s of the manors
and been subsequently rented out again, with or without a lease, to
farmers or rent-paying tenants. These were in most cases probably the
tenants who were now evicted to make room for the new enclosed sheep
farms.

By these enclosures and evictions in some cases the open lands of
whole vills were enclosed, the old agriculture came to an end, and as
the enclosers were often non-residents, the whole farming population
disappeared from the village. Since sheep-raising required such a
small number of laborers, the farm laborers also had to leave to seek
work elsewhere, and the whole village, therefore, was deserted, the
houses fell into ruin, and the township lost its population entirely.
This was commonly spoken of at the time as "the decaying of towns,"
and those who were responsible for it were denounced as enemies of
their country. In most cases, however, the enclosures and depopulation
were only partial. A number of causes combined to carry this movement
forward. England was not yet a wealthy country, but such capital as
existed, especially in the towns, was utilized and made remunerative
by investment in the newly enclosed farms and in carrying on the
expenses of enclosure. The dissolution of the monasteries between 1536
and 1542 brought the lands which they had formerly held into the
possession of a class of men who were anxious to make them as
remunerative as possible, and who had no feeling against enclosures.

Nevertheless, the changes were much disapproved. Sir Thomas More
condemns them in the _Utopia_, as do many other writers of the same
period and of the reign of Elizabeth. The landlords, the enclosers,
the city merchants who took up country lands, were preached against
and inveighed against by such preachers as Latimer, Lever, and Becon,
and in a dozen or more pamphlets still extant. The government also put
itself into opposition to the changes which were in progress. It was
believed that there was danger of a reduction of the population and
thus of a lack of soldiers; it was feared that not enough grain would
be raised to provide food for the people; the dangerous masses of
wandering beggars were partly at least recruited from the evicted
tenants; there was a great deal of discontent in the country due to
the high rents, lack of occupation, and general dislike of change. A
series of laws were therefore carried through Parliament and other
measures taken, the object of which was to put a sto