Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/204

178 the payment of responsions of £2,304 15s. 2d. The grand- priory of England was assessed at the amount of £2,280. It will be seen, therefore, that in the year in question the receipts readied a trifle over that sum; the balance came into the hands of the grand-prior.

The income of this dignitary, as shown in the accounts, was £1 per diem. For a period of 121 days, this charge appears in the several commanderies, two or three days in each, under the head of the grand-prior’s visitation. For the remainder of the year it is charged in a lump sum as one of the expenses of the general treasury. He received, in addition, an allowance of £93 6s. 8d. for robes for himself and his household.

The property which the Order possessed in Scotland does not appear to have realised anything in 1338, owing to the constant wars which were devastating the country. It was estimated to have yielded in former years the sum of £133 6s. 8d.

The amounts given in these lists appear small, but when taken in comparison with the cost of articles of food at the time, become important. The accounts do not give us sufficient data to obtain an average price for these; but there is an assize of the year 1335 in London, which constitutes a fair guide, always remembering that country prices would be smaller. By this we find wheat priced at 2s. per quarter, a fatted ox at 6s. 8d., a fat sheep 8d., pigeons 2d. per dozen, a fat goose 2d., and a chicken id. At these prices a shilling would go very much further than a sovereign does at the present time.

The list given of Templar lands shows that the Order had by the year 1338 received a considerable addition to its income from the transfer. It will also be seen that there were many estates held by tenants for life, either rent free or at a very low rate. This property may therefore be considered as of a gradually improving character. It must not be assumed that the Hospitallers were equally fortunate with their Templar estates in other countries. Nowhere did that