Forwarded from Ian, who apparently can't post even from the same country :-)

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ian at Dawn's Haven [mailto:dawnhaven@xtra.co.nz]
> Sent: Friday, 9 May 2003 5:59 p.m.
> 
> A small example of what land was worth at the end of the 14th 
> Century in
> France: the Duc d'Orleans paid the daughter of Enguerand de 
> Coucy the sum of
> 400,000 livres for his property (Andrew provided a nice 
> conversion from
> livres to sp but I have deleted it). The property included 
> 150 towns and
> villages, several castles, a monestary, several forests (St 
> Gobain covererd
> over 7,000 acres). Enguerand was seigneur of Coucy, St. Gobain, Oisy,
> Crevecoeur, La Ferte-Aucoul and La Ferte-Gauche, Viscount of Meaux,
> Castellan de Cambrai and a few others...
> 
> His (net) income of the estates was between 5,000 and 6,000 
> livres per year.
> By comparision, a major duke would have an income of 10,000 
> livres, a lord
> of a minor castle would have one or two knights as vassals 
> and an income of
> 500 livres, a poor knight  would have a few servile tennants 
> and an income
> of 25 livres or less (not enough to live on and needing help 
> from his lord
> or loot from battle).
> 
> Enguerand was semi-autonomous to the King and had 50 knights 
> in residence
> (forming, with their own squires, attendants and servants, 
> and sargeants, a
> permanent garrison of 500).
> 
> However, he was required to supply 30 knights (+retainers) 
> (compared to 34
> for the Duke of Anjou, 36 for Brittainy and 47 for the Count 
> of Flanders) to
> the King. And loan money to the King (like 15000 livres to 
> buy the true
> cross...and go to war - few Coucys died in bed.
> 
> There were about 200,000 gentry (of 40,000+ families) in 
> France at this time
> (or about 1% of the population). England had about 56 nobles 
> (ie Baron or
> senior).
> 
> cheers,
>  Ian
>


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