Land was the all-important kind of wealth.

Military and other public services were performed by the higher landlords (as vassals of their overlords) who in this way paid at the same time what we to-day would call rent and taxes.

The landlord in turn received from his underlings services and goods in kind (food and supplies) and so (in modern eyes) was both a collector of taxes and a receiver of rent.

The rent, however, was not a competitive price, but consisted of the dues and services which the forefathers had been accustomed to pay.

In many ways also in the towns, close organizations of craftsmen and of merchants regulated prices and kept others out of their industries.