Even more than tournaments, taxes, tolls, fees and fines characterized daily life in medieval Europe. One method of levying taxes and fees was by regulating the size of containers. Containers that didn’t define the amount of something purchased didn’t have to be regulated, so not all containers were policed.
Of course, medieval Europe had no synthetic materials like plastic. Paper was a new technology, reserved for keeping records and making books; it wasn’t used to wrap the butcher’s meat. Metal was very expensive, while the production needs of iron drove up the cost of wood. Woven fabric was produced as rapidly as the materials could be grown.
So during a typical day in a large town, what types of materials contained liquids, food or other possessions? When were containers regulated and how? I’ll try to sketch some answers as completely as I can.