Dumb questions

[Tywyll]

Originally Posted by amenditman

Well off farmers and villagers had them. Subsistence farmers never could afford them. And if they somehow got one, they couldn't afford the care and feeding.

I think that is entirely culturally dependent.

Here's some real world info I found on comparative prices:

HORSES
Item Price Date Source Page
War Horse up to 50s 12 cen (?) [7] 30
War Horse up to £80 13 cen [3] 72
Knight's 2 horses £10 1374 " 76
High-grade riding horse £10 13th cen " 72
Draught horse 10s-20s 13th cen " "

ARMOR
Item Price Date Source Page
Mail 100s 12 cen(?? [7] 30
Ready-made Milanese armor £8 6s 8d 1441 [4] 112
Squire's armor £5-£6 16s 8d " " "
Armor for Prince of Wales,
"gilt and graven" £340 1614 [5] 20
Complete Lance Armor £3 6s 8d 1590 [5] 185
Complete corselets 30s " " "
Cuirass of proof with pauldrons 40s " " "
Normal cuirass with pauldrons 26s 8d " " "
Target of proof 30s " " "
Morion 3s 4d " " "
Burgonet 4s " " "
Cuirass of pistol-proof with
pauldrons £1 6s 1624 [5] 189-190
Cuirass without pauldrons £1 " " "
Lance Armor £4 " " "
Targets of Proof 24s " " "
Cuirass with cap £4 " " "
Armor of proof £14 2s 8d 1667 " 68
Bascinet 13s 4d + 1369 " 88
3s 4d to
line it

At 20 shillings to the pound, that means chain mail (mail above) costs twice as much as a war horse in the 12th century. Now, in the 13th century the price of horses rose dramatically (according to the article). Even so, the price is only up to 16 times the cost of chain mail ($3200 or about 3 times the price of a mule).

That is waaaaay lower than you will get with the equation for a warhorse, I'm sure (Edit: just did some napkin math and it looks like $8643)!

I think I'll use HOW's price for simplicity sake.