204Chapter 11
was a compelling goal. A sense of lineage developed
early in feudal families and was strengthened immeasur-
ably by the concept of nobility. Kinship ties were
therefore stronger among the feudal classes than in
other segments of society. The possession of landed
estates ensured that the extended family would be a rel-
atively common form of household organization.
For the same reason, weddings were almost invari-
ably arranged, often at an early age. The disposition of
great properties could not be entrusted to the vagaries
of youthful lust. This may help to account for the fasci-
nation with adultery that characterized chivalric litera-
ture. However, a surprising number of noble marriages
appear to have been happy and mutually supportive.
The women of the feudal class were often formidable
personages, capable of managing an estate or defending
their castle against a siege in the absence of their hus-
bands. Some, such as Matilda of Tuscany or Eleanor of
Aquitaine, were major political figures in their own
right. Virtually all were at home in the world of politi-
cal intrigue. Their survival and that of their children of-
ten depended upon it.
Clientage, of which feudalism was in some respects
a formalized expression, was also highly developed at
this level of society. Almost everyone sought the favor
and protection of those more powerful than themselves
and tried wherever possible to develop clients and re-
tainers of their own. The importance of the castle and
even of the manor house was measured less by the
grandeur of the masonry than by the hospitality of its
hall. The greater households often included not only
the lord and his nuclear family but also a respectable
number of collateral relatives, stewards, servants,
knights, and other retainers who owed him their alle-
giance and lived at least partially from his bounty. This
much, at least, had changed little, and as always, the
cost was born by the peasant.
Ironically, these developments took place as the
economic fortunes of the feudal class began to de-
cline. The greater availability of specie in the twelfth
century led to the widespread commutation of feudal
obligations for cash. Landholders greeted this devel-
opment with enthusiasm because it increased their
liquidity, but they made the mistake of commuting
payments hitherto made in labor or in kind for fixed
sums of money. These sums, not the proportional val-
ues that had determined them, quickly became en-
shrined in law and precedent while their value was
slowly consumed by inflation (see table 11.4). A con-
sequent decline in the real value of rents was masked
during the thirteenth century by a strong demand for
land created by population growth. When harvest
failures were followed by the demographic collapse of
1347–50, property values fell as well and social ten-
sions became insupportable.An earl’s income in thirteenth-century England might
range from £1000 per year to more than £5000. From
this a nobleman or noblewoman was expected to main-
tain a large household of servants and spend huge sums
on food, building, travel, and recreation. A single house-
hold, for example, might require forty horses and more
than one hundred servants, and spices were consumed in
large quantities. Some of the costs, few of which would
ever have been incurred by a peasant, are given below.
Household item Cost
Bonnet 16d.
Candlewax 5d. per pound
Cloth cloak 3s. 4d.
Fowler 3s. 4d. per week
Fur coverlet £20
Hunting bow 2s. 4d.
Hunting falcon £5–10
Huntsman 7 1/2d. per day
Lady’s gold girdle £37. 12s.
Minstrel 12d. per day
Pack of hounds £100 per year
Saddle horse £5–27
Stockings 4s. the pair
War horse £40–80
Spices and delicacies (per pound)
Almonds (5 pounds) 1s.
Anise 3d.
Black pepper 10d.–2s.
Cloves 3d.
Cumin 2d.–10d.
Ginger 10d.–2s.6d.
Horseradish 3d.
Nutmeg 3d.
Pomegranates 6d. each
Rice 1 1/2d.
Saffron 10s.–14s.
Sugar 1s.–2s.
Source: Figures abstracted from John Burnett, A History of the Cost of
Living(Harmondsworth: Pelican Books, 1969), pp. 31, 34–35, 37.TABLE 11.4The Expenses of the Rich