ABSTRACT
From the early twelfth century onwards, the Europeans began to flex their muscles. First, they improved their economy. In agriculture, they brought new land into cultivation by felling trees, clearing land, draining marshes and setting up dykes; they also improved working conditions by using iron ploughs drawn by heavy horses; and they raised wider varieties of crops and obtained greater yields by introducing the three-field system. Angevin ‘empire’ collapsed: by the time of his death, all of the Angevins’ Continental lands (except Gascony) had been lost, while England itself had been briefly invaded by the French. Monarchs, in order to be able to rule successfully, were in need of advice, information and, most important, money.
