Posted on 12/06/2010 1:36:58 PM PST by decimon
LONDON (Reuters) – Maybe being a serf or a villein in the Middle Ages was not such a grim existence as it seems.
Medieval England was not only far more prosperous than previously believed, it also actually boasted an average income that would be more than double the average per capita income of the world's poorest nations today, according to new research.
Living standards in medieval England were far above the "bare bones subsistence" experience of people in many of today's poor countries, a study says.
"The majority of the British population in medieval times could afford to consume what we call a 'respectability basket' of consumer goods that allowed for occasional luxuries," said University of Warwick economist Professor Stephen Broadberry, who led the research.
"By the late Middle Ages, the English people were in a position to afford a varied diet including meat, dairy produce and ale, as well as the less highly processed grain products that comprised the bulk of the bare bones subsistence diet," he added.
He said a figure of $400 annually (as expressed in 1990 international dollars) is commonly is used as a measure of bare bones subsistence and was previously believed to be the average income in England in the Middle Ages.
But the researchers found that English per capita incomes in the late Middle Ages were actually of the order of $1,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
If you liked bad smells, bad teeth and absolutely no personal freedom at all - then yes, England was a merry place.
A large majority in 2010 wants to live this way cause they’re voting for serfdom.
Sort of like California.
Gee, then they lived twice as well as a Haitian does today. Still doesn’t sound like a “merrie” existence to me.
Today - the average middle class person pays 50%+ in taxes when all is said and done (federal, local, state, property, SS, sales, etc.)
Hmmm...good economy but limited freedom. The first fascist state?
Maybe he kept it for himself.
Having had a semester of Chaucer in college, I’m glad I’m not living in medieval England, but liberals will have us in such circumstances, if we don’t stop them.
That may have been merry as compared to Continental Europe. Or maybe not. Stay tuned.
lol... they want to bring back serfdom.
You will be bound to the land of the local Lord. Bound to it.
From what I can tell Robin Hood robbed from the local tax collector and refunded it to the peasants for a fee.
my favorite thing was the raw sewage poored out peoples windows that just ran down the middle of the street.
One fascinating thing about the Medieval kitchen was that many had long “fishtanks” made of leather along one wall. These contained live fish, which were kept alive until they became dinner.
It was 33% of everything I think. If they went fishing they would have to give part of their catch.
Plus they could not move to another fief, they were bound to the land.
I hear they would have a central bakery so the local Lord charged the peasants for turning their own flour into bread.
A monopoly!
I remember my dad telling stories of having to watch out for people tossing “night soil” out second and third story windows in Italy when he was in the Navy, circa early fifites.
It’s sort of comical, how many people seem to believe that other countries had some medieval system that was much different. Feudalism was the rule, not the exception.
This guy must be an idiot.
The feudal system was created because of it offered protection from invaders and raiders. That part actually worked out, thats why you might see an overall better economic situation.
It started with local Lords offering land to Knights, becoming a vassal of the Lord.
It was a decentralized tyranny really, and it happened because people could no longer get protection from the King and his government.
Like H & R Block.
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