Community, Class, and Careerism. Cheshire and Lancashire Society in the Age of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

298 Pages·1983·4.534 MB·English

by  Michael John Bennett

Cambridge studies in medieval life and thought
Edited by WALTER ULLMANN, LITT.D., F.B.A.
Professor of Medieval History in the
University of Cambridge
Third series, vol. 18
COMMUNITY, CLASS AND CAREERISM
Cheshire and Lancashire Society in the Age of
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN
MEDIEVAL LIFE AND THOUGHT
THIRD SERIES
1 The King's Hall within the University of Cambridge in the Later Middle Ages. Alan
B. Cobban
2 Monarchy and Community. A. J. Black
3 The Church and the Two Nations in Medieval Ireland. J. A. Watt
4 The Spanish Church and the Papacy in the Thirteenth Century. Peter Linehan
6 Durham Priory: 1400—1450. R. B. Dobson
7 The Political Thought of William of Ockham. Arthur Stephen McGrade
8 The Just War in the Middle Ages. Frederick H. Russell
9 The Two holies: Economic Relations between the Norman Kingdom of Sicily and the
Northern Communes. David Abulafia
10 The Church and Politics in Fourteenth-century England: The Career of Adam Orleton,
c. 1275—1345. Roy Martin Haines
11 The Staffords, Earls of Stafford and Dukes of Buckingham, 1394—1521. Carole
Rawcliffe
12 Universities, Academics and the Great Schism. R. C. Swanson
13 The Diplomas of King Aethelred 'the Unready \ 978—1016: A Study in their Use as
Historical Evidence. Simon Keynes
14 Robert Winchelsey and the Crown 1294—1313: A Study in the Defence of Ecclesiastical
Liberty. Jeffrey H. Denton
15 From the Circle of Alcuin to the School of Auxerre: Logic, Theology and Philosophy
in the Early Middle Ages. John Marenbon
16 The Law of Treason and Treason Trials in Later Medieval France. S. H. Cuttler
17 Mortmain Legislation and the English Church 1279-1500. Sandra Raban
COMMUNITY, CLASS AND
CAREERISM
CHESHIRE AND LANCASHIRE
SOCIETY IN THE AGE OF
SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT
MICHAEL J. BENNETT
Lecturer in History, University of Tasmania
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE
LONDON NEW YORK NEW ROCHELLE
MELBOURNE SYDNEY
PUBLISHED BY THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
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http://www.cambridge.org
© Cambridge University Press 1983
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1983
First paperback edition 2002
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress catalogue card number: 82-4354
ISBN 0 52124744 6 hardback
ISBN 0 521521823 paperback
TO MY MOTHER
IN HONOUR OF MY FATHER
CONTENTS
List of maps and tables vi
Acknowledgements vii
Abbreviations viii
Genealogical table x
Introduction i
I THE REGIONAL SOCIETY 5
2 THE COUNTY COMMUNITIES 21
3 LESSER SOLIDARITIES 41
4 THE POPULATION 53
5 LANDED SOCIETY 67
6 THE PEASANTRY 90
7 TOWNS, TRADE AND INDUSTRY 108
8 THE CHURCH 134
9 MILITARY SERVICE 162
10 POWER, PATRONAGE AND PROVINCIAL CULTURE 192
II CONCLUSION 236
Bibliography 251
Index 269
MAPS
Outline map: Cheshire and Lancashire xi
The world of the Gawain-poet xii
TABLES
1 J. C. Russell's estimated population of England in 1377 54
2 Mise assessments for three Cheshire parishes 62
3 Numbers of tax-payers in certain Lancashire vills in 1379 63
4 The tenancies of rebels on the St Werburgh's estate 94
5 Average holdings/rents on four manors of the St
Werburgh's estate in 1398 98
6 Tenancies on four manors of the St Werburgh's estate in
1398 100
7 Rents paid for the forty-five standardised tenancies at will
at Ash ton under Lyne in 1422 101
8 Holdings by acreage at Newbold Astbury and Bosley 102
9 The occupational structure of three Lancashire vills in
1379 113
10 Geographical distribution of Cheshire merchants and
craftsmen 114
11 Occupational structure of Chester in the reign of
Henry V 118
VI
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This study has been a major preoccupation for over ten years, and it is
a pleasure to express formally my gratitude to some of the many people
who have served to lighten my load and restore my flagging spirit. Due
acknowledgement must be made first of all to the scholars, past and
present, whose collective labours have made this sort of enquiry conceivable;
then to the archivists and librarians who have rendered assistance beyond
the call of duty, most particularly to Mr B. Redwood, Miss G. Mathieson
and Mr D. Reid and their staffs at the Cheshire Record Office, the John
Rylands University Library, Manchester, and the Stockport Central
Library; next to my teachers, colleagues and friends on both sides of the
globe for their inspiration and fellowship, especially to the late Professor
A. R. Myers, Dr J. A. Tuck, Mr P. H. W. Booth and Dr P. Hosker; to
Professor W. Ullmann, the general editor of this series, Mrs E. Wetton,
Mr R. Bourke and other members of the Cambridge University Press staff,
for their meticulous attention to my text; to Mrs E. Underwood for her
assistance with the proofs, and to my mother Mrs V. A. Daniels for her
work on the index; and finally to my wife Fatimah for far more than
I can adequately express.
HOBART, TASMANIA
21 June 1982
NOTE
The interests of clarity and consistency have dictated some compromises
with modernity. Thus the spelling of names of persons and places has been
standardised in conformity with current style. A line has been drawn,
however, at accepting all the bureaucratic innovations of recent times. In
particular, the county boundaries which served so well for five centuries
before and after the period of this study have been preserved in their
pristine form.
vii
ABBREVIATIONS
B.LH.R. Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research
B.J.R.L. Bulletin of the John Rylands Library
B.L. British Library, London
B.P.R. Register of Edward the Black Prince (4 vols., H.M.S.O.,
1930-3)
B.R.U.C. A. B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of
Cambridge to 1300 (Cambridge, 1963)
B.R.U.O. A. B. Emden, A Biographical Register of the University of
Oxford to A.D. 1300 (3 vols., Oxford, 1957—9)
C.Ch.R. Calendar of Charter Rolls (6 vols., H.M.S.O., 1903-27)
C.C.R. Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward III to Henry VI (33 vols.,
H.M.S.O., 1896-1947)
C.F.R. Calendar of Fine Rolls (H.M.S.O., in progress)
C.Fr.R. * Calendar of French Rolls', part 1 in 44th D.K.R.
(H.M.S.O., 1883), and part n in 48th D.K.R. (H.M.S.O.,
1887)
C.N.R. 'Calendar of Norman Rolls', part 1 in 41st D.K.R.
(H.M.S.O., 1881)
C.S. Chetham Society
C.Pap.L. Calendar of Papal Registers. Papal Letters (H.M.S.O., in
progress)
C.P.R. Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward III to Henry VI (34
vols., H.M.S.O., 1891-1910)
Ches. Pleas ' Calendar of Deeds, Inquisitions and Writs of Dower,
enrolled on the Plea Rolls of the Palatinate of Chester',
part 1 in 28th D.K.R. (H.M.S.O., 1867), and part 11 in
29th D.K.R. (H.M.S.O., 1868)
Ches. R.R. 'Calendar of Recognizance Rolls of the Palatinate of
Chester', part 1 in 36th D.K.R. (H.M.S.O., 1875), and
part 11 in 37th D.K.R. (H.M.S.O., 1876)
Cheshire Sheaf The Cheshire Sheaf (Chester, in progress)
D.K.R. Reports of the Deputy Keeper of Public Records (H.M.S.O.,
in progress)
vin
Abbreviations
Ec.H.R. Economic History Review
E.H.R. English Historical Review
H.M.C. Reports of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts
(H.M.S.O., in progress)
H.M.S.O. Her Majesty's Stationery Office
J.R.U.L. John Rylands University Library, Manchester
J.C.A.S. Journal of the Chester Archaeological Society, formerly
Journal of the Chester and North Wales Archaeological,
Architectural and Historical Society, new series
L.C.A.S. Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian
Society
L.C.H.S. Transactions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and
Cheshire
La.P.R. ' Calendar of the Chancery Rolls of the County Palatine
of Lancaster', part i in 32nd D.K.R. (H.M.S.O., 1871),
and part 11 in 33rd D.K.R. (H.M.S.O., 1872)
L.C.R.S. Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society
P.R.O. Public Record Office
R.O. Record Office
R.S. Rolls Series
T.R.H.S. Transactions of the Royal Historical Society
V.C.H. Victoria History of the Counties of England (London, in
progress)
IX
A Male • Female Note: only persons alluded toin the text have been namedin this table. RichardRadcliffe ofWinmarleigh, kt
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I# 5:
2
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I 0 = Thomas Lathom ofKnowsley Thomas Stanley,kt 1st Lord Stanleyd. 1459 gentry, 1375-1
RichardHoghton, ki cashire
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HenryHoghton, ktJohnSouthworth, kt rRandleMainwaringof Peover John WilliamDonne Brereton, ktofUtkinton WilBrereton, ki T \John 9•nwaringWilliamRobertFouleshurBromleyst The Cheshire and
IHughVenablesof Kinderton = RichardVenables ofKinderton, kt d.1403 , Hugh •Venables ofKinderton WilliamMere I I9 9 William LawrenceBeeston Warren ofStockport, kt
RalphLangtonof Newton RobertGrosvenor ofHulme, kt Henry• Langtonof Newton rThomasGrosvenor, kt I I Richard £ Bulkeley ofCheadle Henry Spurstow