The British Library is home to hundreds of beautiful illuminated Books of Hours, prayerbooks that were hugely popular during the medieval and early modern eras, as they allowed lay people to develop and observe their own routines of personal devotion. These Books of Hours also provide us with significant insights into the lives of their patrons and owners, who often inscribed these manuscripts with their own beliefs, thoughts and recollections, details of significant events in their lives, and interactions with their most intimate circles of friends and family.

One such Book of Hours (Add MS 17012) stands out for the additions made for one of its female owners. Originally written and illuminated in Antwerp around the year 1500, it subsequently came to London, where it belonged to a prominent woman at the early Tudor court. The volume’s female owner used it not simply as her own personal prayerbook and set of devotions, but also as an autograph book, in which she collected signatures and expressions of favour from numerous members of the court, and even the Tudor royal family. The manuscript has recently been digitised as part of our Medieval and Renaissance Women project and is now available online, thanks to generous funding from Joanna and Graham Barker.

A portrait of Mary Magdalene: Add MS 17012, f. 36v

The female owner of this Book of Hours has been identified as Lady Joan Vaux (b. c. 1463, d. 1538), also known as Mother Guilford. Her identity was determined by Mary Erler in a number of extended studies of the volume and its numerous inscriptions (see Erler, 'Widows in Retirement’, Religion and Literature, 37 (2005), 51–75; Erler, ‘The Book of Hours as album amicorum: Jane Guildford’s Book’, in The Social Life of Illumination: Manuscripts, Images, and Communities in the Late Middle Ages, ed. by Joyce Coleman, Mark Cruse, and Kathryn Smith (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013), pp. 505–36). Vaux was an English courtier who served as lady-in-waiting to four Queens, as well as Lady Governess to the Princesses Margaret and Mary Tudor, the daughters of Henry VII and later Queens of Scotland and France. She continued to play an important role at court for much of her life — she was even known to the Dutch philosopher and humanist Erasmus — and seems to have been well respected and admired there, receiving a healthy pension and lavish gifts from the King when she retired.

Joan married twice. Her first husband was Sir Richard Guilford (b. c. 1450, d. 1506), an explorer and naval commander who died on pilgrimage to the Holy Land; her second was the English diplomat Sir Anthony Poyntz (b. c. 1480, d. 1533/35). Among the added inscriptions throughout Joan’s Book of Hours are messages and inscriptions by members of the Poyntz family. Her brother-in-laws John Poyntz (b. c. 1485, d. 1544) and Francis Poyntz (d. 1528) inscribed their Latin mottos and monograms at one of the volume’s blank openings, and Francis also added his own message, which reads, ‘Madame when ye most devoutyst be have yn remembreance f and p’. Their inscriptions appear beside that of another member of the Tudor court, Thomas Manners (b. c. 1497, d. 1543), Lord Roos and 1st Earl of Rutland, who says to her, ‘Madam wan you ar dysposyd to pray remember your assured sarvant always, T Roos’.

An opening from a Book of Hours, showing inscriptions from John and Francis Poyntz, and Thomas Manners: Add MS 17012, ff. 179v–180r

A heart-shaped monogram and added inscription: Add MS 17012, f. 180r

In addition to these personal inscriptions from her family and fellow courtiers, Joan also received expressions of favour from no less than six members of the Tudor royal family. These appear most prominently on a single opening at the very beginning of the Book of the Hours, before its main collection of prayers.

Inscriptions from members of the Tudor royal family added to the Book of Hours: Add MS 17012, ff. 20v–21r

Here, the left-hand page of the opening is given over to inscriptions by King Henry VIII (r. 1509–1547), who signs his name at the end of one set of prayers, followed by his first wife Catherine of Aragon (b. 1485, d. 1536), who writes her own message, calling the book’s owner a friend and asking for her prayers.

Henry VIII

The signed name of Henry VIII: Add MS 17012, f. 20v

Catherine of Aragon

The added inscription of Catherine of Aragon: Add MS 17012, f. 20v

        I thinke the prayers of a frend the
        most acceptable unto God and
        because I take you for one of myn
        assured I pray you remembre me
        in yours.

        Katherine the queen

On the facing page, we find added messages from King Henry VII (r. 1485–1509), his Queen consort Elizabeth of York (b. 1466, d. 1503), and their daughter Princess Margaret (b. 1489, d. 1541). The King and Queen wrote in English and the Princess in French.

Henry VII

The added inscription of Henry VII: Add MS 17012, f. 21r

        Madame I pray you re
        membre me your louyng
        maistre.

        Henry R[ex]

Elizabeth of York

The added inscription of Elizabeth of York: Add MS 17012, f. 21r

        Madame I pray you forget
        not me to pray to god
        I may haue part of
        your prayers.

        Elysabeth the quene

Princess Margaret

The added inscription of Princess Margaret, shot under ultraviolet light: Add MS 17012, f. 21r

        et moy je vous prie que maintietenes
        tourjours en sa bonne grace

        cest m[argueri]te

        and myself, I pray that you remain
        always in his good grace

        this is Margaret

Remarkably, these inscriptions are not the only additions to this Book of Hours made by members of the Tudor royal family. At the end of the volume, another text has been added, an English translation of a Latin prayer (‘Concede mihi, misericors Deus’) attributed to the Italian theologian Thomas Aquinas. The prayer’s introduction indicates that this translation was made by Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I (r. 1553–1558), in 1527, when she was only 11 years old:

The prayor of Saynt Thomas of Aquyne, translatyd oute of Latyn unto Englyshe by the moste exselent Prynses Mary, doughter to the moste hygh and myghty Prynce and Prynces kyng Henry the viij. and Quene Kateryne hys wyfe in the yere of our Lorde God m'.ccccc.xxvij [1527]. and the xj yere of here age

The beginning of an added English translation of a Latin prayer by Thomas Aquinas, made by Princess Mary: Add MS 17012, f. 192v

In the margin beneath this text, Mary added her own message and dedication to the book’s owner, mirroring the sentiments of other members of her family in asking Joan to remember her in her prayers:

        I have red that no body lyvethe as
        he shulde doo but he that foloweth
        verrtu and y reckenynge you to be one of
        them I pray you to remembre me
        yn your devocyons.

        Mary the princesse

The multiple expressions of royal favour throughout the Book of Hours speak to the prominence and reputation of its owner, and they also provide a fascinating insight into the changing dynamics of the Tudor court itself. This is particularly apparent in the treatment of the inscriptions made by Catherine of Aragon and her daughter Mary. In all these cases, vigorous attempts at erasure have been made. Catherine’s title as ‘quene’ and ‘wife’ to Henry VIII, and Mary’s title as ‘princess’, have been scrubbed away and subsequently overwritten to prevent them from being read.

Erasures made to inscriptions and texts by Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary: Add MS 17012, ff. 20v, 192v

Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon famously did not last, with the King annulling it in 1533, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. He subsequently banished Catherine from the royal court, stripping her of her title as Queen. Until the end of her life, she was known as the ‘Dowager Princess of Wales’, in light of her marriage to Henry’s older brother, Prince Arthur (d. 1502). Mary, meanwhile, was deemed illegitimate and styled ‘The Lady Mary’, the title Princess similarly taken away from her. Joan Vaux herself was notably called for a deposition during the divorce proceedings, where she was asked to testify whether or not Catherine’s marriage to Arthur had been consummated. It is unclear whether Joan was forced to undertake the removal of Catherine’s and Mary’s titles in her own Book of Hours, or whether this was the work of a later owner of the book.

A portrait of St Anne, with the Virgin Mary and Infant Christ: Add MS 17012, f. 34v

Joan’s book represents a tantalising witness to the life of a significant figure at the Tudor court, the affections of her family and friends, and to a fraught and changing political climate that dominated England in the early 1500s. We hope you enjoy exploring its pages online.

 

Calum Cockburn

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'Leonardo da Vinci's Papers: Invention and Reconstruction': 18–19 May 2023

Following the British Library’s landmark 2019 exhibition Leonardo da Vinci: A Mind in Motion, we are very pleased to announce a two-day international academic conference which will showcase the latest research on crucial aspects of Leonardo da Vinci’s paper legacy in the wider context of both his notebooks and drawings. 

The conference is organised by Juliana Barone in collaboration with the British Library and the Warburg Institute, with support from Birkbeck College. Each day will be held at the different partner institution:

• 18 May, British Library, London (Knowledge Centre)
• 19 May, Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU (Chancellor’s Hall)

Traditionally, Leonardo’s written and artistic works have been considered separately but they are in fact intrinsically related and form the pillars of both his intellectual investigations and inventive processes. ‘Leonardo da Vinci’s Papers: Invention and Reconstruction’ will newly explore interdisciplinary aspects concerning the various types and innovative uses of paper by one of the most complex and prolific polymaths of our times.

Questions relating to the physical characteristics of Leonardo’s papers and ways to examine them will form a springboard for re-evaluations by scholars about dating, attribution, collections, reconstructions, reception and imaging, and also offer a unique opportunity to discuss how we might view his legacy today.

Transmitted light image of a bifolium from the Codex Arundel showing a mermaid watermark, chain and laid lines: Arundel MS 263, ff. 183r–182v

The conference programme comprises leading art historians, science historians, curators, conservators and scientists from key national and international institutions. Confirmed speakers include Martin Kemp (University of Oxford), Juliana Barone (Birkbeck College and the Warburg Institute), Martin Clayton (Royal Collection Trust), Carmen Bambach (Metropolitan Museum), Margaret Holben Ellis (New York University), Pietro Marani (Politecnico di Milano), and Cecilia Frosinini (Scientific Committee of the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence). 

The conference will be accompanied by a public event, Daggers Drawn and Drawn Daggers. An hour with Leonardo and Michelangelo, presented by Martin Kemp (Oxford) and Ruth Rosen (actress) at the British Library on the evening of 18 May.

Drawing of a nude figure of a man by Leonardo da Vinci. Royal Collection / © His Majesty King Charles III, 2023

Tickets are available for purchase for the two-day conference and the public event. Both will be live-streamed and an option to purchase tickets to watch online is also available.

 

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How do you bring a soon-to-be queen to her new kingdom?

In November 1444, an expedition of over 300 people was sent to France with a specific mission: to bring Margaret of Anjou (b. 1430, d. 1482) to England for her marriage to King Henry VI (r. 1422–1461, 1470–1471). The receipts and expenses of the journey and of the preparations made for it were recorded in an account-book (Add MS 23938) which has been digitised for the British Library's Medieval and Renaissance Women project. The volume in question, covering the period from 17 July 1444 to 16 October 1445, was compiled by two royal clerks, John Breknoke and John Everdon.

The first page of the account-book containing the receipts and expenses of the expedition to bring Margaret of Anjou to England: Add MS 23938. f. 1r

Margaret of Anjou was the daughter of René (r. 1435–1442), Duke of Anjou and King of Naples, and Isabella (b. 1400, d. 1453), Duchess of Lorraine. Her marriage to Henry VI had been negotiated by William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, as part of a truce in the Hundred Years’ War between France and England. Margaret was betrothed (that is, promised in marriage) to Henry when she was 15 years old, and her future husband was 23. She was originally married to Henry by proxy, before she left for England, with William de la Pole standing in for Henry. The accounts describe her from that point onwards as Queen of England, being titled in Latin, ‘Compotus Johannis Breknoke et Johannis Euerdon de expensis domine Margarete regine veniente in Angliam’.

Queen Margaret of Anjou and King Henry VI in the ‘Talbot Shrewsbury Book': Royal MS 15 E VI, f. 2v

For the fifteen months covered by this account, a temporary household was created with the sole purpose of organising Margaret’s journey to England and accompanying her until she could be provided with a new permanent establishment upon her arrival. The expedition was led by William de la Pole himself. It was expected that the journey would only last three months, but in fact it lasted from November 1444 until April 1445. The cost of this enterprise was £5,563 17s. 5d., exceeding the funds that had been assigned to it by over £400.

The total expenditure covered by the accounts: Add MS 23938, f. 21r

The accounts contain an extraordinary list of people who accompanied the queen during the journey. As well as the Duke of Suffolk, it included the Marchioness of Suffolk and her ladies, 5 barons and 5 baronesses, 17 knights, 65 esquires and 204 valets. The queen’s own Angevin servants and entourage joined them on the way back to England, multiplying the number of people onboard. The journey also required the expertise of multiple sailors, who brought Margaret from France to England via the Cinque Ports (the five major ports in South-East England: Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, New Romney and Hastings).

A list of wages and people in the expedition: Add MS 23938, f. 13r

These accounts provide a fascinating insight into one of the most solemn and expensive such expeditions in medieval English history. Margaret remained married to Henry until he was murdered at the Tower of London in May 1471. She was subsequently placed into the custody of Alice Chaucer, Duchess of Suffolk (Geoffrey Chaucer's grand-daughter), her former lady-in-waiting, before being ransomed by King Louis XI in 1475 and returning to France, where she lived the remainder of her life. Those events are reflected by another document digitised for our project (Add Ch 13293); but that's another story!

A certificate for the safe delivery of Margaret of Anjou to Louis XI in 1476, photographed under ultraviolet light (Add Ch 13293)

We are extremely grateful to Joanna and Graham Barker for their generous funding of Medieval and Renaissance Women.

 

Paula Del Val Vales

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Rejoice! Over the past year, we've been hard at work digitising and cataloguing manuscripts connected with Medieval and Renaissance Women. We can now announce that all the manuscript volumes are online, no fewer than 93 (NINETY-THREE) of them. Many of these items were nominated by the readers of this Blog. We know that these manuscripts will support research into a wide variety of subjects that are close to our heart — women authors, female patronage and book ownership, women's health, education and business dealings, female spirituality, to name a few.

St Birgitta of Sweden, sitting and writing in a book, from a copy of her Revelations (Cotton MS Claudius B I, f. 117r)

You can download the full list here, with links to the British Library's Digitised Manuscripts site. There, you'll be able to peruse these manuscripts in full and for free from the comfort of your own living room, office or jacuzzi (perhaps don't try this at home).

PDF: Download Medieval_and_renaissance_women_digitised_vols_mar_2023

Excel: Download Medieval_and_renaissance_women_digitised_vols_mar_2023 (this format cannot be downloaded on all web browsers)

An indenture between Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and John Islip, Abbot of Westminster Abbey (Lansdowne MS 441, f. 3r)

We've also been digitising a significant number of our charters and rolls relating to Medieval and Renaissance Women (218 charters at the last count and 25 rolls). We will make a separate announcement when all of these are online — many of them already are, if you have been following this Blog carefully (most recently Claim of thrones and Mary had a little lamb).

The opening of a chapter on skin care from Le Regime du Corps (Sloane MS 2401, f. 47r)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Joanna and Graham Barker for their generous funding of Medieval and Renaissance Women, and essentially for making this all possible. We'd also like to thank our colleagues — the project co-ordinators, cataloguers, conservators, imaging technicians, digital specialists and fundraisers — who have been beavering away behind the scenes to bring this project to fruition.

The proceedings of the trial of Joan of Arc (Egerton MS 984, f. 3r)

From the works of Christine de Pisan, the first European woman to make her living from writing books, to treatises dealing with pregnancy, from cartularies and obituary calendars to the writings of Hildegard of Bingen and Birgitta of Sweden, not to mention the trial proceedings of Joan of Arc, we invite you to explore this wonderful and eye-opening collection.

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One of the more unusual manuscripts digitised for the British Library’s Medieval and Renaissance Women project is Cotton Roll XIV 8: a year-long menu for the 15-year-old Princess Mary (the future Queen Mary I) and her household, in 1531.

The lunch menu for Mary and her household on Christmas, New Year’s Day and Twelfth Night: Cotton Roll XIV 8

This manuscript gives us a fascinating insight into the food eaten not only by Mary herself, but also by her household officials and servants. It is divided into six columns. The first column lists the dishes given to Mary and the second those for her lord president, chancellor, chamberlain, vice-chamberlain, steward, treasurer, comptroller, and other leading councillors. The third column is for her senior household officials, the cofferer, the clerk of the comptroller, the clerk of the kitchen, and the marshal. The fourth column is for gentlemen and gentlewomen. The titles of the final two columns have been torn off, but they were probably for Mary’s more junior servants and staff.

A portrait of Princess Mary, attributed to Lucas Horenbout (Hornebolte), c. 1525: courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG 6453

The manuscript lists many dishes that may be unfamiliar to us today, such as pottage (a thick stew), brawn (meat boiled in spices and jelly, eaten cold), and bakemeats (pastry dishes, savoury or sweet, such as pies or tarts). More recognisable foods are pork, custard and blancmange. One of the most common meats is poultry, including chicken, swan, goose, partridge, snipe, crane, pheasant and heron.

The menu begins with Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, and Twelfth Night (6 January), the culmination of the Christmas season. On these days, Mary was to have two courses at each meal, with over 10 dishes per course at lunch and about 8 dishes at dinner, including roast swan, venison, pike, brawn, heron, rabbit, pheasant, sturgeon, crane, lamb, partridge, blancmange, custard and tarts. For lunch, she also had a boar’s head ‘solemnly served’. This was the traditional centrepiece of a Christmas feast for royal and noble households and it was usually seasoned with rosemary and bay leaves. Mary would be served this same menu on the feasts of All Saints (1 November) and the Purification (2 February), with the exception of the boar’s head. In contrast, the lowest of her household servants would have just five dishes at lunch, eating pottage, meat, pig or goose, veal or pork, and bakemeats.

After Christmas, the manuscript moves on to the menu for Sundays and feast days, and then for the others day of the week. The dishes are quite similar but fewer in number. Mary still had two courses at each meal, usually totalling 14 dishes at lunch and 10 at dinner. For the lowest servants in her household, only one course of two or three dishes was served. The exceptions to this rule were Fridays and Saturdays, when Catholics were supposed to eat fish instead of meat. On those days the menu lists a wide array of different fish, including plaice, haddock, cod, salmon, bream and lampreys.

A miniature of a feast from a Book of Hours ('The Golf Book') (Bruges, c. 1540): Add MS 24098, f. 19v

Our manuscript sheds light on the meals eaten at a royal court and how the food differed according to social status. Mary herself and her chief officials enjoyed a wide selection of dishes, while those at the lowest end of the scale were offered a much smaller range. The impression is of a wealthy court, with the princess feasting on a wide array of foods.

But 1531 was a difficult year for the princess. Her father, Henry VIII, banished her mother, Katherine of Aragon, from court in favour of his mistress, Anne Boleyn, who kept Mary away from Henry. Mary’s health declined and she suffered several illnesses. Although Mary might not have enjoyed the food listed here as much as in a typical year (she was unable to keep her food down for three weeks in the summer), this manuscript does give us a valuable insight into the food eaten by her household just two years before she fell further out of favour. In 1533, Henry divorced her mother and married Anne Boleyn. In response, the princess’s household was reduced from over 160 servants to just two. The following year, Mary was declared illegitimate. She would not again enjoy the lavish feasts described in this menu until she became queen of England in 1553.

We are grateful to Joanna and Graham Barker for their generous funding of Medieval and Renaissance Women.

 

Rory MacLellan

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Who was the first Queen of England in her own right? Matilda? Lady Jane Grey? Mary? Does Isabel of Portugal spring to mind?

To set the scene. On 21 May 1471, King Henry VI of England (r. 1422–1461, 1470–1471) died at the Tower of London, the prisoner of his rival Edward IV (r. 1461–1470, 1471–1483), the first Yorkist king. Henry had no surviving heirs, and his death took place during the Wars of the Roses, a time of political turmoil in England. For over a century, the English throne had been disputed by two rival families: Lancaster and York.

Amidst this conflict, and only a month after Henry VI’s death, Isabel of Portugal (b. 1397, d. 1471), dowager Duchess of Burgundy, laid a claim to the English throne. In a solemn document issued on 17 June 1471, Isabel declared herself universal heiress of the late king. The charter in which Isabel claimed her rights to the crown of England (Add Ch 8043) has been digitised for our Medieval and Renaissance Women Project.

Isabel of Portugal claims her rights to the crown of England and declares herself universal heiress of Henry VI, the late king: Add Ch 8043

Isabel of Portugal, dowager Duchess of Burgundy, was the daughter of João I, King of Portugal (r. 1385–1433), and Queen Philippa of Lancaster (b. 1360, d. 1415). Through her maternal lineage, Isabel shared a common ancestor with King Henry VI of England: John of Gaunt (b. 1340, d. 1399), Duke of Lancaster. John of Gaunt was Isabel’s grandfather and Henry VI’s great-grandfather. It was on the grounds of this consanguinity (the kinship of two individuals characterized by the sharing of common ancestors) that Isabel made claim to the English throne.

John of Gaunt and his relationships with the ruling houses of Portugal and Europe, including Isabel of Portugal (in red, right-hand margin), from the ‘Portuguese Genealogies’ (16th century): Add MS 12531/3, f. 10r

The charter was signed by Isabel herself, and it was validated by two notaries, Hugo de le Val and Matheus de Hamello, clergymen of the city of Arras in France (‘presbiter canonicus Atrebatensibus’). These notarial marks, together with Isabel’s signature, conferred legal validity upon this document.

Close-up of Isabel’s signature and two notarial marks: Add Ch 8043

However, Isabel did not hold on to her claim to the English throne for long. Only a few months later, on 3 November 1471, she ceded her rights to her son, Charles the Bold (b. 1433, d. 1477), Duke of Burgundy. At this time Isabel was 74 years old, and she died soon afterwards, on 17 December 1471, in the town of Aire-sur-la-Lys in France. The Yorkist king, Edward IV, ruled over England until 1483, surviving both Isabel and Charles the Bold, mother and son.

Charles the Bold, son of Isabel of Portugal, and his court: Yates Thompson MS 32, f. 14r

Although her claim never succeeded, this document demonstrates that Isabel of Portugal tried actively to take advantage of a time of political instability and unrest in England, in order to advance her own position and, more hopefully, that of her son. Isabel was well aware of her lineage to the late Henry VI, and at a time of turbulence and doubt during the Wars of the Roses, she did not hesitate to assert herself as universal heir.

We are grateful to Joanna and Graham Barker for their generous funding of Medieval and Renaissance Women.

 

Paula Del Val Vales

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One of the more unusual documents digitised as part of the British Library’s Medieval and Renaissance Women project is Add Ch 67394, a sworn testimony by four men that they had been told the deathbed confession of a woman called Alice of Hulton. It is the missing piece in a 600-year-old case involving an affair, a divorce, and a lovechild.

Declaration by Brother John Bradfield, Robert of Hebton, William Brechton of Ekygan and John Fogg of Bradshaw, regarding the deathbed confession of Alice of Hulton, 20 December 1447: Add Ch 67394

Alice of Hulton had been the lover of Robert of Pilkington, lord of Rivington in Lancashire. A soldier who fought in France in the Hundred Years War, Robert had testified in the famous Scrope v Grosvenor case in the Court of Chivalry in 1386. But he had his own legal problems to worry about.

Robert had married a different Alice, Alice of Astley, in 1379, but this was annulled in July that same year, as Alice of Astley was distantly related to Alice of Hulton, with whom he had had a relationship in 1367. He then married Katherine de Aynesworth in 1383 and they had seven children together. Despite this seemingly stable marriage, Robert spent the 1390s transferring his estates to various trustees, both within and without his family, seemingly to protect them from an unknown rival claimant. The reason for this takes us back to Alice of Hulton.

As it turned out, Robert’s second wife, Katherine, was also a cousin of Alice of Hulton, requiring him to secure a dispensation from the Pope in 1403 to confirm the validity of his marriage. On top of this, Alice of Hulton and Robert of Pilkington had a daughter, Imania, born out of wedlock in the late 1360s. Robert married Imania off to Roger of Bolton in 1385, seemingly forgetting about her until she and Roger had a son in the 1390s, also named Robert. Pilkington’s legal manoeuvres in the 1390s were his attempts to stop Imania’s son, his grandson, from having any claim on his lands. With the papal dispensation confirming his marriage in 1403, Pilkington died that year probably safe in the knowledge that his family’s estates were now secure.

Family tree of Alice of Hulton and Alice of Astley, from John Pilkington, The History of the Pilkington Family and its Branches from 1066 to 1600 (Liverpool, 1912), p. 221

So why was Alice of Hulton's testimony important in 1447, 44 years after Pilkington's death? That's because two years previously, in 1445, Imania's son, Robert son of Roger of Bolton, appeared in court to try and claim Rivington as the son and heir of Imania, over Pilkington's children by Katherine.

The case must still have been live in 1447, when these four men put their seals to this certificate. In it, they say that, while Alice of Hulton lay dying, William of Lener had heard a Richard French of Bolton proclaim that the divorce between Pilkington and Alice of Astley had been done under a false pretext, implying that Richard believed Pilkington and Alice of Hulton had not slept together. Lener said that Alice of Hulton swore that this was a lie, and that 'she would swear before almighty God at the day of doom that she had known part of the body of the said Robert in fleshly deed of sin'.

Despite Alice’s deathbed confession recorded in this document, her grandson Robert was unsuccessful in securing part of the estates of his grandfather, Robert of Pilkington. Rivington remained in the Pilkington family until it was sold in 1605. This small document is part of a fascinating story of the complexities of medieval marriage and inheritance, and preserves one woman’s attempt to tell her own story about her relationship with a powerful local lord.

We are grateful to Joanna and Graham Barker for funding our Medieval and Renaissance Women project.

 

Rory MacLellan

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One of the benefits of our Medieval and Renaissance Women project is that we have been able to focus on groups of documents that have features in common. Individually, these documents provide insight into the lives (and after-lives) of particular named women; collectively, this evidence is all the richer for revealing social trends and patterns of behaviour. Into this category falls a number of wills of women from the 13th to the 16th centuries, from England, Flanders and Germany.

The cover of the will of Elizabeth Ayrer of Nuremberg, 1534: Add Ch 74114

A full list of the women's wills digitised as part of this project is given at the end of this blogpost. They number 22 individual wills, some with probate certificates, and a commission by the archbishop of Canterbury to administer a will. It's more than likely that many of the women in whose names these wills were issued would have been obliterated from the historical record if these documents had not survived.

The women named in these wills came from different walks of life but they had shared experiences. In each case, they wished to make provision for their possessions and property after they had died, and to make arrangements for the salvation of their souls. Many of them are described as widows. Does this mean that, as they had no husbands to inherit their goods, it was more incumbent upon them to set out who should be the beneficiaries?

Several women were keen to stipulate where they should be buried. In 1318, Gunnilda atte Denne requested that her body be buried in the churchyard of St Peter Newdigate, and she made a bequest to that church for her obit mass (Add Ch 17295). In 1504, Katherine Cooke prescribed that her body be buried in the chapel of St Mary at St Michael the Archangel’s church, Lewes, next to the tomb of John Cooke, her husband (Add Ch 18791). She also left money for the maintenance of her tomb, for masses for her soul, and to Agnes Chamber, her daughter. In 1411, Margery, the widow of John Todenham, knight, left her body to be buried in the chancel of the Austin Friars, Thetford, next to the tomb of Elizabeth Homgrave, her daughter (Add Ch 24243).

The will of Gunnilda atte Denne, 1318: Add Ch 17295

We can also gain insights into the wider social circles and support networks of medieval and Renaissance women. For instance, in 1342, Elizabeth, the widow of Thomas Paytfyn of Heddingley, made bequests to her brothers' children and to her siblings (Add Ch 16789). In 1500,  Joanna Lane, widow of Nicholas Lane of Snape, made bequests to her daughters, her goddaughter, and her goddaughter’s family (Add Ch 26317). In 1360, Katherine de Bassi of Tournai, wife of the late Baldwin du Bas, made payments to parish priests, hostels, hospitals, the sick, her relatives and those of her husband (Add Ch 75719). Katherine was here providing for the salvation of her soul, but one imagines that the people listed in her bequest deserved her favour in one way or another.

The will of Katherine de Bassi of Tournai: Add Ch 75719

It is possible to gauge from this documentary material that particular women may have had significant accomplishments, or moved in particular circles. We know, for example, that Margery de Crek was the founder of Flixton Priory. In her will, dated the morrow of the feast of St Luke the Evangelist (19 October), 1282, she left her body to be buried in the church there, which she had founded in 1258 (LFC Ch III 1). She made other bequests to this convent, to the bishop of Norwich, and to her family. One of the most detailed wills we have digitised, comprising 3 membranes folded into bifolia and sewn together, is that of Elizabeth Ayrer, widow of Sebald Neyrer of Nuremberg, dated 1534, and which was certified by the Burgomeister and council of that city (Add Ch 74114). In her will, dated 14 July 1574, Agnes Fearne made provision to establish a free school and a bedehouse at Wirksworth (Derbyshire) (Wolley Ch XII 31). We know that her sister’s stepson and Anthony Gell, one of her executors, founded the school and bedehouse in 1576.

The will of Margery de Crek, founder of Flixton Priory, 1282: LFC Ch III 1

In one instance, a will survives of a woman who was subsequently declared intestate. On 18 March 1455, Sibylla Frances of Dunwich committed her body in her will to the Franciscans of Dunwich, besides making bequests to them, the parish church of Shaddingfield(?), and Peter Codon, the son of Robert Codon (Add Ch 10392). Other records show that by 1457 Sibylla was intestate, implying that her will had either been lost or that it had been deemed invalid. In other words, leaving a will was no guarantee that the woman's wishes be carried out to the letter.

Add Ch 6290	Will of Joan Ward, widow, of St Saviour’s Parish, Southwark (1544)
Add Ch 10392	Will of Sibylla Frances of Dunwich (1455)
Add Ch 16789	Will and probate certificate of Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Paytfyn of Heddingley (1342)
Add Ch 17295	Will and probate certificate of Gunnilda atte Denne (1318)
Add Ch 18791	Will and probate certificate of Katherine Cook of St Andrew’s parish, Lewes (1504)
Add Ch 19146	Will and probate certificate of Margaret, widow of John de Covert (1367)
Add Ch 24243	Will and probate certificate of Margery, widow of John Todenham, knight (1411)
Add Ch 26317	Will and probate certificate of Joanna Lane, widow of Nicholas Lane of Snape (1500)
Add Ch 28766	Will of Isabella Russell, widow of John Churchhay of Frome (1361)
Add Ch 60433	Will and probate certificate of Margaret Hervy of Ryburgh (1508)
Add Ch 65797	Commission by Thomas Bourgchier, archbishop of Canterbury, to administer the will of Emota Newton, widow (1481)
Add Ch 70581	Will of Margaret Canon (1424)
Add Ch 70587	Will of Margery Loqmer, widow of John Loqmer of Newington-next-Hythe (1473)
Add Ch 70593	Will and probate certificate of Joanna Chiltern, widow, wife of John Chiltern of Newington-next-Hythe (1481)
Add Ch 70601	Will and probate certificate of Agnes Leigh, widow, of the parish of Cheriton (1516)
Add Ch 74114	Will of Elizabeth Ayrer, widow of Sebald Neyrer of Nuremberg (1534)
Add Ch 75719	Will of Katherine de Bassi of Tournai (1360)
Add Ch 77153	Will of Isabella Storke, wife of William Denton of the diocese of Ely (1496)
Egerton Ch 8256	Will and probate certificate of Agnes Sowle (1465)
LFC Ch III 1	Will of Margery de Crek (1282)
Wolley Ch XII 31	Will of Agnes Fearne, widow, of Wirksworth (1574)
Wolley Ch XII 31a	Probate certificate of the will of Agnes Fearne (1575)

The British Library is immensely grateful to Joanna and Graham Barker for the funding of our Medieval and Renaissance Women project.

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