Elliot Kendall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199542642
- eISBN:
- 9780191715419
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542642.003.0010
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This chapter brings together all the arguments presented in the book regarding the importance of the great household to late 14th-century England. It summarizes the political positions developed in ...
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This chapter brings together all the arguments presented in the book regarding the importance of the great household to late 14th-century England. It summarizes the political positions developed in Gower's Confessio Amantis and the poem's profound influence on contemporary ways of thinking regarding the roles of the gentry, nobility, and royalty and their feelings of responsibility to the political economy, and the subsequent impact of this view of society.Less
This chapter brings together all the arguments presented in the book regarding the importance of the great household to late 14th-century England. It summarizes the political positions developed in Gower's Confessio Amantis and the poem's profound influence on contemporary ways of thinking regarding the roles of the gentry, nobility, and royalty and their feelings of responsibility to the political economy, and the subsequent impact of this view of society.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
The gentry were acutely law-minded. This was as true in the late 13th and early 14th centuries as ever it was to be later. At the heart of this law-mindedness was the need and the determination to ...
More
The gentry were acutely law-minded. This was as true in the late 13th and early 14th centuries as ever it was to be later. At the heart of this law-mindedness was the need and the determination to protect their estates; perhaps one should say to protect their family and their estates, for in their thinking the two were essentially interchangeable. Protection has, of course, a purely physical dimension, and there can hardly have been a secular lord who would not have subscribed to the ethic of the strong, sword-bearing right arm in defence of one's rights. However, as historians have come to recognize, the real knee-jerk reaction if one's property was threatened was to the law, principally and increasingly throughout the 13th century and beyond to the courts of the English common law. It is a truism that this was a litigious age and that the gentry were litigious by predilection. Their law-mindedness, however, became so much a part of gentry behaviour as to be more than just a propensity to seek out writs and legal remedies. Rather it became deeply rooted in gentry culture itself. This aspect of gentry culture has a series of interlocking dimensions and an examination of these will be the subject of this chapter.Less
The gentry were acutely law-minded. This was as true in the late 13th and early 14th centuries as ever it was to be later. At the heart of this law-mindedness was the need and the determination to protect their estates; perhaps one should say to protect their family and their estates, for in their thinking the two were essentially interchangeable. Protection has, of course, a purely physical dimension, and there can hardly have been a secular lord who would not have subscribed to the ethic of the strong, sword-bearing right arm in defence of one's rights. However, as historians have come to recognize, the real knee-jerk reaction if one's property was threatened was to the law, principally and increasingly throughout the 13th century and beyond to the courts of the English common law. It is a truism that this was a litigious age and that the gentry were litigious by predilection. Their law-mindedness, however, became so much a part of gentry behaviour as to be more than just a propensity to seek out writs and legal remedies. Rather it became deeply rooted in gentry culture itself. This aspect of gentry culture has a series of interlocking dimensions and an examination of these will be the subject of this chapter.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0012
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the literature that was available to be read in the gentry household. It shows that the impact of widening literacy upon gentry culture was central: in keeping household and ...
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This chapter examines the literature that was available to be read in the gentry household. It shows that the impact of widening literacy upon gentry culture was central: in keeping household and estate records, in religious observance, and in giving access to a variety of practical remedies. A good deal is known about some aspects of this culture because legal manuscripts, for example, and illuminated prayer-books have been deliberately preserved for posterity. Recreational manuscripts, on the other hand, were probably less often kept. What is certain is that for some gentry families, at least, literacy was also valued for entertainment purposes.Less
This chapter examines the literature that was available to be read in the gentry household. It shows that the impact of widening literacy upon gentry culture was central: in keeping household and estate records, in religious observance, and in giving access to a variety of practical remedies. A good deal is known about some aspects of this culture because legal manuscripts, for example, and illuminated prayer-books have been deliberately preserved for posterity. Recreational manuscripts, on the other hand, were probably less often kept. What is certain is that for some gentry families, at least, literacy was also valued for entertainment purposes.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0014
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the military dimension to gentry life. Although there had always been a military component to the lives of the English nobility, the period from the middle years of Edward I ...
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This chapter examines the military dimension to gentry life. Although there had always been a military component to the lives of the English nobility, the period from the middle years of Edward I through the reigns of Edward II and Edward III saw what has been described as the ‘re-militarisation’ of the ‘gentle-born’. The result was a very powerful and wide-ranging military dimension to English culture that deeply permeated the counties. Not surprisingly heads of gentry houses and many other male members of the gentry families tended to see themselves in military terms.Less
This chapter examines the military dimension to gentry life. Although there had always been a military component to the lives of the English nobility, the period from the middle years of Edward I through the reigns of Edward II and Edward III saw what has been described as the ‘re-militarisation’ of the ‘gentle-born’. The result was a very powerful and wide-ranging military dimension to English culture that deeply permeated the counties. Not surprisingly heads of gentry houses and many other male members of the gentry families tended to see themselves in military terms.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter discusses the material culture of the gentry household by examining the accounts of the Multons. The manorial accounts of 1324-6 tell us a great deal about the rebuilding and repairs at ...
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This chapter discusses the material culture of the gentry household by examining the accounts of the Multons. The manorial accounts of 1324-6 tell us a great deal about the rebuilding and repairs at Frampton following the long wardship of Thomas de Multon IV. They tell us that some basic refurbishing had to be undertaken. household accounts for 1343-4 and for 1347-8. household. For the next generation, that of John de Multon I, household accounts for 1343-4 and for 1347-8 contains, in addition to the usual diet account, a further account on the dorse of the roll entitled ‘Necessary and Foreign Expenses’. Its vantage point is that of the lord, who was itinerant, and it records purchases made for him and moneys disbursed by him and his officials as he travelled around Lincolnshire.Less
This chapter discusses the material culture of the gentry household by examining the accounts of the Multons. The manorial accounts of 1324-6 tell us a great deal about the rebuilding and repairs at Frampton following the long wardship of Thomas de Multon IV. They tell us that some basic refurbishing had to be undertaken. household accounts for 1343-4 and for 1347-8. household. For the next generation, that of John de Multon I, household accounts for 1343-4 and for 1347-8 contains, in addition to the usual diet account, a further account on the dorse of the roll entitled ‘Necessary and Foreign Expenses’. Its vantage point is that of the lord, who was itinerant, and it records purchases made for him and moneys disbursed by him and his officials as he travelled around Lincolnshire.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter aims to reach a balanced view of the gentry household as a home, as a social organism or institution, and as a feature of the social landscape. It will ask a series of important ...
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This chapter aims to reach a balanced view of the gentry household as a home, as a social organism or institution, and as a feature of the social landscape. It will ask a series of important questions, most of them deceptively simple in the asking. Who lived there? Who were the servants and what did they actually do? What were the social relationships involved? How self-contained was the gentry household and how did it relate to the wider world? Who visited the gentry at home? Or, to put the matter another way, for whose benefit was all the display intended? Who saw and appreciated it?Less
This chapter aims to reach a balanced view of the gentry household as a home, as a social organism or institution, and as a feature of the social landscape. It will ask a series of important questions, most of them deceptively simple in the asking. Who lived there? Who were the servants and what did they actually do? What were the social relationships involved? How self-contained was the gentry household and how did it relate to the wider world? Who visited the gentry at home? Or, to put the matter another way, for whose benefit was all the display intended? Who saw and appreciated it?
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the degree to which gentry estates were commercially orientated. It shows that consumption needs were of vital importance, but landowners in general, or at least their ...
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This chapter examines the degree to which gentry estates were commercially orientated. It shows that consumption needs were of vital importance, but landowners in general, or at least their officials, required a degree of commercial sense if manors were to be run successfully. Although the search for agrarian capitalism in this period has tended to muddy the waters and there was no new spirit of enterprise enveloping the smaller landowners, it remains likely that some of the gentry were interested in estate management and even in farming techniques.Less
This chapter examines the degree to which gentry estates were commercially orientated. It shows that consumption needs were of vital importance, but landowners in general, or at least their officials, required a degree of commercial sense if manors were to be run successfully. Although the search for agrarian capitalism in this period has tended to muddy the waters and there was no new spirit of enterprise enveloping the smaller landowners, it remains likely that some of the gentry were interested in estate management and even in farming techniques.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines two relationships: the relationship between the gentry and towns, and that between the gentry and the elites of urban society. These are among the least explored subjects within ...
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This chapter examines two relationships: the relationship between the gentry and towns, and that between the gentry and the elites of urban society. These are among the least explored subjects within gentry studies, yet they are of vital importance in terms of understanding the evolution of the gentry and its culture.Less
This chapter examines two relationships: the relationship between the gentry and towns, and that between the gentry and the elites of urban society. These are among the least explored subjects within gentry studies, yet they are of vital importance in terms of understanding the evolution of the gentry and its culture.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This introductory chapter begins by setting out the purpose of the book, which is to show how the English gentry was formed in an accelerating process from the latter half of the 13th century to the ...
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This introductory chapter begins by setting out the purpose of the book, which is to show how the English gentry was formed in an accelerating process from the latter half of the 13th century to the middle decades of the 14th. Emphasis is placed upon two analytically separated but interconnected phenomena: the development of a partnership in governance between the state and the lesser nobility on the one hand, and on the other the internal dynamics within the lesser nobility itself which led to the crystallization of a graded and relatively stable gentry. It then presents an overview of the various aspects of gentry life.Less
This introductory chapter begins by setting out the purpose of the book, which is to show how the English gentry was formed in an accelerating process from the latter half of the 13th century to the middle decades of the 14th. Emphasis is placed upon two analytically separated but interconnected phenomena: the development of a partnership in governance between the state and the lesser nobility on the one hand, and on the other the internal dynamics within the lesser nobility itself which led to the crystallization of a graded and relatively stable gentry. It then presents an overview of the various aspects of gentry life.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines two estates whose records survive in the archive of the Multons of Frampton. One is Frampton itself, the home farm of the Multons. It represents the knightly, more established, ...
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This chapter examines two estates whose records survive in the archive of the Multons of Frampton. One is Frampton itself, the home farm of the Multons. It represents the knightly, more established, end of the gentry spectrum. The other is the estate of the Cobeldykes, centring upon Wyberton, representing the sub-knightly stratum of the gentry whose upward striving did so much to broaden and strengthen the character of the gentry. Their meagre patrimony was boosted by the profits of service of various kinds. The fact that their respective account rolls are both from precisely the same period, the mid- to late-1320s, makes their comparison all the more valuable. These estates are examined in terms of both their structure and their exploitation.Less
This chapter examines two estates whose records survive in the archive of the Multons of Frampton. One is Frampton itself, the home farm of the Multons. It represents the knightly, more established, end of the gentry spectrum. The other is the estate of the Cobeldykes, centring upon Wyberton, representing the sub-knightly stratum of the gentry whose upward striving did so much to broaden and strengthen the character of the gentry. Their meagre patrimony was boosted by the profits of service of various kinds. The fact that their respective account rolls are both from precisely the same period, the mid- to late-1320s, makes their comparison all the more valuable. These estates are examined in terms of both their structure and their exploitation.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
The household was the principal locus of gentry consumption, the manor that of production. They were of course closely linked, with the one largely dependent upon the other. The previous chapter ...
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The household was the principal locus of gentry consumption, the manor that of production. They were of course closely linked, with the one largely dependent upon the other. The previous chapter showed some of the constant interaction that took place between the two. This chapter focuses on the gentry's relationships with their tenants. The history of the relationship between the Multons and their tenants is lacking in spectacular or sensational episodes. Indeed, it comes across as mundane, even humdrum. All the evidence suggests, however, that the Multons of Frampton — at least as far as the early to mid-14th century is concerned — were a gentry family who were not especially rapacious towards their tenants, but were nonetheless very conscious of their rights and made the most of the opportunities they had to take what they could from their tenants.Less
The household was the principal locus of gentry consumption, the manor that of production. They were of course closely linked, with the one largely dependent upon the other. The previous chapter showed some of the constant interaction that took place between the two. This chapter focuses on the gentry's relationships with their tenants. The history of the relationship between the Multons and their tenants is lacking in spectacular or sensational episodes. Indeed, it comes across as mundane, even humdrum. All the evidence suggests, however, that the Multons of Frampton — at least as far as the early to mid-14th century is concerned — were a gentry family who were not especially rapacious towards their tenants, but were nonetheless very conscious of their rights and made the most of the opportunities they had to take what they could from their tenants.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
Religious belief and practice are central to the understanding of any, or at least almost any, culture. As far as the gentry is concerned religious sensibility and religious observance immediately ...
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Religious belief and practice are central to the understanding of any, or at least almost any, culture. As far as the gentry is concerned religious sensibility and religious observance immediately raise issues around internal and external worlds and around the possibility of a fundamental dichotomy between private and public spheres. However unwittingly, the historian cannot help but have one eye on the Reformation and the debates it engenders. This chapter approaches the religion of the gentry in its formative period, initially though the uniquely revealing phenomenon of the private chapel. It examines belief and worship in their most intimate setting: in the curia itself. It focuses on a particularly significant development that would govern the role of the gentry within the church for many centuries — the shift in patronage and support from the religious orders to the parish church.Less
Religious belief and practice are central to the understanding of any, or at least almost any, culture. As far as the gentry is concerned religious sensibility and religious observance immediately raise issues around internal and external worlds and around the possibility of a fundamental dichotomy between private and public spheres. However unwittingly, the historian cannot help but have one eye on the Reformation and the debates it engenders. This chapter approaches the religion of the gentry in its formative period, initially though the uniquely revealing phenomenon of the private chapel. It examines belief and worship in their most intimate setting: in the curia itself. It focuses on a particularly significant development that would govern the role of the gentry within the church for many centuries — the shift in patronage and support from the religious orders to the parish church.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter examines the changes that were affecting the parish church more generally in the 13th century in order to understand both the motivation behind the gentry's tightening grip between over ...
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This chapter examines the changes that were affecting the parish church more generally in the 13th century in order to understand both the motivation behind the gentry's tightening grip between over parish churches and its effects. In the 13th century, St Thomas Aquinas, observing that it was praiseworthy to beautify a church, also commended the building of monuments because they incited men to pray for the souls of the departed. The clergy were bound to pray for their benefactors and by the late 13th century it was a common theological position that monuments were an aide-memoire to such prayer. Sometimes a parish church must have been totally dominated by the image of the lord and, coincidentally therefore, of lordship.Less
This chapter examines the changes that were affecting the parish church more generally in the 13th century in order to understand both the motivation behind the gentry's tightening grip between over parish churches and its effects. In the 13th century, St Thomas Aquinas, observing that it was praiseworthy to beautify a church, also commended the building of monuments because they incited men to pray for the souls of the departed. The clergy were bound to pray for their benefactors and by the late 13th century it was a common theological position that monuments were an aide-memoire to such prayer. Sometimes a parish church must have been totally dominated by the image of the lord and, coincidentally therefore, of lordship.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This book examines the formative years of the English gentry. In doing so, it explains their lasting characteristics during a long history as a social elite, including adaptability to change and ...
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This book examines the formative years of the English gentry. In doing so, it explains their lasting characteristics during a long history as a social elite, including adaptability to change and openness to upward mobility from below, chiefly from the professions. Revolving around the rich archive left by the Multons of Frampton in South Lincolnshire, the book explores the material culture of the gentry, their concern with fashion, and their obsession with display. It pays close attention to the visitors to their homes, and to the social relationships between men and women. The book shows that the gentry household was a literate community, within a literate local world, and he studies closely the consumption of literature, paying particular attention to household entertainment. Beyond their households, the gentry could assert their pre-eminence in the local community through involvement with the Church and the management of their estates. Treating the relationship between gentry and Church in both devotional and institutional terms, the book shows how religious practice was a means for the gentry to assert social dominance, and they increasingly treated the Church as a career path for their kin. Protecting their estates was of similar importance, and legal expertise was highly prized — it consequently provided a major means of entry into the gentry, as well as offering further opportunities for younger sons. Overall, the book reveals that the cultural horizons of the gentry were essentially local. Nevertheless there were wider dimensions, and the book concludes with observations on how national and chivalric concerns interacted with the rhythms of regional life.Less
This book examines the formative years of the English gentry. In doing so, it explains their lasting characteristics during a long history as a social elite, including adaptability to change and openness to upward mobility from below, chiefly from the professions. Revolving around the rich archive left by the Multons of Frampton in South Lincolnshire, the book explores the material culture of the gentry, their concern with fashion, and their obsession with display. It pays close attention to the visitors to their homes, and to the social relationships between men and women. The book shows that the gentry household was a literate community, within a literate local world, and he studies closely the consumption of literature, paying particular attention to household entertainment. Beyond their households, the gentry could assert their pre-eminence in the local community through involvement with the Church and the management of their estates. Treating the relationship between gentry and Church in both devotional and institutional terms, the book shows how religious practice was a means for the gentry to assert social dominance, and they increasingly treated the Church as a career path for their kin. Protecting their estates was of similar importance, and legal expertise was highly prized — it consequently provided a major means of entry into the gentry, as well as offering further opportunities for younger sons. Overall, the book reveals that the cultural horizons of the gentry were essentially local. Nevertheless there were wider dimensions, and the book concludes with observations on how national and chivalric concerns interacted with the rhythms of regional life.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
The cartulary and the new legal devices were two manifestations of an increasingly litigious society. Another was the prominence of lawyers, which is examined in this chapter. It shows that with the ...
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The cartulary and the new legal devices were two manifestations of an increasingly litigious society. Another was the prominence of lawyers, which is examined in this chapter. It shows that with the high and growing demand for practising lawyers and for men knowledgeable in the law during the later 13th and early 14th centuries, finding the means to give a potential lawyer the requisite schooling was an obvious form of investment for a family with sufficient funds to make this a realistic possibility. It might also result from pressure on income; for example where there were multiple sons to sustain.Less
The cartulary and the new legal devices were two manifestations of an increasingly litigious society. Another was the prominence of lawyers, which is examined in this chapter. It shows that with the high and growing demand for practising lawyers and for men knowledgeable in the law during the later 13th and early 14th centuries, finding the means to give a potential lawyer the requisite schooling was an obvious form of investment for a family with sufficient funds to make this a realistic possibility. It might also result from pressure on income; for example where there were multiple sons to sustain.
Peter Coss
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199560004
- eISBN:
- 9780191723094
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199560004.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Medieval History
This chapter briefly reviews the range of sources that are available for the study of gentry history and introduces the families with which the study will be primarily concerned. The study focuses on ...
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This chapter briefly reviews the range of sources that are available for the study of gentry history and introduces the families with which the study will be primarily concerned. The study focuses on the archive of one particular gentry family: the Multons of Frampton. At the heart of the Multon archive is an extensive deed collection, in this instance devoted chiefly to Frampton and parts near in Holland in South Lincolnshire. The value of these deeds is further increased when the archive opens out to include estate and household records from the 1320s. They include manorial account rolls from the years 1324-5 and 1325-6, an extent of the manor at Frampton from 1326, a collector's account for the years 1330-1, and a series of manor court rolls covering the period from June 1330 to January 1332. The Multons of Frampton stemmed ultimately from the Multons of Moulton by Spalding, and were distantly related thereby to several families of the higher nobility. The key figure in the genealogy of the Multons of Moulton was Thomas de Multon who died in 1240. Thomas was immensely successful as the father of dynasties. Three sons, by two wives, came to hold the baronies of Egremont, Cockermouth, and Burgh by Sands.Less
This chapter briefly reviews the range of sources that are available for the study of gentry history and introduces the families with which the study will be primarily concerned. The study focuses on the archive of one particular gentry family: the Multons of Frampton. At the heart of the Multon archive is an extensive deed collection, in this instance devoted chiefly to Frampton and parts near in Holland in South Lincolnshire. The value of these deeds is further increased when the archive opens out to include estate and household records from the 1320s. They include manorial account rolls from the years 1324-5 and 1325-6, an extent of the manor at Frampton from 1326, a collector's account for the years 1330-1, and a series of manor court rolls covering the period from June 1330 to January 1332. The Multons of Frampton stemmed ultimately from the Multons of Moulton by Spalding, and were distantly related thereby to several families of the higher nobility. The key figure in the genealogy of the Multons of Moulton was Thomas de Multon who died in 1240. Thomas was immensely successful as the father of dynasties. Three sons, by two wives, came to hold the baronies of Egremont, Cockermouth, and Burgh by Sands.
Robert Wuthnow
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157207
- eISBN:
- 9781400846498
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157207.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Urban and Rural Studies
This chapter examines the marks of distinction that residents use to describe social strata in their communities as well as the local expectations that blur these distinctions. To understand how ...
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This chapter examines the marks of distinction that residents use to describe social strata in their communities as well as the local expectations that blur these distinctions. To understand how people in small towns view their communities, and how their communities shape their behaviors and attitudes, a good start is to look at the people themselves. Doing so reveals an interesting irony. The millions of people in the United States who live in small towns are quite diverse. They vary in background, race, age, family style, sexual orientation, education level, occupation, and income. At the same time, townspeople argue that they are not so different from one another. They see their fellow residents as similar to themselves: profoundly democratic, neighborly, and basically equal. The chapter considers the socioeconomic status of small-town residents as well as various categories of residents, namely: gentry, service class, wageworkers, and pensioners.Less
This chapter examines the marks of distinction that residents use to describe social strata in their communities as well as the local expectations that blur these distinctions. To understand how people in small towns view their communities, and how their communities shape their behaviors and attitudes, a good start is to look at the people themselves. Doing so reveals an interesting irony. The millions of people in the United States who live in small towns are quite diverse. They vary in background, race, age, family style, sexual orientation, education level, occupation, and income. At the same time, townspeople argue that they are not so different from one another. They see their fellow residents as similar to themselves: profoundly democratic, neighborly, and basically equal. The chapter considers the socioeconomic status of small-town residents as well as various categories of residents, namely: gentry, service class, wageworkers, and pensioners.
Elliot Kendall
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199542642
- eISBN:
- 9780191715419
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199542642.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Early and Medieval Literature
This book explores the importance of the great household to late 14th-century English culture and society. A sustained new reading of John Gower's major English poem, Confessio Amantis, shows how ...
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This book explores the importance of the great household to late 14th-century English culture and society. A sustained new reading of John Gower's major English poem, Confessio Amantis, shows how deeply the great household informed the way Gower and his contemporaries imagined their world. Encompassing royal government and gentry ambitions, this book views the period's politics in terms of a household-based economy of power, using the work of thinkers such as Pierre Bourdieu and Marcel Mauss. The book argues that myriad political practice and representations, including the Appeal of the Merciless Parliament, contests over livery, retaining, and maintenance, and poetic imaginings of lordship by Chaucer, Gower, and other writers, conformed to definable models of household exchange. The literary force of these competing models is revealed in wide-ranging interpretations of household exchange — of women, hospitality, livery, loyalty, retribution — in Gower's complex and influential poem. The great household rode immense political shockwaves during the reign of Richard II, when royal aggrandizement and economic crisis in the wake of the Black Death challenged dominant modes of aristocratic power. This book locates Gower's poem in this context and, in the process, describes a powerful yet embattled aristocratic politics.Less
This book explores the importance of the great household to late 14th-century English culture and society. A sustained new reading of John Gower's major English poem, Confessio Amantis, shows how deeply the great household informed the way Gower and his contemporaries imagined their world. Encompassing royal government and gentry ambitions, this book views the period's politics in terms of a household-based economy of power, using the work of thinkers such as Pierre Bourdieu and Marcel Mauss. The book argues that myriad political practice and representations, including the Appeal of the Merciless Parliament, contests over livery, retaining, and maintenance, and poetic imaginings of lordship by Chaucer, Gower, and other writers, conformed to definable models of household exchange. The literary force of these competing models is revealed in wide-ranging interpretations of household exchange — of women, hospitality, livery, loyalty, retribution — in Gower's complex and influential poem. The great household rode immense political shockwaves during the reign of Richard II, when royal aggrandizement and economic crisis in the wake of the Black Death challenged dominant modes of aristocratic power. This book locates Gower's poem in this context and, in the process, describes a powerful yet embattled aristocratic politics.
John Wilson Foster
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199232833
- eISBN:
- 9780191716454
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232833.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter analyzes Society fiction. Society novels are set in elegant town houses in London or Dublin and in country houses in England or Ireland. These novels often have a simple dual cast of ...
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This chapter analyzes Society fiction. Society novels are set in elegant town houses in London or Dublin and in country houses in England or Ireland. These novels often have a simple dual cast of characters: the gentry and their servants and stablehands (as well as jarveys and local peasants), and dual settings: the country house and either tenant cottages or servant quarters (lodges, stables, sculleries). A few professional figures (solicitors, doctors, men of the cloth) mildly complicate this semi-feudal picture and visitors have the lonely duty of personifying the world beyond.Less
This chapter analyzes Society fiction. Society novels are set in elegant town houses in London or Dublin and in country houses in England or Ireland. These novels often have a simple dual cast of characters: the gentry and their servants and stablehands (as well as jarveys and local peasants), and dual settings: the country house and either tenant cottages or servant quarters (lodges, stables, sculleries). A few professional figures (solicitors, doctors, men of the cloth) mildly complicate this semi-feudal picture and visitors have the lonely duty of personifying the world beyond.
Jane Whittle and Elizabeth Griffiths
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199233533
- eISBN:
- 9780191739330
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199233533.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Lady Alice Le Strange of Hunstanton in Norfolk kept a continuous series of household accounts from 1610 to 1654. This book uses the Le Stranges’ rich archive to imaginatively reconstruct the material ...
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Lady Alice Le Strange of Hunstanton in Norfolk kept a continuous series of household accounts from 1610 to 1654. This book uses the Le Stranges’ rich archive to imaginatively reconstruct the material aspects of family life. This involves looking not just at purchases but also at home production and gifts; and not just at the luxurious but also at the everyday consumption of food and medical care. Consumption is viewed not just as material culture, but as a process involving household management, acquisition and appropriation, a process which created and reinforced social links with craftsmen, servants, labourers and the local community. It is argued that the county gentry provide a missing link in histories of consumption: connecting the fashions of London and the royal court with those of middling strata of rural England. Consumption is often viewed as a female activity, and the book looks in detail at who managed the provisioning, purchases and work within the household, how spending on sons and daughters differed, and whether men and women attached different cultural values to household goods. This single household’s economy provides a window onto some of most significant cultural and economic issues of early modern England: innovations in trade, retail and production, the basis of gentry power, social relations in the countryside, and the gendering of family life.Less
Lady Alice Le Strange of Hunstanton in Norfolk kept a continuous series of household accounts from 1610 to 1654. This book uses the Le Stranges’ rich archive to imaginatively reconstruct the material aspects of family life. This involves looking not just at purchases but also at home production and gifts; and not just at the luxurious but also at the everyday consumption of food and medical care. Consumption is viewed not just as material culture, but as a process involving household management, acquisition and appropriation, a process which created and reinforced social links with craftsmen, servants, labourers and the local community. It is argued that the county gentry provide a missing link in histories of consumption: connecting the fashions of London and the royal court with those of middling strata of rural England. Consumption is often viewed as a female activity, and the book looks in detail at who managed the provisioning, purchases and work within the household, how spending on sons and daughters differed, and whether men and women attached different cultural values to household goods. This single household’s economy provides a window onto some of most significant cultural and economic issues of early modern England: innovations in trade, retail and production, the basis of gentry power, social relations in the countryside, and the gendering of family life.
