The period covered by the present volume is only short, as we have now arrived at the will-making and will-preserving period. The increase in the number of wills corresponds with the growth in wealth and importance of the middle classes, whilst in all probability the stricter supervision exercised by the ecclesiastical authorities has resulted in more wills being preserved.
The Statute of Wills, by which a man on his deathbed was enabled to dispose of his lands, and which was responsible at a later period for the great increase in the length of wills and the corresponding decrease in their interesting character, is as yet only sparingly taken advantage of. We miss in the present volume the bequests to the religious orders and to the chantries, as well as those for the maintenance of the services and ritual of the church.
