Introduction to Late Medieval Life

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Introduction to Late Medieval Life
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Cost of Living
A soldier's shopping list(based on a Tudor
soldier's food allowance) 24 oz. wheat bread 1
penny 2/3 gallon beer 1 penny 2 lbs. beef or
mutton (cod orherring on Fridays) 2 pence 1/2
lb. butter 1 1/2 pence 1 lb. cheese 1 1/2
pence Total 7 pence (Note the lack of
vegetables and fruit)
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Average wages In the city, skilled journeymen
(men who have completed their apprenticeships)
could earn up to a shilling a day (more usually
half that), with food and drink included. Farm
workers got no more than half these wages women
in particular were paid less, and often
supplemented their earnings by spinning thread.
Thatchers and hedgers would have received about
sixpence a day, threshers and reapers half that.
Others, especially permanent servants, were paid
by the year, with board and food included--often
no more than six shillings a year, or sixpence a
week.
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The Rich
On 6 January 1508, to mark the end of the 12 days
of Christmas, the duke of Buckingham gives a
feast for 460 people. The menu includes swans,
herons and peacocks, 680 loaves, 260 flagons of
ale, 400 eggs, 200 oysters, 12 pigs and 10 sheep.
The total cost is 7 more than a year's pay for
a labourer.
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The Poor
Food takes up to four-fifths of an ordinary
family's budget. The diet is generally rather
basic hunks of bread, coarse hard cheese,
occasional meat and fish. Most dwellings have
dark and dingy interiors, lit by candles or rush
torches, which are a big fire risk. There is no
running water or proper drainage, and personal
and domestic waste is dumped straight into the
streets.