life in tudor times - hampshire · 2016-10-25 · life in tudor times 1111 parish and town the...

HAMPSHIRE RECORD OFFICE

archive education service

Life in Tudor Times

Hampshire Record Office Sussex Street Winchester SO23 8TH

01962 846154

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Table of Contents

Introduction

C H A P T E R 1

Parish and town

• Activity 1 the parish priest

• Activity 2 crime and punishment

• Activity 3 unhealthy towns

C H A P T E R 2

Monarchs and their subjects

• Activity 4 images of monarchs

• Activity 5 a royal progress

• Activity 6 houses now and then

• Activity 7 caring for the poor

C H A P T E R 3

Dissolution of the monasteries

• Activity 8 daily timetables

Introduction

It is suggested that this book be used as a resource to help study the scheme of work: History KS1 & 2 (year 3/4) Unit 8 ‘What were the differences between the lives of rich and poor people in Tudor times?’. The focus of the book is to examine the lives of rich and poor through contemporary primary sources including wills and inventories, images of Tudor monarchs from original documents, illustrations of an abbey conversion, effects of plague through parish registers and caring for the poor through the documents of wealthy benefactors. Examples of documents have been included throughout the book in digital format and transcripts have been provided where necessary with modern spelling used where appropriate. Pupils can use the original spelling as a basis for creating their own Tudor glossary – a literacy exercise which allows them to look at the origin of words and compare with modern equivalents. Money has been shown in its original format of £ s d (pounds, shillings and pence). A useful calculator of the equivalent value of money in Tudor (or any other) time with today’s value can be found on the internet at; http://measuringworth.com/calculators/ppoweruk/ As an example, Seth Lygo (see next page) was worth £14 11s 4d in 1550, using the website above he was worth the equivalent of £3,394.40 in 2006. To add up old money the following should be used:

• 12 pence = 1 shilling

• 20 shillings = 1 pound Each section has one or more suggested activities based upon the sources in the book which can be supplemented by further research in books, CDs etc. Source references have been included in some cases. It is recommended that teachers print out the book, but as this is a large document you may want to print it out in sections. Each section (or chapter) can be used as a standalone module.

L I F E I N T U D O R T I M E S

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Parish and town

T H E P A R I S H P R I E S T

Tudor England was chiefly an agricultural country. In villages and manors the gentry and yeomen farmed their land, with the hard, seasonal work of ploughing, harrowing, sowing, reaping and harvesting being done by villeins and peasants. The local unit of rural life beyond the manor was the parish and its church, where the parish priest was as important as the lord of the manor. The fact that the parish priest was probably the only man with any education in the village would also have raised his status. On the following page is an inventory of the goods of Seth Lygo, vicar at Preston Candover dated 1550.

Activity 1

• Draw a sketch plan of what you think the vicar’s house would have looked like from his inventory which names each room. You could sketch in the larger items of furniture too.

• Discuss reasons why a vicar would have items such as hay, barley, pigs, bacon, a cock and hen in his barn. Where might they have come from?

• Research about the role of a parish vicar or priest and find out what tithes and a tithe barn were.

• Compare the vicar’s household goods and the value of them with those of Elizabeth Thorley and Tamsin Carpenter elsewhere in this book. Comparing rich and poor.

NB a glossary of terms used in the inventories can be found as an appendix at the back of this resource book.

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INVENTORY OF THE GOODS OF SETH LYGO, VICAR OF PRESTON CANDOVER PARISH CHURCH, 27TH SEPTEMBER 1550

£ s d In money 4 0 0 In his chamber

things pertaining to his body 2 13 4 2 bedds with all thyrof belonging to them 2 a coffer 0 2 0 In the hall

a tabylle and fform 0 10 0 2 tabylle cloths and 4 napkins 0 3 4 6 quyfthynges 0 6 0 printed clothes 0 10 0 In the kitchen

1 pot, 1 kettle, 1 cawdrone 0 10 0 1 broche, 2 aundyrons, pothooks 0 4 0 ye pewter vessells, 4 plates, 5 poderingers, 4 sawsers, 1 basyn 0 10 0 1 ffrying pan, 1 skewer, 1 dripping pan 0 1 8 1 chayre, 2 stoles 0 2 0 1 tryvett and vessell 0 4 0 2 nyves 0 2 0 3 candylstyks 0 1 0 2 salt sellars 0 0 4 the honey and wax (from bees) 12 In the barn

the hay 0 7 0 the barley 0 13 4 the wood 0 7 0 a ladder 0 1 0 a wel-bukket and a chayne 0 1 0 2 pygs 0 2 0 the bacon 0 3 4 a cokke and 4 henys 0 1 0 a cubborde 0 4 0

total value £14. 11s 4d


C R I M E A N D P U N I S H M E N T

The towns of Tudor England remained largely medieval in character. Often they were themselves little more than overgrown villages, conveniently sited for road or river transport, or perhaps grown up around a large cathedral or monastery. In the narrow streets, craftsmen and tradesmen carried on their businesses under the ever-present threat of plague and death. They worked as weavers and sellers of cloth, tailors and leather-makers, or sold meat and dairy products brought in from the surrounding manors. Within most towns, including Portsmouth, Southampton, and Winchester, commercial life was controlled by small groups of rich merchants who enforced apprenticeships; regulated markets and fairs, weights and measures, quality and prices of bread, beer, and other foodstuffs. These local dignitaries also kept a close watch on morals, drunkenness and brawling. The documents on the following pages show examples of how Southampton’s town council regulated their town’s activities] Activity 2

• Look at the measures taken against those citizens of Southampton who were found guilty of stealing and drunkenness. Discuss how harsh these punishments seem by modern standards. What would you have done to punish these people and why?

• Look at the restrictions on brewing and baking. Why do you think there were shortages of corn and other grains at this time, what conditions might cause this to happen? Given a choice of making one type of bread which type would you choose and which is your favourite type today?


MEASURES AGAINST PETTY THEFT IN SOUTHAMPTON 4th September 1557 John Stoell, sawyer, was in the town jail for 14 days for stealing small timber planks and other small things. He was then taken to the pillory where he stood throughout the market day with a piece of paper pinned to him with his offence written on it. This was his first offence; and if he does the same again then he is to have an ear cut off and put into the pillory again, and then to be banished from this town for ever. MEASURES AGAINST DRUNKENNESS IN SOUTHAMPTON 10th August 1581 It is agreed by the mayor and council of Southampton that Walter Pryer, labourer, of the town of Southampton, is a common disturber of the Queen’s subjects within the said town and a common drunkard and very evil liver, that he shall be presently banished from the town; and if he at any time returns again to this town it is agreed that if he be found he shall be set in the pillory and then whipped out of the town as a vagabond; Walter Pryer has agreed to accept this punishment if he ever returns to this town again. It is also agreed that none of the tipplers (ale-house keepers) of this town are to allow in their ale-houses Walter Pryer, William Hall or any other common drunkards to drink there upon pain of losing their licence and further punishments. RESTRICTIONS ON BREWING BEER AND BAKING BREAD BECAUSE OF A SHORTAGE OF CORN 11th August 1596 By common agreement between the mayor, aldermen, and magistrates of Southampton, regarding her Majesty’s proclamation concerning the shortage of corn and grain in the country; it is noted that the common brewers of the town will only brew good and wholesome ordinary beer for her Majesty’s subjects, which will help reduce the number of lewd and evil disposed persons from drunkenness and haunting tippling houses (ale-houses);


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It was ordered that no beer brewer shall brew double strength beer, only one sort of very good and wholesome ordinary beer; and they are to make sure that it is well boiled. 25th March 1597 The shortage of corn is very great at this time, and has been so for a long time. So much so, that there are no stores of grain left to make bread for poor people, and the price of corn is very high indeed. There are many types of bread made by bakers, namely white, wheaten, and household. It is thought necessary that during the present corn shortage only one type of bread shall be made. All bakers and sellers of bread in shops and markets shall henceforth make and sell only one sort of bread, which shall be made of wheat or other corn only as it comes from the mill without sifting out the bran etc. (wholemeal bread) - and in no case to make white or wheaten bread, but only one kind of household leavened bread - to be good and wholesome for man’s body and not corrupted. This order shall not be broken upon pain of punishment, and all their bread shall be taken from them and given free to poor people.


U N H E A L T H Y T O W N S

One of the curses of Tudor England was smallpox, against which there was no prevention. Queen Elizabeth herself, along with thousands of her subjects, bore the scars of smallpox. Much of the reason for disease was that people had little sense of hygiene. The common people rarely bathed; baths were largely unknown in the houses of the rich; burials were often hastily and carelessly carried out, and the corpses of criminals were frequently left hanging on public gallows. Filth and slops were thrown out into the streets; rats and other pests infested the towns. The documents on the following page illustrate poor sanitary conditions in Tudor Winchester and the effects of the plague in the county] Activity 3

• Find out what a dung hill was.

• What do you think having these on public footpaths and the emptying of chamber pots (their fylthy potte) onto public footpaths would have been like when living in a Tudor town?

• The town of Alresford lies not far from Winchester, which families were badly affected by plague there in 1563?

THE COMMON CARRIER STOPPED BECAUSE OF THE PLAGUE IN LONDON 30th July 1593 On the day above, the mayor and town council of Southampton, gave due care and consideration to the danger of infection from the plague within the city of London which might be brought to the town by the common carrier (a wagon or coach travelling between London and other towns), the sickness there daily increasing more and more. It is agreed by the mayor and town council that the common carrier, called Raynold Gallis, nor any of his servants or carts, nor any of their bags or goods, shall be permitted to enter the town.


EXTRACTS FROM ALRESFORD PARISH BURIAL REGISTER 1563 Ex Peste (died of the plague)

Thomasin the wife of Richard Quallet buried 28th September Anne the daughter of William Prier buried 5th October Thomasin the daughter of Richard Quallet buried the same day William the son of Richard Quallet buried 9th October Isod the daughter of Richard Quallet buried 10th October Clase the daughter of Richard Quallet buried 13th October John Whyte buried 15th October Richard Quallet buried 22nd October Peter the son of Richard Quallet buried the same day John the son of widow Whyte was buried 14th November Joane the daughter of William Prior was buried 8th December

Detail from Alresford parish register showing plague burials in 1563

[HRO 43M74/PR1]


Monarchs and their

subjects

I M A G E S O F M O N A R C H Y

Henry VII’s accession to the throne of England in 1485, and his marriage to Elizabeth of York, succeeded in uniting the warring families of Lancaster and York, as well as England as a nation. He was the first of the Tudor monarchs to employ the tactic of patronage to influence aristocrats, nobles and Parliament. “Patronage was the process by which the Crown awarded grants of offices, lands, pensions, annuities, or other valuable perquisites [privileges] to its executives and dependants, and was thus its principal weapon of political control...Subjects, from great peers of the realm to humble knights and gentry, vied with each other for a share of the spoils - no nobleman was too high to join in the undignified scramble.”1 Many of the royal grants which were made to subjects of the Tudor monarchs have survived. Known as Letters Patent, they often have ‘official’ portraits of kings and queens drawn on them, and some have the great seal of England attached. These portraits can be set alongside famous paintings held in galleries around the country (also found as illustrations in history books and in postcard form from galleries).

Although many royal grants were distributed by the monarchy, not all of the people receiving grants of land etc. would meet the king or queen in person. Indeed, it was often the case that unless a person in the Tudor period was able to travel to court they might never see the king or queen in person during their lifetime. Of course there were ways in

1K.O. Morgan p233

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which the monarch could let his or her subjects see what they looked like: “If you were Queen Elizabeth 1, how would you ensure that the far-flung subjects who would never see you knew to whom they owed their allegiance, unless by their seeing the royal portrait in a great house, on a coin or an illuminated document?”2 Activity 4

• Create a Tudor monarchy timeline by printing out and using the illustrations of Tudor kings and queens on the following pages. Find alternative pictures of the Tudor kings and queens to place alongside these (from books, CD ROMs etc.)

• If you were Queen Elizabeth 1 which of the portraits from two different documents held at the Record Office would you approve and disapprove of?

2’A Teachers Guide to Portraits’ by English Heritage


Henry viii from a document of 1544 [HRO 5M53/233]

Edward vi from a document of 1547 [HRO 37M85/1/CH/7]

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Philip and Mary

Mary Tudor

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Elizabeth 1 from a document of 1599 [HRO 39M74/DB41]

Elizabeth 1 from a document of 1588 [W/A1/25/1]

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R O Y A L P R O G R E S S

Another way in which a monarch could be seen by their subjects was during one of their royal progresses. Such progresses were undertaken by a number of Tudor kings and queens as they travelled between the great houses and towns of southern England, where they were lavishly entertained by their hosts. The documents on the following pages are an example taken of a progress into Hampshire by Elizabeth 1 in 1591. Activity 5

• imagine the present Queen Elizabeth is paying a visit to your school, put together a programme of events to entertain her and include a dinner menu, suggesting how you would entertain and feed the Queen.

A sketch of the great entertainment for Queen Elizabeth at Elvetham Hall, Hampshire, 1591 [HRO 55M90/617]


THE ROYAL PROGRESS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH I TO ELVETHAM, HAMPSHIRE IN 1591

Queen Elizabeth was a keen traveller, and she made summer journeys through her kingdom almost every year until the very last year of her reign but she rarely covered more than 10 miles in a day and,as a result, she spent nights at various houses, castles and palaces. A summer progress offered the queen and her courtiers safety from the plague, which often broke out in London during the summer months. Whitehall Palace - the Queen’s main London house - was surrounded by a maze of narrow, dirty, airless streets and alleys, and plague deaths sometimes occurred very close to the royal apartments. During the plague of 1593 there were 11,503 reported plague deaths recorded in London. As summer approached, the Queen’s courtiers, attendants and servants waited with mounting anxiety for the Queen’s decision to leave London. When the announcement was made, everyone was thrown into a rush of activity and confusion. When on progress, the Queen and her courtiers rarely stayed more than two or three days at one place. The Queen’s household was moved around using carts ‘hired’ from local towns and villages. In 1591 Queen Elizabeth visited Elvetham, home of the Earl of Hertford, who had lost favour with the Queen for marrying Catherine Grey [the younger sister of Lady Jane Grey, who had been executed in the Tower of London by order of Queen Mary] without her consent. The following extract describes some of the lavish entertainment’s the Earl provided for the Queen’s visit. “Elvetham house being situate in a park but of two miles compasse [in size] or thereabouts, and of no great receipt [importance], as being none of the earles chief mansion houses, yet for the desire he had to show his unfaired love, and loyall duetie to her most gratious Highnesse, purposing to visite him in this her late progresse, whereof he had to understand by the ordinarie gesse [good guessing], as also by his honorable good frends in court near to her Majestie; his Honor with all expedition set artificers [carpenters, masons etc.] a work, to the number of three hundred, many daies before her Majesties arrivall, to inlarge his house with newe rooms and offices. First there was made a roome of estate for the nobles, and at the end therof a withdrawing place [private room] for her Majestie...[plus] spicerie, chaundrie [candle-making workshop], wine-seller, ewery [where finger bowls were washed], and panterie, all which were tyled...a

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large hall...a long bowre [chamber] for her Majesties guard..a great common buttrey, a picher-house, a large pastery [bakery], with five ovens new built, some of them foureteene foote deepe, a great kitchin, with four ranges, and a boyling place for small boild meates...a boiling house...scullery...cookes lodgings. Some of these were covered with canvas, and other some with bordes. Betweene my lord’s house and the forsayd hill, where these roomes were raised, there had beene made in the bottom, by handy labour, a goodly pond, and to the perfect figure of a half moon.” The Earl of Hertford’s lavish ‘entertainment’ lasted for four days from Monday 20th September until Thursday 23rd. William Shakespeare is said to have written a number of sonnets especially for the event, and it is possible that his play ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ was first performed there before the queen. Other entertainment’s included an ‘opera’, fireworks, and a game of lawn-tennis. “On the...Tuesday, Saint Mathews festivall, the forenoone was so wet and stormie, that nothing of pleasure could be presented her Majestie. But it helde up a little before dinner time, and all the day after: where otherwise faire sports would have beene buried in foule weather...Presently after dinner, my lord of Hertford caused a large canopie of estate to bee set at the ponds head, for her Majestie to sit under, and to view some sportes prepared in the water. The canopie was of green satten, lined with green taffeta...supported with four silver pillars... “On Wednesday morning, about nine of the clock, as her Majestie opened a casement of her window, there were three excellent musicians, who being disguised in ancient country attire, did greet her with a pleasant song...The same day after dinner, about three of the clock, ten of my lord of Hertfords servants, all Somersetshire men, in a square green court, before her Majesties window, did hang up lines squaring out the forme of a tennis-court, and making a crosse line in the middle. In this square (being stript out of their doublets) played, five to five, with the handball, at bord and cord, (as they term it) to so great liking of her Highness, that she graciously deyned to beholde their pastime more than an howre and a halfe... “After supper there were two delights presented unto her Majestie: curious fire works (from the islands fort, ship, snail-mount) and a sumptuous banket [banquet]...(the fire works included: running rockets on a line, fire-wheeles, pikes of pleasure, and balles of wilde fire, which burned in the water)...

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“On Thursday morning, her Majestie was no sooner readie, and at her gallerie window looking into the garden, but there began three cornets to play certaine fantasylike dances, at the measure wherof the Farey Quene came into the garden, dancing with her maides about her...This spectacle and musickle so delighted her Majestie, that she desired to see and hear it twice over: and then dismist the actors with thanks...Within an howre after her Majestie depparted, with her nobles, from Elvetham... “Her Majestie was so highly pleased with this and the rest, that shee openly protested to my lord of Hertford, that the begining processe and end of this her entertainment, was so honorable, as here after hee shoulde finde rewarde therof in her especiall favour.” It seems likely that the Earl of Hertford’s entertainment was loosely based upon an earlier, grander entertainment staged at Kenilworth during a hot July in 1575, when the Earl of Dudley provided a similar spectacular lasting three weeks. Such Royal entertainments were of course much more elaborate than common entertainments for the masses. They would have to be contented with less grand productions, usually held in the yards of inns, before the likes of James Burbage and others built the great Elizabethan playhouses including ‘The Curtain’ (1577), ‘Newington Butts’ (1579), ‘The Rose’ (1587), ‘The Swan’ (1594), ‘The Globe’ (1599) and ‘The Fortune’ (1600).


H O U S E S N O W A N D T H E N

The Tudor period is characterised by a remarkable richness in dress, of men as well as women. Women, like men, wore ruffs and neckerchiefs which were held in place by starch and by a wire device known as a supportasse or underpopper. The following pages show examples of two wills and inventories for rich and poor Tudor women which mention items of clothing including ruffs. Activity 6

• Look at the will of Elizabeth Thorley and work out how many ruff bands she owned and bequeathed to her friends.

• If you were leaving some of your possessions to your friends what they include?

• Look at the will and inventory for Tamsin Carpenter and compare this with Elizabeth Thorley. List the main differences you can find to show which was rich and which was poor.

• Look at the household inventories of Seth Lygo, Elizabeth Thorley and Tamsin Carpenter. Make a list of those items we still use today and those that we no longer have in our homes - then discuss why some items have remained in use whilst others have not.

• Make an inventory of your house today. First list all of the rooms – how does this compare with a Tudor house? Then list the items in the following rooms of your house – kitchen, living room, your bedroom – how do these compare with what was to be found in a house in Tudor times?


WILL OF ELIZABETH THORLEY OF ABBOTSTONE, widow Dated 20th February, 1598 I, Elizabeth Thorley of Abbotstone, widow, being sick in body but in perfect memory, Thanks be to God, do make my last will and testament in manner and form following viz., Firstly I bequeath my soul into the hands of Almighty God my Creator unto his son Jesus Christ my Redeemer unto the Holy Ghost my Comforter trusting ... to have remission of all my sins and my body to be buried in the parish Church of (Itchen) Stoke. I bequeath unto RICHARD DILLWORTHE my cousin £20 in money, a featherbed with all things thereunto belonging which bed I now lie on. I bequeath unto ELIZABETH WYNTER my neece £10 in money one flock bed with all things thereunto belonging. I bequeath unto the aforesaid Richard Dillworthe and Elizabeth Wynter all my brass and pewter to be equally divided between them. I bequeath unto the Right Honorable my Lady and the Lord Marquises of WINCHESTER one silver spoon. I bequeath unto the said Elizabeth Wynter 2 pair of sheets and 6 ruff bands. I bequeath unto MARGARET TAYLER (and) WIDOW BAKER one ruff band. I bequeath unto RACHELL WRIGHT one ruff band. I bequeath unto MARGARET PAINE and AGNES LAMPART to each of them a ruff band. I bequeath unto the said Elizabeth Wynter all my wearing apparell. I bequeath to Foster Burley my riding saddle with all the furniture thereunto belonging. I bequeath unto Widow Baker my best Hat and the Residue of all my goods Chattels whatsoever. I bequeath unto my aforesaid cousin Richard Dillworthe whom I make my sole executor of this my last will and testament. Elizabeth Thorley's mark


Household inventory of Elizabeth Thorley [HRO 1598A/104/2]


A TRUE INVENTORY OF THE GOODS OF ELIZABETH THORLEY WIDOW dwelling in ABBOTSTONE in the County of Southampton taken by HENDRY WOODS and RICHARD ADDERLEY 13th day of March 1598 £ s d A featherbed with the things thereunto belonging 2 10 0 A flock bed " " " " " 0 15 0 2 small table boards 0 5 0 3 formes 0 3 0 4 coffers 0 5 0 2 cheayres 0 2 0 4 stools 0 2 0 1 bushel 1 peck 0 2 0 2 flax wheels 0 3 0 4 ould Baskets 0 2 0 2 brass panns 0 10 0 2 kettells 0 10 0 other small ketels and kendelstikes 0 4 0 a warming pan 0 2 0 a pair of andirons 0 3 0 a fire shovel and tongs 0 0 6 3 spitts 0 2 0 of pewter 5 platters 0 3 0 2 Basins 0 2 0 2 collenanders 0 1 0 4 small potts 0 2 0 other littell dishes pottingers and spoons 0 1 6 2 littell salts 0 1 4 5 pair of stooles and odd 1 0 0 3 Gownes 3 0 0 2 petticoats 0 10 0 2 kertles 0 10 0 her wearing linning 0 10 0 2 hatts 0 10 0 a dozen napkins 0 4 0 4 small bord clothes 0 5 0 3 pillowberes 0 2 0 In money in the hands of the Rt. Hon. the Old Lady Marquis £30

Total £43 2s. 4d.

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The last will and testament of TAMSIN CARPENTER “In the name of God amen. The 29th of April in the year 1600. I, Tamison Carpenter of the parish of Nursling in the county of Southampton, widow, being sick of body but of perfect remembrance, do make my last will and testament in manner and form following. I give unto my daughter Margery Farmer a black mare, my best bolster, my best kettle and a coffer. The rest of my goods, moveable and unmoveable, my debts paid and legacies performed, I give unto my son James Carpenter whom I make my sole executor of this my last will and testament. Witness to this my will are William Horne, Henry Harmer” A TRUE INVENTORY OF ALL THE GOODS AND CHATTELS OF TAMSEN CARPENTER, WIDOW, of NURSLING, deceased, the 4th of May 1600. Taken by THOMAS BEAUFOREST and ARTHUR PRIOR, the first of June. £ s d

one feather bed with a bolster and a coverlet and an old pair of sheets 20s

Old forms and chests, and tubs, and a skillet, and a kettle 10s

An old cupboard 10s 6d Two cows £3 Two calves 13s 4d One third of eight acres of oats and barley 30s Sum total £6. 14s. 10d

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The household inventory of Tamsin Carpenter taken after her death [HRO 1600B7/2]


C H A R I T A B L E I N S T I T U T I O N S

St John's Hospital, Winchester, was in existence in the medieval period and was re-founded by John Devenish around 1275, by licence from King Edward 1, for the relief of sick and lame soldiers, poor pilgrims and needy wayfaring men. At the suppression (closure) of such houses in Henry viii’s reign the original house with a few beds was granted to the City of Winchester Corporation to be used as a place for their elections and meetings. As a result of Ralph Lamb's bequest in 1558 of Ratfin Farm, Amesbury (Wilts) and tenements in Winchester, six new almshouses were added to St John’s Hospital for the use of six poor widows of Winchester citizens to be called "The almesfolk of Raffe Lambe”. Under the terms of his will Lamb requested £400 to be used for the purchase of property for the benefit of St John's Hospital, Winchester, for the maintenance of poor people. During their lives the Corporation should pay 40 shillings per year over four feast days to each person in the Hospital; they were also to receive a gown worth 10 shillings every years, and coal worth 40 shillings every year (the person who distributes the coals to be paid 6 shillings and 8 pence). The Corporation were also obliged to pay 2 shillings to each poor person in the Hospital in memory of the founder, within six days of the election of the Mayor of the City. Any surplus money was to be distributed to the six poor persons by the Mayor at the discretion of the Mayor and the other aldermen who had previously been Mayors. Activity 7

• If you were going to do something for the poor people of your town or village what would that be – a bequest of money, land or property perhaps?

• Why do you think people like Ralph Lamb made bequests to the poor? See if you can find other examples of wills where people left charitable bequests (look at the language and conditions of the wills for clues). Look at the symbols on the document below what do you think tell us about Ralph Lamb?


Part of the document detailing Ralph Lamb’s gifts for the care of poor people in Winchester, 1562 [34M91W/206]


Dissolution of the

monasteries

When Henry VIII came to the throne of England in 1509 the interest in founding monasteries seen in medieval times had lost much of its old appeal. Since 1400 only eight new religious houses had been founded. No chronicles were being written (the development of printing had largely removed the need for hand-written chronicles). Little was being done for learning, as the monastic schools were used mainly to train novices and choristers, with only a few scholars going to the universities. The main duties of a religious house - the offering of prayers, the giving of alms to the poor, and the exercise of hospitality - were not being performed with great enthusiasm. The authorities were aware that in some monasteries things were not as they should be. In 1531 there was talk at court of a scheme to confiscate all religious houses, reducing the clergy to paid officials. As the monasteries were the last stronghold of the Pope’s supremacy in England, and because the sale or rental of their property and lands could raise large sums of money for the royal coffers, Henry VIII decided to close them. In the Hampshire return of the Valor Ecclesiasticus, presented on 30 May, 1536, by Sir James Worsley, John Paulet, George Paulet and William Berners, no mention was made of bad practice in any of the county’s monasteries. By the end of 1536, however, St. Denys, Netley and Quarr abbeys had all ‘surrendered’ to the Crown. In 1537 Titchfield abbey was closed and granted to Thomas Wriothesley, along with Beaulieu, Swanwick, and Hyde. The Dissolution created a new class of landlord in Hampshire, although not all of the ‘new’ men were Protestant reformers, and many, including William Paulet and Thomas Wriothesley (who between them came to

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own more than half of the country estates in Hampshire) remained loyal to the Catholic faith. Activity 8

• Look at the description of life at Titchfield Abbey before the dissolution. Create a daily time-table for the monks who lived and worked at the abbey (use text books to add further information or illustrations of activities). You could make a circular daily clock from card divided into 12 segments (hours) to represent the activities of monks and pupils. Compare this lifestyle with a typical school day from your own time-table and discuss the merits of both.

• Using evidence from the photograph below and description of the abbey create a shoe-box model and identify the various buildings and functions of the abbey. Contrast this with rooms in your school (dining room, hall, sick room etc) are there similarities?

• Design simple word cards for the words underlined in the description of the abbey, research their meanings and create a glossary – perhaps to display alongside a model/illustration.

The remains of Titchfield Abbey (and Place House) from the air [HRO 65M89/Z228/20]


A D E S C R I P T I O N O F L I F E A T T I T C H F I E L D A B B E Y

F R O M T H E V I C T O R I A C O U N T Y H I S T O R Y ( 1 9 0 0 )

The Premonstratensian Abbey [an order of monks founded by St Norbert at Premonstre, in 1119] of Titchfield, nine miles south-east of Southampton, was founded by Bishop Peter des Roches in the year 1222, when a colony of White Canons [monks who wore white robes] were invited to settle there from the Shropshire Abbey of Halesowen... It is often forgotten how large a portion of his time a monk or canon was expected to give to the study of the scriptures and other literature. This was particularly the case with the order of Premonstre...The office of librarian was joined to that of chanter [a monk who chants or sings] in the Austin [an order of monks founded by St Augustine] houses, but was a separate office in the Premonstratensian houses... The Premonstratensian rule stated that after sext, [midday] which followed immediately after high mass, [a service celebrated with incense and music] the time was to be given to reading (whilst the servants and reader dined) until the bell rang to enter the frater [dining room]. In the winter most of the brothers had light refreshment after terce [the part of the day from 9am to 12am] , and dinner was not served until after nones [3pm]; and in that half of the year the long interval between sext and nones was assigned to reading. Again, after evensong [a service around sunset] throughout the year, there was reading until the bell sounded for collation [a time for monks to read]...All the brothers were to read at the appointed hour, except those doing necessary duties, and they were to make all speed to attend lection [a daily reading of a lesson]. They were to sit in the cloister [a covered walkway around a courtyard] when reading, conducting themselves with all decorum, each reading his own book, except those who might be singing from antiphoners [a short song], graduals [songs sung at the altar steps], or hymnaries [a collection of hymns], or giving readings to others. If anyone wanted to leave the collation he was to replace his book in the case, or if he wished to leave it on his seat to signify to a brother sitting near that he left it in his custody. At all times of lection the brothers were to wear their slippers. No manuscript [a handwritten book] was to be kept in the cloister carrols [a study room] nor in the dormitory [monks bedroom] chests without permission from the abbot [the head of an abbey].

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The librarian, called an armarius, [from the armarium or case in which the books were kept], was to mend and care for the books and to open and shut the case as required. He was to hand out and change the books as they were wanted, but not without permission of the abbot or prior [the head of a priory], or without making an entry in a notebook. He was also required to keep a numbered list of the books... The usual places for books to be kept in religious houses were cases in recesses or openings off the cloister. It was not until later that a few of the larger abbeys thought of building a special room or building for the library....There were in the library at Titchfield Abbey four cases in which to keep the books...each of these cases had eight shelves marked with a letter of the alphabet...The total number of books was 224, but it must be remembered that many of these books contained a variety of treatises [pamphlets] which if printed today would make several separate books...only one book was named as written in English...At the end of the library catalogue a list is given of upwards of a hundred books on religion, and usually kept in the church. The library catalogue was followed by an itinerary, or distance in miles, of the various English abbeys of White Canons from Titchfield; the nearest being Durford in Sussex, 16 miles, and the most remote Alnwick in Northumberland, 276 miles.


T H E W R I O T H E S L E Y F A M I L Y

Thomas Wriothesley (pronounced Rizly) acquired much land in Hampshire as a direct result of his involvement in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He set about converting his first possession, Titchfield Abbey, into a grand house for himself and his family almost immediately. Thomas Wriothesley was knighted in 1539, became Baron Wriothesley in 1543, and was created Earl of Southampton in 1547. His reluctance to reject his strong Catholic faith brought him into conflict with the king and his council on a number of occasions. Thomas’s son, Henry, was also a strong supporter of the Catholic Church, and was linked to the Northern rebellion against Queen Elizabeth, as well as the Ridolfi Plot of 1571. He was twice placed in the Tower of London for his religious activities. The third Earl of Southampton is best known for his patronage of the arts, and in particular his support of William Shakespeare, who dedicated some of his work to the Earl. The third Earl narrowly missed execution for his links with Essex’s revolt against Queen Elizabeth 1, spending more than two years in the tower before being pardoned by King James 1. C O N V E R T I N G M O N A S T I C H O U S E S

It was an essential part of the plan of Henry VIII’s suppression of the monasteries to ensure that they could not be restored at a later date on the sites which fell to the Crown. In some cases they became the seats of new bishoprics; in others, as at Titchfield, the buildings were made into houses. Some towns, like Christchurch and Romsey, were able to preserve their abbey churches. Usually, however, the Crown either undertook demolition itself or stipulated that the new owners should carry out demolition within a stated period. The demolition centred on the monastic buildings proper - the church, the chapter house and the cloister. The other buildings would usually be adapted by the new owners, perhaps incorporating them into their new houses. The following is an extract taken from a letter to Thomas Wriothesley from John Crayford, clerk, and Roland Latham, the king’s commissioners for the dissolution of Titchfield Abbey. Much of

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Wriothesley’s conversion can still be seen and the layout of most the buildings of the former abbey have been excavated during archaeological digs. The work under Crayford’s supervision, took many months. Stone was brought, via Southampton, from Caen in Normandy. The steeple, choir, presbytery and north and south transepts of the abbey church were removed and over the middle bay of the nave a great towerhouse was built. The chapter house became Wriothesley’s chapel and the abbey frater his great hall. Activity 9

• Read the description of Wriothesley’s conversion of Titchfield Abbey and look at the plan and illustrations. If you were converting the abbey for your great house which parts of the abbey would you choose to keep (remembering that the church had to have its roof removed). Draw your own plan showing your conversion.


T H E C O N V E R S I O N O F T I T C H F I E L D A B B E Y

B Y T H O M A S W R I O T H E S L E Y I N 1 5 3 8

“The kitchen is large and old and may with little charge be made new in the same place. The hall is devised to stand in plan covenable [conveniently] for the premises and the door to appear in the great court which will be square, every way a hundred foot.

A gallery of 13 foot broad and the same length with the court if you list [wish], and as much for servant’s lodging. You shall understand that the church is furthest south from all other lodging, joining to the garden and orchard, so the kitchen there and the sink must be aligned with your rosemary and lavender etc.3...All the church must come down with the steeple, only that portion which is north from the steeple and knit with the dorter to stand,4 for your dining parlour and chapel beneath, and for lodging of two storeys if you list,5 leaded and [em]battled above with fair crests and prospects east, west, and south upon your garden, orchard and court. It was too long to write all. To be brief, you may have with reasonable charges an house for the king’s grace to ‘bate’ [visit] and for any baron6 to keep his hospitality in....The frater may be lodging as you write and the side of the court above.7 Under that almost the whole length is there a buttery, vaulted right well, for 60 ton of beer or wine. Next unto that eastward the pantry, within that the cellar for wine, both vaulted. Southward and next under this the hall,8 fifty foot or more in length as you will, the high desk [dais] to join with that portion of the church that shall stand.

3Wriothesley apparently wished to make a kitchen in the western part of the abbey church, but this would have been adjacent to his pleasure garden.

4i.e. the North transept.

5the eastern range.

6Wriothesley was not made a baron until 1544.

7i.e. an upper storey to the north alley of the cloister.

8this was to be newly built.

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Mr Sherlond was here on Sunday and from East Meon 14 miles off some half a dozen of neighbours to visit your manor and view our hospitality. Wheras they had meat, drink and lodging and have promised to return and buy marble, stones, altars, images, tables, etc. upon the [proceeds of] which we propose to levy our Christmas charges.”

Place House, showing Thomas Wriothesley’s conversion of Titchfield Abbey as it looked after completion {HRO 84M94/98/150]


A plan of Titchfield Abbey with the outline of Thomas Wriothesley’s Place House shown as dark shaded area


G L O S S A R Y F O R U S E W I T H W I L L S A N D I N V E N T O R I E S

andirons/aundyrons pair of horizontal iron bars, supported on

legs, used for supporting logs in a fireplace. bord clothes tablecloths. broche a spit. cawdrone a large kettle or boiling pot. coffer a chest, without legs, for keeping valuables. cubborde cupboard, like a modern cupboard

butwithout doors. fform, forme a bench. flock stuffing material. kertle gown or outer petticoat. linning linen. pillowberes pillowcases. poderinger/porringer/ small basin for holding soup, stew etc. pottinger quyfthynges small drinking vessels (possibly of silver) (quaffing pots) ruff band frill on the neck or sleeve of a garment. tryvett a trivet or small stand for pot, kettle, etc. placed over a fire.

life in tudor times - hampshire · 2016-10-25 · life in tudor times 1111 parish and town the...

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