ing the period last discussed, the fourteenth and the early
fifteenth century, the manorial system had changed very considerably
from its mediaeval form. The demesne lands had been quite generally
leased to renting farmers, and a new class of tenants was consequently
becoming numerous; serfdom had fallen into decay; the old manorial
officers, the steward, the bailiff, and the reeve had fallen into
unimportance; the manor courts were not so active, so regular, or so
numerously attended. These changes were gradual and were still
uncompleted at the middle of the fifteenth century; but there was
already showing itself a new series of changes, affecting still other
parts of manorial life, which became steadily more extensive during
the remainder of the fifteenth and through much of the sixteenth
century. These changes are usually grouped under the name
"enclosures."

The enclosure of land previously open was closely connected with the
increase of sheep-raising. The older form of agriculture,
grain-raising, labored under many difficulties. The price of labor was
high, there had been no improvement in the old crude methods of
culture, nor, in the open fields and under the customary rules, was
there opportunity to introduce any. On the other hand, the inducements
to sheep-raising were numerous. There was a steady demand at good
prices for wool, both for export, as of old, and for the manufactures
within England, which were now increasing. Sheep-raising required
fewer hands and therefore high wages were less an obstacle, and it
gave opportunity for the investment of capital and for comparative
freedom from the restrictions of local custom. Therefore, instead of
raising sheep simply as a part of ordinary farming, lords of manors,
freeholders, farming tenants, and even customary tenants began here
and there to raise sheep for wool as their principal or sole
production. Instances are mentioned of five thousand, ten thousand,
twenty thousand, and even twenty-four thousand sheep in the possession
of a single person. This custom spread more and more widely, and so
attracted the attention of observers as to be frequently mentioned in
the laws and literature of the time.

[Illustration: Partially enclosed Fields of Cuxham, Oxfordshire, 1767.
(Facsimile map, published by the University of Oxford.)]

But sheep could not be raised to any considerable extent on land
divided according to the old open field system. In a vill whose fields