2. Whoever else may have been losers or sufferers by the plague,
there was one class which emerged from that dreadful year very much
richer than before. The lords of the manors, the representatives of
what we now call the country gentry, were great gainers. Not only did
the extraordinary amount paid in heriots and fees make up an
aggregate which in itself constituted a very large percentage upon
the capital embarked in agriculture, but the extent of land which
_escheated_ to the lords was very considerable. Moreover, the
manors themselves, or as we should say, the landed property of the
country, came into fewer hands; the gentry became richer and their
estates larger. Knighton draws attention to the fact that in the
towns a large number of houses became ruinous for want of occupants,
but he adds that in the hamlets and villages the same effects
followed, and that everywhere. Here again, the rolls of Parliament
corroborate the assertion and inform us that not only the dwellings
of the homagers but the capital mansions themselves, were deserted
and falling to decay. When, in the next reign, the manor of Hockham
came into the possession of Richard, Earl of Arundel, in right of his
wife, he took the precaution of having a careful survey made of the
condition of the estate as it came into his hands. The manor-house
had not been tenanted for thirty years.
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