Medieval Statistics

This book is the first to systematically examine the sources of medieval statistics. It will be useful as a handbook for researchers in financial and cultural history, as a history of financial record-keeping, and as a review of recent research into medieval finance and accounting based on statistical sources. Medieval statistics provide a unique window on the past. Medieval documents produced by royal governments, monastic and ecclesiastical institutions, urban boroughs and legal cases for debt recovery provide a mine of useful information on economic life and financial affairs. They show that medieval administration was far more numerate, and far more sophisticated than is usually recognized. This book provides a comprehensive review of the key sources, written by leading experts in the field. The strengths and weaknesses of each source are reviewed, using original documents for illustration, and discussing examples from the recent literature. The book is mainly concerned with English statistics, as they have survived particularly well in both state and private records, but which showcase the potential of digital technology in enabling systematic study of medieval primary sources where large databases can now be compiled from original manuscripts. This edited volume will be a valuable tool for those working in financial, cultural, and political history, as it seeks to analyse the various ways in which medieval life was documented numerically and the ways in which this information was used within existing power structures.