CHAPTER III 



THE DECAY OF THE MANORIAL SYSTEM 



Increasing Use of Money. 



Before the end of the thirteenth century, England had 

 ceased to be the country of Norman lords and Saxon 

 peasants. By degrees the two races had become almost 

 one in language and customs, and the national life in con- 

 sequence underwent a marked change. England engaged 

 in foreign wars. An important development also occurred 

 in foreign trade, notably in wool. 



In order to meet the expenses of war, heavy taxation 

 was imposed. Hitherto, money had been little used except 

 by the king, the lords of the manors, and to some extent 

 by the freemen. It was now in great demand. Conse- 

 quently, a money-payment was accepted by the king and 

 the barons instead of the services formerly rendered. Un- 

 successful wars also led to dissatisfaction and disorder. 

 Thus the discipline of the manors was gradually weakened, 

 and the condition of the lower classes thereby improved. 

 Money wages in return for labour began to be demanded. 



The Black Death. 



These changes, however, were not wrought suddenly. 

 On many manors, the lords preferred the ancient methods 

 of managing their estates -that is, land and not money 

 continued to be the link between the worker and the em- 

 ployer. Ere the middle of the fourteenth century, how- 

 ever, an event occurred which hastened the break-up of 

 the manorial sj^stem. In August 1348, a terrible plague, 

 known as the Black Death, reached England. It had 

 swept westward from Asia, across Europe, until it broke 

 out in Dorsetshire. Although the dreadful sickness was 

 particularly fatal to man, sub-human creatures were also 

 included among its victims. The pestilence is said to have 

 carried off nearly half the population of England in little 

 more than a year. 



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