Enterprise, Money and Credit in England before the Black Death 12851349 [Hardcover]

This book charts the contributions made to the development of the late medieval English economy by enterprise, money, and credit in a period which saw its major export trade in wool, which earned most of its money-supply, suffer from prolonged periods of warfare, high taxation, adverse weather, and mortality of sheep. Consequently, the economy suffered from severe shortages of coin, as well as from internal political conflicts, before the plague of 1348-9 halved the population. The book  examines from the Statute Merchant certificates of debt, the extent to which credit, which normally reflects economic activity, was affected by these events, and the extent to which London, and the leading counties were affected differently by them. The analysis covers the entire kingdom, decade by decade, and thereby contributes to the controversy whether over-population or shortage of coin most inhibited its development.  

Chapter 1: The Place of Credit and Coin in the Medieval English Economy

The Relationship of Credit to the Monetary Economy

 

The Shortage of Coin

 

The Crown and the Coinage

 

Barter

 

The Constraints on Credit

 

Usury and Interest

 

Risks of Default

 

The Instability of Credit

 

The Balance of Trade and Coin

 

The Wool Trade and Credit

 

Chapter 2: The Records of the Statutes of Acton Burnell, and Merchants, 12841349