Cylchgronau Cymru

on lands newly brought into cultivation, and they enjoyed extensive mineral and fishing rights, though charter material may reveal economic potential rather than exploitation. The present study displays the white monks as effective and sometimes grasping estate managers. Grange accounts for 1387-88, preserved among the Badminton papers at the National Library, illustrate characteristic fourteenth-century develop- ments on the lands of Tintern at Merthyrgeryn much land was leased out, and the demesne produced wheat and barley mainly for the monks' own use. This was a far cry from the view of Cistercian organization presented by the remains of Monknash, once an estate of Neath Abbey, which boasted a thousand acres of arable and a granary 200 feet long. Such changes of technique may have been a response to economic stresses which were general in the second half of the century, or they may reflect a more specialized Cistercian reaction to the disappearance of conversi. Documents reveal the care with which legal arrangements were made and the variety of tenures which were employed. Incomes came predictably from a variety of sources: tithes loomed large, and houses like Aberconway and Valle Crucis did well out of appropriations. Neath drew a quarter of its total receipts from urban properties, and Valle Crucis owned the urban manor of Wrexham Abbot. Houses in the march often received grants of land in England, the most striking case being that of Tintern, whose Norfolk manor of Acle contributed a fifth of its gross income. A few minor criticisms may be made. Gruffydd ap Madog (p. 17), the founder of Valle Crucis, was lord of Bromfield not of Bromyard; it seems odd to refer to Guto'r Glyn (p. 57) as 'Glyn'; the short index omits the names of some granges, and the book's dust-cover suggests a frivolity which is fortunately absent in its contents. But none of these blemishes is serious, and Mr. Williams must be complimented on providing us with a valuable synthesis. G. A. USHER Bangor ENGLAND, 1200-1640. THE SOURCES OF HISTORY: STUDIES IN THE USES OF HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. By G. R. Elton. The Sources of History Ltd., in association with Hodder and Stoughton, 1969. Pp. 255. 42s. This is the first volume published of a vast series projected under the general editorship of Professor G. R. Elton, who is the author of this volume. The series as projected appears to be almost limitless in scope, contemplating volumes on European and United States history, as well as on Scottish, Welsh and archaeological themes. The intent is primarily bibliographical, coupled with the purpose of providing a critical appraisal of the source materials, mainly, but not exclusively, those in print, plus indications of those that seem to have been inadequately exploited and