英國 「요오맨」에 關한 一硏究 (其 2)

A Study on the English Yeoman (Part II)

The development of early capitalism in industry and commerce in the fifteenth and sixteeth centuries reacted upon agriculture and had substituted customary agricultural practices by competitive relations. The lands came to be regarded as a source of income rather than as the symbol of landlord's social prestige. Hence, to increase his income, the landlord practiced farming directly or tried to lease his land to great farmers en bloc with the high competitive rents. While the successful merchants who have accumulated great wealth through the commercial activity become the landlords by purchasing lands and, with the country gentlemen, come to form the class of great farmers and graziers. "They stood to gain much if they adapted their farming to meet the new commercial conditions. They stood to lose much if they were so conservative as to adhere to the old methods." Such conditions necessarily forced the landlords to abandon the old traditional agricultural practices, and gave rise to the agrarian revolution. Toward those situations, mentioned above, the increase of demand for wool and the rise in prices of agricultural products had played a decisive part. The former, the increase of demand for wool, became a fundamental course of enclosure in the sixteenth century which accompanied the conversion of fields to pastures, and the latter, the rise in prices of agricultural products, accentuated the commercial side of farming and became a cause to gain higher competitive rents and fines instead of the fixed customary rents. "The wave of rising prices struck the dyke of customary obligations, static burdens, customary clues; rebounded; struck again; and then either broke it, or carved new channels which turned its flank." The fundamental courses of the agrarian revolution in the sixteenth century lie in those conditions and the difficult problems of peasant situation emerged from them. When the demesnes were enclosed by the landlords, agricultural labourers employed on the demesnes would be evicted, and by the enclosure of commons, the peasant life would be threatened. But the matter which became the most urgent issue in the sixteenth century was enclosure accompanied the conversion of fields to pastures, and the enclosure have, it seems, influenced much upon the situation of yeoman. Those who came to be damaged firstly by the agrarian changes were tenants at will who was not protected by custom, and leaseholers. On the other hand, also in the present clay as in the sixteenth century, there are pessimism and optimism on the condition of copyholders. But as R. H. Tawney pointed out, the condition of copyholders was different according to the custom of manor to which they belonged, and the most important factors which decided their conditions were the nature of their tenure and the character of rent they paid. That is, while copyholders of inheritance and of fixed payments were on the safe condition, other copyholders who held land for years, live or lives and paid unfixed payment stood on the unfavorable conditon. Since the latter outnumbered the former and the fine rised with the passing of the clay, the great part of copyholders, accordingly, the great part of yeoman who held land by the copy, was, it seems, damaged. But it does not necessarily mean that the great part of yeoman was ruined. From the view point of the economic side, copyholders must be distinguished by the scale of wealth they had. Copyholders who had more land than needed for their subsistence received a favor of rising prices by selling their surplus products, and they protected their own interests by a collective resistance to the landlord's endeavor to rise fines. While copyholders who had only small land were ruined, wealthier copyholders could meed well to the agrarian changes. Indeed, by the agrarian changes in the sixteenth century, the lower part of yeoman must submitted to fate of ruin. Taking this opportunity, the yeoman was rapidly differenti