The Commercialisation of English Society offers an interpretation of social and economic change in England over five centuries. By 1500 English livelihoods depended more upon money and commercial transactions than ever before; the institutional framework of markets had been transformed and urban development was more pronounced. These changes were not, however, caused by any unilinear development of population, output or money supply. This pioneering study examines both institutional and economic transformation and the social changes that resulted and stresses the limited importance of formal...