Abstract
This paper uses a data set of freehold land and property transactions from medieval England to highlight the growing commercialization of the economy during that time. By drawing on the legal records, we are able to demonstrate that the medieval real estate market provided the opportunity for investors to profit. Careful analysis of the data provides evidence of group purchases, multiple transactions, and investors buying outside their own localities. The identification of these “investors” and their buying behaviors, set within the context of the English medieval economy, contributes to the early commercialization debate.
Highlights
Until the late 1980s, the predominant view of the medieval English economy was one characterized by a reliance on subsistence agriculture, 1
Analysis of medieval property investment has been based largely on case studies, which, though useful, are limited in their ability to quantify the extent and overall character of this phenomenon; many existing studies have focused on property investment by ecclesiastical institutions rather than individuals
Evidence for property investment is taken from three main indicators: (1) the buyer has purchased property as part of a group, suggesting the existence of business partnerships or syndicates; (2) the buyer engages in multiple transactions within a relatively short period of time; and (3) there is a significant distance between the regional origins of the buyer or seller and the location of the property
Summary
The subject of this article is the role of freehold land and property in the developing commercial economy of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Speculation enabled “medieval investors” the ability to “profit” both in terms of the social advancement that landownership bestowed and from the economic value of the real estate equity and rental incomes We further highlight this dynamic through a number of case studies of some prominent investors identified from the data set. Analysis of medieval property investment has been based largely on case studies, which, though useful, are limited in their ability to quantify the extent and overall character of this phenomenon; many existing studies have focused on property investment by ecclesiastical institutions rather than individuals.1 This is in part due to the difficulty inherent in attributing motives to buyers; it is problematic to label someone an “investor” without detailed investigation of his or her transaction history and business practices on a case-by-case basis. We will argue that an increasing number of transactions of this type took place over the course of the fifteenth century, in line with the growing commercialization of the English property market
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