England's first true census was in the early 19th century. Not suprisingly it is therefore difficult to accurately calculate population data for England in the pre-industrial 13th century. However, estimates and projections can help fill in some of the blanks and thereby aid us in studying the economics of the period.
A reasonable estimate for the Medieval English population, based largely on extrapolating Domesday data, suggests a figure of around 2.8 million people in 1200. By 1300 this total had risen to some 5.0 million (this is near one estimate for the population in Roman times, a thousand years before).
Given the slow deterioration in climate towards the end of the century, and using growth figures typical for the modern developing world, the population during the Baronial Revolt of the 1260's was probably about 4.0 million. To put these figures into perspective, the population of England seven hundred years ago was approximately one-tenth of the modern figure of about 50 million.
Population Distribution, 1260'sUnlike today's population, the largely agriculturally-dependent societies of the Middle Ages relied upon small-scale rural communities. It would be wrong to try to get a feel for the scale of Medieval communities by simply considering today's settlement figures "divided by ten". Town-dwelling was not the norm for the majority of the population in the pre-industrial period.
Population