_CAXTON ABROAD._
The City of Bruges had long been not only the seat of government of
the Dukes of Burgundy, but also the metropolis of trade for all the
neighbouring countries. Thither resorted merchants from all parts of
Europe, certain of finding there the best market for their wares.
English traders especially abounded, having been greatly favoured
by Philip the Good, who had been almost from a child brought up in
the Court of England, and who in 1446 gave great privileges to the
_Merchant Adventurers_ under the name of _The English Nation_, by
which title they were ever after commonly known in foreign parts. So
greatly were the Duke’s dominions indebted to the trade in wool and
cloth with England, that Philip the Good, when he instituted in 1429 a
new Order of Knighthood, adopted for its title and badge “The Golden
Fleece.” The “Athenæum” for December 5th, 1863, gives a curious account
of the choice of this name. “Philip, wearied with suggestions for the
name and badge of his new Order, at last said it might be named in
some reference to the season of the year in which the matter had been
discussed. That season included the months of July, August, September,
October, and November. As the initial letters of those months (the same
in French and Dutch as in English) made the word Jason, the name of the
Hero of the Golden Fleece, the conclusion was hilariously arrived at
that the new Order should be named accordingly.”
Caxton issued out of his apprenticeship about 1446, and became a
freeman of his guild, though, as this happened abroad, no notice of
it occurs in the Company’s books. It would appear that he immediately
entered into business on his own account, and that he prospered, for
in 1450 we find him in Bruges, and so far successful as to be thought
sufficient security for the sum of £110 sterling, more than equal to
£1500 now. This appears from the following curious law proceedings
preserved in the Archives of the City of Bruges. William Craes, an
English merchant, in the year 1450, sued in the Town Hall of Bruges,
before the burgomasters, merchants, and councillors of the city, John
Selle and William Caxton, both English merchants, for a sum of money.
William Craes deposed that John Granton, of the Staple at Calais, was
indebted to him in the sum of £110 sterling, for which the said John
Selle and William Caxton had become sureties, and that the said John
Granton having departed from the city without payment made, he, the
said Craes, had caused his sureties to be arrested. The defendants
admitted that they were the sureties for John Granton, but pleaded
that as Granton was very rich, complainant should wait and look to
him for payment, if indeed the money had not been already paid.
Judgment was given by Roeland de Vos and Guerard le Groote in favour
of the complainant, the defendants having to give security for the
sum demanded, but it was also decreed that if John Granton on his
return to Bruges should prove payment previously to his departure, the
complainant should then pay a fine double in amount to that of the sum
claimed.
We learn from their records that the Mercers were, at this period,
engaged in a considerable trade with the Low Countries, but this soon
after received a check from an edict of the Duke of Burgundy which
prohibited the importation of all English cloths. The item in the
Mercers’ accounts--“To Richard Burgh for bearing of a letter over the
sea, 6_s_ 8_d_”--probably refers to this, although from the small sum
paid in comparison with several similar entries, it may be inferred
that he was not a special messenger, but that he took charge of the
letter, having to go to Bruges on his own account.
The date when Caxton was admitted to the freedom of his Company does
not appear, but it was doubtless shortly after he had issued from
his apprenticeship. It must have occurred before 1453, for in that
year he made a journey from Bruges to London, accompanied by Richaert
Burgh and Esmond Redeknape, when all three were admitted to the Livery
of the Mercers’ Company, a privilege to which the admission to the
freedom was a necessary step. Like Caxton, Burgh and Redeknape were
probably English traders settled at Bruges: Redeknape was most likely
a relative of the W. Redeknape of London, who appears farther on as
a merchant trading with Bruges, and we have already noticed Burgh as
the bearer of a letter to that city. We may likewise remark that the
usual fees on their taking up the livery seem to have been remitted,
the whole entry in the volume of accounts being erased by the pen. The
Mercers’ accounts of the same year show charges for sending two letters
to the Duchess of Burgundy, who was not above trading in cloth on her
own account, with the special privilege from her brother, Edward IV,
of being freed from the payment of import and export duties. In 1453
Geoffrey Felding, Mercer, was mayor, and the names of William Caxton,
Ric. Burgh, Thos. Bryce, and William Pratt appear, charged with fines
of 3_s._ 4_d._ each for not attending at his riding (quils fautent de
chiuachier ouesque le mair).
As an English merchant residing in Bruges, Caxton would necessarily be
subject to the laws and regulations of the Chartered Company called the
MERCHANT ADVENTURERS, whose Governor had control over all English and
Scotch traders in those parts. All foreign trade was then carried on by
means of Trading Guilds. These associations, which occupy a prominent
position in the early history of European commerce, had in most cities
a common place of residence, and were governed by laws and charters
granted on one side by the government of their own country, and on the
other side by the government of the country in which they had settled.
They appear to have originated in a common necessity. The trader in a
foreign country was always an object of suspicion to the inhabitants,
and often found himself restricted by its laws as to the articles he
should buy or sell, and to the prices he should give or receive. These
laws being frequently unjust and subversive of all legitimate trade,
besides being often strained to the great injury of individuals, it
was found expedient for all traders in foreign lands to unite, and by
combined action to secure that recognition of their rights which the
individual could not obtain. Hence arose the Association of _Merchant
Adventurers_, which consisted of English merchants, who ventured their
goods in foreign markets. The Mercers, whose foreign trade far exceeded
that of all other Companies, appear to have originated this Association
in the thirteenth century, under the name of the Guild or Fraternity
of St. Thomas-à-Becket, and to have retained the principal management
of its affairs until their disconnection in the sixteenth century.
Although Grocers, Drapers, Fishmongers, and several other trade guilds
yielded their quota of members, and added their influence when support
was needed, yet there were more Mercers among the Merchant Adventurers
than liverymen of any other company; the meetings of the Association
at their headquarters in London were held in Mercers’ Hall, and their
transactions entered in the same minute-book with those of the Mercers’
Company itself until 1526, when they became entirely independent,
although the last link was not severed until the Great Fire of London
in 1666 destroyed the office which the Merchant Adventurers held of
the Mercers under their Hall. It appears, however, from the records
of the Founders’ Company, that the Merchant Adventurers became their
tenants in 1565; that the Founders borrowed a large sum of money from
them, for which, in 1647, £200 was paid for interest; and that in
1683 the Founders leased the Sising Room and the Gown Room of their
new Hall in Lothbury to the Merchant Adventurers for £16 per annum.
Several charters were granted by English kings to the “Adventurers” in
various parts of Europe for their internal government. In 1407, Henry
IV granted authority to the English merchants in Holland, Flanders,
Prussia, and other States, to assemble and elect governors, with power
to rule all English merchants repairing thither, and to make reasonable
ordinances. Henry VI renewed these powers in 1444. On the accession
of the House of York, the Mercers consulted the City Recorder and
“Rigby” respecting their Corporation, and by the statute 1 Ed. IV, c.
i., passed for confirming the titles of those who held under grants
of any of the three preceding kings, therein described as “in fact
and not in right” kings of England, all grants to the wardens of the
Mercers were specially confirmed. The Merchant Adventurers now obtained
a larger charter, dated April 16th, 1462, which Hakluyt calls “The
Merchant Adventurers’ Patent,” for the better government of the English
merchants residing in Brabant, Flanders, &c., and under its provisions
William Obray was appointed “Governor of the English Merchants” at
Bruges.
Whether Obray died about this time is not known, but he does not appear
to have acted long in his new capacity, for between June 24th, 1462,
and June 24th, 1463, the Mercers’ books record that William Caxton was
performing the official duties of governor, and was in correspondence
not only with the wardens of the Mercers’ Company, but also with the
Lord Chancellor, writing to both about the best method of regulating
the buying of ware at Bruges. The charge for boathire incurred by the
wardens in delivering Caxton’s letter to the Lord Chancellor is thus
entered in the annual accounts:--
Item for botehyre for to shewe to ye lords of ye coũsell the l’re
y^t came from Caxton & ye felaship by yond ye See vj d.
When Caxton’s name next appears in the Mercers’ books there is no doubt
of his position, as he is addressed by the title of “governor.” It was
one of the duties of the governor at Bruges by his “correctors” to see
that all goods exported to England were of just weight and measure,
and at a Court of Adventurers, held in Mercers’ Hall on August 16th,
1465, William Redeknape, William Hende, and John Sutton complained that
they had received both cloth and lawn deficient in breadth as well as
length; whereupon it was decided that a letter should be despatched
to “WILLIAM CAXTON, _Governor beyond the Sea_” for reformation of the
abuse. This being an unusually interesting entry, we quote it here as
it is on folio cxl. of the original minute-book:--
A_{o} xiiij_{c} lxv°. Courte of aventurers holden the xvj daye of
August the yere aboue written.
ffor euell mesure | ffor asmuche as Will^m Redeknape Will hende
of cloth & lawne. | & John Sutton w^t other complayne as well for
| lak of mesure in all white clothe and brown
| clothe as in brede of the same/ and in lykewise
| in lawne nyvell & purpell hit is accorded that a
| letter shal be made to Will^m Caxton goũno^r by
| yonde the see as well for refourmacion of the
| p’sidentes as other &c.
|
| A lettre of the same and other was sent by henry
| Bomsted the iiij^{th} day of September A° R^s
| E. iiij^{ti} iiij^{to}.
Whether Henry Bomsted was a special courier does not appear; but the
same year another letter was sent at a cost representing more than £15
at the present day, and entered thus:--
Item to Jenyne Bakker, Currour for berying a letter
to Caxton ovir ye see xviiij s viij d
Caxton being now established in the city of Bruges, in the influential
position of Governor of the English Nation in the Low Countries, it
may be as well to take a brief survey of his duties and emoluments
at this period. These are expressly laid down in the charter already
noticed, granted only two years before. The governor had full power
to govern by himself or deputies all merchants and mariners, to make
such minor regulations for the conduct of trade (not contrary to the
International Treaties) as seemed needful, to decide all quarrels,
and to pass sentence in a court composed of himself as governor and
twelve justicers to counsel and advise him; the justicers to be chosen
by the “common merchants and mariners,” subject to his approval, six
sergeants being allowed “to do the executions and arrests of the
said court.” He was to appoint at pleasure correctors and brokers to
witness all bargains, as well as folders and packers to make up the
packs of the merchants (who were not allowed to pack their own goods,
lest any prohibited articles should be included), and he was to be
present at the unpacking of goods newly arrived. No parcel was to
leave the city without being sealed. The officers were paid by a fee
charged on packing or unpacking every pack: the governor being paid
at the rate of 2_d._ for every pack sealed for exportation, and 1_d_.
for every bargain witnessed by his deputies, besides several smaller
levies which are not mentioned in the charter, except under the term
“accustomed dues.” From all this it will be seen that the governor
ruled over his countrymen with almost unlimited authority. His duties
must at times have been very onerous, involving much responsibility,
and requiring talents of no mean order. To him likewise would be made
all communications from the Government under which they lived, and to
his diplomatic skill and influence would be due to a large extent the
comfort or discomfort of all the English residents.
By the charter Obray would appear to have been the nominee of the king
himself, but this was only a form, as the custom seems to have been for
the Court of the Adventurers to recommend “a fit person” to the king,
who thereupon appointed him. The following example will show in whose
hands the executive power really resided:--The name of John Pykering
appears in the Mercers’ books as the successor of Caxton in the office
of “Governor of the English Nation.” This Pykering, who was a Mercer of
renown, having spoken against the wardens of his Company, was summoned
before an assembly of the “Adventurers of the different Fellowships”
in London. There disdaining to “stond bare hed,” and speaking “alle
hawty and roiall,” he was by the advice of the Court of the Mercers
discharged from his office of governor, and heavily fined. Shortly
after, he appears to have repented his boldness, for we find him
humbly asking pardon on his knees before a full Court. Nothing could
more fully prove the power exercised by the Mercers’ Company, which
was, in fact, mainly instrumental in obtaining the new charter for the
Adventurers, or, as they are usually termed, “our felawship by yond the
See,” for which charter in the year following they are charged by the
Mercers’ Company £47 0_s._ 10_d._
[Illustration: Plate II.
_The House in which Caxton lived at Bruges._]
The “English Nation,” as we have already remarked, was a very important
body at Bruges, and like the Esterlings, the Florentines, and other
merchants, had their own “House,” which existed in its original
state when Sanderus, who calls it “Prætorium peramplum,” wrote his
“Flandria Illustrata.” The engraving of the Domus Angliæ, occupied by
the Merchant Adventurers, and in which William Caxton resided for many
years, is taken from this work, which contains numerous illustrations
of the ancient buildings of Bruges, including the residences of the
various guilds.
A great similarity prevailed in the internal management of all foreign
guilds, arising from the fact that foreigners were regarded by the
natives with jealousy and suspicion. The laws which governed the
Esterlings in London, who lived in a strongly-built enclosure, called
the Steel Yard, the site of which is now occupied by the City station
of the South Eastern Railway Company, were much the same as those under
which the English Nation lived in Bruges and other cities. The foreign
merchant had, in Caxton’s time, to brave a large amount of popular
dislike, and to put up with great restraints on his liberty. Not only
did he trade under harassing restrictions, but he resigned all hopes of
domestic ties and family life. As in a monastery, each member had his
own dormitory, whilst at meal-times there was a common table. Marriage
was out of the question, and concubinage was followed by expulsion.
Every member was bound to sleep in the house, and to be indoors by a
fixed time in the evening, and for the sake of good order no woman of
any description was allowed within the walls.
When Caxton entered upon his duties as governor, he acted under the
articles of a treaty of trade between the two countries, which had
been many years in force, but which would terminate on November 1st,
1465. It was highly necessary that a renewal of this treaty should be
made before that date, and we accordingly find that the king issued a
commission, dated October 24th, 1464, in which he showed great wisdom
by joining in one mission a clever statesman and a successful merchant.
These were Sir Richard Whitehill, who had already been employed in
several important embassies, and William Caxton, who, as the chief
Englishman in Bruges, and well acquainted with all trade questions, was
“a most fit person.” They were, however, unsuccessful, although for
what reason does not appear, and the treaty being still unrenewed, a
“convencion of lordes” was fixed to meet at St. Omer on October 1st,
1465, to consider the matter. This convention does not appear to have
taken place, for on the 14th of the same month, the wardens of the
Mercers’ Company wrote a long letter to Caxton, informing him that
“the convention holdeth not;” that the king, taking into consideration
the near approach of the term of the existing treaty, had written to
the mayor of London requesting him “to provide a person” to go over to
the Duke of Burgundy about the “prorogation of the intercourse;” that
the wardens of the Mercers with the wardens of divers Fellowships,
Adventurers, considering that hitherto in similar cases the king, “with
the advice of his council, had made provision in that behalf,” and
that it was not their part to take upon themselves a matter of such
great weight, had urged the mayor to write a letter to the king in the
most pleasant wise that he could, beseeching him “to provide for this
matter;” and that, considering the near approach of the term of the
treaty and the uncertainty of any speedy action by the king, Caxton had
better consult with his fellow merchants at Bruges in as “goodly haste”
as possible as to the best means of protecting their goods and persons
until such time as the treaty might be renewed. This interesting
letter, which appears in full in the Mercers’ books, was signed by the
four wardens, and addressed “a W. Caxton.”
A very anxious year must this have been with Caxton, for not only was
the treaty unrenewed, but the Duke of Burgundy decreed the exclusion
of all English-made cloth from his dominions. This of course induced
retaliation, and the importation of all Flemish goods into England
was prohibited by Act of Parliament; but neither the Flemish nor the
English merchants could suffer their trade to be paralyzed, and so the
traffic was carried on by a more circuitous and expensive route, being
smuggled through the neighbouring States. Next year the Earl of Warwick
(the nobleman to whom Caxton afterwards dedicated the first edition of
his “Chess Book”) wrote to Caxton, calling upon him to enforce the Act
of Parliament forbidding the purchase of wares by English traders in
the Duke of Burgundy’s dominions. Caxton immediately communicated this
order to the lord mayor and to the wardens of the Mercery at London,
in a letter dated 27th May, 1466, desiring to be informed what the
“lordes intent” was, and whether they had received a letter which he
had sent by way of St. Omer, at the same time requesting early news of
any “ioperdy that shulde fall.” The letter arrived in London on June
3rd, when a full court of Adventurers was instantly summoned, at which
it was determined that an immediate answer should be returned. This was
accordingly despatched next day by the hands of Simon Preste, addressed
“a Will^{m.} Caxton, Gūnor de la nac’ deng^{s.}” and signed by the
four wardens. In it Caxton was instructed that the Act of Parliament
must be observed and the fines enforced in every case of infringement;
that, being themselves ignorant of the intention of the Lords, they
could give no information on that point; and, that as to any threatened
jeopardy, it was likely to be known sooner in Bruges than in London.[1]
Matters remained in this unsatisfactory state until the death of Philip
the Good, June 15th, 1467, who was succeeded by his son, Charles the
Bold.
The tide of affairs now turned in favour of England, and in the
following year the Lords Hastings and Scales, John Russell, and others
were sent as ambassadors to conclude a treaty of marriage between
Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, and the Princess Margaret, sister
of King Edward IV. Lord Scales, afterwards Earl Rivers, was in later
years one of Caxton’s most liberal patrons, and his translation of
“The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers” was the first book with
the date of imprint which issued from Caxton’s press. John Russell,
“Docteur en Decret, and Arcediacre de Berksuir,” who subsequently
became Bishop of Lincoln and Lord High Chancellor, appears to have
been an ancestor of the Bedford family, and his oration delivered at
the investiture of the Duke of Burgundy with the Order of Garter,
on February 4th, 1470, is also one of the earliest works printed by
Caxton. The marriage was solemnized in Bruges on the 5th of June, 1468,
with the greatest possible pomp; and long accounts of the splendour
of the ceremony, and of the accompanying festivities, are given by the
old chroniclers. Caxton, by reason of his position as “governor,” would
no doubt take part in them, and be in close intercourse with the many
English nobles frequenting the Flemish court. It is not improbable that
it was at this period that he attracted the notice, and gained the
good-will, of the duchess herself, for he was certainly in her service
two years later.
The nuptial feasts were soon followed by negotiations for treaties
of trade. The king having, by the advice of his counsel, determined
to send an embassy to the Duke of Burgundy for the “enlarging of
woollen cloth in his dominions,” issued a special command to the
Mercers’ Company that they would present unto him certain persons of
their number “to go out in embassage with diverse ambassadors into
Flaunders,” the Mercers thereupon nominated William Redeknape, John
Pykering, and William Caxton. This took place on September 9th, 1468,
and the three ambassadors having been approved by the king, the Court
of the Mercers met again on the 28th of the same month, and voted £40
“out of the Cundith mony” for the costs and charges of Redeknape and
Pykering in this embassy. The omission of Caxton’s name from this
grant leads us to infer that he was then engaged in the discharge of
the duties of governor at Bruges, and would therefore not require any
travelling expenses. The mission was successful, and the intercourse
was renewed between the two countries in October of the same year.
The duties of Caxton’s office must necessarily have occupied a great
portion of his time, and obliged him, in the interests of the traders
he represented, to pay visits to the various towns in which the
English merchants resided. The old records of Utrecht of the years
1464, 1465, and 1467, mention free passports having been granted to
Caxton, his servants and goods. Nevertheless, he seems to have found
leisure for those literary pursuits to which he was so much attached.
It was in March, 1468, or, as we should now say, 1469, that he began to
translate the favourite romance of that age, “Le Recueil des Histoires
de Troye.” This, he informs us in a Prologue, he undertook to avoid
sloth and idleness; and indeed the constant use of phrases in which he
excuses himself for his translations by urging the duty of eschewing
sloth and idleness, would almost lead one to imagine that Caxton was
of an indolent nature, did not the whole of his life, and especially
those few last years in which he performed such prodigies of literary
labour, give a satisfactory denial. Phrases of this kind were among the
conventionalities of the age, and nearly every writer in the fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries seems to have considered the avoidance of
sloth as the proper excuse for bringing forward any literary work. In
the manuscripts of Caxton’s time, these deprecatory prefaces are very
common; and a comparison with the French original will show that these
sentiments, although adopted by Caxton, are in reality those of the
original author, and not the spontaneous avowal of the translator. This
explanation is necessary in order to prevent too great weight being
attached to Caxton’s phraseology in the Prologue to the “Histories of
Troy,” for he was still “governor,” an office necessarily entailing
a considerable amount of responsibility and work, when he commenced
that translation. Indeed, if Anderson be correct when he states in his
“History of Commerce,” that there were at this period sometimes more
than a hundred vessels in Sluis, the port of Bruges, Caxton must have
had ample work upon his hands. But whether he really had “no great
charge or occupation,” or whether he was too busy to devote the needful
time to his translation, he himself tells us that he then proceeded no
further than with five or six quires. Each quire or section consisting
of eight or ten leaves, this would amount to between forty and sixty
leaves of manuscript. At this point, dissatisfied with the results
of his labour, he laid them aside, without any intention of ever
completing his translation.
About two months later Caxton appears to have had more “occupation”
than he could get through alone; for, although still acting as
“governor,” a judgment was delivered in his name, wherein he was styled
“William Caxton marchant dangleterre maistre et gouverneur des marchans
de la nation dangleterre par deca.” The case in dispute being between
an Englishman and a Genoese merchant, they agreed to submit it to the
arbitration of William Caxton and Thomas Perrot as mutual friends; but
Caxton being obliged to leave Bruges for some cause not mentioned in
the document, a full court of merchants was summoned, and the judgment
delivered in the names of the arbitrators. This judgment is dated May
12th, 1469, and is the latest instance, as yet discovered, in which
Caxton’s name appears in his official capacity.
There is, however, another notice of Caxton lately discovered in the
Archives at Bruges, but whether it is to be referred to a period
before or after his resignation of office is uncertain. It is a
document containing a list of persons who, on August 13th, 1469, were
considered by the town council to be of sufficient importance to share
in the gifts of the “Vins d’honneur” usually distributed on great
public occasions. Caxton received four kans of wine, but whether it
was presented to him as “governor,” or as an official in the service
of the Duchess of Burgundy, is unknown. Treaties were certainly being
negotiated by ambassadors from England who were at Bruges in 1469, and
received, on June 11th, a present of “trois pieces de vin,” but this
was two months earlier than the date of the gift to Caxton.
On February 4th, 1470, an imposing ceremony took place at Ghent,
ambassadors being sent by Edward IV to invest the Duke of Burgundy with
the Order of the Garter, but there is no direct evidence to support
the supposition that Caxton was present on this occasion. That he was
at Ghent, though apparently a year later, is stated in his Prologue to
“The Recuyell,” and he appears to have been connected with the printing
of the Latin oration delivered by Dr. Russell.
In October of the same year Edward IV, accompanied by many of his
nobles, took refuge in the capital of the duke’s dominions from the
machinations of the Earl of Warwick. Here Caxton, either as “governor”
or as a servant of the duchess, had an excellent opportunity of
assisting his countrymen, who were in great need, until the restoration
of their sovereign. That he did so may be inferred from the royal
favour extended to him in after years.
The exact date when Caxton entered the service of the duchess, as
well as that when he relinquished his governorship, is uncertain.
The two events may have borne the relationship of cause and effect.
Caxton’s own narrative shows that about two years after his first essay
at translating “The Recuyell,” or about March, 1471, he was in the
service of the duchess, receiving a yearly salary and other benefits.
He was then instructed to resume his literary work, and the “dreadful
command” of his royal mistress seems to have been obeyed with wonderful
alacrity; for, although he was at one time at Ghent and at another time
at Cologne, the translation was not again neglected till, on the 19th
of September, 1471, the whole was completed, and offered by Caxton to
the duchess, by whom he was handsomely rewarded for his trouble.
The nature of the service rendered by Caxton to the duchess is very
uncertain. He says of himself that he was her servant, receiving
a yearly fee, and other good and great benefits. That it was an
honourable office admits of no doubt, and that it was moreover one in
which Caxton’s knowledge and talents as a merchant would be serviceable
seems very probable. We must not forget that in those days princes,
nobles, and even ecclesiastics, did not consider it inconsistent with
their dignity to trade on their own account, and this they frequently
did under special exemptions from the taxes to which the ordinary
merchant had to submit. Edward IV and many of his nobility owned ships
of merchandise. In 1475 the Wardens of the Mercers’ Company wrote
to Antwerp concerning a ship called “The Sterre,” belonging to Earl
Rivers, and a document of the year 1472 throws some light on the nature
of the services which a merchant like Caxton might have rendered to
his royal mistress. Edward IV in that year granted to his sister, the
Duchess of Burgundy, special privileges and exemptions with regard to
her own private trading in English wool. The late duchess, wife of
Philip the Good, likewise engaged in similar transactions, in which, if
we may judge from the following entries in the Mercers’ accounts, her
ladies also were apparently in some degree interested:--
1450. Item paid to John Stubbes for perys to the
Gentilwoman of the Duchesse of Burgeyn vj d
1451. Item paid to Hewe Wyche for a writ directe
to Sandewyche for the gownys of the
gentil womans of the duches of Burgeyn ij s vj d
1454. Item--Pour la copie dune lettre enuoie a la
duchesse de Burg_{e} xij s
1455. Item--a M Gervers pour une lettre & la copie
enuoi a la duchesse de Burg_{e} xx s
The question naturally arises--How was it that Caxton, holding the
influential and lucrative position of “Governor of the English Nation”
at Bruges, resigned that post to enter upon duties of a much less
ambitious character? There is no reference in the Mercers’ records to
any disagreement between Caxton and the home authorities, nor had he
at this time (1469) entertained the idea of returning to his native
country. We must, however, remember that during a very eventful and
anxious period he had for some years held an office of the gravest
responsibility, and we may assume from his complaint of two years
later, that age was daily creeping upon him and enfeebling his body,
that the troubles of official life had undermined his health. We can,
therefore, easily imagine that he would gladly embrace the opportunity
of exchanging the cares of office for the easy service of the Duchess
of Burgundy, which would allow him to indulge in the congenial pursuit
of literature and the “strange meruaylous historyes” in which he so
much delighted. Or perchance his complaint of “age creeping upon him”
was simply one of the conventional self-depreciating remarks common
to writers of his time, while the real cause of his resignation was a
wish to marry and to enjoy those home blessings and comforts of which
hitherto he had been deprived.
It has been suggested that upon the death of Philip, Duke of Burgundy,
the dowager-duchess would find herself in a position of much less
influence and much less wealth. As a fact, this was not the case; for,
although Mary of Burgundy was duchess, the dowager-duchess, Caxton’s
“dread lady,” was so attached to the young princess, for whom she had
a maternal regard, that in all their counsels and all their travels
they were never separated. Nor was Caxton’s duchess straitened in
means by the death of the duke. She had large estates and a handsome
dowry which she managed well, living in great state in the very towns
which as ruling duchess she had preferred. There is then no reason
for supposing that the sudden death of the duke had any connection
with Caxton’s return to England. The whole history of Margaret of
York, while Dowager-Duchess of Burgundy, has been written lately, from
original documents, by L. Gatesloot (8vo. Bruges, 1879).
That Caxton was a married man, and that he could not have married much
later than 1469, is a new fact in the biography of Caxton, discovered
by Mr. Gairdner, of the Public Record Office, who recently came across
a paper document, without seals or signatures, and therefore only a
copy of the original, made for production in court in connection with
some lawsuit. It was found among the miscellaneous records of the
Exchequer, formerly preserved in the Chapter House at Westminster, and
was first printed in the “Academy” for April 4th, 1874. The tenor of
the document, which is given in full in the appendix, is as follows:--A
variance having arisen between Gerard Croppe, merchant tailor, of
Westminster, and Elizabeth his wife, daughter of William Caxton, the
matter was brought before the archdeacon and the king’s chaplain, who
heard the case in St. Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster. It was then agreed
that they should live apart, and not vex, sue, or trouble one another,
each being bound under a penalty of £100 (which would represent about
£1500 at the present day). Upon the signing of a deed to that effect,
the said Gerard Croppe was to receive from the executors of William
Caxton “twenty printed legends,” valued at 13_s._ 4_d._ each (the
sum total of which would now be equivalent to £200), and to give the
executors a full acquittance of any further claim upon the estate. This
document, which is dated May 20th, 1496, throws no light upon the cause
of quarrel, unless it were concerning a legacy left by Caxton to his
daughter.
Now, assuming that Caxton was married in 1469, which was about the
period when he resigned his official position and entered the royal
service, and that his daughter Elizabeth was born soon after, she would
have been about twenty-one years of age at the time of her father’s
death in 1491, and twenty-six years of age when separated from her
husband. We have already seen how John Stubbs and Hugh Wyche were in
communication with the gentlewomen of the Duchess of Burgundy. Caxton,
no doubt, was also in frequent attendance upon them, and may perhaps
have induced one of them to become his wife. Whether this was so or
not, it is now an ascertained fact that after some forty-six years of
compulsory celibacy, Caxton took to himself a wife, who, it may be
hoped, was truly his helpmate and the solace of his declining years.
It is not unlikely that the following entry in the Churchwardens’
Accounts of St. Margaret, Westminster, under the year 1490, may refer
to Caxton’s wife:--
“Item.--Atte bureying of Mawde Caxton for torches &
tapres iij s ij d.”
Reverting to the “Histories of Troye,” and the presentation of a
manuscript copy to the duchess, no doubt can be entertained that this
was the turning-point in Caxton’s life. In the Prologue to Book I he
narrates in simple language the causes which led him to undertake
the translation:--“Whan I remembre that euery man is bounden by the
comandement & counceyll of the wyse man to eschewe slouthe and ydelness
whyche is moder and nourysshar of vyces and ought to put myself vnto
vertuous occupacion and besyness/ Than I hauynge no grete charge of
ocupacion folowynge the sayd counceyll/ toke a frenche boke and redde
therein many strange and meruayllous historyes where in I had grete
pleasyr and delyte/ as well for the nouelte of the same as for the fayr
langage of frenshe . whyche was in prose so well and compendiously
sette and wreton/ whiche me thought I understood the sentence and
substance of euery mater/ And for so moche as this booke was newe and
late maad and drawen in to frenshe/ and neuer had seen hit in oure
englissh tongue/ I thought in my self hit shold be a good besynes to
translate hyt into oure englissh/ to thende that hyt myght be had as
well in the royame of Englond as in other landes/ and also for to passe
therwyth the tyme . and thus concluded in my self to begynne this sayd
worke.”
The new “Historie” was a welcome novelty to his countrymen, who had
hitherto been accustomed to read such works only in French, which
still retained its pre-eminence as the language of the court and of
literature, notwithstanding the great advance and improvement which
had been made in English. The demand for Caxton’s translation soon
became greater than could possibly be supplied. His hand grew “wery and
not stedfast” with much writing, as he states in the epilogue of the
printed edition, and his eyes were “dimed with overmoch lokyng on the
whit paper.” Then it was, with Colard Mansion at hand to teach and help
him, that he turned his attention to the new-born Art of Printing.
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] Verbatim copies of all these letters may be seen in “The Life and
Typography of William Caxton.” 4to. 1863. Vol. I, pp. 90-92.
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