Publisher Description

Professor Postan's work on the social and economic history of the Middle Ages has had an enormous influence upon the study of the subject. His essays represent his major contribution and are an invaluable addition to the literature. Twenty-two essays are gathered together into two volumes. Previously published elsewhere, many in obscure places, over a period from 1928 to 1972, they are still greatly used and referred to today; their appearance in this more accessible form will be warmly welcomed by a wide range of students and scholars in all branches of medieval and economic history as well as by social scientists and economists generally. This volume contains such seminal pieces as The economic foundations of medieval society, The rise of a money economy, The chronology of labour services and The charters of the villeins.

Table of Contents

Preface; Acknowledgements; Part I. General: 1. The economic foundations of medieval economy; 2. The rise of a money economy; 3. The fifteenth century; 4. Some social consequences of the Hundred Years War; 5. The costs of the Hundred Years War; 6. Why was science backward in the Middle Ages?; Part II. Agrarian: 7. The chronology of labour services; 8. The charters of the villeins; 9. Heriots and prices on Winchester manors with statistical notes on Winchester heriots by J. Longden; 10. Some agrarian evidence of a declining population in the later Middle Ages; 11. Village livestock in the thirteenth century; 12. Glastonbury estates in the twelfth century; 13. Legal status and economic condition in medieval villages; Index.

Promotional "Headline"

Includes The economic foundations of medieval society, The rise of a money economy, The chronology of labour services and The charters of the villeins.

Description for Bookstore

Professor Postan's work on the social and economic history of the Middle Ages has had an enormous influence upon the study of the subject. This volume contains such seminal pieces as The economic foundations of medieval society, The rise of a money economy, The chronology of labour services and The charters of the villeins.

Description for Library

Professor Postan's work on the social and economic history of the Middle Ages has had an enormous influence upon the study of the subject. This volume contains such seminal pieces as The economic foundations of medieval society, The rise of a money economy, The chronology of labour services and The charters of the villeins.

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