Money economy
Also called: Commutation · Topic: Medieval Europe: Feudalism and the Three Orders · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "The Three Orders"
Meaning
The money economy was the shift, from the eleventh century, from paying in services to paying in cash. Lords began to take rent in money instead of labour. Peasants sold their crops to traders, who carried them to towns. Paying in cash slowly loosened the personal ties between lord and peasant that feudalism was built on. Prices could also rise sharply after bad harvests.
Example
In England, agricultural prices doubled between the 1270s and 1320s. After the Black Death, lords tried to bring back labour services. Peasants rose in revolt, as in England in 1381. The revolts were crushed, but the money economy had gone too far for the old feudal dues to be brought back.
Don't confuse with
- Labour-rent: the older system, in which a free peasant usually worked three days a week on the lord's land instead of paying cash.