England in the Fifteenth Century

Front matter

By the Rev. W. DENTON. In demy Svo., gs. each volume. A COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPELS for the Sundays and other Holy Days of the Christian Year. Vol. I. — Advent to Easter. 4.II1 edition. Vol. II. — Easter to the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. 3rd edition. Vol. III. — Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity to Advent ; and Holy Days. 4th edition. A COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLES for the Sundays and other Holy Days of the Christian Year. Vol. I. — Advent to Trinity. 3rd edition. Vol. II. — Trinity and Holy Days, ind edition. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 2 vols. LONDON: G. BELL AND SONS. BY THE REV. W. DENTON, M.A., WORCESTER COLLEGE, OXFORD, AUTHOR OF " SERVIA AND THE SERVIANS," "MONTENEGRO, ITS PEOPLE, AND THEIR HISTORY," "THE CHRISTIANS IN TURKEY," " RECORDS OF ST. GILES, CRIPPLEGATE,'1 etc,' etc. LONDON: GEORGE BELL AND SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 1888. CHISWICK PRESS: — C. WHITTINGHAM AND CO., TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANR.

Preface

. THE subject of this book is one in which the author felt the keenest interest and pleasure, and the amount of labour bestowed upon it is only faintly suggested by the large number of authorities he cites throughout the following pages. He lived long enough to finish the volume, and died whilst the last few proof-sheets were in his house await ing revision. It had been his original intention to publish two series, each complete in itself. For the latter, in which he proposed to sketch the ecclesiastical state of England in the fifteenth century, the materials were collected, but only a few pages were actually written. As, however, the present volume is really an independent work, it has been decided to publish it alone. In a posthumous publication there is always this dis advantage, that where questions of fact or construction arise the voice of the man from whom the answer or explanation would naturally have been expected is silenced.

In the present case it is hoped that such questions will be few, since the footnotes to the pages fully indicate the sources whence the materials were collected, and, consequently, the task of appraising and dealing with the deductions and inferences is made proportionately easy. C. A. Denton. February, 1888. PAGE CONTENTS.

Introduction

. Part I. Formation of modern English language — Decay of Anglo-Norman — Growth of English spirit — Growth of constitution and parliament — Responsibility of ministers of. the crown — Manor and county courts — Legal reforms — Modification of feudal system in England — Prosperity of the people in the reign of Edward I. — Houses — Furniture — Art — Horticulture — Law and lawyers — Statesmen — Scholastic philosophy I Part II. Decline of England after the death of Edward I. — The Scottish War — War with France — The war destructive to both nations — Ravages of French privateers on the English coast — Harvests and famines in England — Murrain — The " black death " and other pestilences — Risings of the agricultural tenants — Wat Tyler — Renewal of the war with France — War of the Roses — Decay of national prosperity — The Tudors 65

Chapter I

Statistics in the Middle Ages not to be relied on— Estimate of population — Rural aspects of England— English agriculture — Forests, fens, morasses — Corn districts — Manures — Enclosures — Game, poaching — Rabbit warrens — Woodlands — Cattle — H igh ways, parish and manor roads — Water carriage — Broken ways and dangers of the roads — Rate of travelling and carriage of goods — Postage of letters 127

Chapter II

Villages— Alehouses and inns — Health of people — Food — Medical knowledge— Relative conditions of agricultural labourers in fif- CONTENTS. VIII PAGE teenth century and at present — Agricultural wages — A bondman's career — Taxation — Land tenures — Political condition of rural population — Tenant farmers — A farm in Leicestershire — The poor — Home life — Manor houses — Frankelyns and country gentry — Sources of a landowner's income 197