Ordering the Medieval and Tudor Household for Christmas.

In this series:

• The Wild Boar from Valhalla to Christmas Kitchen.
• Catering the Medieval and Tudor Christmas Feasts.
• Ordering the Medieval and Tudor Household for Christmas.
• Feasting in the Great Hall on Christmas Day!
• Celebrating the Days of Christmas Before the New Year.

While we have already taken a brief look at the provisioning of the kitchen and auxiliaries [link] for food production over the Medieval and Tudor Christmas holidays, such was hardly the only need.  The winters can get cold and damp in England, for example.  And ovens need fuel.  At the end of November 1228, the order went out to King Henry III’s forester, Hugo Neville, to deliver enough firewood and coal (presumably charcoal) for the upcoming Christmas season.[1]  The goods were to be delivered to the King’s  estate at Woodstock where he planned to pass the holidays.

Surely, gifts qualify as something of a necessity in such a season.  At the end of November of 1227 the order went out to capture 20 red deer and 10 wild pigs and put them in the enclosure at Pickering.[2]  These might have been for the King’s own household but he was in the habit of freely gifting does and red deer to many different court favorites.

On the same day, the King sent an order to his agent, John Cunde, in York, to dispatch a ship filled with 25 amphorae of wine — surely a gift to all.  The Christmas wine seems to have been shipped from York for some years to come.

The King was collecting the scutage tax[3] for his war in Wales at the same time in 1228.  In late November, he pardoned the Bishop of Hereford from having to pay which may or may not have been a Christmas gift.[4]  This year, 1228, Hugo Neville was also engaged in scouting out and cutting down suitable oak trees from the Royal forests at Havering and Kingswood requested by various chapels for wainscoting.  This happened more often — but not only — around Christmas.

On December of 1229, the king gave his valet, Philippo Tartcurteis, all the chattel of one Thome de Shirinton “recently hung for thievery”.[5]  Again, this may or may not have been considered a Christmas gift.

The weeks leading up to Christmas were mostly about preparing the servants, family and the estate.  Before the 15^th century, ells and ells of material of every quality and description were generally purchased from the local draper and delivered to the estate for servants to make into fine or daily clothing.  More and more, from the 15^th century onward, the material was delivered to freeman tailors and seamstresses in the associated town or in London to be delivered back as finished items.

In 1462, Sir John Howard purchased “a goune for [his servant] Robart Clerke”. Thomas of Wardroppe was paid “fore makenge of my ladyis goune of cremysen velvet.”  From Perse the hosier he purchased “a payre of murry hosen engreyned [heavy]”.  On the 28^th of December he settled up with Berthelmew Syates for “v. yerde of cremysen velvet… and fore viij. yerde russet velvet” and with Roger Tegois’ man “fore sarsnet fore his tepet [wall hanging?] and fore lynynge of hys gounys”.[6]

In 1463 “fustyen“ was purchased for cushions.  Common blew was purchased in large quantities for clothing the servants.  The russet purchased may have been worn by outdoor servants but was also made into day clothes for the family.  Also the following list:

Item, for makenge of a gowne to mastres Ysbelle, xij.d.

Item, for makenge of a goune to mastres Anne, x.d.

Item, for makenge of ij. gownes to mastres Jane, xiiij.d.

Item, for makenge of a goune and a kertelle to Margett Notbem, xiiij.d.

Item, for makenge of a goune for Anne Fuller, xij.d.

Item, for makenge of xiij. pare mennes gownes, iiij.s. iiij.d.[7]

The ladies of the household were outfitted in  this season for use throughout the year.  In 1465, the lists include:

Item, the same day my mastyr paid to Jemes of Colchester for a payr shone for mastyr Thomas, vj.d.

Item, for a payr shone for mastyr Nycholl, vj.d.

Item, for a payr shone for Thorppe, vj.d.

Item, for a payr shone for Janyn of stable, , vi.d.

Item, for a payr shone and a payr galaches for Anne Fuller, x.d.

The servants could not do their work without proper shoes.  As often as not, the days following the Feast of St. Michael [link] were the traditional time for new shoes for servants.  With those shoes their attitudes surely brightened noticeably.

On December 13^th, 1491, the rolls of the Duke of Norfolk[8] noted payment

for the dyenge of lxj. yardes of lyneng for chyldren of the chapell, and the henchemen, and Jak of the chamber, for ther gownys

The boys had to look their best.  The next day shows, among many other payments, payment for

for xiij. ellis and a half, at vij.d. the ell, boght for tabyll clothis in the hall

The next day, the glazier was paid — likely for windows he had installed or replaced.  A castle with actual windows was a source of wonder.  The chapel organ was repaired.  Two new chessboards were paid for.  On the 20^th, wagons were brought in to remove all garbage.  Payment was made for “xviii. yardes of lynen cloth, that M. Leynthorpe hade for dysgysyng”. 

These were special holidays.  The good host was intent to impress, or, at least, not to seem cheap.  Most of the purchases, however, were the like of girdles or candles or wax to make them.  Clay pots for the kitchen and servants’ tables.  Cooking utensils, horse feed, bridles, clay for cleaning and patching, straw, fresh rushes, etc.

In the 1503 accounts of Queen Elizabeth of York[9] we find the Christmas doe once again.

Itm. the xxiij" day of Decembre to a servaunt of Sir John Seymours in rewarde for bringing of fyve does to the Quene at Richemount . . . vj s. viij d.

Sir John may have had his own deer park in which to corral gifts.

The surviving expense accounts of the Princess Mary,[10] daughter of Henry VIII, show numerous entries for the receipt of a doe for which the servant delivering it received a gratuity of 3 to 5 shillings.  In both Medieval and Tudor times, the does are almost always delivered to the Lady of a house.  This would seem to be symbolic of a feminine bond.  Mary being a maid might account  for the surprising numbers.  I can only wonder if the Lady wasn’t expected to take the doe as a cherished pet while fattening it for the viand it would soon become.

She also had her lists of expenses typical of the noble house.  In 1537 she was careful to buy shoes and hose for her beloved female fool, Jane.

Itm payed for golde to embraudre a qwyssion~ for m' Wriothesley . . xx i.

Itm payed for Siluer to embraudre a Boxe for my lady Elizabeth gee . xij s.

Itm payed to ij brauderers for working at Richmounte . . xx s.

Itm payed for damaske for the lynyng of a qwyssion~ . . vij s. vj d.

Itm payed for Fringe to the said qwission~ ij s. viij d.

Itm payed for housen and shoes to Jane the fole . . . xx d.[11]

The embroidery of new cushions — damask on this occasion — shows yet another long-traditional addition to the Christmas finery of the house.  It was a busy time.

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[1] Close Rolls of the Reign of Henry III, A.D. 1227-1231. (1902). 134. “Mandatum est Hugoni de Nevill quod provideat domino regi de buscha et carbone sufficienter contra festum Natalis Domini,… ” 

[2] Ibid., 5.

[3] Foedaries to the King were obligated to provide either equipped fighting men or to pay a per soldier/shield tax called the “scutage”. Bishops held their lands from the king and therefore also had to provide or pay.

[4] Henry III, 134. Other noblemen not bishops were also pardoned later in the year.

[5] Ibid., 275.

[6] Manners and House Hold Expenses England the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Centuries (1841). 181-2.

[7] Ibid., 156 ff.

[8] Household Books of John Duke of Norfolk and Thomas Earl of Surrey (1844).  513 ff.

[9] Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York. Wardrobe Accounts of Edward the IV. (1830). 81.

[10] Privy Purse Expenses of the Princess Mary (1831).

[11] Ibid., 50.

Also at Virtual Grub Street:

• Zombie Apocalypse & Trick-or-Treating: Halloween through History. October 30, 2019. “Looking closely, however, we see that this Shakespeare quote has moved the “puling” (which it was actually called) back one day to Hallowmas, All Hallows Day, rather than All Souls.  Far more important, he has actually referred to puling as a special kind of speech spoken by beggars on Hallowmas Day.”
• A Thousand Years of English Terms.  June 2, 2019.  ‘One person did not say to another, “Meet you at three o’clock”.    There was no clock to be o’.  But the church bell rang the hour of Nones and you arranged to meet “upon the Nones bell”.’
• Feast of St. Michael, September 29: Beginning of the English Year. September 29, 2019. "Those who have read my “Thousand Years of English  Terms” may recall that the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels (a.k.a. “Michaelmas”), on September 29, marked the beginning to the English legal and business year."
• A Most Curious Account of the Funeral of Queen Elizabeth I: April 28, 1603.  April 28, 2019.  “Once it was clear that James I would face no serious challenges, Cecil and the others could begin to give attention to the matter of the Queen’s funeral.”
• Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
• Check out the Medieval Topics Article Index for many more articles about this fascinating time.