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Old 01-25-2019, 05:25 PM   #7
The Colonel
 
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Default Re: Price of a crossbow...

Quote:
Originally Posted by malloyd View Post
Did he get paid anything for that retainer? "Retained" technically means "keeps you from leaving", it doesn't actually say anything about paying you anything at all, let alone paying your entire living. It may be he's required to provide those 4 crossbows *for free*, and then will get paid whatever the "bonus" is for anything over that.
"German cities also had their own official, full-time crossbow-maker whose job was to produce a certain number of weapons each year. Conditions of employment varied, but the Hanseatic city of Hamburg can be taken as an example. There, from the start of the 14th century, the city’s own balistarius, balistifex, or armborstmakere had to produce four weapons a year, being paid extra for any additional bows he could make."
Osprey MAA494 (as above)
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