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Beaufort Herald

Beau fo r t Companye

News le t te r

In the next issuer:

♦ Who was who in 2009

♦ What event?

♦ To do for 2010

♦ Where and when for 2010

Next Issue— 2009 review

October

Inside this issue:

Thomas Percy, Lord Egremont 2

Medieval towns & cities 2

Ludford Bridge 3

Shopping in London 4

Purses for all 5

Gonnes and powder 6 & 7

Wakefield 550th 8

Cookery Corner 8

Beauforts in Action 8

Allan 8

Volume 3, Issue 9 Sept 2009

Kenilworth goes with a bang

August Bank Holiday and the weather

lives up to expectations—damp and

cloudy. But “The medieval knight” at

Kenilworth was another great success.

With the first medieval multi-timeline

event staged, a mumming play,

Adrian's armour through the ages and

some action. Also saw the Beaufort

“cavalry” take part in the battle of

Hastings (no wonder William won)

Kynges Ordnance ….They were LOUD

and brilliant, professional crews and

they have the best looking cannon in

medieval re-enactment I wonder what

we can do there to better this, just have

to wait and see..

A special thanks to Jeff Buxton photog-

rapher a number of his pictures grace

this issue

JAYNE E ..

“Pardon! Speak up I’ve gone deaf”“Pardon! Speak up I’ve gone deaf”“Pardon! Speak up I’ve gone deaf”

Will be a review of 2009

and a look ahead to 2010.

So if there is anything that

stands out for you let her

know and getting a sense

of déjà vu—its been a fan-

tastic year Thanks to all of

you for making it so.

A

Well its almost the last event

of the season and where did it

go.

One minute its April and won-

dering if 4 days at Warwick is

really a good thing. Next its

September and the run up to

Blore

Jayne says that the next issue

Kenilworth (Cough!)

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er Thomas Percy, Baron Egremont Thomas Percy, Baron Egremont Thomas Percy, Baron Egremont Thomas Percy, Baron Egremont

(1422(1422(1422(1422––––1460)1460)1460)1460)

Personalities of the Wars of the Roses

Born at Leconfield, Yorkshire, the son of Henry Percy, Earl of Northum-

berland and Eleanor Neville. Often described as ‘quarrelsome, violent

and contemptuous of all authority’ he was embroiled in riots and distur-

bances which embarrassed his father and elder brother, Lord Poynings.

In July 1447 he was involved in a skirmish at Stamford Bridge with ten-

ants of the archbishop of York and was imprisoned briefly at York.

Thereafter, he concentrated on consolidating his family's power in Cum-

berland and his father was instrumental in securing his creation, by royal

patent, as Baron Egremont, in 1449.

During 1449–53 he was involved in disorder, lawlessness, and attacks

on royal officials, including the sheriff, all of which intensified Percy

rivalry with the Nevilles and on a visit to London in February 1452; he

joined the King in confronting the Duke of York at Dartford. By 1453

Egremont was recruiting followers on the Percy estates in Yorkshire and

in the city of York and as a result in June he was summoned to the king's

council. Egremont refused to respond and in July he was accordingly

instructed to keep the peace and to prepare to sail to Gascony. On 24

August Egremont, his brother Richard, and a large retinue attacked a

Neville party returning to Sheriff Hutton from the wedding of Thomas

Neville and Lord Cromwell's niece at Tattershall. The encounter, at He-

worth, York involved almost the entire Percy and Neville clans and was

followed quickly after by another clash at Topcliffe in October.

When, in 1454, the Duke of Exeter intervened on the Percy’s' side, the

feud acquired a new dimension and after Egremont was reported to be

raising forces in preparation for the forthcom-

ing parliament, he was summoned to attend

the council on 3 March and, following con-

demnation in parliament, another summons

was issued on 10 May. That same month, the

Duke of York, as Protector, decided to move

in person against Egremont and Exeter and

although Exeter was apprehended, Egremont

eluded capture and at the end of October 1454

the Percy's, led by Egremont fought what was

in effect a small battle with the Neville's at

Stamford Bridge. Egremont was captured and

consigned to Newgate prison although he

later escaped in 1456.

At the formal reconciliation of leading nobles

in March 1458, Egremont agreed a bond of 10,000 marks with York and

the Neville's to keep the peace for ten and in return Egremont was

granted for life the castle and manor of Wressle, Yorkshire, the former

Percy manor whose possession by Lord Cromwell had been at the heart

of the feud of 1453. In 1459 Egremont was granted the Constableship of

the Duke York's forfeited castle of Conisbrough but the following year

he was killed, most likely executed, at Northampton fighting in support

of Henry VI.

Medieval Towns and Cities No 1:

Exeter The map below shows medieval Exeter as it ap-peared in the 15th centuries. The Cathedral Close and Precincts of the various religious houses oc-cupy large parts of the city, whilst the royal castle of Rougemont dominates the northern area. Many of the medieval street names such as Rack Street, Coombe Street, Smythen Street, Paul Street and Goldsmith Street survive within the walls today.

Other street names have changed, such as Corre Street (now Gandy Street), Canon Street (now Cathe-dral Close) and Strike Street (now Chapel Street).

Ian Brandt

Ahh opponents I can beat

Egremont castle

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er

After his victory at Blore Heath Salisbury continued on his march to Ludlow to be reunited with York and his son Warwick who, by now, had crossed from Calais with a contingent of experienced soldiers under the command of Andrew Trollope. The Yorkist leaders, swelled by an in-creasing number of supporters, then pro-ceeded south to Worcester and on 10 October 1459 took an oath of loyalty to the king whilst at the same decrying the ‘evil’ councilors surrounding him. The king responded with a pardon to those who would join him within six days but York and Salisbury returned to Ludlow and took up a defensive position south of the town at Ludford Bridge.

Here the Yorkists dug a 'grete depe dy-

che fortefyde with gonnys, cartys and stakys' (Gregory) and 'beyng in the same

Feldes the same day and place [as the king], traiterously raunged in Bataill,

fortefyde Cartes with Gonnes sette bifore their Batailles, made their Es-

carmysshes, laid their Embushmentes there, sodenly to have taken the

avauntage of youre Host’ (Waurin).

However the Yorkists were outnumbered by the approaching royalist army that

was making its way north through Ledbury and Leominster and by the 12th Oc-

tober the two armies were facing each at Ludlow poised for battle. In order to

stiffen his men’s morale York ordered his guns to be discharged, apparently at

random, into the gathering darkness and, so as to deflect any further accusations

of treason, arranged for rumours to be spread announcing the king was dead and

that masses would be said for his soul.

At this point, and most likely as a result of a letter he received from Somerset,

Andrew Trollope with most of the Calais troops appear to have declared for the

king and slipped out of their positions in the vanguard and crossed over to the

king (Waurin) although Gregory says that Trollope actually deserted near Cov-

entry on seeing 'that the ErIe of Warwyke was goyng unto the Duke of Yorke

and not unto the kynge'.

With the Calais Garrison gone more and more of York’s troops now began to

sneak away into the dark and as a result the Yorkists leaders decided that discre-

tion was the better part of valour and 'aboute mydnyght they stale away oute of

the Felde, under colour they wold have refreshed theym awhile in the Toune of

Ludlowe, levying their Standardes and Baners in their bataill directly ayenst

youre Feld, fledde oute of theToune unarmed, with fewe persones into Wales’.

Ian Brandt

The Rout at Ludford Bridge, October 1459

Sarah's Photo by Geoff Buxton

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er Shopping in London at the start of the

Fifteenth century

Most shopping for comestibles was done in the markets, for fish in Fish

Street Hill or in the Stocks market (stockfish was dried imported fish)

meat in Eastcheap or Newgate Street, eggs and poultry in Cornhill and

Leadenhall, cereals in Gracechurch Street.

Bread came up daily I carts from Stratford, and it was baked in bigger

loaves than London bread. The chapmen or regrators bought loaves at

thirteen to the shilling (bakers dozen) and sold them for a penny apiece.

There were herb markets for onions, celery, parsley, fennel, rosemary

and thyme.

In the lanes were hawkers (“hucksters” being the female version), cos-

termongers (because they sold costard apples), women with hand-carts

selling beer, bread, fish, eel and meat pies. Also on the corners tipplers

selling drinks to passers by out of little casks. Cheapside was the ele-

gant shopping centre (the Bond Street of its day), with cordwainers,

soap sellers (brought from Spain via Bristol and known as Castile), rib-

bons and lace from Milan, and thus called millinery.

Lydgate states in his book London Lackpenny of being besieged outside

Westminster Hall by Flemings crying “Master what will you buy? Fine

felt hats, Spectacles?”

At Westminster Gate the cooks cried bread and ale and wine and ribs of

beef, Hot peascods, ripe strawberries, spices, pepper and saffron. In

Cheapside he was offered velvet, silk, lawn (linen of Laon) and “Parys

thread, the finest in the land”. In Candlewick Street hot sheep's feet and

mackerel (hopefully not on the same plate!). In East Cheap they tried to

sell him ribs of beef again and various pies, pewter pots, harps and

pipes, all stacked in heaps. He heard street singers too, and in Cornhill a

taverner grabbed him by the sleeve and finally sold him a pint of wine

for a penny.

I would advise reading the London Archives printed by Riley quite an

old book and not easy to get hold of (memorials of London and London

Life 1276-1419). It is full of stories about how citizens lived, and al-

most what they talked about, which like today was the common gossip.

It lists the regulations laid down in the charters of skinners and dealers

in fur (not the same craft). Read about girdlers and fripperers (frippery

the selling of second hand clothes). Furniture salesmen, saddlers and

the quarrels they had with the lorimers who made bits, spurs, and metal

mounts for saddles.

Then there are the tricksters and thieves to be avoided—such as John

Brid, baker, who was accused of stealing dough that people brought

him for baking. He had a hole like a trap door cut into his kneading ta-

ble, and when he threw dough on it his accomplice seated underneath

opened the trap and pulled an amount of dough through and cut it off—

”frequently collecting large amounts of such dough falsely, wickedly

and maliciously….to the great loss of all his neighbours and to the

scandal and disgrace of the whole city” A Harley

Theft was a common crime with very se-

vere penalties:

John le Whyte, skinner was caught in the act

of stealing goods worth a hundred shillings

from a Mercers shop. He was ordered to be

hanged. Desiderata de Toryntone stole certain

silver dishes and salt cellars in Fleet Street,

she was hanged. Stephen Salle of Canterbury

stole a green hood, a russet hood and various

other articles from Wool Wharf, sentence—

hanged. Walter Barry stole a coat and a blan-

ket, Adam of Nottingham a cup, Walter

Curteys several pieces of velvet. A Florentine

silver belonging to his master. All sentenced

to death by hanging. Each time the report ends

with the words “chattels had he none”. All the

thieves were destitute and desperate.

For my next impression — the Earl of

Doncaster

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er

Purses in the 1470’s

Below are some of the many kinds of purse that might have been worn in the 1470’s. They come many different but contemporary sources, the same forms

occur again and again in French, German, Italian, “Swiss”, and English sources.

Small simple, leather or cloth bags, closed by a drawstring were very common

often worn under the clothing for both men and women. This is also true of im-

ages of soldiers where rarely is a purse seen.

Purses could come in all sizes, including large double stringed bags were some-

times used for documents. Metal ornaments and fitting were used to keep the

purse in shape and to demonstrate wealth. Daggers were often thrust through or

behind purses, a good way to keep the dagger where you wanted it but also ready

at hand. Highly decorative purses made from

material such as velvet, brocade were dis-

played as a status symbol by the rich.

There are a number of good suppliers of

purses, make sure that if you intend to buy

one it fits with the level of the character you

are playing and your other kit.

Tim & Jayne at Bosworth

Last one to the bar buys the drinks

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er

The pace of advancement in European gun technology had quickened in the 1370s, when the small, inaccurate, and unreliable artillery used early in the HUNDRED YEARS WAR gave way to larger, more powerful weapons able to breach the high stone walls of towns and castles. Although the new artillery could still be unpredictable—JAMES II of Scotland was killed in 1460 when one of his siege cannons exploded—the English began using such guns with great effect in Wales and on the Scottish border in the early fifteenth century. The new guns came in many types and sizes, ranging from massive bombards, which could batter down walls with huge balls of stone or iron, through a variety of intermediate-sized serpentines, orgues, and ribaudequins, to the smaller culverins, which could be fired from tripods or used as handguns. Fifteenth-century cannon were made of iron or bronze, although cast bronze weapons were most common. Because weapons were non-standard and each large gun fired projectiles made espe-cially for it, the gun makers usually also served as gunners. This uniqueness in projectile size caused individual large guns to be given their own names, such as Mons Meg, a 14,000-pound cannon with a calibre of twenty inches.

Firing a fifteenth-century artillery piece was a slow and difficult process. The larger siege guns threw stone and iron projectiles that could weigh hundreds of pounds. To fire the weapon, the gunner used a firing iron—an iron bar heated in a pan of charcoal that was kept hot and near at hand. Because one pound of powder was required to throw nine pounds of shot, and because the barrel had to be washed with a mixture of water and vinegar after every firing, ten shots per hour was considered a good rate of fire. During the Wars of the Roses, cannon were used mainly on the eve or at the start of a battle, firing one volley at the enemy before the hand-to-hand combat commenced. During the night before the Battle of Barnet, Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, fired his cannon continuously, hoping to create fear and disorder in the Yorkist ranks; however, Warwick was unaware of how close the enemy was and his guns overshot. To keep Warwick from learning his error, EDWARD IV ordered his own guns to refrain from revealing their position by returning fire. A few weeks later at the Battle of TEWKESBURY, Edward drew the Lancastrians out of an excellent defensive posi-tion with an opening artillery salvo.

Nonetheless, artillery pieces were much less of a factor in the Wars of the Roses than they were in contemporary campaigns on the continent. Able to fire a ball about 2,000 to 2,500 paces, cannon could be used with devastating effect against massed immobile troop concentrations, such as at river crossings, or against town or castle walls during a siege, situations where the slow rate of fire did not matter. But during the Wars of the Roses, the enemy’s towns or castles usually surrendered soon after the enemy’s field armies had been defeated.

Still, both sides recognized the growing importance of artillery and took measures to ensure a good supply of guns. Since about 1415, the English Crown had appointed a master of ordnance to supervise the king’s artil-lery. In 1456, John Judde, a LONDON merchant, won appointment to the post by offering to supply HENRY VI with guns and powder at his own expense. Judde’s ambitious program of collecting and manufacturing guns for the Lancastrians so alarmed the Yorkists that they ambushed and killed him in June 1460 as he was supervising delivery of a new shipment of weapons. Edward IV also appreciated the importance of artillery, and his Masters of Ordnance (like John Wode, who held office from 1463 to 1477) were trusted members of the royal household. Edward was said to frequently inspect his ordnance, and his campaigns usually included a siz-able artillery train. Thus, by HENRY VII’s reign, the English Crown housed a large and growing collection of ordnance in the TOWER OF LONDON

By the start of the WARS OF THE ROSES artillery had been in use for over a century, and most armies included at least a small artillery force.

A brief summary of artillery in the 15th

Century

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er

The hand-held 'cannon', or gun was around as early as were the

larger pieces. With the exception of the Hussite Wars (1419–

34), the handgun's impact was so insignificant on combat out-

comes that they received slight notice by the chroniclers.

The first accounts are of purchases of such weapons and not of

how they were employed. The descriptions of battles suggest

that handgunners were employed mainly as a complement to

bowmen (or just as a display of the wealth and power of their

employer). In field engagements, they were skirmishers, with the

role to harass an enemy's formation. During sieges, they pro-

vided suppressive fire against, or from, the fortification. It is

difficult to perceive how the poor rate of fire, vulnerability to

weather, and all around dangers and awkwardness in the use

of gunpowder would favour the handgun to the straight, long,

or crossbow of the time. The need to have a continuously lit

match seriously limited the early handgun's use in tactical ma-

noeuvring.

The first use of gunpowder weapons in sieges was apparently

in the form of hand-bombs which could be hurled down on the

heads of the attackers by the defenders. These were fine in an

anti-personnel role, but were not particularly useful for smash-

ing into a place.

Another device which proved of some value was the

petard, French for "little fart". The petard was essen-

tially a big, heavy gauge metal pot filled with pow-

der. It was used to blow in the doors of fortified

places. A team of unusually heroic men would run the

thing over to the gate, fasten it firmly in place by

means of long nails from which the petard hung by its

handles, light the fuse, and then run for cover. When

the petard went off, its heavy construction would tend

to direct the explosive force against the door, smash-

ing it down and thereby permitting one's men to storm

in with sword or axe in hand. In practice, the petard

was not particularly efficient. For one thing, the men

hauling it

up to the

gate were subject to the lethal attentions of the defenders. Moreover, its

effectiveness, marginal at best, could be easily dissipated if it was not se-

curely fastened in place. And premature explosion was sufficiently common

as to add to the language the phrase "Hoist by his own petard."

Satan's Cherub?

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Beaufo r t Companye News let t er

KNOW YOUR BEAUFORTS

Allan Harley

Enough said!

Caption Competition

Does this need comment? Replies to: captioncomp@jayandal.plus.com

Cookery Corner, Part 14 Cookery Corner, Part 14 Cookery Corner, Part 14 Cookery Corner, Part 14

PERIOD: England, 15thC|SOURCE: A form of currye Authentic

Difficulty MediumMediumMediumMedium

Medieval Stuffed Pasta

Excellent photo of the action at Bosworth

Ravieles

Take wete chese and grynde hit smal, & medle hit wyt eyren & saffron and a god quantite of buttur. Make a thin foile of dowe & close hem þerin as turteletes, & cast hem in boylyng watur, & sethe hem þerin. Take hot burrur meltede & chese ygratede, & ley þi ravioles in dissches; & ley þi hote buttur wyt gratede chese bineþe & aboue, & cast þereon powdur douce.

Take [sweet or white] cheese and grind it small, and mix it with eggs and saffron and a good quantity of butter. Make a thin foil of dough and enclose [the filling] in them as you do with tartelettes, and put them into boiling water and boil them. Take hot melted but-ter and grated cheese, and lay the raviolis in dishes, and lay the hot butter with grated cheese below and above them, and sprinkle with sweet powder.

The Battle of Wakefield Living History event will be held at Sandal Castle at the end of December. The free event organised by Wakefield Council commemorates the 550th anniversary of the Battle of Wakefield, which was on 30 December 1460.

Saturday there will be a wreath-laying ceremony led by the Richard III Society Yorkshire Branch at the Duke of York's monument on Manygates Lane to remember those who fell in the battle. Sunday is the day of the popular Living History Event when there will be a living history display of medieval crafts, food, medicine and costume.

Refreshments, publications and gifts from stalls run by the Towton Battlefield Society and the Frei Compagnie Weather permitting, there will also be outdoors shows on the Sunday in the Castle grounds by the re-enactors - arming the knight, medieval combat and junior bill-drill.

For further information, please contact Sandal Castle Visitor Centre on 01924 249779. The centre is open at weekends 11am - 4pm and from 20 December - 4 January is open daily 11am - 4pm (except Bank Holi-days. And open morning only on Christmas Eve).

The question is who would like to support this?

Pasta was a introduced into Europe during the later middle ages, most likely from the middle east, as opposed to the more commonly held belief that it was brought back by Marco Polo. Medieval pasta was commonly stuffed cheese but recipes also include meat, fish and vegetables, including spinach and nettles and this became known as Ravioli derived from ravvolgere, the verb meaning "to wrap." In Italy, most regions had their own versions of ravioli and some of the earliest mentions of the dish come from the personal letters of Francisco di Marco, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. Reci-pes show ravioli being boiled in water, drained and sprinkled with grated cheese or cooked and served within a broth or pesto. Ravioli also found itself served on the tables of England and the following recipe is included in The Form of Curye, a 14th century English cookbook.