What was used for currency during Medieval times specifically the 14th century?

Question

I would like to try and find a list of some kind that shows what was used for money during the 14th century in Europe. As in what it was called and what it was worth back then from most to least (like a US dollar is worth more then a US quarter).

Answer 1

Your best place to look on the web is probably here http://allcoins.org/ancient_coins/

Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

There was precious little actual money circulating in the 14th century in Europe. Daily life exchanges were based on barter and so were feudal payments. Only the rich and noble got to handle actual money (gold and silver). I believe for a while the Ducat was the standard gold coin.

Answer 3

During the 14th century some coins did exist but most were in forms of gold, silver or other metals. Some wooden coins were find in Scotland but most were in forms of the bartering system.

Answer 4

Note that torture in order to obtain a confession was always administered by the secular authorities, and not performed by member of the religious body. Inquisitors typically left the room, and only returned when the executioner (the town's executioner also served as torturer) indicated he was ready to make a confession. Contrary to what we see in films, the more severe, gruesome tortures were typically applied in more heinous secular, not religious, crimes (murder, espionage, insurrection, etc), and in the later stages of questioning. These secular offenses and the "appropriate" questioning methods are covered quite well in the Constitutio Criminalis Theresiana, and "how to" book on extracting confessions, published 1768. Tortures advocated and relied on by the Inquisition include the Rope and Pulley (dislocation of the arm sockets by suspending the "heretic" in the air with his arms behind him), insertion of needles into sensitive spots (the area around the nipples or eyes, for example), and the infamous Rack (again, dislocation, but of the arms and leg joints and sockets). In Germany and France, so called Boots would be used to press and mangle the feet of the victim. One of the reasons why the more severe and gruesome tortures could not be used is that the victim was still subject to trial, and could not appear to have been "unduly coerced" into confessing. Many of the so called tortures of the Inquisition were actually means of execution or punishment (hot pokers in the bowels or vagina, force feeding hot lead, or tearing out of the tongue and eyes), but these were almost exclusively reserved for secular offenses. The end result of the confession to heresy was usually burning at the stake - but the confessed heretic was typically publicly strangled to death on the scaffold prior to the fires being lit - though this coup de grace later came to be associated with recanting one's heretical views. While the Inquisition was certainly a vicious and sadistic exercise, much of what we today believe about the period and process is actually myth, partly the result of what amounts to propaganda by Protestants against Catholics, but largely due to Hollywood horror films, few of which dealt with the Inquisition proper, the directors of which sought to sensationalize this already unpleasant period and latched onto the most depraved tortures of the day.

Answer 5

The following seems a promising site ( I have looked for Medieval English Coins and also for Plantagenet coins):
http://www.sortore.com/coins/plantagenet/plantagenet.html
and also
http://home.eckerd.edu/~oberhot/england.htm

For European coins try http://www.medievalhistory.net/coin.htm

If they do not cover what you need to know try contacting the British Museum or look at other sites for example:


http://www.finds.org.uk/medievalcoins/
http://www.calgarycoin.com/medieval3.htm

Answer 6

Coins of Gold & Silver.