Note 177 — Chapter IV · AGRICULTURAL TRIBES.

During the two following centuries population increased and land became more scarce. In the 13th century some lords already began to inclose portions of the waste, which had always been used for common pasturage, and “it was necessary to limit by the statute of Merton, in 1236, the lord’s “right of approver” or improvement, by the condition that he should not take away so much as not to leave enough for the purpose of pasture”177. Forests were often fenced off and the rights of common pasture restricted178. We have already mentioned an instance in which the condition of the peasants was much altered for the worse by such measures.