and spears, of mountain ponies and cattle, coins came in great numbers, and it was easier for the serf to earn them. That is the value of coins became less.
This was a great boon to all who were bound to pay fixed sums—the freeman who paid to the king the dues he used to pay to his prince,the serf who paid to his lord a sum of money instead of service. All ancient servitude, political and economic, was commuted for money; as the money became easier to get, the serf became the more free.
3. The rise of towns and the growth of commerce. We must not,however, think of commerce as if it had been first brought by the Normans. There had been roads and coins in Roman times. The Danes had been traders, probably, before they became pirates and invaders.Timber, millstones, cattle, coarse cloth, and arrow-heads crossed the Severn eastwards before the Normans saw it; and corn was carried westward. There were close relations, political and commercial,between Wales and Ireland from very early times.
But the Norman and English Conquests revived and quickened trade.Towns rose, regular markets were established, and the
