van der Beek on Langdon, _Mills in the Medieval Economy: England, 1300-1540_

[eh.net-review at eh.net]

Published by EH.NET (January 2007)

John Langdon, _Mills in the Medieval Economy: England, 1300-1540_. 
New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. xx + 369 pp. $150 (cloth), 
ISBN: 0-19-926558-5.

Reviewed for EH.NET by Karine van der Beek, Department of Economics 
and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.


Mills represent one of the largest and most significant investments 
in physical capital in the pre-industrial European economy. 
Nevertheless, economic aspects of milling have received little 
scholarly attention so far and most studies in this field are 
dedicated to technological aspects of milling and to their pattern of 
diffusion.

_Mills in the Medieval Economy_ by John Langdon, professor at the 
University of Alberta and a leading figure in the field of medieval 
economy and technology, is a well-written study, based to a great 
extent on original data, that not only provides an exceptional 
survey, but also explores key economic aspects of medieval milling 
and offers the reader an overall understanding of the industry.

This book focuses on England from 1300 to 1540 and examines various 
aspects of milling in a period that saw a dramatic peak in mill 
numbers and in population. Through skilled and convincing use of 
numerous documents and other sources, Langdon shows that the 
development of the industry displayed continuity over the period, 
both in terms of technology and investment, rather than a radical 
breakdown, as has often been emphasized in Marxist analyses of the 
Middle Ages.

Langdon's book is obviously of great value to technology historians 
and social historians in general. Nevertheless, I find it to be of 
prime interest to economic historians. It presents an interesting 
case of entrepreneurial organization of a capital-intensive key 
industry that was characterized by low profitability and that was 
highly sensitive to periods of instability.

In successive chapters that examine most aspects of milling, it is 
shown for the first time that mills, which were traditionally seen as 
the symbol of peasant exploitation and as an important source of 
feudal income, were in fact hard to uphold. Their construction and 
maintenance required vast resources, and their revenues were highly 
volatile. The milling industry was widely exposed to demographic 
disasters caused by bad weather, wars, and plagues, which were 
commonplace from the mid-fourteenth to the end of the sixteenth 
centuries. These features of milling, which are noticed by Langdon 
but which should have been more emphasized throughout the book, are 
what makes the observation of continuity in this industry 
interesting, to my opinion.

The total number of mills in 1300 was about 10,000. This number 
remained relatively unchanged in the half century leading up to the 
Black Death. Yet, although the number of mills was clearly affected 
by the catastrophic demographic outcomes of the Black Death, the 
overall impact was not as critical as one might expect and it 
declined by only 10 percent in the first decades following the plague.

Langdon sees this moderate fall and quick adjustment of the industry 
as a testimony to what he refers to as "the determined 
entrepreneurial spirit" (p. 236). He explains it by an adjustment of 
the use of mills, which he observes in the documents. Mills, which 
had been most commonly used for grain grinding, were widely converted 
into industrial activities, such as textile fulling, after the Black 
Death. Such use was more profitable than grain grinding in periods of 
demographic crisis due to the relative rise in real wages.

Nevertheless, mill operation involved regular and costly maintenance, 
which was difficult to maintain during long periods of instability 
and low profitability. This is why, from the late fourteenth century 
to the early sixteenth, following a long period of instability that 
delayed the recovery of the milling sector, many mills were abandoned 
and mill numbers shrank by another 10 percent.

The different managerial strategies of dealing with the volatile 
profitability of mills are described in depth by Langdon in chapter 
five. This chapter demonstrates to the reader once again that 
medieval entrepreneurs were no different than modern ones. It shows 
that owners tended to lease the mills for a fixed rent. The relative 
bargaining power of mill owners, usually feudal lords, and lessees 
was reflected in the contract, in the degree of risk imposed on each 
part, revealed in the repair agreements. Langdon provides extensive 
data concerning the level of risk sharing and how it has changed over 
the period. The data show, for example, that as the situation in the 
milling industry worsened and revenues declined in the beginning of 
the fifteenth century, owners began to take a larger share of the 
maintenance costs.

Langdon also examines the extent to which the legal framework 
affected peasant demand and challenges the thesis posited by Marc 
Bloch. He argues that customers generally came to mills because they 
wanted to, not because they were coerced by lords to do so. There is 
much evidence that supports this claim, particularly in areas where 
feudal lords were holding small scattered estates and could not 
prevent peasants from going to nearby rival mills, such as in the 
South of England.

To conclude, _Mills in the Medieval Economy_ is an in-depth study of 
late medieval milling which deals with the wider nature of industrial 
change. It is an admirable study that provides economic historians 
with a comprehensive description and thoughtful analysis of the 
medieval milling industry and of pre-modern entrepreneurship in 
general.


Karine van der Beek is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at 
Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, as part of the CEPR Economic 
History RTN: "Unifying the European Experience." Her research focuses 
on early European growth and on the effects of political structures 
on institutional formation, market organization, and productivity. 
Her recent papers include: "Political Fragmentation and Technology 
Adoption: Watermill Construction in Feudal France," and "Political 
Fragmentation and Investment Decisions: The Milling Industry in 
Feudal France (1150-1250)."

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