The Built Environment and the Later Medieval Economy: Coventry 1200–1540

The hypothesis under investigation here is that periods of extensive urban construction, both of church and private building in the middle ages, tend to coincide with periods of commercial vitality and a booming economy. During periods of economic recession far less construction takes place. Coventry’s rich architectural and archaeological heritage is compared to local economic historical data for the period 1200–1540 to attempt to evaluate this relationship systematically. The juxtaposition of artefact and economic cycle in medieval Coventry is striking.