ABSTRACT
For much of the twelfth century, up to about 1180, the European economy, based on the feudal system, was essentially a self-sufficient agricultural community. Landlords received their rent, and the church its tithes, in the form of produce. Everyday transactions were, as often as not, settled by barter. There were a few travelling merchants, and a small part of the population lived in towns, but the real growth revival of international trade had hardly begun. Money had a relatively minor role, and had actually declined in importance over the previous two centuries. In most of Continental Europe the only coin, and the only form of money in circulation, was the denarius, a base coin of little value. Exceptionally the English penny continued to be struck in fine silver and at full weight. But it was the only coin circulating: nothing larger, and nothing (apart from cut halfpennies and ‘fourthings’) smaller.
