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I think there was a article here which stated that 1 person had to work for 1 month to get 1 pound of sugar or something. Today it is equivalent to 1 hours of w
by nthingtohide 2y ago
I think there was a article here which stated that 1 person had to work for 1 month to get 1 pound of sugar or something. Today it is equivalent to 1 hours of work, something like that. You are narrowing your focus too much. The abundance is really the key here.
- BoredPositron 2y agoI bet eggs were cheaper…
- bryanlarsen 2y agoNot even close. Eggs were 6p/dozen in the 14th century. https://medieval.ucdavis.edu/120D/Money.html https://medieval.ucdavis.edu/120D/Money.html Laborer wages were 2p/day in the 14th century. https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/resource/medieval-prices-and-wages/ https://thehistoryofengland.co.uk/resource/medieval-prices-a...
- smegsicle 2y agoyeah but that's like walmart greeter tier labor and super nice farm fresh eggs
- hn_throwaway_99 2y agoI don't understand where you get "6p/dozen". In that first link it says 2 dozen eggs is 1 pence (1d, denarius meaning pence). That works out to half a pence per dozen, not 6. If it actually cost 3 days wages for a dozen eggs it seems pretty clear everyone would have starved to death.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoThe legend at the top says that "d" is shilling, or 12 pence. Eggs, like all meat, was a luxury. They didn't starve, they lived on gruel.
- hn_throwaway_99 2y agoNo, that's wrong. s is shilling, d is pence. The relevant part of the legend at the top says: 1 pound (L) = 20 shillings (s) ... 1 shilling = 12 pence (d) Then in the description it states "The French Livre, sou, and denier are equivalent to the pound, shilling and penny (Latin liber, solidus, and denarius)" Meaning: pound = livre = liber = L shilling = sou = solidus = s pence = denier = denarius = d A dozen eggs were half a pence.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoSo redoing the calculations, a dozen eggs were a quarter day of laborer wages, and more than a full day of wages for a maidservant or swineherd. Still considerably more expensive than the price of eggs today.