Very cool!

William, one of my friends and readers, sent in this very cool story this morning:

Medieval Database Logs Long-Dead English Warriors

(Undated) -- Medieval English warriors fended off the French during the Hundred Years War but they were apparently no match for their own accountants. Britain's "Daily Mail" reports that British academics have compiled the Medieval Soldier Database based on service records kept in the 14th and 15th centuries. The 250-thousand listings include not only names and ranks, but how much money each captain spent and which duke or king commanded them. Even sick days were logged and Medieval mileage was tracked -- on horseback, of course.

The records were compiled at the insistence of the English exchequer, the guy who doled out the dough for the royal treasury. Adrian Bell of the University of Reading, who spearheaded the project, said the ancient accountant's, quote, "had a very modern obsession with wanting to be sure that the government's money was being spent as intended."

Search the database for free at www.medievalsoldier.org.