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By Root 852 0

the purchasing power of late-medieval money. We know from the income-tax returns of 1436 (imposed on incomes of more than £20) that the average income of a nobleman was £865, of a well-to-do knight £208, of a lesser knight £60, of an esquire £24, and of minor gentry, merchants, yeoman and important artisans from £15 to £19. At this date a good ploughman could make perhaps £4 a year, though before the Black Death he might have made as little as 10 shillings.

The English pound sterling of 20 shillings or 240 pence must not be confused with the French pound tournois of 20 sous or 240 deniers. (There was also the pound parisis and the pound bordelaise, but these are not used in this book.) The English mark of silver was worth 13s 4d sterling, the mark of gold £6 sterling. These pounds—sterling and tournois—and marks were all what was termed monies of account. The exchange rate between English and French monies of account was frequently adjusted by the two governments ; in the fourteenth century a pound sterling was usually worth 6 pounds tournois but in the fifteenth century it rose to 9 pounds tournois.

The basic English gold coin was the noble of 6s 8d, originally weighing 7.77 gms but reduced to 6.99 gms in 1412. The French gold coins or crowns were, very roughly, equivalent in weight and value to an English half-noble; they consisted of the mouton, so called because it bore an agnus dei ; the franc ; and the écu. The beautiful Anglo-Gallic salut of the Lancastrians can also be equated with the half-noble, being worth 3s 4d sterling. Where mentioned, the florins of other European currencies should similarly be equated.

Most English troops would have been paid in silver, consisting of the groat (4d), the half-groat, and the penny and its sub-divisions. Sometimes they would have received French silver or base-metal coins instead, such as the gros tournois or the blanc.

Chronology

1337 Edward III claims the throne of France

1340 French navy defeated at Sluys

1346 The English defeat the French at Crécy

1347 Calais falls to the English

1350 Death of Philip VI of France and succession of John II

1356 The Black Prince defeats and captures John II at Poitiers

1360 The Treaty of Brétigny—Aquitaine surrendered to the English

1364 Death of John II of France and succession of Charles V

1369 Charles V ‘confiscates’ Aquitaine—hostilities recommence

1372 Poitiers and La Rochelle admit French troops

1373 John of Gaunt leads his great chevauchée from Calais to Bordeaux

1376 Death of the Black Prince

1377 Death of Edward III and succession of Richard II

1380 Death of Charles V of France and succession of Charles VI

1381 Peasants’ Revolt in England

1383 Expedition of the Bishop of Norwich to Flanders

1386 The French prepare to invade England but then abandon the plan

1389 Truce of Leulinghen between French and English

1399 Deposition of Richard II and succession of Henry IV

1407 Murder of the Duke of Orleans by agents of John, Duke of Burgundy

1412 The Duke of Clarence leads a chevauchée from Normandy to Bordeaux

1413 Death of Henry IV and succession of Henry V

1415 Henry V invades France, captures Harfleur and wins the battle of Agincourt

1417 Henry V begins the conquest of Normandy

1419 Rouen falls to the English. John, Duke of Burgundy is murdered by Armagnacs. Alliance between Burgundians and English

1420 Treaty of Troyes ; Charles VI recognizes Henry V as heir to the French throne and Regent of France. The English occupy Paris

1421 Duke of Clarence defeated and killed by the Armagnacs at Baugé

1422 Deaths of Henry V and Charles VI. Henry VI of England recognized as King of France north of the Loire while only France south of the Loire recognizes Charles VII

1423 The Earl of Salisbury defeats the Dauphinists at Cravant

1424 The Regent Bedford defeats the French at Verneuil

1428 The Earl of Salisbury begins the siege of Orleans

1429 Sir John Fastolf defeats the Dauphinists at the ‘Battle of the Herrings’. Joan of Arc relieves Orleans and defeats Fastolf and Lord Talbot at Patay. Charles VII crowned