Edward Potts Cheyney presents a systematic account of the economic and social development of England, beginning with its geography and early prehistoric inhabitants. The narrative progresses through Roman occupation, Saxon settlement, and the Norman Conquest, detailing how these successive invasions laid the foundations of the nation's culture, law, and population structure. The text explains the medieval manor as a self-sufficient agricultural unit, characterized by open fields, communal pastures, and the strict ties of serfdom that bound the peasantry to the soil.
Town life and organization are examined through the rise of merchant and craft gilds, which held monopolies over trade and manufacturing while fostering close social and religious bonds among their members. The book details medieval commerce, highlighting the role of markets, periodic fairs, and foreign trading relations with Flanders, the Hanseatic League, and Italian merchants. Cheyney demonstrates how foreign merchants, Italian bankers, and Flemish immigrants contributed to the growing sophistication of the English economy.
A central turning point examined in the text is the impact of the Black Death in the fourteenth century. The sudden demographic collapse caused severe labor shortages, leading to the rise of wages, the breakdown of manorial obligations, the commutation of labor services into money payments, and ultimately the Peasants' Rebellion of 1381. These events initiated the gradual decay of serfdom and the abandonment of direct demesne farming by landowners.
The transition to modern times involves the enclosure of open lands for sheep-farming, the decay of traditional town gilds, and the relocation of manufacturing to rural areas under the domestic system. Cheyney analyzes the commercial expansion under the Tudors and Stuarts, driven by regulated companies like the Merchants Adventurers, maritime exploration, and colonial settlements. The narrative underscores the growing paternal role of the national government in regulating wages, prices, apprenticeship, and foreign trade.
The volume concludes by tracing the rise of a modern monetary economy, the legalization of interest, and the expansion of agriculture and industry into the eighteenth century. Cheyney illustrates how economic structures shifted from corporate, customary, and local control to individual enterprise and national regulation. The author emphasizes that these transformations occurred through slow historical processes rather than sudden revolutions.
The detailed account provides concrete insights into the daily lives of medieval villagers, town artisans, and early modern merchants. While hinting at the eventual industrialization that would transform Britain into a global manufacturing power, the book remains focused on the foundational centuries that preceded the machine age.
