Lost letters of medieval life : English society, 1200-1250 / edited and translated by Martha Carlin and David Crouch.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Carlin, Martha.

Crouch, David.

Series:

Middle Ages series

The Middle Ages series

Language:

English

Latin

Subjects (All):

Manners and customs.

England--Social life and customs--1066-1485--Sources.

England.

England--Civilization--1066-1485--Sources.

Civilization.

Letter writing--Early works to 1800.

Letter writing.

Genre:

Sources.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 334 p : illustrations, map ; 24 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Philadelphia : University of Pennsylvania Press, [2013]

Contents:

Chapter 1 Money 27

Credit, Debt, and Commerce 27

1 Legal Agreement for Pledging a Rural Estate 27

2 An Earl Orders Wine from His Vintner 32

3 How the Vintner Should Respond if the Earl Has a Good Credit Rating 38

4 How the Vintner Should Respond if the Earl Does Not Repay His Debts 40

5 An Earl Orders Cloth from His Draper, to Whom He Owes Money 42

6 An Earl Orders Furs from His Skinner, to Whom He Owes Money 48

7 The Manner in Which One Should Write a Positive or Negative Response to a Request 53

8 Letter of Refusal from a Skinner Ruined by a Fire 54

9 A Friend Requests Five Marks to Buy Wool 57

10 A Friend Requests a Loan to Buy Wool and Cloth at the Fair 59

11 A Man Sends Pledges That His Neighbor Can Use to Secure a Loan 62

The Jews 63

12 A Friend Begs for Money to Repay a Loan 63

13 A Letter of Response: Buying a Horse for One's Lord 68

14 A Letter of Refusal: Rejecting a Subordinate's Request for a Second Loan 71

Household Provisioning and Hospitality 73

15 Instructions for Writing Orders or Prohibitions: An Earl Orders His Steward to Send Him a Supply of Wine and Ale 73

16 A Friend Warns Another to Buy Grain Against a Coming Dearth 77

17 An Archdeacon Sends Word to a Dean About an Impending Visitation by the Bishop 79

18 A Rural Dean Warns a Priest of an Imminent Visit from the Bishop and Advises Him to Obtain an Appropriate Variety of Foods 82

19 The King Orders a Sheriff to Commandeer Wine for His Use and Transport for It, and to Deal Sharply with Any Resistance 84

Accounts 85

20 The Manner of Keeping Accounts 85

21 Model Manorial Account for a Six-Year Period [September 29, 1222-September 29, 1228] 90

22 Instructions for Keeping a Travel Account, Followed by a Daily Household Account 92

23 Further Instructions for Keeping Travel Accounts, Followed by Another Daily Household Account 96

Chapter 2 War and Politics 99

War 99

24 An Earl Summons His Knights to Military Service Overseas 99

25 A Knight Responds to a Summons for Military Service by Asking for a Cash Loan to Meet His Expenses 105

26 A Man Asks a Friend to Make His Excuses to the King for Being Unable to Respond to a Summons 108

27 A Man Cautions a Friend That He Should Provide for the Knights Committed to His Custody or His Fortune Might Suffer at Court 111

28 A Man Advises His Friend to Guard Well the Imprisoned Knights in His Charge 113

29 The Sheriff of Cambridge Orders the Serjeants of a Hundred to Summon Those Who Owe the King Military Service to Assemble at Portsmouth to Go Overseas 115

30 The King Writes to the Earl of Chester Requesting Aid Against the Welsh Under Prince Llywelyn 117

31 The King Summons an Army to the Defense of His Interests in Wales 119

32 The King's Liege Men Warn Him About Secret Confederacies Between Some of His Own Men and the Welsh, Which Threaten the Success of His Campaign 121

33 A Warning to a Friend to Get His Grain off the Road, Because the King Is About to Go to Wales and Will Seize All Provisions That He Finds Along the Way 123

Politics 124

34 King Henry III of England Requests an Aid for the Marriage of His Sister 124

35 A Magnate Replies to the King Acknowledging the King's Right but Reminding Him Not to Overburden His Subjects When He Has Income of His Own 127

36 The Bishops and Church Dignitaries Recommend to the Magnates and Knights of England that They Take Counsel over the King's Position on Taxation 128

37 A Knight Seeks Advice Concerning the King's Supposed Willingness to Marry Noble Young Women to Men Below Their Social Station 130

38 His Colleague Reassures the Knight that Disparagement Is Against the Articles of Magna Carta, and Assures Him of His Assistance 135

Chapter 3 Lordship and Administration 137

Law and Order 137

39 A Constable Orders His Bailiffs to Discover Who Are the Robbers Plaguing Their Jurisdictions and to Stop Them 137

40 The King Orders a Sheriff to Find and Hang the Thieves Who Have Been Burgling Village Homes by Night 141

41 The Sheriff Informs the King of the Result of His Pursuit of the Robbers 143

42 A Landowner in the King's Service Complains to a Sheriff that His Men Are Being Harassed by the Sheriffs Officers for Suit of County and Hundred Despite His Exemption 144

43 A Man Asks a Sheriff to Release Goods Seized for an Unpaid Fine Owed to the King 147

44 A Man Asks a Friend to Come to London with Him to Act for Him in a Canon Law Suit 149

45 A Letter to a Friend Requesting Legal Assistance on Another's Behalf 153

46 A Man Asks a Friend for the Services of His Attorney to Appear in His Place at the Royal Court 155

Lordship and Manorial Administration 158

47 An Earl Asks an Agent to Get Him Money for a Replacement Mount 158

48 A Lord Responds with Threats to an Attack on His Dependents 161

49 A Villein Refuses a Request for the Loan of a Plow and Oxen Because He Needs Them Himself 164

50 A Tenant Informs on a Landowner's Corrupt Bailiff 165

51 The Same Bailiff Sends His Rebuttal to His Lord 168

52 A Knight Orders a Bailiff Accused of Fraud to Present His Accounts for Inspection 172

53 A Landowner Sends a List of Instructions to His Bailiff 173

Ecclesiastical Administration 175

54 Bishop H[ugh] of Lincoln Orders His Official to Prohibit Two Men from Leaving a Town Until a Major Lawsuit Between Them Has Been Settled by a Forthcoming Diocesan Assembly 175

55 An Archdeacon Writes to a Rural Dean to Charge Him with the Collection of a Clerical Tax, and to Order Him to Correct the Misbehavior of Chaplains in His Deanery 177

56 A Bishop's Official Writes to an Archdeacon's Official to Certify the Credentials of a Chaplain Who Wishes to Move to the Latter's District 179

57 A Chaplain Who Is Worried About Losing His Job Writes to a Fellow-Chaplain for Advice and Help 182

Forests and Hunting 184

58 The King Orders a Sheriff to Inquire into the Poaching of Game in a Royal Forest 184

59 The King Orders a Sheriff to Arrest the Corrupt Foresters Under His Command Who Have Been Selling Oak Trees from the Royal Forest 188

60 A Sheriff Tells the King that He Cannot Comply with a Command to Provide Venison, Because the Adjoining Forests Belong to the King of Scots, Whose Foresters Refuse to Allow Him to Take Game There 189

61 A Baron Asks Another Baron to Send Him Game and Fish to Stock His New Park and Fishpond, and in Return He Sends Hunting Dogs, Hawks, and Falcons 191

62 A Baron Asks a Baron to Have the Latter's Son Train His Goshawk, Which He Sends 197

Tournaments 201

63 An Earl Invites a Baron to Join His Tournament Retinue 201

64 A Knight Orders His Bailiff to Provide for His Arrival with Edmund de Lacy, Constable of Chester, and Twenty Knights, Who Are on Their Way to a Tournament at Blyth 207

65 The Earl of Warenne Beseeches the Count of Aumale to Come to a Tournament that He Has Sponsored, Because He and His Knights Are Rusty from Lack of Practice and Need His Help 210

66 An Earl Writes to Another Earl to Request a Brief Pause Between Tournaments, to Enable Everyone to Take a Little Break Before Resuming Combat 213

67 An Earl Asks a Baron to Send Him a Destrier Equipped for a Tournament 216

68 The Baron Agrees to Lend His Destrier to the Earl, Because His Legal Affairs Will Prevent Him from Attending the Tournament Himself 218

Chapter 4 Family and Community 219

News, Gossip, and Family 219

69 A Serjeant Writes to His Master, a Knight, to Justify His Refusal to Obey the Orders of the Knight's Wife 219

70 A Man Warns His Friend that He Has Seen the Latter's Wife Naked in Bed with Another Man, and Sends Her Girdle as Evidence 222

71 Bishop H[ugh] of C[arlisle] Orders His Archdeacon to Inquire About Adulterers in His Archdeaconry 225

72 An Archdeacon Orders a Dean to Investigate the Alleged Bribing of a Chaplain by an Adulterer to Conceal His Affair 230

73 A Rural Dean Offers to Cover Up an Allegation Against a Chaplain of Adultery with the Wife of One of His Parishioners 231

74 A Steward Writes to His Lord About a Gravely Ill Knight Whose Wife and Daughter Have Gone Elsewhere 233

75 A Man of Property Writes Home to His Wife, Niece, and Servants 235

76 A Wife Writes to Her Absent Husband 238

77 A Knight in the Queen's Service Asks His Wife to Send Him Linen Cloth and Sheets 241

78 A Man Asks a Friend to Take His Son into His Service 243

Student Life 245

79 A Student Tells His Friends that He Is Going to Become a Monk 245

80 A Student at Paris Writes to His Father for Money 247

81 A Student at Oxford Writes to His Father for Money 249

82 A Student at Oxford Writes to His Mother for Money 251

83 A Son Responds to a Letter from His Father 253

84 A Master Tells His Student to Stop Wasting Time 255

Neighborliness and Community 257

85 An Angry Letter of Refusal 257

86 A Friend Requests Assistance for a Kinsman 259

87 A Man Who Assisted His Friend's Kinsman Requests Reimbursement for His Expenses 261

88 A Man Refuses to Aid His Friend's Shiftless Kinsman and Warns Against Lending Him Further Funds 262

89 A Man Thanks His Friend for a Loan and Promises to Repay It with Grain After the Harvest 266

90 A Neighbor Requests the Loan of a Plow and Plowshare Until He Can Get Some Iron to Have a Plowshare Made for His Own Plow 268

91 A Neighbor Requests Financial Assistance Following a Burglary 270

92 The Burglary Victim's Neighbor Agrees to Assist Him 272

93 A Peasant Writes to Another About His Adversities 274

Chapter 5 A Knight's Correspondence: Building a Barn and a Windmill 278

94 A Knight Informs His Friend, a Royal Forester, that the King Has Granted Him Four Oak Trees with Which to Build a Windmill 278

95 The Royal Forester Responds with an Offer of Assistance 280

96 The Royal Forester Orders His Serjeants to Assist the Knight 281

97 The Knight Hires a Carpenter to Finish the Windmill and Build a Barn 283

98 The Knight Orders the Bailiff of His Manor to Attend to Various Tasks, to Organize the Delivery of the Timber for the New Windmill and Barn, and to Prepare Provisions for the Forthcoming Visit of the Knight and His Household 286

99 The Bailiff Reports to the Knight that He-Has Taken Care of Everything, and that He Has Borrowed Money on the Knight's Behalf to Cover the Expenses 288

100 The Knight Asks His Wife to Join Him at the Manor Where the Mill and Barn Are Under Construction, and to Stay on After His Return to Court 289.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780812244595

0812244591

OCLC:

795175110