Ho did the econom change in Ed ard’s England So ce of hi info ma on come f om Medie al England The Reign of Ed a d I b Alf Wilkin on Hodde B i h Dep h S die c b Lo aine Wa e on and Tim William OUP and Wool the biggest driver of gro th in the English econom The most important product in England at this time was wool. English wool had become known as the best wool in Europe and so it was in huge demand. As a result, by 00, there were around million sheep in England. (The human population at this time was around million!) Around two-thirds of the wool came from sheep owned by peasants. The best wool was produced in Wales, South-West England and Lincolnshire (on the east coast of England). The ool trade England’s No e port to Europe A lot of English wool was actually exported, to clothmakers in Europe. Once a sheep owner had shorn the wool fleece from their sheep, they would take it to a market, where wool merchants would buy the wool. The merchants would then organise for the wool to be transported to ports in England, and then shipped to markets in Europe, where clothmakers would buy it and turn it into cloth. The growth of this trade had a number of ‘knock -on benefits for England, its people and its economy. Trading ith Europe increased We can infer many things from Figure . Trade links between England and Europe were quite considerable, stretching from Scandinavia, to the near shores of what we know today as France and Belgium, and around the Mediterranean to Spain and Italy. A wide variety of goods were being traded; merchants could buy goods in Europe and bring them back to England to sell them there. Looking at what types of goods were brought back, we can see that many of them are quite luxurious. Glass, from Venice, was relatively new and quite expensive. This hints at the fact that there was a growing number of people in England who had enough money to buy these products. Clearly, it was worth merchants bringing these goods back to England and the merchants would make a profit on the trade too. England’s econom and societ as becoming more diverse The variety of jobs and activities available to people in England was increasing. We can get a good flavour of this by looking at the lives of people in Edward s England. F om Medie al England The Reign of Ed a d I b Alf Wilkin on Hodde p Hugh Cok In , Hugh Cok was the poorest peasant in the village of Codicote in Herefordshire. However, it seems that Hugh was quite an enterprising man. He rented a stall in the local market and sold fish and he also brewed beer. With this extra money that he was creating, Hugh was able to buy or rent additional strips of land in Codicote, so he was able to produce more goods—perhaps the barley to brew his beer from, or more crops or vegetables that he could then sell. In time, he was bought more land and enclosed it—which means he put fences or hedges around the land, possibly to keep sheep on it. Hugh was accumulating more and more money, and reinvesting it in land. He was then able to build a house for his family. When he died in 0 , he left a considerable estate to his daughter, Christina. By using some business acumen, taking opportunities such as making beer, trading and expanding his landholding, Hugh Cok improved his wealth and his social standing considerably. La rence of Ludlo Lawrence of Ludlow wasn t a peasant—his father was wool merchant based in Shrewsbury, in Shropshire. Lawrence followed his father as wool merchant, buying up wool in Shropshire and Wales. He sold it at several locations in Europe and became incredibly wealthy. He was wealthy enough to loan money to King Edward, to the local barons and to the Bishop of Worcester, who was rebuilding Worcester Cathedral (where King John is buried). Lawrence was also wealthy enough to build a fine manor house, called Stokesay Castle. Stokesay Castle has crenellations—for a manor house to have crenellations, the owner had to get the King s permission, so clearly, Edward had a very high regard for Lawrence. This might be linked to the fact that Lawrence advised Edward on how to tax the wool trade. Stokesa Castle Stokesay Castle is a grand manor house for its time. Its large windows had glass in them. The building work, including the huge timber arches and the staircase in the Grand Hall indicate that the finest carpenters and craftsmen were used in the construction. No doubt the furnishings in Stokesay Castle would have been fine and luxurious. This indicates how wealthy this merchant had become but it also indicates that England had craftsmen and specialists, who were no longer peasant farmers, struggling to make a living, but they had developed skills and were earning money in a very different way now. Richard of South ick Richard of Southwick lived in a house in Cuckoo Lane in Southampton, a busy, thriving port on the south coast of England. We have evidence of a number of goods from the house—glass items from Venice; silk from Persia; fine pottery from Spain. The windows were glazed, the floors were tiled and the drain was stone-lined. The cesspit indicated that he ate very well too—imported fruits such as pomegranates, figs and oranges. He even had a pet Barbary ape! This demonstrates Richard s wealth and success and the extensive nature of the trading links between England and the continent. Ho did this benefit England’s econom England’s econom as becoming more diverse From all this, we can see that England s economy was growing and becoming more diverse. The growth in the wool trade didn t just create a demand for more sheep. More wool created a need for more carts to transport the wool—which meant more cartwrights (people who build carts) and carters; it would mean more ships would be needed to transport the wool to the continent—ships needed to be built and sailed. People and goods moving around the country would mean more horses were needed—which increased the need for blacksmiths, who shoe horses, and sadlers who make saddles, and inns where merchants moving around the country could stay, which meant hospitality-type jobs… and so this cycle of job creation keeps running. There were opportunities for people to use their skills to create a different way of life from being an average medieval peasant. Most people were still peasants living on the land—around 0 of the population lived in villages and farmed the land. But nevertheless, opportunities were there. As people increased their wealth, they could afford to buy more and different products, which created more job opportunities. England’s societ as becoming more diverse the feudal s stem as beginning to break do n The strict hierarchy of the feudal system, with peasants tied to knights and lords, was clearly beginning to break down. It was possible for people to move up the social hierarchy. We can see that clearly from the example of Hugh Cok and Lawrence of Ludlow. Lawrence of Ludlow was not a nobleman—he was a merchant, probably of similar social status as a knight, But clearly, he was richer than many lords, and from being ‘just an ordinary merchant , he became closely linked with, and respected by, King Edward. For a merchant to be known and associated with the king suggests that social mobility was increasing in Edward s England. To ns ere gro ing We ll look at this aspect separately, but clearly, markets were becoming very important and this was drawing more and more people towards towns in England. Towns were growing in size and wealth, and presented new and more opportunities for people. And ho did this benefit Ed ard himself The wool trade and the economic growth helped Edward most directly in terms of money—something that he was always in need of! A) Taxes on wealth As England became wealthier as a whole, Edward benefited because he was able to tax that wealth. Without changing the tax rate itself, he could raise a bigger sum of money because the country as a whole had more income. B) Customs duty specifically on wool Customs duties are also a form of tax, but they are levied (or put on) specific products (e.g. today, we have customs duty on alcohol and cigarettes). Edward was able to target the wool trade specifically by putting a customs duty on every sack of wool. In , this was shillings & pence; by , it was 0 shillings!
