of winter and the attacks of pestilence. Yet the average condition of
comfort of the mass of the rural inhabitants of England was probably
as high as at any subsequent time. Food in proportion to wages was
very cheap, and the almost universal possession of some land made it
possible for the very poorest to avoid starvation. Moreover, the great
extent to which custom governed all payments, services, and rights
must have prevented much of the extreme depression which has
occasionally existed in subsequent periods in which greater
competition has distinguished more clearly the capable from the
incompetent.

From the social rather than from the economic point of view the life
of the mediaeval manor was perhaps most clearly marked by this
predominance of custom and by a second characteristic nearly related.
This was the singularly close relationship in which all the
inhabitants of the manor were bound to one another, and their
correspondingly complete separation from the outside world. The common
pasture, the intermingled strips of the holdings in the open fields,
the necessary cooeperation in the performance of their daily labor on
the demesne land, the close contiguity of their dwellings, their
universal membership in the same parish church, their common
attendance and action in the manor courts, all must have combined to
make the vill an organization of singular unity. This self-centred
life, economically, judicially, and ecclesiastically so nearly
independent of other bodies, put obstacles in the way of change. It
prohibited intercourse beyond the manor, and opposed the growth of a
feeling of common national life. The manorial life lay at the base of
the stability which marked the mediaeval period.

*13. BIBLIOGRAPHY*

GENERAL WORKS

Certain general works which refer to long periods of economic history
will be mentioned here and not again referred to, excepting in special
cases. It is to be understood that they contain valuable matter on the
subject, not only of this, but of succeeding chapters. They should
therefore be consulted in addition to the more specific works named
under each chapter.

Cunningham, William: _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, two
volumes. The most extensive and valuable work that covers the whole
field of English economic history.

Ashley, W. J.: _English Economic History_, two volumes. The first
volume is a full and careful analysis of mediaeval economic conditions,
with de