To return to the matter of prices in Dante's day. In England a goose
could be bought for two and a half pence. A stall-fed ox commanded
twenty-four shillings while his fellow brought up on grass was sold for
sixteen shillings. A fat hog, two years old,--and this is interesting to
us who pay seventy-five cents a pound for bacon--a fat hog two years old
cost only three shillings four pence and a fat sheep shorn, one shilling
and two pence. A gallon of oysters was purchasable for two pence, a
dozen of the best soles for three pence. A yard of broadcloth cost only
one shilling one pence, a pair of shoes four pence. These figures of
English money are taken from an act of Edward III of England who was
born seven years after Dante's death. Parliamentarian enactment under
the same king fixed a table of wages.
For a day's work at haymaking or weeding of corn, for instance, a woman
got one penny. For mowing an acre of grass or threshing a quarter of
wheat a man was paid four pence. The reaper received also four pence for
his day's labor. Eight hours constituted a working day. The people of
the Middle Ages not only had the Saturday half-holiday but they enjoyed
release from work on nearly forty vigils of feast days during the year.
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