Agricultural History Review, Volume 54 Part 1 (2006), pp. 24–44

The purpose of this paper is to separate fact from fiction in the observations of economic trends contained in the writings of the evangelicals of 1542. It does so by examining the polemical tracts of Henry Brinklow and his fellow Protestants for their comments on rent, tenure and the engrossing of landholdings and then comparing them with data drawn from a case study of Brinklow's home parish in Berkshire. The result establishes that, although their writings did contain nuggets of truth, the evils were neither as widespread nor recent as they would imply. They were based on an established literary tradition that dated from at least the fourteenth century, augmented and justified by frequent references to biblical passages. The novelty was their urgency to bring about a godly commonwealth whilst there was still time. 

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