September 24, 2025 • 28 mins
One of the difficult truths of life in the Middle Ages is that death was never far away. While the vast majority of medieval people owned far fewer possessions than we do today, they were just as concerned with making sure everything was taken care of according to their wishes before they passed. This week, Danièle speaks with Robert A. Wood about medieval wills, funerals, and some memorable bequests.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi everyone, and welcome to episode three hundred eight of
the Medieval Podcast. I'm your host Danielle Sebolski. One of
the difficult truths of life in the medieval world is
(00:23):
that depth was never far away, and while the vast
majority of medieval people own far fewer possessions than we
do today, they were just as concerned with making sure
everything was taken care of according to their wishes before
they passed. To that end, many people created last wills
and testaments, leaving behind clear instructions for their communities and
(00:43):
a treasure trove of information for historians. This week, I
spoke with Robert A. Wood about medieval wills and testaments.
Robert is an independent scholar who has created a treasure
trove of his own in the form of his book
Wills and Testaments in Medieval England from the thirteenth to
the sixteenth century. Our conversation on medieval wills, funerals, and
(01:06):
some memorable bequests is coming up right after this. Well,
thank you Robert for coming to talk to me about
wills and Testaments. We've already had a good chat, but
it's time to get started. Thank you so much for
being on the podcast to play there. Okay, so your
book is called Wills and Testaments. So before we get
(01:28):
into all sorts of stuff, what's the difference between a
will and a Testament? I think most of us don't
really know.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
The Testament concerns the disposition of movable gods, where as
the last Will is concerned with immovable gods, which is
basically land and buildings. So there's two distinct things about it. Now,
the problem, according to both canon now and common law,
(01:56):
was that the church calls who were responsible for granting
the probate to the Testament, were unable to deal with
the last will, in other words, the property. How most
medieval test datas got around the problem was they would
(02:17):
say I made this my last Will and Testament. So
that meant then that the details were actually recorded by
the scribes in one of the diasis and registries, so
that you have got details of both all the personal
(02:38):
goods and effects as well as themes like property and
who got what and so on. So that's how medieval
people got round that, and Church managed to keep it
all going.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Pay that way, Well, it makes sense to me to
put it all in the same document.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, it makes it easy for us as historians as.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, because it's all neatly together. So when are people
writing their wills? Are they writing them the second they
get married, for example, when are they writing them?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Majority of the wills were drawn up or near to death.
It was the sort of system that in many cases
what one sees in these documents doesn't necessarily mean that
was all the material which the Testators had, because quite
(03:35):
often gifts were given to family members before the demise
of the Testata, but invariably wills and testaments they were
drawn up, probably within about anywhere between about a week
to two weeks before the actual demise of the Testata.
(03:57):
They also wanted to emphasize that they were good memory
and compressmentis because if they were not compassmentee, then in theory,
they couldn't make a will because church courts couldn't agree
to what was sort of put in there. There aren't
(04:18):
any surviving wills like that, so if someone was not
of sound mind and good memory, then they weren't allowed
to make a will.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So before we get into the contents of wills, I
think we need to talk about the funeral because so
much of the stuff in the wills has to do
with the funeral. So someone has written a will, then
they've died. What does the funeral involve? In the Middle Ages, what.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
The funeral involves is that there would be the commendations,
so there also be the place of burial, which was
quite important now depending on social status. If you were
of the gentry class or whatever, then you would expect
(05:05):
to be buried somewhere before the high altar. But if
you were a parish rector, then you would be expected
to be buried in the chanson of his church. But
there were also other places where was indeed more efficacious,
and that is either at the gate or at the
(05:26):
entrance into the church, where people coming through would actually
say a prayer on behalf of the deceased. But coming
to the richard of the funeral itself, it followed the
process of the recreem mass. The day before the interment
and the saying of the recreem, they would have a
(05:48):
vespers for the services that are dead by saying the bacibo,
which is based on the antiphon which begins placebo. And
then on the day of the burying itself, the body
would be sewn in a sheet or a shroud, but
with no coffin and was carried into the church on
(06:09):
a beer, which is basically wooden boards. Over the beer
was placed a triangle called the hearse, which was made
either of wood or a metal frame in which there
were then designed to hold candles. Now the beer would
be surrounded by torches and tapers. In the following morning
(06:32):
they would sing the diry Jay, which a game is
based on, another antiphon of the whole of the reclian
mass itself, and it was when you would have all
the mourners, all the family. You would quite often have
poor men and women, usually dressed in black or russet,
carrying torches, because it was felt that prayers from the
(06:58):
injuredent poor were more efficacious for the testator's soul on
its journey from death through purgatory into paradise. After that
there would be the requiem mass itself, where mourners wouldn't
make gifts of money. Then the burial would take place.
(07:19):
It would also be ringing the bells and so on
and so forth, so it was a real ritual. If
testators could afford it, then there would be a reenactment
of the funeral with an empty beer, but complete with
the hearse and candles and mourners as well, which could
(07:40):
take place either on the seventh or the thirtieth day
after the internment, so you would have the same funeral
service as on the actual day of the burial, and
again you would have your mourners, and there would be
money given to the poor and so on and so forth,
(08:02):
and then sometimes, depending on the wealth, there would be
another service on the anniversary of the death. So, as
you can see, it was designed for what John Bossey
called it was prayers of the living in the service
of the dead, So it was a reminder that the
dead were with them all the time.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
It's very different from today in that you might have
one priest, one minister, one funeral director, and so this
is very involved, which is why you have to make
such accommodations for it in a will. Yes, all right,
so we have an idea of the funeral. Yeah, so
let's get back around to what do people put in
(08:45):
their wills and testaments. We talked a little bit about
how they have to say that they're of sound mind
when they're doing this. What else do they put in
their wills?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
What else they normally point is, obviously they put their name,
sometimes their social state. They put the date of the will.
They then make dedication to their soul, which is usually
to God, my Savior or Creator, the blessed Virgin Mary,
his Mother, Jesus Christ, and all the saints in heaven.
(09:17):
Sometimes if a testator has a particular feeling about a
particular saint, that would then be added as well. So
after the invocation they would then go on to the
place of burial. Normally it would be in there, either
in their parish church or churchyard. Sometimes, particularly in London,
(09:39):
some of the parishes did not have churchyards, so they
often were buried in Saint Paul's churchyard, but others, in
the main they chose their parish church or churchyard. There
was then the bequest to the clergy, the main one
(10:00):
for tithes and oblations, which were taxes which had to
be paid to the church, and the donations would often
say and I give to the High Altar ten marks
for my tithes and oblations, negligently forgotten. I love that,
(10:20):
but the implication being that the money to the High
Altar would actually go to the rector. He got that
as well. But then they also made additional bequests to
the parish clergy. So you have people like the chaplains.
You have clerks who were probably lay members, but some
(10:42):
were in holy orders, and they would ask for prayers
to be said on the day of the burial, but
also sometimes they would leave money to chaplains for a
particular time to say prayers for themselves, their wives departed,
you know, their four bears, people who they say were
(11:04):
bound to pray for, and the universal phrase of and
all the faithful departed. So that was that, and then
the next phase would be donations to the church, like
money left for the high altar, money left for other altars,
which could either be money or gifts, things like items
(11:25):
of jewelry or often put round statues, mainly to the
Virgin but also to other saints as well, but also
if you were someone like Thomas Spring, the merchant in Lavanon,
who was probably the most wealthy commoner below the crown,
and his income was on a par with dukes, so
(11:47):
he was extremely wealthy, and I go into that in
detail in the board. And he left a lot of
money for the rebuilding of the tower of his parish
church dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul, and to emphasize
his importance. He also had his merchant's mark which you
can see all over the tower on all over the porch.
(12:11):
He also provided money for a parklo screen, which is
which is I could either be of stone or timber,
and this was put around where he was buried, which
was before the Images and Catherine, on the north island
of Lavanhon Church. And the parklo screen still survives and
(12:31):
there is a photograph of that within the book. There's
also the palim set of his tomb as well, the
brass long removed by the Iconoclasts during the Interrednum, but
it would have been himself and his wife or wives.
(12:53):
He was an exception. Another one was Sir John Herningham,
who was a Knight Suffolk knight of a long and
distinguished family, and he provided money for a new isle
on the north side of the church where he was
buried with other of his ancestors, and think he made
(13:14):
some of about one hundred pounds for.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
That, which is quite a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, these are exceptions with which I sort of highlighted
within the book. If you had that sort of wealth,
then needs are the things which you could do, and
it shows a degree of piety which was carried out
during their lifetimes, although in the case of Thomas being
the third Thomas was dead, but he left set aside
(13:43):
that amount of money and he was a third generation
all Thomas springs. So his grandfather and father also contributed
to the rebuilding of Lavanon Church and it is a
spectacular I mean it's a wall church and most of
East Anglia churches were rebuilt during the fifteenth century on
(14:05):
the wealth of war that the merchants generated.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
I think it makes a lot of sense to people
that you'd be giving to the church to make sure
that your soul is taken care of. But one of
the things that I think is really interesting about wills
in particular is the way that people give to the
public works. So prisoners are one place where people will
give money, but also to the public works. So what
kind of works do people fund through their wills through
(14:33):
their bequests.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Well, public works were also considered an act of piety,
so you have things like the repair of roads, also
the repair of bridges, the introduction of piped water.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Supplies public latrines. That was one that I saw in
another will another time.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
That's true is you know, public convenience as well, and
also the setting up of marketplaces. There are lots of
things which they could do, and of course all this
was to help speed their soul through purgatory.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yes, one thing that you have noticed in looking at
all these wills and testaments is that there is a
difference between men's wills and women's wills. What is the
difference that you spotted?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Well, the main difference is that the majority of women's
wills were made by widows, so therefore their wills are
more detailed than men's wills. Men's wills tended to be
dealing with the details of reparation for the church and
so on and so forth in other ways, so that
(15:44):
they would have all the benefits of prayers and things
for their soul and so on, and they would also
remember their wives and children. But quite often what they
had done in their lifetimes I think we touched on
it before, was they they would have already made some
preparations for the wife and the children before drawing up
(16:06):
their wills. In the case of medieval women, most were widows,
so with the death of their husbands they lost that
real close connection, so they looked towards their immediate family
relations sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and a wider network of
(16:27):
friends and neighbors. And they took comfort within that. And
you can see by the level of detail of their
bequests that they made, you can get some idea of
the closeness of the recipient to the testator. So you
get things that you know, I lived to joan of
(16:48):
standing lane, my best rosary and my second best gown
and so on, So you get a gradation of gifts
depending on the bousness of the individual who is receiving it. Always,
of course, with all these bequests that we've been discussing,
(17:08):
it was always implied or accepted that there would be
reciprocal prayers for the soul in receipt of the gifts.
The whole doctrine of purgatory was such that more you
could get people praying for you by disposing of gifts
and so on and so forth, the speeder your journey
(17:31):
would be to the afterlife and reach heaven, which was
what they all aspired to. Whether they actually did or not,
we never know.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yes, that's kind of too bad. It would be interesting
to find out what the end of the story is.
But that is the human condition.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
So interestingly, you have a few examples in here of anchorites.
You have an anchorite and a hermit in here. What
would they need a will for.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Well, ncortes where they women or could also be a
clergy who chose to lead the enclosed life and to
become an anchorite, they had to go before either the
archdeacon or the archdeacon's commissary and put forward why they
(18:19):
wished to do so. They also had to provide details
of what they brought with them, what money they had,
and how they would have the ability to collect arms,
so they would have servants who would go out and
get shopping and collect arms and things, and it allowed
(18:41):
them to lead a life of contemplative prayer. If the
archdeacon or his commissary was happy with all the provisions,
they would then go through a religious ceremony in front
of their family, where they would be taken down into
an enclosure. It was like a burial pit where they
(19:04):
would be laid and covered over, and then the space
then completely enclosed. They were then divorced from the outside world,
which allowed them to lead this life of contemplative prayer.
But they could also speak to people from the outside,
(19:25):
and people would come and ask for them to say
prayers for them as well. Hermits, on the other hand,
were mainly but not always us any men, and they
still lived outside. They could be found doing charitable works
like street cleaning, cleaning ditches, mending the battlements, and they
(19:47):
could often be found living in the archways of gates
into medieval towns and cities. And the example of the
hermit that we have in the book, he lived in
one of the gates into the town of Norwich, and
he was responsible for locking the gates at night, and
(20:08):
in the event or in the emergency, for ringing the bells.
So that is the basic difference between an anchorite and
a hermit.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Right would they be writing their will before they were enclosed,
for example, or are they writing it closer to their deaths?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
In both cases it would have been when they were
near a death, and again it would be written and
it would be witnessed. And obviously in the case of
the anchorite that I have from London, it was witnessed
by her maid, but also by the parish rector of
the church. And in the case of the hermit, he
(20:47):
also had small items which he needed to be bequeathed
so that again that would be witnessed as well.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I think it's interesting that these people who have a mountain,
they're meant to have the least amount, still are creating
wills and testaments to make sure that everyone is taking
care of. So we're talking about little things that people
will bequeathed to other people, especially things that may be
special sentimental. So what are some of the most interesting
things that you found in wills that you just when
(21:20):
you're going to a party you tell people who're asking
about your work. This is really interesting the thing that
I found in the documents.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, I mean some of the things which I found
very interesting. There was this sailor. He was a mariner,
William Owner, and he sailed out of the port of Dummage,
which at the time was the second most important port
after London. He was on his ship in Iceland at
the time when his will was noncubated, so he dictated
(21:52):
it and there was various items of fishing equipment which
he left to his wife and to his children, and
he also made provisions for his cabin boy. He was
given money and he was given a new suit of
clothes for high days for church days as well as
his work days that I found was very interesting. One
(22:14):
of the other ones it concerns the John Hemingham, and
apart from his gifts to his son in the building
of his chapel on the north side of his church
of Hemmingham, he left a number of bequests to the
orders of minorresses in the abbey of Brouchard in Suffolk,
(22:35):
which was not very far away from his ancestral home.
And the reason for that was one of his aunts
and was actually a nun herself at Brouchard Abbey, and
his other aunt, Margaret, who was the eldest daughter of
his grandfather's children. She was an heiress in her own
(22:56):
right and he made substantial bequest for her, and we
also have her web which I've written a paper on
which came out in twenty twenty three, and in the
addition of the Regardian, it's a memorial volume in memory
of Van Sutton, who was another superb scholar. She also
left monies for the minor resses, and there is a
(23:19):
tradition within the Heaveniham family that the female nuns received
more money in comparison to the male monks, and I
suppose the one that really I really like is concerned
in Walter Suffield's will, which was very extensive and apart
from leaving one hundred pounds to found the Hospital of
(23:43):
Sir Giles in honor of his misdeeds, there was a
personal bequest to a William D. Whitewell, who was one
of Walter's ecclesiastical compatriots, and it says, to my well
beloved William, I leave him my belt to be fastened
around him when he grows old. And I thought that
(24:05):
was really lovely. It made me.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Smile, yes, because that's the sort of thing that we
read all these wills and testaments. That's the sort of
thing you're looking for, right, that moment of real connection.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
That's right. And there are lots of nuggets in that
you know that can be found, but that one particularly
stands out for me.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Well, I think that your book is full of these nuggets,
and you've made it so clear where to find them.
I really think that this is a book that people
are going to find useful again and again. And I
just want to thank you for coming on the podcast
and telling us all about it.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Well, thank you, Danielle. It's been a real pleasure.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
To find out more about Robert's book, You can take
a quick peek at its review in volume one hundred
of Speculum, a Journal of Medieval Studies, or you can
just pick up a copy for yourself. The book is
called Wills and Testaments in Medieval England from the thirteenth
to the sixteenth century. Before we go, here's Peter from
Medievalist and to tell us what's on the website. What's
(25:10):
up this week?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Peter? Hey, hey, So earlier this month was a big
day for the Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo, Norway.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Okay, what happened?
Speaker 3 (25:19):
So they moved that famous Osburg ship into that museum
as they're getting ready for its opening. It was reallysially
in another museum about three hundred and fifty feet away,
and they moved it very slowly to the new one.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Are you saying they didn't sail it?
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Theyn't even be better if they did. They should have
made a canal.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Can't imagine the pressure trying to move that thing.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Took ten hours to move three hundred and fifty feet.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Well, I mean it's worth it. It's worth it to
put the time in and do it right.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, that museum of the Viking Age is going to
open twenty twenty seven. From the images I've seen so
far and the plans that have been released, it's going
to look amazing.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
That is definitely something to look forward to.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Indeed, in need, we have that. Plus we have a
piece by Laura Chevalier who writes about an interesting trial
that took place in the year ten seventy seven. H
The King of Castile ordered a trial by combat between
two versions of the Christian liturgy. He wanted the Roman right,
but a lot of people in his kingdom wanted the
old Mozarabic right. And he said, let's have two champions
(26:21):
fight it out.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
And I guess people will have to read the article
to find out what happened, right.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Well, I can give you some spoilers.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
The first he put his champion out in a one
one combat and he lost. The champion lost, But that's
not the end of it. The king said, hey, let's
do another trial, just the one trial by fire and
put both of the rights, like the books, into a
fire and see which one burns.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Right, because that is going to tell the tale.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
It probably would have, but the Mosarabic right survived the
first fire.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
This is just not going the king's way at all.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
No, no, but the king to have enough, and he
threw the book back into the fire and said, let
the horns of law be bent to the rule of kings.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
There you go, and this is why trials by ordeal
were phased out, because people were like, you can always
kind of tweak them a little bit.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Indeed, and that's also why we have the Roman rite
in this Spain today.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
There you go. Well, thanks Peter for stopping by and
telling us what's on the website. Thanks, Thank you as
always to all of you for being everyday heroes by listening, sharing,
letting the ads play, or becoming patrons on patreon dot com.
In addition to heaps of good karma, patrons get add
free episodes as well as huge lists of the latest
(27:43):
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To find out more or to become a patron, please
visit patreon dot com slash Medievalists for everything from Will's
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blue sky at Medievalists. You can find me Danielle Sabelski
(28:04):
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all your favorite bookstores. Our music is by Christian Overton.
Thanks for listening and having yourself an awesome day.
Hi everyone, and welcome to episode three hundred eight of
the Medieval Podcast. I'm your host Danielle Sebolski. One of
the difficult truths of life in the medieval world is
(00:23):
that depth was never far away, and while the vast
majority of medieval people own far fewer possessions than we
do today, they were just as concerned with making sure
everything was taken care of according to their wishes before
they passed. To that end, many people created last wills
and testaments, leaving behind clear instructions for their communities and
(00:43):
a treasure trove of information for historians. This week, I
spoke with Robert A. Wood about medieval wills and testaments.
Robert is an independent scholar who has created a treasure
trove of his own in the form of his book
Wills and Testaments in Medieval England from the thirteenth to
the sixteenth century. Our conversation on medieval wills, funerals, and
(01:06):
some memorable bequests is coming up right after this. Well,
thank you Robert for coming to talk to me about
wills and Testaments. We've already had a good chat, but
it's time to get started. Thank you so much for
being on the podcast to play there. Okay, so your
book is called Wills and Testaments. So before we get
(01:28):
into all sorts of stuff, what's the difference between a
will and a Testament? I think most of us don't
really know.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
The Testament concerns the disposition of movable gods, where as
the last Will is concerned with immovable gods, which is
basically land and buildings. So there's two distinct things about it. Now,
the problem, according to both canon now and common law,
(01:56):
was that the church calls who were responsible for granting
the probate to the Testament, were unable to deal with
the last will, in other words, the property. How most
medieval test datas got around the problem was they would
(02:17):
say I made this my last Will and Testament. So
that meant then that the details were actually recorded by
the scribes in one of the diasis and registries, so
that you have got details of both all the personal
(02:38):
goods and effects as well as themes like property and
who got what and so on. So that's how medieval
people got round that, and Church managed to keep it
all going.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Pay that way, Well, it makes sense to me to
put it all in the same document.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, it makes it easy for us as historians as.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Well, because it's all neatly together. So when are people
writing their wills? Are they writing them the second they
get married, for example, when are they writing them?
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Majority of the wills were drawn up or near to death.
It was the sort of system that in many cases
what one sees in these documents doesn't necessarily mean that
was all the material which the Testators had, because quite
(03:35):
often gifts were given to family members before the demise
of the Testata, but invariably wills and testaments they were
drawn up, probably within about anywhere between about a week
to two weeks before the actual demise of the Testata.
(03:57):
They also wanted to emphasize that they were good memory
and compressmentis because if they were not compassmentee, then in theory,
they couldn't make a will because church courts couldn't agree
to what was sort of put in there. There aren't
(04:18):
any surviving wills like that, so if someone was not
of sound mind and good memory, then they weren't allowed
to make a will.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
So before we get into the contents of wills, I
think we need to talk about the funeral because so
much of the stuff in the wills has to do
with the funeral. So someone has written a will, then
they've died. What does the funeral involve? In the Middle Ages, what.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
The funeral involves is that there would be the commendations,
so there also be the place of burial, which was
quite important now depending on social status. If you were
of the gentry class or whatever, then you would expect
(05:05):
to be buried somewhere before the high altar. But if
you were a parish rector, then you would be expected
to be buried in the chanson of his church. But
there were also other places where was indeed more efficacious,
and that is either at the gate or at the
(05:26):
entrance into the church, where people coming through would actually
say a prayer on behalf of the deceased. But coming
to the richard of the funeral itself, it followed the
process of the recreem mass. The day before the interment
and the saying of the recreem, they would have a
(05:48):
vespers for the services that are dead by saying the bacibo,
which is based on the antiphon which begins placebo. And
then on the day of the burying itself, the body
would be sewn in a sheet or a shroud, but
with no coffin and was carried into the church on
(06:09):
a beer, which is basically wooden boards. Over the beer
was placed a triangle called the hearse, which was made
either of wood or a metal frame in which there
were then designed to hold candles. Now the beer would
be surrounded by torches and tapers. In the following morning
(06:32):
they would sing the diry Jay, which a game is
based on, another antiphon of the whole of the reclian
mass itself, and it was when you would have all
the mourners, all the family. You would quite often have
poor men and women, usually dressed in black or russet,
carrying torches, because it was felt that prayers from the
(06:58):
injuredent poor were more efficacious for the testator's soul on
its journey from death through purgatory into paradise. After that
there would be the requiem mass itself, where mourners wouldn't
make gifts of money. Then the burial would take place.
(07:19):
It would also be ringing the bells and so on
and so forth, so it was a real ritual. If
testators could afford it, then there would be a reenactment
of the funeral with an empty beer, but complete with
the hearse and candles and mourners as well, which could
(07:40):
take place either on the seventh or the thirtieth day
after the internment, so you would have the same funeral
service as on the actual day of the burial, and
again you would have your mourners, and there would be
money given to the poor and so on and so forth,
(08:02):
and then sometimes, depending on the wealth, there would be
another service on the anniversary of the death. So, as
you can see, it was designed for what John Bossey
called it was prayers of the living in the service
of the dead, So it was a reminder that the
dead were with them all the time.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
It's very different from today in that you might have
one priest, one minister, one funeral director, and so this
is very involved, which is why you have to make
such accommodations for it in a will. Yes, all right,
so we have an idea of the funeral. Yeah, so
let's get back around to what do people put in
(08:45):
their wills and testaments. We talked a little bit about
how they have to say that they're of sound mind
when they're doing this. What else do they put in
their wills?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Right?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
What else they normally point is, obviously they put their name,
sometimes their social state. They put the date of the will.
They then make dedication to their soul, which is usually
to God, my Savior or Creator, the blessed Virgin Mary,
his Mother, Jesus Christ, and all the saints in heaven.
(09:17):
Sometimes if a testator has a particular feeling about a
particular saint, that would then be added as well. So
after the invocation they would then go on to the
place of burial. Normally it would be in there, either
in their parish church or churchyard. Sometimes, particularly in London,
(09:39):
some of the parishes did not have churchyards, so they
often were buried in Saint Paul's churchyard, but others, in
the main they chose their parish church or churchyard. There
was then the bequest to the clergy, the main one
(10:00):
for tithes and oblations, which were taxes which had to
be paid to the church, and the donations would often
say and I give to the High Altar ten marks
for my tithes and oblations, negligently forgotten. I love that,
(10:20):
but the implication being that the money to the High
Altar would actually go to the rector. He got that
as well. But then they also made additional bequests to
the parish clergy. So you have people like the chaplains.
You have clerks who were probably lay members, but some
(10:42):
were in holy orders, and they would ask for prayers
to be said on the day of the burial, but
also sometimes they would leave money to chaplains for a
particular time to say prayers for themselves, their wives departed,
you know, their four bears, people who they say were
(11:04):
bound to pray for, and the universal phrase of and
all the faithful departed. So that was that, and then
the next phase would be donations to the church, like
money left for the high altar, money left for other altars,
which could either be money or gifts, things like items
(11:25):
of jewelry or often put round statues, mainly to the
Virgin but also to other saints as well, but also
if you were someone like Thomas Spring, the merchant in Lavanon,
who was probably the most wealthy commoner below the crown,
and his income was on a par with dukes, so
(11:47):
he was extremely wealthy, and I go into that in
detail in the board. And he left a lot of
money for the rebuilding of the tower of his parish
church dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul, and to emphasize
his importance. He also had his merchant's mark which you
can see all over the tower on all over the porch.
(12:11):
He also provided money for a parklo screen, which is
which is I could either be of stone or timber,
and this was put around where he was buried, which
was before the Images and Catherine, on the north island
of Lavanhon Church. And the parklo screen still survives and
(12:31):
there is a photograph of that within the book. There's
also the palim set of his tomb as well, the
brass long removed by the Iconoclasts during the Interrednum, but
it would have been himself and his wife or wives.
(12:53):
He was an exception. Another one was Sir John Herningham,
who was a Knight Suffolk knight of a long and
distinguished family, and he provided money for a new isle
on the north side of the church where he was
buried with other of his ancestors, and think he made
(13:14):
some of about one hundred pounds for.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
That, which is quite a lot.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
Well, these are exceptions with which I sort of highlighted
within the book. If you had that sort of wealth,
then needs are the things which you could do, and
it shows a degree of piety which was carried out
during their lifetimes, although in the case of Thomas being
the third Thomas was dead, but he left set aside
(13:43):
that amount of money and he was a third generation
all Thomas springs. So his grandfather and father also contributed
to the rebuilding of Lavanon Church and it is a
spectacular I mean it's a wall church and most of
East Anglia churches were rebuilt during the fifteenth century on
(14:05):
the wealth of war that the merchants generated.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
I think it makes a lot of sense to people
that you'd be giving to the church to make sure
that your soul is taken care of. But one of
the things that I think is really interesting about wills
in particular is the way that people give to the
public works. So prisoners are one place where people will
give money, but also to the public works. So what
kind of works do people fund through their wills through
(14:33):
their bequests.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Well, public works were also considered an act of piety,
so you have things like the repair of roads, also
the repair of bridges, the introduction of piped water.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Supplies public latrines. That was one that I saw in
another will another time.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
That's true is you know, public convenience as well, and
also the setting up of marketplaces. There are lots of
things which they could do, and of course all this
was to help speed their soul through purgatory.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yes, one thing that you have noticed in looking at
all these wills and testaments is that there is a
difference between men's wills and women's wills. What is the
difference that you spotted?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Well, the main difference is that the majority of women's
wills were made by widows, so therefore their wills are
more detailed than men's wills. Men's wills tended to be
dealing with the details of reparation for the church and
so on and so forth in other ways, so that
(15:44):
they would have all the benefits of prayers and things
for their soul and so on, and they would also
remember their wives and children. But quite often what they
had done in their lifetimes I think we touched on
it before, was they they would have already made some
preparations for the wife and the children before drawing up
(16:06):
their wills. In the case of medieval women, most were widows,
so with the death of their husbands they lost that
real close connection, so they looked towards their immediate family
relations sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and a wider network of
(16:27):
friends and neighbors. And they took comfort within that. And
you can see by the level of detail of their
bequests that they made, you can get some idea of
the closeness of the recipient to the testator. So you
get things that you know, I lived to joan of
(16:48):
standing lane, my best rosary and my second best gown
and so on, So you get a gradation of gifts
depending on the bousness of the individual who is receiving it. Always,
of course, with all these bequests that we've been discussing,
(17:08):
it was always implied or accepted that there would be
reciprocal prayers for the soul in receipt of the gifts.
The whole doctrine of purgatory was such that more you
could get people praying for you by disposing of gifts
and so on and so forth, the speeder your journey
(17:31):
would be to the afterlife and reach heaven, which was
what they all aspired to. Whether they actually did or not,
we never know.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Yes, that's kind of too bad. It would be interesting
to find out what the end of the story is.
But that is the human condition.
Speaker 2 (17:46):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
So interestingly, you have a few examples in here of anchorites.
You have an anchorite and a hermit in here. What
would they need a will for.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Well, ncortes where they women or could also be a
clergy who chose to lead the enclosed life and to
become an anchorite, they had to go before either the
archdeacon or the archdeacon's commissary and put forward why they
(18:19):
wished to do so. They also had to provide details
of what they brought with them, what money they had,
and how they would have the ability to collect arms,
so they would have servants who would go out and
get shopping and collect arms and things, and it allowed
(18:41):
them to lead a life of contemplative prayer. If the
archdeacon or his commissary was happy with all the provisions,
they would then go through a religious ceremony in front
of their family, where they would be taken down into
an enclosure. It was like a burial pit where they
(19:04):
would be laid and covered over, and then the space
then completely enclosed. They were then divorced from the outside world,
which allowed them to lead this life of contemplative prayer.
But they could also speak to people from the outside,
(19:25):
and people would come and ask for them to say
prayers for them as well. Hermits, on the other hand,
were mainly but not always us any men, and they
still lived outside. They could be found doing charitable works
like street cleaning, cleaning ditches, mending the battlements, and they
(19:47):
could often be found living in the archways of gates
into medieval towns and cities. And the example of the
hermit that we have in the book, he lived in
one of the gates into the town of Norwich, and
he was responsible for locking the gates at night, and
(20:08):
in the event or in the emergency, for ringing the bells.
So that is the basic difference between an anchorite and
a hermit.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Right would they be writing their will before they were enclosed,
for example, or are they writing it closer to their deaths?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
In both cases it would have been when they were
near a death, and again it would be written and
it would be witnessed. And obviously in the case of
the anchorite that I have from London, it was witnessed
by her maid, but also by the parish rector of
the church. And in the case of the hermit, he
(20:47):
also had small items which he needed to be bequeathed
so that again that would be witnessed as well.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
I think it's interesting that these people who have a mountain,
they're meant to have the least amount, still are creating
wills and testaments to make sure that everyone is taking
care of. So we're talking about little things that people
will bequeathed to other people, especially things that may be
special sentimental. So what are some of the most interesting
things that you found in wills that you just when
(21:20):
you're going to a party you tell people who're asking
about your work. This is really interesting the thing that
I found in the documents.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yeah, I mean some of the things which I found
very interesting. There was this sailor. He was a mariner,
William Owner, and he sailed out of the port of Dummage,
which at the time was the second most important port
after London. He was on his ship in Iceland at
the time when his will was noncubated, so he dictated
(21:52):
it and there was various items of fishing equipment which
he left to his wife and to his children, and
he also made provisions for his cabin boy. He was
given money and he was given a new suit of
clothes for high days for church days as well as
his work days that I found was very interesting. One
(22:14):
of the other ones it concerns the John Hemingham, and
apart from his gifts to his son in the building
of his chapel on the north side of his church
of Hemmingham, he left a number of bequests to the
orders of minorresses in the abbey of Brouchard in Suffolk,
(22:35):
which was not very far away from his ancestral home.
And the reason for that was one of his aunts
and was actually a nun herself at Brouchard Abbey, and
his other aunt, Margaret, who was the eldest daughter of
his grandfather's children. She was an heiress in her own
(22:56):
right and he made substantial bequest for her, and we
also have her web which I've written a paper on
which came out in twenty twenty three, and in the
addition of the Regardian, it's a memorial volume in memory
of Van Sutton, who was another superb scholar. She also
left monies for the minor resses, and there is a
(23:19):
tradition within the Heaveniham family that the female nuns received
more money in comparison to the male monks, and I
suppose the one that really I really like is concerned
in Walter Suffield's will, which was very extensive and apart
from leaving one hundred pounds to found the Hospital of
(23:43):
Sir Giles in honor of his misdeeds, there was a
personal bequest to a William D. Whitewell, who was one
of Walter's ecclesiastical compatriots, and it says, to my well
beloved William, I leave him my belt to be fastened
around him when he grows old. And I thought that
(24:05):
was really lovely. It made me.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Smile, yes, because that's the sort of thing that we
read all these wills and testaments. That's the sort of
thing you're looking for, right, that moment of real connection.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
That's right. And there are lots of nuggets in that
you know that can be found, but that one particularly
stands out for me.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
Well, I think that your book is full of these nuggets,
and you've made it so clear where to find them.
I really think that this is a book that people
are going to find useful again and again. And I
just want to thank you for coming on the podcast
and telling us all about it.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
Well, thank you, Danielle. It's been a real pleasure.
Speaker 1 (24:48):
To find out more about Robert's book, You can take
a quick peek at its review in volume one hundred
of Speculum, a Journal of Medieval Studies, or you can
just pick up a copy for yourself. The book is
called Wills and Testaments in Medieval England from the thirteenth
to the sixteenth century. Before we go, here's Peter from
Medievalist and to tell us what's on the website. What's
(25:10):
up this week?
Speaker 3 (25:11):
Peter? Hey, hey, So earlier this month was a big
day for the Museum of the Viking Age in Oslo, Norway.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
Okay, what happened?
Speaker 3 (25:19):
So they moved that famous Osburg ship into that museum
as they're getting ready for its opening. It was reallysially
in another museum about three hundred and fifty feet away,
and they moved it very slowly to the new one.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Are you saying they didn't sail it?
Speaker 3 (25:34):
Theyn't even be better if they did. They should have
made a canal.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Can't imagine the pressure trying to move that thing.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Took ten hours to move three hundred and fifty feet.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
Well, I mean it's worth it. It's worth it to
put the time in and do it right.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Yeah, that museum of the Viking Age is going to
open twenty twenty seven. From the images I've seen so
far and the plans that have been released, it's going
to look amazing.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
That is definitely something to look forward to.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
Indeed, in need, we have that. Plus we have a
piece by Laura Chevalier who writes about an interesting trial
that took place in the year ten seventy seven. H
The King of Castile ordered a trial by combat between
two versions of the Christian liturgy. He wanted the Roman right,
but a lot of people in his kingdom wanted the
old Mozarabic right. And he said, let's have two champions
(26:21):
fight it out.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
And I guess people will have to read the article
to find out what happened, right.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Well, I can give you some spoilers.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
The first he put his champion out in a one
one combat and he lost. The champion lost, But that's
not the end of it. The king said, hey, let's
do another trial, just the one trial by fire and
put both of the rights, like the books, into a
fire and see which one burns.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Right, because that is going to tell the tale.
Speaker 3 (26:50):
It probably would have, but the Mosarabic right survived the
first fire.
Speaker 1 (26:56):
This is just not going the king's way at all.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
No, no, but the king to have enough, and he
threw the book back into the fire and said, let
the horns of law be bent to the rule of kings.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
There you go, and this is why trials by ordeal
were phased out, because people were like, you can always
kind of tweak them a little bit.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
Indeed, and that's also why we have the Roman rite
in this Spain today.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
There you go. Well, thanks Peter for stopping by and
telling us what's on the website. Thanks, Thank you as
always to all of you for being everyday heroes by listening, sharing,
letting the ads play, or becoming patrons on patreon dot com.
In addition to heaps of good karma, patrons get add
free episodes as well as huge lists of the latest
(27:43):
open access articles in medieval studies each and every month.
To find out more or to become a patron, please
visit patreon dot com slash Medievalists for everything from Will's
two skills. Follow medievalist dot net on Instagram at medievalist net,
blue sky at Medievalists. You can find me Danielle Sabelski
(28:04):
across social media at five am I and Medievalist or
five minute Medievalist, and you can find my books at
all your favorite bookstores. Our music is by Christian Overton.
Thanks for listening and having yourself an awesome day.
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