DOCSLIB.ORG

Theory and Practice in Royal Finance: England 1449–50 BILL SMITH Westhoughton High School,Bolton

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Theory and Practice in Royal Finance: England 1449–50 BILL SMITH Westhoughton High School,Bolton Theory and practice in royal finance: England 1449–50 BILL SMITH Westhoughton High School,Bolton Financial affairs have loomed large in considerations of the failings of Henry VI and his government. Both contemporaries and modern commentators alike have seen fundamental problems in the management of the royal finances as major contributory factors in the draining of confidence in the Lancastrian regime and, ultimately, in the succession of the House of York. The tide of opinion as to whether financial crisis should be seen as cause or effect of political failure continues to ebb and flow.1 Close consideration of an extensive programme of financial reform which was instituted in 1449–50 will shed much light on this central issue, and on a number of significant related topics. Such analysis will also highlight the extent to which established political principles both informed and dictated the direction of government policy.2 It will also illustrate the importance of historic precedent and exemplars in the formulation of financial policy, and the important links between theory and practice in the works of Sir John Fortescue. Furthermore it will suggest that there existed within the administration a capacity for efficient and thorough management of the royal finances which has often been disregarded by historians. The government of Henry VI was faced with severe financial difficulties in the autumn of 1450, and these had been a major factor in the crisis which had threatened the realm in the 1 Compare, for example the recent opinion of C. Carpenter that ‘it was not that financial weakness caused political failure but the other way round’, with the famous dictum of R.L. Storey that ‘the bankruptcy of Lancaster drove York to rebellion’; C. Carpenter,The Wars of the Roses: politics and the constitution in England, c.1437–1509 (Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1997), 31; R.L. Storey, The end of the House of Lancaster (London: Barrie & Rockliffe, 1966), 75. 2 There has been much stimulating comment in recent years on the significance of principle in politics in this period. See especially J.L. Watts, Henry VI and the politics of kingship (Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1996), and A. Gross, The dissolution of the Lancastrian kingship: Sir John Fortescue and the crisis of monarchy in fifteenth-century England (Stamford: Paul Watkins, 1996). 221 222 BULLETIN JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY preceding months.3 The dramatic collapse of the English position in France following on from Charles VII’s renewal of war in the summer of 1449 could be attributed, at least in part, to the chronic shortage of money which had characterized the last months of English control in Normandy. The widespread domestic disorder which had simmered through the early months of 1450 and erupted in the summer in the rebellion of Jack Cade was also coloured by complaints about inept and indeed corrupt management of the king’s revenues. In broad terms the crisis in the royal finances can be attributed to two causes. Firstly, there was the general economic recession of the middle years of the fifteenth century, occasioned by continuing demographic stagnation and a series of disruptions and dis- locations in international trade. These elements were largely beyond the control of government, although the general contraction in European trade was certainly made worse by periodic crises in England’s relations with some of her major trading partners such as Burgundy and the Hanseatic League, to say nothing of the renewal of war with the French.4 There was accordingly a considerable downturn in the customs revenues, largely as a result of a decline in wool exports, arising from both the economic recession and the continuing trend in English trade away from raw wool and towards woollen cloth, which bore a much smaller customs charge. Income from the customs revenues declined from more than £40,600 in 1421 to only £28,100 in 1448. In the period 1440–70 as a whole, the number of sacks of wool exported was more than 40% below the levels which had been shipped in the first thirty years of the century. Regardless of reductions to the royal income from any other areas, this decline in the customs revenues reduced the king’s total income by almost 20% from the levels which had been achieved under Henry V.5 The decline in royal revenues cannot be attributed entirely to the general economic climate. A good deal of the responsibility must lie with the policies pursued by the king and his government. As has been noted above, government action can in part be blamed for the declining yield from the customs. Rather more obvious is the impact of royal policy in the 1440s on both sides of the exchequer account. Whilst the king’s income from all sources continued to decline, expenditure was allowed to increase. Henry VI granted out royal lands and revenues on an unprecedented scale, mainly to members or associates of the royal household. It has been calculated that by 1450 a total of 169 persons held 192 3 For the best narrative account, see R.A. Griffiths, The reign of King Henry VI:the exercise of royal authority (London: Ernest Benn, 1981). 4 R.H. Britnell, ‘The economic context’, in The Wars of the Roses (London: MacMillan 1995), ed. A.J. Pollard, 43–7. 5 Ibid., 59..
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism
    Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism Sophus A. Reinert Robert Fredona Working Paper 18-021 Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism Sophus A. Reinert Harvard Business School Robert Fredona Harvard Business School Working Paper 18-021 Copyright © 2017 by Sophus A. Reinert and Robert Fredona Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies of working papers are available from the author. Merchants and the Origins of Capitalism Sophus A. Reinert and Robert Fredona ABSTRACT: N.S.B. Gras, the father of Business History in the United States, argued that the era of mercantile capitalism was defined by the figure of the “sedentary merchant,” who managed his business from home, using correspondence and intermediaries, in contrast to the earlier “traveling merchant,” who accompanied his own goods to trade fairs. Taking this concept as its point of departure, this essay focuses on the predominantly Italian merchants who controlled the long‐distance East‐West trade of the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Until the opening of the Atlantic trade, the Mediterranean was Europe’s most important commercial zone and its trade enriched European civilization and its merchants developed the most important premodern mercantile innovations, from maritime insurance contracts and partnership agreements to the bill of exchange and double‐entry bookkeeping. Emerging from literate and numerate cultures, these merchants left behind an abundance of records that allows us to understand how their companies, especially the largest of them, were organized and managed.
    [Show full text]
  • View/Download Concert Program
    Christmas in Medieval England Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 8 pm First Church in Cambridge, Congregational Christmas in Medieval England Saturday, December 19, 2009 at 8 pm First Church in Cambridge, Congregational I. Advent Veni, veni, Emanuel | ac & men hymn, 13th-century French? II. Annunciation Angelus ad virginem | dt bpe 13th-century monophonic song, Arundel MS / text by Philippe the Chancellor? (d. 1236) Gabriel fram Heven-King | pd ss bpe Cotton fragments (14th century) Gaude virgo salutata / Gaude virgo singularis isorhythmic motet for Annunciation John Dunstaple (d. 1453) Hayl, Mary, ful of grace Trinity roll (early 15th century) Gloria (Old Hall MS, no. 21) | jm ms ss gb pg Leonel Power (d. 1445) Ther is no rose of swych vertu | dt mb pg bpe Trinity roll Ibo michi ad montem mirre | gp jm ms Power III. Christmas Eve Veni redemptor gencium hymn for first Vespers of the Nativity on Christmas Eve, Sarum plainchant text by St Ambrose (c. 340-97) intermission IV. Christmas Dominus dixit ad me Introit for the Mass at Cock-Crow on Christmas Day, Sarum plainchant Nowel: Owt of your slepe aryse | dt pd gp Selden MS (15th century) Gloria (Old Hall MS, no. 27) | mn gp pd / jm ss / mb ms Blue Heron Pycard (?fl. 1410-20) Pamela Dellal | pd ss mb bpe Ecce, quod natura Martin Near Selden MS Gerrod Pagenkopf Missa Veterem hominem: Sanctus Daniela Tošić anonymous English, c. 1440 Ave rex angelorum | mn mb ac Michael Barrett Egerton MS (15th century) Allen Combs Jason McStoots Missa Veterem hominem: Agnus dei Steven Soph Nowel syng we bothe al and som Mark Sprinkle Trinity roll Glenn Billingsley Paul Guttry Barbara Poeschl-Edrich, Gothic harp Scott Metcalfe,director Pre-concert talk by Daniel Donoghue, Professor of English, Harvard University sponsored by the Cambridge Society for Early Music Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, Inc.
    [Show full text]
  • Gaia-Assisted Discovery of a Detached Low-Ionisation BAL Quasar with Very Large Ejection Velocities J
    A&A 634, A111 (2020) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201936957 & c ESO 2020 Astrophysics Gaia-assisted discovery of a detached low-ionisation BAL quasar with very large ejection velocities J. P. U. Fynbo1,2, P. Møller3, K. E. Heintz4, J. N. Burchett5, L. Christensen6, S. J. Geier7,8, P. Jakobsson4, J.-K. Krogager9, C. Ledoux10, B. Milvang-Jensen1,2, P. Noterdaeme9, J. X. Prochaska5, and T. M. Tripp11 1 Cosmic DAWN Center, Vibenshuset, Lyngbyvej 2, 2100 København Ø, Denmark 2 Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Lyngbyvej 2, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark e-mail: [email protected] 3 European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschildstrasse 2, 85748 Garching, Germany 4 Centre for Astrophysics and Cosmology, Science Institute, University of Iceland, Dunhagi 5, 107, Reykjavík, Iceland 5 University of California, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA 6 DARK, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Lyngbyvej 2, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark 7 Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Vía Láctea, s/n, 38205, La Laguna Tenerife, Spain 8 Gran Telescopio Canarias (GRANTECAN), 38205 San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain 9 Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS-SU, UMR 7095, 98bis bd Arago, 75014 Paris, France 10 European Southern Observatory, Alonso de Córdova 3107, Vitacura, Casilla 19001 Santiago, Chile 11 Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, 710 North Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01003, USA Received 19 October 2019 / Accepted 22 December 2019 ABSTRACT We report on the discovery of a peculiar broad absorption line (BAL) quasar identified in our Gaia-assisted survey of red quasars. The systemic redshift of this quasar was difficult to establish because of the absence of conspicuous emission lines.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sack of Rome and the Theme of Cultural Discontinuity
    CHAPTER ONE THE SACK OF ROME AND THE THEME OF CULTURAL DISCONTINUITY i. Introduction The Sack of Rome had unmatched significance for contemporaries, and it triggered momentous cultural and intellectual transformations. It stands apart from the many other brutal conquests of the time, such as the sack of Prato fifteen years earlier, because Rome held a place of special prominence in the Renaissance imagination.1 This prominence was owed in part to the city's geographical position on the ruins of the ancient city of Rome, which provided an ever-pres­ ent visual reminder of its classical role sis caput mundi.2 Just as impor­ tant for contemporary observers, it stood at the center of Western Christendom: a position to which it had been restored in 1443, when Pope Eugenius IV returned the papacy to the Eternal City.3 In the ensuing decades, the Renaissance popes strove to rebuild the physical city and to enhance both the theoretical claim of the papacy to uni­ versal impenum and its actual political and ecclesiastical sway, which the recent schism had eroded. Modern historians, who have tended to confirm contemporaries' assessment of Rome's centrality in Renaissance European culture, have similarly viewed the events of 1527 as marking a critical turning point. The nineteenth-century German scholar Ferdinand Gregoro- vius chose the Imperial conquest of 1527 as the terminus ad quern for his monumental eight-volume history of Rome in the Middle Ages, 1 Eric Cochrane, Italy, 1530-1630 (London and New York, 1988), 9-10, also draws attention to this contrast. 2 On Renaissance Roman antiquarianism and archaeology, see the sources cited in Philip Jacks, The Antiquarian and the Myth of Antiquity: The Origins of Rome in Renaissance Thought (Cambridge, 1993); and idem, "The Simulachrum of Fabio Calvo: A View of Roman Architecture aWantka in 1527," Art Bulletin 72 (1990): 453-81.
    [Show full text]
  • Charters and Inter-Urban Networks: England, 1439-1449
    This is a repository copy of Charters and Inter-Urban Networks: England, 1439-1449. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/104531/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Hartrich, E. (2017) Charters and Inter-Urban Networks: England, 1439-1449. English Historical Review, 132 (555). pp. 219-249. ISSN 1477-4534 https://doi.org/10.1093/ehr/cex136 Reuse Items deposited in White Rose Research Online are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved unless indicated otherwise. They may be downloaded and/or printed for private study, or other acts as permitted by national copyright laws. The publisher or other rights holders may allow further reproduction and re-use of the full text version. This is indicated by the licence information on the White Rose Research Online record for the item. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ 1 Charters and Inter-Urban Networks: England, 1439-1449* On the surface, there is very little insight to be gained from royal charters to later medieval English towns.1 The preambles justifying the town’s receipt of extended privileges are highly formulaic, with virtually all charters highlighting the town’s poverty, loss of inhabitants, and long-standing service to the king.2 The newly-granted powers and liberties were often set out in a vague or confusing
    [Show full text]
  • Denmark and the Crusades 1400 – 1650
    DENMARK AND THE CRUSADES 1400 – 1650 Janus Møller Jensen Ph.D.-thesis, University of Southern Denmark, 2005 Contents Preface ...............................................................................................................................v Introduction.......................................................................................................................1 Crusade Historiography in Denmark ..............................................................................2 The Golden Age.........................................................................................................4 New Trends ...............................................................................................................7 International Crusade Historiography...........................................................................11 Part I: Crusades at the Ends of the Earth, 1400-1523 .......................................................21 Chapter 1: Kalmar Union and the Crusade, 1397-1523.....................................................23 Denmark and the Crusade in the Fourteenth Century ..................................................23 Valdemar IV and the Crusade...................................................................................27 Crusades and Herrings .............................................................................................33 Crusades in Scandinavia 1400-1448 ..............................................................................37 Papal Collectors........................................................................................................38
    [Show full text]
  • The 1430S: a Period of Extraordinary Internal Climate Variability During the Early Spörer Minimum and Its Impacts in Northweste
    The 1430s: A period of extraordinary internal climate variability during the early Spörer Minimum and its impacts in Northwestern and Central Europe Chantal Camenisch1,2, Kathrin M. Keller1,3, Melanie Salvisberg1,2, Benjamin Amann1,4,5, 5 Martin Bauch6, Sandro Blumer1,3, Rudolf Brázdil7,8, Stefan Brönnimann1,4, Ulf Büntgen1,8,9, Bruce M. S. Campbell10, Laura Fernández-Donado11, Dominik Fleitmann12, Rüdiger Glaser13, Fidel González-Rouco11, Martin Grosjean1,4, Richard C. Hoffmann14, Heli Huhtamaa1,2,15, Fortunat Joos1,3, Andrea Kiss16, Oldřich Kotyza17, Flavio Lehner18, Jürg Luterbacher19,20, Nicolas Maughan21, Raphael Neukom1,4, Theresa Novy22, Kathleen 10 Pribyl23, Christoph C. Raible1,3, Dirk Riemann13, Maximilian Schuh24, Philip Slavin25, Johannes P. Werner26, Oliver Wetter1,2 1Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 2Economic, Social, and Environmental History, Institute of History, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 3Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 15 4Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland 5Department of Geography and Planning, Queen's University, Kingston (ON), Canada 6German Historical Institute in Rome, Rome, Italy 7Institute of Geography, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic 8Global Change Research Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic 20 9Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, Birmensdorf, Switzerland 10School of the Natural and Built Environment, The Queen’s University of
    [Show full text]
  • Timetable 0T9NAAT
    Cardiff Airport - Cardiff Service T9 (TCAT009) Bank Holiday Mondays (Inbound) Timetable valid from 7th October 2019 until further notice Operator: NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT Cardiff Airport (Terminal) 0010 0450 0510 0530 0550 0610 0630 0650 0710 0730 0750 0810 0830 0850 0910 0930 0950 1010 1030 Copthorne Hotel (Rhur Cross, Port Road) 0022s 0502s 0522s 0542s 0602s 0622s 0642s 0702s 0722s 0742s 0802s 0822s 0842s 0902s 0922s 0942s 1002s 1022s 1042s Cardiff Bay (Red Dragon Centre) 0040s 0520s 0540s 0600s 0620s 0640s 0700s 0720s 0740s 0800s 0820s 0840s 0900s 0920s 0940s 1000s 1020s 1040s 1100s Cardiff City Centre (Canal St) (Arr) 0045s 0525s 0545s 0605s 0625s 0645s 0705s 0725s 0745s 0805s 0825s 0845s 0905s 0925s 0945s 1005s 1025s 1045s 1105s Cardiff City Centre (Canal St) (Dep) -- 0530s 0550s 0610s 0630s 0650s 0710s 0730s 0750s 0810s 0830s 0850s 0910s 0930s 0950s 1010s 1030s 1050s 1110s Cardiff Centrail Rail Station -- 0531s 0551s 0611s 0631s 0651s 0711s 0731s 0751s 0811s 0831s 0851s 0911s 0931s 0951s 1011s 1031s 1051s 1111s Operator: NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT NADT Cardiff Airport (Terminal) 1050 1110 1130 1150 1210 1230 1250 1310 1330 1350 1410 1430 1450 1510 1530 1550 1610 1630 1650 Copthorne Hotel (Rhur Cross, Port Road) 1102s 1122s 1142s 1202s 1222s 1242s 1302s 1322s 1342s 1402s 1422s 1442s 1502s 1522s 1542s 1602s 1622s 1642s 1702s Cardiff Bay (Red Dragon Centre) 1120s 1140s 1200s 1220s 1240s 1300s 1320s 1340s
    [Show full text]
  • I AM the SCRIBE, JOEL BEN SIMEON Text by Sandra Hindman and Sharon Liberman Mintz with an Essay by Lucia Raspe JANUARY 2021
    PRESS RELEASE LES ENLUMINURES I AM THE SCRIBE, JOEL BEN SIMEON Text by Sandra Hindman and Sharon Liberman Mintz with an essay by Lucia Raspe JANUARY 2021 The latest publication of Les Enluminures focuses on the Veneto Siddur-Sefer Minhagim, a Hebrew manuscript newly attributed to the artist-scribe Joel ben Simeon, made for a Jewish immigrant family from Germany proba­ bly living in Treviso . Joel ben Simeon (active c. 1440s-c. 1490) is one of the most famous figures in late medieval Hebrew manuscript production . Born in Germany, he spent most of his career in northern Italy as an itinerant crafts­ man. Previously unrecorded in the extensive literature on Joel ben Simeon, the present manuscript includes the earliest known copy of this version of the Sefer Minhagim, written in 1449/1450, and more than 500 pen and ink drawings added by Joel around 14 70, thus significantly increasing the artist's corpus . Illustrated Hebrew manuscripts are exceptionally rare on the market. Included here are fresh observations on the life and works of Joel ben Simeon and on the place of the Veneto Siddur-Sefer Min­ hagim in his career . A contribution by Lucia Raspe on Ashkenazi Jews in fifteenth-century Italy sets the stage for Joel ben Simeon's activities. Appendices provide the first comprehensive guide to his signed and attributed manuscripts. The second volume in our Satellite Series, / am the Scribe, Joel ben Simeon, aims to bring the artist to a wider public, exploring connections between Jewish and Christian manuscript production and cutting across religious and cultural boundaries to pre­ sent a more inclusive history of art in fifteenth-century Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fiscal Constitution of Later Medieval England: the Reign of Henry Vi
    THE FISCAL CONSTITUTION OF LATER MEDIEVAL ENGLAND: THE REIGN OF HENRY VI ALEX BRAYSON PhD University of York Department of History October 2013 THE FISCAL CONSTITUTION OF LATER MEDIEVAL ENGLAND: THE REIGN OF HENRY VI 1 ABSTRACT This thesis is an examination of the constitutional framework of public finance during the reign of Henry VI, prior to the ‘Wars of the Roses’. Its central theme is that the governments of Henry VI’s minority and majority rule could not transcend the parameters of scholastic fiscal theory and negotiate generous lay tax grants as a means of effectively financing the Hundred Years’ War after the Treaty of Troyes and expansive permanent charges. Parliament preferred to grant low levels of lay taxation, the payment of which was spread out over lengthy time periods, and attempt to increase public revenue by alternative means, namely the granting of novel indirect taxes on aliens and alien poll taxes, and the underwriting of large– scale loans. In financial terms this strategy failed, and led to increasing problems at the exchequer. Despite notable efforts to efficiently bring in lay tax revenue and manage creditors, a rising tide of government debt characterised the 1430s and 1440s. The only means of effectively resolving this fiscal crisis was through parliament’s granting of a higher level of lay taxation, which the Commons resolutely opposed. Henry VI’s apparent absence from the politics of his majority regime during the mid–to–late 1440s made it more difficult for the government to secure the necessary level of lay taxation, though this was not, as most mid–to–late twentieth century historians believed, the root cause of the unprecedented royal debt of £372,000, declared at the parliament of November 1449.
    [Show full text]
  • Gardens of the Renaissance May 28 to August 11, 2013 the J
    Gardens of the Renaissance May 28 to August 11, 2013 The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center 6 6 1. Unknown 2. Unknown RENAI RENAI SSANC SSANC E_GA The Agony in the Garden, about 1400-1410 E_GA The Betrayal of Christ, about 1400-1410 from World Chronicle from World Chronicle Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink on parchment Tempera colors, gold, silver paint, and ink on parchment Leaf: 33.5 x 23.5 cm (13 3/16 x 9 1/4 in.) Leaf: 33.5 x 23.5 cm (13 3/16 x 9 1/4 in.) Ms. 33, fol. 287v (88.MP.70.287v) Ms. 33, fol. 288 (88.MP.70.288) 6 6 3. Unknown 4. Master of the Oxford Hours RENAI SSANC E_GA French, active about 1440s RENAI Scipio Lying in Bed Dreaming; Guillaume de Lorris Lying SSANC E_GA Adam and Eve Eating the Forbidden Fruit, about in Bed Dreaming, about 1405 1440-50 from Romance of the Rose from City of God Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment bound Tempera colors, gold and silver paint on parchment between pasteboard covered with dark red morocco Leaf: 36.7 x 26 cm (14 7/16 x 10 1/4 in.) Leaf: 36.2 x 27.3 cm (14 1/4 x 10 3/4 in.) Ms. Ludwig XV 7, fol. 1 (83.MR.177.1) Ms. Ludwig XI 10, fol. 31v (83.MN.129.31v) 6 6 5. Willem Vrelant 6. Lieven van Lathem Flemish, died 1481, active 1454 - 1481 Flemish, about 1430 - 1493, active 1454 - 1493 RENAI RENAI SSANC SSANC E_GA Adam and Eve Eating the Forbidden Fruit, early 1460s E_GA Noli me tangere, 1469 from Arenberg Hours from Prayer Book of Charles the Bold Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink on parchment Tempera colors, gold leaf, gold paint, silver paint, and Leaf: 25.6 x 17.3 cm (10 1/16 x 6 13/16 in.) ink on parchment Ms.
    [Show full text]
  • Preliminary Observations on Humanist Career Patterns During the First Half of the Quattrocento
    CHAPTER SEVENTEEN PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS ON HUMANIST CAREER PATTERNS DURING THE FIRST HALF OF THE QUATTROCENTO The humanists who sought patronage or employment in England during the second quarter of the Quattrocento, thus the established account, were minor figures, unable to hold a candle to their celebrated peers such as Guarino da Verona or Leonardo Bruni; they had failed to find employment in Italy and therefore had been forced to ven­ ture north.1 The present investigation shifts the focus of attention from the issue of literary accomplishment to other factors that may have determined the professional careers of the humanists concerned. The inquiry considers first, why the humanists, who sought patron­ age or employment with Humphrey, duke of Gloucester in the late 1430s and early 1440s, were predominantly unknown figures at the time of their contacts with Gloucester or his middlemen. Second, it examines the differences between these minor figures and celebrated humanists such as Guarino or Bruni. Finally, it draws attention to structural changes in the Italian job market that may have affected the course of humanist careers during the first half of the Quattrocento. The aim is to raise awareness of factors other than literary accomplish­ ment which influenced the course of humanist careers; at the same time, this preliminary survey intends to create a basis for the exam­ ination of the case studies in the subsequent chapters of this section. Modern scholars usually cite appointment to an elevated position in Italy and/or international scholarly reputation as marks of dis­ tinction that defined the rank of an individual humanist within the humanist community.
    [Show full text]