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<blockquote data-quote="Tuft" data-source="post: 5356804" data-attributes="member: 60045">Of course, what you did to keep up the pace was either changing the horses for fresh ones, or work relays. For example, in Sweden year 1280 we got a law that the villages along the road had to supply a wagon with driver(s) and horses every 20 km (12 miles), standing prepared and ready in wait for anyone&nbsp; on the King's business. What was new with this law was the farmers actually were supposed to get paid for this, and the nobility was forbidden to force the farmers to provide free rides at sword-point. Note that the wagons belonged to the farmers, so that if you used this service, you had to unload and reload your luggage at every relay point... (By law, you could only bring 170 kg of luggage.)&nbsp; In 1442 the requirement to provide an inn at every 20 km was added to the law. In 1620 it was noted that the depletion of manpower due to the great wars resulted in the drivers mainly being &quot;girls or stable-hands&quot;.In 1649 the major responsibility for providing relay was changed from the local farmers to the inns. In 1662 the relay distances were reduced to 10-20 km, depending on terrain. In 1734 we got a speed limit. The drivers were prohibited from going faster than 10 km in 1.5 hours, out of concern for the horses. The roads had by then improved so much that a 220 km (130 miles) journey only took 3 days, and only involved switching wagons and horses 15 times. Appx 1830 the official stage coaches arrived, and the whole system was finally scrapped in 1934.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Tuft, post: 5356804, member: 60045"] Of course, what you did to keep up the pace was either changing the horses for fresh ones, or work relays. For example, in Sweden year 1280 we got a law that the villages along the road had to supply a wagon with driver(s) and horses every 20 km (12 miles), standing prepared and ready in wait for anyone on the King's business. What was new with this law was the farmers actually were supposed to get paid for this, and the nobility was forbidden to force the farmers to provide free rides at sword-point. Note that the wagons belonged to the farmers, so that if you used this service, you had to unload and reload your luggage at every relay point... (By law, you could only bring 170 kg of luggage.) In 1442 the requirement to provide an inn at every 20 km was added to the law. In 1620 it was noted that the depletion of manpower due to the great wars resulted in the drivers mainly being "girls or stable-hands". In 1649 the major responsibility for providing relay was changed from the local farmers to the inns. In 1662 the relay distances were reduced to 10-20 km, depending on terrain. In 1734 we got a speed limit. The drivers were prohibited from going faster than 10 km in 1.5 hours, out of concern for the horses. The roads had by then improved so much that a 220 km (130 miles) journey only took 3 days, and only involved switching wagons and horses 15 times. Appx 1830 the official stage coaches arrived, and the whole system was finally scrapped in 1934. [/QUOTE]

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