The Expenses of the Countess at Pickering for the Time of this Account, as in the Pantry, Buttery, Kitchen and other Places, concerning these offices £285 13 4 ob. In Wine, Wax, Spices, Cleaths, Furs and other things for the Countess’s Wardrobe £154 7 4 ob. Sum £439 8 6 q. Summa Totalis for the Whole Expences £7957 13 4 ob. Thus much for the Earl of Lancaster. FOOTNOTE: [25] Title given to the son of the Holy Roman Emperor. CHAPTER V FIFTEENTH CENTURY LIFE INTRODUCTORY NOTES The Tourney This is here shown to be a sport, a trial of skill in which groups of knights encounter. The more serious ordeal by battle or tournament is a duel often to the death and so the rules for it are more strict and heavily guarded. A good lesson on the courtesy of the late chivalric age may be drawn from this and further illustrated from Froissart. Here as there, and in Joinville, the care for horses may be seen. Wages and Coinage These are chiefly useful for comparison with other periods, especially those imposed in the Statute of Labourers. The powers of the J.P. may be noted, also the status of the shepherd due to the importance of wool for the new cloth manufacture. Safeguard of the Sea This and the following extract are important as illustrating the beginnings of a royal naval policy, the navy to be drawn from merchant shipping and placed under military commanders. It is in accord with the policy advocated in 1436 in the Libel of English Policy (see Lipson, _Economic History of England_). They shew further the rise of the direct influence of the wealthy wool and cloth merchants in government. The fleet captured by Wynynton is that of the Hansa League or Easterling Merchants; the work of Henry IV and Henry V, in copying Genoese models, enabled English ships for the first time to carry more than one mast, and so increase both speed and capacity for artillery. Henry VII and Henry VIII continued this policy but Elizabeth economized, relying on their provision and on individual patriotic effort. Paston Letters The real meaning of the Wars of the Roses for the society of the time, emerges from such pictures as those of the need for self protection. Petition of the Commons This demand of privilege shows how much the Parliament had gained in power from the insecure position of Henry IV and Henry V’s need for war supplies, while the merchants’ wealth grew. It suggests reasons for Henry VII’s determination to drain their resources. Alnwick’s Visitations It must be remembered that an enquiry such as this leads to the airing of grievances, and so to a one-sided view of the monastic life; also that by this time the original high standards of most orders were beginning to droop. Care should be taken to avoid giving children a biassed view on this subject. Enclosures