... cause of this decline. However this is complex to examine as this was "a period with no parish registers, no hearth taxes, no large scale censuses excepting Doomsday book and few serviceable taxation returns excepting those of 1377."1 The records left are mainly of the wealthy and the monks who kept detailed records which although useful is frustrating as they are hardly likely to be representative of the population as a whole. Though they are useful as a guide, if their death rate increases it is likely the rest of the countries did too though by what rate it is difficult to know. Hatcher describes the sources as "hard to win and treacherous to interpret."2 The best quality sources are monastic records whose problems I have already described. The best for looking at the population are wills and court records but these are not sufficient quality to provide a ...

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