Excerpt from The Economic Development of a Norfolk Manor, 1086-1565 Some explanation of the circumstances which led to the writing of this book may serve to make clear the point of view from which the subject is considered. During the year 1895-6, in connection with a course in Economic History in Radcliffe College, I transcribed a number of Court Rolls of the manor of Moulton, Norfolk, belonging to the Library of Harvard University. In the summer of 1896 a search in England for other material relating to Moulton failed to bring to light further important documents concerning that manor; but a comparatively rich series of manorial documents was found to be in the possession of the steward of the adjoining manor of Forncett. The owner of Forncett Manor, Mr A. C. Cole, most kindly allowed an examination of these, and to facilitate the work consented to deposit them in the Public Record Office. Through the courtesy of the officials of the Public Record Office, permission was obtained to consult the rolls there. Mr Cole has since presented these rolls to the Cambridge University Library, where they now are. Some of the results of this study of the Forncett records were printed in a paper on the "Decay of Villeinage in East Anglia" (Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, N. S. XIV., 1900), part of which is reprinted with some additions and alterations on pages 88-97 of this book. A fellowship held from the Association of Collegiate Alumnae during the year 1902-3 made possible a further examination of the Forncett MSS. and the completion of this volume. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."