INTRODUCTION xxxv 



wool being in great demand in Flanders ; and from this sprang 

 the weaving of wool in England by Flemish weavers protected 

 by Chartered Guilds from outside labour, this trade growing tre- 

 mendously in England from the thirteenth century ; and the 

 weavers, to protect themselves from unfair dealings of merchants, 

 were the first to strike effectively in the British Islands. 



In marked contrast to the weavers stand out the peasants of 

 England to free themselves from the immediate and personal con- 

 trol which the lords had over them under the system of serfdom, 

 to demand the right to sell their labour for wages, in place of paying 

 their rents in labour services, to obtain the right to move about 

 freely so as to find the best possible market for their labour, in 

 place of being tied down to the lord's estate, to obtain the right 

 to sell their produce in the markets as free men, and to procure 

 equality before the law which had not previously recognised their 

 right to redress for grievances of any kind in the courts of justice. 

 Truly, these demands for which such sacrifice was made by thou- 

 sands of English toilers in the Peasants' Revolt, have been won, 

 but the means by which they have been effected, instead of being 

 ascribed to the " riotous priest " of Essex and the " wicked priest " 

 of Kent, whose initiatives were revolutionary, must be accorded 

 to the " poor priests " whose doctrines were reformatory, and 

 consisted in the right of the common people to repudiate their 

 obligations to their lords and masters if in turn the lords did not 

 observe their duties to those who were under them. 



Agriculture flourished under the encouragement of the ecclesi- 

 astics, they attaining to the greatest height of power 1216-1399, 

 then entering upon their long decline 1399-1485, when ecclesiastical 

 polity is seen losing its hold on the affections and respect of the 

 people, and the fury of the whirlwind which gradually blew over 

 the whole land in the seizure of the abbeys and monasteries was 

 so complete that in the spring of the year 1540 all the monastic 

 establishments of the kingdom were suppressed, and much of 

 their landed property was divided among courtiers and parasites. 

 Pauperism increased, education was neglected, and yet agri- 

 culture must have been largely practised outside the monastic 

 establishments and attained some prominence by and in the reign 

 of Henry VIII, for the first English treatise on husbandry was 

 published in 1534 by Sir A. Fitzherbert, Judge of the Common 

 Pleas. It is entitled the Book of Husbandry, and contains 

 directions for draining, clearing and enclosing a farm, for enrich- 

 ing the soil and rendering it fit for tillage. Lime, marl and fallow- 

 ing are strongly recommended. Indeed, there is little in the 

 Book of Husbandry, as written from the author's experience of 

 over forty years, which should be omitted, and not a great deal 

 that should be added, in so far as regards the culture of corn, in 

 a manual of husbandry adapted to the present time. 



