Arable Productivity in Medieval England: Some Evidence from Norfolk

Abstract

Considerable ingenuity has recently been demonstrated in the development of a technique for estimating sixteenth- and seventeenth-century grain yields on the evidence of probate inventories. 1 This ought to serve as a salutary lesson to the medieval agricultural historian, for he, in spite of working in an earlier period, enjoys the privilege of a qualitatively superior data source. Medieval bailiffs’ accounts represent one of the most remarkable compilations of agricultural data ever devised, and in respect of seignorial demesnes provide all the information necessary for the direct measurement of both arable and pastoral productivity. 2 Of course, the survival of account rolls is often fragmentary and uneven; but, even so, the potential of those that remain has yet to be fully realized.

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