Hello again one and all. Barbara Holt from that little idsland off the mainland of Australia write to advise :- > This means that your 1,300,000 livre bribe today might be worth approx. £42,770,000. Well now, thank you Barbara for doing all that math work, now I have a greater understanding of just what the pesky bishops were offering. And no wonder the King accepted. It would not be unkind to offer that the royal family of France in that period had mis-managed the wealth of the country and so any "donation" of that proportion would certainly have the King thinking all manner of good things about the Bishops. For 42 million quid even a good Hugueont might have changed his ideas. It does now raise yet another question, to my mind at least. Just how much money did these pesky bishops have access to, and what else did they do with such fortunes ? Just prior to the Wars of Religion my own family had collected a degree of wealth and now I can't even afford a computer upgrade. No wonder I have this little moment, now and again, when I see a bishop pass my way. It is genetics you see. Thank you again Barbara Kind Regards, Peter Leroy