Re: Pounds, Shillings, and Pence

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Brewer" <david@brewer.to>
> > In medieval Germany and Scandinavia, a Mark was half a Pound of
silver.
>
> I'm guessing that's half a lb. avoirdupois rather than troy, so 8
> oz.? I'm used to seeing medieval accounts where 1 mark = 2/3 of a
> pound sterling, 13s 4d, which would equate to 8 oz. of sterling
> silver.

Actually, half a Cologne or Lübeck pound - units were defined rather
locally
in that era. Apparently, most European coinage is derived from a system
defined in Charlemagne's time, hence the rather widespread usage of
similar
names in many places.

> I'm also guessing that the commonality of money around Germany and
> Scandinavia was down to the Hanseatic League monopolising the
> trade around the Baltic so we can, sort of, turn this around to
> the colony discussions...

Apparently part of this stems from as far back as the Viking age.

> I mean it hardly matters if you allow colonists to have have lasers,
tanks
or
> pop-guns, if you dominate the space around their planet you force a
trade
monopoly on them
> and extract the profits of their labour (which, in turn, pays for
> your fleets).

You don't need a monopoly to profit from trade, although it will enhance
your profits - to a degree. Even  when you are dealing with an
absolutely
vital commodity like food, if your prize is exorbitantly high, people
will
go without (i.e.starve).

> The Hanseatic League (AFAIK) never once fielded an
> army, but they still got rich on naval supremacy.

They didn't have a permanent army, but most cities had	well-organized
militias with a professonial core, and ships that could serve for trade
and
war. An army from a group of cities could easily overwhelm any local
noble's
force. They fought several successful wars against Denmark and also
successfully raided England, forcing the King to compromise on trade
issues.

Greetings