Standards of Living

The daily measure of wealth is that which can be seen and partaken of. Rich people eat better, wear fancier clothes, and have more luxurious homes. Knights, as members of the noble class, wear very nice clothing and eat well, whether at their lord’s board or in their own manor. A normal vassal knight — i.e., the typical player-knight — has an ordinary knightly standard of living (spending about £10 per year), as shown below in “Grades of Maintenance.” It is interesting and useful to compare knights’ standards with those of a typical peasant family of two adults and three children: The common peasant exists in a self-sufficient world where money is unknown, and the family makes, grows, or barters for everything it needs. However, in monetary value, annual expense and income for the whole peasant family equals about £1.