Wealth in Wales, 1290-1700
This is a major project being developed for external funding by Phillipp Schofield (History, Aberystwyth: prs@aber.ac.uk) and Nia Powell (History, Bangor: n.m.w.powell@bangor.ac.uk). It will examine whether the traditional economic historiography of Wales (which has assumed that the country’s highland terrain and peripheral position limited its possibilities for prosperity and cultural sophistication) has distorted our understanding of the past. Pilot studies suggest great regional differences in wealth in Wales in the medieval and early modern periods: with at least some highland areas and some urban centres gaining economically by participating in wider trading networks, often based on a surprisingly lucrative pastoralism. The project would test the findings of these pilots by analysing all sources for economic history in Wales for the period 1290-1700: these include estate, taxation, legal, corporation, and ecclesiastical records – but also literary sources which will be used to provide a qualitative context for some of the quantitative material.