Surveys of the Estates of Glastonbury Abbey, c.1135-1201

"This is a critical edition of six twelfth-century surveys of the vast estates of Glastonbury Abbey, five of which are printed for the first time. They deal with both the monastic household and the Abbot's lordship as a tenant-in chief. They throw much light on the changing methods by which he exploited the resources of his demesne manors, and provide evidence of how the services and holdings of the peasantry were affected by a rising population. The introduction explains the contemporary context of surveys - documents which are of fundamental importance for the economic, social, and monastic history of twelfth-century England."--BOOK JACKET.