ABSTRACT
The period from the Peasants’ Revolt (1381) to the first few years of the reign of Henry VIII. (1509–1548) presents many interesting features. In it we come to the close of mediæval life, and begin the more modern history of our country. There are several important changes going on, yet, on the other hand, the main aspects of social life remain the same; for the permanence of social features is characteristic of mediæval times. 1 We may, therefore, take the facts presented in the previous section as giving us the outlines of a picture which, in all important points at any rate, lasted till the first half of the sixteenth century. The lives of the peasants and working classes were probably the same for quite a century. But meanwhile important social and economic changes were taking place.
