DECLINE OF AGRICULTURE 47 



establishment of the complete independence and separation of 

 one property from another.^ As soon as the manorial system 

 began to give way, and men to have a free hand, the substi- 

 tution of large for small holdings set in with fresh vigour, for 

 we have already seen that it had begun. It was one of the 

 chief causes of the stagnation of agriculture in the Middle 

 Ages that it lay under the heavy hand of feudalism, by which 

 individualism was checked and hindered. Every one had his 

 allotted position on the land, and it was hard to get out of it, 

 though some exceptional men did so ; as a rule there was no 

 chance of striking out a new line for oneself. The villein was 

 bound to the lord, and no lord would willingly surrender his 

 services. There could be little improvement in farming when 

 the custom of the manor and the collective ownership of the 

 teams bound all to the same system of farming.'^ In fact, 

 agriculture under feudalism suffered from many of the evils 

 of socialism. 



But, though hard hit, the old system was to endure for 

 many generations, and the modern triumvirate of landlord, 

 tenant, and labourer was not completely established in 

 England until the era of the first Reform Bill. 



* Nasse, Agricultural Community of the Middle Ages, p. I. 



* Cunningham, Industry and Commerce, i. 137. 



