Abstract/Summary

This paper summarises the first definitive book ever published on the sources of medieval economic statistics, and is written by the two editors/contributors who managed this project, carried out under the auspices of the Royal Statistical Society. Medieval statistics provide a unique window on the past. Medieval documents produced by royal governments, monastic and ecclesiastical institutions, urban boroughs and legal cases for debt recovery provide a mine of useful information on economic life and financial affairs. They show that medieval administration was far more numerate, and far more sophisticated than is usually recognized. The focus is on English statistics, as they have survived particularly well in both state and private records, but which showcase the potential of digital technology in enabling systematic study of medieval primary sources where large databases can now be compiled from original manuscripts.