Costs of war, soldiers’ wages, and royal revenues, c. 1270-c.1400: example of England

 

Cost of war rose under Edward I (1272-1307)

First Welsh war cost:  £20,000

1282-3:            £98,421 (cf. the total estimated English royal revenue in 1284 was £26,828 3s

1294-8 (costs of campaigns in Wales, Flanders, Gascony): £750,000

 

Cost of campaigns during Hundred Years War

Edward III’s unsuccessful campaigns in the Low Countries, 1338-40: £400,000

Wages for soldiers alone in 1359-60: £133,000

Costs of war, 1369-75: £670,000

 

EDWARD I AND THE COSTS OF WAR (details)

 

War was extremely expensive in the late 13th century. Edward I of England’s Welsh campaign of 1282/3 cost £98,421. The total estimated English royal revenue in 1284 was £26,828 3s, £8,000 of which came from custom duties and £13,000 from the king’s lands. Obviously this was insufficient. To fight his wars Edward I needed to supplement his regular revenues with taxes that he negotiated for with his nobles, representatives of towns, and clergy. Taxes were granted on the basis of a percentage of assessed moveable wealth (everything but land). In 1283 a grant of a 30th (1/30 of moveable wealth) brought in £42,765. Seven years later a “fifteenth” produced £116,346, that is more than four times the king’s “ordinary” revenues  (Michael Prestwich, War, Politics & Finance under Edward I, pp. 178-9).  Edward I needed even more cash than he could raise through taxes and had to resort to loans from international bankers. Edward I borrowed £392,000 from Riccardi of Lucca. When he failed to repay his debt in 1294, the Riccardi went bankrupt.

Taxes in England, however, could only be granted with the consent of the “community of the realm” (as stipulated in Magna Carta, which Edward I reissued under his own name in 1297). Taxes of the clergy, similarly, required the consent of the bishops. To streamline the process Edward began the practice of calling Parliaments. The problem was that to get this money Edward I had to persuade both the great nobles and representatives of the local elites in the shires and in the towns to support his ventures. From this negotiation was born Parliament’s right to petition the king for redress and, eventually, its legislative function. The king’s need for money meant that the “community of the realm” had the power of the purse string, which gave the great nobles and local elites real political power.

 

Costs of castle-building

In 1283 Edward began to build a series of castles in northern Wales to secure his conquest of Wales. These included BEAUMARIS, CONWAY, HARLECH, RHUDDLAN, and, the greatest of all of them, CAERNARFON (which really looks like a movie castle). Between 1277 and 1304 Edward spent over £78267 on ten Welsh castles. This translates into 9.3 million days' pay for a foot soldier. The numbers involved in the construction work were also impressive. At Harlech, for example, in 1286 the number of workers (masons, quarriers, smiths, carpenters, laborers, and clerks) rose to 900 in the spring and summer months, and fell to below 100 in Jan. and Feb. The castle at Harlech took ten years to be built (1283 to 1290) and cost over £1500.

Once built castles needed to be garrisoned, and this also cost money since the garrisons were mainly paid soldiers. The size of the garrisons varied greatly During peacetime the garrisons were small: 30 men at Conway, 40 at Caernarvon. In time of war the garrison could rise to 150 men (Flint in 1294: 24 knights and men at arms, 24 crossbowmen, 120 archers).

 

 

Rates of pay for English soldiers by rank, from the mid twelfth to the mid fourteenth century

 

1 pound (£)=20 shillings (s)=240 pence(d)

1 shilling (s)=12 pence (d)

 

Rank of soldier                                              c. 1350                                    / c. 1250           / 1215             /1165

earl                                                                  8 s

knight banneret                                                4 s

knight                                                              2 s                                            2 s                    1 s                    6 d

squire (man-at-arms)                                       1 s

mounted archers, hobelars, armored foot         6 d

foot                                                                 3 d                                           2 d                   2 d                   1 d

Welsh infantry                                                 2 d

 

1350 wages translates into an annual salary of:

earl or baron                                                    £146

knight banneret                                               £73

knight                                                              £36, 10s

squire (man-at-arms)                                       £18, 5s

mounted archers, hobelars, armored foot       £ 9, 2s, 6d pence

archers (foot)                                                  £4, 7d

Welsh infantry                                                 £3, 10d

 

So how does this compare with the wealth of others in this society? In 1350 the population of England was highly stratified. Sixty percent of the population was still unfree serfs. Wages and revenues of the various strata of the free population were on the order of:

 

Laborer  (ca. 1300)                                          £2/year (max)

Master mason (1351)                                      4d/day=£5, 9s, 6d/year

master carpenter (1351)                                  3d/day=£4, 7d/year

master weaver                                                 3d/day=£4, 7d/year

chantry priest (1379)                                       £4,13 s,4d/year

knights                                                                        £40+/year

gentry  (squires)                                              £20-40

sheriff of London                                           £300/year

barons (c. 1300)                                              £200-500+/year

earls  (c. 1300)                                                 £400-1100/year

 

Mounted archers were getting more in wages than a master craftsman, and regular archers were getting as much.  Even Welsh footsoldiers were earning more than laborers.

 

Cost of armor and warhorses

Armor (probably plate) of an earl (1397): £103

Armor (mail with some plate) owned by ordinary knight in 1374: £16, 6s, 8d    [cf. mail hauberk ca. 1150: £5]

Ready-made Milanese plate armor (1441): £8, 6s, 8d

 

Value of warhorse of earl or king, c. 1350  £20-£100

Value of warhorse for a knight, c. 1350  £7-£30+

Value of warhorse for a squire, c. 1350  £5-£10+

Value of  a high grade riding horse, c.1374 £5 and below

 

Cost of food and drink (mid fourteenth century)

wheat per 8 bushels                 4.75-8 s

wine                                        4d-8d per gallon

ale                                            .75d-1.25d per gallon

cow                                         6 s

sheep                                       1s, 5d

pig                                           2-3 s

chicken                                    .5 d    

 

 

 

ENGLISH ROYAL REVENUES TO PAY FOR WAR, 1240-1400:

 

1. “Ordinary revenues” from England (from ‘farms’ of royal demesne lands, “feudal” revenues, payments from towns, revenues from admin and justice) remained fairly constant between 1240 and 1400: varying between £30,000-£50,000 per year

(note: the term ‘farm’ means annual payments made for the use of royal lands or royal rights; ‘feudal’ revenues include relief [=inheritance payment by vassal to lord], wardship and marriage [right of lord to appoint guardians for minors and approve marriage of royal heiresses], and escheat [royal of lord to take back lands if fief-holder dies without heirs])

 

2. Extraordinary revenues:

a. Taxes (direct and indirect)

Direct taxes granted by Parliament (Commons): assessed as percentage of moveable wealth

1212: John’s “thirteenth” = £60,000

1294-7: £190,000

1337-40: £100,000

1428-36:  £27,003 average per year

Attempts to introduce poll taxes in 1370s failed and led to Peasants Revolt in 1381

 

b. Clerical income taxes (“voluntary” grants by bishops to Crown):

1294-7: £130,000

1337-40: £40,000

1428-36: £83,450

 

c. Indirect taxes (customs taxes: wool subsidies, tunnage on wine)

1350s: £90,000 p.a.

 

d. Loans:

Edward I borrowed £392,000 from Riccardi of Lucca (bankrupted in 1294)

Edward III borrowed £103,000 from Bardi and £71,000 from Peruzzi families of Florence. Bankrupted both in 1340s when EdIII defaulted on loans.

 

Dutch bankers lend 1337-40: £400,000.  Cf. costs of war: £410,000

 

 

Rise in French royal revenues, 1180-1300

(note on currency: the exchange rate of English pounds sterling to the French livres parisis was approximately 1: .65)

 

I. Increased royal revenues:

A. Domainal, 'ordinary' revenues in livres parisis (rise due to growth of royal domain: added through marriage Picardy, and by conquest Normandy, Anjou, and Maine (from John), and Languedoc (from Raymond VI and VII):

1179: 20,178 livres  (from royal farms of the prevots) [=£13,000 pounds sterling]

1203: 24,607 livres (addition of 10 new prevots acq. by marriage)

      Increase of 22% [=£16,000]

1221  73,657 livres (about 50,000 from Normandy and Touraine) [=£48,000]

 

Sum of all 'ordinary' revenues: Agricultural: domainal; produce outside of farms, forests; gite--right of hospitality, communted/ towns and commerce: tailles, minting, Jews, custom taxes/ church regalia/ military commutations/ justice

1179: 30-60,000 livres [£19,500-£39,000]

1203: 115,136 livres (approx. £45,000 pounds sterling). Eve of invasion of Normandy

1221: 194,898 livres. Increase of 79,362 livres or 69%.

 William the Breton calculated total revenues for PA at 438,000 [£285,000]

1286: total revenues equalled 605,000 livres [£400,000]

 

Reliefs: Richard I (1189), duke of Normandy, count of Anjou 43,500 livres; Baldwin, count of Boulogne 10,500 livres; John (1200), duke of Normandy, count of Anjou  36,230 livres; Thibaut, count of Blis 5,000; Ferrand, count of Flanders 50,000