When we are talking about the Middle Ages then we usually imagine one homogenous time period. But that is not the case. Not only were the Middle Ages quite different depending on the region you look at but the Middle Ages also lasted for almost 1000 years. Needless to say that there was also quite a difference between the 3 periods of the Middle Ages when it comes to the pay of soldiers.
For the sake of better clarity, I would like to focus on the pay of Late Medieval English Soldiers during the Hundred Years`War (1337-1453).
The actual pay of a medieval soldier was rather low compared to the pay of civil laborers. But the pay of a medieval soldier should just cover his living costs, the real money was made with the share of the booty that every soldier got. (Vor allen Punkte ein – einfügen)
- Levied spearman: 2 Pence / Day
- Archer: 3 Pence / Day
- Mounted archer: 6 Pence / Day
- Light Cavalry man: 6 Pence / Day
- Man-at-arms: 6 Shillings / Day
- Knight bachelor: 2 Shillings / Day
- Knight banneret: 4 Shillings / Day
Let`s find out more!
How much were Medieval soldiers paid?
First, it is important to state that the understanding of the pay of a medieval soldier was drastically different from modern ideas on the pay of a soldier. While today the main income of a soldier is his pay the main income of a medieval soldier was his share of the war bounty while his pay only covered his immediate living expenses. That is important to remember when we are looking at the pay of a medieval soldier since that pay – compared with the cost of living that will also be presented – seems extremely low to us.
It is also important to state that there was no difference between soldiers who voluntarily enlisted for set periods of time and men who were levied. More on how levied men made up the bulk of especially early and high medieval armies and how these armies were organized in my article here.
But let`s now look at how much an English medieval soldier was paid during the Hundred Years`War (1337-1453) depending on his experience, his equipment (more on the effectiveness of medieval armor here), and his social status.
- Levied spearman: 2 Pence / Day
- Archer: 3 Pence / Day
- Mounted archer: 6 Pence / Day
- Light Cavalry man: 6 Pence / Day
- Man-at-arms: 6 Shillings / Day
- Knight bachelor: 2 Shillings / Day
- Knight banneret: 4 Shillings / Day
That list of the pay of medieval soldiers shows one thing. The height of the pay did depend on the equipment and the social status that a soldier had. A levied spearman who had neither a lot of equipment, nor a high social status, and whose weapon did also not need a high skill level was paid less than an archer who needed a higher skill level to effectively use his weapon.
And a mounted archer was making more than a regular archer also the phrase „mounted archer“ is quite misleading. There is no proof that English archers during the Late Middle Ages shot their arrows from horseback. Instead, the term mounted archer describes an archer who owned a horse (and because of that needed a higher pay to feed the animal), and would ride his horse while on a campaign but would fight dismounted.
The advantage of these mounted archers who fought dismounted was that they were much more mobile and as such more valuable during a campaign.
Both mounted sergeants and knight bachelors can be counted as men-at-arms and as such, they had more equipment and a higher social level which made them more expensive to hire. And a knight banneret had an even higher social status and was also important for mobilizing the levies. That made him a lot more valuable which in return resulted in higher pay for him.
So now I told you how much an English soldier made during the Late Middle Ages. But just the numbers are not really helpful since prices and currencies have changed quite drastically since the Middle Ages. So to give you a better idea of how much (or rather how little) a medieval soldier was paid I would like to show you the prices of daily goods and wages in Late medieval London for comparison.
Prices and Wages in Late Medieval England
Since the prices of goods and services in Late Medieval England also changed depending on the exact year and the area we look at I would like to present you some examples of prices and wages in late Medieval London during the late 14th century, which is the time of the Hundred Years`War.
The Monetary system of Late Medieval England
When we looked at the pay of Medieval soldiers we already discovered 2 monetary units, the Pence and the Shilling. But how many Pence were 1 Shilling?
- 12 Pence = 1 Shilling
- 10 Shilling = 1 £
So with that in mind, we can now look at the prices and wages in Late medieval England.
Prices in Late Medieval England
Please note that the following prices are a reflection of the prices in London during the late 14th century. The prices could vary in other parts of the country.
- 4 gallons of ale: 1 Pence
- 1 hen: 5 Pence
- Brass pot: 2-13 Shillings
- Crossbow: 12 Pence (today’s retail price, several 100$)
- 1 Quiver of crossbow bolts: 16 Pence
- 1 cart-horse: Up to 32 Shillings
By the way, cart horses were especially important for the logistics of a medieval army since a cart pulled by horses was a lot faster than one pulled by oxen. However, the use of cart horses also had its disadvantages, more on these disadvantages and the logistics of a medieval army in general in my article here.
Wages in late medieval England
So after we have looked at the prices of goods we should now also look at the wages of laborers and expert craftsmen in late medieval London. There you will find one very interesting thing…
- Horse harness maker: 4 Pence / Day
- Mason: 6 Pence / Day
- Laborer: 3,5 Pence / Day
So that might be surprising. A laborer who was not even a skilled craftsman would make more money than a late medieval English archer or a levied spearman! That was something I absolutely did not expect when I did my research for this article. So does that mean that medieval soldiers were underpaid?
Were medieval soldiers well-paid?
So when we compare the pay of late medieval English soldiers, levied spearmen made 2 Pence / Day while an archer was paid 3 Pence / Day, with the pay (3,5 Pence / Day) of a normal laborer without any specialized craftsmanship then it first appears like the soldier is definitely underpaid.
But that is a misconception of how the pay of medieval soldiers worked!
While today the pay of a soldier is his main income that was different during the Middle Ages. The pay of a medieval soldier should just cover his living costs, the real money was made with the share of the booty that every soldier got. In regards to that, it is also important to realize that looting of both the enemies’ military and also of the civilian population was seen as perfectly fine during the Middle Ages.
Looting was also an important part of the events that took part after a battle (or siege) had ended. Here you can find more information on what happened immediately after a medieval battle.
And if you are interested in how medieval battles worked then I would like to recommend you my article here.
Take care of yourself because you deserve it. You really do.
Until next time
Yours truly
Luke Reitzer
Sources
David S. Bachrach: Warfare in Tenth-Century Germany (Woodbridge 2012).
Malte Prietzel: Krieg im Mittelalter (Darmstadt 2006).
