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THIRTEENTH CENTURY
1200-1300
Accounting records, which become more common from the thirteenth century, enable us to find out more about how people lived and the economic activity within local areas. The manor was an economic unit, in which the lord of the manor and his steward were the principal figures of authority, while tenants and other individual figures also begin to appear within the records.

Estates, whether of barons, earls or other temporal lords, or as in this case of spiritual lords (the bishop of Coventry and Lichfield) could easily cover a wide physical area. The bishop and other cathedral clergy and officers held significant property in Staffordshire and neighbouring counties, which brought in substantial income. The management of these estates produced records which for Lichfield begin to survive in the late 13th century. The 1298 extent is the most detailed of these early records.


Extent Or Survey Of The Manors Of The Bishops Of Coventry And Lichfield, 1297-1298

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View Of The Bishop’s Palace (Eccleshall Castle) As Rebuilt In 1698

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