Values of medieval arms and armour

[admin]

one long sword and buckler, 10s

From: 'Roll A 33: 1393-94', Calendar of the plea and memoranda rolls of the city of London: volume 3: 1381-1412 (1932), pp. 205-227.

[admin]

one long sword, 6s 8d; one cappe of bevere, 2s 6d; one box of cipres, 8d; an old basynett with visere, 4s;

From: 'Roll A 34: 1394-95', Calendar of the plea and memoranda rolls of the city of London: volume 3: 1381-1412 (1932), pp. 228-232.

[J Marwood]

box of cipres?

[Brewerkel]

A lightweight box (specific type of storage chest) of cypress wood. Kind of like square cedar steam trunk, from what I've seen. More frequently used for clothing and such instead of for valuables.

[Neil Cardy]

Matt, during your lecture on Sunday you mentioned swords made for Henry V (I think) which cost £2000 each and were used as diplomatic gifts. Do any of these still exist? I'm curious as to what you got for that kind of money (a lot of gold and gems I suppose).

[J Marwood]

Thanks Kel.

[admin]

Do any of these still exist?

Not that academia is aware of. None in this country anyway. Lots of bejewelled swords and other items were broken up and sold during the civil war by those lowlife republicans. They even looted the tombs of kings and threw all the bones into one box so we don't know whose bones are whose.

[Steven H]

How do those prices compare to soldier's pay during the same period?

Thanks,
Steven

[Zarlan]

What does 's' and 'd' mean?
...and how do they compare to each other?

[Phil C]

s = shillings
d= pence

20 shillings to the pound (l) ,12 pennies to the shilling.

A far more sensible and practical system than all this metric

[Zarlan]

s = shillings
d= pence

20 shillings to the pound (l) ,12 pennies to the shilling.

d=pence?
Anyway, thanks. Now I can make sense of it.

But then I realised...
What's "cappe of bevere" and "old basynett with visere"?

[swordflasher]

£sd (pronounced, and sometimes written, L.s.d.) was the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies used in the United Kingdom (sterling), and in most of its Empire and colonies. Meaning "pounds, shillings and pence" the term originated from the Latin "librae, solidi, denarii" hence the use of the hatched "L" (£) for pounds and "d" for pence. Under this system there were 12d (12 pence) in a shilling and 20s (20 shillings) in a pound, making 240d in a pound. The penny (1d) was (until 1960) further divided into 4 farthings.

As countries became independent from the UK, some (like the United States) abandoned the £sd system quickly, while others (like Australia) retained it almost as long as Britain itself, and still others, notably Ireland, decimalised only when Britain did. Britain abandoned the currency on Decimal Day, February 15, 1971.

For much of the twentieth century, £sd was the monetary system of most of the Commonwealth countries, the major exception being Canada. Historically, similar systems based on Roman coinage were also used elsewhere, for example for the division of the Livre tournois in France, or the Dutch Guilder.

[Paul B]

bascinet with visor

[Zarlan]

swordflasher: So the British used LSD!?

[swordflasher]

Many of us, yes. It's character building.

Back on topic, I'm trying to get a picture of who could afford a sword and buckler at that time, and who might be liable to carry them..

[admin]

Just about anybody could afford them, Mike. This was one of the point in my lecture at SWASH. I have found swords (second-hand) valued at as little as 2 pence!! I made the analogy to cars today - most people can afford a £100 piece of crap, and a very few can afford a Rolls Royce or Maclaren F1. In the 14thC swords could be had for just about any price, from scrap value right the way up to Henry V's £2000 bejewelled Spanish swords.

How do those prices compare to soldier's pay during the same period?

A foot archer was paid 3 or 4d (pence) a day, a mounted archer 6d a day (per day of active service). By Henry V's time practically all archers were paid 6d per day. Many new swords seem to have cost between 10d and 2s, so you are looking at anything from a couple of days of a soldier's pay up to a week or two of his pay. 6d a day was a reasonable wage in England for a skilled artisan or tradesman.

[Zarlan]

A foot archer was paid 3 or 4d (pence) a day, a mounted archer 6d a day (per day of active service). By Henry V's time practically all archers were paid 6d per day. Many new swords seem to have cost between 10d and 2s, so you are looking at anything from a couple of days of a soldier's pay up to a week or two of his pay. 6d a day was a reasonable wage in England for a skilled artisan or tradesman.

Interesting.
What about others?
Like peasants, servants... I can't come up with anything else at the moment.

[Lyceum]

Didn't Masons get paid rather handsomely?

[admin]

What about others?
Like peasants, servants... I can't come up with anything else at the moment.

Peasant isn't a job.
Not sure about other salaries in medieval England, but feel free to go and research it and let us know.

[Harmless Drudge]

£sd (pronounced, and sometimes written, L.s.d.) was the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies used in the United Kingdom (sterling), and in most of its Empire and colonies. Meaning "pounds, shillings and pence" the term originated from the Latin "librae, solidi, denarii" hence the use of the hatched "L" (£) for pounds and "d" for pence. Under this system there were 12d (12 pence) in a shilling and 20s (20 shillings) in a pound, making 240d in a pound. The penny (1d) was (until 1960) further divided into 4 farthings.

As countries became independent from the UK, some (like the United States) abandoned the £sd system quickly, while others (like Australia) retained it almost as long as Britain itself, and still others, notably Ireland, decimalised only when Britain did. Britain abandoned the currency on Decimal Day, February 15, 1971.

For much of the twentieth century, £sd was the monetary system of most of the Commonwealth countries, the major exception being Canada. Historically, similar systems based on Roman coinage were also used elsewhere, for example for the division of the Livre tournois in France, or the Dutch Guilder.

This description leaves out the groat, my all-time favourite!