The expansion of the south-western fisheries in late medieval England.

This article explores the expansion of the south-western fisheries in late medieval England. South-western England, particularly the counties of Devon and Cornwall, experienced significant economic growth, during the late middle ages, as indicated in the leap in assessed wealth made by these counties between the early fourteenth century and the early sixteenth. To explain this prosperity, historians have pointed to south-western England's highly diversified economy, which allowed it to adjust to the crises of the late middle ages with less difficulty than most other regions. Although people are relatively well-informed about the regions growing manufacture of cloth for export, its rising profits from tin-mining and its lucrative shift from livestock husbandry, less is known about the developments in the regions maritime sector and almost nothing about its marine fisheries, one of the mainstays of the marine economy. This article explores the expansion of the regions sea fisheries from the late fourteenth century to the early sixteenth century and argues that this expansion is part of the maritime sector's critical but unappreciated contribution to the rising prosperity South-Western England during the late middle ages.