The financial system of the English government of the fourteenth century is a well-researched subject which has interested historians for more than a century. Consequently, there is an abundance of historiography based on the royal medieval administrative system. T. F. Tout's impressive Chapters in the Administrative History of Medieval England marked the beginning of a plethora of important scholarly studies which have developed our understanding of the role of the state and of the king within the overall financial system, the evolution of the different departments of government and the working of the administration in practice. It is no surprise, however, that comparatively little attention has been given to studying the financial administration of a single army or military expedition based firmly on the pay records, considering that the relevant documents are often widely dispersed among the administrative records and, in many respects, it remains a specialist subject of study. An attempt to trace the expenditure of the Crown and military captains through the administrative records and to construct a schedule of payments which are itemised in the extant accounts has, up to now, yet to be undertaken.

This approach to the sources will enable us to understand some basic issues of financing an army. For example, how did the king's wages effectively reach the pockets of soldiers who served on expeditions overseas, and can we identify the individuals (both prominent and obscure) who were involved in the process? How did the ‘money chain’, so to speak, work in the mid 1340s – from which departments was funding issued, and what different methods of payment were used by the Crown? The details of payments to captains can also be used to analyse the efficiency of the royal administrative system over the course of the expedition, and assess whether it was affected by the growing war effort following Edward III's great expedition to Normandy in 1346. A close scrutiny of the sources will help elucidate the various administrative procedures of accounting for service in Aquitaine, and provide valuable insight into how the financial system worked in wartime.