Richard Britnell and John Hatcher have made significant contributions to the field of medieval economic history, especially by advocating that the origins of the modern economy lie in the medieval period rather than the nineteenth century. These two volumes provide an overview of their work in the field.
Britnell's volume reprints 21 of his papers, covering the foundation and development of markets, change over time, variation between countries, agriculture, prices, morals and theory. The book highlights the range of factors that contributed to economic development from 1050 to 1500, including money, towns and trading networks. It is impressive in its breadth and depth of coverage. While the majority of the papers are reprinted from journals or edited books, ‘Urban economic regulation and economic morality in medieval England’ represents a previously unpublished work. It examines attitudes to infringements of market rules and suggests that civic authorities perhaps regulated their markets too tightly and as a result damaged trade to a greater extent than they protected consumers. Many of the remaining reprinted papers appeared prior to the publication of The Commercialisation of English Society, 1000–1500 in 1993, meaning that they may be less well known than some of his later work. Articles that may not be easily accessible via institutional libraries, such as those from the Durham University Journal and the Canadian Journal of History, are included.
For urban historians there are 10 papers in the volume on medieval towns, although a notable absence is Britnell's work on Colchester. Less-well-known items could have been substituted for chapters from Progress and Problems and A Commercialising Economy, although those chapters provide context for those less familiar with Britnell's work. The juxtaposition of papers on aspects of urban history with those on medieval agriculture makes this book especially useful as a resource for undergraduate and MA urban history modules.
An evaluation of the impact of the Black Death on the medieval economy is the main objective of the essays written in Hatcher's honour. Five key issues are raised in the introduction. What were population patterns before and after the Black Death? What factors contributed to these patterns? How was the impact of the Black Death apparent at a local level? How did the Black Death affect commercial activity? The topic of the Black Death is addressed in many of Hatcher's publications but there remain unanswered questions. This book includes interpretations from a range of scholars which will help to advance knowledge in the area. As suggested by the papers in the first section of the volume, the demographic impact of the Black Death remains unclear. Benedictow and Smith indicate that demographic developments changed from the medieval to the early modern period, while Kowaleski suggests that there was greater continuity over time than might have been expected.
‘Landlords and peasants’ is the subject of the second section of the book. Campbell's and Munro's papers address some of the factors that may have contributed to economic change alongside the Black Death. While it may be difficult to pinpoint the exact causes of economic change at a national level, local studies often help our interpretation. McGibbon Smith shows that, on the manor of Sutton, law and order was maintained to a better extent post-Black Death than is often assumed. Stone argues that greater dislocation was present in manorial administration, with more disruption on estates in the immediate aftermath of the Black Death than is often expected. He and Stephenson largely agree, however, that the situation improved from the 1360s, suggesting that the Black Death did not cause permanent upheaval in the agricultural sector. Local economic factors, such as the provision of natural resources, affected which manors survived the Black Death relatively unscathed, Schofield suggests. The effects of the Black Death on commercial activity varied, according to the essays by Britnell, Davis and Lee in the final section on ‘Trade and industry’. Some industries and locations adapted better to shifts in consumer demand than others, with towns becoming more flexible in their regulations and fairs shifting the composition of their trade.
Town and Countryside thus offers a range of new essays that complement Hatcher's own publications. For urban historians, the contributions by Davis and Lee will be of particular interest, while the papers on the rural economy raise interesting questions for further collaborative research.
