Those of you who have read my earlier notes mentioning the Exchequer Pipe Rolls, may be interested to know that - in the accounts to be paid for King Henry VII's new Clothing - ordered directly after winning the Battle of Bosworth [22nd August, 1485] "agsythen the kinges commyng to towne", and delivered to [his Servant or Tailor] John Englyssch are the following items -
Item, xiij. yerdes of fyne blak chamlet, for a cloke for the king, price the yerde - v.s, iij d. - Lxi.s, iiij.d. and Item, - i yerd di. velvet, blak,for the lynyng of the cape of the cloke, - price the yerd, - xvi.s This not only tells us of the period costs of the fabrics, it also tells us that to make a long cloak for King Henry, with a cape, the Tailor required 13 yards of black camlet, and a yard of black velvet. And, with reference back to the recent query concerning "cloth of gold" - within the same list of fabrics delieverd to John English to supply Henry Tudor's immediate wardrobe needs within 14 days of Bosworth, we have the entry - "fyne cloth of gold, purpille, riche", - at a cost of £6, 2s the yard. Using the conversion from the well-regarded website "Purchasing Power of British Pounds from 1264 to Present" on economic history, and inflation between 1485 and 2008, we see that "In 2008, £6 0s 4d from 1485 is worth £29,658.23 using average earnings". So the more-than £830GB per yard from Watts of London, quoted in another h-cost message today, shows the relative cost of cloth-of-gold has gone down. Cordially, Julian Wilson, in "old" Jersey _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
