Appendix
I., Page 93
A Year’s Expenditure of the King
It is now more than eighty years since the Society of Antiquarians published “The Account of the Comptroller of the Wardrobe, of the twenty‐eighth year of king Edward I., A.D. 1299–1300;” and it is probable that few of the readers of this volume have ever seen that publication. It seems desirable, therefore, to give, in this place, a brief sketch of that Account, the whole details of which form a quarto volume. We shall confine ourselves to a few general heads.
I.
The Keeper or treasurer of the Wardrobe acknowledges the receipt, from various sources, of a total sum, within the year, of£58,155 16s. 2d.
II.
He then gives an account of his disbursements, under twelve heads, as follows:—
| £ s. d. | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Alms and oblations, for the relief of the poor, or as religious offerings. The payments fill thirty‐one quarto pages, and are of every description. The total for the year | 1,166 14 9 |
| 2. | The next head is that of necessaries bought for the use of the king’s household, and for charges and expenses of ambassadors, messengers, etc.—the total being | 3,338 19 3 |
| 3. | Then follows the victualling and stores for the king’s army in Scotland, and for the supplies for the garrisons of his castles in that country | 18,638 1 8 |
| 4. | Next, gifts and rewards; and payment for horses lost by knights and others in the king’s service | 4,386 4 5 |
| 5. | Allowances to knights of the king’s household; and of foreign troops retained in the king’s service | 3,077 19 0 |
| 6. | Wages of the engineers, archers, and sergeants‐at‐arms of the household | 1,038 10 7 |
| 7. | Wages of foot‐soldiers, archers, artificers, and workmen | 4,446 9 11 |
| ″ | Wages to seamen of the Cinque Ports and other towns | 1,233 9 8 |
| 8. | Expenses of king’s messengers | 87 11 1 |
| 9. | Wages and expenses of the huntsmen, falconers, hawks, etc. | 77 6 11 |
| 10. | Allowances to knights, bannerets, etc. of the household, for robes | 714 3 4 |
| 11. | Goldsmiths’ and jewellers’ accounts | 253 15 6 |
| 12. | Includes cloth, furs, wax, and other things for the use of the household | 4,391 19 0 |
| Wines and other liquors for the use of the household | 6,934 6 0 | |
| Separate account of the queen | 3,668 2 9 | |
| Costs and charges of the king’s Chancery | 581 9 0 | |
| £54,035 2 7 | ||
To which is added, for some current expenses of the household, the particulars of which do not appear to have been preserved, the sum of £10,969 16s. 0d.
So that the treasurer, on this account, would appear to have been in advance. But there was, doubtless, money daily coming in, and he probably had some bills not yet discharged.
The calculations of Bishop Fleetwood’s tables show the value of money to have been fifteen times as great at that day as it is now. This would make the royal revenue to amount to about £800,000 per annum. Out of which the king paid, in 1300, what would now be about £500,000, for his troops, seamen, garrisons, etc.; about £270,000 for the expenses of his household, exclusive of robes, jewels, huntsmen, and charities; which last item, of alms and oblations, in the money of our time, would be equal to nearly £18,000 a‐year.