By the end of Edward the Confessor's reign, what percentage of the population lived in towns?

• A. 5 Percent
• B. 10 Percent
• C. 20 Percent
• D. 50 Percent

Answer: (B)

Urban life in late Anglo-Saxon and Edward the Confessor’s England was still a minority phenomenon. The countryside formed the backbone of the economy, with most people living on manor lands and working in agriculture. Towns existed as markets, crafts hubs, and local administrative centers, but they were few and relatively small compared with the rural population. The Domesday era data illustrate this pattern: a handful of towns with noticeable populations and many villages, not a landscape dominated by urban centers. Because of this overall rural character, only about ten percent of people lived in towns by the end of Edward’s reign. This aligns with the slow growth of urban centers before the later medieval period, when towns would begin to expand more quickly through trade and charters. The other figures don’t fit the era’s pattern: five percent would understate the urban share implied by the existence of several sizable towns, twenty percent would imply a more urbanized society than existed, and fifty percent would imply an urban-dominated economy not supported by the period’s structure.