplona, Count of Aragon

Although he was only about 12 years old when he became the ruler of a very minor kingdom in 1004, Sancho had the ambition to take control of Christian Iberia. He was able to take over the kingdoms of Castile and Leon, as well as the French Duchy of Gascony, and force the Count of Barcelona to be his vassal. By the time of his death in 1035, Sancho was known as 'rex Hispaniarum'.

Cnut, King of Denmark, England and Norway

Beginning with England in 1016, Cnut was able to gain the crowns of three countries (Denmark in 1018 and Norway in 1028). By the time of his death in 1035, he had established a Scandinavian empire. See also: The Changing Story of Cnut and the Waves

Roger II, King of Sicily

King of Sicily from 1130 to 1154, Roger was able to take over the other Norman-ruled areas of Southern Italy, and successfully defend against an invasion from the Holy Roman Empire. His kingdom would see economic prosperity during his reign, as well as cultural interactions between Normans, Byzantines and Muslims.

Valdemar I, King of Denmark

After nearly being killed by his cousin Sweyn III at the 'Blood Feast of Roskilde', Valdemar raised an army and defeated Sweyn at the Battle of Grathe Heath in 1157. He would go on to rule Denmark until 1182, which saw his country becoming a leading force in northern Europe.

Berengaria, Queen of Castile and Toledo and Queen of León

While she only ruled in her own name for a few weeks in the year 1217, Berengaria was a highly skilled leader, especially during the reign of her son Ferdinand III of Castile. As the power behind the throne, she was able to reunite the kingdoms of León and Castile, making it the dominant force in Iberia.

Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Prince of Wales

Between 1195 and 1240, Llywelyn was the dominant force in Wales. He was able to carve out power for himself against other Welsh leaders as well as against the more powerful English neighbours. Among those to bestow the nickname of 'The Great' on Llywelyn was the 13th-century chronicler Matthew Paris.

Peter III, King of Aragon and Valencia, Count of Barcelona and King of Sicily

While his reign was shorter than most of the other monarchs on this list (Peter was King of Aragon and Valencia from 1276 to 1285, and King of Sicily from 1282 to 1285), it was dominated by aggressive military campaigns, including the conquest of southern Italy and destroying a French army that invaded his kingdom in 1284-5.

Casimir III, King of Poland

Despite having come to the throne in 1333 when Poland was considered a weak state, Casimir was able to double the size of his kingdom by the end of his reign in 1370, as well as improve the economy and oversee legal reforms. He also founded the University of Kraków and built Wawel Castle.

Louis I, King of Hungary and Croatia and King of Poland

King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 to 1382; King of Poland from 1370 to 1382 - All but three years of his forty-year reign was spent in foreign military activities, with his kingdom expanding into the Balkans and gaining strong influence over European affairs. Meanwhile, Hungary itself was relatively peaceful and prosperous, as gold mines made the country and court very wealthy.

Sejong, King of Joseon

Regarded as one of the greatest leaders in Korean history, Sejong held power from 1418 to 1460. Although he had some military success, including defeating Japanese pirates, Sejong's claim to fame comes from the many reforms he made to government and society during his reign, which includes the promotion of Confucianism, creating a new alphabet, devoting resources to improving science, technology and agriculture, and even improving public welfare.

Ewuare, Oba of Benin

Ewuare overthrew his brother and took control of the city-state of Benin in 1440. For the next 33 years, Ewuare expanded he expanded his territory into other parts of present-day Nigeria, making Benin City one of the wealthiest and most powerful places in late medieval Africa.

Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow

The Grand Prince of Moscow from 1462 to 1505. Over his 43-year reign, Ivan was able to triple the size of his kingdom and centralize control over Russia's many small principalities.

See also: The 10 Strangest Nicknames of Medieval Rulers
Top Image: The Bust of Charlemagne is a reliquary from around 1350 which is said to contain the top part of Charlemagne's skull. Photo by Florian B. Gutsch / Wikimedia Commons

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'The Great' Medieval Rulers - Medievalists.net

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Here is a guide to 20 'Great' medieval rulers, arranged chronologically.

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A detailed article that explains innovations throughout different countries in the Middle Ages.

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Medieval advance (500-1500 ce)

The millennium between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century ce and the beginning of the colonial expansion of western Europe in the late 15th century has been known traditionally as the Middle Ages, and the first half of this period consists of the five centuries of the Dark Ages. We now know that the period was not as socially stagnant as this title suggests. In the first place, many of the institutions of the later empire survived the collapse and profoundly influenced the formation of the new civilization that developed in western Europe. The Christian church was the outstanding institution of this type, but Roman conceptions of law and administration also continued to exert an influence long after the departure of the legions from the western provinces. Second, and more important, the Teutonic tribes who moved into a large part of western Europe did not come empty-handed, and in some respects their technology was superior to that of the Romans. It has already been observed that they were people of the Iron Age, and although much about the origins of the heavy plow remains obscure these tribes appear to have been the first people with sufficiently strong iron plowshares to undertake the systematic settlement of the forested lowlands of northern and western Europe, the heavy soils of which had frustrated the agricultural techniques of their predecessors.

The invaders came thus as colonizers. They may have been regarded as "barbarians" by the Romanized inhabitants of western Europe who naturally resented their intrusion, and the effect of their invasion was certainly to disrupt trade, industry, and town life. But the newcomers also provided an element of innovation and vitality. About 1000 ce the conditions of comparative political stability necessary for the reestablishment of a vigorous commercial and urban life had been secured by the success of the kingdoms of the region in either absorbing or keeping out the last of the invaders from the East, and thereafter for 500 years the new civilization grew in strength and began to experiment in all aspects of human endeavour. Much of this process involved recovering the knowledge and achievements of the ancient world. The history of medieval technology is thus largely the story of the preservation, recovery, and modification of earlier achievements. But by the end of the period Western civilization had begun to produce some remarkable technological innovations that were to be of the utmost significance.

Innovation

The word innovation raises a problem of great importance in the history of technology. Strictly, an innovation is something entirely new, but there is no such thing as an unprecedented technological innovation because it is impossible for an inventor to work in a vacuum and, however ingenious his invention, it must arise out of his own previous experience. The task of distinguishing an element of novelty in an invention remains a problem of patent law down to the present day, but the problem is made relatively easy by the possession of full documentary records covering previous inventions in many countries. For the millennium of the Middle Ages, however, few such records exist, and it is frequently difficult to explain how particular innovations were introduced to western Europe. The problem is especially perplexing because it is known that many inventions of the period had been developed independently and previously in other civilizations, and it is sometimes difficult if not impossible to know whether something is spontaneous innovation or an invention that had been transmitted by some as yet undiscovered route from those who had originated it in other societies.

The problem is important because it generates a conflict of interpretations about the transmission of technology. On the one hand there is the theory of the diffusionists, according to which all innovation has moved westward from the long-established civilizations of the ancient world, with Egypt and Mesopotamia as the two favourite candidates for the ultimate source of the process. On the other hand is the theory of spontaneous innovation, according to which the primary determinant of technological innovation is social need. Scholarship is as yet unable to solve the problem so far as technological advances of the Middle Ages are concerned because much information is missing. But it does seem likely that at least some of the key inventions of the period-the windmill and gunpowder are good examples-were developed spontaneously. It is quite certain, however, that others, such as silk working, were transmitted to the West, and, however original the contribution of Western civilization to technological innovation, there can be no doubt at all that in its early centuries at least it looked to the East for ideas and inspiration.

The immediate eastern neighbour of the new civilization of medieval Europe was Byzantium, the surviving bastion of the Roman Empire based in Constantinople (Istanbul), which endured for 1,000 years after the collapse of the western half of the empire. There the literature and traditions of Hellenic civilization were perpetuated, becoming increasingly available to the curiosity and greed of the West through the traders who arrived from Venice and elsewhere. Apart from the influence on Western architectural style of such Byzantine masterpieces as the great domed structure of the Hagia Sophia, the technological contribution of Byzantium itself was probably slight, but it served to mediate between the West and other civilizations one or more stages removed, such as the Islamic world, India, and China.

The Islamic world had become a civilization of colossal expansive energy in the 7th century and had imposed a unity of religion and culture on much of southwest Asia and North Africa. From the point of view of technological dissemination, the importance of Islam lay in the Arab assimilation of the scientific and technological achievements of Hellenic civilization, to which it made significant additions, and the whole became available to the West through the Moors in Spain, the Arabs in Sicily and the Holy Land, and through commercial contacts with the Levant and North Africa.

Islam also provided a transmission belt for some of the technology of East and South Asia, especially that of India and China. The ancient Hindu and Buddhist cultures of the Indian subcontinent had long-established trading connections with the Arab world to the west and came under strong Muslim influence themselves after the Mughal conquest in the 16th century. Indian artisans early acquired an expertise in ironworking and enjoyed a wide reputation for their metal artifacts and textile techniques, but there is little evidence that technical innovation figured prominently in Indian history before the foundation of European trading stations in the 16th century.

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History of technology - From the Middle Ages to 1750

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History of technology - History of technology - From the Middle Ages to 1750: The millennium between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century ce and the beginning of the colonial expansion of western Europe in the late 15th century has been known traditionally as the Middle Ages, and the first half of this period consists of the five centuries of the Dark Ages.

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A website with a little bit of information about life in the middle ages, including the medieval social life of people back then.

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Feudal Life

In the Middle Ages, before the rise of national states in western Europe, the people there lived under a system called feudalism. This was a social system of rights and obligations based on land ownership patterns. The feudal system that developed in medieval Europe was the foundation of the region's early society and politics. It created a mutually beneficial contract between landowners and the lesser nobility, and affected most of medieval history, from the time of Charlemagne until the end of the Crusades.
Fuedalism Impacts
Feudalism had two enormous effects on medieval society. It discouraged unified government and it also discouraged trade and economic growth.

Retrieved Jan, 2021, from https://www.tes.com/lessons/jNiToywt25_2bg/middle-ages

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LibGuides: G8: Medieval Times: Social Structures

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One's social position will differ with varied governance and location in time, place and space

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Lesson Objectives:

Understand how and why religion affected everyday life in Medieval England.

Understand how powerful the Church was and how it used its power.

Lesson Snapshot:
Religion Today
Today, there are many different religions in England. Many people consider themselves Christian but only around three people in every hundred go to church on a Sunday. Things were very different in medieval England and religion was much more important in people's lives.
Medieval Religion
In England during the Middle Ages, nearly everyone believed in God. They followed the Roman Catholic religion led by the Pope in Rome. It was the only religion in England at this time. People also believed that Heaven and Hell were very real places - as real as Spain or France. And whether you ended up in heaven or hell depended upon how you lived your life whilst on Earth. So what did this mean for the ordinary Medieval villager? What could they do to get into heaven and avoid hell? And how else did the Church feature in their lives?
Hell to Pay!
People used religion to explain things. If they fell and broke their arm or caught a nasty infection, it was a punishment from God. If a baby died, it was because God wanted it. For most ordinary people, life was terribly hard and heaven seemed a warm and comfortable reward for all of their suffering on Earth.

If people were bad, however, there would be no reward in the afterlife - quite the opposite in fact! As well as being told about hell by the priest, there were pictures, statues and stained glass windows to remind people what hell was like. Huge doom paintings showed angels welcoming people into heaven and devils pulling wicked people into hell and torturing them in all sorts of horrific ways.

Church services were held in Latin, which ordinary people couldn't understand! There was a very good chance that the priest wouldn't understand what he was saying either - he would just learn the services by heart! You couldn't read the Bible unless you could read Latin - the Pope banned it from being translated into English.
The Heart of the Village
The biggest building in a Medieval town or village would be the church. Unlike today, churches were very noisy, sometimes hectic places. As most people's homes were tiny, smelly huts full of smoke and animals, they didn't want to spend much time there! The church served as a meeting place for people, somewhere they could all sit comfortably and catch up on local gossip.
The Price of Religion
The church didn't come for free. The villagers had to give one tenth of all the food they grew to the parish priest. This was known as a tithe. As you can imagine, the villagers were often unhappy about this, especially when the harvest was bad. You also had to pay the church when you died! The priest was entitled to receive the second best animal of anyone who died in the village. Worshipping God and trying to get into heaven was an expensive business.

Worksheet Lesson Plan:

Aimed at Students studying across UK Year 7,8 & 9 or equivalent

Premium resource

Use as you wish in the classroom or home environment

Structured information sheet.

Challenging questions on Medieval religion.

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Medieval Religion Facts & Information | Lesson Plan Worksheet

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Many inventions from the Middle Ages have had lasting importance, even to the present day. Some are physical objects, while others are more of a place - our list looks at ten inventions that made a big impact on our daily lives.
1. Mechanical Clock

Timekeeping devices have emerged since the ancient world, but it was not until the 13th century that technology was invented that allowed mechanical clocks to accurately keep track of time. In monasteries and towns one can see continuous improvement in these mechanisms that made use of falling weights to power their delicate instruments.

The knowledge of not only what hour it was, but even what minute and second it was, would change the way people scheduled their days and work patterns, especially in urban areas. Today, we take for granted the importance of time and knowing what time it is when comes to managing our day-to-day affairs. It was only in the Later Middle Ages that this concept began to emerge.

2. Printing Press

Printing technology in China dates back to the 6ht century AD, with the invention of moveable type coming in the 11th century. With a vast number of uses for printing, it is not a surprise that the technology spread throughout East Asia, and then westward into the Middle East and Europe.

One of the biggest developments in printing came from the 15th-century German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg, whose version of moveable type and the printing press made the whole process much easier and more efficient. Gutenberg's printing press started a new era of the mass production of books. Until the rise of computers in the 20th century, books and the printed word would remain the dominant form of media for the world's knowledge.

3. Gunpowder

Gunpowder was invented in China sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries, and it did not take long to be used in weapons. As the Mongols spread the invention's knowledge throughout Eurasia in the 13th century, we see more experimentation with gunpowder and with creating weapons that could harness its power.

By the end of the Middle Ages, those running armies and fighting wars understood that weapons using gunpowder, whether they be cannons or handheld guns, would make knights and castles obsolete. Gunpowder changed not only warfare but also how governments operated so they could run the new military systems.

See also: The Origins of the Gunpowder Age

4. Water and Wind Mills

While mills were in use from antiquity, it would be in the Early Middle Ages that they became very popular. For example, in England alone records show that by the second half of the 11th century there were 5,624 watermills operating in the country.

Throughout the medieval period, new and ingenious forms of mills were invented, which allowed people to harness the energy from natural forces like rivers and wind, a process that continues to the present day.

5. Coffee House

During the early Middle Ages, farmers in Ethiopia were growing coffee beans and making them into a drink. It was in the 15th century that a Sufis scholars in Yemen began to enjoy the drink and it's ability to keep them awake late into the night.

By the end of the Middle Ages, the drink was spreading into other Arabic and Ottoman lands. With it came the creation of establishments to serve the drink - coffee houses - which ushered in a new way of social interaction. Coffee and coffee houses would make their way in Europe during the early modern era.

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6. Eyeglasses

Although we are not sure who can be credited with the invention of eyeglasses, this device could be found in Western Europe in the latter years of the 13th century. Its ability to correct vision problems makes it one of the most useful medieval inventions and a great benefit to hundreds of millions of people today.

See also: Medieval Eyeglasses: Wearable Technology of the Thirteenth Century

7. Public Library

Libraries existed throughout the Middle Ages, with some having vast collections - for example, the Umayyad rulers in Cordoba had a library with 600,000 volumes in the 10th century. For most of this period, libraries and their knowledge were often controlled by the rich and powerful.

The Library of Malatesta Novello in Cesena, Italy is considered to be the first-ever public library in the world. Opened in 1452, the building was owned by the city commune and allowed readers to freely make use of its collection. Today, public libraries are common throughout much of the world and are considered a cornerstone of information technology.

8. Flying Buttress

One of the architectural innovations associated with Gothic churches from the 12th century, the flying buttress allowed buildings to have much higher ceilings, thinner walls and larger windows. The ideas behind these innovations would influence architectural design into modern times and allow for the construction of larger and more spacious buildings.

See also: Buttress your knowledge! The wonderful world of medieval vaults

9. Paper money

The first known version of paper money dates back to seventh-century China. It has a very important advantage over coins made from precious metals - they were much easier to transport around, which proved to be a great benefit to merchants. However, the concept of placing value on a marked piece of paper was slow to catch on. In the 13th century the Mongols tried to introduce paper money into the Middle East, but it became an immediate failure. It would take until the 17th century before regular banknotes would be circulating in Europe, but it is now the common way currency is issued.

10. Quadrant and Astrolabe

While these devices were known in ancient times, it was during the Middle Ages that Arabic astronomers refined and improved upon them. Being able to measure the distance between two objects, they proved to be useful instruments in astronomy, navigation and surveying. They were tools with many uses but also helped propel our understanding of science and technology.

Further Reading:

Seb Falk, The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science (W.W. Norton, 2020)

Frances and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Inventions in the Middle Ages (HarperCollins, 1994)

al-Hassani, Salim T.S., 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization (National Geographic, 2012)

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10 Medieval Inventions that Changed the World - Medievalists.net

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Many inventions from the Middle Ages have had lasting importance, even to the present day. Some are physical objects, while others are more of a place - our list looks at ten inventions that made a big impact on our daily lives.

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Geographical location of great britain in medieval times. From a reliable source and provides a picture of the map.

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This map of Medieval England contains a wealth of historical information and sites as well as beautiful illustrations. Published in October 1979 as a companion to the modern map “British Isles”.

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Talks about the different levels of social life in great britain during medieval times. They provide multiple pictures too.

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The Victorian Era in Britain was dominated by the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). Although it was a peaceful and prosperous time, there were still issues within the social structure. The social classes of this era included the Upper class, Middle class, and lower class. Those who were fortunate enough to be in the Upper class did not usually perform manual labor. Instead, they were landowners and hired lower class workers to work for them, or made investments to create a profit. This class was divided into three subcategories: Royal, those who came from a royal family, Middle Upper, important officers and lords, and Lower Upper, wealthy men and business owners (Victorian England Social Hierarchy).

The expansion of the Middle class during this time was due to the rapid growth of cities and the economy. It was

also referred to as the Bourgeoisie, and consisted of those who had skilled jobs to support themselves and their families. Merchants and shopkeepers became popular occupations as trade, both domestic and overseas, flourished. The large scale of new industries such as railroads, banks, and government meant that more labor was needed to make sure the cities were able to function (Loftus). The white collar professions had the ability to move up in the corporate rankings and earn a higher salary. It was helpful to have connections to those in powerful positions as they were able to get jobs more easily. Moreover, the Middle class was also divided into two categories, higher level and lower level. People from the lower middle class typically worked for those in the Higher level (Victorian England Social Hierarchy).

The Working class consisted of unskilled laborers who worked in brutal and unsanitary conditions (Victorian England Social Hierarchy). They did not have access to clean water and food, education for their children, or proper clothing. Often, they lived on the streets and were far from the work they could get, so they would have to walk to where they needed to get to. Unfortunately, many workers resorted to the use of drugs like opium and alcohol to cope with their hardships (Thomas).

The Under class were those who were helpless and depended on the support of others. The poor and young orphans relied on donations to survive (Victorian England Social Hierarchy). Some women who were unskilled and could not get any jobs became prostitutes in order to make a living. As they were extremely controversial, Parliament voted to pass the "Contagious Diseases Act" (1864, 1866, 1869) which allowed prostitution in military towns, but meant the women had to be forcibly checked for diseases (Landow). The act was meant to protect the men from contracting diseases; not the women from being harmed. This mistreatment created a strong feminist movement among Victorian women who yearned for fair treatment. Finally in 1885, Parliament passed the "Criminal Law Amendment Act", which raised the age of consent and prohibited the use of brothels (Landow).

Children-related Issues

During the Victorian Age, there was an early baby boom, which led to not only an increase in population, but also an advancement of industrialization. The progression of England as a society led to a greater demand for labor from both adults and children. Children took on hard-working jobs as coal miners, chimney sweepers, farm workers and domestic servants. Some children were even forced to take on the role of a railroad worker due to the invention of The Railway brought by the Industrial Revolution (Find out more about industrialization in England at The Impact of the Railway on Victorian England).

Child labor became an overarching issue in the early 1800s due to a lack of effort to improve working conditions by the upper class. Because the government was influenced by the wealthy to invest in luxury rather than promote protection for laborers, many children suffered at work. The most brutal form of child labor took place in coal mines. Children were required to work 12 to 18 hours a day in mines that were infested with rats and disease, and had poor ventilation. Such harsh working conditions led to the development respiratory problems and an increase in mine disasters/casualties.

It was not until at least thirty years later when reformers began to take action against child labor. In 1875, The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was founded as the first child protective agency in the world. This organization set the tone for social reform and ultimately, saved children from a life of cruelty and hardship.

Interested to read more information about The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children and its impact on society today? GO TO:
http://www.nyspcc.org/

More Information about Child Labor:
Chimney Sweeps
Child labor in a nutshell-WATCH NOW

The term illegitimacy became popular in English society, as the population continued to expand. Many parents, especially those of the lower class, were unable to support and account for their children due to poverty and unstable marriages. It was also common for individuals to have children out of wedlock. A child was considered a "bastard" in a case where the male would leave all support and care of the child to the female. Bastardy became an issue for children-it led to an unstable home life and more importantly, limited an equal opportunity to education. As a result, the Bastardy Clause was enacted to issue "relief" for illegitimate children; however it enhanced the illegitimacy of children.

The Bastardy Clause, also known as the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, prohibited parishes from granting unwed mothers any relief. The law forced women and their children, without fathers, to enter workhouses that granted them a horrible reputation. However, there were some people who accepted the law as it would provide food and clothing for the poor, as well as schooling for children.

As the poor women could not afford to support their children, most chose to work as servants and lived in their employers' homes without their children. Their wages would pay these other women, called Baby Farmers, to raise their children. The system functioned well until industrialization and urbanization led to a greater need for different kinds of paid fosterage. Mothers were determined to keep working in the city as wages were higher, but chose to keep their children in villages and towns with total strangers where conditions were safer. Unfortunately, this form of abandonment led to worsened treatment of children, and prolonged child labor.

Important Authors and Literature

Charles Dickens was not just one of the first great English novelists. By using his writings as a means to defend the vulnerable people of the Victorian Era and criticize the societal structure of the time, he was also a huge contributor to several important social reforms. The social conscious he developed in his adult years led to some of the most influential pieces of literature the Victorian Era had seen, such as Great Expectations, The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, and many more. Although he was not the first to use his skills in writing to address the issues in English society, he was by far the most successful. Dickens was able to bring to light a serious issue that England itself could not see, and with the spread and increased fame of his works people everywhere were beginning to see that something had to be done (Diniejko).

Thomas Hardy was one of the first "realist" novelists of the Victorian Era. His use of powerful emotions and pessimistic views was highly criticized because no one had ever read something like it before. Most novelists up to Hardy's point were laid-back, accepting-natured optimists. Works such as The Return of The Native, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Tess of the d'Urbervilles introduced characters with such deep and intense emotion (whether it was slightly comedic or very tragic) that most writers before him failed to do. Hardy was also considered a social critic of sorts, identifying the low standards of living that the poor endured in the industrial cities. The mix of realism and social criticism in one style of writing was the reason why Thomas Hardy was one of the most influential and important authors of the Victorian Era (Allingham).

George Elliot was a third author who used literature not simply just to entertain, but also to inform people of the conditions of people in the society around her. Growing up in a hectic and interesting environment herself, Mary Ann Evans (who's pen names was George Elliot) used her stories to study how environments, especially social environments, affect people and their character. Elliot, who was a fan of art and its origins, believed that any form of art should be based off of life rather than other pieces of art. For instance, The Mill on the Floss was taken and modeled from her real life experience of being rejected by her friends and family for her common-law marriage. Although she was also an influential author of the Victorian Era, she criticized authors like Dickens and Austen on their styles of writing (Allingham).

Women

Queen Victoria reigned over the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from June 20th, 1837 until her death on January 22nd. 1901. She came to represent femininity that was revolved around the family, motherhood, and respectability, the idea that the woman's responsibilities were to love and respect her husband before anything, and perform all of the duties and chores for the household. Herself, her husband Albert, and their many children became an icon of late-19th-century middle class femininity and domesticity.

During this period, the roles of men and women became more sharply defined than they had ever been in history. Rather than women working alongside the men in family businesses, the 19th century saw an increase in men commuting away to their places of work, leaving the women home all day to oversee the household. This ideology of men and women occupying "Separate Spheres" was supported by the idea that there were "natural" characteristics of men and women that suited each for different roles. Women, considered physically weaker yet morally superior, best suiting them for the domestic sphere.
Marriage and Sexuality
Women could not seem too focused on finding a husband, lest it appeared they had a worrying amount of sexual desire. Women were meant to only desire marriage in that it allowed them to become mothers rather than for any sexual or emotional satisfaction. Women had no choice but to stay pure until marriage, usually not even being allowed to speak to a man unless there was a married woman chaperoning.

Girls typically married in their early to mid 20's to a groom around 5 years older than them in order to reinforce the "natural" hierarchy between the sexes.

After a woman married, her rights and property ceased to remain her own. Everything that she owned now belonged to her husband, including her body, property, and money.
Roles of Upper Class Women
The responsibilities of upper-class and aristocratic women were limited because of the common opinion that they were weak. These women had a range of servants to perform the domestic chores for them, so they usually just had to oversee them. An everyday task of upper-class women was accepting and paying visits, as well as organizing dinner parties for their friends and family. These were occasions where women could prove their homemaking skills and good taste, and to serve as symbols to others about their social status.
Roles of Working/Lower Class Women
These women were distinguished from the upper class by having less education and fewer opportunities. Most women worked in domestic service, either as a cook, maid, or laundress to a wealthier woman. Other women were employed as barmaids, waitresses, chambermaids, and washerwomen. To be able to go to work, mothers would often pay other women, usually very elderly or very young, to watch their children.Working women could not afford to pay for servants, so besides their actual jobs they had to do all of the household chores themselves. This was used as evidence to support that women should not belong in the workplace, because their families were not being properly taken care of.

Crime

By the start of the Victorian Era, it had become clear that the prevalence of crime in England was an issue that needed to be addressed. "The industrial revolution put new pressures on society, leading to violence. Collective living led to collective organization, which helped to create social disorder on a larger scale" (Bloy). However, while the need for a police force was evident, it wasn't until 1829, when Robert Peele sponsored the Metropolitan Police Act, that the beginnings of a resolution were reached.

The result of the Act was the Metropolitan Police, headquartered at Scotland Yard. One of the earliest uniformed police forces, they replaced military troops and militia as the peacekeeping force in the London metropolitan area (although they had no jurisdiction in the City of London, itself). In early years, the police had minimal authority, but their jurisdiction grew during the following forty years. For example, they were given the authority to arrest nuisance boys and street musicians (British Library Board), board vessels, enter gaming establishments, patrol fairs, and perform search and seizures (National Archives).

Such authority was needed, as crime rates were high. Evidence of the pervasiveness of criminal activity is found in The Night Side of London (1858), written by J. Ewing Richie. Ritchie provides the following statistics for 1856: "it appears that in all 73,240 persons were taken into custody, of whom 45,941 were males, and 27,209 were females; 18,000 of the apprehensions were on account of drunkenness, 8160 for unlawful possession of goods, 7021 for simple larceny, 6763 for common assaults, 2194 for assaults on the police; 4303 women were taken into custody as prostitutes " (Banerjee). Even these high numbers might be an underestimate as the poor often failed to report crimes due to a lack of faith in the police force (Emsley).

This distinction between the wealthy and the poor with respect to law enforcement stemmed in part from the new concept of a 'criminal class.' In the minds of the upper classes, the members of this underworld lived in the filth of the East End and consisted of the poorest members of society. They "lived entirely on the proceeds of crime and preyed upon the respectable people of the West End of London" (Beaven & Pulham). This idea was popularized by authors such as Charles Dickens, and is best evidenced in Oliver Twist, where the likes of Fagin and his boys live in squalor and spend their time robbing wealthy gentlemen.

After the formation and growth of the police force, crime began to decline. The penalties inflicted seemed to be a sufficient deterrent to criminal behavior. Punishments ranged from imprisonment or flogging to capital punishment, and the introduction of psychiatry to the judicial system led to experimental treatments such as is
olation, bible study, and forced silence (Emsley). Others, such as Abel Magwitch in Dickens' Great Expectations, were transported to Australia to serve their prison sentence.

Although crime rates were decreasing, several crime sprees occurred in the late 1800s that w

ere highly publicized and caused social unrest. For example, in the 1850s and 60s, multiple robberies accompanied by garroting took place. These violent events caused many, particularly those in the upper classes, to panic. Garroting became a common point of conversation, poems were written from the perspective of the garroter, and spiked collars were designed and marketed to protect the wearer (Dictionary of Victorian London).

Newspapers sensationalized the violence, particularly if there was a sexual component to the crime, and people became obsessed with criminals such as Jack the Ripper. Jack the Ripper gained his infamy by murdering at least five prostitutes, four of whom he brutally mutilated, in the fall of 1888. The murderer was suspected of leaving chalk messages and sending letters, and while these actions were never confirmed, they made for dramatic reading.

Follow the link below to watch a short video that shows how Victorian newspapers reported death penalties and sensationalized crimes.

Banerjee, J. (2008). How Safe was Victorian London?. Beaven, B. & Pulhalm, P. Dickens and the 'Criminal Class.' Bloy, M. (2001). The Metropolitan Police. The British Library Board. Crime. The Dictionary of Victorian London. Victorian London - Violence and Assault - Garotting/Mugging. Emsley, C. (2011). Crime and the Victorians. Kleing, C. (2014). Has Jack the Ripper's Identity Been Revealed?. Landow T. "Early and Mid Victorian Attitudes towards Prostitution". Loftus D. "The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class". The National Archives. Metropolitan Act 1839. Thomas P. "Victorian Society". Victoria and Albert Museum. "Victorian England Social Hierarchy" References
Abrams, L. Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britian. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/victorian_britain/women_home/ideals_womanhood_01.shtml
Allingham, P. (2001). George Eliot, 1857-1876: A Biographical Introduction. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/eliot/pva92.html
Allingham, P. (2000). The Novels of Thomas Hardy: An Introduction. http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/hardy/intro.html

http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/history/crime/banerjee1.html
http://dickens.port.ac.uk/crime/ Bentley, Nicolas. The Victorian Scene. http://www.victorianweb.org/history/work/blacksmith.html

http://www.victorianweb.org/victorian/history/police.html
http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/victorians/crime/crimepunishment.html
Diniejko, A. (2012). Charles Dickens as Social Commentator and Critic. http://www.victorianlondon.org/crime/representations.htm http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/diniejko.html

Haller, D. 1990. Bastardy and Baby Farming in Victorian England. http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1989-0/haller.htm
Hughes, K. Gender Roles in the 19th Century. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/crime_01.shtml http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/gender-roles-in-the-19th-century

http://www.history.com/news/has-jack-the-rippers-identity-been-revealed
http://www.victorianweb.org/gender/prostitution2.html
The National Archives. 1834 Poor Law. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/middle_classes_01.shtml http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/1834-poor-law/
Social Issues in Victorian England. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/2-3/47/contents https://tackk.com/8jldpp

The Ultimate History Project. Baby Farmers and Anglemakers: Childcare in 19th Century England. http://www.ultimatehistoryproject.com/baby-farmers-and-angelmakers-childcare-in-19th-century-england.html
http://www.fashion-era.com/victorians.htm
Victorian Child Labor and the Conditions They Worked In. http://www.victorianchildren.org/victorian-child-labor/
http://www.vam.ac.uk/__data/assets/image/0006/95028/hdr-victorian-social-life-415.jpg
Victorian Women: The Gender of Oppression. http://webpage.pace.edu/nreagin/tempmotherhood/fall2003/3/HisPage.html
Women in the Victorian Era (2009). http://www.hierarchystructure.com/victorian-england-social-hierarchy/ http://victorianerawomen.blogspot.com/

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ho3 Image Source: Victoria and Albert Museum Social Classes The Victorian Era in Britain was dominated by the reign of Queen Vi...

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Talks about the economy of England in medieval times with detail and multiple dates.

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Society, economy and the law in fourteenth-century England

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More information on making and spending money in Medieval England.

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Making and Spending Money in Medieval England

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Goes into detail on how the economy in old England was mostly agricultural

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Castellogy | Castles and town walls in England and Wales

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Castles and town walls in England and Wales

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Day to day life about each social class in medieval England.

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What was life like in medieval society? - Medieval society and life - KS3 History - homework help for year 7, 8 and 9. - BBC Bitesize

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Find out what life like in medieval society with BBC Bitesize History. For students between the ages of 11 and 14.

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Link about islam and all about it. (The Quran, some of the people mentioned in the Quran etc.)

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Islam, Major world religion founded by Muhammad in Arabia in the early 7th century ce. The Arabic word islam means "surrender"-specifically, surrender to the will of the one God, called Allah in Arabic. Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion, and its adherents, called Muslims, regard the Prophet Muhammad as the last and most perfect of God's messengers, who include Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others. The sacred scripture of Islam is the Qurʾān, which contains God's revelations to Muhammad. The sayings and deeds of the Prophet recounted in the sunna are also an important source of belief and practice in Islam.

The religious obligations of all Muslims are summed up in the Five Pillars of Islam, which include belief in God and his Prophet and obligations of prayer, charity, pilgrimage, and fasting. The fundamental concept of Islam is the Sharīʿāh-its law, which embraces the total way of life commanded by God. Observant Muslims pray five times a day and join in community worship on Fridays at the mosque, where worship is led by an imam. Every believer is required to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city, at least once in a lifetime, barring poverty or physical incapacity. The month of Ramadan is set aside for fasting. Alcohol and pork are always forbidden, as are gambling, usury, fraud, slander, and the making of images. In addition to Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the breaking of the fast of Ramadan, Muslims celebrate Muhammad's birthday and his ascension into heaven. Eid al-Adha inaugurates the season of pilgrimage to Mecca.

Divisions occurred early in Islam, brought about by disputes over the succession to the Caliphate. The majority of Muslims belong to the Sunni branch. The Shīʿites broke away in the 7th century and later gave rise to other sects, including the Ismāʿīlīs. Another significant element in Islam is the mysticism known as Sufism. From the 19th century the concept of the Islamic community inspired Muslims to cast off Western colonial rule, and in the late 20th century fundamentalist movements threatened or toppled a number of secular Middle Eastern governments. In the early 21st century, there were more than 1.2 billion Muslims in the world.

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Islam, Major world religion founded by Muhammad in Arabia in the early 7th century ce.

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Talking about the social hierarchy in 17th century England

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The English population grew rapidly in the seventeenth century, as did its business and agriculture. English society at that time was becoming more stratified, divided by deep differences between the various classes. The upper class consisted of the king, the king's advisors, the nobles, and high church officials, such as bishops. The middle class consisted of merchants, manufactures, landowners, professionals and military officers. The lower class was made up of ordinary workers. The upper class and the more prosperous members of the middle class lived in fine town and country houses filled with valuable possessions. Skilled workers such as guilds earned reasonable amounts of money and could live quite comfortably. Agricultural and ordinary workers however did not fair nearly as well. They worked long hours and earned very little money. The poor lived mainly on beer and bread, and could occasionally afford some meat or cheese.

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The English population grew rapidly in the seventeenth century, as did its business and agriculture. English society at that time was becoming more stratified, divided by deep differences between the...

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Link for geographical location of the muslim empire

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After the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century CE, the average European's knowledge of the world around them was limited to their local area and to maps provided by the religious authorities. The European global explorations of the fifteenth and sixteenth century would not likely have come as soon as they did, were it not for the important work of the translators and geographers of the Islamic world.

The Islamic empire began to expand beyond the Arabian Peninsula after the death of the prophet and founder of Islam, Mohammed, in 632 CE. Islamic leaders conquered Iran in 641 and in 642, Egypt was under Islamic control. In the eighth century, all of northern Africa, the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), India, and Indonesia became Islamic lands. The Muslims were stopped from further expansion into Europe by their defeat at the Battle of Tours in France in 732. Nonetheless, Islamic rule continued on the Iberian Peninsula for nearly nine centuries.

Around 762, Baghdad became the intellectual capital of the empire and issued a request for books from throughout the world. Traders were given the weight of the book in gold. Over time, Baghdad accumulated a wealth of knowledge and many key geographical works from the Greeks and Romans. Two of the first books translated were Ptolemy's "Almagest," which was a reference to the location and movement of heavenly bodies and his "Geography," a description of the world and a gazetteer of places. These translations kept the information held in these books from disappearing. With their extensive libraries, the Islamic view of the world between 800 and 1400 was much more accurate than the Christian view of the world.

Role of Exploration in Islam

The Muslims were natural explorers because the Koran (the first book written in Arabic) mandated a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca for every able-bodied male at least once in their lifetime. Dozens of travel guides were written to assist the thousands of pilgrims traveling from the farthest reaches of the Islamic Empire to Mecca. By the eleventh century, Islamic traders had explored the eastern coast of Africa to 20 degrees south of the Equator (near contemporary Mozambique).

Islamic geography was primarily a continuation of Greek and Roman scholarship, which had been lost in Christian Europe. Islamic geographers, especially Al-Idrisi, Ibn-Batuta, and Ibn-Khaldun, made some new additions to the accumulated ancient geographic knowledge.

Three Prominent Islamic Geographers

Al-Idrisi (also transliterated as Edrisi, 1099-1166 or 1180) served King Roger II of Sicily. He worked for the king in Palermo and wrote a geography of the world called "Amusement for Him Who Desires to Travel Around the World," which wasn't translated into Latin until 1619. He determined the circumference of the earth to be about 23,000 miles (it is actually 24,901.55 miles).

Ibn-Batuta (1304-1369 or 1377) is known as the "Muslim Marco Polo." In 1325 he traveled to Mecca for a pilgrimage and, while there, he decided to devote his life to travel. Among other places, he visited Africa, Russia, India, and China. He served the Chinese emperor, the Mongol emperor, and the Islamic sultan in a variety of diplomatic positions. During his life, he traveled approximately 75,000 miles, which at the time was farther than anyone else in the world had traveled. He dictated a book that was an encyclopedia of Islamic practices around the world.

Ibn-Khaldun (1332-1406) wrote a comprehensive world history and geography. He discussed the effects of the environment on humans, and he is known as one of the first environmental determinists. He believed that the northern and southern extremes of the earth were the least civilized.

Historical Role of Islamic Scholarship

Islamic explorers and scholars contributed new geographic knowledge of the world and translated important Greek and Roman texts, thereby preserving them. In so doing, they helped lay the necessary groundwork that allowed for the European discovery and exploration of the Western hemisphere in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

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The Rise of Islamic Geography in the Middle Ages

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Islamic scholars helped provide the information which allowed the discovery and exploration of the New World in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

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Talking about key people in the British empire in the 17th in the 18th century

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William Pitt, the Elder, served as virtual prime minister of Great Britain for two terms, from 1756 to 1761 and again from 1766 to 1768. Pitt helped transform Britain into an imperial power, adding Canada and islands in the West Indies to the empire. During his first term he helped lead Britain during the Seven Years' War and was instrumental in Britain's victory over France.

Robert Clive was a British soldier and colonial administrator. In 1743 he was sent to Madras (Chennai) for the East India Company, where hostilities between it and the French East India Company allowed him to demonstrate his military skills. He made a fortune and returned to England in 1753 but was sent back to India in 1755. In 1757 his victory over the nawab, or ruler, of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey made him the virtual master of Bengal. His first government lasted until February 1760. Back in England, he was elected to Parliament (1760) but failed to become a national statesman. He returned to India as governor and commander in chief of Bengal (1765-67). His reorganizing of the colony, including his fight against corruption, helped establish Britain's power in India. He himself was attacked by Parliament on charges of corruption; though exonerated, he later committed suicide.

Warren Hastings worked for the English East India Company from 1750, rising to membership in its council in Bengal (1761-64) and Madras (now Chennai; 1769). As governor of Bengal (1772-74), he moved the central government to Calcutta (now Kolkata) under direct British control and remodeled the justice system. In 1774 he acquired the new title of governor-general, with responsibilities for supervising other British settlements in India. His powers were shared with a council of four, several of whom tried to blame Hastings for the continuing abuses of power by Englishmen. From 1777 to 1783 he sought to counter the instability created by the fall of the Mughal Empire and tried to maintain peaceful relations with neighboring states but was drawn into the Maratha Wars. This disrupted the company's trade and antagonized opinion in England, as did several dubious ventures Hastings entered into to raise extra funds. In 1785 he left India at peace and retired to England. In 1786 Edmund Burke introduced charges of corruption against him; after a trial that lasted from 1788 to 1795, Hastings was acquitted.

William Pitt, the Younger entered Parliament in 1781 and served as chancellor of the Exchequer (1782-83). He was appointed prime minister in 1783 and undertook reforms that reduced the large national debt incurred by the American Revolution, reduced tariffs, placed the East India Company under government control, and restructured the government in India. Forced into conflict with France by the French Revolutionary Wars, he formed a series of coalitions with European states against France. Pitt responded to demands by radicals for parliamentary reform with repressive measures. In 1800 he secured the Act of Union with Ireland but resigned the following year. His second term as premier (1804-06) was marked by the collapse of the Third Coalition-an alliance with Russia, Sweden, and Austria against France-after the Battles of Ulm and Austerlitz.

Queen Victoria was the queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901. During her reign Britain expanded its imperial reach and experienced great cultural expansion, advances in science, industry, and technology, and the development of railways. By the time she was queen, Britain governed Canada, large areas of India, Australia, and small parts of South American and Africa. Queen Victoria added to her royal title Empress of India. During the 1870s, in search of new markets to trade with and facing competition from Germany and France, Britain set out to gain control over new overseas territories, particularly in Africa. By the end of the 19th century the British Empire was the largest the world had ever seen, and Queen Victoria was head of nearly a quarter of the world's people.

Joseph Chamberlain was elected to Parliament (1876-1906), where he became a leader of the left wing of the Liberal Party. In 1886, in opposition to Irish Home Rule, he joined other dissident Liberals (Liberal Unionists) to defeat the Liberal government. He used his control of the Liberal Unionists to pressure the subsequent Conservative government to adopt a more progressive social policy. As colonial secretary (1895-1903) he advocated for tax reform and a federated empire of self-governing colonies, helping pass the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (1900). He resigned when his proposals for a tariff giving preference to imperial products were rebuffed by the government.

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List of some of the major figures in the history of the British Empire. These leaders were instrumental in helping to establish, expand, and administer the largest, richest, and most powerful empire in world history. It was a common saying that the sun never set on Britain's dominions.

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This link shows inventions that were created in the Middle ages and were very beneficial to Europe.

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18 Inventions that shaped Europe in the Middle Ages

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From farming to building, the Middle Ages saw the creation of many important innovations that changed Europe.

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Some information about the industrial revolution

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Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (B1986.29.390)

The Industrial Revolution (1750-1900) forever changed the way people in Europe and the United States lived and worked. These inventors and their creations were at the forefront of a new society.

Spinning and weaving

The creation of the following ingenious machines made possible the mass production of high-quality cotton and woolen thread and yarn and helped transform Great Britain into the world's leading manufacturer of textiles in the second half of the 18th century. The spinning jenny. About 1764 James Hargreaves, a poor uneducated spinner and weaver living in Lancashire, England, conceived a new kind of spinning machine that would draw thread from eight spindles simultaneously instead of just one, as in the traditional spinning wheel. The idea reportedly occurred to him after his daughter Jenny accidentally knocked over the family's spinning wheel; the spindle continued to turn even as the machine lay on the floor, suggesting to Hargreaves that a single wheel could turn several spindles at once. He obtained a patent for the spinning jenny in 1770. The water frame. So called because it was powered by a waterwheel, the water frame, patented in 1769 by Richard Arkwright, was the first fully automatic and continuously operating spinning machine. It produced stronger and greater quantities of thread than the spinning jenny did. Because of its size and power source, the water frame could not be housed in the homes of spinners, as earlier machines had been. Instead, it required a location in a large building near a fast-running stream. Arkwright and his partners built several such factories in the mountainous areas of Britain. Spinners, including child laborers, thereafter worked in ever-larger factories rather than in their homes. The spinning mule. About 1779 Samuel Crompton invented the spinning mule, which he designed by combining features of the spinning jenny and the water frame. His machine was capable of producing fine as well as coarse yarn and made it possible for a single operator to work more than 1,000 spindles simultaneously. Unfortunately, Crompton, being poor, lacked the money to patent his idea. He was cheated out of his invention by a group of manufacturers who paid him much less than they had promised for the design. The spinning mule was eventually used in hundreds of factories throughout the British textile industry.

The steam engine

Through its application in manufacturing and as a power source in ships and railway locomotives, the steam engine increased the productive capacity of factories and led to the great expansion of national and international transportation networks in the 19th century. Watt's steam engine. In Britain in the 17th century, primitive steam engines were used to pump water out of mines. In 1765 Scottish inventor James Watt, building on earlier improvements, increased the efficiency of steam pumping engines by adding a separate condenser, and in 1781 he designed a machine to rotate a shaft rather than generate the up-and-down motion of a pump. With further improvements in the 1780s, Watt's engine became a primary power source in paper mills, flour mills, cotton mills, iron mills, distilleries, canals, and waterworks, making Watt a wealthy man. The steam locomotive. British engineer Richard Trevithick is generally recognized as the inventor of the steam railway locomotive (1803), an application of the steam engine that Watt himself had once dismissed as impractical. Trevithick also adapted his engine to propel a barge by turning paddle wheels and to operate a dredger. Trevithick's engine, which generated greater power than Watt's by operating at higher pressures, soon became common in industrial applications in Britain, displacing Watt's less-efficient design. The first steam-powered locomotive to carry paying passengers was the Active (later renamed the Locomotion), designed by English engineer George Stephenson, which made its maiden run in 1825. For a new passenger railroad line between Liverpool and Manchester, completed in 1830, Stephenson and his son designed the Rocket, which achieved a speed of 36 miles (58 km) per hour. Steamboats and steamships. Steamboats and other steamships were pioneered in France, Britain, and the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The first commercially successful paddle steamer, the North River Steamboat, designed by American engineer Robert Fulton, traveled up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany, New York, in 1807 at a speed of about 5 miles (8 km) per hour. Eventually, ever larger steamboats delivered cargo as well as passengers over hundreds of miles of inland waterways of the eastern and central United States, especially the Mississippi River. The first transoceanic voyage to employ steam power was completed in 1819 by the Savannah, an American sailing ship with an auxiliary steam-powered paddle. It sailed from Savannah, Georgia, to Liverpool in a little more than 27 days, though its paddle operated for only 85 hours of the voyage. By the second half of the 19th century, ever larger and faster steamships were regularly carrying passengers, cargo, and mail across the North Atlantic, a service dubbed "the Atlantic Ferry."

Harnessing electricity

In the early 19th century, scientists in Europe and the United States explored the relationship between electricity and magnetism, and their research soon led to practical applications of electromagnetic phenomena. Electric generators and electric motors. In the 1820s and '30s British scientist Michael Faraday demonstrated experimentally that passing an electric current through a coil of wire between two poles of a magnet would cause the coil to turn, while turning a coil of wire between two poles of a magnet would generate an electric current in the coil ( electromagnetic induction). The first phenomenon eventually became the basis of the electric motor, which converts electrical energy into mechanical energy, while the second eventually became the basis of the electric generator, or dynamo, which converts mechanical energy into electrical energy. Although both motors and generators underwent substantial improvements in the mid-19th century, their practical employment on a large scale depended on the later invention of other machines-namely, electrically powered trains and electric lighting. Electric railways and tramways. The first electric railway, intended for use in urban mass transit, was demonstrated by German engineer Werner von Siemens in Berlin in 1879. By the early 20th century, electric railways were operating within and between several major cities in Europe and the United States. The first electrified section of London's subway system, called the London Underground, began operation in 1890. The incandescent lamp.In 1878-79 Joseph Wilson Swan in England and later Thomas Alva Edison in the United States independently invented a practical electric incandescent lamp, which produces continuous light by heating a filament with an electric current in a vacuum (or near vacuum). Both inventors applied for patents, and their legal wrangling ended only after they agreed to form a joint company in 1883. Edison has since been given most of the credit for the invention, because he also devised the power lines and other equipment necessary for a practical lighting system. During the next 50 years, electric incandescent lamps gradually replaced gas and kerosene lamps as the major form of artificial light in urban areas, though gas-lit street lamps persisted in Britain until the mid-20th century.

The telegraph and the telephone

Two inventions of the 19th century, the electric telegraph and the electric telephone, made reliable instantaneous communication over great distances possible for the first time. Their effects on commerce, diplomacy, military operations, journalism, and myriad aspects of everyday life were nearly immediate and proved to be long-lasting. The telegraph. The first practical electric telegraph systems were created almost simultaneously in Britain and the United States in 1837. In the device developed by British inventors William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone, needles on a mounting plate at a receiver pointed to specific letters or numbers when electric current passed through attached wires. American artist and inventor Samuel F.B. Morse created his own electric telegraph and, more famously, a universal code, since known as Morse Code, that could be used in any system of telegraphy. The code, consisting of a set of symbolic dots, dashes, and spaces, was soon adopted (in modified form to accommodate diacritics) throughout the world. A demonstration telegraph line between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, was completed in 1844. The first message sent on it was, "What hath God wrought!" Telegraph cables were first laid across the English Channel in 1851 and across the Atlantic Ocean in 1858. In the United States the spread of telegraphic communication through the growth of private telegraph companies such as Western Union aided the maintenance of law and order in the Western territories and the control of traffic on the railroads. What's more, it enabled the transmission of national and international news through wire services such as the Associated Press. In 1896 Italian physicist and inventor Guglielmo Marconi perfected a system of wireless telegraphy ( radiotelegraphy) that had important military applications in the 20th century. The telephone. In 1876 Scottish-born American scientist Alexander Graham Bell successfully demonstrated the telephone, which transmitted sound, including that of the human voice, by means of an electric current. Bell's device consisted of two sets of metallic reeds (membranes) and electromagnetic coils. Sound waves produced near one membrane caused it to vibrate at certain frequencies, which induced corresponding currents in the electromagnetic coil connected to it, and those currents then flowed to the other coil, which in turn caused the other membrane to vibrate at the same frequencies, reproducing the original sound waves. The first "telephone call" (successful electric transmission of intelligible human speech) took place between two rooms of Bell's Boston laboratory on March 10, 1876, when Bell summoned his assistant, Thomas Watson, with the famous words that Bell transcribed in his notes as "Mr. Watson-Come here-I want to see you." Initially the telephone was a curiosity or a toy for the rich, but by the mid-20th century it had become a common household instrument, billions of which were in use throughout the world.

The internal-combustion engine and the automobile

Among the most-consequential inventions of the late Industrial Revolution were the internal-combustion engine and, along with it, the gasoline-powered automobile. The automobile, which replaced the horse and carriage in Europe and the United States, offered greater freedom of travel for ordinary people, facilitated commercial links between urban and rural areas, influenced urban planning and the growth of large cities, and contributed to severe air-pollution problems in urban areas. The internal-combustion engine. The internal-combustion engine generates work through the combustion inside the engine of a compressed mixture of oxidizer (air) and fuel, the hot gaseous products of combustion pushing against moving surfaces of the engine, such as a piston or a rotor. The first commercially successful internal-combustion engine, which used a mixture of coal gas and air, was constructed about 1859 by Belgian inventor Étienne Lenoir. Initially expensive to run and inefficient, it was significantly modified in 1878 by German engineer Nikolaus Otto, who introduced the four-stroke cycle of induction-compression-firing-exhaust. Because of their greater efficiency, durability, and ease of use, gas-powered engines based on Otto's design soon replaced steam engines in small industrial applications. The first gasoline-powered internal-combustion engine, also based on Otto's four-stroke design, was invented by German engineer Gottlieb Daimler in 1885. Soon afterward, in the early 1890s, another German engineer, Rudolf Diesel, constructed an internal-combustion engine (the diesel engine) that used heavy oil instead of gasoline and was more efficient than the Otto engine. It was widely used to power locomotives, heavy machinery, and submarines. The automobile. Because of its efficiency and light weight, the gasoline-powered engine was ideal for light vehicular locomotion. The first motorcycle and motorcar powered by an internal-combustion engine were constructed by Daimler and Karl Benz, respectively, in 1885. By the 1890s a nascent industry in continental Europe and the United States was producing increasingly sophisticated automobiles for mostly wealthy customers. Less than 20 years later American industrialist Henry Ford perfected assembly-line methods of manufacturing to produce millions of automobiles (especially the Model T) and light trucks annually. The great economies of scale he achieved made automobile ownership affordable for Americans of average income, a major development in the history of transportation.

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Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

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The Industrial Revolution (1750-1900) forever changed the way people in Europe and the United States lived and worked. These inventors and their creations were at the forefront of a new society.

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It tells us the Great Leaders who lead UK.

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Illustration of Cadwaladr Fendigaid from Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae. Cadwaladr was also a historical king.

The following list of legendary kings of Britain ( Welsh: Brenin y Brythoniaid, Brenin Prydain) derives predominantly from Geoffrey of Monmouth's circa 1136 work Historia Regum Britanniae ("the History of the Kings of Britain"). Geoffrey constructed a largely fictional history for the Britons (ancestors of the Welsh, the Cornish and the Bretons), partly based on the work of earlier medieval historians like Gildas, Nennius and Bede, partly from Welsh genealogies and saints' lives, partly from sources now lost and unidentifiable, and partly from his own imagination (see bibliography). Several of his kings are based on genuine historical figures, but appear in unhistorical narratives. A number of Middle Welsh versions of Geoffrey's Historia exist. All post-date Geoffrey's text, but may give us some insight into any native traditions Geoffrey may have drawn on.

Geoffrey's narrative begins with the exiled Trojan prince Brutus, after whom Britain is supposedly named, a tradition previously recorded in less elaborate form in the 9th century Historia Brittonum. Brutus is a descendant of Aeneas, the legendary Trojan ancestor of the founders of Rome, and his story is evidently related to Roman foundation legends.

The kings before Brutus come from a document purporting to trace the travels of Noah and his offspring in Europe, and once attributed to the Chaldean historian Berossus, but now considered to have been a fabrication by the 15th-century Italian monk Annio da Viterbo, who first published it. Renaissance historians like John Bale and Raphael Holinshed took the list of kings of "Celtica" given by pseudo-Berossus and made them into kings of Britain as well as Gaul. John Milton records these traditions in his History of Britain, although he gives them little credence.

Brutus of Britain (Brutus of Troy)

Historia Brittonum, which is a history of the Celtic Britons written in north Wales in 829-30, claims that the Celtic Britons were descended from Trojans from the ancient city of Troy, who were the first to settle on the island of Britain. It is also claimed in Historia Brittonum, as well as Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth that the first king of the Britons was Brutus of Troy and that the island of Britain was named after him.

Lucius was a legendary 2nd-century king of the Britons traditionally credited with introducing Christianity into Britain. Lucius is first mentioned in a 6th-century version of the Liber Pontificalis, which says that he sent a letter to Pope Eleutherius asking to be made a Christian. The story became widespread after it was repeated in the 8th century by Bede in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, who added the detail that after Eleutherius granted Lucius' request, the Britons followed their king in conversion and maintained the Christian faith until the Diocletianic Persecution of 303. Later writers expanded the legend, giving accounts of missionary activity under Lucius and attributing to him the foundation of certain churches.

There is no contemporary evidence for a king of this name. In 1904 Adolf von Harnack proposed that there had been a scribal error in Liber Pontificalis with 'Britanio' being written as an erroneous expansion for ' Britio', a citadel of Edessa, present day Şanlıurfa in Turkey. The name of the king of Edessa contemporaraneous with Pope Eleutherius was Lucius Aelius Aurelius Abgar VIII.

Des grantz geanz ("Of the Great Giants"), a 14th-century Anglo-Norman poem, contains a variant story regarding Albion, the oldest recorded name for Britain, and also contains a slightly different list of kings. The poem states that a colony of exiled Greek royals led by a queen called Albina first founded Britain but before their settlement "no one dwelt there". Albina subsequently gave her name first to Britain, which was later renamed Britain after Brutus. The poem also attempts by euhemerism to rationalise the legends of giants; Albina is thus described as being "very tall", but is presented as a human queen, a descendant of a Greek king, not a mythological creature.

The Albina myth is also found in some later manuscripts of Wace's Roman de Brut (1155), attached as a prologue.

Scota, in Scottish mythology, and pseudohistory, is the name given to the mythological daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh to whom the Gaels and Scots traced their ancestry. Scota first appeared in literature from the 11th or 12th century and most modern scholars interpret the legends surrounding her to have emerged to rival Geoffrey of Monmouth's claims that the descendants of Brutus (through Albanactus) founded Scotland. However some early Irish sources also refer to the Scota legends and not all scholars regard the legends as fabrications or as political constructions. In the Scottish origin myths, Albanactus had little place and Scottish chroniclers (e.g., John of Fordun and Walter Bower) claimed that Scota was the eponymous founder of Scotland and the Scots long before Albanactus, during the time of Moses.

Geoffrey synchronises some of his monarchs with figures and events from the Bible, Greek, Roman and Irish legends, and recorded history. These are given in the "Synchronisation" column of the table below. Geoffrey dated Brutus' arrival in Britain (and subsequent founding of the Trojan-British monarchy) to 1115 BC. Geoffrey's book was later retold by Wace (in French) and Layamon (in Middle English); the final column represents Layamon's version.

After the death of Cadwallader, the kings of the Brythons were reduced to such a small domain that they ceased to be kings of the whole Brythonic-speaking area. Two of his relatives, Yvor and Yni, led the exiles back from Brittany, but were unable to re-establish a united kingship. The Anglo-Saxon invaders ruled the south-eastern part of the island of Great Britain, which would become England, after that point in time under the Bretwaldas and later the kings of England. The heirs to the Celtic-British throne continued through the Welsh kings of Gwynedd until that line was forced to submit itself to the Plantagenets in the 13th century. Princes and lords of Gwynedd ruled until the reign of Dafydd III, who ruled from 1282 to 1283. His death marked the end of the house of Brutus. Owen Tudor, grandfather of Henry VII of England, was a maternal descendant of the kings of Gwynedd; Henry's marriage with Elizabeth of York thus signified the merging of the two royal houses (as well as the feuding houses of York and Lancaster).

Pseudo-Berossus

Annius of Viterbo in 1498 claimed to have found ancient fragments from Berossus detailing the earliest settlement of 'Celtica', including the British Isles, by Samothes, a son of Japheth, son of Noah, after the Great Flood. These fragments were later revealed to have been forged by Annius himself, and are now known as "Pseudo-Berossus". The fragments can be found in Asher (1993) and include a king list. Before being revealed as a hoax, the list found its way into John Bale's Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum (1548), John Caius' Historia Cantabrigiensis Academiae (1574), William Harrison's Description of England (1577), Holinshed's Chronicles (1587) and Anthony Munday's A briefe chronicle (1611).

Iolo Morganwg's Welsh Kings

Iolo Morganwg, between 1801 and 1807, published a series of Welsh Triads he claimed to have discovered in manuscript form, with the help of the antiquarian William Owen Pughe. These were later revealed to be a mixture of forgeries by Morganwg and Williams' alterations to authentic triads. Exactly how much "authentic" content there is of Morganwg's published work remains disputed by scholars today. Morganwg's triads describe the earliest occupation of Britain ( Prydain) and contain a pseudo-historical reign of kings, beginning with Hu Gadarn, the "Plough King".

Hu Gadarn is described by Morganwg in his triads as being the earliest inhabitant of Britain having travelled from the "Summerland, called Deffrobani, where Constantinople now stands" in 1788 BC. He is credited as having founded the first civilisation in Britain and introduced agriculture. Morganwg's Barddas (1862, p. 348) further states that this king is descended from Hu, but that, after a huge flood (see Afanc), only two people, Dwyfan and Dwyfach, survived from whom the later inhabitants of Britain descended. The Welsh clergyman Edward Davies included this myth in his Celtic Researches on the Origin, Traditions and Languages of the Ancient Britons (1804):

First, the bursting of the lake of waters, and the overwhelming of the face of all lands, so that all mankind drowned, excepting Dwyvan and Dwyvach, who escaped in a naked vessel and from then the Island of Britain was re-peopled.

Several 19th-century Christian authors-for example, Henry Hoyle Howorth-interpreted this myth to be evidence for the Biblical flood of Noah, yet in Morganwg's chronology Dwyfan and Dwyfach are dated to the 18th or 17th century BC, which does not fit the Biblical estimate for the Noachian deluge.

Tea Tephi is a legendary princess found described in British Israelite literature from the 19th century. Revd F. R. A. Glover, M.A., of London in 1861 published England, the Remnant of Judah, and the Israel of Ephraim in which he claimed Tea Tephi was one of Zedekiah's daughters. Since King Zedekiah of Judah had all his sons killed during the Babylonian Captivity, no male successors could continue the throne of King David, but, as Glover noted, Zedekiah had daughters who escaped death (Jeremiah 43:6). Glover believed that Tea Tephi was a surviving Judahite princess who had escaped and travelled to Ireland, and who married a local High King of Ireland in the 6th century BC who subsequently became blood linked to the British monarchy. This theory was later expanded upon by Rev. A.B. Grimaldi, who published in 1877 a successful chart entitled Pedigree of Queen Victoria from the Bible Kings and later by W.M.H. Milner in his booklet The Royal House of Britain an Enduring Dynasty' (1902, revised 1909). Charles Fox Parham also authored an article tracing Queen Victoria's lineage back to King David (through Tea Tephi) entitled Queen Victoria: Heir to King David's Royal Throne.

The Tea Tephi-British monarchy link is also found in J. H. Allen's Judah's Sceptre and Joseph's Birthright (1902, p. 251). A central tenet of British Israelism is that the British monarchy is from the Davidic line and the legend of Tea Tephi from the 19th century attempted to legitimise this claim. Tea Tephi, however, has never been traced to an extant Irish source before the 19th century and critics assert she was purely a British Israelite invention. A collection of alleged bardic traditions and Irish manuscripts which detail Tea Tephi were published by J. A. Goodchild in 1897 as The Book of Tephi, the work is, however, considered pseudo-historical or a forgery. There is though a queen called Tea in Irish mythology who appears in the Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland. She is described as the wife of Érimón a Míl Espáine (Milesian) and dated to 1700 BC ( Geoffrey Keating: 1287 BC). These dates are inconsistent with the British Israelite literature which dates Tea Tephi to the 6th century BC, but later British Israelites, such as Herman Hoeh ( Compendium of World History, 1970), claimed that the Milesian Royal House (including Tea) was from an earlier blood descendant of the Davidic Line who entered Britain around 1000 BC (citing Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh's reduced chronology). Linked to Glover's original claims of Tea Tephi, are Grimaldi and Milner's theory that Jeremiah himself in the company of his scribe Baruch ben Neriah travelled to Ireland with Tea Tephi and that they are found described in Irish folklore and old Irish manuscripts. Some British Israelites identify Baruch ben Neriah with a figure called Simon Berac or Berak in Irish myth, while Jeremiah with Ollom Fotla (or Ollam, Ollamh Fodhla). However, like Tea Tephi, there has long been controversy about these identifications, mainly because of conflicting or inconsistent dates. In 2001, the British-Israel-World Federation wrote an article claiming they no longer subscribed to these two identifications, but still strongly stick to the belief that the British monarchy is of Judahite origin. In an earlier publication in 1982, Covenant Publishing Co. admitted that Tea Tephi could not be traced in Irish literature or myth and may have been fabricated by Glover, but they clarified they still believed in the Milesian Royal House-Davidic Line bloodline connection (popularised by Hoeh). Herbert Armstrong (1986) also took up this legendary connection.

Asher, R. E. (1993). National Myths in Renaissance France: Francus, Samothes and the Druids. Edinburgh University Press.

Charles W. Dunn, in a revised translation of Sebastian Evans, History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth. E.P. Dutton: New York. 1958. ISBN 0-525-47014-X

John Morris. The Age of Arthur: A History of the British Isles from 350 to 650. Barnes & Noble Books: New York. 1996 (originally 1973). ISBN 0-7607-0243-8

John Jay Parry and Robert Caldwell. Geoffrey of Monmouth in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959. ISBN 0-19-811588-1

Brynley F. Roberts, Geoffrey of Monmouth and Welsh Historical Tradition, Nottingham Medieval Studies, 20 (1976), 29-40.

J. S. P. Tatlock. The Legendary History of Britain: Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae and its early vernacular versions. University of California Press. Berkeley. 1950.

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List of legendary kings of Britain - Wikipedia

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The following list of legendary kings of Britain ( Welsh: Brenin y Brythoniaid, Brenin Prydain) derives predominantly from Geoffrey of Monmouth's circa 1136 work Historia Regum Britanniae ("the History of the Kings of Britain").

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It talks about the the Economy over the ages in Britain.

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Economic history of the United Kingdom - Wikipedia

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The economic history of the United Kingdom relates the economic development in the British state from the absorption of Wales into the Kingdom of England after 1535 to the modern United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland of the early 21st century.

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This article has a couple of detailed paragraphs explaining Baghdad's geography and where it is located (with pictures).

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The Abbasid caliphs established the city of Baghdad in 762 CE. It became a center of learning and the hub of what is known as the Golden Age of Islam.

After the death of Muhammad, Arab leaders were called caliphs.

Caliphs built and established Baghdad as the hub of the Abbasid Caliphate.

Baghdad was centrally located between Europe and Asia and was an important area for trade and exchanges of ideas.

Scholars living in Baghdad translated Greek texts and made scientific discoveries-which is why this era, from the seventh to thirteenth centuries CE, is named the Golden Age of Islam.

A love of knowledge was evident in Baghdad, established in 762 CE as the capital city of the Abbasid Caliphate in modern-day Iraq. Scholars, philosophers, doctors, and other thinkers all gathered in this center of trade and cultural development.. Academics-many of them fluent in Greek and Arabic-exchanged ideas and translated Greek texts into Arabic.

Chief Muslim leaders after Muhammad's death were referred to as Caliphs.The era of the Abbasid Caliphs' construction and rule of Baghdad is known as the Golden Age of Islam. It was an era when scholarship thrived.

Abbasid Caliphate

After the death of Muhammad and a relatively brief period of rule by the Rashidun Caliphs, the Umayyad Dynasty gained the reins of power. Based in Damascus, Syria, the Umayyad Caliphate faced internal pressures and resistance, partly because they displayed an obvious preference for Arab Muslims, excluding non-Arab Muslims like Persians. Taking advantage of this weakness, Sunni Arab Abu al-Abbas mounted a revolution in 750 CE. With support from his followers, he destroyed the Umayyad troops in a massive battle and formed the Abbasid Dynasty in its place.

The leaders of the Abbasid Dynasty built Baghdad, the capital of modern-day Iraq. Baghdad would come to replace and overshadow Damascus as the capital city of the empire. It was located near both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, making it an ideal spot for food production that could sustain a large population.

The Abbasids built Baghdad from scratch while maintaining the network of roads and trade routes the Persians had established before the Umayyad Dynasty took over. Baghdad was strategically located between Asia and Europe, which made it a prime spot on overland trade routes between the two continents. Some of the goods being traded through Baghdad were ivory, soap, honey, and diamonds. People in Baghdad made and exported silk, glass, tiles, and paper. The central location and lively trade culture of the city made a lively exchange of ideas possible as well.

Baghdad attracted many people, including scholars, to live within its borders. To get a sense of what living in the newly constructed city was like, here's an excerpt from the writings of Arab historian and biographer, Yakut al-Hamawi, describing Baghdad in the tenth century:

The city of Baghdad formed two vast semi-circles on the right and left banks of the Tigris, twelve miles in diameter. The numerous suburbs, covered with parks, gardens, villas, and beautiful promenades, and plentifully supplied with rich bazaars, and finely built mosques and baths, stretched for a considerable distance on both sides of the river. In the days of its prosperity the population of Baghdad and its suburbs amounted to over two [million]! The palace of the Caliph stood in the midst of a vast park several hours in circumference, which beside a menagerie and aviary comprised an enclosure for wild animals reserved for the chase. The palace grounds were laid out with gardens and adorned with exquisite taste with plants, flowers, and trees, reservoirs and fountains, surrounded by sculpted figures. On this side of the river stood the palaces of the great nobles. Immense streets, none less than forty cubits wide, traversed the city from one end to the other, dividing it into blocks or quarters, each under the control of an overseer or supervisor, who looked after the cleanliness, sanitation and the comfort of the inhabitants.

Tenth-century historian Yakut al-Hamawi, from Lost History 60-61

Pursuit of knowledge

Abbasid Caliphs Harun al-Rashid and his son, al-Ma'mun, who followed him, established a House of Wisdom in Baghdad-a dedicated space for scholarship. The House of Wisdom increased in use and prestige under al-Ma'mun's rule, from 813 to 833. He made a special effort to recruit famous scholars to come to the House of Wisdom. Muslims, Christians, and Jews all collaborated and worked peacefully there.

The translation movement

Caliphs like al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun directly encouraged a translation movement, a formal translation of scholarly works from Greek into Arabic. The Abbasid rulers wanted to make Greek texts, such as Aristotle's works, available to the Arab world. Their goal was to translate as many of these famous works as possible in order to have a comprehensive library of knowledge and to preserve the philosophies and scholarship of Greece. The Abbasids aimed to have philosophy, science, and medicine texts translated. In addition to Arab Muslim scholars, Syrian Christians translated Syriac texts into Arabic as well.

Why were the Abbasids so interested in a massive translation undertaking? In addition to their desire to have a comprehensive library of knowledge and the Qur'an 's emphasis on learning as a holy activity, they also had a practical thirst for medical knowledge. The dynasty was facing a demand for skilled doctors-so having as much knowledge as possible for them to access was a must.

One way the Abbasid dynasty was able to spread written knowledge so quickly was their improvements on printing technology they had obtained from the Chinese; some historians believe this technology was taken after the Battle of Talas between the Abbasid Caliphate and the Tang Dynasty in 751. The Chinese had guarded paper making as a secret, but when the Tang lost the battle, the Abbasids captured knowledgeable paper makers as prisoners of war, forcing them to reproduce their craft.

In China, papermaking was a practice reserved for elites, but the Arabs learned how to produce texts on a larger scale, establishing paper mills which made books more accessible. In turn, Europeans eventually learned these papermaking and producing skills from Arabs.

Abbasid advances

During the Golden Age of Islam, Arab and Persian scholars-as well as scholars from other countries-were able to build on the information they translated from the Greeks and others during the Abbasid Dynasty and forge new advances in their fields. Ibn al-Haythm invented the first camera and was able to form an explanation of how the eye sees. Doctor and philosopher Avicenna wrote the Canon of Medicine, which helped physicians diagnose dangerous diseases such as cancer. And Al-Khwarizmi, a Persian mathematician, invented algebra, a word which itself has Arabic roots.

Scholars living in Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate contributed to the preservation of Greek and other existing knowledge about philosophy, astronomy, medicine, and many other disciplines. In addition to preserving information, these scholars contributed new insights in their fields and ultimately passed their discoveries along to Europe.

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The golden age of Islam (article) | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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It talks about the Religion and practices ing the UK.

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Religion in the UK - practising your faith

As a multi-faith society, students of all religions can expect to feel welcome in the UK, along with plenty of places to practise their faith. With a history of multiculturalism dating back hundreds of years, we have well-established communities representing all major religions, and a deep commitment to supporting students' religious needs on campus.

Most schools, colleges and universities have prayer rooms that anyone can use, as do most public places, such as hotels, hospitals and airports. There are also many organisations representing students of a particular faith who can provide information and support from day one.

Most universities have multi-faith chaplaincy services, designed to provide spiritual support to all their students. Chaplains invite all students to drop-in and talk, as well as leading services and directing all aspects of the university's religious life.

We are proud to be a very tolerant society in every way, and it is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of their race, nationality, or religion. This is one of the most influential reasons international students from all over the world choose the UK for their studies.

What faiths are represented in the UK?

The UK's official religion is Christianity, and churches of all denominations can be found throughout the UK, such as Catholic, Protestant, Baptist and Methodist. The main other religions are Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism.

In the larger towns and cities in the UK it's easy to find somewhere to practise your faith as well as a community of people there to welcome you, whether that be a church, mosque, gurdwara, temple or synagogue. In smaller towns, you may find only Christian churches. Having strong religious communities in our cities also makes it easy to find additional things such as foods that are a key part of your faith.

Can I wear religious items in the UK?

Many people in the UK choose to wear their items of religious dress every day (such as turbans, hijabs and yarmulkes) and to observe religious festivals, such as Christmas, Eid, Diwali or Hanukkah. As a tolerant country you are free to choose exactly how you want to integrate your faith into your life.

To find out more about how your university can help you practise your faith, and if it has a dedicated organisation that you can join, get in touch with their pastoral care team directly.

More in this section

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As a multi-faith society, students of all religions can expect to feel welcome in the UK, along with plenty of places to practise their faith. With a history of multiculturalism dating back hundreds of years, we have well-established communities representing all major religions, and a deep commitment to supporting students' religious needs on campus.

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This video has an overview of the Islamic Golden age and at 8:06 starts talking about social hierarchy. He doesn't just explain who was ranked higher and lower, but explains how someone of a lower class can climb the ranks to a higher class.

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Everyday Life & Society in the Abbasid Caliphate

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A video talking about the social heirarchy

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Social Classes in the Middle Ages | System, Hierarchy & Structure - Video | Study.com

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Discover the social class structures of the European middle ages, and how each person had a distinct role to play in medieval society.

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Islam, talks about religion, beliefs, practices and other information about Islam.

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Islam, major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century ce. The Arabic term islām, literally "surrender," illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islam-that the believer (called a Muslim, from the active particle of islām) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (in Arabic, Allāh: God). Allah is viewed as the sole God-creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The will of Allah, to which human beings must submit, is made known through the sacred scriptures, the Qurʾān (often spelled Koran in English), which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam Muhammad is considered the last of a series of prophets (including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and Jesus), and his message simultaneously consummates and completes the "revelations" attributed to earlier prophets.

Retaining its emphasis on an uncompromising monotheism and a strict adherence to certain essential religious practices, the religion taught by Muhammad to a small group of followers spread rapidly through the Middle East to Africa, Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Malay Peninsula, and China. By the early 21st century there were more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. Although many sectarian movements have arisen within Islam, all Muslims are bound by a common faith and a sense of belonging to a single community.

This article deals with the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam and with the connection of religion and society in the Islamic world. The history of the various peoples who embraced Islam is covered in the article Islamic world.

The foundations of Islam

The legacy of Muhammad

From the very beginning of Islam, Muhammad had inculcated a sense of brotherhood and a bond of faith among his followers, both of which helped to develop among them a feeling of close relationship that was accentuated by their experiences of persecution as a nascent community in Mecca. The strong attachment to the tenets of the Qurʾānic revelation and the conspicuous socioeconomic content of Islamic religious practices cemented this bond of faith. In 622 ce, when the Prophet migrated to Medina, his preaching was soon accepted, and the community-state of Islam emerged. During this early period, Islam acquired its characteristic ethos as a religion uniting in itself both the spiritual and temporal aspects of life and seeking to regulate not only the individual's relationship to God (through conscience) but human relationships in a social setting as well. Thus, there is not only an Islamic religious institution but also an Islamic law, state, and other institutions governing society. Not until the 20th century were the religious (private) and the secular (public) distinguished by some Muslim thinkers and separated formally in certain places such as Turkey.

This dual religious and social character of Islam, expressing itself in one way as a religious community commissioned by God to bring its own value system to the world through the jihād ("exertion," commonly translated as "holy war" or "holy struggle"), explains the astonishing success of the early generations of Muslims. Within a century after the Prophet's death in 632 ce, they had brought a large part of the globe-from Spain across Central Asia to India-under a new Arab Muslim empire.

The period of Islamic conquests and empire building marks the first phase of the expansion of Islam as a religion. Islam's essential egalitarianism within the community of the faithful and its official discrimination against the followers of other religions won rapid converts. Jews and Christians were assigned a special status as communities possessing scriptures and were called the "people of the Book" (ahl al-kitāb) and, therefore, were allowed religious autonomy. They were, however, required to pay a per capita tax called jizyah, as opposed to pagans, who were required to either accept Islam or die. The same status of the "people of the Book" was later extended in particular times and places to Zoroastrians and Hindus, but many "people of the Book" joined Islam in order to escape the disability of the jizyah. A much more massive expansion of Islam after the 12th century was inaugurated by the Sufis (Muslim mystics), who were mainly responsible for the spread of Islam in India, Central Asia, Turkey, and sub-Saharan Africa ( see below).

Beside the jihad and Sufi missionary activity, another factor in the spread of Islam was the far-ranging influence of Muslim traders, who not only introduced Islam quite early to the Indian east coast and South India but also proved to be the main catalytic agents (beside the Sufis) in converting people to Islam in Indonesia, Malaya, and China. Islam was introduced to Indonesia in the 14th century, hardly having time to consolidate itself there politically before the region came under Dutch hegemony.

The vast variety of races and cultures embraced by Islam (an estimated total of more than 1.5 billion persons worldwide in the early 21st century) has produced important internal differences. All segments of Muslim society, however, are bound by a common faith and a sense of belonging to a single community. With the loss of political power during the period of Western colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries, the concept of the Islamic community (ummah), instead of weakening, became stronger. The faith of Islam helped various Muslim peoples in their struggle to gain political freedom in the mid-20th century, and the unity of Islam contributed to later political solidarity.

Sources of Islamic doctrinal and social views

Islamic doctrine, law, and thinking in general are based upon four sources, or fundamental principles (uṣūl): (1) the Qurʾān, (2) the Sunnah ("Traditions"), (3) ijmāʿ ("consensus"), and (4) ijtihād ("individual thought").

The Qurʾān (literally, "reading" or "recitation") is regarded as the verbatim word, or speech, of God delivered to Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel. Divided into 114 suras (chapters) of unequal length, it is the fundamental source of Islamic teaching. The suras revealed at Mecca during the earliest part of Muhammad's career are concerned mostly with ethical and spiritual teachings and the Day of Judgment. The suras revealed at Medina at a later period in the career of the Prophet are concerned for the most part with social legislation and the politico-moral principles for constituting and ordering the community.

Sunnah ("a well-trodden path") was used by pre-Islamic Arabs to denote their tribal or common law. In Islam it came to mean the example of the Prophet-i.e., his words and deeds as recorded in compilations known as Hadith (in Arabic, Ḥadīth: literally, "report"; a collection of sayings attributed to the Prophet). Hadith provide the written documentation of the Prophet's words and deeds. Six of these collections, compiled in the 3rd century ah (9th century ce), came to be regarded as especially authoritative by the largest group in Islam, the Sunnis. Another large group, the Shiʿah, has its own Hadith contained in four canonical collections.

The doctrine of ijmāʿ, or consensus, was introduced in the 2nd century ah (8th century ce) in order to standardize legal theory and practice and to overcome individual and regional differences of opinion. Though conceived as a "consensus of scholars," ijmāʿ was in actual practice a more fundamental operative factor. From the 3rd century ah ijmāʿ has amounted to a principle of stability in thinking; points on which consensus was reached in practice were considered closed and further substantial questioning of them prohibited. Accepted interpretations of the Qurʾān and the actual content of the Sunnah (i.e., Hadith and theology) all rest finally on the ijmāʿ in the sense of the acceptance of the authority of their community.

Ijtihād, meaning "to endeavour" or "to exert effort," was required to find the legal or doctrinal solution to a new problem. In the early period of Islam, because ijtihād took the form of individual opinion (raʾy), there was a wealth of conflicting and chaotic opinions. In the 2nd century ah ijtihād was replaced by qiyās (reasoning by strict analogy), a formal procedure of deduction based on the texts of the Qurʾān and the Hadith. The transformation of ijmāʿ into a conservative mechanism and the acceptance of a definitive body of Hadith virtually closed the "gate of ijtihād" in Sunni Islam while ijtihād continued in Shiʿism. Nevertheless, certain outstanding Muslim thinkers (e.g., al-Ghazālī in the 11th-12th century) continued to claim the right of new ijtihād for themselves, and reformers in the 18th-20th centuries, because of modern influences, caused this principle once more to receive wider acceptance.

The Qurʾān and Hadith are discussed below. The significance of ijmāʿ and ijtihād are discussed below in the contexts of Islamic theology, philosophy, and law.

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Islam | Religion, Beliefs, Practices, & Facts

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Islam, major world religion that emphasizes monotheism, the unity of God ('Allah' in Arabic), and Muhammad as his final messenger in a series of revelations. As the literal word of God, the Qur'an makes known the will of God, to which humans must surrender (lending the name Islam, meaning 'surrender').

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Islamic Economics, what it is and how it developed over the decades.

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M. Umer Chapra, Islamic Research and Training Institute

Islamic economics has been having a revival over the last few decades. However, it is still in a preliminary stage of development. In contrast with this, conventional economics has become a well-developed and sophisticated discipline after going through a long and rigorous process of development over more than a century. Is a new discipline in economics needed? If so, what is Islamic economics, how does it differ from conventional economics, and what contributions has it made over the centuries? This article tries to briefly answer these questions.

It is universally recognized that resources are scarce compared with the claims on them. However, it is also simultaneously recognized by practically all civilizations that the well-being of all human beings needs to be ensured. Given the scarcity of resources, the well-being of all may remain an unrealized dream if the scarce resources are not utilized efficiently and equitably. For this purpose, every society needs to develop an effective strategy, which is consciously or unconsciously conditioned by its worldview. If the worldview is flawed, the strategy may not be able to help the society actualize the well-being of all. Prevailing worldviews may be classified for the sake of ease into two board theoretical constructs (1) secular and materialist, and (2) spiritual and humanitarian.

The Role of the Worldview

Secular and materialist worldviews attach maximum importance to the material aspect of human well-being and tend generally to ignore the importance of the spiritual aspect. They often argue that maximum material well-being can be best realized if individuals are given unhindered freedom to pursue their self-interest and to maximize their want satisfaction in keeping with their own tastes and preferences.[1] In their extreme form they do not recognize any role for Divine guidance in human life and place full trust in the ability of human beings to chalk out a proper strategy with the help of their reason. In such a worldview there is little role for values or government intervention in the efficient and equitable allocation and distribution of resources. When asked about how social interest would be served when everyone has unlimited freedom to pursue his/her self-interest, the reply is that market forces will themselves ensure this because competition will keep self-interest under check.

In contrast with this, religious worldviews give attention to both the material as well as the spiritual aspects of human well-being. They do not necessarily reject the role of reason in human development. They, however, recognize the limitations of reason and wish to complement it by revelation. They do not also reject the need for individual freedom or the role that the serving of self-interest can play in human development They, however, emphasize that both freedom and the pursuit of self-interest need to be toned down by moral values and good governance to ensure that everyone's well-being is realized and that social harmony and family integrity are not hurt in the process of everyone serving his/her self-interest.

Material and Spiritual Needs

Even though none of the major worldviews prevailing around the world is totally materialist and hedonist, there are, nevertheless, significant differences among them in terms of the emphasis they place on material or spiritual goals and the role of moral values and government intervention in ordering human affairs. While material goals concentrate primarily on goods and services that contribute to physical comfort and well-being, spiritual goals include nearness to God, peace of mind, inner happiness, honesty, justice, mutual care and cooperation, family and social harmony, and the absence of crime and anomie. These may not be quantifiable, but are, nevertheless, crucial for realizing human well-being. Resources being limited, excessive emphasis on the material ingredients of well-being may lead to a neglect of spiritual ingredients. The greater the difference in emphasis, the greater may be the difference in the economic disciplines of these societies. Feyerabend (1993) frankly recognized this in the introduction to the Chinese edition of his thought-provoking book, Against Method, by stating that "First world science is only one science among many; by claiming to be more it ceases to be an instrument of research and turns into a (political) pressure group" (p.3, parentheses are in the original).

The Enlightenment Worldview and Conventional Economics

There is a great deal that is common between the worldviews of most major religions, particularly those of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This is because, according to Islam, there is a continuity and similarity in the value systems of all Revealed religions to the extent to which the Message has not been lost or distorted over the ages. The Qur'an clearly states that: "Nothing has been said to you [Muhammad] that was not said to the Messengers before you" (Al-Qur'an, 41:43). If conventional economics had continued to develop in the image of the Judeo-Christian worldview, as it did before the Enlightenment Movement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there may not have been any significant difference between conventional and Islamic economics. However, after the Enlightenment Movement, all intellectual disciplines in Europe became influenced by its secular, value-neutral, materialist and social-Darwinist worldview, even though this did not succeed fully. All economists did not necessarily become materialist or social-Darwinist in their individual lives and many of them continued to be attached to their religious worldviews. Koopmans (1969) has rightly observed that "scratch an economist and you will find a moralist underneath." Therefore, while theoretically conventional economics adopted the secular and value neutral orientation of the Enlightenment worldview and failed to recognize the role of value judgments and good governance in the efficient and equitable allocation and distribution of resources, in practice this did not take place fully. The pre-Enlightenment tradition never disappeared completely (see Baeck, 1994, p. 11).

There is no doubt that, in spite of its secular and materialist worldview, the market system led to a long period of prosperity in the Western market-oriented economies. However, this unprecedented prosperity did not lead to the elimination of poverty or the fulfillment of everyone's needs in conformity with the Judeo-Christian value system even in the wealthiest countries. Inequalities of income and wealth have also continued to persist and there has also been a substantial degree of economic instability and unemployment which have added to the miseries of the poor. This indicates that both efficiency and equity have remained elusive in spite of rapid development and phenomenal rise in wealth.

Consequently there has been persistent criticism of economics by a number of well-meaning scholars, including Thomas Carlyle ( Past and Present, 1843), John Ruskin ( Unto this Last, 1862) and Charles Dickens ( Hard Times, 1854-55) in England, and Henry George ( Progress and Poverty, 1879) in America. They ridiculed the dominant doctrine of laissez-faire with its emphasis on self-interest. Thomas Carlyle called economics a "dismal science" and rejected the idea that free and uncontrolled private interests will work in harmony and further the public welfare (see Jay and Jay, 1986). Henry George condemned the resulting contrast between wealth and poverty and wrote: "So long as all the increased wealth which modern progress brings goes but to build great fortunes, to increase luxury and make sharper the contrast between the House of Have and the House of Want, progress is not real and cannot be permanent" (1955, p. 10).

In addition to failing to fulfill the basic needs of a large number of people and increasing inequalities of income and wealth, modern economic development has been associated with the disintegration of the family and a failure to bring peace of mind and inner happiness (Easterlin 2001, 1995 and 1974; Oswald, 1997; Blanchflower and Oswald, 2000; Diener and Oshi, 2000; and Kenny, 1999). Due to these problems and others the laissez-faire approach lost ground, particularly after the Great Depression of the 1930s as a result of the Keynesian revolution and the socialist onslaught. However, most observers have concluded that government intervention alone cannot by itself remove all socio-economic ills. It is also necessary to motivate individuals to do what is right and abstain from doing what is wrong. This is where the moral uplift of society can be helpful. Without it, more and more difficult and costly regulations are needed. Nobel-laureate Amartya Sen has, therefore, rightly argued that "the distancing of economics from ethics has impoverished welfare economics and also weakened the basis of a good deal of descriptive and predictive economics" and that economics "can be made more productive by paying greater and more explicit attention to ethical considerations that shaped human behaviour and judgment" (1987, pp. 78-79). Hausman and McPherson also conclude in their survey article "Economics and Contemporary Moral Philosophy" that "An economy that is engaged actively and self-critically with the moral aspects of its subject matter cannot help but be more interesting, more illuminating and, ultimately, more useful than the one that tries not to be" (1993, p. 723).

Islamic Economics - and How It Differs from Conventional Economics

While conventional economics is now in the process of returning to its pre-Enlightenment roots, Islamic economics never got entangled in a secular and materialist worldview. It is based on a religious worldview which strikes at the roots of secularism and value neutrality. To ensure the true well-being of all individuals, irrespective of their sex, age, race, religion or wealth, Islamic economics does not seek to abolish private property, as was done by communism, nor does it prevent individuals from serving their self-interest. It recognizes the role of the market in the efficient allocation of resources, but does not find competition to be sufficient to safeguard social interest. It tries to promote human brotherhood, socio-economic justice and the well-being of all through an integrated role of moral values, market mechanism, families, society, and 'good governance.' This is because of the great emphasis in Islam on human brotherhood and socio-economic justice.
The Integrated Role of the Market, Families, Society, and Government
The market is not the only institution where people interact in human society. They also interact in the family, the society and the government and their interaction in all these institutions is closely interrelated. There is no doubt that the serving of self-interest does help raise efficiency in the market place. However, if self-interest is overemphasized and there are no moral restraints on individual behavior, other institutions may not work effectively - families may disintegrate, the society may be uncaring, and the government may be corrupt, partisan, and self-centered. Mutual sacrifice is necessary for keeping the families glued together. Since the human being is the most important input of not only the market, but also of the family, the society and the government, and the family is the source of this input, nothing may work if families disintegrate and are unable to provide loving care to children. This is likely to happen if both the husband and wife try to serve just their own self-interest and are not attuned to the making of sacrifices that the proper care and upbringing of children demands. Lack of willingness to make such sacrifice can lead to a decline in the quality of the human input to all other institutions, including the market, the society and the government. It may also lead to a fall in fertility rates below the replacement level, making it difficult for society not only to sustain its development but also its social security system.

The Role of Moral Values

While conventional economics generally considers the behavior and tastes and preferences of individuals as given, Islamic economics does not do so. It places great emphasis on individual and social reform through moral uplift. This is the purpose for which all God's messengers, including Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, came to this world. Moral uplift aims at the change in human behavior, tastes and preferences and, thereby, it complements the price mechanism in promoting general well-being. Before even entering the market place and being exposed to the price filter, consumers are expected to pass their claims through the moral filter. This will help filter out conspicuous consumption and all wasteful and unnecessary claims on resources. The price mechanism can then take over and reduce the claims on resources even further to lead to the market equilibrium. The two filters can together make it possible to have optimum economy in the use of resources, which is necessary to satisfy the material as well as spiritual needs of all human beings, to reduce the concentration of wealth in a few hands, and to raise savings, which are needed to promote greater investment and employment. Without complementing the market system with morally-based value judgments, we may end up perpetuating inequities in spite of our good intentions through what Solo calls inaction, non-choice and drifting (Solo, 1981, p. 38)

From the above discussion, one may easily notice the similarities and differences between the two disciplines. While the subject matter of both is the allocation and distribution of resources and both emphasize the fulfillment of material needs, there is an equal emphasis in Islamic economics on the fulfillment of spiritual needs. While both recognize the important role of market mechanism in the allocation and distribution of resources, Islamic economics argues that the market may not by itself be able to fulfill even the material needs of all human beings. This is because it can promote excessive use of scarce resources by the rich at the expense of the poor if there is undue emphasis on the serving of self-interest. Sacrifice is involved in fulfilling our obligations towards others and excessive emphasis on the serving of self-interest does not have the potential of motivating people to make the needed sacrifice. This, however, raises the crucial question of why a rational person would sacrifice his self-interest for the sake of others?

The Importance of the Hereafter

This is where the concepts of the innate goodness of human beings and of the Hereafter come in - concepts which conventional economics ignores but on which Islam and other major religions place a great deal of emphasis. Because of their innate goodness, human beings do not necessarily always try to serve their self-interest. They are also altruistic and are willing to make sacrifices for the well-being of others. In addition, the concept of the Hereafter does not confine self-interest to just this world. It rather extends it beyond this world to life after death. We may be able to serve our self-interest in this world by being selfish, dishonest, uncaring, and negligent of our obligations towards our families, other human beings, animals, and the environment. However, we cannot serve our self-interest in the Hereafter except by fulfilling all these obligations.

Thus, the serving of self-interest receives a long-run perspective in Islam and other religions by taking into account both this world and the next. This serves to provide a motivating mechanism for sacrifice for the well-being of others that conventional economics fails to provide. The innate goodness of human beings along with the long-run perspective given to self-interest has the potential of inducing a person to be not only efficient but also equitable and caring. Consequently, the three crucial concepts of conventional economics - rational economic man, positivism, and laissez-faire - were not able to gain intellectual blessing in their conventional economics sense from any of the outstanding scholars who represent the mainstream of Islamic thought.

Rational Economic Man

While there is hardly anyone opposed to the need for rationality in human behavior, there are differences of opinion in defining rationality (Sen, 1987, pp. 11-14). However, once rationality has been defined in terms of overall individual as well as social well-being, then rational behavior could only be that which helps us realize this goal. Conventional economics does not define rationality in this way. It equates rationality with the serving of self-interest through the maximization of wealth and want satisfaction, The drive of self-interest is considered to be the "moral equivalent of the force of gravity in nature" (Myers, 1983, p. 4). Within this framework society is conceptualized as a mere collection of individuals united through ties of self-interest.

The concept of 'rational economic man' in this social-Darwinist, utilitarian, and material sense of serving self-interest could not find a foothold in Islamic economics. 'Rationality' in Islamic economics does not get confined to the serving of one's self-interest in this world alone; it also gets extended to the Hereafter through the faithful compliance with moral values that help rein self-interest to promote social interest. Al-Mawardi (d. 1058) considered it necessary, like all other Muslim scholars, to rein individual tastes and preferences through moral values (1955, pp. 118-20). Ibn Khaldun (d.1406) emphasized that moral orientation helps remove mutual rivalry and envy, strengthens social solidarity, and creates an inclination towards righteousness (n.d., p.158).

Positivism

Similarly, positivism in the conventional economics sense of being "entirely neutral between ends" (Robbins, 1935, p. 240) or "independent of any particular ethical position or normative judgment" (Friedman, 1953) did not find a place in Muslim intellectual thinking. Since all resources at the disposal of human beings are a trust from God, and human beings are accountable before Him, there is no other option but to use them in keeping with the terms of trust. These terms are defined by beliefs and moral values. Human brotherhood, one of the central objectives of Islam, would be a meaningless jargon if it were not reinforced by justice in the allocation and distribution of resources.

Pareto Optimum

Without justice, it would be difficult to realize even development. Muslim scholars have emphasized this throughout history. Development Economics has also started emphasizing its importance, more so in the last few decades.[2] Abu Yusuf (d. 798) argued that: "Rendering justice to those wronged and eradicating injustice, raises tax revenue, accelerates development of the country, and brings blessings in addition to reward in the Hereafter" (1933/34, p. 111: see also pp. 3-17). Al-Mawardi argued that comprehensive justice "inculcates mutual love and affection, obedience to the law, development of the country, expansion of wealth, growth of progeny, and security of the sovereign" (1955, p. 27). Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) emphasized that "justice towards everything and everyone is an imperative for everyone, and injustice is prohibited to everything and everyone. Injustice is absolutely not permissible irrespective of whether it is to a Muslim or a non-Muslim or even to an unjust person" (1961-63, Vol. 18, p. 166).

Justice and the well-being of all may be difficult to realize without a sacrifice on the part of the well-to-do. The concept of Pareto optimum does not, therefore, fit into the paradigm of Islamic economics. This is because Pareto optimum does not recognize any solution as optimum if it requires a sacrifice on the part of a few (rich) for raising the well-being of the many (poor). Such a position is in clear conflict with moral values, the raison d'être of which is the well-being of all. Hence, this concept did not arise in Islamic economics. In fact, Islam makes it a religious obligation of Muslims to make a sacrifice for the poor and the needy, by paying Zakat at the rate of 2.5 percent of their net worth. This is in addition to the taxes that they pay to the governments as in other countries.

The Role of State

Moral values may not be effective if they are not observed by all. They need to be enforced. It is the duty of the state to restrain all socially harmful behavior[3] including injustice, fraud, cheating, transgression against other people's person, honor and property, and the non-fulfillment of contracts and other obligations through proper upbringing, incentives and deterrents, appropriate regulations, and an effective and impartial judiciary. The Qur'an can only provide norms. It cannot by itself enforce them. The state has to ensure this. That is why the Prophet Muhammad said: "God restrains through the sovereign more than what He restrains through the Qur'an" (cited by al-Mawardi, 1955, p. 121). This emphasis on the role of the state has been reflected in the writings of all leading Muslim scholars throughout history.[4] Al-Mawardi emphasized that an effective government (Sultan Qahir) is indispensable for preventing injustice and wrongdoing (1960, p. 5). Say's Law could not, therefore, become a meaningful proposition in Islamic economics.

How far is the state expected to go in the fulfillment of its role? What is it that the state is expected to do? This has been spelled out by a number of scholars in the literature on what has come to be termed as "Mirrors for Princes."[5] None of them visualized regimentation or the owning and operating of a substantial part of the economy by the state. Several classical Muslim scholars, including al-Dimashqi (d. after 1175) and Ibn Khaldun, clearly expressed their disapproval of the state becoming directly involved in the economy (Al-Dimashqi, 1977, pp. 12 and 61; Ibn Khaldun, pp. 281-83). According to Ibn Khaldun, the state should not acquire the character of a monolithic or despotic state resorting to a high degree of regimentation (ibid., p. 188). It should not feel that, because it has authority, it can do anything it likes (ibid, p. 306). It should be welfare-oriented, moderate in its spending, respect the property rights of the people, and avoid onerous taxation (ibid, p. 296). This implies that what these scholars visualized as the role of government is what has now been generally referred to as 'good governance'.

Some of the Contributions Made by Islamic Economics

The above discussion should not lead one to an impression that the two disciplines are entirely different. One of the reasons for this is that the subject matter of both disciplines is the same, allocation and distribution of scarce resources. Another reason is that all conventional economists have never been value neutral. They have made value judgments in conformity with their beliefs. As indicated earlier, even the paradigm of conventional economics has been changing - the role of good governance has now become well recognized and the injection of a moral dimension has also become emphasized by a number of prominent economists. Moreover, Islamic economists have benefited a great deal from the tools of analysis developed by neoclassical, Keynesian, social, humanistic and institutional economics as well as other social sciences, and will continue to do so in the future.

The Fallacy of the 'Great Gap' Theory

A number of economic concepts developed in Islamic economics long before they did in conventional economics. These cover a number of areas including interdisciplinary approach; property rights; division of labor and specialization; the importance of saving and investment for development; the role that both demand and supply play in the determination of prices and the factors that influence demand and supply; the roles of money, exchange, and the market mechanism; characteristics of money, counterfeiting, currency debasement, and Gresham's law; the development of checks, letters of credit and banking; labor supply and population; the role of the state, justice, peace, and stability in development; and principles of taxation.I t is not possible to provide comprehensive coverage of all the contributions Muslim scholars have made to economics. Only some of their contributions will be highlighted below to remove the concept of the "Great Gap" of "over 500 years" that exists in the history of conventional economic thought as a result of the incorrect conclusion by Joseph Schumpeter in History of Economic Analysis (1954), that the intervening period between the Greeks and the Scholastics was sterile and unproductive.[6] This concept has become well embedded in the conventional economics literature as may be seen from the reference to this even by the Nobel-laureate, Douglass North, in his December 1993 Nobel lecture (1994, p. 365). Consequently, as Todd Lowry has rightly observed, "the character and sophistication of Arabian writings has been ignored" (See his 'Foreword' in Ghazanfar, 2003, p. xi).

The reality, however, is that the Muslim civilization, which benefited greatly from the Chinese, Indian, Sassanian and Byzantine civilizations, itself made rich contributions to intellectual activity, including socio-economic thought, during the 'Great Gap' period, and thereby played a part in kindling the flame of the European Enlightenment Movement. Even the Scholastics themselves were greatly influenced by the contributions made by Muslim scholars. The names of Ibn Sina (Avicenna, d. 1037), Ibn Rushd (Averroes, d. 1198) and Maimonides (d. 1204, a Jewish philosopher, scientist, and physician who flourished in Muslim Spain) appear on almost every page of the thirteenth-century summa (treatises written by scholastic philosophers) (Pifer, 1978, p. 356).

Multidisciplinary Approach for Development

One of the most important contributions of Islamic economics, in addition to the above paradigm discussion, was the adoption of a multidisciplinary dynamic approach. Muslim scholars did not focus their attention primarily on economic variables. They considered overall human well-being to be the end product of interaction over a long period of time between a number of economic, moral, social, political, demographic and historical factors in such a way that none of them is able to make an optimum contribution without the support of the others. Justice occupied a pivotal place in this whole framework because of its crucial importance in the Islamic worldview There was an acute realization that justice is indispensable for development and that, in the absence of justice, there will be decline and disintegration.

The contributions made by different scholars over the centuries seem to have reached their consummation in Ibn Khaldun's Maquddimah, which literally means 'introduction,' and constitutes the first volume of a seven-volume history, briefly called Kitab al-'Ibar or the Book of Lessons [of History].[7] Ibn Khaldun lived at a time (1332-1406) when the Muslim civilization was in the process of decline. He wished to see a reversal of this tide, and, as a social scientist, he was well aware that such a reversal could not be envisaged without first drawing lessons ('ibar) from history to determine the factors that had led the Muslim civilization to bloom out of humble beginnings and to decline thereafter. He was, therefore, not interested in knowing just what happened. He wanted to know the how and why of what happened. He wanted to introduce a cause and effect relationship into the discussion of historical phenomena. The Muqaddimah is the result of this desire. It tries to derive the principles that govern the rise and fall of a ruling dynasty, state (dawlah) or civilization ('umran).

Since the centre of Ibn Khaldun's analysis is the human being, he sees the rise and fall of dynasties or civilizations to be closely dependent on the well-being or misery of the people. The well-being of the people is in turn not dependent just on economic variables, as conventional economics has emphasized until recently, but also on the closely interrelated role of moral, psychological, social, economic, political, demographic and historical factors. One of these factors acts as the trigger mechanism. The others may, or may not, react in the same way. If the others do not react in the same direction, then the decay in one sector may not spread to the others and either the decaying sector may be reformed or the decline of the civilization may be much slower. If, however, the other sectors react in the same direction as the trigger mechanism, the decay will gain momentum through an interrelated chain reaction such that it becomes difficult over time to identify the cause from the effect. He, thus, seems to have had a clear vision of how all the different factors operate in an interrelated and dynamic manner over a long period to promote the development or decline of a society.

He did not, thus, adopt the neoclassical economist's simplification of confining himself to primarily short-term static analysis of only markets by assuming unrealistically that all other factors remain constant. Even in the short-run, everything may be in a state of flux through a chain reaction to the various changes constantly taking place in human society, even though these may be so small as to be imperceptible. Therefore, even though economists may adopt the ceteris paribus assumption for ease of analysis, Ibn Khaldun's multidisciplinary dynamics can be more helpful in formulating socio-economic policies that help improve the overall performance of a society. Neoclassical economics is unable to do this because, as North has rightly asked, "How can one prescribe policies when one does not understand how economies develop?" He, therefore, considers neoclassical economics to be "an inappropriate tool to analyze and prescribe policies that will induce development" (North, 1994, p. 549).

However, this is not all that Islamic economics has done. Muslim scholars, including Abu Yusuf (d. 798), al-Mawardi (d. 1058), Ibn Hazm (d. 1064), al-Sarakhsi (d. 1090), al-Tusi (d. 1093), al-Ghazali (d. 1111), al-Dimashqi (d. after 1175), Ibn Rushd (d. 1187), Ibn Taymiyyah (d.1328), Ibn al-Ukhuwwah (d. 1329), Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350), al-Shatibi (d. 1388), Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), al-Maqrizi (d. 1442), al-Dawwani (d. 1501), and Shah Waliyullah (d. 1762) made a number of valuable contributions to economic theory. Their insight into some economic concepts was so deep that a number of the theories propounded by them could undoubtedly be considered the forerunners of some more sophisticated modern formulations of these theories.[8]

Division of Labor, Specialization, Trade, Exchange and Money and Banking

A number of scholars emphasized the necessity of division of labor for economic development long before this happened in conventional economics. For example, al-Sarakhsi (d. 1090) said: "the farmer needs the work of the weaver to get clothing for himself, and the weaver needs the work of the farmer to get his food and the cotton from which the cloth is made ..., and thus everyone of them helps the other by his work..." (1978, Vol. 30, p. 264). Al-Dimashqi, writing about a century later, elaborates further by saying: "No individual can, because of the shortness of his life span, burden himself with all industries. If he does, he may not be able to master the skills of all of them from the first to the last. Industries are all interdependent. Construction needs the carpenter and the carpenter needs the ironsmith and the ironsmith needs the miner, and all these industries need premises. People are, therefore, necessitated by force of circumstances to be clustered in cities to help each other in fulfilling their mutual needs" (1977, p. 20-21).

Ibn Khaldun ruled out the feasibility or desirability of self-sufficiency, and emphasized the need for division of labor and specialization by indicating that: "It is well-known and well-established that individual human beings are not by themselves capable of satisfying all their individual economic needs. They must all cooperate for this purpose. The needs that can be satisfied by a group of them through mutual cooperation are many times greater than what individuals are capable of satisfying by themselves" (p. 360). In this respect he was perhaps the forerunner of the theory of comparative advantage, the credit for which is generally given in conventional economics to David Ricardo who formulated it in 1817.

The discussion of division of labor and specialization, in turn, led to an emphasis on trade and exchange, the existence of well-regulated and properly functioning markets through their effective regulation and supervision (hisbah), and money as a stable and reliable measure, medium of exchange and store of value. However, because of bimetallism (gold and silver coins circulating together) which then prevailed, and the different supply and demand conditions that the two metals faced, the rate of exchange between the two full-bodied coins fluctuated. This was further complicated by debasement of currencies by governments in the later centuries to tide over their fiscal problems. This had, according to Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) (1961-63, Vol. 29, p. 649), and later on al-Maqrizi (d. 1442) and al-Asadi (d. 1450), the effect of bad coins driving good coins out of circulation (al-Misri, 1981, pp. 54 and 66), a phenomenon which was recognized and referred to in the West in the sixteenth century as Gresham's Law. Since debasement of currencies is in sheer violation of the Islamic emphasis on honesty and integrity in all measures of value, fraudulent practices in the issue of coins in the fourteenth century and afterwards elicited a great deal of literature on monetary theory and policy. The Muslims, according to Baeck, should, therefore, be considered forerunners and critical incubators of the debasement literature of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries (Baeck, 1994, p. 114).

To finance their expanding domestic and international trade, the Muslim world also developed a financial system, which was able to mobilize the "entire reservoir of monetary resources of the mediaeval Islamic world" for financing agriculture, crafts, manufacturing and long-distance trade (Udovitch, 1970, pp. 180 and 261). Financiers were known as sarrafs. By the time of Abbasid Caliph al-Muqtadir (908-32), they had started performing most of the basic functions of modern banks (Fischel, 1992). They had their markets, something akin to the Wall Street in New York and Lombard Street in London, and fulfilled all the banking needs of commerce, agriculture and industry (Duri, 1986, p. 898). This promoted the use of checks (sakk) and letters of credit (hawala). The English word check comes from the Arabic term sakk.

Demand and Supply

A number of Muslim scholars seem to have clearly understood the role of both demand and supply in the determination of prices. For example, Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) wrote: "The rise or fall of prices may not necessarily be due to injustice by some people. They may also be due to the shortage of output or the import of commodities in demand. If the demand for a commodity increases and the supply of what is demanded declines, the price rises. If, however, the demand falls and the supply increases, the price falls" (1961-3, Vol. 8, p. 523).

Even before Ibn Taymiyyah, al-Jahiz (d. 869) wrote nearly five centuries earlier that: "Anything available in the market is cheap because of its availability [supply] and dear by its lack of availability if there is need [demand] for it" (1983, p. 13), and that "anything the supply of which increases, becomes cheap except intelligence, which becomes dearer when it increases" (ibid., p. 13).

Ibn Khaldun went even further by emphasizing that both an increase in demand or a fall in supply leads to a rise in prices, while a decline in demand or a rise in supply contributes to a fall in prices (pp. 393 and 396). He believed that while continuation of 'excessively low' prices hurts the craftsmen and traders and drives them out of the market, the continuation of 'excessively high' prices hurts the consumers. 'Moderate' prices in between the two extremes were, therefore, desirable, because they would not only allow the traders a socially-acceptable level of return but also lead to the clearance of the markets by promoting sales and thereby generating a given turnover and prosperity (ibid, p. 398). Nevertheless, low prices were desirable for necessities because they provide relief to the poor who constitute the majority of the population (ibid, p. 398). If one were to use modem terminology, one could say that Ibn Khaldun found a stable price level with a relatively low cost of living to be preferable, from the point of view of both growth and equity in comparison with bouts of inflation and deflation. The former hurts equity while the latter reduces incentive and efficiency. Low prices for necessities should not, however, be attained through the fixing of prices by the state; this destroys the incentive for production (ibid, pp. 279-83).

The factors which determined demand were, according to Ibn Khaldun, income, price level, the size of the population, government spending, the habits and customs of the people, and the general development and prosperity of the society (ibid, pp.398-404). The factors which determined supply were demand (ibid, pp. 400 and 403), order and stability (pp. 306-08), the relative rate of profit (ibid, pp. 395 and 398), the extent of human effort (p. 381), the size of the labor force as well as their knowledge and skill (pp. 363 and 399-400), peace and security (pp. 394-95 and 396), and the technical background and development of the whole society (pp. 399-403). All these constituted important elements of his theory of production. If the price falls and leads to a loss, capital is eroded, the incentive to supply declines, leading to a recession. Trade and crafts also consequently suffer (p. 398).

This is highly significant because the role of both demand and supply in the determination of value was not well understood in the West until the late nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. Pre-classical English economists like William Petty (1623-87), Richard Cantillon (1680-1734), James Steuart (1712-80), and even Adam Smith (1723-90), the founder of the Classical School, generally stressed only the role of the cost of production, and particularly of labor, in the determination of value. The first use in English writings of the notions of both demand and supply was perhaps in 1767 (Thweatt, 1983). Nevertheless, it was not until the second decade of the nineteenth century that the role of both demand and supply in the determination of market prices began to be fully appreciated (Groenewegen, 1973). While Ibn Khaldun had been way ahead of conventional economists, he probably did not have any idea of demand and supply schedules, elasticities of demand and supply and most important of all, equilibrium price, which plays a crucial role in modern economic discussions.

Public Finance

Taxation

Long before Adam Smith (d. 1790), who is famous, among other things, for his canons of taxation (equality, certainty, convenience of payment, and economy in collection) (see Smith, 1937, pp. 777-79), the development of these canons can be traced in the writings of pre-Islamic as well as Muslim scholars, particularly the need for the tax system to be just and not oppressive. Caliphs Umar (d. 644), Ali (d. 661) and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (d. 720), stressed that taxes should be collected with justice and leniency and should not be beyond the ability of the people to bear. Tax collectors should not under any circumstances deprive the people of the necessities of life (Abu Yusuf, 1933/34, pp. 14, 16 and 86). Abu Yusuf, adviser to Caliph Harun al-Rashid (786-809), argued that a just tax system would lead not only to an increase in revenues but also to the development of the country (Abu Yusuf, 1933/34, p. 111; see also pp. 14, 16, 60, 85, 105-19 and 125). Al-Mawardi also argued that the tax system should do justice to both the taxpayer and the treasury - "taking more was iniquitous with respect to the rights of the people, while taking less was unfair with respect to the right of the public treasury" (1960, p. 209; see also pp. 142-56 and 215).[9]

Ibn Khaldun stressed the principles of taxation very forcefully in the Muqaddimah. He quoted from a letter written by Tahir ibn al-Husayn, Caliph al-Ma'mun's general, advising his son, 'Abdullah ibn Tahir, Governor of al-Raqqah (Syria): "So distribute [taxes] among all people making them general, not exempting anyone because of his nobility or wealth and not exempting even your own officials or courtiers or followers. And do not levy on anyone a tax which is beyond his capacity to pay" (p. 308).[10] In this particular passage, he stressed the principles of equity and neutrality, while in other places he also stressed the principles of convenience and productivity.

The effect of taxation on incentives and productivity was so clearly visualized by Ibn Khaldun that he seems to have grasped the concept of optimum taxation. He anticipated the gist of the Laffer Curve, nearly six hundred years before Arthur Laffer, in two full chapters of the Muqaddimah.[11] At the end of the first chapter, he concluded that "the most important factor making for business prosperity is to lighten as much as possible the burden of taxation on businessmen, in order to encourage enterprise by ensuring greater profits [after taxes]" (p. 280). This he explained by stating that "when taxes and imposts are light, the people have the incentive to be more active. Business therefore expands, bringing greater satisfaction to the people because of low taxes ..., and tax revenues also rise, being the sum total of all assessments" (p. 279). He went on to say that as time passes the needs of the state increase and rates of taxation rise to increase the yield. If this rise is gradual people become accustomed to it, but ultimately there is an adverse impact on incentives. Business activity is discouraged and declines, and so does the yield of taxation (pp. 280-81). A prosperous economy at the beginning of the dynasty, thus, yields higher tax revenue from lower tax rates while a depressed economy at the end of the dynasty, yields smaller tax revenue from higher rates (p. 279). He explained the reasons for this by stating: "Know that acting unjustly with respect to people's wealth, reduces their will to earn and acquire wealth ... and if the will to earn goes, they stop working. The greater the oppression, the greater the effect on their effort to earn ... and, if people abstain from earning and stop working, the markets will stagnate and the condition of people will worsen" (pp. 286-87); tax revenues will also decline (p. 362). He, therefore, advocated justice in taxation (p. 308).

Public Expenditure

For Ibn Khaldun the state was also an important factor of production. By its spending it promotes production and by its taxation it discourages production (pp. 279-81). Since the government constitutes the greatest market for goods and services, and is a major source of all development (pp. 286 and 403), a decrease in its spending leads to not only a slackening of business activity and a decline in profits but also a decline in tax revenue (p. 286). The more the government spends, the better it may be for the economy (p. 286).[12] Higher spending enables the government to do the things that are needed to support the population and to ensure law and order and political stability (pp. 306 and 308). Without order and political stability, the producers have no incentive to produce. He stated that "the only reason [for the accelerated development of cities] is that the government is near them and pours its money into them, like the water [of a river] that makes green everything around it, and irrigates the soil adjacent to it, while in the distance everything remains dry" (p. 369).

Ibn Khaldun also analyzed the effect of government expenditure on the economy and is, in this respect, a forerunner of Keynes. He stated: "A decrease in government spending leads to a decline in tax revenues. The reason for this is that the state represents the greatest market for the world and the source of civilization. If the ruler hoards tax revenues, or if these are lost, and he does not spend them as they should be, the amount available with his courtiers and supporters would decrease, as would also the amount that reaches through them to their employees and dependents [the multiplier effect]. Their total spending would, therefore, decline. Since they constitute a significant part of the population and their spending constitutes a substantial part of the market, business will slacken and the profits of businessmen will decline, leading also to a decline in tax revenues ... Wealth tends to circulate between the people and the ruler, from him to them and from them to him. Therefore, if the ruler withholds it from spending, the people would become deprived of it" (p. 286).

Economic Mismanagement and Famine

Ibn Khaldun established the causal link between bad government and high grain prices by indicating that in the later stage of the dynasty, when public administration becomes corrupt and inefficient, and resorts to coercion and oppressive taxation, incentive is adversely affected and the farmers refrain from cultivating the land. Grain production and reserves fail to keep pace with the rising population. The absence of reserves causes supply shortages in the event of a famine and leads to price escalation (pp. 301-02).

Al-Maqrizi (d. 1442) who, as muhtasib (market supervisor), had intimate knowledge of the economic conditions during his times, applied Ibn Khaldun's analysis in his book (1956) to determine the reasons for the economic crisis of Egypt during the period 1403-06. He identified that the political administration had become very weak and corrupt during the Circassian period. Public officials were appointed on the basis of bribery rather than ability.[13] To recover the bribes, officials resorted to oppressive taxation. The incentive to work and produce was adversely affected and output declined. The crisis was further intensified by debasement of the currency through the excessive issue of copper fulus, or fiat money, to cover state budgetary deficits. All these factors joined hands with the famine to lead to a high degree of inflation, misery of the poor, and impoverishment of the country.

Hence, al-Maqrizi laid bare the socio-political determinants of the prevailing 'system crisis' by taking into account a number of variables like corruption, bad government policies, and weak administration. All of these together played a role in worsening the impact of the famine, which could otherwise have been handled effectively without a significant adverse impact on the population. This is clearly a forerunner of Sen's entitlement theory, which holds the economic mismanagement of illegitimate governments to be responsible for the poor people's misery during famines and other natural disasters (Sen, 1981). What al-Maqrizi wrote of the Circassian Mamluks was also true of the later Ottoman period (See Meyer, 1989).

Stages of Development

Ibn Khaldun stated the stages of development through which every society passes, moving from the primitive Bedouin stage to the rise of village, towns and urban centers with an effective government, development of agriculture, industry and sciences, and the impact of values and environment on this development ( Muqaddimah, pp. 35, 41-44, 87-95, 120-48, 172-76). Walliyullah[14] (d. 1762) later analyzed the development of society through four different stages from primitive existence to a well-developed community with khilafah (morally-based welfare state), which tries to ensure the spiritual as well as material well-being of the people. Like Ibn Khaldun, he considered political authority to be indispensable for human well-being. To be able to serve as a source of well-being for all and not of burden and decay, it must have the characteristics of the khilafah. He applied this analysis in various writings to the conditions prevailing during his life-time. He found that the luxurious life style of the rulers, along with their exhausting military campaigns, the increasing corruption and inefficiency of the civil service, and huge stipends to a vast retinue of unproductive courtiers, led them to the imposition of oppressive taxes on farmers, traders and craftsmen, who constituted the main productive section of the population. These people had, therefore, lost interest in their occupations, output had slowed down, state financial resources had declined, and the country had become impoverished (Waliyullah, 1992, Vol. I, pp. 119-52). Thus, in step with Ibn Khaldun and other Muslim scholars, al-Maqrizi and Waliyullah combined moral, political, social and economic factors to explain the economic phenomena of their times and the rise and fall of their societies.

Muslim Intellectual Decline

Unfortunately, the rich theoretical contribution made by Muslim scholars up until Ibn Khaldun did not get fertilized and irrigated by later scholars to lead to the development of Islamic economics, except by a few isolated scholars like al-Maqrizi, al-Dawwani (d. 1501), and Waliyullah. Their contributions were, however, only in specific areas and did not lead to a further development of Ibn Khaldun's model of socio-economic and political dynamics. Islamic economics did not, therefore, develop as a separate intellectual discipline in conformity with the Islamic paradigm along the theoretical foundations and method laid down by Ibn Khaldun and his predecessors. It continued to remain an integral part of the social and moral philosophy of Islam.

One may ask here why the rich intellectual contributions made by Muslim scholars did not continue after Ibn Khaldun. The reason may be that, as indicated earlier, Ibn Khaldun lived at a time when the political and socio-economic decline of the Muslim world was underway.[15] He was perhaps "the sole point of light in his quarter of the firmament" (Toynbee, 1935, Vol. 3, p. 321). According to Ibn Khaldun himself, sciences progress only when a society is itself progressing (p. 434). This theory is clearly upheld by Muslim history. Sciences progressed rapidly in the Muslim world for four centuries from the middle of the eighth century to the middle of the twelfth century and continued to do so at a substantially decelerated pace for at least two more centuries, tapering off gradually thereafter (Sarton 1927, Vol. 1 and Book 1 of Vol. 2). Once in a while there did appear a brilliant star on an otherwise unexciting firmament. Economics was no exception. It also continued to be in a state of limbo in the Muslim world. No worthwhile contributions were made after Ibn Khaldun.

The trigger mechanism for this decline was, according to Ibn Khaldun, the failure of political authority to provide good governance. Political illegitimacy, which started after the end of khilafah in 661 gradually led to increased corruption and the use of state resources for private benefit at the neglect of education and other nation-building functions of the state. This gradually triggered the decline of all other sectors of the society and economy.[16]

The rapidly rising Western civilization took over the torch of knowledge from the declining Muslim world and has kept it burning with even greater brightness. All sciences, including the social sciences, have made phenomenal progress. Conventional economics became a separate academic discipline after the publication of Alfred Marshall's great treatise, Principles of Economics, in 1890 (Schumpeter, 1954, p.21),[17] and has continued to develop since then at a remarkable speed. With such a great achievement to its credit, there is no psychological need to allow the 'Great Gap' thesis to persist. It would help promote better understanding of Muslim civilization in the West if textbooks started giving credit to Muslim scholars. They were "the torchbearers of ancient learning during the medieval period" and "it was from them that the Renaissance was sparked and the Enlightenment kindled" (Todd Lowry in his 'Foreword' in Ghazanfar, 2003, p. xi). Watt has been frank enough to admit that, "the influence of Islam on Western Christendom is greater than is usually realized" and that, "an important task for Western Europeans, as we move into the era of the one world, is ... to acknowledge fully our debt to the Arab and Islamic world" (Watt, 1972, p. 84).

Conventional economics, however, took a wrong turn after the Enlightenment Movement by stripping itself of the moral basis of society emphasized by Aristotelian and Judeo-Christian philosophies. This deprived it of the role that moral values and good governance can play in helping society raise both efficiency and equity in the allocation and distribution of scarce resources needed for promoting the well-being of all. However, this has been changing. The role of good governance has already been recognized and that of moral values is gradually penetrating the economics orthodoxy. Islamic economics is also reviving now after the independence of Muslim countries from foreign domination. It is likely that the two disciplines will converge and become one after a period of time. This will be in keeping with the teachings of the Qur'an, which clearly states that mankind was created as one but became divided as a result of their differences and transgression against each other (10:19, 2:213 and 3: 19). This reunification [globalization, as it is new called], if reinforced by justice and mutual care, should help promote peaceful coexistence and enable mankind to realize the well-being of all, a goal the realization of which we are all anxiously looking forward to.

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Sen, Amartya. On Ethics and Economics. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987.

Siddiqi, M. Nejatullah. "History of Islamic Economic Thought." In Lectures on Islamic Economics, Ausaf Ahmad and K.R. Awan, 69-90. Jeddah: IDB/IRTI, 1992.

Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. New York: Modern Library, 1937.

Solo, Robert A. "Values and Judgments in the Discourse of the Sciences." In Value Judgment and Income Distribution, edited by Robert A. Solo and Charles A. Anderson, 9-40. New York, Praeger, 1981.

Spengler, Joseph. "Economic Thought in Islam: Ibn Khaldun." Comparative Studies in Society and History (1964): 268-306.

Thweatt, W.O. "Origins of the Terminology, Supply and Demand." Scottish Journal of Political Economy (1983): 287-94.

Toynbee, Arnold J. A Study of History. London: Oxford University Press, second edition, 1935.

Udovitch, Abraham L. Partnership and Profit in Medieval Islam. Princeton; NJ: Princeton University Press, 1970.

Waliyullah, Shah. Hujjatullah al-Balighah. M.Sharif Sukkar, editor. Beirut: Dar Ihya al- Ulum, second edition, two volumes, 1992. (An English translation of this book by Marcia K. Hermansen was published bu Brill, Leiden, 1966.)

Watt, W. Montgomery. The Influence of Islam on Medieval Europe. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1972.

[1] This is the liberal version of the secular and materialist worldviews. There is also the totalitarian version which does not have faith in the individuals' ability to manage private property in a way that would ensure social well-being. Hence its prescription is to curb individual freedom and to transfer all means of production and decision making to a totalitarian state. Since this form of the secular and materialist worldview failed to realize human well-being and has been overthrown practically everywhere, it is not discussed in this paper.

[2] The literature on economic development is full of assertions that improvement in income distribution is in direct conflict with economic growth. For a summary of these views, see Cline, 1973, Chapter 2. This has, however, changed and there is hardly any development economist now who argues that injustice can help promote development.

[3] North has used the term 'nasty' for all such behavior. See the chapter "Ideology and Free Rider," in North, 1981.

[4] Some of these scholars include Abu Yusuf (d. 798), al-Mawardi (d. 1058), Abu Ya'la (d. 1065), Nazam al-Mulk (d.1092), al-Ghazali (d. 1111), Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328), Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406), Shah Walliyullah (d. 1762), Jamaluddin al-Afghani (d. 1897), Muhammad 'Abduh (d. 1905), Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938), Hasan al-Banna (d. 1949), Sayyid Mawdudi (d. 1979), and Baqir al-Sadr (d. 1980).

[5] Some of these authors include al-Katib (d. 749), Ibn al-Muqaffa (d. 756) al-Nu'man (d. 974), al-Mawardi (d. 1058), Kai Ka'us (d. 1082), Nizam al-Mulk (d. 1092), al-Ghazali (d. 1111), al-Turtushi (d. 1127). (For details, see Essid, 1995, pp.19-41.)

[6] For the fallacy of the Great Gap thesis, see Mirakhor (1987) and Ghazanfar (2003), particularly the "Foreword" by Todd Lowry and the "Introduction" by Ghazanfar.

[7] The full name of the book (given in the bibliography) may be freely translated as "The Book of Lessons and the Record of Cause and Effect in the History of Arabs, Persians and Berbers and their Powerful Contemporaries." Several different editions of the Muqaddimah are now available in Arabic. The one I have used is that published in Cairo by al-Maktabah al-Tijarriyah al-Kubra without any indication of the year of publication. It has the advantage of showing all vowel marks, which makes the reading relatively easier. The Muqaddimah was translated into English in three volumes by Franz Rosenthal. Its first edition was published in 1958 and the second edition in 1967. Selections from the Muqaddimah by Charles Issawi were published in 1950 under the title, An Arab Philosophy of History: Selections from the Prolegomena of Ibn Khaldun of Tunis (1332-1406).

A considerable volume of literature is now available on Ibn Khaldun. This includes Spengler, 1964; Boulakia, 1971; Mirakhor, 1987; and Chapra, 2000.

[8] For some of these contributions, see Spengler, 1964; DeSmogyi, 1965; Mirakhor, 1987; Siddiqi, 1992; Essid, 1995; Islahi, 1996; Chapra, 2000; and Ghazanfar, 2003.

[9] For a more detailed discussion of taxation by various Muslim scholars, see the section on "Literature on Mirrors for Princes" in Essid, 1995, pp. 19-41.

[10] This letter is a significant development over the letter of Abu Yusuf to Caliph Harun al-Rashid (1933/34, pp. 3-17). It is more comprehensive and covers a larger number of topics.

[11] These are "On tax revenues and the reason for their being low and high" (pp. 279-80) and "Injustice ruins development" (pp. 286-410).

[12] Bear in mind the fact that this was stated at the time when commodity money, which it is not possible for the government to 'create,' was used, and fiduciary money, had not become the rule of the day.

[13] This was during the Slave (Mamluk) Dynasty in Egypt, which is divided into two periods. The first period was that of the Bahri (or Turkish) Mamluks (1250-1382), who have generally received praise in the chronicles of their contemporaries. The second period was that of the Burji Mamluks(Circassians, 1382-1517). This period was beset by a series of severe economic crises. (For details see Allouche, 1994.)

[14] Shah Walliyullah al-Dihlawi, popularly known as Walliyullah, was born in 1703, four years before the death of the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb (1658-1707). Aurangzeb's rule, spanning a period of forty-nine years, was followed by a great deal of political instability - ten different changes in rulers during Walliyullah's life-span of 59 years - leading ultimately to the weakening and decline of the Mughal Empire.

[15] For a brief account of the general decline and disintegration of the Muslim world during the fourteenth century, see Muhsin Mahdi, 1964, pp. 17-26.

[16] For a discussion of the causes of Muslim decline, see Chapra, 2000, pp. 173-252.

[17] According to Blaug (1985), economics became an academic discipline in the 1880s (p. 3).

Citation: Chapra, M. "Islamic Economics: What It Is and How It Developed". EH.Net Encyclopedia, edited by Robert Whaples. March 16, 2008. URL http://eh.net/encyclopedia/islamic-economics-what-it-is-and-how-it-developed/

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Islamic Economics: What It Is and How It Developed

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Islamic economics has been having a revival over the last few decades. However, it is still in a preliminary stage of development. In contrast with this, conventional economics has become a well-developed and sophisticated discipline after going through a long and rigorous process of development over more than a century.

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Talks about 15 Muslim leaders in history that changed the world.

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Best Diplomats | Diplomatic Conferences | New York

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Before the advent of Islam, the world was in chaos. Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H delivered the peaceful message of Islam and was able to change the world for all times to come. With its introduction, Islam brought in favorable and progressive laws that uplifted the most marginalized of communities.

However, these laws would have been redundant had there not been extremely powerful leaders who conquered lands and spread the message of Islam. After the demise of the dear Prophet, the four righteous caliphs took a lead and spread positivity and peace in all the areas they conquered. Next came powerful emperors like Tariq Bin Ziyad and Mehmed the second that surpassed all expectations.

With the help of these leaders, Islam soon became one of the strongest religions in the world. To know more about the famous muslim leaders in history and the impact they had, read ahead.

Top 15 Most Famous Muslim Leaders in History

Most people know of only a handful of Muslim leaders, like Prophet Muhammad and Ali Bin Abi Talib. However, there have been hundreds of them that revolutionized the world. Here is a list of the top 15 most famous Muslim leaders that you should know of.

1. Hazrat Muhammad (P.B.U.H)

The last prophet of Islam, Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H was a revolutionary leader who changed the world for all times to come. He was not only the Messenger of God, but was also a fierce military commander who conquered many great lands and won many battles. He was of an impeccable moral and ethical character and preached his message with complete honesty and consistency.

However, like many famous world leaders in history, he was not ruthless, nor a tyrant. He set a positive example of leadership for all humans. He was both kind and extremely merciful, so much so that he forgave his biggest rivals and dealt with everyone in the conquest of Makkah in the most humane manner. He was a leader in the truest of senses.

Also read: How can great leaders bring diverse people together?

2. Umer Bin Khattab (R.A)

For Umer bin Khattab, Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H always had the highest of praises. Umer was one of the greatest Muslim leaders to have graced the Earth. Before his death, he had already a large proportion of the world. Apart from being an extraordinary caliph, Umer was also an excellent swordsman.

He led Muslims into many battles and had the privilege of commanding many great armies. However, Hazrat Umer was not only known for his many conquests. He was known for his unwavering sense of justice and integrity. He formulated many new laws in the areas he conquered.

He was tolerant, and kind and had an inclusive leadership style. Moreover, Hazrat Umer has the honor of introducing new prison systems, advanced court systems, and an improved financial system. He was in every sense a truly transformational leader.

3. Ali bin Abi Talib (R.A)

Known as one of the greatest and bravest men in Islamic history, Hazrat Ali set the right precedent for Muslims all over the world. He was an excellent diplomat who sought to resolve conflicts within Muslim communities.

Moreover, as a cousin of the Prophet, he was also one of the first people to accept and defend the new faith. Apart from that, Hazrat Ali was an extraordinary swordsman and his skill was unmatched by any of his opponents.

After Prophet passed away, Hazrat Ali became the caliph and commanded the Muslim ummah. His wisdom and his deep understanding of Islamic jurisprudence made him one of the best Muslim leaders in history.

4. Tariq Bin Ziyad (670-720)

When talking about the greatest Muslim leaders in history, it is almost impossible to not mention the great Tariq Bin Ziyad. He was the conqueror of Spain. He landed in Gibraltar and led 10,000 men to victory.

Even though he was opposing an army 10 times the size of his army, Tariq Bin Ziyad gained the victory. The battle of Guadalete that he led is considered to be one of the greatest battles won in muslim history.

Another thing that sets him apart is how he listened to the suggestions of his generals and followed their advice. After taking over Spain, Tariq bin Ziyad joined forces with another general and conquered two-thirds of the Iberian Peninsula.

Also, read: 10 steps that differentiate a leader from a boss in 2023.

5. Harun al-Rashid (763-809)

Harun al-Rashid was the Abbasids dynasty's Fifth Caliph and a great leader. Under his leadership, the capital of Baghdad came to be the largest city on the planet, except for China. His court was filled with powerful and honest men who followed his commandments without flinching, such was the power of this great leader.

Under his leadership, the empire reached new heights. It began in Morocco and reached India. He also led successful campaigns against the Byzantines in the year 797. Harun was known to bring much scientific, religious and cultural prosperity to all the lands he governed.

6. Mahmud of Ghazni (971 - 1030)

The greatest leader of the Ghaznavid empire, Mahmud of Ghazni carried the title of Sultan which roughly translates to 'Authority figure'. He was born in Afghanistan and joined his father Sabuktigin, the founder of the Ghaznavid empire. He fought alongside his father when the latter captured Khorasan in 994.

After his father died, Mahmud of Ghazni carried on his legacy and established a long and very successful military career. He created a vast empire that covered modern-day Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. Mahmud of Ghazni was most famous for his archers, who could kill enemies from a great distance.

7. Saladin (1137/38-1193)

Saladin is mentioned in stories, and books and is even referenced in much great historical television series. He was an Egyptian sultan known for his legendary crusade against the English king Richard.

He became the head of the military forces of Muslims in Egypt in 1169. In his long military career, he conquered Damascus, Aleppo, and Mosul. He also established the great Ayyubid dynasty.

It was also under his rule that Muslims captured the great kingdom of Jerusalem. Apart from this, Saladin defeated the great crusader army and had control of a vast number of crusader lands.

8. Timur (1336 - 1405)

Timur, a name synonymous with chivalry and courage, was born in 1336. He founded the famous Timurid dynasty and conquered many lands in India and Russia. His reign reached up to the Mediterranean. Despite his conquests, Timur was not a fan favorite among the people he conquered. He was known for being extraordinarily cruel towards anyone who did not follow orders.

Additionally, Timur was also involved with the Mongols and participated in many campaigns of Chagatai, the son of Genghis khan. Timur also dreamt of restoring the Mongol Empire of Khan and bringing its former glory again. Timur also invaded Anatolia, Syria, and Aleppo during his lifetime.

9. Babur (1483 - 1530)

Babur was the most successful Mughal empire and led successful conquests against the rulers of India in 1519. After conquering the strategic site of Modern day Afghanistan. Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi, even though the latter's army was 10 times the size of Babur's army.

After becoming the ruler of India, Babur's rule became extremely favorable among the locals. He introduced many new laws and customs that were advantageous to the Muslims. After the death of Babur, his son Humayun took over. It was because of Babur that Muslims were able to rule around 3.2 million square kilometers of land in the 17th century.

10. Tipu Sultan

Tipu Sultan is remembered for his excellent reputation and bravery. During the second half of the 18th century, Tipu became the ruler of India. He became so popular that even Napoleon sought Tipu Sultan's help in battling the British. The Sultan took this as an opportunity because he hated the British India Company.

Tipu sultan, along with his father, fought four wars. In the famous Anglo-Mysore war, he used rocket weapons against enemies. Before his death, he even tried to assemble a plethora of Muslim nations against the British, but his attempts at uniting the nations failed.

11. Osman 1

Osman, I ruled a nomadic tribe and founded the great ottoman empire. He led several Muslim fighters, trained them, and made them into an army. He then used this army to defeat the Mongols and create one of the most powerful empires in the world. The empire lasted a couple of centuries and only broke when the ottomans faced defeat in the first world war.

Osman was a wise and strategic military leader. He used his influence to rally other tribes. Moreover, the circumstances also favored him. He founded the empire at a time when the influence of the Byzantine was coming to an end.

12. Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi

Sultan Salahuddin Ayubi was an extraordinary human with exceptional leadership qualities. He was a military leader and strategist who dared to withstand the crusader's wrath. Sultan Salahuddin was a passionate leader who wanted to conquer Jerusalem for the Muslims.

He defeated the crusaders at the battle of Hattin and gained a decisive victory for Muslims. Despite being one of the biggest heroes of Islam, Sultan Saluddin hated bloodshed and tried to avoid it at all costs.

13. Mehmed II

Mehmed the second was one of the greatest Muslim leaders in history. He took on the job of conquering Constantinople and became successful. Additionally, he was responsible for ending the Byzantine emperor. Where past sultans had failed miserably, Mehmed, the second, was able to do wonders.

After conquering Constantinople, the Ottomans, under the leadership of Mehmed II, were able to develop the city and transform it into one of the most powerful capitals of the world. Additionally, he also won a decisive victory and took over Anatolia in 1473.

14. Muhammad Bin Qasim

People of the subcontinent have heard the tales of the great and chivalrous Muslim leader, Muhammad Bin Qasim. At just fifteen, Muhammad Bin Qasim showed amazing leadership traits and had all the attributes of an emerging leader. Moreover, he was a strategic thinker and extremely skillful at combat.

After becoming a Muslim leader, he proved his mantle in and outside the field. He was also an excellent administrator and formed many new laws and policies in the new land. Due to his amazing personality, he was also generally revered among his people.

Also read: How to identity emerging leaders using the 15-trait criteria?

15. Nader Shah

Nader Shah, the ruler, and Sultan of Persia, ruled the land between 1736 and 1747. He was not only an excellent administrator, but was also one of the most brilliant and wise military commanders. It was due to his wisdom that many people call him an Iranian Napoleon.

During his long rule, he extended his country's frontiers and covered a large portion of the Middle East. He also led many effective military campaigns that brought him fame and wealth. Additionally, he introduced many favorable policies in his kingdom, which made him a popular leader.

How Were Muslim Leaders in History Able to Change the World?

Good leaders often possess exemplary leadership characteristics like honesty, integrity, and chivalry. However, each leader also possesses some unique characteristics that set them apart. Here are the things the above muslim leaders had in common.

1. Having a Great Vision

Take the example of any great Muslim leader in history, and you would see all of them having a dynamic and great vision at the start. Mehmet, the second, wanted to conquer Constantinople and take over the crusaders.

Similarly, Hazrat Umer R.A. wanted to conquer as many lands in the vicinity of Makkah and beyond as possible. Without the right vision, these leaders would not have known where to start.

2. Skills to Match the Vision

History notes that all Muslim leaders who were able to leave a mark in history had exemplary leadership skills. They were physically and mentally fit to take on the hard challenges. This is integral because when leaders lack skill themselves, like, in the case of the later Mughal emperors, the empire soon ceases to exist.

On the other hand, leaders like Muhammad bin Qasim were excellent swordsmen and military strategists, which is why they were able to achieve their full potential.

3. Ability to Adapt to Change

No matter how hard you try or how much you plan, some things never go your way. In today's world, these could be external circumstances like a lockdown, a financial breakdown, or a family emergency. Great leadership knows how to handle change. Take the example of Prophet Muhammad and the treaty of Hudaibiyah. Although the prophet wanted to perform a pilgrimage that year, he decided to change his decision to avoid a possible clash with the Makkans.

4. Knowing When to Give Up

Resilience, coupled with strength and an optimistic attitude, is great. However, most leaders show resilience in the face of unrealistic dreams. One of the best qualities of a great leader is that they know when to stop. Leaders who become greedy and go too far in the pursuit of greatness often end up losing a lot, in some cases: even their lives.

As a modern Muslim leader, you should dream realistically and set up small and achievable goals. Best Diplomats can help you do that.

5. Accepting Defeat Gracefully

No one likes to lose, especially not a leader who has to answer to a huge army or an entire country. However, when the stakes are high and the competition is strong, there is always a chance that you might not lose.

Take the example of great conquers and leaders like Tariq Bin Ziyad and Timur. They were not undefeated in battle. Although they won more times than they lose, they did not sit back and whine. Rather, they accepted their defeat gracefully.

6. Learning From the Mistakes

You can fight the same battles, literally or metaphorically, a thousand times and still get the same result unless you sit back and ponder over what you did wrong. An attribute that was common in all Muslim leaders in history was that they were highly perceptive.

After a defeat or a setback, they used to consult their trusted court men and governors and take their advice on important matters. Their inclusive leadership style helped them get ahead in the game and not repeat the mistakes they once made.

7. High Moral and Ethical Standards

The current leadership of the world may have forgotten morality or ethics. However, leaders of the past, especially, great Muslim leaders like the righteous caliphs, had very high moral and ethical standards for themselves and all the people they appointed.

For example, Hazrat Ali R.A. is reported to hold all his governors accountable for any financial mishap. This helped ensure equality within the Muslim kingdoms. Additionally, this helped inspire others to act more righteously.

Also read: How did great leaders change the world for the better?

Learn to Be a Revolutionary Muslim Leader With Best Diplomats

Islamophobia and discrimination are prevalent today. Muslims are often associated with unfortunate incidents in the world. This is the perfect time for muslim leadership to rise and prove their mantle in the world. If you are an enthusiastic Muslim leader looking to inspire others, Best Diplomats can help pave the way for you.

Through its extensive and diverse training conferences happening in New York, Dubai and Istanbul, Best Diplomatsis creating the best platform for young Muslim leaders to hone their skills. This includes public speaking, diplomacy, and people skills. To become part of this legendary experience, sign up here.

Conclusion

History books are filled with examples of great and revolutionary leaders that transformed the world. From introducing progressive and democratic laws that favored the poor, to bringing diverse lands under the banner of Islam, these Muslim leaders certainly did the unthinkable.

Currently, there is a leadership vacuum in the Muslim world. You can fill it; all you have to do is trust your abilities and try.

FAQs

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15 Muslim Leaders in History That Transformed the World

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There are some stories that inspire you and motivate you to do better. Here are the stories of 15 Muslim leaders in history that transformed the world.

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This talks about the histories of the Kingdom of England from the Norman Conquest of 1066 conventionally distinguish periods named after successive ruling dynasties and the leaders and how long the ruled for.

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The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the early 10th century, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which would later become the United Kingdom. The Kingdom of England was among the most powerful states in Europe during the medieval and early modern colonial periods.

During the early tenth century, the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were united by Edward the Elder (reigned 898-924) and Æthelstan (reigned in 924-939) to form the Kingdom of England. In 1016, the kingdom became part of the North Sea Empire of Cnut the Great, a personal union between England, Denmark and Norway. The Norman Conquest of England in 1066 led to the transfer of the English capital city and chief royal residence from the Anglo-Saxon one at Winchester to Westminster, and the City of London quickly established itself as England's largest and principal commercial centre.

Histories of the Kingdom of England from the Norman Conquest of 1066 conventionally distinguish periods named after successive ruling dynasties: Norman/Angevin 1066-1216, Plantagenet 1216-1485, Tudor 1485-1603 and Stuart 1603-1707 (interrupted by the Interregnum of 1649-1660). Dynastically, all English monarchs after 1066 ultimately claim descent from the Normans; the distinction of the Plantagenets is merely conventional, beginning with Henry II (reigned 1154-1189) as from that time, the Angevin kings became "more English in nature"; the houses of Lancaster and York are both Plantagenet cadet branches, the Tudor dynasty claimed descent from Edward III via John Beaufort and James VI and I of the House of Stuart claimed descent from Henry VII via Margaret Tudor.

The completion of the conquest of Wales by Edward I in 1284 put Wales under the control of the English crown. Edward III (reigned 1327-1377) transformed the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe; his reign also saw vital developments in legislation and government-in particular the evolution of the English parliament. From the 1340s the kings of England also laid claim to the crown of France, but after the Hundred Years' War and the outbreak of the Wars of the Roses in 1455, the English were no longer in any position to pursue their French claims and lost all their land on the continent, except for Calais. After the turmoils of the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor dynasty ruled during the English Renaissance and again extended English monarchical power beyond England proper, achieving the full union of England and the Principality of Wales in 1542. Henry VIII oversaw the English Reformation, and his daughter Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603) the Elizabethan Religious Settlement, meanwhile establishing England as a great power and laying the foundations of the British Empire by claiming possessions in the New World.

From the accession of James VI and I in 1603, the Stuart dynasty ruled England in personal union with Scotland and Ireland. Under the Stuarts, the kingdom plunged into civil war, which culminated in the execution of Charles I in 1649. The monarchy returned in 1660, but the Civil War had established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without the consent of Parliament. This concept became legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution of 1688. From this time the kingdom of England, as well as its successor state the United Kingdom, functioned in effect as a constitutional monarchy. On 1 May 1707, under the terms of the Acts of Union 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland united to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The Anglo-Saxons referred to themselves as the Engle or the Angelcynn, originally names of the Angles. They called their land Engla land, meaning "land of the English", by Æthelweard Latinized Anglia, from an original Anglia vetus, the purported homeland of the Angles (called Angulus by Bede). The name Engla land became England by haplology during the Middle English period ( Engle-land, Engelond). The Latin name was Anglia or Anglorum terra, the Old French and Anglo-Norman one Engleterre.

The standard title for monarchs from Æthelstan until John was ("King of the English"). Cnut, a Dane, was the first to call himself "King of England". In the Norman period remained standard, with occasional use of ("King of England"). From John's reign onwards all other titles were eschewed in favour of or . In 1604 James I, who had inherited the English throne the previous year, adopted the title (now usually rendered in English rather than Latin) King of Great Britain.

The kingdom of England emerged from the gradual unification of the early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdoms known as the Heptarchy: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Wessex. The Viking invasions of the 9th century upset the balance of power between the English kingdoms, and native Anglo-Saxon life in general. The English lands were unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Æthelstan in 927.

In 886, Alfred the Great retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that "all of the English people ( all Angelcyn) not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred." Asser added that "Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly ... and made it habitable once more." Alfred's restoration entailed reoccupying and refurbishing the nearly deserted Roman walled city, building quays along the Thames, and laying a new city street plan.

The dominions of Cnut (1014-1035)

England has remained in political unity ever since. During the reign of Æþelræd the Unready (978-1016), a new wave of Danish invasions was orchestrated by Sweyn I of Denmark, culminating after a quarter-century of warfare in the Danish conquest of England in 1013. But Sweyn died on 2 February 1014, and Æþelræd was restored to the throne. In 1015, Sweyn's son Cnut (commonly known as Canute) launched a new invasion. The ensuing war ended with an agreement in 1016 between Canute and Æþelræd's successor, Edmund Ironside, to divide England between them, but Edmund's death on 30 November of that year left England united under Danish rule. This continued for 26 years until the death of Harthacnut in June 1042. He was the son of Canute and Emma of Normandy (the widow of Æþelræd the Unready) and had no heirs of his own; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Æþelræd's son, Edward the Confessor.

The peace lasted until the death of the childless Edward in January 1066. His brother-in-law was crowned King Harold, but his cousin William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, immediately claimed the throne for himself. William launched an invasion of England and landed in Sussex on 28 September 1066. Harold and his army were in York following their victory against the Norwegians at the Battle of Stamford Bridge (25 September 1066) when the news reached him. He decided to set out without delay and confront the Norman army in Sussex so marched southwards at once, despite the army not being properly rested following the battle with the Norwegians. The armies of Harold and William faced each other at the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), in which the English army, or , was defeated, Harold and his two brothers were slain, and William emerged as victor. William was then able to conquer England with little further opposition. He was not, however, planning to absorb the Kingdom into the Duchy of Normandy. As a mere duke, William owed allegiance to Philip I of France, whereas in the independent Kingdom of England he could rule without interference. He was crowned on 25 December 1066 in Westminster Abbey, London.

In 1092, William II led an invasion of Strathclyde, a Celtic kingdom in what is now southwest Scotland and Cumbria. In doing so, he annexed what is now the county of Cumbria to England. In 1124, Henry I ceded what is now southeast Scotland (called Lothian) to the Kingdom of Scotland, in return for the King of Scotland's loyalty. This final cession established what would become the traditional borders of England which have remained largely unchanged since then (except for occasional and temporary changes). This area of land had previously been a part of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria. Lothian contained what later became the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. This arrangement was later finalized in 1237 by the Treaty of York.

King John signs Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215, surrounded by his baronage. Illustration from Cassell's History of England, 1902.

The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the Kingdom of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanctioned by the Papal bull Laudabiliter. At the time, Gaelic Ireland was made up of several kingdoms, with a High King claiming lordship over most of the other kings.

Up until the Norman Conquest of England, Wales had remained for the most part independent of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, although some Welsh kings did sometimes acknowledge the Bretwalda. Soon after the Norman Conquest of England, however, some Norman lords began to attack Wales. They conquered and ruled parts of it, acknowledging the overlordship of the Norman kings of England but with considerable local independence. Over many years these " Marcher Lords" conquered more and more of Wales, against considerable resistance led by various Welsh princes, who also often acknowledged the overlordship of the Norman kings of England.

Fifteenth-century miniature depicting the English victory over France at the Battle of Agincourt

Edward III was the first English king to have a claim to the throne of France. His pursuit of the claim resulted in the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), which pitted five kings of England of the House of Plantagenet against five kings of France of the Capetian House of Valois. Extensive naval raiding was carried out by all sides during the war, often involving privateers such as John Hawley of Dartmouth or the Castilian Pero Niño. Though the English won numerous victories, they were unable to overcome the numerical superiority of the French and their strategic use of gunpowder weapons. England was defeated at the Battle of Formigny in 1450 and finally at the Battle of Castillon in 1453, retaining only a single town in France, Calais.

During the Hundred Years' War an English identity began to develop in place of the previous division between the Norman lords and their Anglo-Saxon subjects. This was a consequence of sustained hostility to the increasingly nationalist French, whose kings and other leaders (notably the charismatic Joan of Arc) used a developing sense of French identity to help draw people to their cause.

Wales retained a separate legal and administrative system, which had been established by Edward I in the late 13th century. The country was divided between the Marcher Lords, who gave feudal allegiance to the crown, and the Principality of Wales. Under the Tudor monarchy, Henry VIII replaced the laws of Wales with those of England (under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535-1542). Wales was incorporated into the Kingdom of England, and henceforth was represented in the Parliament of England.

Portrait of Elizabeth I made to commemorate the defeat of the Spanish Armada (1588), depicted in the background. Elizabeth's international power is symbolised by the hand resting on the globe.

During the 1530s, Henry VIII overthrew the power of the Catholic Church within the kingdom, replacing the pope as head of his own English Church and seizing the Catholic Church's lands, thereby facilitating the creation of a variation of Catholicism that became more Protestant over time. This had the effect of aligning England with Scotland, which also gradually adopted a Protestant religion, whereas the most important continental powers, France and Spain, remained Roman Catholic.

The "Tudor conquest" (or reconquest) of Ireland' took place under the Tudor dynasty. Following a failed rebellion against the crown by Silken Thomas, the Earl of Kildare, in the 1530s, Henry VIII was declared King of Ireland in 1542 by statute of the Parliament of Ireland, with the aim of restoring such central authority as had been lost throughout the country during the previous two centuries.

Calais, the last remaining continental possession of the Kingdom, was lost in 1558, during the reign of Philip and Mary I. Their successor, Elizabeth I, consolidated the new and increasingly Protestant Church of England. She also began to build up the kingdom's naval strength, on the foundations Henry VIII had laid down. By 1588, her new navy was strong enough to defeat the Spanish Armada, which had sought to invade England to halt English support for the Dutch rebels and to put a Catholic monarch on the throne in her place.

The House of Tudor ended with the death of Elizabeth I on 24 March 1603. James I ascended the throne of England and brought it into personal union with the Kingdom of Scotland. Despite the Union of the Crowns, the kingdoms remained separate and independent states: a state of affairs which lasted for more than a century.

Cromwell at Dunbar. Oliver Cromwell united the whole of the British Isles by force and created the Commonwealth of England.

The Stuart kings overestimated the power of the English monarchy, and were cast down by Parliament in 1645 and 1688. In the first instance, Charles I's introduction of new forms of taxation in defiance of Parliament led to the English Civil War (1641-45), in which the king was defeated, and to the abolition of the monarchy under Oliver Cromwell during the Interregnum of 1649-1660.

Meanwhile, relations with the Dutch Republic had deteriorated. Despite initial English support during the Dutch War of Independence against the Spanish, tensions arose as the Dutch Republic emerged as England's principal commercial and naval rival. By the mid-17th century, it had become the foremost trading nation. In response the English, alarmed by their waning competitiveness, implemented stricter trading policies to curb Dutch dominance. The First Anglo-Dutch War which followed, however, failed to resolve the commercial issues.

In April 1653 Cromwell and the other of the New Model Army, frustrated with the members of the Rump Parliament who would not pass legislation to dissolve the Rump and to allow a new more representative parliament to be elected, stopped the Rump's session and declared the Rump dissolved.

After an experiment with a Nominated Assembly ( Barebone's Parliament), the Grandees in the Army, through the Council of State imposed a new constitutional arrangement under a written constitution called the Instrument of Government. Under the Instrument of Government executive power lay with a Lord Protector (an office to be held for the life of the incumbent) and there were to be triennial Parliaments, with each sitting for at least five months. Article 23 of the Instrument of Government stated that Oliver Cromwell was to be the first Lord Protector. The Instrument of Government was replaced by a second constitution (the Humble Petition and Advice) under which the Lord Protector could nominate his successor. Cromwell nominated his son Richard who became Lord Protector on the death of Oliver on 3 September 1658.

Charles sailed from his exile in the Netherlands to his restoration in England in May 1660. Painting by Lieve Verschuier.

Richard proved to be ineffectual and was unable to maintain his rule. He resigned his title and retired into obscurity. The Rump Parliament was recalled and there was a second period where the executive power lay with the Council of state. But this restoration of Commonwealth rule, similar to that before the Protectorate, proved to be unstable, and the exiled claimant, Charles II, was restored to the throne in 1660.

Following the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, an attempt by James II to reintroduce Roman Catholicism-a century after its suppression by the Tudors-led to the Glorious Revolution of 1688, in which he was exiled by the Dutch prince William of Orange. William and his wife Mary were subsequently crowned by Parliament. William reoriented England's foreign policy to support the Dutch Republic in its wars against Louis XIV of France.

In the Scottish case, the attractions were partly financial and partly to do with removing English trade sanctions put in place through the Alien Act 1705. The English were more anxious about the royal succession. The death of William III in 1702 had led to the accession of his sister-in-law Anne to the thrones of England and Scotland, but her only surviving child had died in 1700, and the English Act of Settlement 1701 had given the succession to the English crown to the Protestant House of Hanover. Securing the same succession in Scotland became the primary object of English strategic thinking towards Scotland. By 1704, the Union of the Crowns was in crisis, with the Scottish Act of Security allowing for the Scottish Parliament to choose a different monarch, which could in turn lead to an independent foreign policy during a major European war.

Unlike the partly self-governing boroughs that covered urban areas, the counties of medieval England existed primarily as a means of enforcing central government power, enabling monarchs to exercise control over local areas through their chosen representatives - originally sheriffs and later the lord-lieutenants - and their subordinate justices of the peace. Counties were used initially for the administration of justice, collection of taxes and organisation of the military, and later for local government and electing parliamentary representation. Some outlying counties were from time to time accorded palatine status with some military and central government functions vested in a local noble or bishop. The last such, the County Palatine of Durham, did not lose this special status until the 19th century.

Although all of England was divided into shires by the time of the Norman Conquest, some counties were formed considerably later, up to the 16th century. Because of their differing origins the counties varied considerably in size. The county boundaries were fairly static between the 16th century Laws in Wales acts and the Local Government Act 1888. Each shire was responsible for gathering taxes for the central government; for local defence; and for justice, through assize courts.

The power of the feudal barons to control their landholding was considerably weakened in 1290 by the statute of Quia Emptores. Feudal baronies became perhaps obsolete (but not extinct) on the abolition of feudal tenure during the Civil War, as confirmed by the Tenures Abolition Act 1660 passed under the Restoration which took away knight-service and other legal rights. Tenure by knight-service was abolished and discharged and the lands covered by such tenures, including once-feudal baronies, were henceforth held by socage ( i.e., in exchange for monetary rents). The English Fitzwalter Case in 1670 ruled that barony by tenure had been discontinued for many years and any claims to a peerage on such basis, meaning a right to sit in the House of Lords, were not to be revived, nor any right of succession based on them.

At the same time the Council of Wales was created in 1472, a Council of the North was set up for the northern counties of England. After falling into disuse, it was re-established in 1537 and abolished in 1641. A very short-lived Council of the West also existed for the West Country between 1537 and 1540.

In the Anglo-Saxon period, the geld or property tax was first levied in response to Danish invasions but later became a regular tax. The majority of the king's income derived from the royal demesne and the annual " farm" from each shire (the fixed sum paid by sheriffs for the privilege of administering and profiting from royal lands). Kings also made income from judicial fines and regulation of trade. People owed the king service in the form of the trinoda necessitas- fyrd service, burh building, and bridge building.

In the Anglo-Saxon period, England had no standing army. The king and magnates retained professional household troops ( see housecarl), and all free men were obligated to perform military service in the fyrd. In addition, holders of bookland were obligated to provide a certain number of men based on the number of hides they owned.

After the Norman Conquest, the king's household troops remained central to any royal army. The Anglo-Saxon fyrd also remained in use. But the Normans also introduced a new feudal element to the English military. The king's tenants-in-chief (his feudal barons) were obligated to provide mounted knights for service in the royal army or to garrison royal castles. The total number of knights owed was called the servitium debitum (Latin: "service owed"), and historian Richard Huscroft estimates this number was around 5,000. In reality, the servitium debitum was greater than any king would actually need in wartime. Its main purpose was for assessing how much scutage the king was owed. Scutage was used to pay for mercenaries, which were an important part of any Norman army.

Douglas, David C. (1964). William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England. Berkeley: University of California Press. OCLC 399137.

Giles, J.A. (1914). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle . London: G. Bell and Sonson. p. - via Wikisource.

Jolliffe, J. E. A. (1961). The Constitutional History of Medieval England from the English Settlement to 1485 (4th ed.). Adams and Charles Black.

Mock, Steven (2011). Symbols of Defeat in the Construction of National Identity. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107013360. OCLC 1097164619.

Nelson, Lynn H. (1966). The Normans in South Wales, 1070-1171. Austin and London: University of Texas Press.

Prestwich, Michael (1997). Edward I. English Monarchs (Revised Second ed.). Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-3000-7209-9. OL 704063M.

Ramsay, James Hill (1908). "Henry III, A.D. 1237-1241". The Dawn of the Constitution or The Reigns of Henry III and Edward I (A.D. 1216 - 1307). The Scholar's History of England: Volume IV. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co. pp. 82-83.

Seward, Desmond (1978). The Hundred Years War: The English in France, 1337-1453. New York: Atheneum.

Williams, Glanmor (1993). Renewal and reformation : Wales, c.1415-1642. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192852779.

Israel, Jonathan (1989a). Dutch Primacy in World Trade, 1585-1740 (E-book ed.). Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780191591822.

Israel, Jonathan (1989b). The Dutch Republic and the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688/89 in England. Greenwich: Trustees National Maritime Museum. pp. 31-44. ISBN 978-0948065033.

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The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the early 10th century, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, which would later become the United Kingdom.

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This talks about how England remained a primarily agricultural economy

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GDP per capita in England, from 1270 to 1530

The medieval English saw their economy as comprising three groups - the clergy, who prayed; the knights, who fought; and the peasants, who worked the land and towns involved in international trade. Over the five centuries of the Middle Ages, the English economy would at first grow and then suffer an acute crisis, resulting in significant political and economic change. Despite economic dislocation in urban and extraction economies, including shifts in the holders of wealth and the location of these economies, the economic output of towns and mines developed and intensified over the period. By the end of the period, England had a weak government, by later standards, overseeing an economy dominated by rented farms controlled by gentry, and a thriving community of indigenous English merchants and corporations.

The 12th and 13th centuries saw a small development of the English economy. This was partially driven by the growth in the population from around 1.5 million at the time of the creation of the Domesday Book in 1086 to between 4 and 5 million in 1300. England remained a primarily agricultural economy, with the rights of major landowners and the duties of serfs increasingly enshrined in English law. More land, much of it at the expense of the royal forests, was brought into production to feed the growing population or to produce wool for export to Europe. Many hundreds of new towns, some of them planned, sprung up across England, supporting the creation of guilds, charter fairs and other important medieval institutions. The descendants of the Jewish financiers who had first come to England with William the Conqueror played a significant role in the growing economy, along with the new Cistercian and Augustinian religious orders that came to become major players in the wool trade of the north. Mining increased in England, with the silver boom of the 12th century helping to fuel a fast-expanding currency.

Economic growth began to falter by the end of the 13th century, owing to a combination of over-population, land shortages and depleted soils. The loss of life in the Great Famine of 1315-17 shook the English economy severely and population growth ceased; the first outbreak of the Black Death in 1348 then killed around half the English population, with major implications for the post-plague economy. The agricultural sector shrank, with higher wages, lower prices and shrinking profits leading to the final demise of the old demesne system and the advent of the modern farming system of cash rents for lands. The Peasants Revolt of 1381 shook the older feudal order and limited the levels of royal taxation considerably for a century to come. The 15th century saw the growth of the English cloth industry and the establishment of a new class of international English merchant, increasingly based in London and the South-West, prospering at the expense of the older, shrinking economy of the eastern towns. These new trading systems brought about the end of many of the international fairs and the rise of the chartered company. Together with improvements in metalworking and shipbuilding, this represents the end of the medieval economy, and the beginnings of the early modern period in English economics.

William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, defeating the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings and placing the country under Norman rule. This campaign was followed by fierce military operations known as the Harrying of the North in 1069-70, extending Norman authority across the north of England. William's system of government was broadly feudal in that the right to possess land was linked to service to the king, but in many other ways the invasion did little to alter the nature of the English economy. Most of the damage done in the invasion was in the north and the west of England, some of it still recorded as "wasteland" in 1086. Many of the key features of the English agricultural and financial system remained in place in the decades immediately after the conquest.

Agriculture formed the bulk of the English economy at the time of the Norman invasion. Twenty years after the invasion, 35% of England was covered in arable land, 25% was put to pasture, 15% was covered by woodlands and the remaining 25% was predominantly moorland, fens and heaths. Wheat was the single most important arable crop, but rye, barley and oats were also cultivated extensively. In the more fertile parts of the country, such as the Thames valley, the Midlands and the east of England, legumes and beans were also cultivated. Sheep, cattle, oxen and pigs were kept on English holdings, although most of these breeds were much smaller than modern equivalents and most would have been slaughtered in winter.

In the century prior to the Norman invasion, England's great estates, owned by the king, bishops, monasteries and thegns, had been slowly broken up as a consequence of inheritance, wills, marriage settlements or church purchases. Most of the smaller landowning nobility lived on their properties and managed their own estates. The pre-Norman landscape had seen a trend away from isolated hamlets and towards larger villages engaged in arable cultivation in a band running north-south across England. These new villages had adopted an open field system in which fields were divided into small strips of land, individually owned, with crops rotated between the field each year and the local woodlands and other common lands carefully managed. Agricultural land on a manor was divided between some fields that the landowner would manage and cultivate directly, called demesne land, and the majority of the fields that would be cultivated by local peasants, who would pay rent to the landowner either through agricultural labour on the lord's demesne fields or through cash or produce. Around 6,000 watermills of varying power and efficiency had been built in order to grind flour, freeing up peasant labour for other more productive agricultural tasks. The early English economy was not a subsistence economy and many crops were grown by peasant farmers for sale to the early English towns.

The Normans initially did not significantly alter the operation of the manor or the village economy. William reassigned large tracts of land amongst the Norman elite, creating vast estates in some areas, particularly along the Welsh border and in Sussex. The biggest change in the years after the invasion was the rapid reduction in the number of slaves being held in England. In the 10th century slaves had been very numerous, although their number had begun to diminish as a result of economic and religious pressure. Nonetheless, the new Norman aristocracy proved harsh landlords. The wealthier, formerly more independent Anglo-Saxon peasants found themselves rapidly sinking down the economic hierarchy, swelling the numbers of unfree workers, or serfs, forbidden to leave their manor and seek alternative employment. Those Anglo-Saxon nobles who had survived the invasion itself were rapidly assimilated into the Norman elite or economically crushed.

The Normans also established the royal forests. In Anglo-Saxon times there had been special woods for hunting called "hays", but the Norman forests were much larger and backed by legal mandate. The new forests were not necessarily heavily wooded but were defined instead by their protection and exploitation by the crown. The Norman forests were subject to special royal jurisdiction; forest law was "harsh and arbitrary, a matter purely for the King's will". Forests were expected to supply the king with hunting grounds, raw materials, goods and money. Revenue from forest rents and fines came to become extremely significant and forest wood was used for castles and royal ship building. Several forests played a key role in mining, such as the iron mining and working in the Forest of Dean and lead mining in the Forest of High Peak. Several other groups bound up economically with forests; many monasteries had special rights in particular forests, for example for hunting or tree felling. The royal forests were accompanied by the rapid creation of locally owned parks and chases.

Although primarily rural, England had a number of old, economically important towns in 1066. A large amount of trade came through the Eastern towns, including London, York, Winchester, Lincoln, Norwich, Ipswich and Thetford. Much of this trade was with France, the Low Countries and Germany, but the North-East of England traded with partners as far away as Sweden. Cloth was already being imported to England before the invasion through the mercery trade.

Some towns, such as York, suffered from Norman sacking during William's northern campaigns. Other towns saw the widespread demolition of houses to make room for new motte and bailey fortifications, as was the case in Lincoln. The Norman invasion also brought significant economic changes with the arrival of the first Jews to English cities. William I brought over wealthy Jews from the Rouen community in Normandy to settle in London, apparently to carry out financial services for the crown. In the years immediately after the invasion, a lot of wealth was drawn out of England in various ways by the Norman rulers and reinvested in Normandy, making William immensely wealthy as an individual ruler.

The minting of coins was decentralised in the Saxon period; every borough was mandated to have a mint and therefore a centre for trading in bullion. Nonetheless, there was strict royal control over these moneyers, and coin dies could only be made in London. William retained this process and generated a high standard of Norman coins, leading to the use of the term "sterling" as the name for the Norman silver coins.

William I inherited the Anglo-Saxon system in which the king drew his revenues from: a mixture of customs; profits from re-minting coinage; fines; profits from his own demesne lands; and the system of English land-based taxation called the geld. William reaffirmed this system, enforcing collection of the geld through his new system of sheriffs and increasing the taxes on trade. William was also famous for commissioning the Domesday Book in 1086, a vast document which attempted to record the economic condition of his new kingdom.

The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of huge economic growth in England. The population of England rose from around 1.5 million in 1086 to around 4 or 5 million in 1300, stimulating increased agricultural outputs and the export of raw materials to Europe. In contrast to the previous two centuries, England was relatively secure from invasion. Except for the years of the Anarchy, most military conflicts either had only localised economic impact or proved only temporarily disruptive. English economic thinking remained conservative, seeing the economy as consisting of three groups: the ordines, those who fought, or the nobility; laboratores, those who worked, in particular the peasantry; and oratores, those who prayed, or the clerics. Trade and merchants played little part in this model and were frequently vilified at the start of the period, although they were increasingly tolerated towards the end of the 13th century.

Agriculture remained by far the most important part of the English economy during the 12th and 13th centuries. There remained a wide variety in English agriculture, influenced by local geography; in areas where grain could not be grown, other resources were exploited instead. In the Weald, for example, agriculture centred on grazing animals on the woodland pastures, whilst in the Fens fishing and bird-hunting was supplemented by basket-making and peat-cutting. In some locations, such as Lincolnshire and Droitwich, salt manufacture was important, including production for the export market. Fishing became an important trade along the English coast, especially in Great Yarmouth and Scarborough, and the herring was a particularly popular catch; salted at the coast, it could then be shipped inland or exported to Europe. Piracy between competing English fishing fleets was not unknown during the period. Sheep were the most common farm animal in England during the period, their numbers doubling by the 14th century. Sheep became increasingly widely used for wool, particularly in the Welsh borders, Lincolnshire and the Pennines. Pigs remained popular on holdings because of their ability to scavenge for food. Oxen remained the primary plough animal, with horses used more widely on farms in the south of England towards the end of the 12th century. Rabbits were introduced from France in the 13th century and farmed for their meat in special warrens.

The underlying productivity of English agriculture remained low, despite the increases in food production. Wheat prices fluctuated heavily year to year, depending on local harvests; up to a third of the grain produced in England was potentially for sale, and much of it ended up in the growing towns. Despite their involvement in the market, even the wealthiest peasants prioritised spending on housing and clothing, with little left for other personal consumption. Records of household belongings show most possessing only "old, worn-out and mended utensils" and tools.

The royal forests grew in size for much of the 12th century, before contracting in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Henry I extended the size and scope of royal forests, especially in Yorkshire; after the Anarchy of 1135-53, Henry II continued to expand the forests until they comprised around 20% of England. In 1217 the Charter of the Forest was enacted, in part to mitigate the worst excesses of royal jurisdiction, and established a more structured range of fines and punishments for peasants who illegally hunted or felled trees in the forests. By the end of the century the king had come under increasing pressure to reduce the size of the royal forests, leading to the " Great Perambulation" around 1300; this significantly reduced the extent to the forests, and by 1334 they were only around two-thirds the size they had been in 1250. Royal revenue streams from the shrinking forests diminished considerably in the early 14th century.

Sheep, shown here c. 1250, became increasingly important to English agriculture.

The Normans retained and reinforced the manorial system with its division between demesne and peasant lands paid for in agricultural labour. Landowners could profit from the sales of goods from their demesne lands and a local lord could also expect to receive income from fines and local customs, whilst more powerful nobles profited from their own regional courts and rights.

During the 12th century major landowners tended to rent out their demesne lands for money, motivated by static prices for produce and the chaos of the Anarchy between 1135 and 1153. This practice began to alter in the 1180s and 1190s, spurred by the greater political stability. In the first years of John's reign, agricultural prices almost doubled, at once increasing the potential profits on the demesne estates and also increasing the cost of living for the landowners themselves. Landowners now attempted wherever possible to bring their demesne lands back into direct management, creating a system of administrators and officials to run their new system of estates.

New land was brought into cultivation to meet demand for food, including drained marshes and fens, such as Romney Marsh, the Somerset Levels and the Fens; royal forests from the late 12th century onwards; and poorer lands in the north, south-west and in the Welsh Marches. The first windmills in England began to appear along the south and east coasts in the 12th century, expanding in number in the 13th, adding to the mechanised power available to the manors. By 1300 it has been estimated that there were more than 10,000 watermills in England, used both for grinding corn and for fulling cloth. Fish ponds were created on most estates to provide freshwater fish for the consumption of the nobility and church; these ponds were extremely expensive to create and maintain. Improved ways of running estates began to be circulated and were popularised in Walter de Henley's famous book Le Dite de Hosebondrie, written around 1280. In some regions and under some landowners, investment and innovation increased yields significantly through improved ploughing and fertilisers - particularly in Norfolk, where yields eventually equalled later 18th-century levels.

The Church in England was a major landowner throughout the medieval period and played an important part in the development of agriculture and rural trade in the first two centuries of Norman rule. The Cistercian order first arrived in England in 1128, establishing around 80 new monastic houses over the next few years; the wealthy Augustinians also established themselves and expanded to occupy around 150 houses, all supported by agricultural estates, many of them in the north of England. By the 13th century these and other orders were acquiring new lands and had become major economic players both as landowners and as middlemen in the expanding wool trade. In particular, the Cistercians led the development of the grange system. Granges were separate manors in which the fields were all cultivated by the monastic officials, rather than being divided up between demesne and rented fields, and became known for trialling new agricultural techniques during the period. Elsewhere, many monasteries had significant economic impact on the landscape, such as the monks of Glastonbury, responsible for the draining of the Somerset Levels to create new pasture land.

The military crusading order of the Knights Templar also held extensive property in England, bringing in around £2,200 per annum by the time of their fall. It comprised primarily rural holdings rented out for cash, but also included some urban properties in London. Following the dissolution of the Templar order in France by Philip IV of France, Edward II ordered their properties to be seized and passed to the Hospitaller order in 1313, but in practice many properties were taken by local landowners and the hospital was still attempting to reclaim them twenty-five years later.

The Church was responsible for the system of tithes, a levy of 10% on "all agrarian produce... other natural products gained via labour... wages received by servants and labourers, and to the profits of rural merchants". Tithes gathered in the form of produce could be either consumed by the recipient, or sold on and bartered for other resources. The tithe was relatively onerous for the typical peasant, although in many instances the actual levy fell below the desired 10%. Many clergy moved to the towns as part of the urban growth of the period, and by 1300 around one in twenty city dwellers was a clergyman. One effect of the tithe was to transfer a considerable amount of agriculture wealth into the cities, where it was then spent by these urban clergy. The need to sell tithe produce that could not be consumed by the local clergy also spurred the growth of trade.

Mining did not make up a large part of the English medieval economy, but the 12th and 13th centuries saw an increased demand for metals in the country, thanks to the considerable population growth and building construction, including the great cathedrals and churches. Four metals were mined commercially in England during the period, namely iron, tin, lead and silver; coal was also mined from the 13th century onwards, using a variety of refining techniques.

Iron mining occurred in several locations, including the main English centre in the Forest of Dean, as well as in Durham and the Weald. Some iron to meet English demand was also imported from the continent, especially by the late 13th century. By the end of the 12th century, the older method of acquiring iron ore through strip mining was being supplemented by more advanced techniques, including tunnels, trenches and bell-pits. Iron ore was usually locally processed at a bloomery, and by the 14th century the first water-powered iron forge in England was built at Chingley. As a result of the diminishing woodlands and consequent increases in the cost of both wood and charcoal, demand for coal increased in the 12th century and it began to be commercially produced from bell-pits and strip mining.

A silver boom occurred in England after the discovery of silver near Carlisle in 1133. Huge quantities of silver were produced from a semicircle of mines reaching across Cumberland, Durham and Northumberland - up to three to four tonnes of silver were mined each year, more than ten times the previous annual production across the whole of Europe. The result was a local economic boom and a major uplift to 12th-century royal finances. Tin mining was centred in Cornwall and Devon, exploiting alluvial deposits and governed by the special Stannary Courts and Parliaments. Tin formed a valuable export good, initially to Germany and then later in the 14th century to the Low Countries. Lead was usually mined as a by-product of mining for silver, with mines in Yorkshire, Durham and the north, as well as in Devon. Economically fragile, the lead mines usually survived as a result of being subsidised by silver production.

After the end of the Anarchy, the number of small towns in England began to increase sharply. By 1297, 120 new towns had been established, and in 1350 - by when the expansion had effectively ceased - there were around 500 towns in England. Many of these new towns were centrally planned: Richard I created Portsmouth, John founded Liverpool, and successive monarchs followed with Harwich, Stony Stratford, Dunstable, Royston, Baldock, Wokingham, Maidenhead and Reigate. The new towns were usually located with access to trade routes in mind, rather than defence, and the streets were laid out to make access to the town's market convenient. A growing percentage of England's population lived in urban areas; estimates suggest that this rose from around 5.5% in 1086 to up to 10% in 1377.

London held a special status within the English economy. The nobility purchased and consumed many luxury goods and services in the capital, and as early as the 1170s the London markets were providing exotic products such as spices, incense, palm oil, gems, silks, furs and foreign weapons. London was also an important hub for industrial activity; it had many blacksmiths making a wide range of goods, including decorative ironwork and early clocks. Pewter-working, using English tin and lead, was also widespread in London during the period. The provincial towns also had a substantial number of trades by the end of the 13th century - a large town like Coventry, for example, contained over three hundred different specialist occupations, and a smaller town such as Durham could support some sixty different professions. The increasing wealth of the nobility and the church was reflected in the widespread building of cathedrals and other prestigious buildings in the larger towns, in turn making use of lead from English mines for roofing.

Land transport remained much more expensive than river or sea transport during the period. Many towns in this period, including York, Exeter and Lincoln, were linked to the oceans by navigable rivers and could act as seaports, with Bristol's port coming to dominate the lucrative trade in wine with Gascony by the 13th century, but shipbuilding generally remained on a modest scale and economically unimportant to England at this time. Transport remained very costly in comparison to the overall price of products. By the 13th century, groups of common carriers ran carting businesses, and carting brokers existed in London to link traders and carters. These used the four major land routes crossing England: Ermine Street, the Fosse Way, Icknield Street and Watling Street. A large number of bridges were built during the 12th century to improve the trade network.

In the 13th century, England was still primarily supplying raw materials for export to Europe, rather than finished or processed goods. There were some exceptions, such as very high-quality cloths from Stamford and Lincoln, including the famous "Lincoln Scarlet" dyed cloth. Despite royal efforts to encourage it, however, barely any English cloth was being exported by 1347.

There was a gradual reduction in the number of locations allowed to mint coins in England; under Henry II, only 30 boroughs were still able to use their own moneyers, and the tightening of controls continued throughout the 13th century. By the reign of Edward I there were only nine mints outside London and the king created a new official called the Master of the Mint to oversee these and the thirty furnaces operating in London to meet the demand for new coins. The amount of money in circulation hugely increased in this period; before the Norman invasion there had been around £50,000 in circulation as coin, but by 1311 this had risen to more than £1 million. At any particular point in time, though, much of this currency might be being stored prior to being used to support military campaigns or to be sent overseas to meet payments, resulting in bursts of temporary deflation as coins ceased to circulate within the English economy. One physical consequence of the growth in the coinage was that coins had to be manufactured in large numbers, being moved in barrels and sacks to be stored in local treasuries for royal use as the king travelled.

The first English guilds emerged during the early 12th century. These guilds were fraternities of craftsmen that set out to manage their local affairs including "prices, workmanship, the welfare of its workers, and the suppression of interlopers and sharp practices". Amongst these early guilds were the "guilds merchants", who ran the local markets in towns and represented the merchant community in discussions with the crown. Other early guilds included the "craft guilds", representing specific trades. By 1130 there were major weavers' guilds in six English towns, as well as a fullers' guild in Winchester. Over the following decades more guilds were created, often becoming increasingly involved in both local and national politics, although the guilds merchants were largely replaced by official groups established by new royal charters.

The craft guilds required relatively stable markets and a relative equality of income and opportunity amongst their members to function effectively. By the 14th century these conditions were increasingly uncommon. The first strains were seen in London, where the old guild system began to collapse - more trade was being conducted at a national level, making it hard for craftsmen to both manufacture goods and trade in them, and there were growing disparities in incomes between the richer and poorer craftsmen. As a result, under Edward III many guilds became companies or livery companies, chartered companies focusing on trade and finance, leaving the guild structures to represent the interests of the smaller, poorer manufacturers.

The market place at Bridgnorth, one of many medieval English towns to be granted the right to hold fairs, in this case annually on the feast of the Translation of St. Leonard

The period also saw the development of charter fairs in England, which reached their heyday in the 13th century. From the 12th century onwards, many English towns acquired a charter from the Crown allowing them to hold an annual fair, usually serving a regional or local customer base and lasting for two or three days. The practice increased in the next century and over 2,200 charters were issued to markets and fairs by English kings between 1200 and 1270. Fairs grew in popularity as the international wool trade increased: the fairs allowed English wool producers and ports on the east coast to engage with visiting foreign merchants, circumnavigating those English merchants in London keen to make a profit as middlemen. At the same time, wealthy magnate consumers in England began to use the new fairs as a way to buy goods like spices, wax, preserved fish and foreign cloth in bulk from the international merchants at the fairs, again bypassing the usual London merchants.

Some fairs grew into major international events, falling into a set sequence during the economic year, with the Stamford fair in Lent, St Ives' in Easter, Boston's in July, Winchester's in September and Northampton's in November, with the many smaller fairs falling in-between. Although not as large as the famous Champagne fairs in France, these English "great fairs" were still huge events; St Ives' Great Fair, for example, drew merchants from Flanders, Brabant, Norway, Germany and France for a four-week event each year, turning the normally small town into "a major commercial emporium".

The structure of the fairs reflected the importance of foreign merchants in the English economy and by 1273 only one-third of the English wool trade was actually controlled by English merchants. Between 1280 and 1320 the trade was primarily dominated by Italian merchants, but by the early 14th century German merchants had begun to present serious competition to the Italians. The Germans formed a self-governing alliance of merchants in London called the " Hanse of the Steelyard" - the eventual Hanseatic League - and their role was confirmed under the Great Charter of 1303, which exempted them from paying the customary tolls for foreign merchants. One response to this was the creation of the Company of the Staple, a group of merchants established in English-held Calais in 1314 with royal approval, who were granted a monopoly on wool sales to Europe.

Clifford's Tower in the city of York, a major hub for Jewish economic activity and the site of an early Jewish pogrom in 1190

The Jewish community in England continued to provide essential money-lending and banking services that were otherwise banned by the usury laws, and grew in the 12th century by Jewish immigrants fleeing the fighting around Rouen. The Jewish community spread beyond London to eleven major English cities, primarily the major trading hubs in the east of England with functioning mints, all with suitable castles for protection of the often persecuted Jewish minority. By the time of the Anarchy and the reign of Stephen, the communities were flourishing and providing financial loans to the king.

Under Henry II, the Jewish financial community continued to grow richer still. All major towns had Jewish centres, and even smaller towns, such as Windsor, saw visits by travelling Jewish merchants. Henry II used the Jewish community as "instruments for the collection of money for the Crown", and placed them under royal protection. The Jewish community at York lent extensively to fund the Cistercian order's acquisition of land and prospered considerably. Some Jewish merchants grew extremely wealthy, Aaron of Lincoln so much that upon his death a special royal department had to be established to unpick his financial holdings and affairs.

By the end of Henry's reign the king ceased to borrow from the Jewish community and instead turned to an aggressive campaign of tallage taxation and fines. Financial and anti-Semite violence grew under Richard I. After the massacre of the York community, in which numerous financial records were destroyed, seven towns were nominated to separately store Jewish bonds and money records and this arrangement ultimately evolved into the Exchequer of the Jews. After an initially peaceful start to John's reign, the king again began to extort money from the Jewish community, imprisoning the wealthier members, including Isaac of Norwich, until a huge, new taillage was paid. During the Baron's War of 1215-17, the Jews were subjected to fresh anti-Semitic attacks. Henry III restored some order and Jewish money-lending became sufficiently successful again to allow fresh taxation. The Jewish community became poorer towards the end of the century and was finally expelled from England in 1290 by Edward I, being largely replaced by foreign merchants.

During the 12th century the Norman kings attempted to formalise the feudal governance system initially created after the invasion. After the invasion the king had enjoyed a combination of income from his own demesne lands, the Anglo-Saxon geld tax and fines. Successive kings found that they needed additional revenues, especially in order to pay for mercenary forces. One way of doing this was to exploit the feudal system, and kings adopted the French feudal aid model, a levy of money imposed on feudal subordinates when necessary; another method was to exploit the scutage system, in which feudal military service could be transmuted to a cash payment to the king. Taxation was also an option, although the old geld tax was increasingly ineffective due to a growing number of exemptions. Instead, a succession of kings created alternative land taxes, such as the tallage and carucage taxes. These were increasingly unpopular and, along with the feudal charges, were condemned and constrained in Magna Carta of 1215. As part of the formalisation of the royal finances, Henry I created the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a post which would lead to the maintenance of the Pipe rolls, a set of royal financial records of lasting significance to historians in tracking both royal finances and medieval prices.

Royal revenue streams still proved insufficient and from the middle of the 13th century there was a shift away from the earlier land-based tax system towards one based on a mixture of indirect and direct taxation. At the same time, Henry III had introduced the practice of consulting with leading nobles on tax issues, leading to the system whereby the Parliament of England agreed on new taxes when required. In 1275, the "Great and Ancient Custom" began to tax woollen products and hides, with the Great Charter of 1303 imposing additional levies on foreign merchants in England, with the poundage tax introduced in 1347. In 1340, the discredited tallage tax system was finally abolished by Edward III. Assessing the total impact of changes to royal revenues between 1086 and 1290 is difficult. At best, Edward I was struggling in 1300 to match in real terms the revenues that Henry II had enjoyed in 1100, and considering the growth in the size of the English economy, the king's share of the national income had dropped considerably.

In the English towns the burgage tenure for urban properties was established early on in the medieval period, and was based primarily on tenants paying cash rents rather than providing labour services. Further development of a set of taxes that could be raised by the towns included murage for walls, pavage for streets, and pontage, a temporary tax for the repair of bridges. Combined with the lex mercatoria, which was a set of codes and customary practices governing trading, these provided a reasonable basis for the economic governance of the towns.

The 12th century also saw a concerted attempt to curtail the remaining rights of unfree peasant workers and to set out their labour rents more explicitly in the form of the English Common Law. This process resulted in Magna Carta explicitly authorising feudal landowners to settle law cases concerning feudal labour and fines through their own manorial courts rather than through the royal courts. These class relationships between lords and unfree peasants had complex economic implications. Peasant workers resented being unfree, but having continuing access to agricultural land was also important. Under those rare circumstances where peasants were offered a choice between freedom but no land, and continued servitude, not all chose freedom and a minority chose to remain in servitude on the land. Lords benefited economically from their control of the manorial courts and dominating the courts made it easier to manipulate land ownership and rights in their own favour when land became in particularly short supply at the end of this period. Many of the labour duties lords could compel from the local peasant communities became less useful over the period. Duties were fixed by custom, inflexible and understandably resented by the workers involved. As a result, by the end of the 13th century the productivity of such forced labour was significantly lower than that of free labour employed to do the same task. A number of lords responded by seeking to commute the duties of unfree peasants to cash alternatives, with the aim of hiring labour instead.

The Great Famine of 1315 began a number of acute crises in the English agrarian economy. The famine centred on a sequence of harvest failures in 1315, 1316 and 1321 and combined with an outbreak of murrain, a sickness amongst sheep and oxen in 1319-21 and the fatal ergotism, a fungus amongst the remaining stocks of wheat. Many people died in the ensuing famine, and the peasantry were said to have been forced to eat horses, dogs and cats as well as conducted cannibalism against children, although these last reports are usually considered to be exaggerations. Poaching and encroachment on the royal forests surged, sometimes on a mass scale. Sheep and cattle numbers fell by up to a half, significantly reducing the availability of wool and meat, and food prices almost doubled, with grain prices particularly inflated. Food prices remained at similar levels for the next decade. Salt prices also increased sharply due to the wet weather.

Various factors exacerbated the crisis. Economic growth had already begun to slow significantly in the years prior to the crisis and the English rural population was increasingly under economic stress, with around half the peasantry estimated to possess insufficient land to provide them with a secure livelihood. Where additional land was being brought into cultivation, or existing land cultivated more intensively, the soil may have become exhausted and useless. Bad weather also played an important part in the disaster; 1315-16 and 1318 saw torrential rains and an incredibly cold winter, which in combination badly impacted on harvests and stored supplies. The rains of these years were followed by drought in the 1320s and another fierce winter in 1321, complicating recovery. Disease, independent of the famine, was also high during the period, striking at the wealthier as well as the poorer classes. The commencement of war with France in 1337 only added to the economic difficulties. The Great Famine firmly reversed the population growth of the 12th and 13th centuries and left a domestic economy that was "profoundly shaken, but not destroyed".[dubious ]

The Black Death epidemic first arrived in England in 1348, re-occurring in waves during 1360-62, 1368-69, 1375 and more sporadically thereafter. The most immediate economic impact of this disaster was the widespread loss of life, between around 27% mortality amongst the upper classes, to 40-70% amongst the peasantry. Despite the very high loss of life, few settlements were abandoned during the epidemic itself, but many were badly affected or nearly eliminated altogether. The medieval authorities did their best to respond in an organised fashion, but the economic disruption was immense. Building work ceased and many mining operations paused. In the short term, efforts were taken by the authorities to control wages and enforce pre-epidemic working conditions. Coming on top of the previous years of famine, however, the longer-term economic implications were profound. In contrast to the previous centuries of rapid growth, the English population would not begin to recover for over a century, despite the many positive reasons for a resurgence. The crisis would dramatically affect English agriculture, wages and prices for the remainder of the medieval period.

The events of the crisis between 1290 and 1348 and the subsequent epidemics produced many challenges for the English economy. In the decades after the disaster, the economic and social issues arising from the Black Death combined with the costs of the Hundred Years War resulted in the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Although the revolt was suppressed, it undermined many of the vestiges of the feudal economic order, and the countryside became dominated by estates organised as farms, frequently owned or rented by the new economic class of the gentry. The English agricultural economy remained depressed throughout the 15th century; growth at this time came from the greatly increased English cloth trade and manufacturing. The economic consequences of this varied considerably from region to region, but generally London, the South and the West prospered at the expense of the Eastern and the older cities. The role of merchants and trade became increasingly seen as important to the country, and usury gradually became more widely accepted, with English economic thinking increasingly influenced by Renaissance humanist theories.

Even before the end of the first outbreak of the Black Death, there were efforts by the authorities to stem the upward pressure on wages and prices, with parliament passing the emergency Ordinance of Labourers in 1349 and the Statute of Labourers in 1351. The efforts to regulate the economy continued as wages and prices rose, putting pressure on the landed classes, and in 1363 parliament attempted unsuccessfully to centrally regulate craft production, trading and retailing. A rising amount of the royal courts' time was involved in enforcing the failing labour legislation - as much as 70% by the 1370s. Many land owners attempted to vigorously enforce rents payable through agricultural service rather than money through their local manor courts, leading to attempts by many village communities to legally challenge local feudal practices using the Domesday Book as a legal basis for their claims. With the wages of the lower classes still rising, the government also attempted to regulate demand and consumption by reinstating the sumptuary laws in 1363. These laws banned the lower classes from consuming certain products or wearing high-status clothes, and reflected the significance of the consumption of high-quality breads, ales and fabrics as a way of signifying social class in the late medieval period.

The 1370s also saw the government facing difficulties in funding the war with France. The impact of the Hundred Years War on the English economy as a whole remains uncertain; one suggestion is that the high taxation required to pay for the conflict "shrunk and depleted" the English economy, whilst others have argued for a more modest or even neutral economic impact for the war. The English government clearly found it difficult to pay for its army and from 1377 turned to a new system of poll taxes, aiming to spread the costs of taxation across the entirety of English society.

Peasants' Revolt of 1381

One result of the economic and political tensions was the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, in which widespread rural discontent was followed by an invasion of London involving thousands of rebels. The rebels had many demands, including the effective end of the feudal institution of serfdom and a cap on the levels of rural rents. The ensuing violence took the political classes by surprise and the revolt was not fully put down until the autumn; up to 7,000 rebels were executed in the aftermath. As a result of the revolt, parliament retreated from the poll tax and instead focused on a system of indirect taxes centring on foreign trade, drawing 80% of tax revenues from the exports of wool. Parliament continued to collect direct tax levies at historically high levels up until 1422, although they reduced them in later years. As a result, successive monarchs found that their tax revenues were uncertain, and Henry VI enjoyed less than half the annual tax revenue of the late 14th century. England's monarchs became increasingly dependent on borrowing and forced loans to meet the gap between taxes and expenditure and even then faced later rebellions over levels of taxation, including the Yorkshire rebellion of 1489 and the Cornish rebellion of 1497 during the reign of Henry VII.

The agricultural sector of the English economy, still by far the largest, was transformed by the Black Death. With the shortage of manpower after the Black Death, wages for agricultural labourers rapidly increased and continued to then grow steadily throughout the 15th century. As their incomes increased, labourers' living conditions and diet improved steadily. A trend for labourers to eat less barley and more wheat and rye, and to replace bread in their diet with more meat, had been apparent since before the Black Death, but intensified during this later period. Nonetheless, England's much smaller population needed less food and the demand for agricultural products fell. The position of the larger landowners became increasingly difficult. Revenues from demesne lands were diminishing as demand remained low and wage costs increased; nobles were also finding it more difficult to raise revenue from their local courts, fines and privileges in the years after the Peasants Revolt of 1381. Despite attempts to increase money rents, by the end of the 14th century the rents paid from peasant lands were also declining, with revenues falling as much as 55% between the 1380s and 1420s.

Noble and church landowners responded in various ways. They began to invest significantly less in agriculture and land was increasingly taken out of production altogether. In some cases entire settlements were abandoned, and nearly 1,500 villages were lost during this period. Landowners also abandoned the system of direct management of their demesne lands, which had begun back in the 1180s, and turned instead to "farming" out large blocks of land for fixed money rents. Initially, livestock and land were rented out together under "stock and lease" contracts, but this was found to be increasingly impractical and contracts for farms became centred purely on land. Many of the rights to church parish tithes were also "farmed" out in exchange for fixed rents. This process was encouraged by the trend for tithe revenues being increasing "appropriated" by central church authorities, rather than being used to support local clergy: around 39% of parish tithes had been centralised in this way by 1535. As the major estates transformed, a new economic grouping, the gentry, became evident, many of them benefiting from the opportunities of the farming system. Land distribution remained heavily unequal; estimates suggest that the English nobility owned 20% of English lands, the Church and Crown 33%, the gentry 25%, and the remainder was owned by peasant farmers. Agriculture itself continued to innovate, and the loss of many English oxen to the murrain sickness in the crisis increased the number of horses used to plough fields in the 14th century, a significant improvement on older methods.

Forests, fishing and mining

The royal forests continued to diminish in size and decline in economic importance in the years after the Black Death. Royal enforcement of forest rights and laws became harder after 1348 and certainly after 1381, and by the 15th century the royal forests were a "shadow of their former selves" in size and economic significance. In contrast, the English fishing industry continued to grow, and by the 15th century domestic merchants and financiers owned fleets of up to a hundred fishing vessels operating from key ports. Herring remained a key fishing catch, although as demand for herring declined with rising prosperity, the fleets began to focus instead on cod and other deep-sea fish from the Icelandic waters. Despite being critical to the fishing industry, salt production in England diminished in the 15th century due to competition from French producers. The use of expensive freshwater fish ponds on estates began to decline during this period, as more of the gentry and nobility opted to purchase freshwater fish from commercial river fisheries.

Mining generally performed well at the end of the medieval period, helped by buoyant demand for manufactured and luxury goods. Cornish tin production plunged during the Black Death itself, leading to a doubling of prices. Tin exports also collapsed catastrophically, but picked up again over the next few years. By the turn of the 16th century, the available alluvial tin deposits in Cornwall and Devon had begun to decline, leading to the commencement of bell and surface mining to support the tin boom that had occurred in the late 15th century. Lead mining increased, and output almost doubled between 1300 and 1500. Wood and charcoal became cheaper once again after the Black Death, and coal production declined as a result, remaining depressed for the rest of the period - nonetheless, some coal production was occurring in all the major English coalfields by the 16th century. Iron production continued to increase; the Weald in the South-East began to make increased use of water-power, and overtook the Forest of Dean in the 15th century as England's main iron-producing region. The first blast furnace in England, a major technical step forward in metal smelting, was created in 1496 in Newbridge in the Weald.

The percentage of England's population living in towns continued to grow but in absolute terms English towns shrunk significantly as a consequence of the Black Death, especially in the formerly prosperous east. The importance of England's Eastern ports declined over the period, as trade from London and the South-West increased in relative significance. Increasingly elaborate road networks were built across England, some involving the construction of up to thirty bridges to cross rivers and other obstacles. Nonetheless, it remained cheaper to move goods by water, and consequently timber was brought to London from as far away as the Baltic, and stone from Caen brought over the Channel to the South of England. Shipbuilding, particular in the South-West, became a major industry for the first time and investment in trading ships such as cogs was probably the single biggest form of late medieval investment in England.

Cloth manufactured in England increasingly dominated European markets during the 15th and early 16th centuries. England exported almost no cloth at all in 1347, but by 1400 around 40,000 cloths a year were being exported - the trade reached its first peak in 1447 when exports reached 60,000. Trade fell slightly during the serious depression of the mid-15th century, but picked up again and reached 130,000 cloths a year by the 1540s. The centres of weaving in England shifted westwards towards the Stour Valley, the West Riding, the Cotswolds and Exeter, away from the former weaving centres in York, Coventry and Norwich.

The wool and cloth trade was primarily now being run by English merchants themselves rather than by foreigners. Increasingly, the trade was also passing through London and the ports of the South-West. By the 1360s, 66-75% of the export trade was in English hands and by the 15th century this had risen to 80%; London managed around 50% of these exports in 1400, and as much as 83% of wool and cloth exports by 1540. The growth in the numbers of chartered trading companies in London, such as the Worshipful Company of Drapers or the Company of Merchant Adventurers of London, continued, and English producers began to provide credit to European buyers, rather than the other way around. Usury grew during the period, and few cases were prosecuted by the authorities.

There were some reversals. The attempts of English merchants to break through the Hanseatic league directly into the Baltic markets failed in the domestic political chaos of the Wars of the Roses in the 1460s and 1470s. The wine trade with Gascony fell by half during the war with France, and the eventual loss of the province brought an end to the English domination of the business and temporary disruption to Bristol's prosperity until wines began to be imported through the city a few years later. Indeed, the disruption to both the Baltic and the Gascon trade contributed to a sharp reduction in the consumption of furs and wine by the English gentry and nobility during the 15th century.

There were advances in manufacturing, especially in the South and West. Despite some French attacks, the war created much coastal prosperity thanks to the huge expenditure on shipbuilding during the war, and the South-West also became a centre for English piracy against foreign vessels. Metalworking continued to grow, and in particular pewter working, which generated exports second only to cloth. By the 15th century pewter working in London was a large industry, with a hundred pewter workers recorded in London alone, and pewter working had also spread from the capital to eleven major cities across England. London goldsmithing remained significant but saw relatively little growth, with around 150 goldsmiths working in London during the period. Iron-working continued to expand and in 1509 the first cast-iron cannon was made in England. This was reflected in the rapid growth in the number of iron-working guilds, from three in 1300 to fourteen by 1422.

The result was a substantial influx of money that in turn encouraged the import of manufactured luxury goods; by 1391 shipments from abroad routinely included "ivory, mirrors, paxes, armour, paper..., painted clothes, spectacles, tin images, razors, calamine, treacle, sugar-candy, marking irons, patens..., ox-horns and quantities of wainscot". Imported spices now formed a part of almost all noble and gentry diets, with the quantities being consumed varying according to the wealth of the household. The English government was also importing large quantities of raw materials, including copper, for manufacturing weapons. Many major landowners tended to focus their efforts on maintaining a single major castle or house rather than the dozens a century before, but these were usually decorated much more luxurious than previously. Major merchants' dwellings, too, were more lavish than in previous years.

Towards the end of the 14th century, the position of fairs began to decline. The larger merchants, particularly in London, began to establish direct links with the larger landowners such as the nobility and the church; rather than the landowner buying from a chartered fair, they would buy directly from the merchant. Meanwhile, the growth of the indigenous England merchant class in the major cities, especially London, gradually crowded out the foreign merchants upon whom the great chartered fairs had largely depended. The crown's control over trade in the towns, especially the emerging newer towns towards the end of the 15th century that lacked central civic government, was increasingly weaker, making chartered status less relevant as more trade occurred from private properties and took place all year around. Nonetheless, the great fairs remained of importance well into the 15th century, as illustrated by their role in exchanging money, regional commerce and in providing choice for individual consumers.

The first studies into the medieval economy of England began in the 1880s, principally around the work of English jurist and historian Frederic Maitland. This scholarship, drawing extensively on documents such as the Domesday Book and Magna Carta, became known as the " Whiggish" view of economic history, focusing on law and government. Late Victorian writers argued that change in the English medieval economy stemmed primarily from the towns and cities, leading to a progressive and universalist interpretation of development over the period, focusing on trade and commerce. Influenced by the evolution of Norman laws, Maitland argued that there was a clear discontinuity between the Anglo-Saxon and Norman economic systems.

In the 1930s the Whiggish view of the English economy was challenged by a group of scholars at the University of Cambridge, led by Eileen Power. Power and her colleagues widened the focus of study from legal and government documents to include "agrarian, archaeological, demographic, settlement, landscape and urban" evidence. This was combined with a neo-positivist and econometric leaning that was at odds with the older Victorian tradition in the subject. Power died in 1940, but Michael Postan, who had previously been her student but later became her husband, brought their work forward, and it came to dominate the post-war field.

Postan argued that demography was the principal driving force in the medieval English economy. In a distinctly Malthusian fashion, Postan proposed that the English agrarian economy saw little technical development during the period and by the early 14th century was unable to support the growing population, leading to inevitable famines and economic depression as the population came back into balance with land resources. Postan began the trend towards stressing continuities between the pre- and post-invasion economies, aided by fresh evidence emerging from the use of archaeological techniques to understand the medieval economy from the 1950s onwards.

A Marxist critique of Postan emerged from the 1950s onwards, captured in the academic journal Past & Present. This school of thought agreed that the agrarian economy was central to medieval England, but argued that agrarian issues had less to do with demography than with the mode of production and feudal class relations. In this model the English economy entered the crisis of the early 14th century because of the struggles between landlords and peasant for resources and excessive extraction of rents by the nobility. Similar issues underpinned the Peasants Revolt of 1381 and later tax rebellions. Historians such as Frank Stenton developed the " honour" as a unit of economic analysis and a focus for understanding feudal relations in peasant communities; Rodney Hilton developed the idea of the rise of the gentry as a key feature for understanding the late medieval period.

Fresh work in the 1970s and 1980s challenged both Postan's and Marxist approaches to the medieval economy. Local studies of medieval economics, often in considerable detail and fusing new archaeological techniques and rescue archaeology with historical sources, often ran counter to their broader interpretations of change and development. The degree to which feudalism really existed and operated in England after the initial years of the invasion was thrown into considerable doubt, with historians such as David Crouch arguing that it existed primarily as a legal and fiscal model, rather than an actual economic system. Sociological and anthropological studies of contemporary economies, including the work of Ester Boserup showed many flaws with Postan's key assumptions about demography and land use. The current academic preference is to see the English medieval economy as an "overlapping network of diverse communities", in which active local choices and decisions are the result of independent agency, rather than a result of historically deterministic processes.

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Woolgar, Christopher. (1995) "Diet and Consumption in Gentry and Noble Households: A Case Study from around the Wash," in Archer and Walker (eds) 1995.

Bolton, J. K. (1980) "The Medieval English Economy. 1150-1500"

Bland, A.E., P.A. Brown and R.H. Tawney, eds. English economic history: select documents (1919). online 733pp; covers 1086 to 1840s.

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Economy of England in the Middle Ages - Wikipedia

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The medieval English saw their economy as comprising three groups - the clergy, who prayed; the knights, who fought; and the peasants, who worked the land and towns involved in international trade. Over the five centuries of the Middle Ages, the English economy would at first grow and then suffer an acute crisis, resulting in significant political and economic change.

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Presentation about the geography of England in the Middle ages

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This tells us that the social classes of the middle ages consisted of the upper, middle, and lower classes. Within the upper class were kings/monarchs, nobles, knights, and clergy. In the middle were merchants, doctors, and lower clergy. The lower class consisted of peasants/serfs.

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10 Medieval Inventions that Changed the World

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Many inventions from the Middle Ages have had lasting importance, even to the present day. Some are physical objects, while others are more of a place - our list looks at ten inventions that made a big impact on our daily lives.
1. Mechanical Clock

Timekeeping devices have emerged since the ancient world, but it was not until the 13th century that technology was invented that allowed mechanical clocks to accurately keep track of time. In monasteries and towns one can see continuous improvement in these mechanisms that made use of falling weights to power their delicate instruments.

The knowledge of not only what hour it was, but even what minute and second it was, would change the way people scheduled their days and work patterns, especially in urban areas. Today, we take for granted the importance of time and knowing what time it is when comes to managing our day-to-day affairs. It was only in the Later Middle Ages that this concept began to emerge.

2. Printing Press

Printing technology in China dates back to the 6ht century AD, with the invention of moveable type coming in the 11th century. With a vast number of uses for printing, it is not a surprise that the technology spread throughout East Asia, and then westward into the Middle East and Europe.

One of the biggest developments in printing came from the 15th-century German craftsman Johannes Gutenberg, whose version of moveable type and the printing press made the whole process much easier and more efficient. Gutenberg's printing press started a new era of the mass production of books. Until the rise of computers in the 20th century, books and the printed word would remain the dominant form of media for the world's knowledge.

3. Gunpowder

Gunpowder was invented in China sometime between the 9th and 11th centuries, and it did not take long to be used in weapons. As the Mongols spread the invention's knowledge throughout Eurasia in the 13th century, we see more experimentation with gunpowder and with creating weapons that could harness its power.

By the end of the Middle Ages, those running armies and fighting wars understood that weapons using gunpowder, whether they be cannons or handheld guns, would make knights and castles obsolete. Gunpowder changed not only warfare but also how governments operated so they could run the new military systems.

See also: The Origins of the Gunpowder Age

4. Water and Wind Mills

While mills were in use from antiquity, it would be in the Early Middle Ages that they became very popular. For example, in England alone records show that by the second half of the 11th century there were 5,624 watermills operating in the country.

Throughout the medieval period, new and ingenious forms of mills were invented, which allowed people to harness the energy from natural forces like rivers and wind, a process that continues to the present day.

5. Coffee House

During the early Middle Ages, farmers in Ethiopia were growing coffee beans and making them into a drink. It was in the 15th century that a Sufis scholars in Yemen began to enjoy the drink and it's ability to keep them awake late into the night.

By the end of the Middle Ages, the drink was spreading into other Arabic and Ottoman lands. With it came the creation of establishments to serve the drink - coffee houses - which ushered in a new way of social interaction. Coffee and coffee houses would make their way in Europe during the early modern era.

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6. Eyeglasses

Although we are not sure who can be credited with the invention of eyeglasses, this device could be found in Western Europe in the latter years of the 13th century. Its ability to correct vision problems makes it one of the most useful medieval inventions and a great benefit to hundreds of millions of people today.

See also: Medieval Eyeglasses: Wearable Technology of the Thirteenth Century

7. Public Library

Libraries existed throughout the Middle Ages, with some having vast collections - for example, the Umayyad rulers in Cordoba had a library with 600,000 volumes in the 10th century. For most of this period, libraries and their knowledge were often controlled by the rich and powerful.

The Library of Malatesta Novello in Cesena, Italy is considered to be the first-ever public library in the world. Opened in 1452, the building was owned by the city commune and allowed readers to freely make use of its collection. Today, public libraries are common throughout much of the world and are considered a cornerstone of information technology.

8. Flying Buttress

One of the architectural innovations associated with Gothic churches from the 12th century, the flying buttress allowed buildings to have much higher ceilings, thinner walls and larger windows. The ideas behind these innovations would influence architectural design into modern times and allow for the construction of larger and more spacious buildings.

See also: Buttress your knowledge! The wonderful world of medieval vaults

9. Paper money

The first known version of paper money dates back to seventh-century China. It has a very important advantage over coins made from precious metals - they were much easier to transport around, which proved to be a great benefit to merchants. However, the concept of placing value on a marked piece of paper was slow to catch on. In the 13th century the Mongols tried to introduce paper money into the Middle East, but it became an immediate failure. It would take until the 17th century before regular banknotes would be circulating in Europe, but it is now the common way currency is issued.

10. Quadrant and Astrolabe

While these devices were known in ancient times, it was during the Middle Ages that Arabic astronomers refined and improved upon them. Being able to measure the distance between two objects, they proved to be useful instruments in astronomy, navigation and surveying. They were tools with many uses but also helped propel our understanding of science and technology.

Further Reading:

Seb Falk, The Light Ages: The Surprising Story of Medieval Science (W.W. Norton, 2020)

Frances and Joseph Gies, Cathedral, Forge and Waterwheel: Technology and Inventions in the Middle Ages (HarperCollins, 1994)

al-Hassani, Salim T.S., 1001 Inventions: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Civilization (National Geographic, 2012)

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10 Medieval Inventions that Changed the World - Medievalists.net

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Many inventions from the Middle Ages have had lasting importance, even to the present day. Some are physical objects, while others are more of a place - our list looks at ten inventions that made a big impact on our daily lives.

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An overview about religion in great britain during medieval times with pictures of religious places as evidence

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New orders

Cistercian 'white monks' (named after the colour of their habits) established, as their rule demanded, monasteries 'far from the haunts of men'. These included Rievaulx Abbey, North Yorkshire, which by the 1160s housed 650 monks. The plainness of early Cistercian architecture reflected the austerity of their lives. But other monastic orders allowed more elaborate decoration, as at Cluniac Castle Acre Priory, Norfolk, and Wenlock Priory, Shropshire.

'Canons regular' were communities of priests who often ministered as vicars of parish churches. The early 12th century saw a huge surge in the popularity of communities of Augustinian 'black canons', such as Kirkham Priory, North Yorkshire, and Lanercost Priory, Cumbria.

Little Mattersey Priory in Nottinghamshire is one of the few surviving relics of the only exclusively English order, the Gilbertines. Some of their other foundations were 'double monasteries', housing both men and women.

Quite distinct from monks because they worked 'in the world' (rather than abbeys and priories) were the four orders of friars: the Franciscans, Dominicans, Carmelites and Augustinians. They were inspired by the teachings of St Francis of Assisi to commit to a life of evangelical poverty, living among the poor.

In the later medieval period few new monasteries were founded, with the exception of those of Carthusian hermit-monks, such as Mount Grace Priory, North Yorkshire, in 1398. But despite the crisis of the Black Death, many older monasteries revived and thrived, often commissioning lavish new building works.

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William the Conqueror imposed a total reorganisation of the English Church. He had secured the Pope's blessing for his invasion by promising to reform the 'irregularities' of the Anglo-Saxon Church, which had developed its own distinctive customs. Throughout the medieval period, the Church was a pervasive force in people's lives.

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Medieval World: Inventions in the Middle Ages

LibGuides

https://mfgsc-vic.libguides.com › c.php

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Social Classes of Muslim Civilization Women In Islam As in most of the nomadic tribes of the ancient world, women were deemed unimportant in pre-Islamic Arabia. The advent of Islam gave women more importance, and were amognst the strongest supporters of the pillars. Khadijah

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It is a good source talking about B

ritish economy in the middle ages

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At this time, England's economy relied mostly on agriculture, particularly the growing of crops and rearing of animals. Agricultural land was typically organised around manor houses and would be owned and managed by a Lord or Baron who resided in the manor. The fields were maintained by local peasants, who worked long hours for little reward. They would pay rent to the landowner either by working the land or with cash.

By the 11 th century, a market economy had begun to flourish across England, with the south east of the country relying on mostly international trade from the continent. There was an influx of industry at this time, with around 6000 watermills built around England.

Following the Norman invasion, there was a growth in the economy, driven in part by an increase in the population and the reclassification of land to create areas protected by Royal law and farming. Towns and villages grew during this time too, which supported the creation of fairs and markets, Jewish financiers also played a role in helping the economy increase.

Around this time mining also increased, with a silver boom in the 12 th century which fuelled a more consistent creation of currency. The English cloth industry also grew considerably at this time, especially in the South West, by the end of the Middle Ages, the economy, which had been devastated by the War of the Roses, was beginning to recover and shipbuilding and metalworking started to grow in popularity.

Science and technical advances

Thanks to the Greek and Islamic influences that came to England around the 12 th century, huge strides were made in terms of science and technology. Units for measuring time, the building of clocks and clockwork mechanisms became more widely used which allowed for the building of mills and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were established.

Water power was used particularly during this time to create not only mills but also to power hammers and to assist in smelting. New mining methods were also introduced using these new found technology, as well as new techniques for brewing beer, preserving food and creating pottery and stoneware, which went on to replace wooden bowls and plates by the 15 th century. The printing press was established during this time and bridges were either rebuilt in stone to maintain trade links or new ones entirely.

Art and literature in the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages produced a variety of art, including embroidered cloths, crosses, stone sculptures and more using a range of materials, including gold, glass and ivory which was imported from the continent.

The Norman conquest introduced more French artistic styles and things like the Bayeux Tapestry became much more popular. Stained glass became a particularly popular form of English art during this period, little of the stained glass from this period has survived but the style is still used in churches across the UK.

The Middle Ages produced extensive poetry, mostly in Old English. The best known of these poems is probably Beowulf, which is typical of this period and portrayed a heroic tale involving dragons and Christian influences. Romantic poems were also popular during this time as were stories of King Arthur.

During the reign of Richard II, there was an upsurge in the use of Middle English in these poems and the work of Geoffrey Chaucer became popular, including his Canterbury Tales.

In terms of music, ballads were the most popular and more instruments were introduced including guitars, harps and organs. Henry IV sponsored an extensive range of music in England and his son, Henry V, brought back French musical influences after Agincourt.

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Welcome to Visit Heritage, your one stop shop for heritage attractions across the UK and home of the Hudson's Guide.

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Link about the middle ages especially in european civilisations

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Religion in the Middle Ages, though dominated by the Catholic Church, was far more varied than only orthodox Christianity. In the Early Middle Ages (c. 476-1000), long-established pagan beliefs and practices entwined with those of the new religion so that many people who would have identified as Christian would not have been considered so by orthodox authority figures.

Practices such as fortune-telling, dowsing, making charms, talismans, or spells to ward off danger or bad luck, incantations spoken while sowing crops or weaving cloth, and many other daily observances were condemned by the medieval Church which tried to suppress them. At the same time, heretical sects throughout the Middle Ages offered people an alternative to the Church more in keeping with their folk beliefs.

Jewish scholars and merchants contributed to the religious make-up of medieval Europe as well as those who lived in rural areas who simply were not interested in embracing the new religion and, especially after the First Crusade, Christians and Muslims interacted to each other's mutual benefit. As the medieval period progressed, the Church exerted more control over people's thoughts and practices, controlling - or trying to - every aspect of an individual's life until the corruption of the institution, as well as its perceived failure to offer any meaningful response to the Black Death pandemic of 1347-1352, brought on its fracture through the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

Early Middle Ages & Pagan Christianity

Christianity did not immediately win the hearts and minds of the people of Europe. The process of Christianization was a slow one and, even toward the end of the Middle Ages, many people still practiced 'folk magic' and held to the beliefs of their ancestors even while observing Christian rites and rituals. The pre-Christian people - now commonly referenced as pagans - had no such label for themselves. The term pagan is a Christian designation from the French meaning a rustic who came from the countryside where the old beliefs and practices held tightly long after urban centers had more or less adopted orthodox Christian belief.

The belief in fairies, sprites, & ghosts was so deeply embedded that parish priests allowed to continue practices of appeasement.

Even though there is ample evidence of Europeans in the Early Middle Ages accepting the basics of Christian doctrine, most definitely the existence of hell, a different paradigm of life on earth and the afterlife was so deeply ingrained in the communal consciousness that it could not easily just be set aside. In Britain, Scotland, and Ireland, especially, a belief in the "wee folk", fairies, earth and water spirits, was regarded as simple common sense on how the world worked. One would no more go out of one's way to offend a water sprite than poison one's own well.

The belief in fairies, sprites, and ghosts (defined as spirits of the once-living) was so deeply embedded that parish priests allowed members of their congregations to continue practices of appeasement even though the Church instructed them to make clear such entities were demonic and not to be trifled with. Rituals involving certain incantations and spells, eating or displaying certain types of vegetables, performing certain acts or wearing a certain type of charm - all pagan practices with a long history - continued to be observed alongside going to Church, veneration of the saints, Christian prayer, confession, and acts of contrition.

A central concern of the Church, however, was right practice which reflected right belief, and the authorities struggled constantly to bring the population of Europe to this understanding. The problem, though, was that the rites of the Church did not resonate with a congregation like folk belief. The parish church or cathedral altar, at which the priest stood to celebrate the mass and transform the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, was far removed from the congregation of onlookers. The priest recited the mass in Latin, his back to the people, and whatever went on up there at the front had little to do with the people observing it.

The baptismal font, therefore, became the focal point of church life as it was present at the beginning of one's life (through infant baptism), at confirmation, weddings, and funerals - even if it was not used at all of these events - and most notably for the ritual known as the ordeal (or Ordeal by Water) which decided a person's guilt or innocence.

The baptismal font was often quite large and deep and the accused would be bound and thrown into it. If the accused floated to the top, they were guilty of the charges while, if they sank, they were innocent. Unfortunately, the innocent had to enjoy exoneration post-mortem since they usually drowned. The ordeal was used for serious crimes in a community as well as charges of heresy, which included the continued practice of pre-Christian rites.

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High Middle Ages & the Cult of Mary

The tendency of the laity to continue these practices did not diminish with time, threats, or repeated drownings. Just as in the present day one justifies one's own actions while condemning others for the same sort of behavior, the medieval peasant seems to have accepted that their neighbor, drowned by the Church for some transgression, deserved their fate. There is certainly no record of public outcry, and the ritual of the ordeal - like executions - were a form of public entertainment.

How the medieval peasant felt about anything at all is unknown as they were illiterate and anything recorded about their beliefs or behavior comes from Church or town records kept by clerics and priests. The peasants' silence is especially noted regarding the Church's view of women, who worked alongside men in the fields, could own their own businesses, join guilds, monastic orders and, in many cases, do the same work as a man but were still considered inferiors. As scholar Eileen Power observes, the peasants of a town "went to their churches on Sundays and listened while preachers told them in one breath that a woman was the gate of hell and that Mary was Queen of Heaven" (11). This view, established by the Church and supported by the aristocracy, would change significantly during the High Middle Ages (1000-1300), even though whatever progress was made would not last.

The Cult of the Virgin Mary was not new to the High Middle Ages - it had been popular in Palestine and Egypt from the 1st century onward - but became more highly developed during this time. Pope Gregory I (l. 540-604) established the two poles of womanhood in Christianity by characterizing Mary Magdalene as the redeemed prostitute and Mary the Mother of Jesus as the elevated virgin. Scholars still debate Gregory's reasons for characterizing Mary Magdalene in this way, conflating her with the Woman Taken in Adultery (John 8:1-11), even though there is no biblical support for his claim.

Mary Magdalene, linked through her sins to Eve and the Fall of Man, was the sexual temptress men were encouraged to flee while the Virgin Mary was beyond the realm of temptation, incorruptible, and untouchable. Actual human women might at one time be Magdalene and another the Virgin and, whether one or the other, were best dealt with from a distance. The Cult of the Virgin, however, at least encouraged greater respect for women.

At the same time the Cult of the Virgin was developing most rapidly (or possibly because of it) a genre of romantic poetry and an accompanying ideal was appearing in Southern France, known today as courtly love. Courtly love romanticism maintained that women were not only worthy of respect but adoration, devotion, and service. The genre and attendant behavior it inspired are closely linked to the queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (l. c. 1122-1204), her daughter Marie de Champagne (l. 1145-1198), and writers associated with them such as Chretien de Troyes (l. c. 1130-1190), Marie de France (wrote c. 1160-1215), and Andreas Capellanus (12th century). These writers and the women who inspired and patronized them created an elevated vision of womanhood unprecedented in the medieval period.

These changes occurred at the same time as the popularity of a heretical religious sect known as the Cathars was winning adherents away from the Catholic Church in precisely the same region of Southern France. The Cathars venerated a divine feminine principle, Sophia, whom they swore to protect and serve in the same way that the noble, chivalric knights in courtly love poetry devoted themselves to a lady. Some scholars (most notably Denis de Rougemont) have therefore suggested that courtly love poetry was a kind of code of the Cathars, who were regularly threatened and persecuted by the Church, by which they disseminated their teachings. This theory has been challenged repeatedly but never refuted.

The Cathars were destroyed by the Church in the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229) with the last blow struck in 1244 at the Cathar stronghold of Montsegur. The crusading knights of the Church took the fortress after the Cathars' surrender and burned 200 of their clergy alive as heretics. The Inquisition, led by the order of the Dominicans, rooted out and condemned similar sects.

Islamic & Jewish Influences

The Cathars were not alone in suffering persecution from the Church, however, as the Jewish population of Europe had been experiencing that for centuries. Overall, relations between Jews and Christians were amicable, and there are letters, records, and personal journals extant showing that some Christians sought to convert to Judaism and Jews to Christianity. Scholar Joshua Trachtenberg notes how "in the tenth and eleventh centuries we hear of Jews receiving gifts from Gentile friends on Jewish holidays, of Jews leaving keys to their homes with Christian neighbors before departing on a journey" (160). Relations between members of the two religions were more or less cordial, in fact, until after the First Crusade (1096-1099).

Jewish & Islamic scholasticism contributed more significantly to the culture of Europe than any Christian efforts outside of the monasteries.

Jews were forbidden to bear arms and so could not participate in the crusade, which seems to have upset their Christian neighbors whose husbands and sons were taken by the feudal lords off to the Holy Land. Economic hardships caused by lack of manpower to work the fields further damaged relationships between the two as many Jews were merchants who could continue their trade while the Christian peasant was tied to the land and struggled to plant, tend, and harvest a crop.

The First Crusade had the opposite effect on Muslims who, outside of Spain, had previously only appeared in Europe as traders. The crusade opened up the possibility of travel to the Holy Land, and a number of scholars took advantage of this to study with their Muslim counterparts. The works of Islamic scholars and scientists found their way to Europe along with translations of some of the greatest classical thinkers and writers such as Aristotle, whose works would have been lost if not for Muslim scribes. Jewish and Islamic scholasticism, in fact, contributed more significantly to the culture of Europe than any Christian efforts outside of the monasteries.

The Church's insistence on the absolute truth of its own vision, while condemning that of others, extended even to fellow Christians. The Catholic Church of the West quarreled with the Eastern Orthodox Church in 867 over who had the true faith, and the Eastern Orthodox Church finally broke all ties with its western counterpart in 1054, the so-called Great Schism. This was brought on by the Church's claim that it was founded by Saint Peter, was the only legitimate expression of Christian faith, and should therefore rightly be able to control the policies and land holdings of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

In the Late Middle Ages (1300-1500), the Church continued to root out heresy on a large scale by suppressing upstart religious sects, individually by encouraging priests to punish heterodox belief or practice, and by labeling any critic or reformer a 'heretic' outside of God's grace. The peasantry, though nominally orthodox Catholic, continued to observe folk practices and, as scholar Patrick J. Geary notes, "knowledge of Christian belief did not mean that individuals used this knowledge in ways that coincided with officially sanctioned practice" (202). Since a medieval peasant was taught the prayers of the Our Father and Hail Mary in Latin, a language they did not understand, they recited them as incantations to ward off misfortune or bring luck, paying little attention to the importance of the words as understood by the Church. The mass itself, also conducted in Latin, was equally mysterious to the peasantry.

Consequently, the medieval peasant felt far more comfortable with a blending of the old pagan beliefs with Christianity which resulted in heterodox belief. Parish priests were again instructed to take heretical practices seriously and punish them, but the clergy was disinclined, largely because of the effort involved. Further, many of the clergy, especially the parish priests, were seen as hypocrites and had been for some time. One of the reasons heretical sects attracted adherents, in fact, was the respect generated by their clergy who lived their beliefs. In contrast, as Geary notes, the Catholic clergy epitomized the very Seven Deadly Sins they condemned:

The ignorance, sexual promiscuity, venality, and corruption of the clergy, combined with their frequent absenteeism, were major and long-standing complaints within the laity. Anti-clericalism was endemic to medieval society and in no way detracted from religious devotion. (199)

A parishioner could loathe the priest but still respect the religion that said priest represented. The priest, after all, had little to do with the life of the peasant while the saints could answer prayers, protect one from harm, and reward one's good deeds. Pilgrimages to saints' sites like Canterbury or Santiago de Compostela were thought to please the saint who would then grant the pilgrim favors and expiate sin in ways no priest could ever do.

At the same time, one could not do without the clergy owing to the Church's insistence on sacerdotalism - the policy which mandated that laypersons required the intercession of a priest to communicate with God or understand scripture - and so priests still wielded considerable power over individuals' lives. This was especially so regarding the afterlife state of purgatory in which one's soul would pay in torment for any sins not forgiven by a priest in one's life. Ecclesiastical writs known as indulgences were sold to people - often for high prices - which were believed to lessen the time for one's soul, or that of a loved one, in purgatorial fires.

The unending struggle to bring the peasantry in line with orthodoxy eventually relented as practices formerly condemned by the Church - such as astrology, oneirology (the study of dreams), demonology, and the use of talismans and charms - were recognized as significant sources of income. Sales of relics like a saint's toe or a splinter of the True Cross were common and, for a price, a priest could interpret one's dreams, chart one's stars, or name whatever demon was preventing a good marriage for one's son or daughter.

For many years, medieval scholarship insisted on a dichotomy of two Christianities in the Middle Ages - an elite culture dominated by the clergy, city-dwellers, and the written word, and a popular culture of the oral tradition of the rural masses, infused with pagan belief and practice. In the present day, it is recognized that pagan beliefs and rituals informed Christianity in both city and country from the beginning. As the Church gained more and more power, it was able to insist more stridently on people obeying its strictures, but the same underlying form - of the Church trying to impose a new belief structure on people used to the one of their ancestors - remained more or less intact throughout the Middle Ages.

Conclusion

As the medieval period wound to a close, the orthodoxy of the Church finally did permeate down through the lowest social class but this hardly did anyone any favors. The backlash against the progressive movement of the 12th century and its new value of women took the form of monastic religious orders such as the Premonstratensians banning women, guilds which had previously had female members declaring themselves men's-only-clubs, and women's ability to run businesses curtailed.

The ongoing crusades vilified Muslims as the archenemy of Christendom while Jews were blamed for practicing usury (charging interest) - even though the Church had more or less defined that role in finance for them through official policy - and were expelled from communities and entire countries. Pagan practices had now either been stamped out or Christianized, and the Church held significant power over people's daily lives.

The corruption of the medieval Church, however, against which critics and reformers had been preaching for centuries, finally grew too intolerable and general distrust of the Church and its vision was further encouraged by its failure to meet the challenge of the Black Death pandemic of 1347-1352 which resulted in a widespread spiritual crisis. The Protestant Reformation began as simply another attempt at getting the Church to pay attention to its own failings, but the political climate in Germany, and the personal power of the priest-monk Martin Luther (l. 1483-1546 CE), led to a revolt by people who had long grown tired of the monolithic Church.

After Martin Luther initiated the Reformation, other clerics followed his example. Christianity in Europe afterwards would frequently show itself no more tolerant or pure in Protestant form than it had been as expressed through the medieval Church but, in time, found a way to coexist with other faiths and allow for greater freedom of individual religious experience.

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Religion in the Middle Ages, though dominated by the Catholic Church, was far more varied than only orthodox Christianity. In the Early Middle Ages (c. 476-1000), long-established pagan beliefs and...

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"The Knight with the Lion"

A resource for information about King Arthur and his Knights. One topic you could add to your list is Military / Warfare / Army. How these things compare and contrast between the two civilizations.

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The Knight with the Lion - an interactive educational resource for children and others based on medieval french stories about King Arthur and his Knights. Translation and adaptaion of poems by Chretien de Troyes and Marie de France. Contains historical link material on medieval life and society.

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British economy in the middle ages (wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_England_in_the_Middle_Ages

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Its a good link about the importance of religion in British rule

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Belief in British superiority and Social Darwinism - How Britain gained an empire - religion and ideas - GCSE History Revision - AQA - BBC Bitesize

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Learn about and revise the how Britain gained an empire (religion and ideas) with this BBC Bitesize History (AQA) study guide.

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This site gives information about religion but it also includes how it was incorporated into the infrastructure (Hospitals) in Medieval England

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https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1411/religion-in-the-middle-ages/

This link shows how religion was in the middle ages

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Detailed article about the social hierarchy in the middle ages. Also has information about day-to-day life in medieval England.

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Things that were invented by the British in the middle ages

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7 ingenious inventions of the middle ages.

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Welcome to medieval England, a period that introduced us to some of the most revolutionary solutions to society's greatest challenges including hygiene and defence. Here's a list of seven of the top inventions - how many surprise you?

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The Middle Ages of Great Britain about geography.

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Other articles where Britain is discussed: United Kingdom: Ancient Britain: ...late in the Mesolithic Period, Britain formed part of the continental landmass and was easily accessible to migrating hunters. The cutting of the land bridge, about 6000-5000 bce, had important effects: migration became more difficult and remained for long impossible to large numbers.

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Good resource for social hierarchy

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This link shows the religion great Britain followed, and talks about it

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Lesson Objectives:

Understand how and why religion affected everyday life in Medieval England.

Understand how powerful the Church was and how it used its power.

Lesson Snapshot:
Religion Today
Today, there are many different religions in England. Many people consider themselves Christian but only around three people in every hundred go to church on a Sunday. Things were very different in medieval England and religion was much more important in people's lives.
Medieval Religion
In England during the Middle Ages, nearly everyone believed in God. They followed the Roman Catholic religion led by the Pope in Rome. It was the only religion in England at this time. People also believed that Heaven and Hell were very real places - as real as Spain or France. And whether you ended up in heaven or hell depended upon how you lived your life whilst on Earth. So what did this mean for the ordinary Medieval villager? What could they do to get into heaven and avoid hell? And how else did the Church feature in their lives?
Hell to Pay!
People used religion to explain things. If they fell and broke their arm or caught a nasty infection, it was a punishment from God. If a baby died, it was because God wanted it. For most ordinary people, life was terribly hard and heaven seemed a warm and comfortable reward for all of their suffering on Earth.

If people were bad, however, there would be no reward in the afterlife - quite the opposite in fact! As well as being told about hell by the priest, there were pictures, statues and stained glass windows to remind people what hell was like. Huge doom paintings showed angels welcoming people into heaven and devils pulling wicked people into hell and torturing them in all sorts of horrific ways.

Church services were held in Latin, which ordinary people couldn't understand! There was a very good chance that the priest wouldn't understand what he was saying either - he would just learn the services by heart! You couldn't read the Bible unless you could read Latin - the Pope banned it from being translated into English.
The Heart of the Village
The biggest building in a Medieval town or village would be the church. Unlike today, churches were very noisy, sometimes hectic places. As most people's homes were tiny, smelly huts full of smoke and animals, they didn't want to spend much time there! The church served as a meeting place for people, somewhere they could all sit comfortably and catch up on local gossip.
The Price of Religion
The church didn't come for free. The villagers had to give one tenth of all the food they grew to the parish priest. This was known as a tithe. As you can imagine, the villagers were often unhappy about this, especially when the harvest was bad. You also had to pay the church when you died! The priest was entitled to receive the second best animal of anyone who died in the village. Worshipping God and trying to get into heaven was an expensive business.

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Challenging questions on Medieval religion.

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Medieval Religion Facts & Information | Lesson Plan Worksheet

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This gives a brief introduction to Medieval England.

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Duke William of Normandy's resounding triumph over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the dawn of a new era. The overthrow of the Saxon kingdom of England was to transform the country the Normans conquered, from how it was organised and governed to its language and customs - and perhaps most visibly today, its architecture.

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In our telling of the story of England, the medieval period is the time between William the Conqueror's victory at Hastings in 1066 and Richard III's defeat at Bosworth in 1485.

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Despite being one of England's most iconic medieval kings, Richard I (r1189-99) spent only six months of his decade-long reign on English soil and may not have even spoken English. His energies were undoubtedly focused towards international war-mongering rather than affairs within England itself. Writing for History Extra, Andrew Gimson argues that Richard's "only use for England" was to raise money through taxes in order to wage war abroad.

As his epithet 'Lionheart' suggests, Richard boasted a reputation as a fearless warrior king. He is best remembered for his efforts in the Third Crusade, a religious campaign to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslim sultan and military leader Saladin.

On the battlefield, Richard was a strong commander and renowned military tactician. Although he is often portrayed as the stereotypical chivalric medieval knight, Richard's actions in the Middle East were often far from gallant and honourable by modern standards. Following a dispute over the city of Acre in 1191 he ordered the killing of 2,700 Muslim prisoners, including women and children. Yet despite several victories in the Holy Land, Richard never achieved his ultimate aim of conquering Jerusalem for the glory of western Christendom. Following infighting with other European crusade forces and a year-long stalemate, he made a truce with his opponent Saladin. After years of pouring the nation's finances and men into the crusade, he was forced to concede failure and head back towards England.

Yet the king's route home was far from simple. On his return to Europe, Richard was captured and handed over to German king and Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI. Henry ransomed Richard, demanding a crippling payment of 150,000 marks from England for his return. This return was short-lived however, as Richard headed straight back out to the battlefields of Normandy and Aquitaine. He led successful campaigns there for a further five years before being mortally wounded by a crossbow bolt during a siege battle.

History has not been kind to King John (r1199-1216). He is most frequently remembered as the cruel and greedy villain of the Robin Hood legend, who attempted to usurp his beloved brother Richard, backtracked on Magna Carta and threw England into civil war.

In 1193, John gained his reputation as a usurper by unsuccessfully attempting to seize the throne while his elder brother King Richard I was imprisoned in Germany. After this plot failed, John was subsequently banished. In 1199, following the brothers' reconciliation and Richard's death, John finally gained the throne by legitimate means.

John's reign was marred by rebellion and discontent, and he faced significant antagonism from both outside and inside of England. War with France cost him dearly - he lost large amounts of money and land, including Normandy, Anjou and Maine. Taxes to fund the war grew enormous and the situation significantly damaged John's reputation.

The king's attempts to quash opposition at home proved equally unsuccessful. By 1215, discontent within England had reached breaking point, and John was forced into a civil war with rebel barons. He was consequently compelled to agree to Magna Carta, a peace treaty that would go on to be recognised as one of the founding documents of the English legal system. By sealing Magna Carta, John dealt a huge blow to the power and prestige of the monarchy, as the document asserted that no man was above the law, not even a king. However, the king was quick to backtrack on the democratic promises of the treaty, arguing he was forced to concede to its terms under duress. England was plunged back into civil war. The future French king Louis invaded at the request of the barons, and John was condemned as a coward for fleeing from the French invaders. Peace was only negotiated following John's death in 1216.

Known as 'Longshanks' due to his tall stature, the Plantagenet king Edward I (r1272-1307) is often credited with beginning the unification process of the British Isles. This process was far from peaceful however - Edward led a harsh campaign of suppression in order to force Wales and Scotland to bend to English will.

Edward's troubles in Wales began when the Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, refused to pay homage to him. In response, Edward chose to force Wales and its leaders into submission, building a chain of castles along the Welsh north coast in order to block supplies into the region. Welsh hopes of independence were quashed and the country was conquered. After Llywelyn's defeat in battle in 1282, Edward later bequeathed the title of Prince of Wales upon his own son - a tradition that still remains today.

Known as the 'Hammer of the Scots', Edward also led major campaigns in Scotland, including a successful invasion of the country in 1296. He faced significant rebellions from the Scots, including William Wallace (whose execution he ordered in 1305) and, later, Robert the Bruce. After Edward's death his land gains in Scotland were quickly lost by his son Edward II.

Alongside this aggressive foreign policy, Longshanks was also responsible for tackling corruption and significantly reforming England's administrative and legal systems. His extensive military ventures required considerable financial backing - money that ultimately came from the pockets of his heavily taxed subjects. One result of this increased taxation was an increase in parliamentary meetings. Another was the persecution of England's Jewish money-lenders, and in turn, Jews in general. After executing 300 Jews in the Tower of London, in 1290 Edward expelled all Jews from the country.

Edward II (r1307-1327) has been widely accepted as both an unpopular king and inept military leader, whose reign was characterised by conflict and poor decision-making. Writing for History Extra, Kathryn Warner said that Edward's reign "lurched from one crisis to another: endless conflict with his barons, constant threats of civil war, and failed military campaigns."

One of Edward's infamous failures was losing the significant military gains his father had made in Scotland. The defeat of his forces at the hands of Robert the Bruce at the battle of Bannockburn was a humiliation that helped secure Scottish independence from English rule.

Edward was an unconventional monarch personally as well as politically, reportedly revelling in the company of peasant labourers, fishermen and carpenters. Throughout his life, Edward alienated many of England's barons by promoting unsuitable and unpopular personal favourites, who were widely believed to hold a negative influence over him. First came Piers Gaveston, whom the barons hated so much that they repeatedly banished him before executing him in 1312. Edward later shifted his favour to Hugh le Despenser and his son, sharing significant power with the pair and supporting their campaigns in Wales. This was an immensely unpopular decision that would prove fatal to Edward's reign. Civil war broke out and Edward found himself devoid of supporters.

The final nail in Edward's coffin proved to be a coup led by his own wife, Queen Isabella of France (who despised the Despensers) and her lover Roger Mortimer. In 1326, the pair invaded England, successfully deposing Edward II and placing his teenage son (Edward III) on the throne. Following his humiliating downfall, Edward was imprisoned at Berkeley Castle in 1327, where it is generally accepted he was murdered. According to a popular and enduring myth, the former king was killed in grisly fashion with a red-hot poker.

Although he went on to become one of the most famous monarchs in English history, Henry V (r1413-1422) was not initially intended for the throne. Aged 13, his fate was transformed by the actions of his father Henry Bolingbroke, who usurped the then king, Richard II, and seized the throne for his own dynastic line.

Henry began developing his promising military skills as a teenager. In 1403, he proved a strong commander, leading troops in the battle of Shrewsbury. He was just 16 at the time, and was shot in the face with an arrow that pierced his cheek. Henry also led significant campaigns to help his father tackle Welsh rebellion. His hands-on role as Prince of Wales was not all smooth sailing however, as his passionate involvement in policy-making led to heated disputes with his father.

By the time Henry inherited the throne in 1413, he was itching to reclaim lost French territories - something that his father had resisted for several years. After swiftly quashing an attempted coup by rival Edmund Mortimer, his first key action as king was to launch a major attack on France.

Henry's finest hour has commonly been seen as his defeat of the French at Agincourt in 1415. It is for this victory that he is best remembered - perhaps largely due to the rousing immortalisation of this moment in Shakespeare's Henry V. Victory at Agincourt led to further triumphs in France - Henry went on to conquer Normandy and Rouen. In 1420, these victories culminated in the Treaty of Troyes, which recognised Henry as heir to the French throne.

Yet only two years later, the all-conquering king met an unpleasant end. In 1422, he died suddenly after contracting dysentery at the siege of Meaux.

A major player in the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV (r1461-1470 and 1471-83) is best known for leading Yorkist efforts to claim England's throne and for his unconventional choice of bride.

Edward came from the Yorkist branch of the Plantagenet dynasty - his claim to the throne derived from the fact that his parents were descendants of Edward III. Although England had been ruled by the opposing Plantagenet faction, the Lancastrians, since 1399, Lancastrian king Henry VI's grip over England was weakening. With the support of the Earl of Warwick, known as 'The Kingmaker', Edward made a bid for the throne. After a series of victories including the 1461 battle of Towton, he succeeded in overthrowing Henry VI and was crowned king.

Historian Amy Licence describes the young Edward as being "charismatic, tall and handsome, renowned for his love affairs and athleticism." Yet, one of these love affairs was to prove intensely politically problematic, ultimately plunging England back into civil war.

In 1464 Edward secretly married Elizabeth Woodville. Woodville was a highly controversial choice of bride for Edward. Not only was she a Lancastrian, a widow and a mother - she was also a commoner. The marriage undermined attempts to secure a politically advantageous French match for Edward and saw Woodville's relatives given enviable royal favour. The ramifications of Edward's decision were huge, as it lost him the support of Warwick. The angered earl proved to be a dangerous ally to alienate - he transferred his allegiances to the exiled former king Henry VI, fuelling a strong Lancastrian revolt against Edward.

Faced with deposition and death, Edward made a swift escape to the Netherlands. After six months in exile, he launched a remarkable comeback. With only a small force, he crushed his rivals, defeating Warwick in battle, imprisoning Henry in the Tower and reinstating himself on the throne. Edward's second reign proved a much more sedate and stable period than his first. Although he was still involved in conflict, tackling a revolt by his brother and launching an invasion of France, these events passed relatively smoothly until Edward's sudden death aged 40 in 1483.

Undoubtedly the most hotly debated of all England's medieval monarchs, Richard III (r1483-85) has continually fascinated both academics and the public alike. The discovery of the body of the 'king in the carpark' in September 2012 fuelled even greater debate over Richard's reign. Was he a usurping murderer, or a misunderstood monarch?

Following the death of his brother King Edward IV, Richard was appointed protector of the realm and charged with safeguarding the underage king - his 12-year-old nephew Edward V. Aspersions were cast on the legitimacy of the young king and his brother and in June 1483, Richard assumed the role of king.

Shortly afterwards, the princes (later known as the 'princes in the Tower') mysteriously disappeared while in Richard's care, leading to pervasive rumours that their usurping uncle had murdered them. While these claims have not been comprehensively proven, the princes' disappearance conveniently eliminated any future threat they could pose to Richard's rule.

Nevertheless, Richard's grip on England quickly disintegrated, as former allies began to defect. In August 1485, just two years after he had been crowned, Richard's reign was dealt the final blow. A Lancastrian claimant to the throne, Henry Tudor, launched an attack on England. He came to blows with Richard at the battle of Bosworth. At the outset, Richard's chances at Bosworth looked promising. He outnumbered Henry Tudor's forces three to one and was reportedly so confident of victory that he was "overjoyed" at the chance to take on his rival. However, Richard's advantage was undermined by the defection of several of his main supporters and he met with a devastating defeat. After reportedly refusing to flee, he was killed on the battlefield.

Richard's death at Bosworth heralded the end of the medieval era. Decades of fighting in the Wars of the Roses were drawing to a close, as a new royal dynasty came to prominence - the Tudors.

This article was first published on History Extra in June 2016

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7 medieval kings of England you should know about

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With lands to conquer, rebellions to quash and finances to raise, ruling over medieval England was no mean feat. Some monarchs flourished, while others floundered.

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How the British served the great leader.

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Medieval Greece refers to geographic components of the area historically and modernly known as Greece, during the Middle Ages. These include:.