DOCSLIB.ORG

SUCCORING the NEEDY: ALMSHOUSES and the IMPOTENT POOR in REFORMATION ENGLAND, C

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
SUCCORING the NEEDY: ALMSHOUSES and the IMPOTENT POOR in REFORMATION ENGLAND, C SUCCORING THE NEEDY: ALMSHOUSES AND THE IMPOTENT POOR IN REFORMATION ENGLAND, c. 1534-1640 by Thomas K. Walsh Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia February 2015 © Copyright by Thomas K. Walsh, 2015 Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgement..............................................................................................................iv Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................1 Chapter 2: Continuity and Change: Benefits, Religion and Administration in Pre- and Post-Reformation Almshouses ..................................................................23 Introduction........................................................................................................ 23 Residents and Charitable Benefits in Pre-Reformation and Post-Reformation Almshouses........................................................................................................26 Transitions in Religion, Governance, and Other Aspects in Post-Reformation Almshouses........................................................................................................50 Chapter 3: Almshouse Residency: Principles, Regulations, and Life in Tudor and Early Stuart Almshouses ...........................................................................................68 Introduction.......................................................................................................68 Residential Life in Post-Reformation Almshouses: Residents, Labour, and Lodgings............................................................................................................70 Almshouse Rules, Restrictions, and Punishment..............................................86 Chapter 4: Two Almshouses In Depth: The History and Significance of the Foundations Made by Thomas Sutton and Edward Alleyn ................................................107 Introduction......................................................................................................107 The London Charterhouse: Its Legal Significance and Historical Development.....................................................................................................111 Edward Alleyn and the College of God’s Gift.................................................129 Chapter 5: Conclusion......................................................................................................140 Appendix I .......................................................................................................................147 Appendix II ......................................................................................................................161 Bibliography ....................................................................................................................166 ii Abstract This thesis discusses almshouses and the impotent poor in early modern England between c. 1534 and 1640. England’s Reformation had numerous implications for poverty and poor relief in the country, and a sorely neglected story in the current historiography is the charity provided to the impotent poor by the almshouse institution. The thesis analyzes the impact that the Reformation had on these institutions, and examines how English Protestantism influenced patterns of change and continuity in mid- sixteenth and early seventeenth century foundations by considering the statutes of pre- and post-Reformation almshouses. The discussion contemplates the cash, food, fuel, and clothing stipends afforded to residents, the rules and regulations that governed the behaviour of these almspeople, and the occasional difficulties that donors faced when founding an almshouse. The evidence suggests that the material benefits afforded by post-Reformation almshouses remained largely unchanged from earlier institutions, but it also indicates that in exchange for these benefits, founders expected their almsfolk to work and conform to particular behavioral standards. Some key changes nonetheless occurred during the early modern period. Almshouses, for example, became secularized institutions operated by private governors or civic bodies rather than the church, and the meaning behind prayers shifted toward thanksgiving for the founder’s beneficence. Labour also became an integral part of daily life in these almshouses, just as it would in other institutions functioning for a different class of English poor. The inclusion of this feature was influenced chiefly by the shifting cultural emphasis on hard work that occurred during the Reformation. The evidence similarly reveals that founders occasionally encountered legal and political resistance when attempting to found their charity. iii Acknowledgement I find it perplexing that even after a year dominated by extensive research, countless days consumed by writing, and hours spent editing and re-editing written portions of this thesis, I discover the difficulty in expressing my pleasure for finally reaching the conclusion of my project. Yet, despite how arduous the past twelve months have been, I cannot help but feel a great sense of fulfillment for completing a goal that seemed so daunting only a year ago. I was, of course, not without assistance during this period. I deem it necessary to thus begin by expressing my very warm gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Krista Kesselring. Her vigilance, constructive criticism, and friendly advice over the past year proved invaluable, and I am exceptionally grateful to her for that. It perhaps goes without saying, but she undoubtedly played the most essential role in helping me see this thesis through to its end. I would also like to extend my thanks to Dr. Jerry Bannister, my second reader. His comments and suggestions were similarly instrumental, helping to shape various aspects of my project as it neared completion. To Dr. Justin Roberts, I would like to extend my gratitude, mainly for his friendly conversation throughout my time as a gradate student, and for his illuminating comments during my defense. I am likewise grateful to the Dalhousie History department, chiefly for the weekly Stokes Seminar. Feeling particularly enlightened after these meetings, I often found myself in the library in their aftermath busily working on my own project. A big thank you must likewise be given to two critical people, both of whom together provide the foundation of Dalhousie’s History Department: Valerie Peck and Tina Jones. Though it may have not have been noticeable, the encouragement and care given by you both was very warmly felt and accepted. My appreciation also goes out to my friends and fellow graduate students for keeping me grounded during this process, and for providing me with many cherished memories. Finally, my mother and father, Kerry and Danny, also deserve a large portion of my gratitude. Though I may not express it often enough, their support and aid in times of need were crucial to my success. The undertaking of this project has also allowed me to develop a heightened appreciation for those individuals who study and practice History professionally. Through my own work, I came to understand the difficulties and frustrations that professional historians deal with on a regular basis, principally the lack of source material that suddenly halts examination into a particular subject, or the grueling hours spent analyzing, checking, and re-checking one’s notes. Yet, these struggles notwithstanding, these exists a certain pleasure in researching the historical record, one which is all the more keenly felt when discovering new and relevant information to help shape one’s historical field. Admittedly, this, for me, occurred only a handful of times during my time as a gradate student, but I cannot overstate the gratification I felt when I came across something new while tucked away in some corner of the library, nestled amongst volumes of books, sipping coffee with headphones in while music played softly in the background. Thank you Dalhousie University for this most amazing of experiences. iv Chapter 1 Introduction An interesting and yet curiously neglected facet of early modern English social history is the almshouse. These little foundations have provided institutionalized poor relief to destitute Englishmen and women for well over a thousand years, and many of the houses founded during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries continue to operate in much the same way today as they did four centuries ago, often in the same buildings.1 It is rather peculiar, then, that so little attention has focused on almshouses as mechanisms of poor relief, especially in a period when deteriorating social conditions threatened endemic poverty. This neglect has little to do with a lack of source material available to the researcher. Many of England’s county record offices have preserved the historical record of almshouses that operated in their shire, and a host of houses that have continued operation perpetually since their initial foundation have stored and maintained their own records. Instead, oversight by professional historians stems more so from the current trend of scholarly concentration on the poor laws, vagrancy, idleness, and the able-bodied poor, possibly because these allow a story of change which was prompted
Load more

Recommended publications
  • THE LONDON CHARTERHOUSE Charterhouse Square London EC1
    THE LONDON CHARTERHOUSE Charterhouse Square London EC1 London Borough of Islington Historic environment assessment September 2014 © Museum of London Archaeology 2014 Museum of London Archaeology Mortimer Wheeler House 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London N1 7ED tel 020 7410 2200 | fax 020 410 2201 www.museumoflondonarchaeology.org.uk general enquiries: [email protected] THE LONDON CHARTERHOUSE Charterhouse Square London EC1 An historic environment assessment NGR 531945181975 Sign-off history: Issue Date: Prepared by: Checked by Approved by: Reason for Issue: No. 1 16.12.2013 Pat Miller Jon Chandler Laura O’Gorman First issue (Archaeology) Lead Consultant Assistant Project Juan Fuldain Manager (Graphics) 2 15.01.2014 Coralie Acheson - Laura O’Gorman Updated following (Archaeology) client comment 3 12.09.2014 Laura O’Gorman - Laura O’Gorman Separating out planning policy chapter into separate document Finance code:P0072 Museum of London Archaeology Mortimer Wheeler House, 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London N1 7ED tel 0207 410 2200 fax 0207 410 2201 email:[email protected] Museum of London Archaeology is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales with company registration number 07751831 and charity registration number 1143574. Registered office: Mortimer Wheeler House, 46 Eagle Wharf Road, London N1 7ED Historic environment assessment MOLA 2013 Contents Executive summary 1 1 Introduction 2 1.1 Origin and scope of the report 2 1.2 Designated heritage assets 2 1.3 Aims and objectives 3 2 Methodology and sources consulted
    [Show full text]
  • Social Institutions in Kent 1480-1660
    Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 75 1961 SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN KENT 1480-1660 III. THE STRUCTURE OF ASPIRATIONS A. The poor THE persistent and the principal concern of Kentish donors, if our whole long period may be taken in view, was the care of the poor. The immense sum of £102,519 7s., amounting to 40-72 per cent, of the total of the charitable funds of this rich county, was poured into one or another of the several forms of poor relief. The largest amount was provided for the relief of the poor in their own homes, a total of £52,242 7s. having been given for this purpose, constituting more than one-fifth (20'75 per cent.) of all charities and considerably more than that given for any other specific charitable use. As we have already noted, a heavy proportion (90-05 per cent.) of this total was vested in the form of permanent endowments, thereby establishing institutional mechanisms for the alleviation of what may be regarded as the most pressing of the social problems of the age. Another great sum, £44,614 3s., was provided for almshouse establishments in all parts of the county, this being the second largest amount given for any one charitable use and amounting to 17-72 per cent, of the whole of the charitable re- sources of Kent.1 In addition, the sum of £5,067 17s., of which about 97 per cent. (96-60 per cent.) was capital, was designated for general charitable uses, which in Kent as elsewhere almost invariably meant that the income was employed for some form of poor relief.
    [Show full text]
  • Unitarian Gothic: Rebuilding in Hackney in 1858 Alan Ruston 20
    istory• ,, VOLUME ONE In this issue - Pepys and Hackney: how Samuel and Elisabeth Pepys visited Hackney for rest and recreation - two ( or one and the same?) Homerton gardens visited by Pepys and Evelyn - The Tyssen family, Lords of the manor in Hackney since the 17th century-how Victorian nonconformists went shop­ ping for 'off the peg' church architecture- silk manufactur­ ers, the mentally afflicted, and Victorian orphans at Hackney Wick-the post-war development ofhigh-rise housing across the borough ... Hackney History is the new annual volume ofthe Friends of Hackney Archives. The Friends were founded in 1985 to act as a focus for local history in Hackney, and to support the work ofHackney Archives Department. As well as the annual volume they receive the Department's regular newsletter, The Hackney Terrier, and are invited to participate in visits, walks and an annual lecture. Hackney History is issued free ofcharge to subscribers to the Friends. In 1995 membership is£6 for the calendar year. For further details, please telephone O171 241 2886. ISSN 1360 3795 £3.00 'r.,,. free to subscribers HACKNEY History volume one About this publication 2 Abbreviations used 2 Pepys and Hackney Richard Luckett 3 The Mystery of Two Hackney Gardens Mike Gray 10 The Tyssens: Lords of Hackney Tim Baker 15 Unitarian Gothic: Rebuilding in Hackney in 1858 Alan Ruston 20 A House at Hackney Wick Isobel Watson 25 The Rise of the High-Rise: Housing in Post-War Hackney Peter Foynes 29 Contributors to this issue 36 Acknowledgements 36 THE FRIENDS OF HACKNEY ARCHIVES 1995 About this publication Hackney History is published by the Friends of Hackney Archives.
    [Show full text]
  • A Fifteenth-Century Merchant in London and Kent
    MA IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH 2014 A FIFTEENTH-CENTURY MERCHANT IN LONDON AND KENT: THOMAS WALSINGHAM (d.1457) Janet Clayton THOMAS WALSINGHAM _______________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS 3 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 4 Chapter 2 THE FAMILY CIRCLE 10 Chapter 3 CITY AND CROWN 22 Chapter 4 LONDON PLACES 31 Chapter 5 KENT LEGACY 40 Chapter 6 CONCLUSION 50 BIBILIOGRAPHY 53 ANNEX 59 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: The Ballard Mazer (photograph courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, reproduced with the permission of the Warden and Fellows of All Souls College). Figure 2: Thomas Ballard’s seal matrix (photograph courtesy of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, reproduced with their permission). Figure 3: Sketch-plan of the City of London showing sites associated with Thomas Walsingham. Figure 4: St Katherine’s Church in 1810 (reproduced from J.B. Nichols, Account of the Royal Hospital and Collegiate Church of St Katharine near the Tower of London (London, 1824)). Figure 5: Sketch-map of Kent showing sites associated with Thomas Walsingham. Figure 6: Aerial view of Scadbury Park (photograph, Alan Hart). Figure 7: Oyster shells excavated at Scadbury Manor (photograph, Janet Clayton). Figure 8: Surrey white-ware decorated jug excavated at Scadbury (photograph: Alan Hart). Figure 9: Lead token excavated from the moat-wall trench (photograph, Alan Hart). 2 THOMAS WALSINGHAM _______________________________________________________________________________ ABBREVIATIONS Arch Cant Archaeologia Cantiana Bradley H. Bradley, The Views of the Hosts of Alien Merchants 1440-1444 (London, 2011) CCR Calendar of Close Rolls CFR Calendar of Fine Rolls CLB (A-L) R.R. Sharpe (ed.), Calendar of Letter-books preserved among the archives of the Corporation of the City of London at the Guildhall (London, 1899-1912) CPR Calendar of Patent Rolls Hasted E.
    [Show full text]
  • Cemeteries and Urban Context in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia
    Parceling the Picturesque: “Rural” Cemeteries and Urban Context in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia by Aaron Vickers Wunsch A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in Charge: Professor Margaret Crawford, Chair Professor Paul Groth Professor David Henkin Fall 2009 Parceling the Picturesque: “Rural” Cemeteries and Urban Context in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia © 2009 by Aaron Vickers Wunsch 1 Abstract Parceling the Picturesque: “Rural” Cemeteries and Urban Context in Nineteenth-Century Philadelphia Aaron V. Wunsch Doctor of Philosophy in the History of Architecture University of California, Berkeley Margaret Crawford, Chair Moving beyond traditional studies of the picturesque as a European-born artistic phenomenon, this dissertation connects the naturalistic treatment of landscape to a particular city’s cultural and economic transformation in the early industrial age. Three narrative strands unite the project. The first traces the arrival of garden-like graveyards on Philadelphia’s periphery. Known after 1830 as “rural” cemeteries, these places were incubators for new conceptions of home, community, and outdoor aesthetic propriety. Closely related to this geographical shift was a vocational one. Beginning in the antebellum decades, several occupations involved in the division and depiction of land recast their services in new terms. Although Philadelphia’s landscape architecture profession eventually emerged from this ferment, my focus is on the period just prior to coalescence – a period when surveyors, horticulturists, and “rural architects” competed for legitimacy (and commissions) in a field without clear-cut boundaries. Embedded in these stories is a third, involving the city as built and imagined.
    [Show full text]
  • Download 2012 Transactions
    Monumental Brass Society 2012 TRANSACTIONS Monumental Brass Society Volume XVIII, Part 4, 2012. ISSN 0143-1250 Obligations and Strategy: Managing Memory in the Later Medieval Parish 289 Clive Burgess Each According to their Degree: the Lost Brasses of the Thorpes of Northamptonshire 311 Robert Kinsey Embellishment and Restoration: the Barttelots and their Brasses at Stopham, Sussex 334 Jerome Bertram The Brass to the Revd. Montague Henry Noel, d. 1929, St. Barnabas, Oxford 363 David Meara Conservation of brasses, 2011 370 William Lack Reviews 374 Portfolio of Small Plates 381 Contributors are solely responsible for all views and opinions contained in the Transactions, which do not necessarily represent those of the Society. © Monumental Brass Society and the authors, 2012 Registered Charity No. 214336 www.mbs-brasses.co.uk Obligations and Strategy: Managing Memory in the Later Medieval Parish Clive Burgess Primarily concerned with commemorative practice within I England’s late medieval parishes, this essay first explores When starting to consider the nature of later the means by which the commemorative impulse became medieval commemoration a number of embedded in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and, questions immediately arise. Why did men and second, looks at factors, both general and local, which women strive so assiduously to be remembered? particularly assisted with managing memory within How generally did they contrive to maintain parishes. The essay then turns to consider how their presence? And what, therefore, was the individuals endeavoured to weave themselves into the broader array of commemorative devices parish liturgy, especially through repeated ceremonial such among which memorial brasses took their as anniversaries and by commissioning chantry Masses.
    [Show full text]
  • Building Access Details
    Building Access details Please find below all the details we know about every building mentioned in the text. You can see most buildings from the street and go inside many others: where we know there is public access we have provided information and web links. Please do not attempt to enter any building described as having “no public access”. If any information below is incomplete or inaccurate, please email [email protected] Section 1: The Medieval Period 1050-1485 Disability in the medieval period 1050-1500 – religious care, self help and duty Paragraph 2 Bethlehem Hospital Original site: Bishopsgate, London No longer extant: the site is now Liverpool Street Station. Subsequent sites: 1. Moorfields - now Finsbury Circus No longer extant: the site is now Finsbury Circus. 2. St George’s Field, Soutwark IWM London, Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ Public access: part of site survives as the Imperial War Museum London, who moved there in 1936. http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-london Grade II 3. Bethlem Royal Hospital, Bromley Monks Orchard Road, Beckenham, Greater London, BR3 3BX No public access: visible from street http://www.slam.nhs.uk/our-services/getting-to-hospital/bethlem-royal- hospital.aspx Paragraph 4 Leper House, West Somerton West Somerton leper hospital, West Somerton, Norfolk Not extant Shrine of Thomas Becket, Canterbury Shrine dismantled. Public access to cathedral. http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/history/building.html Disability in medieval hospitals and almshouses Paragraph 1 Whitby Abbey Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO22 4JT Public access http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/whitby-abbey/ Grade I Hospital of St Mary Magdalene, Ripon Magdalen's Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1HU Hospital not extant.
    [Show full text]
  • Almshouses Into the Next Millennium Paternalism, Partnership, Progress?
    Almshouses into the next millennium Paternalism, partnership, progress? Jenny Pannell with Caroline Thomas First published in Great Britain in 1999 by The Policy Press University of Bristol 34 Tyndall’s Park Road Bristol BS8 1PY UK Tel +44 (0)117 954 6800 Fax +44 (0)117 973 7308 E-mail [email protected] Website http://www.bristol.ac.uk/Publications/TPP © The Policy Press 1999 ISBN 1 86134 164 4 Jenny Pannell is Visiting Research Fellow at the Faculty of Health and Social Care at the University of the West of England, Bristol. She is a housing practitioner and academic who is fascinated by almshouses. She explores their distinctive history and characterisitcs, examining the problems they face in adapting to the changing needs of the 21st century. Caroline Thomas is a housing consultant. The right of Jenny Pannell and Caroline Thomas to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act. All rights reserved: no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publishers. The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the authors and contributors and not of The University of Bristol or The Policy Press. The University of Bristol and The Policy Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication.
    [Show full text]
  • Military Culture of Shakespeare's England
    MILITARY CULTURE OF SHAKESPEARE’S ENGLAND by DONG HA SEO A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY The Shakespeare Institute School of English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham September 2011 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis examines the development of military culture in, and its effects on, early modern English society. Militarism during the late Elizabethan and early Stuart periods was not reinforced by military institutions directly interfering with the private lives of individuals, or by controlling the thoughts and actions of the whole nation. It was, however, strongly influenced by the culture of a military elite, represented by leading noblemen such as Leicester, Sidney, Essex, and Prince Henry, who paid considerable attention to the theatrical aspects of formal and ceremonial occasions and how their military role was portrayed in art and literature. Unlike the usual traditional portrayal of these prominent figures as incompetent military leaders who rushed blindly forwards in pursuit of military glory, we will see that through their aristocratic patronage of various art forms they promoted their image as competent Protestant warriors, and helped the public to be receptive to a variety of military ideas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Hammer-Beam Roof: Tradition, Innovation and the Carpenter’S Art in Late Medieval England
    The Hammer-Beam Roof: Tradition, Innovation and the Carpenter’s Art in Late Medieval England Robert Beech A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Art History, Film and Visual Studies College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham September 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis is about late medieval carpenters, their techniques and their art, and about the structure that became the fusion of their technical virtuosity and artistic creativity: the hammer-beam roof. The structural nature and origin of the hammer-beam roof is discussed, and it is argued that, although invented in the late thirteenth century, during the fourteenth century the hammer-beam roof became a developmental dead-end. In the early fifteenth century the hammer-beam roof suddenly blossomed into hundreds of structures of great technical proficiency and aesthetic acumen. The thesis assesses the role of the hammer-beam roof of Westminster Hall as the catalyst to such renewed enthusiasm. This structure is analysed and discussed in detail.
    [Show full text]
  • The Charterhouse London E1
    RICHARD GRIFFITHS ARCHITECTS The Charterhouse London E1 Heritage Impact Statement The beautification and refreshment of the Great Chamber: Proposed Works June 2018 Richard Griffiths Architects is the trading name of Richard Griffiths Architects Ltd RICHARD GRIFFITHS ARCHITECTS Contents Introduction 3 Historic development of site/buildings 4-5 Heritage significance 6-8 Issues facing the building 9 Summary of brief and proposals 10 Heritage Impact Assessment 11 Policy Context 12 Drawings as Proposed 13-20 Material Palette 21 22 Stakeholder Consultation Appendices 23 Appendix I : Listing Description 24 Appendix II : List of Attached Drawings Appendix III : attach CMP The Charterhouse Great Chamber, London | Heritage Impact Statement | June 2018 2 RICHARD GRIFFITHS ARCHITECTS Introduction Richard Griffiths Architects have been appointed by the Charterhouse to provide a Heritage statement for the repair and restoration of the Great Chamber. This report is to be read in conjunction with drawings and other documents submitted for this listed building consent application. The Great Chamber is one of a suite of large rooms on first floor of main building at the centre of Charterhouse estate. This clustered around Master’s Court is set within larger grounds that also include smaller courts and garden. It is a grade I land has long been recognised by Islington as a building of architectural, historical and cultural merit, both locally and nationally. This report includes: • Analysis of the development history of the Chamber within the context of the Charterhouse. • Analysis of the significance of the room in its present form and of its contribution to the history of the building • Analysis of the impact of the current proposal on the character and appearance of the listed building • Analysis of planning and heritage policies relating to the project The Charterhouse Great Chamber, London | Heritage Impact Statement | June 2018 3 RICHARD GRIFFITHS ARCHITECTS Historical Background The Great Chamber is steeped in history.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tailors, Drapers, and Mercers of London and the London Commissary and Husting Court Wills, 1374-1485
    The Tailors, Drapers, and Mercers of London and the London Commissary and Husting Court Wills, 1374-1485 by Eileen Kim A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto © Copyright by Eileen Kim 2015 ii The Tailors, Drapers, and Mercers of London and the London Commissary and Husting Court Wills, 1374-1485 Eileen Kim Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Medieval Studies University of Toronto 2015 Abstract Scholarly interest in the intimate lives of individuals in late medieval England has been particularly strong over the past thirty years. This interest can be linked to heightened scrutiny of wills and the nature and extent of their utility as access points into testators’ lives, their most intimate relationships, and their varied desires and concerns, particularly in the context of the family and the household. Some scholars have argued that wills present a limited view of testators in a specific moment, rather than encompassing the entirety of the individuals’ legacies. The heavily formulaic nature of the wills enrolled in late medieval English courts have also been considered characteristics that hamper the ability of the documents to reveal testators’ individual personalities and concerns. Others, however, have noted that testators’ adherence to formulaic structure in wills in fact constitutes a community founded on participation in shared traditions, and that the conventions of will-making still allowed testators a certain degree of flexibility to assert their own desires and address their individual concerns. This thesis presents evidence from wills enrolled from 1374 to 1485 in London’s Husting and Commissary Courts.
    [Show full text]