THE CASTLE HOUSEHOLD AND ECONOMY
Tuesday:
Readings:
Labarge, Chap. 3 (pp. 53-70)
Gies and Gies, Life, Chap. 5 (pp. 95-108):
Simon of Senlis, steward, to his master Ralph de Neville, bishop of Chichester
[Source: Joseph and Frances Gies and Gies, Life in a Medieval Castle, 99-100]:
To Richard, whom Thomas of Cirencester sent to you, I have committed the keeping of the manor of Preston [just north of Brighton, in E. Sussex], since, as I think, he understands the care of sheep, and I will see that your woods at Chichester [in W. Sussex] are meanwhile well treated, by the grace of God, and are brought to their proper state; also I wish your excellency to know that Master R., your official, and I shall be at Aldingbourne [east of Chichester, in W. Sussex] on the Sunday after St. Faith’s day, there to make the division between my lord of Canterbury and you. And if it please you, your long-cart can easily come to Aldingbourne on that day, so that I can send to you in London, should you so wish, the game taken in your parks and other things, and also the cloth bought for the use of the poor, as much as you wish, and of which I bought 300 ells at Winchester Fair [in Hampshire]. For at present I cannot send these by your little carts on the manors because sowing time is at hand. Among other things, know that the crops in your manors have been harvested safely and profitably and to your advantage and placed in your barns.
Know, dearest lord, that I have been to London, where I labored with all my might and took care that you should there have … wood for burning, brewing and repairs. Thanks be to God, all your affairs, both at West Mulne [now Westmill, north of London, between Stevenage and Bishop’s Stortford in E. Hertfordshire] and elsewhere, go duly and prosperously. Also I have taken care that you should have what I judge to be a sufficient quantity of lambs’ wool for your household against the winter…. Speak also with Robert of Lexington about having beef for your larder in London…. If you think it wise, my lord, I beg that part of the old corn from West Mulne shall be ground and sent to London against your coming ….
See map of England, with the counties marked
Questions:
1) Identify the duties of the steward that are revealed in the two letters (above) by Simon of Senlis.
2) What do these two letters reveal about the manner of life of the Bishop of Chichester?
Money quiz:
You are a dishonest steward who steals cash and goods from your master. If you steal an average of six farthings’-worth per day, how long will it take you to steal one pound?
Weekly Assignment 5:
You are a dishonest household or manorial steward. Describe your most lucrative fraud.
Class work:
(1) Those who did Assignment 5 will explain what their fraud was, and how it could be exposed and punished
(2) Those who did not do Assignment 5 will assume the identity of another member of the household (choose one below):
wardrober
chaplain/almoner
chamberlain
cook
dispenser (in charge of buttery and pantry)
larderer (in charge of the larder, where meats, fats, and some other foodstuffs were stored)
baker
brewer
marshal
Then they will explain either:
how they would collaborate with the dishonest steward,
or how the steward’s fraud has injured them.
Readings:
Prestwich, “The Garrisoning of English Medieval Castles.”
Singman, pp. 46-53, 57-64
Household Expenses of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, 1313-1
https://sites.uwm.edu/carlin/household-expenses-of-thomas-earl-of-lancaster-30-sept-1313-29-sept-1314-7-8-edw-ii/
See also:
Expenses of the Aragonese ambassadors in England, 1415: http://www.courses.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/special/lifemann/manners/aragon.html
Account of the manor of Cuxham, 1316-17
Money quiz:
You are an English baron on the Welsh border whose castle needs to be defended by a permanent garrison. Your garrison consists of:
two knights, each of whom is paid 1s. per day
one mounted sergeant, who receives 4d. per day
ten soldiers, each of whom receives 2d. per day
1) What is the DAILY cost of your garrison’s wages?
2) What is the ANNUAL cost of your garrison’s wages, in pounds?
3) If your annual income is £365, what PERCENTAGE of your income is represented by the garrison’s wages?
Discussion topics:
In the household Expenses of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, 1313-14 :
1) Reconstruct and rank the main groups of household members
2) Why are the countess’s expenses so much smaller than the earl’s?
In the expenses of the Aragonese ambassadors (1415):
Reconstruct the diet of these visiting diplomats
In the account of the manor of Cuxham, 1316-17:
How would a dishonest estates steward or bailiff of this manor commit fraud(s)?