RETINUES
At the conclusion of the previous section allusion was made to retinues
as constituting a danger to the industrious members of the body politic.
In this, our final section, we turn, or rather return, from the life of
the fields to that of the hall. Some notice of the interior order of
great houses has appeared in earlier chapters--e.g., that on "Children
of the Chapel"--but such special reference, involving no more than the
religious side of domestic arrangements, leaves a sense of
incompleteness, and this void we must now proceed to fill.
Starting with the peril and annoyance involved in the maintenance of
retinues, the proposition may be easily demonstrated. Alike in town and
country the presence of armed and idle ruffians was a source of
well-grounded apprehension. Thus, when the Bishop of Durham attended
parliament, he had to obtain a licence before his retainers could be
quartered at Stratford-at-Bow; and the manifold inconveniences produced
by these satellites in country districts during the reign of Edward I.
form the subject of a versified complaint, to be found in Wright's
'Political Songs'. One of the causes of the grievous scarcity of labour
is believed to have been that nobles and others, under the pretence of
husbandry, kept in their pay able-bodied dependants who, rather than eke
out a miserable existence on the land, preferred to follow some warlike
lord.
BILLETING
As usual, the trouble began at the fountain-head. Everybody knows the
term "billeting" as applied to soldiers on the march, who are
compulsorily quartered on licensed victuallers and others at fixed
rates. This is really a very ancient custom, which is closely, and
indeed lineally, connected with the topic under discussion.
In the early days of royal progresses it was the duty of the Marshal of
the King's Household to secure lodgings for the members of the retinue
which accompanied him; and this he did by means of a billet, by virtue
of which he appropriated for the occasion the best of the houses in the
vicinity, marking them with chalk and ruthlessly ejecting the occupiers.
The Marshal, it may be observed, did not do the chalking himself--a task
which seems to have been delegated to the Sergeant Chamberlain of the
Household.
Even London did not escape this intolerable vexation, though its
immunity from billeting was expressly laid down in a succession of
charters. The royal officials, paying scant heed to the sanctity of
these clauses, repeatedly invaded the precincts of the City; and in the
reign of Edward II. they went so far as to seize the house of one of the
sheriffs, John de Caustone, and quarter therein the King's Secretary,
sergeants, horses, and harness. The sheriff acted boldly. He erased the
chalk marks, and proceeded to expel the intrusive sergeants--perhaps
even the Secretary himself, unless, as Mr. Riley thinks probable, that
person "walked quietly away." For this resolute vindication of the
liberties of the City, Caustone had to answer before the Seneschal and
Marshal of the King's Household, sitting in the Tower, but, as there was
no excuse for the insolent aggression, he suffered no harm. The
citizens, indeed, were so assured of their rights in this particular,
that at some date--probably in the reign of Edward I.--an ordinance had
been passed:
"That if any member of the royal household, or any retainer of the
nobility, shall attempt to take possession of a house within the City
either by main force or by delivery [of the Marshal of the King's
Household]; and, if in such attempt he shall be slain by the master of
the house, then, and in such case, the master of the house, shall find
six of his kinsmen [i.e. as compurgators], who shall make oath, himself
making oath as the seventh, that it was for this reason that he so slew
the intruder; and thereupon he shall go acquitted."
PRE-EMPTION
The humbler people who escaped billeting might still have cause to
regret royal journeys owing to the inconsiderate exercise of the right
of pre-emption. Subjects were compelled to sell; and the worst of it was
that the King's purveyors were in the habit of paying not in cash down,
but by means of an exchequer tally, or a beating! A tally was a hazel
rod which had certain notches indicating the amount due. It obtained its
name from the circumstance that these rods were in pairs, the creditor
having one and the debtor the other, so that they could be used for the
purpose of comparison. In practice it was found no easy matter to
recover under this system, which lent itself to the worst exactions, and
is the subject of numerous complaints in our early popular poetry. Thus
in "King Edward and the Shepherd":
"I had catell, now have I none;
They take my beasts, and done them slon,
And payen but a stick of tree ...
They take geese, capons, and hen
And all that ever they may with ren
And reaves us our catell....
They took my hens and my geese
And my sheep with all the fleece
And led them forth away."
Somewhat similarly, when a ship arrived in port with a cargo of wine,
the prerogative of _prise_ was enforced, whereby the King was entitled
to "a tun before and one abaft the mast," or the equivalent in money.
The royal household and those of "the great lords of the land" enjoyed
the right of pre-emption not only in the country but in the London
markets. Dealers in fish, for example, were not allowed to quit the City
in order to meet a consignment "for the purpose of sending it to any
great lord or a house of religion, or of regrating it," until the King's
purveyors had first purchased what was required for their master's
table.
When fish had been brought to the City, no fishmonger might buy "before
the good people have bought what they need." It was the same with
poultry. Until prime had been sounded at St. Paul's, poulterers were
forbidden to buy for resale, the object being that "the buyers for the
King and great lords of the land, and the good people of the City may
make good their purchases, so far as they shall need."
LIVERY
So much for purveyance. As regards the disposition of the provisions
thus obtained, it was expressed by the term "livery," formerly of much
wider application than at present. The word comprehended all that was
delivered or dispensed by the lord to his underlings or
domestics--money, victuals, wine, garments, fuel, and lights; but no
doubt it was employed more particularly of external and distinctive
garb. The Wardrobe Book of 28 Edward I. and the Household Ordinances
show that officers and retainers of the Court were presented with a
_roba estivalis_ and _hiemalis_. The _livrée des chaperons_, so often
mentioned, refers to hoods or tippets of a colour sharply contrasting
with that of the garment over which they were worn. Subsequently this
mark took the form of a round cap, attached to which was a long
liripipe, which might be wound round the head, but more usually hung
over the arm. In the dress of the City Liverymen traces of it may still
be found.
This suggests the remark that livery was used not by the members of
great households merely, but by brotherhoods and _gentz de mester_;
hence it is that Chaucer in his Prologue of the "Canterbury Tales"
enumerates
A Haberdassher and a Carpenter
A Webbe, Dyere, and a Tapicer;
and says of them:
... they were clothed alle in a liveree
Of a solempne and great fraternitee.
The statute 7 Henry IV. conceded this privilege to the "trades of the
cities of the realm," thus confirming previous acts of the reign of
Edward III. and Richard II., which sanctioned the wearing of livery by
menials and members of gilds, but prohibited the distribution of badges
to adherents who assumed them in testimony of their readiness to aid
their patron in any private quarrel. The practice was therefore a grave
menace to the King's peace.
The prohibition was renewed 8 Edward IV., c. 2., which inflicted a
penalty of one hundred shillings for every person "other than his menial
servant, officer, or man learned in the one law or the other," so
retained by anyone "of what estate, degree, or condition that he be."
The fine was to be repeated for every month "that any such person is so
retained by him by oath, writing, indenture or promise," and a similar
penalty attached to the person retained. But there were many
exceptions--"Provided that this ordinance do not extend to any livery
given or to be given at the King's or Queen's coronation, or at the
installation of an archbishop or bishop, or erection, creation, or
marriage of any lord or lady of estate, or at the creation of Knights of
the Bath, or at the commencement of any clerk in any university, or at
the creation of serjeants in the law, or by any gild, fraternity, or
mystery corporate, or by the mayor and sheriffs of London, or any other
mayor, sheriff, or other chief officer of any city, borough, town, or
port of this realm of England for the time being, during that time and
for executing their office or occupation; nor to any badges or liveries
to be given in defence of the King or of this realm of England; nor to
the constable and marshal, nor to any of them for giving any badge,
livery or token for any such feat of arms to be done within this realm;
nor to any of the wardens towards Scotland for any livery, badge, or
token of them to be given from Trent northward, at such time only as
shall be necessary to levy people for the defence of the said marches,
or any of them."
A MEDIÆVAL HOUSEHOLD
The establishment of a great noble or ecclesiastic sometimes embraced a
vast category of persons; and if we would learn on what an elaborate
scale housekeeping might be conducted by subjects, we cannot do better
than turn to Gascoigne's account of Cardinal Wolsey's colossal retinue.
After stating that the ambitious churchman had in attendance upon him
"men of great possessions and for his guard the tallest yeomen in the
realm," he proceeds:
"And first, for his house, you shall understand that he had in his hall
three boards, kept with three several officers, that is, a steward that
was always a priest; a treasurer that was ever a knight; and a
comptroller that was an esquire; also a confessor, a doctor, three
marshals, three ushers in the hall, besides two almoners and grooms.
"Then had he in the hall-kitchen two clerks, a clerk-comptroller, and a
surveyor over the dresser, with a clerk in the spicery, which kept
continually a mess together in the hall; also, he had in the kitchen two
cooks, labourers, and children, twelve persons; four men of the
scullery, two yeomen of the pastry, with two other paste-layers under
the yeomen.
"Then had he in his kitchen a master-cook, who went daily in velvet or
satin, with a gold chain, besides two other cooks and six labourers in
the same room.
"In the larder, one yeoman and a groom; in the scullery, one yeoman and
two grooms; in the buttery, two yeomen and two grooms; in the ewry, so
many; in the cellar three yeomen and three pages; in the chandlery, two
yeomen; in the wafery, two yeomen; in the wardrobe of beds the master of
the wardrobe and twenty persons besides; in the laundry, a yeoman,
groom, and thirteen pages; two yeomen purveyors, and a groom purveyor;
in the bakehouse, two yeomen and grooms; in the woodyard, one yeoman and
a groom; in the barn, one yeoman; porters at the gate, two yeomen and
two grooms; a yeoman in his barge, and a master of his horse; a clerk of
the stables, and a yeoman of the same; a farrier and a yeoman of the
stirrup; a maltlour and sixteen grooms, every one of them keeping four
geldings.
"Now I will declare unto you the officers of his chapel, and singing-men
of the same. First, he had there a dean, a great divine, and a man of
excellent learning; and a sub-dean, a repeater of the choir, a
gospeller, an epistler of the singing-priests, and a master of the
children: in the vestry a yeoman and two grooms, besides other retainers
that came thither at principal feasts....
"Now you shall understand that he had two cross-bearers and two
pillar-bearers; in his great chamber, and in his privy-chamber, all
these persons, the chief chamberlain, a vice-chamberlain, a
gentleman-usher, besides one of his privy-chamber; he had also twelve
waiters and six gentlemen-waiters; also he had nine or ten lords, who
had each of them two or three men to wait upon him, except the Earl of
Derby, who had five men.
"Then he had gentlemen cup-bearers, and carvers, and of the sewers, both
of the great chamber and of the privy-chamber, forty persons; six yeomen
ushers, eight grooms of his chamber; also, he had of alms, who were
daily waiters of his board at dinner, twelve doctors and chaplains,
besides them of his chapel, which I never rehearsed; a clerk of his
closet, and two secretaries, and two clerks of his signet; four
counsellors learned in the law.
"And for that he was chancellor of England, it was necessary to have
officers of the chancery to attend him for the better furniture of the
same.
"First he had a riding clerk, a clerk of the crown, a clerk of the
hamper, and a chafer; then he had a clerk of the check, as well upon the
chaplains as upon the yeomen of the chamber; he had also four footmen,
garnished with rich running coats, whensoever he had any journey. Then
he had a herald of arms, a physician, an apothecary, four minstrels, a
keeper of his tents, an armourer and instructor of his wards, an
instructor of his wardrobe of robes, a keeper of his chamber
continually; he had also in his house a surveyor of York, a clerk of the
greencloth. All these were daily attending, down-lying and up-rising;
and at meat he had eight continual boards for the chamberlains and
gentlemen-officers, having a mess of young lords, and another of
gentlemen; besides this there was never a gentleman, or officer, or
other worthy person, but he kept some two, some three persons to wait
upon them; and all others at the least had one, which did amount to a
great number of persons.
"Now, having declared the order according to the chain roll, use of his
house, and what officers he had daily attending to furnish the same,
besides retainers and other persons, being suitors, [that] dined in the
hall: and, when shall we see any more such subjects that shall keep such
a noble house? Therefore here is an end of his household; the number of
persons in the chain were eight hundred persons."[18]
MINSTRELS AND PAGES
One department of Wolsey's household may not have passed
unheeded--namely, the minstrels. As a class, these musicians were
doubtless peripatetic, so that the term "wandering," as applied to them,
has almost the character of a standing epithet. But in the "Romance of
Sir Degrevant" mention occurs of the Earl's "owne mynstralle," and,
where these artists were not permanent members of the establishment,
they were always of "great admittance" to the houses of the nobility,
who treated them with high distinction and much liberality. Naturally,
the status of minstrels differed. Of those who played before Edward I.
at Whitsuntide, and who were divided into ranks, five are styled
"Kings," and each of them received five marks. A valuable gold cup is
recorded to have been given to a minstrel, but the usual presents were
robes and garments.
What is signified by the phrase "great admittance" is rendered clear by
a decree of Edward II. published in the year 1315, and called forth by
the dishonest practice of certain persons who procured entertainment
under colour of minstrelsy. It was therefore ordered that "to the houses
of prelates, earls, and barons none resort to meat and drink unless he
be a minstrel, and that of these minstrels there come none except it be
three or four Minstrels of Honour at the most in one day, unless he be
desired of the lord of the house; and to the houses of meaner men that
none shall come unless he be desired; and that such as shall come so,
hold themselves contented with meat and drink, and with such courtesy as
the master of the house will show unto them of his own good will,
without their asking of anything."
Minstrels, however, were after all only an incident. They served to
entertain and amuse, as well as to keep alive the memory of great deeds
and sentiments of truth and honour. But they were essentially a luxury,
not a necessity, for the circumstances of a rough age sufficed to
perpetuate the type which it had created. For more stable and
significant elements we must look elsewhere. Just as the lower fabric of
society reposed on the humble apprentice, so its upper framework
depended on the page as the repository of its traditions and guarantee
of the future. As early as the reign of Henry II., and doubtless
earlier, the sons of nobles and gentlemen were entered at the King's
Court, baronial halls, and episcopal palaces as "henchmen." To these
scions of chivalry--and a similar remark applies to the "demoiselles,"
their sisters--such places were a school of manners wherein they learnt
the duties of obedience and reverence to their elders and betters; and,
in process of time, they attained the rank of squire, and, eventually,
the knight's belt. Received into the lord's family on the best terms, as
became their birth and connexions, they had, nevertheless, to wait at
table and perform other tasks that would now be deemed menial, such as
walking by the lord's charger; and, until their education was complete,
they had to submit to his orders, whatever they might be.
Perhaps the first of many books on etiquette in English is a treatise
written by Grosseteste for Margaret, Countess of Lincoln, and entitled
"Reules Seynt Robert." Here it is laid down that servants and retainers
should be of good character, loyal, diligent; and if they grumble or
gainsay, they should be discharged, as there are many others to take
their place.
We have seen that Cardinal Wolsey had young gentlemen in his household.
This was also the case with Thomas à Becket, one of whose protégés was
the heir to the throne. Another churchman, Longchamps, Bishop of Ely and
Chancellor of Richard II., was notorious for the rigour of his
discipline towards the young and noble members of his establishment.
The custom, one can scarcely question, was evolved from the military
requirements of early Teutonic society; and, as private war died down,
so the status of the page became impaired, until in the reign of
Elizabeth we find him a pampered domestic, whose pert air and gaudy
dress represented all that was left of a formidable troop armed with
sword and buckler. Ben Jonson deplores and ridicules the transformation
in lines with which the present volume may well close. The host in the
play has refused his son as page to Lord Lovel, saying that he would
hang him sooner than "damn him to that desperate course of life."
_Lovel_. Call you that desperate, which, by a line
Of institution from our ancestors,
Hath been derived down to us, and received
In succession for the noblest way
Of brushing up our youth, in letters, arms,
Fair mien, discourses civil, exercise,
And all the blazon of a gentleman?
Where can he learn to vault, to fence,
To move his body gracefully, to speak
The language pure; or turn his mind
Or manners more to the harmony of nature
Than in these nurseries of nobility?
_Host_. Ay, that was when the nursery's self was noble
And only virtue made it, not the market,
That titles were not vended at the drum
And common outcry; goodness gave the greatness
And greatness worship; every house became
An academy; and those parts
We see depicted in the practice now
Quite from the institution.
_Lovel_. Why do you say so?
Or think so enviously? Do they not still
Learn thus the Centaur's skill, the art of Thrace,
To ride? or Pollux's mystery, to fence?
The Pyrrick gestures, both to stand and spring
In armour, to be active for the wars;
To study figures, numbers, and proportions
May yield them great in counsel and the arts:
To make their English sweet upon their tongues,
As Chaucer says?
INDEX
à Becket, Thomas, 53, 247
Abbeys, Bath, 13;
Eynsham, 66;
Girwy, 13;
Monte Cassino, 14;
Oseney, 66;
Wearmouth, 13;
York, 14
Abbot of Unreason, 41
"Abbot, The," 41
Abelard, 91
Abjuration, 83, 163-5, 170
Ad Montem ceremony, 50
Affiliation of towns, 173-4, 177-8
Alcuin, 12-14
Aldgate, 188, 193
Aliens, 179
Allotments, 210-11
Alms and loans, 61-70, 104
Alnwick, 210
Alwyn, 134
Ancients, 117
_Angild_, 152
"Antiquary," the, 173, 226
Appeals, 77
Apprentices-at-law, 119-21, 123
_Arles_, 196
Arrears of rent, 172
Ashburton, 59, 61
Assise, the, 149
"Assises de Jérusalem," 140, 142
Assize of Clarendon, 165;
of Northampton, 140
Athelstan, King, 20, 133, 160
Augustine, St., 27
Aungerville, Richard, 68
Austin Friars, 108-9
"Austins," 107, 109
Australs and Boreals, 93
Bachelor of Arts, 102-3, 109
Bacon, Roger, 108
Badges, 242-3
Bailiffs, 205-6
Bakers, 183-4, 186, 195;
"baker's dozen," 186
Ballantine, Mr. Serjeant, 125-6
Banishment, 98
Banner of St Paul, 222-3
Barbers, 79-80
Barbitoria, 80
Bargains, hand-clasp, 199
Barnstaple, 62
Barrington, Dr., 202
Beam, Royal, 195
Beards, 85-6
Beaumanoir, 141
Becket, Thomas à (see under A)
Bedel Stokys, 104
Bedels, 72-7, 96
Bedford, custom of, 177
Bell, Prior, 16
Benediction of a widow, 21
Benefactors, 68, 111
Berwick, 197, 211
Beverley cycle, 58, 60;
sanctuary, 160-1
Birkett, Mr., 231
Black cap, 117
Black Death, 225
Blackstone, 134, 226
Blakiston, Mr., 68
Blewbury (Berks.), 226
Blount's "Ancient Tenures," 187, 189
Bondmen, 233-7
"Book of Nurture, The," 37
"Booke of Orders and Rules," 245
Borough English, 217-23
Boroughs, free, 208-9
Botticelli, 65
Bower, 28
Boy-Bishop, the, 39-50;
Song of, 39
Bracton, 142, 163, 197
"Brais," meaning of, 89
Bristol, 198
Britton, 142, 163, 165
Broadgates Hall, 84-5
"Brother," "brotherhoods," technical meaning of, 13
Buckingham, Duke of, 157-8
Burgages, 174-5
"Burial of the Alleluia," 42
Burnby Prior, 16
Butler, Alban, 20
Cambridge, 61-2, 110, 169
Came, Bedel, 73-5
Carrara, Bridge of, 52
Castellans, hereditary, 188
Catherine, play of St., 53
Causes, civil, 149
Caustone, John D., 239
Cawthorne (Yorks.) 62
"Chamberdekenys," 98
Champions, 141, 144
Chancellor, office of, 77-90, 94-5, 98, 100-1, 103-6
Chapel, children of the, 32-7;
gentlemen of the, 32-6
Chapels, domestic, 32-3
Charms, 142, 144, 146
Charter, 171, 206
Chaucer, 63, 84, 113, 242
Chaundler, Dr., 64, 113
Cheapside, 184-6
Chester plays, 54-6, 60
Chests, 66-9
Chetham Society, 196
Churchwardens' accounts, 59-63
Cinque Ports, 163, 177
City marshals, 125
Clark, Mr. A., 64, 114
Cloth, cutting, 171
Cluny, 12
Cobham, Bishop, 69
Coke, 117, 119
"Coke-Lyght," 82
Colet, Dean, 46
"Collection of Glover, Somerset Herald," 190
Collections, 74-5
Collier, Mr. W. F., 230
Colman's Engravings, 202
Commissaries, 77, 95
Common Serjeant, 125
Common town bargains, 176
Commons, 212-17, 229-32
Compurgation, 82, 128-31, 240
Constable of England, 145-7
"Constitutional History," Stubbs's, 229
Cooks, 82-3
Copes, 43-5, 49
Coroner, 163-5
Corporation MSS., 60
Corporation of London, 125-6
Corpus Christi festival, 54-5, 58-9
Council of Vienne, 54
Council, Roman, 27
County Court, 155
Court Leet proceedings, 206
Costume, legal, 115-6;
university, 113-4
Coventry plays, 57-9
Creations, 105-6, 124
Crosses, 43, 90
Crying creaunt, 149
Curfew, 181
"Curtasie money," 186
Customs (by-laws), 162, 172, 177-8
Customs (revenue), 175
"De Nova Costuma" (statute), 195-6
"Demonologie," 136
Determination, 101-2
Devonshire commons, 229-32
"Dialogus de Scaccario," 153, 166
Doctors of laws, 115-6
Doddridge, Justice, 202
Dover, 172
Ducange, 13
Duel, 127, 140-9
Dugdale, 125, 187, 190
Dunmow flitch, 191;
priory, 193
Dunstable, 52
Durham, 49, 156-7, 161-2
Durham College, 68, 98
Dymond, Mr. R., 219
Earmarking, 232
Earnest money, 196-9
Ebner, Herr, 12
Ecfrith, King of Northumbria, 160
Edgar, laws of King, 154, 226-7
Edward I., 246
Edward the Confessor, laws of, 150, 224
Edwards, Richard, 37
Edwin, King of Northumbria, 17
Elizabeth, St., 20
Elms (near Smithfield), 189
Elton, Mr., 220
Emma, Queen, 134
Essex, the Earl of, 174
_Estrene_, 186
Ewing, Mr. W. C., 202
Exeter _Ordinale_, 47
"Extinct Baronage of England," 190
Faculties of Law, Medicine, and Theology, 109-10
Fast, the Lady, 27-31
Fasts, 27
Feast of Fools, the (see _Rex Stultorum_ festival)
Feasts, 85-6, 101-5, 122
Fee-farm leases, 175
Felons, punishment of, 189
Ferrières, 14
Festivals, 28-9, 42, 179
Fines, 96, 151-3
Fisher, Bishop, 111
Fishmongers, 195
"Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry," 36
Fitzwalter, John, 191;
Matilda, 192;
Robert (Marshal of the Army of God), 191-3;
Robert (grandson), 191-2;
Walter, 191
Fitzwalters, Lords of Wodeham, 187-94
_Fleta_, 197
"Foreigners," 171, 174
Forest, 228-9, 230-2
Forster, Mr. R. H., 160, 162-3
Fortescue, 115, 122-3
Francis, St., 20
Franciscans, 108-9
Frideswyde Chest, 66
Frideswyde's Church, St., 90
Frideswyde, the Blessed, 90
Frithstool, 161
Froude, Mr., 91
Gascoigne, Dr., 128
Gascoigne, Sir William, 243
Gavelkind, 218, 221
"General sophist," 109
Germans, 101
Gibbon, 141
Gilds, 54-5, 242-3
Glastonbury Abbey, 20
Gloucester, Thomas, Duke of, 145
Gloucester, town of, 171-2, 205
God's Penny, 195-9
Godwin's "Life of Chaucer," 52
"Going a-Kathering," 48
Gomme, Mr. G. L., 209, 211
Googe, Barnabe, 28
Gordon, Mr. Gerald P., 1, 6-8
"Grand Coutumier de Normandie," 142
Grammar masters, 99-101
Green, J. R., 234
Greenwood, the, 153
Gregorie, 49
Gregory of Tours, 80
Gregory, Pope, 53
Grimm, 136
"Grithmen," 163
Grosseteste, Robert, 66, 108, 247
Halls, 98
Hazlitt, Mr. W. C., 187
Hearne, 81
Henderson's "Select Historical Documents," 132, 154
Henry VI., letter of, 78
Henry VIII., Acts of, 30-1, 48, 65, 182
Herbergeours, 180
Hereford, 177-8
Hereward the Wake, 154
Hexham, 161
Highway, taking in the, 169-70
"Hires," 236
"History of the University of Cambridge" (Willis and Clark's), 62
Holidays, 237
_Holmgang_, 140
Holy women, festival of, 21
Homeyer, 203
Hopkins, witchfinder, 139
Host of London, 188, 194
Hostelers, 180-1
"Hostels," 119, 180-1
"Hudibras," 139
Hugo de Balsham, Bishop, 108
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, 69
Hunting, 97
Immortality, 179, 185-6
Impostors, 184-5
Inception, 103-6
Ine, King, law of, 224
Innkeepers, 179-81
Inns of Court, 118-21
Inquisition, post-mortem, 200
Ipswich, 198
Irishmen, 92, 94
Islip, Archbishop, 17
James I., 136
Jews, 90
John, King, 173, 192
John's Coll., St., Cambridge, 80, 110-12
Jonson, Ben, 248
Judgment by default, 154-5
Judgment of God, 144-9;
of the Boiling Water, 135;
of the Cold Water, 136-7;
of the Glowing Iron, 132-4;
of the Morsel, 137-8;
of the Ploughshares, 134-5;
of the Psalter, 138-9
Judith, 19
Kelynge, Chief Justice, 123
Kemble, 151
"King Edward and the Shepherd," 240
King's Champion, 144
King's Purveyors, 240
King's Secretary, 239
"King's Shilling," 196
"King's Musick, The," 37
"Kloster Gebets-verbrüderungen, Die," 12
Knights Hospitallers, 121
Lacy, Bishop, pontifical of, 21
Lansdowne MS., 63
"Last Supper, The," 57
Laud, Archbishop, reforms of, 67, 105
Law, Great, 128;
Middle, 129, 148;
Third, 130
Leagues of Prayer, 11-17
"Lectures on Heraldry," 201
"Legible" days, 75, 87
Leicester, 60, 148
Leland, 25, 161
Letter, testimonial, 64
Letters, patent, 173
"Liber Custumarum," 190, 192
Librarian, 69-70
Library, 68-70
_Libri vitae_, 17
Licentiates, 88, 103-5
Limerick, 198
Lincoln, 205
Lindisfarne, monks of, 13-17
Linguists, 112
Liverpool, 170, 173-7, 198
Livery, 33, 241-3
Liverymen, City, 241
Lollards, 81
London, 171-3, 177-87, 193, 195, 204, 239-41
Longchamps, Bishop, 247
Lord Mayor's Banquet, 125-6
Love-days, 83-5
Lucian, 40
Magdalen College, 97
Maid Marian, 192
Maitland, 152
Manchester, 204-11
_Mancipatio_, 199
Manning, Robert, 53
Mansfield, 121
Manu, the, 18
Marbeck, 199
Marching Watch, the, 181-2
Margaret, Countess of Richmond, 110-11
Marks, pictorial, 203;
Merchants, 200-2;
Yeomen's, 199, 203
Marshal, 45-7;
of the King's Household, 239-40
Martin's-le-Grand, St., 158
Mary, Queen, 39
Master Henry Sever, 68
Master of the Children, 36-7, 43
Masters Regent, 101-2, 106-7;
Non-Regent, 100
Matriculation, 99
Mayhem, 129
Mayor, Lord, 189-91
"Mayoralty of London, The Origin of," 173
_Mercheta mulierum_, 221, 235
Metingham, Judge, 166
Middlesex Iter, 227-8, 233-4
_Ministri sacelli_, 110
Minstrels, 246-7
Montague, Anthony, Viscount, 245
Montesquieu, 141
Monuments, funeral, 25-6
Mootemen, 117
Mortmain, 168
_Motbelle_, 194
Munday, Anthony, 192
"Munimenta Gildhallæ Londiniensis," 190
Muster of arms, 193-4
"Nations," 91-7
"New Custom," the, 196
New College, 80, 113-14
Newcastle, 58, 60, 177, 210
Nicholas, St., 43-4
Nicols, 182
"Norfolk and Norwich Archæological Society Transactions," 202
Norris, Lord, 97
Northampton, 197
Northumberland, 177;
Assize rolls, 156
Northumberland Household Book, 33-4
Nottingham, 210-11, 220
"Novel Disseisin," 168
Noyes, Attorney General, 197
"Nut-Brown Maid," the, 150
Oaths, 95, 124, 127, 146
Oblates, order of, 20
Officers, domestic, 243-5;
municipal, 209-11
O'Keeffe, 198
Open field, the, 217, 222-5
Orders, Dominican, 25-6
Orders, Franciscan, 25-6
Orders of widows, 19
Ordinances, household, 241
Oriel College, 81
Othobon's Constitutions, 116, 154
Outlawry, 150-66, 227
Oxford (academic customs, _passim_)
Oxford Historical Society, 89
Oxford, city of, 86, 177
Pageants, 52, 54-9
Pages, 247-8
Panniers, 186
"Panyers Alley," 186
"Paradise of Dainty Devices," 37
Paris, Matthew, 52
Patent Rolls, 190
Paul, St., 19, 23
Paul's Cathedral, St., 44-6, 124, 188, 241
Peacock, Mr. E. A., 220-1
"Peres the Ploughman's Crede," 201
Peterhouse, Cambridge, 108
Petitions, 88-9, 92, 158
"Piers Plowman," 27
Pillory, 184-5
"Placita de quo Warranto," 191
Plays, Miracle, 51-60
Plymouth, 62
"Points," 146
Ponies, Dartmoor, 231-2
"Popish Kingdom, The," 28, 50
Portuguese, 180
Portreeve, 206-8
Pound, Dunnebridge, 232
Pound-keepers, 210
Precinct (sanctuary), 160-1
Precinct (university), 72
Pre-emption, 240-1
Preston, 197
_Prise_, 240
Privilege, the, 71-90
Processions, 87, 90, 206-8
Proctors, 75, 95, 104
Professions, 22
Professors, Regius, 105
Purcell, Henry, 38
Pui, festival of the, 179
Pulling, Mr. Serjeant, 119, 121
Punishments, 183-6
Puritans, 60
Puttenham's "Arte of Poesie," 47
Queen's College, Oxford, 113
Questionist, 101
Readers, 117-18, 120
Recreations, 112
"Rectitudines, Singularum Personarum," 235
Responsions, 101
Resumption, 109
Retinues, 238-48
"Reules Seynt Robert," 247
_Rex Stultorum_ festival, 42
Rhodes, Hugh, 37, 39
Riley, Mr., 190
Rings, 23-4, 26, 122-3
Riots, 86-7, 90, 92, 94, 97
"Rites of Durham, The," 161
Robin Hood, 150
Rogers, Archdeacon, 55-6
Rolf brass, 116-17
"Romance of Sir Degrevant," 246
Round, Mr. J. H., 173, 204
Rudborn, 124
Rye, 60
Salisbury, Bishop of, 144
Salisbury, Earl of, 144
Salop Iter, 155, 167
Sanctuary, 155-66
Sarum Missal, 21
Saturnalia, 40-1
"Saxons in England, The," 151
Scholastica's Day, St., 87
School-street, 101
Scotland, 177
Scots, 92-3
Scott, Mr. J. H., 203
Scott, Sir Walter, 41
"Scouts," 76
Second marriages, 18-19
Selden, 142
Seneschal of the King's Household, 239
Sergeant Chamberlain, 239
Serjeants-at-law, 115-26
Sermons, 46-7, 111
Servile condition, 177-9
Shaving, 80-1, 185-6
Shop-signs, 201
Shuttleworth accounts, 196
_Significavit_, 77
Soke and soken, 189
Sokeman, 189
"Specimens of English Literature," Skeat's, 201
Stake, 172
Stamford, 105
Stealing children, 36, 107-8
Stoford, 208
Strongbow, 174
Strype, Archbishop, 42
Stubbs, Bishop, 229
Summary justice, 170
"Sussex Archæological Collections," 245
Synod of Exeter, 154
Tabarders, 113
Tailors, 79
"Tale of Gamelyn," 150
Tallies, Exchequer, 240
Tavistock, 63
Templars, 81
Thavie's Inn, 118, 121
Theft, 127, 131
Thomas of Acons, St., 124
Timothy, First Epistle to, 19
Tiverton, 202, 206-8
Tokens, 50
Torrington, 213-15
Trained bands, 175
Trial by battle, 140, 143-8
"Trial of Jesus," the, 57
Tryvytlam's "De Laude Oxoniæ," 93
Tun (on Cornhill), 185-6
Turner, Mr. Dawson, 202
Tusser, Thomas, 36
Tyndale, 27
"Typet," 113
"Upland men," 174
Uthred de Bolton, 93
Utter-barristers, 117-18, 120
Venville rights, 230-1
Vice-Chancellor, 105
Villeins, 233
Vills, 230
Virgin, the Blessed, 27-8
Vowesses, 18-26
Vows, broken, 24-5
Wadham College, 63
Waking of the Sepulchre, 51
Walworth, Sir William, 159, 184, 194
Ward, Dr., 53
Wardrobe book, 241
Warranty, 168
Warton, Thomas, 39
Waste, the, 225-32
Watch and Ward, 181
Watchmen, 182-3
Waterford, 197
Welshmen, 92
Westminster Sanctuary, 157-8
Wheels, 28-9
Whipping boy, 37
Whitchurch, Rev. N. L., 226
Widows, Benediction of, 21;
Hindu, 18;
order of, 19
William I., 140
William Rufus, 139
Winchester, 177
"Wolf's head," 150
Wolsey, Cardinal, 243, 247
Woodbury (Devon), 61
Woolrych, Mr. Serjeant, 126
Writ of forest, 228
Writ of imprisonment, 233
Writ of right, 168
Wunibald, 14
Wykeham, William of, 22
Year-books, 168-70, 217-8, 227-9, 233-4
York, 44-8, 52, 55, 58, 60, 161, 177, 193
Youlgreave (Derbyshire), 63
Youghal, 197
_This book has been abridged to bring it within the length of this
Series._
_Printed in Great Britain by Jarrold & Sons, Ltd., Norwich._
FOOTNOTES:
[1] I.e., by the Guild of All Souls, the Confraternity of the Blessed
Sacrament, etc.
[2] Paro = apparel in the technical sense.
[3] This was a counsel of perfection. The bedels certainly received fees
(see below).
[4] It is, nevertheless, a fact that high dignitaries of the
Church--e.g., Cardinal Pole--are represented with beards; and St.
Benedict himself is depicted with this virile appendage!
[5] These petitions are taken from a large and valuable collection
translated by Miss Lucy Toulmin Smith and contributed to the
_Collectanea_ (Third Series) of the Oxford Historical Society. They are
copied substantially as she gives them; but curiously enough the
accomplished lady stumbles over the word "brais," for which she proposes
"arms" as the translation, evidently thinking of _bras_ and quite
forgetting that _braies_ is the French for "breeches."
[6] In 1334 a number of masters and scholars migrated to Stamford and
attempted to found a University there. This is known as the Stamford
Schism.
[7] The University of Cambridge is believed to have been founded in
consequence of a migration from Oxford in 1209. The relative space
assigned to Oxford, as the typical English University of the Middle
Ages, in the present work, may be justified by some words of Mr.
Blakiston: "The University of Cambridge, occupying a less central and
more unhealthy situation, and having less powerful protectors, did not
compete in popularity and privileges with the older society before the
sixteenth century. It was not even formally recognized till it received
the licence of Pope John XXII. in 1318.... Oxford schools were renowned
as a 'staple product' at a time when Cambridge was famous only for
eels."
[8] The Common Serjeant was for long to the City what the King's
Serjeant was to the Crown. The appointment lay with the Court of Common
Council, and till 1824 the custom was to elect the senior of the Common
Pleaders in the Mayor's Court. He was originally rather an advocate than
a judge. The office goes back at least as far as the commencement of the
fourteenth century, being mentioned in the civic records of that date.
[9] This and the other prayers cited are translated from the "Formulæ
Liturgicæ," published by Gengler and Rozière, and included in
Henderson's "Select Documents" (Bell).
[10] The "Dialogus de Scaccario" contains the following legendary
account of the origin of this custom, which, like so many others, was an
Anglo-Saxon usage continued under the Normans:
"Now in the primitive state of the kingdom after the Conquest those who
were left of the Anglo-Saxon subjects secretly laid ambushes for the
suspected and hated race of the Normans, and here and there, when
opportunity offered, killed them secretly in the woods and in remote
places: as vengeance for whom--when the Kings and their ministers had
for some years with exquisite kinds of tortures, raged against the
Anglo-Saxons; and they, nevertheless, had not, in consequence of these
measures altogether desisted--the following plan was hit upon: that the
so-called "hundred," in which a Norman was found killed in this
way--when he who had caused his death was not to be found, and it did
not appear from his flight who he was--should be condemned to a large
sum of tested silver for the fisc; some indeed to _l._36, some to
_l._44, according to the different localities, and the frequency of the
slaying.
"And they say that this is done with the following end in view, namely,
that a general penalty of this kind might make it safe for the
passers-by, and that each person might hasten to punish so great a crime
and to give up to justice him through whom so enormous a loss fell on
the whole neighbourhood."--Henderson's "Select Documents," p. 66.
[11] In Norman times the prosecutor was compensated _twofold_ out of the
chattels of the tried and convicted thief; the rest of his goods went to
the King.
[12] Except in the matter of succession. See p. 219.
[13] "Common town bargains" were the rule also at Dublin.
[14] This and the whole of the following evidence, with few exceptions,
was derived from the appendices to the reports of the Municipal
Corporations Commission of 1835; and it is not likely that the state of
things thus revealed continues, in all cases, to exist.
[15] "Obviously strips in the common arable field" (Cunningham).
[16] It is difficult to estimate the proportion of bond to free; Seebohm
holds that the former comprised the bulk of the population.
[17] For the cultivation of the demesne, perhaps a fourth of the entire
manor.
[18] It is impossible within our present limits to specify the relative
duties of this formidable array of officers and serving-men, although
materials for the task are available, notably in "The Booke of Orders
and Rules" of Anthony Viscount Montague, printed in vol. vii. of the
"Sussex Archæological Collections." From this we learn that the Steward
was expected to keep a "perfect checkroll" of his lordship's household
and retainers in order that he might "with more certainty make the
proportion of liveries and badges for them." Yeomen waiters attended
their master in the streets of London and at his table there in their
liveries, with handsome swords or rapiers at their sides; and this was
also the rule in the country at the solemn feasts of Christmas, Easter,
and Whitsuntide, and on other special occasions. When the Lord and Lady
went a journey, the Steward and all the higher members of the household
rode immediately in front of them, and the Gentlemen Usher led the
cavalcade bareheaded through towns and cities.
End of Project Gutenberg's The Customs of Old England, by F. J. Snell