How Did Medieval People Keep Their Wealth Secure?

Medieval society was vastly different from what we are used to today. People had to use creative and sometimes dangerous methods to keep their wealth secure. This article explores how the wealthiest individuals and landowners preserved their assets, with a focus on what ordinary people and merchants did to limit the risk of losing their riches.

Strategies for Wealthy Landowners

For the most wealthy landowners, the preservation of their assets was often contingent on careful management and familial connections. Here are some of the key strategies they employed:

1. Efficient Estate Management: Wealthy landowners ensured that their estates were well-managed to maximize productivity. This meant keeping tenant farmers accountable for paying their rent and dues. Proper farm management was crucial to maintaining wealth.

2. Strategic Marriages: To keep wealth within extended families, wealthy landowners exclusively married into other affluent lines. About 20 extended families controlled most of the land, ensuring that wealth remained concentrated and did not dilute into less wealthy individuals.

3. Minimizing Church Inheritance: Extending family members were taught to benefit the Church as little as possible through wills and testaments. This helped protect the family fortunes from being distributed among less wealthy relatives.

4. Investment Over Inheritance: Instead of passing down wealth, these families often reinvested in purchasing more farms to rent. This ensured a steady income stream, albeit with inherent risks.

5. Leveraging Local Power: Wealthy landowners could often make deals or even use force to sell and acquire farms more cheaply. In some cases, they combined multiple villages into a single estate, resulting in increased economic power.

Securing Immediate Purchases and Large Quantities of Wealth

For everyday transactions, wealth was often carried in small yet effective ways. Whether for immediate purchases or large transactions, different methods were employed:

1. Personal Pouches: For small sums, people used simple pouches or ‘wallets’ to store coins. These could be slung from a belt or concealed within clothing, providing ample security for daily necessities.

2. Robust Lock-Boxes: For larger sums, wealth was stored in heavy wooden and iron lock-boxes. These containers were often sealed within enclosed carriages, adding an additional layer of protection. Armies of guards would often accompany these caravans, providing further security.

Dependence on Peasants and Merchants

The stability of wealth in medieval times was heavily dependent on agricultural productivity, which in turn relied on the availability and diligence of peasants. Famine or plague could devastate the peasant workforce, leading to significant economic downturns.

Merchants faced additional challenges, as their wealth was often tied up in stock and sometimes ships. A small amount of coinage was usually the only liquid asset, given that coins had intrinsic value. In some cases, a silver penny was equivalent to a day's wage for many people.

Banks and Secure Storage

While many relied on physical possessions, medieval people also had alternatives for securing their assets. Cash was often kept in strong-boxes, and people would invest in clothes and jewelry, which could be quickly liquidated when needed.

By the high medieval period, sophisticated banking systems had developed. Goldsmiths often stored valuables for a fee, and international banking houses emerged in Italy, the Netherlands, and southern Germany. These institutions provided a safe and efficient way to manage and store wealth. However, much of the wealth was still in the form of IOUs and debts owed by individuals, reflecting the networked nature of medieval economic relationships.

In conclusion, medieval people relied on a combination of physical security measures, strategic management, and liquid assets to preserve their wealth. The methods they used reflect the economic and social realities of their time, offering valuable lessons for understanding the complexities of pre-modern economies.