FORESTRY 



2. In the Later Middle Ages 



The. ancient national forests suffered seriously during the 

 later Middle Ages owing chiefly to two causes the impe- 

 cunious state of the exchequer and the growth of feudalism. 

 The system of communal ownership gradually decayed, 

 though it never disappeared. 



But a new form of proprietorship now appeared that of 

 the towns. These, partly at the time of their foundation, 

 partly during their palmy days after the end of the thirteenth 

 century, frequently acquired very considerable areas of wood- 

 land, and preserved them well. 



The efforts of the greater landed proprietors continued to 

 be directed towards the appropriation of the lands of the 

 peasantry, the more so as, with the development of sovereignty, 

 political power was connected with territorial possession. 

 With the reorganisation of economic conditions and the 

 development of the feudal system the peasantry as a class 

 lost their importance. On the other hand, the continual 

 economic progress of the country led to a further sub- 

 division of the old national forests. At first this took place 

 between districts only, but during the thirteenth century the 

 old communal forests also came to be divided among the 

 respective owners. In both cases the feudal lords took good 

 care, especially if they held protective rights, to get a larger 

 or smaller share of the lands. 



. The value of forest land for agricultural purposes, and the 

 general prosperity of the times, caused the forests to rise 

 rapidly in value, so that owners of property held always 

 more and more tenaciously to their possessions. Following 

 the ancient style of bargaining, proprietors granted rights of 

 use for labour done. At first the contents of the forest were 

 held to be of small value ; little restraint was put upon the 

 inhabitants' interpretation of their rights, and as a result, 

 they often took more than they were entitled to. In course 

 of time this privilege developed into a demand which 



