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Mites and merchants: the crisis of English wool and textile trade revisited, c. 1275–1330

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  • Philip Slavin

Abstract

On the basis of 7,871 manorial accounts from 601 sheep‐rearing demesnes and 187 tithe receipts from 15 parishes, this article addresses the origins, scale, and impact of the wool and textile production crisis in England, c. 1275–1350. The article argues that recurrent outbreaks of scab disease depressed sheep population and wool production levels until the early 1330s. The disease, coupled with warfare and taxation, also had a decisive role in depressing the volumes of wool exports. Despite this fact, wool merchants were still conducting business with major wool producers, who desperately needed access to the capital to replenish their flocks.

Suggested Citation

  • Philip Slavin, 2020. "Mites and merchants: the crisis of English wool and textile trade revisited, c. 1275–1330," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(4), pages 885-913, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:73:y:2020:i:4:p:885-913
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.12969
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Broadberry,Stephen & Campbell,Bruce M. S. & Klein,Alexander & Overton,Mark & van Leeuwen,Bas, 2015. "British Economic Growth, 1270–1870," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107070783, January.
    2. Power, Eileen, 1941. "The Wool Trade in English Medieval History," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number power1941.
    3. Philip Slavin, 2012. "The Great Bovine Pestilence and its economic and environmental consequences in England and Wales, 1318–50," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(4), pages 1239-1266, November.
    4. Alexandra Sapoznik, 2013. "The productivity of peasant agriculture: Oakington, Cambridgeshire, 1360–99," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 66(2), pages 518-544, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Matt Raven, 2022. "Wool smuggling from England's eastern seaboard, c. 1337–45: An illicit economy in the late middle ages," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1182-1213, November.

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