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- Title
Pastoral farming in south-east England in the fifteenth century.
- Authors
Mate, Mavis
- Abstract
The article focuses on pastoral farming in south-east England in the fifteenth century. Since the mid-thirteenth century sheep farming had played an important role in the economy of south-east England. This importance continued in the early fifteenth century, when the coastal marshes teemed with animals. In the 1430s and 1440s this pasture demand collapsed totally. The expansion of the cloth industry towards the end of the century, coupled with a stabilization of the rural population, brought about a renewed interest in sheep farming. The end of the century, however, does see a growing diversification within the pastoral economy. Cattle breeding was taking its place alongside sheep rearing. The pastoral economy in south-east England thus followed slightly different paths from those followed in other parts of the country. In the early years of the century the need to supply the armies going abroad encouraged farmers to produce stock for the market. Pasture rents rose and the price of animals stayed high or, in the case of horses, increased significantly.
- Subjects
ENGLAND; LIVESTOCK; SHEEP ranches; CATTLE breeding; FARMERS; ECONOMIC history
- Publication
Economic History Review, 1987, Vol 40, Issue 4, p523
- ISSN
0013-0117
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2596391