[Artemisia] Rising Prices was Membership Fees

[Allen Hall]

Greetings Luveday,

Some interesting observations.

I think it's fair to say that the immutable laws of supply and demand have always had an effect on any economy.  And likely always will.

The plague did indeed change the situation of the survivors.  Labor costs went WAY up, in spite of the governments/Crown's efforts to keep them at pre-1348 levels.  Finally, people were in a better position, because of scarcity to "demand" and receive higher wages.  The "middle class" was born from the plague.  Additionally, in the years following the plague, the new merchant class had much more available money, and began to rival the gentle class in their affluence and ability to display it.  Some of the chroniclers lament this new "redistribution of wealth" via the market.

The Paston family letters from the 15th C. are a very good display of this in action.  The book "Blood and Roses" lays this out very clearly.  A farmer, Clement Paston, in the 14th century is a commoner farmer.  He saves his money, works hard, buys more land.  He makes more produce from the land to sell, and as the land now is his, and he has no lord over it, he gets to keep his land's bounty.  He sends his son to law school, son does extremely well, marries a minor gentle class girl (after working hard, saving money and buying land and manors), and they have boys who do the same.  From Clement in the late 14th c. working on the land with a plow, to his son in the early 15th c. working at the bar in Westminster.  A perfect example of the ability of people to escape their "estate" and move upward.

For those interested in the time of great change (one of the reasons I love the 14th century), another good book is "Time Travelers Guide to Medieval England".  Mistress Annys gifted me with this book, and it is a treasure!!!  Thanks again Annys!

Unfortunately, governments debasing their currency is just as medieval as it is modern (QE2 is nothing more than melting down coins, adding base metal and recasting them for re-issue, but with less silver/gold in them).  Do you recall seeing movies where someone bit a coin before accepting it?  That was to check it's purity.  Another thing that was illegal, but common was "coin shaving".  Literally, a person would use their knife to shave a little bit off the edges of coins, collect the precious metal shavings, then melt them into something usable as money.

Luveday struck the nail on the head however in her observation that "then and now" aren't all that different.  Very interesting conversation!

Alan

> Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2010 09:30:28 -0700
> From: machay at xmission.com
> To: artemisia at lists.gallowglass.org
> Subject: Re: [Artemisia] Rising Prices was  Membership Fees
> 
> Quoting Allen Hall <dukealan at q.com>:
> 
> >
> >> Consider this, as well.  The cost of our food will is going up as   
> >> well as the price of everything else.
> 
> As I've read these posts I reflected on my period and place history.  
> 14th C (early) England. One of the big changes the plague created when  
> it hit Europe mid-14th C was wage and price controls eventually  
> disappeared.
> 
> It is my understanding that the notion of capitalism did not exist the  
> way we have it now. Letting one person undercut the price of a product  
> by creating it more cheaply and passing the savings on to the  
> purchaser was viewed as un-Christian. Likewise, the notion of wages  
> varying within a given social role because of competition was seen was  
> an invitation to anarchy.
> 
> God had created society with the monarch at the top, with the  
> nobility, church and peasantry each representing one of the three  
> "estates". To aspire to a change in one's estate was generally viewed  
> very poorly, because it would be questioning God's ordering of the  
> world. The idea wasn't to accumulate more things as baldly as we do  
> today, but rather to live the most Christian life possible in the  
> context of the life you had been given.
> 
> This concept is really foreign to me and one I have struggled with in  
> understanding medieval English history. Stability was the goal of  
> government and society, not innovation. Inflation as we know it today  
> didn't exist, would have been viewed as evil, and the system was set  
> up to prevent it.
> 
> The plague made price and wage control impossible because of the huge  
> change in the balance of supply and demand. Workers were scarce  
> (because so many had died) therefore they could afford to demand more  
> pay. More money was chasing fewer material goods, so prices rose. The  
> government continued to struggle with this issue for several centuries  
> by legislation but once the horse was out of the barn there was not  
> getting it back inside.
> 
> When the economy is changing like it is today, we are facing the same  
> challenges our ancestors did in the Middle Ages, however from a  
> different perspective. We mostly hope "the Market" will re-balance the  
> supply/demand issue, rather than expecting governmental regulation to  
> be the primary solution to the problem.
> 
> Some times I have very mixed feelings about this! Can't say I'm very  
> logical or consistent: I'd sure like more pay, and zero inflation!!
> 
> YIS, Luveday de Salford