ABSTRACT
MONEY', wrote Richard FitzNeal in the preface to the Dialogue of the Exchequer, 'appears necessary not only in time of war but also in peace. Vinogradoff's use of the phrase 'natural economy' in explaining the system of unpaid service and restricted warfare suggests that it may be difficult to gain the support of economic historians for this part of the argument. It is worth while re-examining the evidence on war and finance in the Anglo-Norman period. The Conquest was the result of an exceptional military effort, achieved, it may be thought, by forces raised and financed in exceptional ways. The whole history of the development of Anglo-Norman administration is intelligible only in terms of the scale and the pressing needs of war finance: the expenditure on the wages of troops, the construction and repair of castles, the pensions to allies, the bribes which eased the course of campaigns and diplomacy, and the upkeep of the bureaucracy itself.
