Tithe and Agrarian Output Between the Tyne and Tees

330 Pages·2014·9.02 MB·English

Durham E-Theses
Tithe and agrarian output between the Tyne and Tees,
1350- 1450
Dodds, Ben
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Tithe and Agrarian Output Between the Tyne and Tees, 1350 - 1450
Ben Dodds
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to establish a series of agrarian output indicators, based on tithe
receipts, for the period 1350 to 1450 and to interpret this series in the light of current
thinking on the medieval economy. Tithe receipts recorded in the accounts of Durham
Priory were used for the series. After a broad discussion of the concept of tithe, covering
its origins, significance and historiography, the institution of tithe is examined at the
parish and monastic levels. There follows a detailed discussion of the method used to
convert the tithe receipts into indicators of agrarian output: this represents a development
of methods used by French historians in the 1960s and 1970s. The final two chapters
examine the significance of these indicators for our understanding of the economy of the
late middle ages. Agrarian output in the parishes between the Tyne and Tees proves to
have been comparable to developments on demesne land elsewhere in England. Some
significant differences are also observed and discussed.
Tithe and Agrarian Output Between the Tyne and Tees,
1350- 1450
Ben Dodds
Ph.D. Thesis
University of Durham
History Department
2002
The copyright of this thesis rests with the author.
No quotation from it should be pubhshed without
his prior written consent and information derived
from it should be acknowledged.
DEC 2002

Table of contents
Page
Acknowledgements 6
Notes on referencing 7
Abbreviations 8
List of tables 11
List of figures 12
List of plates 15
Chapter 1 Tithe: institution and historiography 17
Origins 17
Tithe data and historiography 27
Potential of English records 38
Chapter 2 Tithe administration: the parish level 42
Collection 44
Transportation and storage 58
Chapter 3 Tithe administration: the monastic level 69
The endovsment and its division 70
Disposal of tithes 76
Accounts: form and purpose 88
Accounts: the tip of the iceberg? 104
Page
Chapter 4 Tithe and agrarian output: the monks 113
The monks' reasons for analysis 113
The monks'method 130
Chapter 5 Tithe and agrarian output: calculating output indices 13 8
Tithe receipts and output 13 8
Output index equation 141
Further problems 160
Chapter 6; Output indices: description 168
The Black Death 174
13 50-92 Recovery and renewed downturn 184
1393-1420 Crisis at the turn of the century 192
1421-1449 ^Non mediocriter est coUapsus' 201
Chapter 7: Agarian production and economic change 213
Introduction: explanatory models 213
Exogenous factors and production 219
Vacancies and sheep: land use and production levels 229
Peasant productivity: a comparison with the manorial sector 237
Landlord-tenant relations 251
Conclusion 255
Page
Appendix 1 Lord Beveridge's northeastern grain price series 257
Appendix 2 Individual vill estimated output graphs 273
Appendix 3 Post-Black Death plague outbreaks in northern England 297
Bibliography 298
Acknowledgements
My thanks are due primarily to Professor Richard Britnell, who supervised this thesis, for
his guidance and encouragement. Mr A. J. Piper of Durham University Library also gave
me help and advice as I examined the manuscript sources. I am grateful also to Dr Helen
Dunsford for giving her time and expertise to prepare the map. I have benefited from
discussions with and advice fi^om many other individuals including Dr Simon Harris, Dr
David Stone, Dr Nuala Zahedieh, Professor Pat Hudson, Professor David Rollason, Mrs
Lynda Rollason, Mr Peter Larson, Dr Larry Epstein, Dr Richard Clark and Miss Pilar
Bilbao Montoya. Finally, my parents and brother have all, in different ways, helped me
during my time as a research student.
Occasional use is made of research done as part of my University of Durham M.A.
Mention is made in the footnotes where this is the case.
The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be
published without their prior written consent and information derived from it should be
acknowledged.
Notes on referencing
The thesis deals mainly with parishes and vills between the Tyne and Tees (including
Wallsend and Willington on the north side of the Tyne). When individual vills in this area
are mentioned, their parish is also given. Occasionally evidence is drawn fi-om places
beyond these bounds and connected to Durham Priory: their present-day county is given
with their first appearance in each chapter.
A note on references to Durham Cathedral Muniments accounting material
The accounts of the bursar and terrar are exceptionally long and therefore footnotes give
the section as well as the account year. Complications arise in the case of the tithe receipt
sections which were not always labelled but are easy to locate in the receipts half of the
accounts. Where a label does survive, this is given in the reference. If not, then the
reference gives '[Decimey. Within the tithe sections, vills were always separated by
parish but the parish sections were not necessarily labelled with the name of the parish.
The footnotes therefore give the modernised name of the parish. References to the
accounts of other office holders similarly identify the sections from which information is
taken. A few footnotes omit a section name if the account is so illegible that sections are
difficult to distinguish. Often more than one version of accounts survive. In the majority
of cases, both accounts give the same information and therefore no letter indicating
version has been added. Where only one account was referred to, often because of the
illegibility of other versions, a letter is given.
Abbreviations
DurhaiTi Cathedral Muniments accounting material is only referenced individually when
quoted directly in the text. Otherwise, accounts are easily traceable by year. See A. J.
Piper, Muniments of the Dean and ( hapter of Durham: Medieval Accounting Material
(Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Searchroom Handlist,
1995). The contents of this handlist can be found on Durham University Librar>' .Archives
and Special Collections web pages at
www.flambard.dur.ac.uk:6336/dvnaweb./handlist/ddc/
DCM Durham Cathedral Muniments
B.Bk Bursar's book
PRO Public Record Office
Abbreviations for printed material
= Instructions for pa fish priests' by John Myrc, ed E
EETS0S31
Peacock, Eariy English Text Society Original Senes, 31 (London.
1868).
EET0S115 = Jacob's Well part /, ed. A. Brandeis, Early English Text
Society Original Series. 115 (London, 1900).
EET0S119 = Robert de Brunne's 'Handlyng synne' part /, ed. F. J.
Fumivall, Early English Text Societ>^ Original Series, 119
(London, 1901).