#english_history 

## Population
In 1066, there were probably 1,75 million people living in England.
Most of them lived in the southern countryside.
Majority of the population lived in the simplest houses, with walls made of wooden beams and sticks, filled with mud, and roofs covered in thatch. People ate cereals and vegetables most of the time, with pork meat for special occasions.
They would work from dawn to dusk every day, until they were unable to work any longer.
By 1300 the population was probably just over 4 million. ^792726

## Feudal [[Class system|class system]]
The basis of the [[Government and society of the Saxons#^eba737|manorial system]] was the exchange of land for labour: the landlord expected the villagers to work a fixed number of days on his own land ("home farm"), offering them protection in return. The rest of the time they worked on their own small strips of land. Although most people were serfs, living as one was better than living as a vulnerable and feeble wanderer.
However, the manorial system was different throughout the whole coutnry.

## Mutual hatred
In the early days of the [[Norman Conquest of England|Norman Conquest]] Saxons and Normans feared each other. For example, if a dead body was found, the Saxons had to prove it was not the body of a murdered Norman. If they failed to, the Normans would burn the nearest village. This hatred led to the creation of the Robin Hood legend.
The Norman ruling class only really began to mix with and marry the Saxons after King [[Kingship as a family business in the early Middle ages#^5ad36f|John I]] lost Normandy in 1204.

## Landlord income
Most landlords lined their pockets either directly from their home farm or letting out some of their land in return for rent in crops or money. In the 12th century most did the latter, creating the word "farm", whose provenance is the word "firma" - the contract between the landlord and a villager.
Due to increased taxation to the people and the decreased to the landlords, many people could not afford to pay rent so they lost their land, and, desperate, moved to the towns.

## Agriculture
The increase of population made it harder to grow enough food for eveyrone. The peasants tried to drain marshes, but the soil was too destitute for farming. Hence, the effort to farm more land could not match the increase in population, and this led to a decline in individual family land holdings, poverty and famine; skyrocketing prices.
Among the more affluent folk, the pressure on land led to an increase in its value, and to an increase in buying and selling.
However, agricultural skills improved little during this period. In addition, manorial landlords insisted that the animals of the peasantry grazed on their own land to enrich it, impeding the enrichment of the peasants' own land.
In an attempt to compensate the losses, many villagers tried to increase their income by other activities, and became blacksmiths, carpenters, etc.

## Jewish diaspors
Many knights became indebted, which is something we know from the records of the **"Exchequer of the Jews"**. The small Jewish community in England earned its living by lending money, and lived under royal protection. They would often sell deadbeat knights' land to the greater nobility. Edward I, who feared the growth in power of the greater nobility as the profited from the disappearance of smaller land-holders. Thus, in **1290** he expelled all Jews from England.