The Economics of Medieval Nobility: Why Rich Lords Still Went Broke

A medieval lord's account roll says wealthy on every line — and there still isn't enough coin in one place to buy a single warhorse. This is why. Land paid in wheat, hens, labour-days and small fixed pennies, spread over dozens of manors and twelve months. War, castles, inheritance and the king demanded silver, in one room, on one day. The gap between those two facts explains almost everything we usually put down to medieval character. Sources. Figures spoken in the video are marked ▶. Everything else is source material that informed the script. ▶ Noble incomes, 14th-c. England — Historical Britain Blog, "The Nobles and Gentry in Late Medieval England" ▶ Warhorse and knight's income — Medievalists.net, "How to Buy a Medieval Warhorse"; Andrew Ayton, Knights and Warhorses ▶ Nicholas de Stuteville's relief, 1205 — Britannica, "United Kingdom: John, 1199–1216" ▶ English price rise 1180–1220 — P. D. A. Harvey, The English Inflation of 1180–1220, Past & Present 61 (1973), Oxford Academic; revision: The English Inflation of 1180–1220 Reconsidered · Master James of Saint George to the Exchequer, Feb 1296 — World History Encyclopedia, Beaumaris Castle; Castles & Capitals · Bardi & Peruzzi — Edwin S. Hunt, A New Look at the Dealings of the Bardi and Peruzzi with Edward III, Journal of Economic History 50 (1990), 149–162, Cambridge Core · Richard I's ransom, 1193 — Britannica, Richard I: Imprisonment · Godfrey of Bouillon's pledge to the Bishop of Liège, 1096 — Encyclopedia.com; Otbert of Liège (sources disagree on the sum) · Ransom of John II and the origins of permanent French taxation — John Bell Henneman, Royal Taxation in Fourteenth-Century France; Ransom of John II of France; Treaty of Brétigny