[Ansteorra] RE: Interesting site - Costs

[Marc Carlson]

>From: L T <ldeerslayer at yahoo.com>
>Costs in Medieval Times
>   http://members.tripod.com/Lord_Eadric/medieval.html
>   I can't garuntee how accurate this is...but it would be a starting  
>place for those who wanted to
>get more indepth with their personas

And as that - a foundation to give a general ballpark idea of costs and 
such, it's probably not a bad thing.  And as a gaming source it's just fine 
(since that's what it was compiled for  :) )

There are some issues that make it problematic for anything more serious, 
even if all the details are accurate.  The most obvious of which that not 
everywhere in the Middle Ages uses English money (although there are a lot 
of similarities in coinage systems and relative worths).  Also, these are 
prices from a wide area of time, and with inflation, coin debasements, and 
so on, some prices may not be evenly comparable.

For an interesting comparison, in 1349/1350 in London, a regulation was 
passed regarding prices and wages, and detailing many of these.   Found in 
24 Edward III. AD. 1350, Letter-Book F. fol. clxxxi
"Regulations as to wages and prices in the City"; and translated and printed 
in Riley's Memorials (and reprinted at 
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/histshoe/RileysMemorial/Fclxxxi.htm)

It is believed that these regulations were passed to try to limit price 
gouging and inflation in the wake of the Plague and is itself indicative 
that the the prices were moving around.  It would be interesting to know 
what wages and prices were outside of London (since prices in London have 
traditionally been higher than elsewhere).

Marc/Diarmaid