December 11, 2008
“Do you remember your high school history class? If you are like most people, you probably don’t. Here’s a little refresher—and what it has to do with silver mining in England.
Back in the 12th century (and before), feudal lords owned large portions of land. That meant that they controlled the silver mines on their land. These lords were able to have the serfs, or peasants, who lived on his land work the mines for him. This enabled the lords to reap incredible profits from the mines. ”
In England, before the thirteenth century, whoever owned the land that had silver bearing ores was in charge of the silver mines that operated there. (And since that person or those persons were responsible for the silver mine on the land they owned, they were also able to reap the profits from it.)
As is often the case, where there is money to be made, the government certainly wants its share. So in the middle of the thirteenth century, the Crown stepped in to assert some authority over silver mines.
In one case, that of the Mine of Carlisle, a silver mine was owned and operated by the miners themselves. Yes, there were employee-owned companies even in the 12th century. At this silver mine, the miners were in charge of operations and they made their own rules and regulations. The silver miners were responsible for giving part of the mine’s produce to the Crown. However, the Crown was not directly involved and had little say over how the silver was produced. Although the Crown was able to take its portion of silver to be used in the mint, they did not interfere in the day-to-day operations at the silver mine.
But then in the by the late 13th century, the Crown did take over control of some silver mines. The government decided to employ workers for these silver mines directly and those who supervised the workers were employees of the Crown.
Imagine what would happen if you owned land that had silver ore deposits that could be mined? These days, the government would want a share of the profits you receive from selling silver, but it is doubtful that the government would actually want some of the silver itself. Although, you never know. Silver is quite valuable. And in ancient times, people often paid their taxes in the form of crops or whatever product they harvested or produced.
You may not have land that has silver to be mined, but you surely have some silver in your home that you can sell: silver jewelry, a silver teapot, some silver cuff links. And when you sell silver to a silver buyer, you are in a sense running your own operation. You can call the shots and decide how much silver to sell and when to sell silver.