What Did Medieval Items Really Cost? And How Much Did An Archer Make?

Luminaries.org has an interesting list of prices of medieval items (compiled by Kenneth Hodges). It consisted of extracted references from books such as English Wayfaring Life in the XIVth Century, J. J. Jusserand, London in the Age of Chaucer, A. R. Myers, Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages, Christopher Dyer, English Weapons & Warfare, 449-1660, A. V. B. Norman and Don Potting, and several more. It includes tools, food, livestock, books, education, buildings, clothing, armor, weapons, funerals, and travel; and includes wages for various professions from mercenaries to weavers to kitchen servants to barons! It makes for a fascinating read and a great resource for medieval fantasy games. (Thanks to Jay for the scoop!)

The image below is just the "WAGES" section -- click on it for the full thing!
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To require minimal changes of the 5e prices (magical items and the price of a typical skilled laborer being the most common exceptions) I've just kept what the books said and told my players to imagine that 1 cp was about equivalent to $1 (USD). I justify the price of adventuring gear by emphasizing that typical weapons and armor you are buying are equivalent to high-end military gear. It seems to work out fairly well in allowing me to visualize the relationship between various items, services, etc.

While it might be more authentic to make that $5 or $10 for a copper, substituting sp for gp, it just requires a constant conversion that is more work than I want to do. Instead I just have to try not to think about why there is such a vast quantity of devalued gold in the world.
 

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