Black Death maps reveal how the plague devastated medieval Britain

Black Death maps reveal how the plague devastated medieval Britain

An in-depth analysis of pottery shards has revealed the "eye-watering" impact the Black Death had across rural medieval England.

Towns, villages and hamlets were ravaged by the peak of the plague between 1346 and 1351, and between 75 and 200 million people are said to have been killed across Europe and Asia during several centuries of the disease. Now a series of maps has been released which reveal the "devastating" and "eye-watering" effect the disease had across the UK as populations fell. 

The research was led by Professor Carenza Lewis from the University of Lincoln.

"The true scale of devastation wrought by the Black Death during the 'calamitous' fourteenth century has been a topic of much debate among historians and archaeologists," said Lewis. "Recent studies have led to mortality estimates being revised upwards, but the discussion remains hampered by a lack of consistent and scalable population data for the period." "This new research offers a novel solution to that evidential challenge, using finds of pottery - a highly durable indicator of human presence."

Mysterious Braided Hair May Belong to Medieval Saint

Mysterious Braided Hair May Belong to Medieval Saint : Discovery News

A braided head of hair found buried beneath a medieval abbey in England has given up some of its secrets, thanks to a scientist’s curiosity about the relic, which he first saw when he was a schoolboy.

Jamie Cameron, an archaeological research assistant at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, first visited Romsey Abbey, near the city of Southampton, on a school field trip when he was 7 years old.

Cameron said he became curious about the abbey’s display of a brightly colored and braided head of hair, which had been found in a lead casket buried beneath the abbey floor. But at the time, nothing was known about the identity of the hair’s owner. [See photos of the mysterious braided hair found at Romsey Abbey]

A Letter From Cromwell To Henry VIII

From the Telegraph in June 2012:

A rare letter written by Thomas Cromwell attempting to speed up Henry VIII's marriage to Anne of Cleves has emerged for sale.

Unfortunately for Cromwell the king was repulsed when he finally saw his bride because she looked nothing like her portrait - and he was beheaded.

The letter, dated November 8, 1539, was sent to the clerical diplomat, Dr Nicholas Wootton.

The diplomat was in Cleves in Germany finalising arrangements for what would turn out to be the shortest of Henry's six marriages.

Cromwell had promoted the match with the staunchly Protestant Anne as a means of tightening the Reformation in England.

Collegiate Foundress: Dervorguilla of Galloway

From BBC News:

An Oxford University college may have taken its name from a medieval lord, but it was under the watchful eye of his widow that it thrived.

Balliol College claims to be the institution's oldest college, and is currently celebrating its 750th year.

John Balliol was spurred into the charitable act of its foundation after being whipped for upsetting a bishop.

But he died shortly after its formation in 1263 and it was Dervorguilla of Galloway under whose guidance the college blossomed.

The grief-stricken widow kept her husband's heart on her at all times, safe in a silver casket.

And she was determined Balliol College would make its mark, according to Dr John Jones, its archivist.

The Daylight Gate

From the Guardian:

Pendle: a place synonymous with witches and Britain's most notorious diabolism trials. The candle-passing parlour game says, if it dies in your hand, you've a forfeit to give. If you're going to write a book about famous witches, it had better fly.

Winterson's novella is set in 1612, during the feverishly paranoid reign of James I. It describes the plight of a group of paupers, mostly women, accused of evil practices and tried at the August assizes. In the previous decade, the gunpowder plot almost did away with the king. Heresy is his obsession. Author of the instructive Daemonologi, he is, as Pendle's local magistrate puts it, "a meddler". In this fraught climate disfigured elderly ladies aren't safe, alchemists can be arrested for creating mechanical beetles, and Catholics are thumb-screwed. "It suits the times to degrade the hoc est corpus of the Catholic mass into satanic hocus pocus," notes William Shakespeare, who features briefly, and not preposterously, in Winterson's book.

Lady Anne's Great Books of Record

From Science Daily:

A three-year study into a set of manuscripts compiled and written by one of Britain's earliest feminist figures has revealed new insights into how women challenged male authority in the 17th century.

Dr Jessica Malay has painstakingly transcribed Lady Anne Clifford's 600,000-word Great Books of Record, which documents the trials and triumphs of the female aristocrat's family dynasty over six centuries and her bitter battle to inherit castles and villages across northern England.

Lady Anne, who lived from 1590 to 1676, was, in her childhood, a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I. Her father died when she was 15 but contrary to an agreement that stretched back to the time of Edward II -- that the Clifford's vast estates in Cumbria and Yorkshire should pass to the eldest heir whether male or female ­- the lands were handed over to her uncle.

Following an epic legal struggle in which she defied her father, both her husbands, King James I and Oliver Cromwell, Lady Anne finally took possession of the estates, which included the five castles of Skipton, where she was born, Brougham, Brough, Pendragon and Appleby, aged 53.

See also: The Diaries of Lady Anne Clifford

Walter Raleigh - Pirate Who Bewitched Elizabeth

From the Mail Online:

You could not be alive in Elizabethan England and not feel that it was a young country, full of vigour and possessing the capacity to reinvent itself. There was a palpable sense of rebirth, of creative energy, of newness and expansion. 

This was the age of glory when our nation put civil wars behind it and emerged into the broad, sunlit uplands. 

It is no exaggeration to say that modern history began with the Elizabethans. British explorers went out to every corner of the known world to form the foundation of power and prosperity for future generations.

Central to this vision of an expanding British domain was the fervently ambitious and multi-talented soldier, sailor and poet Walter Raleigh. He was from an old West Country family that had come down in the world. 

Article:

Very interesting article from the Times Online, which speculates that Sir Walter Raleigh may have adopted a young native boy who returned with him from his voyages to the Americas.

"Much less known is Sir Walter Raleigh’s kinship with a young black boy from Guyana, whom he brought back with him from the Americas and who became ensconced in the explorer’s household, according to newly discovered records.

The register, uncovered by archive staff and The Times, records the baptism of a young Guyanan boy in the Parish of Saint Luke, in Chelsea, on February 13, 1597. It reveals that the boy, named Charles and estimated to be aged between 10 and 12 years old, was brought to the church by “Sir Walter Rawlie” – a common spelling of the explorer’s name at the time. "

Website:

Luminarium: Walter Raleigh

The Wool Trade in England

From the 12th to 18th Century, wool was the most important item in English trade. In the Middle Ages, the best English wool was the most prized in Europe and in later centuries, English cloth gained the same fame. In the 13th century, there was a rapid development of cloth manufacture in Flanders, and a resultant boom in English sheep farming.

The trade was organised by merchant guilds which operated an exclusive monopoly. By the 14th Century, wool merchants had become increasingly wealthy - some were so wealthy that they replaced Italian financiers who underwrote royal debts. In return, Edward III gave a small group of wool merchants an absolute monopoly on wool exports. However, this lasted only until 1350.

Over the next few years, a staple was organised. This was a fixed point through which all wool exports passed. From 1363, this was Calais - which proved to be very convenient for the Flemish markets. A Company of Merchants of the Staple was set up to manage the staple and pay taxes. It had a very large membership of approximately 300 to 400 merchants. The Company used its monopoly to transfer the heavy burden of royal taxation upon wool growers instead of the merchants themselves. This meant that the Company reduced the price paid to English wool growers.

An unexpected side effect was that the English cloth manufacturing industry was now able to purchase wool much more cheaply than its Flemish and Italian rivals. As such, English wool exports dropped from approximately 35000 sacks per year in the 14th century to 8000 sacks per year by the mid-15th Century. The export of cloth increased from approximately 9400 (1356-1360) to 56000 (1437 - 1440).

Sheep farming went through a decline until the mid-15th Century, but recovered during the reign of King Edward IV. It was not until much later, in the 17th Century, that English cloth was of such a quality as its Continental rivals.

Further Sources:

"The English Medieval Wool and Cloth Trade" by Dr. Margaret Bonney

"Medieval Wool and Cloth Exports" - a database compiled by Dr. Margaret Bonney on England's Export Trade from 1275 - 1547 (website: http://esfdb.websites.bta.com/Database.aspx ).

The Wool Trade in English Medieval History - Lecture by Prof. Eileen Power (1941)

BBC Series - Wolf Hall

From the Guardian:

The BBC and HBO are developing a TV drama mini-series adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Man Booker prize-winning historical novel Wolf Hall.

Peter Straughan, whose writing credits include the recent Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy movie, is working on scripts for a four-parter which, if commissioned, would be broadcast on BBC2, the BBC has confirmed.

Wolf Hall is a fictional biography set in the first half of the 16th century, charting the rise to power of Thomas Cromwell in the court of Henry VIII.

Cromwell was involved in arranging Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon and his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and the English church's break with Rome and the dissolution of the monasteries. He later fell out with Henry and was executed.

Mantel revealed earlier this week that she is planning a Tudor trilogy, with a second novel, Bring Up the Bodies, to be published next year focusing on Anne Boleyn. The third book, The Mirror & the Light, will see Cromwell's story through until his execution in 1540.

The TV adaptation is being developed by Company Pictures, the UK independent producer behind Shameless, Skins and The Shadow Line, and Playground Entertainment, the US company set up by former HBO Films president Colin Callender.

Monastic Orders in Medieval England

Here is a short list of the various Monastic Orders that were to be found in Medieval England.

Benedictines:

The Black Monks founded by St. Benedict or Benedict of Nursia (c.480 - 543). Benedict founded many monasteries, the most notable being at Subiaco.

Websites: Order of St. Benedict and St. Benedict on Wikipedia.

Cluniacs:

Foundations began at Cluny in France (910) by Abbot Berno and Count William of Auvergne. Their Rule was stricter than that of the Beneditines. The Cluniacs also supported the reforms of Pope Gregory VII. Widespread throughout England and France.

Websites: Cluny Abbey on Wikipedia and The Church in Britain - Cluniacs

Cistercians:

The White Monks were founded by Stephen Harding of Dorset and St. Bernard of Citeaux. They tended to inhabit lonely areas and toiled the land. The Order was considered austere and their Rule was considered strict.

Website: Cistercians on Catholic Encyclopedia

Carthusians:

Also called the Order of St. Bruno founded 1084 in the French Alps. Followed the Rule of St. Benedict but lived a more solitary life (strictly cloistered), meeting only in Church, in silence. Not particularly widespread in England.

Websites: Carthusian Monks & Nuns and Carthusians on Catholic Encyclopedia

Augustinians:

The Black Canons were founded by St. Augustine of Hippo (d.430). They were considered to be priests rather than monks, and preached in public. There was also a stricter Order of the White Canons or Premonstratensians.

Websites: Augustinians and Augustinians on Wikipedia

Gilbertines:

Founded by Gilbert, a Lincolnshire priest (1130) for monks and nuns with separate cloisters. This was a purely English Order.

Websites: Gilbertines on Catholic Encyclopedia and The Gilbertines

Other Websites:

* Religious Orders in Medieval Britain

Lady Anne Clifford

From The Telegraph:

Lady Anne Clifford was a patron of the arts who should have inherited an estate including five great castles across the north of England after the deaths of her two brothers and father.

 

But her father - George Gifford, the third Earl of Cumberland, who had risen to prominence as an admiral in Queen Elizabeth's navy and was noted for his skill in jousting - had quietly promised his estate to his brother.

 

Instead of her vast estate, the 15-year-old Lady Clifford was left £15,000 in compensation but this did not satisfy her and she set to reclaim her inheritance which Edward II granted the family and decreed should pass to the eldest heir, whether male or female.

 

The struggle was to last most of her life and, eventually, in 1643, aged 54, she regained the lands and moved back to her estate, including the castles of Skipton, Brougham, Brough, Pendragon and Appleby.

 

Lady Clifford dedicated herself to restoring the mostly ruined buildings to their former glory, restored several churches in the ancient county of Westmorland and built almshouses for the poor.

Further Links:

• Lady Anne Clifford via Tudor Place
• Diaries of Lady Anne Clifford
• Lady Anne Clifford via Visit Cumbria
• Lady Anne Clifford via Wikipedia

Reconstructing Viking Woman

From BBC News:

Academics at Dundee University have helped recreate the face of a Viking woman whose skeleton was unearthed in York more than 30 years ago.

The facial reconstruction was achieved by laser-scanning her skull to create a 3D digital model.

Eyes were then digitally created, along with hair and a bonnet, to complete the look.

The project was part of a £150,000 investment at York's Jorvik Viking Centre.

The Dundee academics were brought in by the centre's owners, the York Archaeological Trust, as part of a project to bring York's Vikings to life.

The female skeleton used was one of four excavated at Coppergate in York.

Did Famine Destroy Camelot

From ArchNews:

South Cadbury Castle is well known for its suspected association with King Arthur as the site of his infamous castle, Camelot. Excavations have shown that the site was indeed strengthened in the period formally known as the Dark Ages, at the time of the legendary Arthur. However, there is one question that remains an enigma – why was the site abandoned?

There is no archaeological evidence that shows there was destruction or an invasion at the site of South Cadbury at the beginning of the sixth century – it simply went out of use. Its abandonment is perplexing for it was strengthened and inhabited in the fifth century as evidenced by the pottery sherds, but by the early sixth century it was uninhabited. South Cadbury has undergone some extensive excavations, especially by Alcock (1965-1970), who tells us ‘On the basis of archaeological evidence – and there is no other – the Cadbury II occupation had come to an end before 600AD’ (Alcock 1005, 152).

More Strange But True

Again from Nigel Cawthorn's "The Strange Laws of Old England" - 

Burning: Women were not hanged, drawn & quartered for treason as men were - the law required that some " decency due to their sex" forbade women from being exposed and their bodies publicly mutilated.  Instead, they would be dragged to the gallows to be burnt - alive.

Typically, burning was reserved for heretics; however, women who were found guilty of murdering their husbands or masters - an offence known as petty treason -- were also burned at the stake.  In the early days, a prisoner would be burned alive while still concious.  But by the time of Queen Mary I of England, women would be burned naked but were permitted to have a bag of gunpowder around their necks to hasten death.  Later still, as an act of mercy, the prisoner was stangled first.

The last burning took place in 1789 - the practice was abolished in 1790.

For The Murder of Her Child: Margaret Alexander was convicted of murdering her two illegitimate children by Patrick Learmouth.  She was forced to dig up the body of the second child from the Churchyard, and then carry it in a public procession around the town to the Brewhouse where she gave birth to the babe.  Margaret was then required to take the tiny corpse to the place by the riverbank where she had originally buried the body to hide her crime.

After publicly confessing to her crimes, Margaret was hanged, and her arms were cut off.  One arm was displayed in Haddington, the other at Aberlady, where she had given birth to the first child.

Trial By Swallowing: In Anglo Saxon times, suspected purjurers were subjected to "corsned" - being forced to swallow consecrated barley-cake in the belief that a lying mouth would choke on it.  Later, powdered eagle-stone (a form or iron ore) was sprinkled on dry bread to see whether or not the accused could swallow it.

This tale concerns Godwin, Earl of Wessex and father of King Harold II.  Godwin was accused of murder during the reign of King Edward the Confessor and was tried by the ordeal of "corsned".  An ounce of bread was consecrated by exorcism, and Godwin was ordered to swallow it.  However, the bread stuck in Godwin's throat and he died.

The ordeal of "corsned" was abolished by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1261.

Katherine Plantagenet

From the Graphic & Historical Illustrator (1834):

Strange But True

Just having finished Nigel Cawthorn's "The Strange Laws of Old England", I thought I might share a couple with you.

No Law Against Flying: One Jane Wellman appeared before the Justice charged with withcraft in the 17th Century.  Witnesses said that they had seen her fly, and when asked if this was so, she replied that it was, whereupon the Justice remarked that there was no law against flying and she could continue to do so. 

The Cucking Stool: The medieval women's pillory - the "thew" - was replaced in in 16th century by the "cucking stool".  This was designed to subject the woman to public shame - it was later that the cucking stool became the ducking stool.

Make Up: Queen Elizabeth I made a law forbidding women to use "false hair, make up, false hips, high heeled shoes or other such devices" in order to get a man to the altar.  The penalty was punishment for witchcraft.

Escaping the Hangman: One of the earliest recorded "escapes" was of Inetta de Balsham, who was sentanced to hang during the reign of King Henry III.  Hanged at 9am Monday morning, Inetta was found still alive by the following Thursday!  How did she survive???  It was found that her windpipe had deteriorated and "ossified" or hardened, and as such, the rope did no damage.  She was pardoned by a very amazed King. 

Bigamy:  At one point in time, it was legal for a woman to be married to two men - however, this only applied if her first marriage was to a commoner and the second to a peer.  As a peeress, the woman had the right to be tried by the House of Lords - they however, would have been obliged to acquit her of such a crime for if found guilty, her first marriage would be found to be lawful; and as such, she would no longer be considered a peeress and would not fall within their jurisdiction.  However, if she was to be convicted by the Crown Court, her second marriage would have to be acknowledged, negating their jurisdiction!  What woman of the time would honestly subject herself to be governed by two men!

Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions

From the Guardian:

A new biography of Anne Boleyn is set to claim that, far from being framed for adultery, Henry VIII's second queen may not have been innocent of the affairs for which she was sentenced to death.

Of the conclusions he draws from this latest evidence, Bernard says, "It's a hypothesis – not a proof. In a court of law you might not condemn her for the crime, but I don't think you'd acquit her either."

His biography, Anne Boleyn: Fatal Attractions, due out from Yale University Press in April, also disputes the view that Anne held back from sexual relations with Henry until he agreed to make her his queen, claiming that it is "highly implausible". He believes that it was Henry, not Anne, who held back, on the grounds that he wanted their children to be his legitimate heirs. "He would, I suspect, have been astonished and horrified to discover that later generations have supposed he did not sleep with Anne in those years because she would not let him," Bernard says.

Lancaster Against York

This has been out for about a year and a half now - has anyone seen any reviews yet for "Lancaster Against York: The Wars of the Roses and the Foundation of Modern Britain" by Trevor Royle ???