This additional chapter intends to review new research and thinking about standards of living in the period 1200–1520. The chapter follows the organization of the book, beginning with the aristocracy and the peasants, and going on to consider changes in towns, wage earning, charity and the climate. It cannot provide a complete account of new discoveries and ideas since 1987 so certain themes have been chosen. The section on aristocratic incomes is concerned with the smaller landowners, and the main aspects of aristocratic expenditure to be discussed are patterns of consumption. The section on peasants focusses on their experiences in the crisis period around 1300, and the part devoted to towns includes shifts in demand and interactions between town and country.

Wage workers are discussed in relation to earnings and issues of leisure and work ethics, and the section on the poor is devoted to assessments of the effectiveness of charity.

ARISTOCRATIC INCOMES

The formative period for the gentry can be located around 1200, when a great upheaval redrew the social boundaries. In the reign of King John (1199–1216) the title of knighthood was not especially exclusive, and as many as 5,000 men at any one time could be described as milites or chevaliers – knights.