Tithe and Agrarian Output Between the Tyne and Tees, 1350- 1450
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Durham E-Theses Tithe and agrarian output between the Tyne and Tees, 1350- 1450 Dodds, Ben How to cite: Dodds, Ben (2002) Tithe and agrarian output between the Tyne and Tees, 1350- 1450, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4191/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 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 EETS0S31 = Instructions for pa fish priests' by John Myrc, ed E 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). EETES71 The Towneley Plays, ed. G. England and A. W. Pollard, Eariv English Text Society Extra Series. 71 (London, 1897). Pantin 1 = Chapters of the English Black Monks, documents illustrating the activities of the General and Provincial volume I, ed. W. A. Pantin, Camden Third Series. 45, (London, 1931). Pantin 2 = Chapters of the English Black Monks, documents illustrating the activities of the General and Provincial volume II, ed. W. A. Pantin, Camden Third Series. 47 (London, 1933). Pantin 3 = Chapters of the English Black Monks, documents illustrating the activities of the General and Provincial volume III, ed. W. A. Pantin, Camden Third Series. 54 (London, 1937). = The priory of Finchale. The charters of endowment, SS6 inventories and account rolls, ed. J. Raine, Surtees Society. 6 (Newcastle, 1837). SS9 = Historiae Dunelmensis scriptores tres, ed. J. Raine, Surtees Society. 9 (London. 1839). SS12 = The priory of Coldingham: the correspondence, inventories, account rolls, and law proceedings, of the priory of Coldingham, ed. J. Raine, Surtees Society. 12 (London, 1841). SS29 = The inventories and account rolls of Jarrow and Monkwearmouth, ed. J. Raine, Surtees Society. 29 (Durham, 1854). SS32 = Bishop Hatfield's Survey, ed. W. Greenwell, Surtees Society. 32 (Durham, 1857). SS99 = Extracts from the account rolls of the abbey of Durham from the original MSS volume I, ed. J. T. Fowler, Surtees Society. 99 (Durham, 1898). SSI 00 = Extracts from the account rolls of the abbey of Durham from the original MSS volume II, ed. J. T. Fowler, Surtees Society. 100 (Durham, 1898). SSI07 = Rites of Durham, ed. J. T. Fowler, Surtees Society. 107 (Durham, 1902). SSI98 = Durham Cathedral Priory rentals volume 1 bursar's rentals, eds. R. A. Lomas and A. J. Piper, Surtees Society, 198 (Newcastle, 1986). 10 Tables, figures and plates Pages Map Parishes and vills appropriated to Durham Priory and its dependencies between the Tyne