Focus: To assess the following in 9th century England:-Agriculture-Coinage-European Trade -Towns and Markets-Resources

A majority of the population was engaged in agriculture

Each member of the community had his own strip of fertile land and the right to its holding.

The Anglo-Saxons would usually use a crop-rotation method

Fields were alternated between wheat, root, and livestock.

An Ard was used to plough the soil before the invention of a plough.

Scythes and sickles were used for harvesting

Economy was not cash based Coins existed, but were not commonly

used Most goods were bartered. 550/650 AD – coins were first used in

Anglo Saxon England. However, a number of these coins ended up as decorative pendants and were not truly circulated

785 – Offa of Mercia mints coins, which bore a portrait of him and his name “Offa Rex” meaning King Offa

Coins were mainly used by professional Merchants and not the common people

Trade markets were most successful near rivers

Danish settlers increased the amount of foreign trade

London was one of the greatest trading centers.

-Imports included:Wine

Copper Tin Spices Sulfur Glass Silk Precious Garments Furs

Exports included:WoolHidesCheeseClothCloaksEmbroideriesGold work

All trade needs an outlet, and this would have been in the markets of the burhs [a fortified town]. Everyone visited a burh at some time, usually to dispose of excess grain, livestock or dairy produce. By choosing his route carefully a merchant could be in a different burgh every few days. Most markets were set up by the king or earl in whose lands the burh lay, and there was usually some form of tax on the merchants' transactions. This tax would either be a daily charge (like hiring a stall at a car boot sale), or a charge proportional to the profits made (like an early VAT).

Most successful markets were on, or near rivers, because water was the preferred method of transport, being quicker, less physically exhausting, and cheaper than roads.