Relief

Relief meant helping people survive immediate hardship; recovery meant reviving the economy and employment; reform meant making lasting changes. A programme could provide valuable relief without ending the Depression. Equally, a successful reform could improve future security without immediately giving everyone a job.

Inheritance also involved a payment called relief. When a tenant-in-chief died, his heir paid the king to take over the landholding. William could reward loyalty with a smaller relief or threaten troublesome families with a larger payment.

The friezes preserve ancient carved reliefs; the Athena sculpture is a later Roman copy; the west pediment is shown through a reconstruction; and the map is a modern plan. Each can answer different questions.

Relief meant immediate help for people who needed food, money or work. Recovery meant restarting economic activity so that businesses and farms could earn more and employ workers. Reform meant changing rules and institutions to make the economy more secure in future.

When a landholder died, his heir had to pay a relief to take over the holding. William could favour loyal families with smaller payments or put pressure on troublesome families through larger ones. Inheritance therefore became another way to reward loyalty and increase royal income.