Part 2 (2/2)

From the social rather than from the economic point of view the life of the mediaeval manor was perhaps most clearly marked by this predominance of custom and by a second characteristic nearly related.

This was the singularly close relations.h.i.+p in which all the inhabitants of the manor were bound to one another, and their correspondingly complete separation from the outside world. The common pasture, the intermingled strips of the holdings in the open fields, the necessary cooperation in the performance of their daily labor on the demesne land, the close contiguity of their dwellings, their universal members.h.i.+p in the same parish church, their common attendance and action in the manor courts, all must have combined to make the vill an organization of singular unity. This self-centred life, economically, judicially, and ecclesiastically so nearly independent of other bodies, put obstacles in the way of change. It prohibited intercourse beyond the manor, and opposed the growth of a feeling of common national life. The manorial life lay at the base of the stability which marked the mediaeval period.

*13. BIBLIOGRAPHY*

GENERAL WORKS

Certain general works which refer to long periods of economic history will be mentioned here and not again referred to, excepting in special cases. It is to be understood that they contain valuable matter on the subject, not only of this, but of succeeding chapters. They should therefore be consulted in addition to the more specific works named under each chapter.

Cunningham, William: _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, two volumes. The most extensive and valuable work that covers the whole field of English economic history.

Ashley, W. J.: _English Economic History_, two volumes. The first volume is a full and careful a.n.a.lysis of mediaeval economic conditions, with detailed notes and references to the primary sources. The second volume is a work of original investigation, referring particularly to conditions in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, but it does not give such a clear a.n.a.lysis of the conditions of its period as the first volume.

Traill, H. D.: _Social England_, six volumes. A composite work including a great variety of subjects, but seldom having the most satisfactory account of any one of them.

Rogers, J. E. T.: _History of Agriculture and Prices_; _Six Centuries of Work and Wages_; _Economic Interpretation of History_. Professor Rogers' work is very extensive and detailed, and his books were largely pioneer studies. His statistical and other facts are useful, but his general statements are not very valuable, and his conclusions are not convincing.

Palgrave, R. H. I.: _Dictionary of Political Economy_. Many of the articles on subjects of economic history are the best and most recent studies on their respective subjects, and the bibliographies contained in them are especially valuable.

Four single-volume text-books have been published on this general subject:--

Cunningham, William, and McArthur, E. A.: _Outlines of English Industrial History_.

Gibbins, H. de B.: _Industry in England_.

Warner, George Townsend: _Landmarks in English Industrial History_.

Price, L. L.: _A Short History of English Commerce and Industry_.

SPECIAL WORKS

Seebohm, Frederic: _The English Village Community_. Although written for another purpose,--to suggest a certain view of the origin of the medieval manor,--the first five chapters of this book furnish the clearest existing descriptive account of the fundamental facts of rural life in the thirteenth century. Its publication marked an era in the recognition of the main features of manorial organization. Green, for instance, the historian of the English people, seems to have had no clear conception of many of those characteristics of ordinary rural life which Mr. Seebohm has made familiar.

Vinogradoff, Paul: _Villainage in England_.

Pollock, Sir Frederick, and Maitland, F. W.: _History of English Law_, Vol. 1.

These two works are of especial value for the organization of the manor courts and the legal condition of the population.

SOURCES

Much that can be explained only with great difficulty becomes clear to the student immediately when he reads the original doc.u.ments. Concrete ill.u.s.trations of general statements moreover make the work more interesting and real. It has therefore been found desirable by many teachers to bring their students into contact with at least a few typical ill.u.s.trative doc.u.ments. The sources for the subject generally are given in the works named above. An admirable bibliography has been recently published by

Gross, Charles: _The Sources and Literature of English History from the Earliest Times to about 1485_. References to abundant material for the ill.u.s.tration or further investigation of the subject of this chapter will be found in the following pamphlet:--

Davenport, Frances G.: _A Cla.s.sified List of Printed Original Materials for English Manorial and Agrarian History_.

Sources for the mediaeval period are almost all in Latin or French.

Some of them, however, have been more accessible by being translated into English and reprinted in convenient form. A few of these are given in C. W. Colby: _Selections from the Sources of English History_, and G. C. Lee: _Source Book of English History_.

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