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ENGLISH INDUSTRIES OF THE
MIDDLE AGES
ENGLISH INDUSTRIES
OF THE MIDDLE AGES
Being an Introduction to the Industrial Historyof Medieval England
BY
L. F. SALZMANN B.A. F.S.A.
AUTHOR OF 'MEDIEVAL BYWAYS'
LONDON
CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD.
1913
PREFACE
The title of this book indicates at once its aim andits limitations. It makes no pretence to be a completehistory of the early industrial life of England,but at the same time it does claim to be an introductionto the study of that subject. It is my hope,and indeed my belief, that from it the general reader,equipped with interest in the history of his countryrather than with technical knowledge, will obtainsomething more than a bare outline of industrialconditions in pre-Elizabethan days. The studentwho is anxious to go more deeply into the subjectshere treated may use this book as a road map andthe footnotes as finger-posts to guide him to theheights of completer knowledge.
From the nature of my subject it was inevitablethat the book should be full of technicalities, figures,and statistics, but it has been my endeavour torender the technicalities intelligible, and to preventthe significance of the statistics being obscured byan excess of detail. The scheme which I haveadopted is to treat the leading medieval industriesone by one, showing as far as possible their chiefcentres, their chronological development, the conditions[vi]and the methods of working. With thedisposal of the finished products through intermediaries,merchants, or shopkeepers, I have notconcerned myself, deeming such matters rather tobelong to the realms of trade and commerce thanof industry; and for this same reason, and alsobecause it has been dealt with by other writers, Ihave not dealt with the great source of England'swealth—wool. Agriculture, also, and fishing I haveexcluded from my definition of industry. A moreculpable omission, which I think calls for a wordof explanation, is shown in the case of building.This, however, is not omitted by an oversight, noryet through any desire to save myself trouble. Ihad collected a great mass of material for an intendedsection on the Building Industry, but after carefulconsideration I came to the conclusion that thematerial available was so exceedingly technical, andthe obscurity of the details so greatly in excess oftheir value when elucidated, as to render such asection rather a weariness and a stumbling-blockto the student than a help. The subjects treatedin the several sections are thoroughly representative,if not completely exhaustive, of English industriallife, and a general survey of the subject is containedin my last chapter, where I have outlined as broadlyas possible the general principles that governed theControl of Industry—the typical regulations madeby, or for, the craftsmen in the interest of the[vii]employer, the workman, or the consumer. Thislast section might, of course, easily have been extendedto cover more pages than this whole volume,but it is questionable whether multiplicity of detailtends to ease of assimilation. A single typicalinstance of a prevalent custom or regulation is assignificant as a list of a dozen local variations, andfar easier to remember. A rule is more easilyremembered by one example than by a score, andwith such a wealth of material as exists the risk