John Hatcher - Böcker

This is the eagerly awaited first volume of the definitive History of the British Coal Industry. Well before 1700 Britain had become heavily dependent upon coal for its fuel, and coalmining had taken its place among the nation's staple industries. John Hatcher traces the production and trade of coal from the intermittent small-scale activity which prevailed in the Middle Ages to the rapid expansion and rising importance which characterized the early modern era. Thoroughly grounded in a formidable range of sources, the book explores the economics and management of mining, the productivity and profitability of colliery enterprise, and the progress of technology. Dr Hatcher examines the owners and operators of collieries and the sources of mining capital, as well as the colliers themselves, their working conditions and earnings. He argues that the spectacular growth of coal output in this period was achieved more through evolutionary than revolutionary processes. This is a scholarly, detailed, and comprehensive study, which will be an essential source for all historians of the medieval and early modern economy, and fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the British coal industry.

Most of what has been written on the economy of the middle ages is deeply influenced by abstract concepts and theories. The most powerful and popular of these guiding beliefs are derived from intellectual foundations laid down in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by Adam Smith, Johan von Thünen, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx. In the hands of twentieth-century historians and social scientists these venerable ideas have been moulded into three grand explanatory ideas which continue to dominate interpretations of economic development. These trumpet in turn the claims of 'commercialization', 'population and resources', or 'class power and property relations' as the prime movers of historical change. In this highly original book John Hatcher and Mark Bailey examine the structure and test the validity of these conflicting models from a variety of perspectives. In the course of their investigations they provide not only detailed reconstructions of the economic history of England in the middle ages and sustained critical commentaries on the work of leading historians, but also discussions of the philosophy and methods of history and the social sciences. The result is a short and readily intelligible introduction to medieval economic history, an up-to-date critique of established models, and a succinct treatise on historiographical method.

Most of what has been written on the economy of the middle ages is deeply influenced by abstract concepts and theories. The most powerful and popular of these guiding beliefs are derived from intellectual foundations laid down in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by Adam Smith, Johan von Thünen, Thomas Malthus, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx. In the hands of twentieth-century historians and social scientists these venerable ideas have been moulded into three grand explanatory ideas which continue to dominate interpretations of economic development. These trumpet in turn the claims of 'commercialization', 'population and resources', or 'class power and property relations' as the prime movers of historical change. In this highly original book John Hatcher and Mark Bailey examine the structure and test the validity of these conflicting models from a variety of perspectives. In the course of their investigations they provide not only detailed reconstructions of the economic history of England in the middle ages and sustained critical commentaries on the work of leading historians, but also discussions of the philosophy and methods of history and the social sciences. The result is a short and readily intelligible introduction to medieval economic history, an up-to-date critique of established models, and a succinct treatise on historiographical method.

In this fresh approach to the history of the Black Death, John Hatcher, a world-renowned scholar of the Middle Ages, recreates everyday life in a mid-fourteenth century rural English village. By focusing on the experiences of ordinary villagers as they lived,and died,during the Black Death (1345-50 AD), Hatcher vividly places the reader directly into those tumultuous years and describes in fascinating detail the day-to-day existence of people struggling with the tragic effects of the plague. Dramatic scenes portray how contemporaries must have experienced and thought about the momentous events,and how they tried to make sense of it all.

This study is centred on the Cornish manorial estates of the Duchy of Cornwall in the later Middle Ages, and has been compiled from a very full and hitherto neglected series of records, the completeness of which is perhaps unique for a lay estate. Most aspects of the history of the estates have been recorded and those which differed from other regions of England have been stressed. In order to place the Duchy estates within their regional context Dr Hatcher has studied a wide range of documents and produced a mass of new evidence concerning tin-mining, fishing, trade, towns and local industry in Cornwall and Devon. He shows, for example, that agricultural prosperity in later medieval Cornwall followed an exceptional course, and was determined by a series of interconnected changes within the regional economy, with a much less direct and immediate causal link than is commonly assumed between declining population after 1349 and agricultural recession. The intimate connexions between agriculture. and industry and commerce are additionally emphasized by the manifold business interests of leading Duchy tenants.

The contributors to this collection of essays in honour of the distinguished medieval historian Edward Miller pay tribute by writing on the society and economy of England between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. They address many of the most important themes of an era that witnessed profound change in rural, commercial, urban and industrial life, and they focus in particular on the progress achieved and the problems encountered. The subjects covered include the growth of London, the commercial and urban development of the north, Italian merchants and banking, overseas trade, taxation, farm servants, hunting and poaching, changing relations between landlords and tenants, the expansion of the economy in the twelfth century, and the great slump of the fifteenth. The book has been written by leading experts, and is a major contribution to English medieval economic and social history.

The contributors to this collection of essays in honour of the distinguished medieval historian Edward Miller pay tribute by writing on the society and economy of England between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries. They address many of the most important themes of an era that witnessed profound change in rural, commercial, urban and industrial life, and they focus in particular on the progress achieved and the problems encountered. The subjects covered include the growth of London, the commercial and urban development of the north, Italian merchants and banking, overseas trade, taxation, farm servants, hunting and poaching, changing relations between landlords and tenants, the expansion of the economy in the twelfth century, and the great slump of the fifteenth. The book has been written by leading experts, and is a major contribution to English medieval economic and social history.

This is the first volume of a two-volume study of medieval England covering the period between the Norman Conquest and the Black Death. The book opens with a summary portrait of the English economy and society in the reign of William I. It goes on to examine in detail the population increase from 1086 to 1349 and to investigate the structure of society where relationships were rooted in the dependence of man upon man.

The only survey of the urban, commercial and industrial history of the period between the Norman conquest and the Black Death.

How the people of a typical English village lived and died in the worst epidemic in history.The Black Death remains the greatest disaster to befall humanity, killing about half the population of the planet in the 14th century. John Hatcher recreates everyday medieval life in a parish in Suffolk, from which an exceptional number of documents survive. This enables us to view events through the eyes of its residents, revealing in unique detail what it was like to live and die in these terrifying times. With scrupulous attention to historical accuracy, John Hatcher describes what the parishioners experienced, what they knew and what they believed. His narrative is peopled with characters developed from the villagers named in the actual town records and a series of dramatic scenes portray how contemporaries must have experienced the momentous events.

The only survey of the urban, commercial and industrial history of the period between the Norman conquest and the Black Death.

This is the first volume of a two-volume study of medieval England covering the period between the Norman Conquest and the Black Death. The book opens with a summary portrait of the English economy and society in the reign of William I. It goes on to examine in detail the population increase from 1086 to 1349 and to investigate the structure of society where relationships were rooted in the dependence of man upon man.