If no state reason interfered, the conqueror made what profit he
could of his prisoners. Froissart, in speaking of Poictiers, adds,
that the English became very rich, in consequence of that battle,
as well by ransoms as by plunder, and M. St. Palaye, in his "Mem. sur
la Chevalrie," mentions that the ransom of prisoners was the principal
means by which the knights of olden time supported the magnificence for
which they were so remarkable. In the next century, the articles of war
drawn up by Henry V. previous to his invasion of France, contain the
condition, "that be it at the battle or other deeds of arms, where the
prisoners are taken, he that may first have his _Faye_ shall have
him for a prisoner, and need not abide by him;" by Faye, probably the
promise given by the vanquished to his captor to remain his prisoner, is
understood; as the expression _donner sa foi_, occurs in various
French historians. The value of a ransom is sometimes estimated at one
year's income of a man's estate, and this opinion is supported by the
custom of allowing a year's liberty to captives to procure the sum
agreed upon.
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