Heriots and Prices on Winchester Manors

Postan, M. M.; Titow, J. Z.

doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1959.tb01648.x

Cited by 36 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…it was a society balaticed on the margin of subsistence atid subject to Malthusian crises. Worsetiing weather conditiotis in Laticashire and the rest of England duritig the first half of the fourteenth cetitury resulted iti frequetit crop failures (Poston & Titow, 1959) and cattle tnurrain (Cunliffe-Shaw, 1956). Not only did bad harvests lead to food shortages, but the food that was available increased sharply iti price, so that these two factors resulted in famine and increased mortalities before the onset of the Black Death (Poston & Titow, 1959;Poos, 1985).…”

Section: Famine and Plague Duri?ig The High Middle Agesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Worsetiing weather conditiotis in Laticashire and the rest of England duritig the first half of the fourteenth cetitury resulted iti frequetit crop failures (Poston & Titow, 1959) and cattle tnurrain (Cunliffe-Shaw, 1956). Not only did bad harvests lead to food shortages, but the food that was available increased sharply iti price, so that these two factors resulted in famine and increased mortalities before the onset of the Black Death (Poston & Titow, 1959;Poos, 1985). Few people question the fact that the Black Death caused substatitial mortalities across England, but what is debatable is whether it was the primary determinant of general tnortality levels, as suggested for example by Axon (1894) atid Dury (1963), or whether developitig Malthusiati crises were primarily responsible (Poston & Titow, 1959;Howson, 1960;Titow, 1961;Poos, 1985).…”

Section: Famine and Plague Duri?ig The High Middle Agesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The recent vegetational history of the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, UK

Mackay

Tallis

1994

New Phytologist

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SUMMARYThe results of "C-and ^'"Pb-dated pollen profiles from the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire are presented, covering the period from the late Iron Age up to the present day. Two notable features of the pollen profile are the apparent lack of a period of large-scale forest destruction during the time of the Norse invasions and the substantial phase of tree clearance towards the end of the Iron Age period. The evidence suggests that the Viking invasions into Lancashire may not have been as destructive as once believed. The invasions were probably gradual, possibly localized (certainly as regards the Bowland area) and seem to have occurred alongside existing populations. Previous pollen-analytical evidence regarding the Iron Age peoples of north-west England has supposed them to have had little effect on their surrounding vegetation. It is now suggested that forest clearance previously assigned to the Romans in north-west England is of Iron Age origin.The pollen profiles presented also reflect several changes of socio-economic conditions that have affected rural populations in Lancashire during the last millennium. An important example is the decimation of populations during the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is suggested that these were caused by the development of subsistence economies, leading each time to a Malthusian crisis. These population declines may also have been exacerbated by outbreaks of plague. The fall in population at both times, is clearly reflected by rising arboreal pollen values, indicative of slackening rates of forest clearance.

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Section: Famine and Plague Duri?ig The High Middle Agesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Famine and Plague Duri?ig The High Middle Agesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The recent vegetational history of the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, UK

Mackay

Tallis

1994

New Phytologist

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“…However, these studies only describe the pattern of mortality, and do not examine its possible connection with living standards. The classic exception is Postan and Titow (1959) who looked at the relationship between harvests and mortality on five Winchester manors, but their use of heriots (where the lord took a dead tenant's best beast) as a proxy for mortality remains controversial: see Nightingale (2005, 40-43).…”

Section: Existing Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Living Standards and Mortality Since the Middle Ages

Kelly

Gráda

2010

SSRN Journal

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Existing studies find little connection between living standards and mortality in England, but go back only to the sixteenth century. Using new data on inheritances, we extend estimates of mortality back to the mid-thirteenth century and find, by contrast, that deaths from unfree tenants to the nobility were strongly affected by harvests. Looking at a large sample of parishes after 1540, we find that the positive check had weakened considerably by 1650 even though real wages were falling, but persisted in London for another century despite its higher wages. In both cases the disappearance of the positive check coincided with the introduction of systematic poor relief, suggesting that government action played a role in breaking the link between harvest failure and mass mortality.

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“…For the earlier period, 1250 to 8 1550, his series appears to have been adopted, with some modification, from Russell.2 Surprisingly, it is possible to do all the econometric testing and estimation without using the population data at all. All the work reported in this paper is based on Wrigley's series.…”

Section: A Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8. Land: On this subject Postan writes: "By 1066 the occupation of England by the English had gone far enough to have brought into cultivation and covered with agricultural settlement most of the area known to have been occupied in later centuries of English history."…”

Section: Effects Of Population Changementioning

confidence: 99%