PastSearch Newsletter
Issue 102: June 2021
Welcome to PastSearch Newsletter
You can find a downloadable version at www.pastsearch-archaeo-history.co.uk
May Round Up...................1 York: The Story of its Walls Bars and Castles – The Normans (part 5)……….....2 St. John’s Dance……..……6 This Month in
May Round Up
History.....................7
British Monarchs ...............8 HOSM Local History
Society...................10
Bishops Palace Community
- Dig
- &
- Howdenshire
- Society
- Archaeological
…………………………11
Picture This........................12 Just For Fun.......................12 Just for Fun
Managed to get out and complete a site in Holme-on Spalding Moor area, unfortunately after another few days of rain, so very soggy. Thankfully the machine driver was able to scrape the slop away to make a route through for me between the seven trenches.
Answers.................13
Dates for Diary…………..13
PastSearch YouTube
Channel………………..…13 What’s Been in
Although Holme-on Spalding Moor parish has a lot of archaeology, there were only land drains encountered in these trenches, which must have been blocked, considering the amount of surface water.
the News..............14
Adverts..............................15
Zoom Talks this month looked at the 1984 York Minster Fire, which
completed the series of three talks. Also the history of British coins, from the Celtic Potins (c.80BC), through the centuries, noting the new introductions and those taken out of circulation to the 20th century and decimalization.
For June and July Zoom Talks see ‘Dates for Diary’ on page 13 and Adverts on pages 15-18. Or go directly to the PastSeach Eventbrite page to find all the talks as they are added.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/d/online/pastsearch/
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York: The Story of its Walls, Bars and Castles
T P Cooper (1904)
The Normans (Part 5) – The King’s Fishpool (Part 2):
“The large expanse of water in succeeding years became an important royal fishery. With the increasingly rigid rules of ecclesiasticism, as to fasting and abstinence from flesh meat, the supply of fish as an article of diet became a very important matter. Frequently the regal owners of the pond made presents to their favourite courtiers, bishop, and abbots of the bream, pike, and other fish for which the locality became celebrated. Many of these gifts are recorded on the Close Rolls. In 1221 the Sheriff of Yorkshire, by a mandate from the King, presented to Walter de Gray, Archbishop of York, as from his royal master, ten
bream (Breimas) from ‘vivario de fosse.’ In 1228 the Archbishop received another fift of thirty bream. The King, in August, 1256, ordered the Sheriff ‘to let the Friars Preachers, Toft Green, have six pike out of the royal stew of Fosse, for the occasion of the Provincial Chapters of the Order held at York in that year.’
Under a like order, sixty bream were given to the Abbot of Fountains in 1229. On the 20th of August, 1285,
instructions were given to the Sheriff ‘to cause Master Geoffrey de Aspehale, master of the Hospital of St. Leonard’s, York, to have in the water of the Fosse, twenty-four bream, of the King’s gift.’ These are typical presents of fish from the King’s Pool. Many such could be enumerated, but these few will help to show the
value of the water as a royal stew. The men who were employed I the fisheries of the Ouse and the regal waters of the Fosse would of course reside in the vicinity, and seem to have given the name of their occupation to the street, Fishergate.
The custodians of the Fosse were appointed by the King, and held the office under the Sheriff of the County,
who paid them their wages, and the amount was allowed in that official’s account at the Exchequer. As each
new sheriff took office he was authorised by writ to pay the stipend of the keeper of the fishery. Many of these documents are entered on the Close and Patent Rolls, from which we have been able to compile a long
list of custodians. Particulars of the earliest keepers traceable are given herewith…….. Grant (on the 5th May, 1280) to Henry le Esqueler (‘Squeler’ in the marginal title), during good behaviour of
the bailiwick of the custody of the gate of York Castle and the custody of the prison of the said castle, with the custody of the water of Fosse there, if the custody of the prison and water aforesaid belong to the said Baliwick, and he is to receive as much as other keepers. By the King on the information of Anthony Bek and brother William de Faversham.
The custody of the Castle gate and prison was not always held in conjumction with the keepership of the Fosse. These offices, in later times, were kept distinct and held by separate persons whose names are recorded, with the amount they were paid as wages. Some of the keepers were royal pensioners, and others wealthy persons whose duties were perfomed by deputy.
On January 20, 1312, an order was given to the Sheriff ‘to pay to Richard de Alverton and William de
Castelay, keeper of the King’s fishpond (vivarii) of Fosse, their wages , to wit, 2d daily each, together with
the arrears of the same since the sheriff’s appointment. By the King on the information of Edmund de Malo Lacu, Steward of the Household.’
Eight years later we find the keepership had changed hands and the wages show a substantial increase. The
Sheriff, on January 22, 1320, was instructed ‘to pay to Oliver de Sambuce, yeoman of the king’s chamber, the arrears of his wages as keeper of the King’s pond of Fosse, the custody whereof the King granted to him
for life, on 6th November, in the 12th year of his reign, receiving therefore 6d a day from the Sheriff of Yorkshire, and to continue to pay the same.’
One of the duties of the keepers was to detect and arrest trespassers, or poachers, of the King’s fish. It will
be seen from the following extract from the Patent Rolls that a Thomas de Warthill, a trespasser, was a person of some estate: ‘Appointment (June 7, 1293) of Master Henry de Neuwerk, dean of York, to the
2custody of Alice, late the wife of Gilbert, de Luda, and her lands, until Thomas de Warthill, who was appointed to the custody until she should become sane, and who is now in York gaol for trespasses in the
King’s stew of Fosse, has done the king’s pleasure for the said trespasses.’
The custodians of this great fishpond had peculiar privileges. In the King’s name they claimed the exclusive
right of a narrow strip of land around the entire circuit of the lake. The bounds of the pool which were of considerable extent, were from time to time surveyed and set forth in various inquisitions.
In rugged days of old, when ‘might was right,’ it was considered proper – ‘That they should take who have the power, and they should keep who can.’
This grasping spirit was occasionally manifested by the all-powerful sheriffs, who unscrupulously, under the slightest pretext, appropriated lands verging upo the brink of the pond. Robert de Crepping, who was Sheriff of the Coundt, from April 22, 150 to Easter. 1253, appears to have gained an unenviable notoriety in such practices.
One arm of the pool extended between Layerthorpe and Hull Road, at its extremity Tang Hall Beck flowed into the fishpond. Certain meadows, belonging to the Hospital of St. Nicholas, and others in the possession of the Prebend of Fridaythorpe, pertaining to his Hall of Tang, and bordering the Fosse, were unlawfully seized and occupied by Sheriff Crepping.
The Master and Brethren of the hospital complained to the King of the injustice of Crepping’s purpresture.
The following judicial inquiries of the subject are printed in vol. i: Yorkshire Inquisition, Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, but it will be seen that the aggrieved monks, after the proverbial delays of the law, received little amends for the loss they had sustained.
By writ dated at Windsor, 17 July, 3rd Edward I. (1275), the following inquisition was taken with respect to an alleged encroachment upon the lands of the hospital:
‘The King sent to Gwychard de Charrum and William de Northburgh, that whereas it was shown on behalf
of the Master and Brethren of the Hospital of St. Nicholas, York, that one carucate of land and one acre and a half of meadow in the suburb of the City of York, were provided for the support of the lepers coming to the hospital by the ancestors of the King, and confirmed by them, and that they and their predecessors had peacefully held the land and meadow from the time when they were first enfeoffed, until Robert de
Creooinge, sometime Sheriff of Yorkshire, in the late King Henry’s time, ejected them unjustly amd without
judgement, so that the meadow had been withheld by him and other Sheriffs of Yorkshire for twenty years, to the no mean damage of the said Master and Brethren and their manifest disinhersion – Now Robert de Creppinge, called by the said Gwychard and William, says that while he was Sheriff of Yorkshire, he saw
that the acre and a half of meadow abutted the King’s vivary, of Fosse, so that at every inundation of water
the meadow was covered; and because he saw that if the King should wish to move his mills, then beneath the Castle, and to raise the head of his vivary, that meadow would be under water every hour of the year. He believed, as some of the Wapentake of Bulmere gave him to understand, that the meadow appertained to the
King, and for that reason he seized it into the King’s hand and held it so long as he was Sheriff of the County, and all Sheriff’s up to now have done the same.
‘Inquisition is made by men as well of the City as of the suburb (suburbio) of the same, namely, by the oath of Walter de Grymston, John Verdenel, William de Malton, William de Roston, Peter Wlading, Alexander Tailor (cissoris), Nicholas son of Hugh, Thomas de Nafferton, Simon Everard, John de Dalton, William Lon (le Lung), and Thomas Clerk (clerici), who say upon their oath that the said carucate of land and the meadow are not, and never were, of ancient demesne of the crown; nor were they ever farmed at the King’s Exchequer. They say that the Empress Maud, formerly Queen of England, bought the carucate of land and the meadow, and gave them to the said Hospital and Brethren on this condition – that they would for ever find for all the lepers coming to that Hospital, on the eve of SS. Peter and Paul (28th June), the victuals underwritten, that is to say: bread and ale, mullet (muluellum) with butter, salmon when it could be had, and cheese. By this service and by no other do they hold that land and meadow.
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‘Asked whether the meadow appertains to the carucate of land, they say it is so. They say also that the
carucate of land is worth every year six marcs and a half, and the meadow every year one marc.’
The King, who was not satisfied with the above decision, requested a second inquisition, which was held in the same year of his reign.
‘Inquisition made between King on the one part, and the Master and Brethren of the Hospital of St.
Nicholas, York, of the other part, by Walter (de Grymeston), of York, William de Melton of the same, Alexander Tailor (cissorem) of the same, William Long (longum) of the same, Thomas de Nafferton of the same, William de Roston of the same, Robert son of Benedict of Hewrde, John Neubonde of the same, Peter de Dicton of the same, and William de Wyuestowe. They say that the good Queen of England, Maud, gave to the Master and Brethren of the said Hospital, one carucate of land with one acre and a half of meadow in the fields of the subub of the City of York – which gift was confirmed by King Stephen – to feed all the lepers of the County of York, coming thither by custom on the eve of the Appostles Peter and Paul, for the souls of all their ancestors and successors; and they were seisin of the meadow aforesaid from the time of the said good Queen Maud up to the second time that Robert de Creppinge was Sheriff of Yorkshire, when he disseised them thereof, and held it for the use of his own horses; and so every Sheriff, one after the other, has withheld it. The meadow is worth by the year half a marc; and the disseisin has continued for twenty
years.’ The Sheriff of Yorkshire, escheator in the same county, received fron the King and ‘order (dated 27th April, 1276) to cause the brethren of St. Nicholas’s Hospital, York, to have again seisin of 1½ acres of meadow in the suburbs of York near the King’s fishpond, as the King learns by inquisition taken by Guyschard de
Charron and William de Norbury that the said 1½ acres are not and were not of the ancient demesne of the
Crown, and were never arrented at the Exchequer, which 1½ acres were taken into the King’s hands for this
reason, but that the Empress Matilda, sometime Queen of England, bought a carucate of land and the meadow aforesaid and gave them to the hospital and brethren on condition that the brethren should find for ever the following victuals for all lepers coming to the hospital on the eve of SS. Peter and Paul, to wit
bread, ale, a mulvel with butter, salmon when in season, and cheese.’
The Prebend of Fridaythorpe or Tange, learning of the success of the Master of St. Nicholas, would fourthwith renew his suit, as his complaint was also the subject of an inquisition.
The writ directed to Thomas de Normanville, the King’s Steward beyond Trent, and given by the hand of
Master Thomeas Beke at Westminster, 13 May, 7th year Edward I. (1279) – Recites that Master Thomas de Hedon, Canon of York, complained that, whereas five acres of meadow between Layrthorpe and Tange appertain to his prebend in Tange, and all his predecessors, Canons of that prebend, were in possession of the same as of right, Robert de Creppinge, formerly Sheriff of Yorkshire, by taking that meadow into the
late King’s hand, unjustly disseised John de Gayteham his (Thomas) immediate predecessor, and the now
Sheriff still detains it. The King to be certified the truth of the matter.
‘Inquisition made at York, before Thomas de Normanville, on the morrow of the Apostles Peter and Paul, 7
Edward (30 June, 1269), concerning five acres of meadow with the appurtenances between Leyrthorpe and Tange, belonging to the prebend of Master Thomas dde Hedon, Canon of York, by the jurors under-written, voz.: by William de Holteby, Robert de Bulforde, Richard de Waxande, Nicholas de Rivers (de Riper’) Paulin de Lyllinge, William Burdoun, knights, Thomas de Vespount, Peter de Evercewyke, Robert de Yolton, William de Thouthorpe, John de Stoleton, and Richard son of Hugh of the same, who say by their oath that all the predecessors of the said Thomas, Canons of the said prebend, as in right thereof, were in possession of the meadow until Robert de Creppinge, formerly Sheriff of the County, took it into the hand of the late King Henry, and unjustly disseised John de Geytham, the last predecessor of Thomas; and so that the disseisin has continued since from Sheriff to Sheriff until now.
The said Robert took the meadow into the hand of King Henry for his own convenience in order to feed his own horses, and for that reason he appropriated to the King as much soil as was flooded yearly by the Fosse. When during the year the Fosse rises, then a boat of York Castle and the men of the Sheriff for the time being can come and go by water, and at will mow grass, one foot of the mower being in the boat and the
4other upon the land. When the water goes down, the soil remains to the prebend, and that meadow is worth
in all issues by the year, ten shillings.’
The results of this inquiry was sent to the King, but fifteen months elapsed before Thomas of Hedon was allowed to have possession of his land, the surrender is authorised by Patent, which is entered on the Rolls under the date of 27th September 1280.
PastSearch
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Outbreak of St. John’s Dance in Aachen
On 24 June 1374 an outbreak of St. John’s Dance in
Aachen, Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany) was began. People in the streets suddenly started to
‘dance’ uncontrollably and unable to stop, reaching the
point of total exhaustion. Hundreds of people would jump, leap and twitch for days, but this phenomenon did not just happen in Aachen, within weeks it had spread to the Netherlands and France.
This was also not the first time it had happened, the earliest known events occurred in the 7th century, and there were a number of outbreaks until the 17th century, when it suddenly stopped.
Not all events have recorded that music was involved
but in the 1020’s in Bernburg, Germany, 18 peasants
began singing and dancing around a church, disturbing the Christmas Eve service.
Wikepedia
The ‘Pied Piper of Hamlin’ legend may be, or may have been inspired by, an episode in 1237 when a large group of children travelling from Erfurt to Arnstadt, in Germany (approx 12miles (20km) were jumping and dancing on the whole journey.
Another large incident happened in Strasbourg, Holy Roman Empire (modern-day France) in July 1518. Beginning with one woman, Frau Troffea, others gradually joined her, and the city authorities provided a stage and hired musicians hoping it would bring this bizarre crisis to an end. Instead it escalated the situation and up to 400 people are thought to have been involved with the dancing continuing for several weeks.
It is not certain what caused these outbreaks. There have been several theories: Religious beliefs of the person(s) being possessed by devils. Dancing cult rituals and poisoning from mold growing on stalks of damp rye, causing hallucinations and shaking.
Currently, researchers tend to believe the bizarre outbreaks were examples of mass psychogenic illness triggered by fear and depression. The manias of 1374 and 1518 had followed periods of devastating famine, crop failures and the spread of diseases. Anxiety and guilt together with a deep superstition, that God was punishing them for their wrongdoing, may have made people susceptible to this peculiar involuntary state.
The dancing mania appears to have completely died out by the mid-17th century!!
References used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_mania https://www.europeana.eu/en/blog/st-johns-dance-why-cant-they-stop-dancing
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This Month in History (June)
Below, is at least one event for each day of this month from around the world. Links for more information about each of these events can be found by visiting the relevant page on the
PastSearch website.
You can also find out about other events which have happened in history for each day of the year.
Start your search by using this link: http://pastsearch-archaeo-history.co.uk/on-this-day/
- Date Year
- Country
- Event
- 1
- 1773
- South Africa
- Wolraad Woltenmade died whilst rescuing sailors from D Jonge
Thomas shipwreck.
234
1832 1943 2012
YORK USA UK
First case of cholera reported in York. Zoot Suit Riots began.
Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee Concert held outside Buckingham
Palace.
56789
1283 1859 1948 1959 1538
- Italy
- Battle of the Gulf of Naples (War of the Sicilian Vespers).
Queensland established as separate colony from New South Wales.
Edvard Beněs resigned as President. “Missile Mail” delivery attempted from USS Barbero.
Halesowen Abbey surrendered during Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Australia Czechoslovakia USA England
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
1786 1903 1648 2009 1907 1312 632
China Serbia England Iran Norway Hungary Persian Empire America Brazil
Dam on Dadu River, Sichuan province, collapsed, 1000,000 killed. King Alexander I & Queen Draga assassinated. Siege of Colchester began (Second English Civil War). Iranian Presidential Election Protest began. Women given partial right to vote. Battle of Rozgony. Yazdegerd III became Shah. Sir Francis Drake claimed Nova Albion for England. First 781 Japanese immigrants arrived in Santos aboard ship KasatoMaru.
1579 1908
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1988 1631 1877 2015 1794 109 1243 1945 1977 1880 1444 1860
Italy Ireland USA Afghanistan Russia Roman Empire Rome
Pope John Paul II canonized 117 Vietnamese Martyrs. Baltimore village attacked by Algerian pirates 10 Irish immigrants (Molly Maguires) hanged for murder. Kabul Parliament Attack, 6 killed. Catherine II granted Jews permission to settle in Kiev. Construction of Aqua Traiana started. Sinibaldo Fieschi became Pope Innocent IV. United Nations Charter signed in San Francisco. Independence from France.
USA Djibouti Australia Albania UK
Ned Kelly captured. Battle of Torvioll (Ottoman Wars in Europe). Oxford Evolution Debate.
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British Monarchs – William IV
Name: King William IV Full Name: William Henry
Born: August 21, 1765 at Buckingham Palace Parents: George III and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
House of: Hanover Ascended to the throne: June 26, 1830 aged 64 years
Crowned: September 8, 1831 at Westminster Abbey Married: Adelaide, daughter of Duke of Saxe-Meinigen Children: Four none of whom survived infancy, plus several illegitimate by Dorothy Jordan Died: June 20, 1837 at Windsor Castle, aged 71 years, 9 months, and 28 days
