Read Ebook: Chaucer's Official Life by Hulbert James R James Root

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THE CAREERS OF THE INDIVIDUAL ESQUIRES

WALTER WHITHORS

Walter Whithors is mentioned in the records first in 1343 when he received an order granting him his wages for life, and the custody of the River Posse for life. In 1346 he was granted two marriages, in 1347, five marks a year, the tronagership of Lenn, and the constableship of Conisborough Castle. In 1348 the King granted Whithors all the tenements and rents in the city of London which were in the King's hands by reason of the forfeiture of a certain William de Mordon. In the same year he was given the custody of the smaller piece of the seal for recognizances of debts in the city of York. In 1349 he received a grant of forfeited houses in the county of York, and likewise a mill and more lands forfeited by William de Mordon. Furthermore he was given in the same year the right to dispose of some of these latter lands. In 1349 further he was granted the stewardship of the forest of Galtres, and the roots of all trees cut down in that forest. In 1352 the office of tronage of the wools at Lenne was granted to his former deputy, at the request of Walter Whithora who surrendered a grant of that office. Next year he was given an annuity of twenty marks, and also the right to exercise the office of recognizances of debts by deputy, "because he stays continually in the King's service, at his side." In the same year he was granted the custody of the forest of Lynton, adjacent to Galtres.

In 1370 he was granted free warren in Brenchesham, Surrey. And in the same year and nearly until his death, he had an annuity of forty marks a year as usher or doorkeeper of the King's free chapel of Windsor. For this office also he received twelve pence a day "because that the same Lord the King charged the same Walter to carry a wand in the presence of the said Lord the King, before the college" when the King personally should be there, "and that the same Walter might be able more easily to support that charge." In that year likewise he was sent to York to borrow money from divers abbots, priors and others for the King's use. In 1373 he and Isabella his wife acquired by a devious series of transfers a messuage of land with reversion to their son Walter. In 1377 Gerard Brocas acknowledged a debt of 160 m. to Walter Whithors. In 1377 he was granted the lands and tenements of Simon Raunville, defunct, and the marriage of his heiress to Ralph, son of Walter Whithors. In 1383 he was still exercising the office of custodian of the smaller piece of the seal for York by deputy. Three years later the King at his supplication granted his annuity of forty marks to another. In 1387 he was apparently dead, for the King granted to another the office of usher of St. George's Chapel, and the house which he had occupied.

According to Dugdale, Walter Whithors married Mabel, daughter and coheir of Philip Neweham of Neunham Padox in Warwick. Their son and heir was Sir Ralph Whitehorse Kt. JOHN DE BEVERLE

In 1377 we find an acknowledgement of one hundred marks which John de Beverle had lent to the king for the expeditions over sea, and in this year he is said to have been armour-bearer to the king . In 1 Richard II, he acquired a rent of forty shillings from lands and tenements in Buckenhull. In 1378 certain men were imprisoned for a debt of one hundred pounds to John de Beverle and Joan de Bokkyng, and in that year he paid twenty pounds for leave to alienate certain property of six marks rent which he held from the king. In 1378 he was retained to serve Richard II and confirmed in his possession of the office of parker of Eltham parks, an annuity of ten pounds and the fee farm rent of eighty-one pounds for the manor of Hedyngdom. In 1380 his office of constable of the castle of Leeds, the profits of the mills there and the custody of the park there, were exchanged for ten pounds to be deducted yearly from his rent of twenty pounds paid to the king for the manor of Tremworth.

In 1381 John de Beverle was dead leaving seven manors and other property. In 17 Richard II his wife, Amicia, had become the wife of Robert Bardolf, miles.

In the index to his Froissart, Kervyn de Lettenhoeve describes John de Beverle as "moult grant baron d'Angleterre" and refers to a list of chevaliers who were going to Portugal in 1384 with the master of the order of St. James. This was certainly not our John de Beverle because the latter was dead in 1381.

GEFFREY STUCLE

In 1377 he is said to have been one of the jury that found Alice Perrers guilty of maintenance ; certainly he witnessed against her before Parliament. In 2 Richard II he was sent on secret business of the King with John de Burle and others to Milan; for the voyage he received L23, 6s. 8d. In 4 Richard II he was sent to the King of the Romans and of Bohemia on secret business connected with the marriage of the King, and paid L66, 13s. 4d. for the journey. In 1382 he and John Herlyng acquired a messuage and sixty acres of land. In 5 Richard II he was paid for a certain voyage to Germany L75, 6s. 8d. and for a voyage on king's secret business to Flanders, ten pounds. In 1384 he was granted for life the ten pounds yearly due from him from the issues of the Castle of Colchester. In this document his services as King's messenger beyond the seas are expressly mentioned. He seems to have had custody of the castle of Colchester, for when later in 1384 the King granted it to Robert de Veer, he gave instead forty pounds yearly to George Felbrigg. In 7, 8 Richard II he was granted free warren for certain estates in Suffolk. In 1385 the King granted to George Felbrig, whom the King on his entry into Scotland had advanced to the rank of Knight, forty pounds yearly to enable him to support his estate more honorably. He had with him when he was in the King's expedition to Scotland eight esquires and bowmen.

The justices of a given county were derived from three classes.

those appointed by being named in the schedule.

virtute officii--i.e. the Lord Chancellor, Lord President of the Privy Council, Lord Privy Seal, Justices of the Supreme Court, etc.

holders of minor judicial offices, county judges, etc.

Of those named in the list of Justices of the Peace for Kent in 1386 at least four fall under class ; Robert Tresilian, Robert Bealknap, David Hannemere, and Walter Clopton were at that time Justices in the King's courts and their names occur in the lists of justices for many of the counties of England. Since they very likely never sat with the Justices of the Peace in Kent, they may, for our purposes, be disregarded.

We cannot be sure that Chaucer ever actually sat on this commission or that he knew personally any one of his fellow justices. Consequently there is no intrinsic interest in a study of their individual careers and personalities. But a few notes about them will give us some impression of the type of men with whom Chaucer was associating and the importance of his social position.

JOHN CLINTON came of a prominent Kentish family. He was son of John de Clinton of Maxtoke and Ida d'Odingsel. He was in the French and Scottish campaigns, was appointed on commissions and was at one time lieutenant of John Devereux, warden of the Cinque Ports. He died in 1396, leaving extensive lands in Kent . He married Margery Corbet, of a good Kentish family.

THOMAS CULPEPER came from a great Kentish family which at one time could boast of having twelve members bearing the order of Knighthood. A Thomas Culpeper was Member of Parliament for Kent in 1361 and in other later years.

THOMAS FOGG was Member of Parliament for Kent in 1378, 1380, 1383, 1384, 1388. He held lands by Knight's service of the Lord of Ponynges, and came, through right of his wife, into part of the property of Warresins de Valoynes. In 1377 he was constable of the castle of Calais. He was prominent in the wars of the time, especially in naval action. In 1386 he went to Spain with John of Gaunt. In 1405 he died.

WILLIAM RIKHILL was a justice of the King's bench. He may have been in the list for that reason, or perhaps because he was an inhabitant of Kent. At any rate he came of a landed family in Kent. He died in Henry IV's reign.

JOHN FREMINGHAM, son of Sir Ralph Fremingham of Lose, was derived from a prominent Kentish family. He himself is called "chivaler;" was sheriff of Kent in 1378 and 1393, and a Member of Parliament in 1377, 1381 and 1399. He was executor of the will of William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury. He died 12 Henry IV, possessing the manor and advowson of the church of Otham, and Read Court.

WILLIAM TOPCLYF was apparently the only man in the list who did not come from a landed Kentish family. He was, however, in 1382 and doubtless later, land steward to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He held a manor in Kent, whether as steward of the Archbishop or of his own right, I have not been able to find out.

THOMAS BROKHILL, of Saltwood, chivaler, derived from a good Kentish family, was Sheriff in 1382, 1383, 1385, 1395, 1397, 1399, and 1402. He died in 1437-38, leaving no male heirs.

WILLIAM BRENCHESLEY was lord of the manor of Benenden, near Dartford, and a justice of the Common Pleas . THE CUSTOMS

The duties of the collectors of customs were to ensure payment on all wools and leather shipped from their port, to have the wool or leather weighed at the wool-beam and each bale tested and sealed with the Government stamp or "coket" seal. The collectors, of whom there were two in every important port, were clerical officers rather than coast guards--their most arduous duty the preparing and balancing of the accounts which had to be written by their own hands. Their salary was twenty pounds a year each. The controller, who was intended as a check on the collectors, prepared and presented an independent account to the Exchequer. He seems to have had no fixed salary, but the collectors were empowered to pay the controller's salary out of the takings. The sums thus paid, were however, mostly nominal, and it is evident that both collectors and controllers were allowed to levy fees.

The collectors of the Port of London during Chaucer's service as controller were:

These were in every case prominent citizens and merchants of London, and after 1377, they were members of a clique especially friendly to the King, and inimical to John of Gaunt. To gain the right conception of their relations, one must learn something about London politics. I shall follow Trevelyan's account of the factional struggles in the city, which from the documents which he has published and from such evidence as that afforded by the Rolls of Parliament, is unquestionably the correct one. The aldermen of London were the representatives of the companies , each company choosing a given number according to its influence and wealth. Further in 1376 a method of electing the mayor and the sheriffs, was introduced, which consisted in a vote by companies. Now the most powerful of these companies was the Grocers' which at this time had sixteen aldermen--many more than its nearest competitor. Allied with this company were the other companies of merchants dealing in provisions, especially the Fishmongers. The chief opponents of this group were the companies of clothing merchants, the mercers, drapers, cordwainers, etc. The Grocers' Company and its allies stood for the established order of things because they were faring well under it. The Mercers and Drapers were rebellious and ready to take any opportunity to eject their rivals from power.

At this time John of Gaunt's clique in the court, especially Lord Latimer and Richard Lyons, had aroused the enmity of the Londoners because of their irregular and "grafting" financial operations. The Londoners paraded the streets in demonstration against John of Gaunt. The latter demanded revenge and gained the deposition of the mayor, Adam Staple. The Londoners rallied and elected Nicholas Brembre mayor. Brembre and his allies defended the Londoners vigorously before Parliament. Naturally then John of Gaunt felt a still greater hatred of Brembre and his party and was willing to act as patron to their opponents. The latter in turn, eager to gain any aid they could in their struggles, willingly accepted John of Gaunt as a friend. This, as clearly as I can make out, is the train of circumstances which brought about an unquestioned condition: John of Gaunt's hatred of London and especially of Brembre and his party, and his patronage of John of Northampton, the chief representative of the clothiers. Brembre's chief political allies were Sir William Walworth, Sir John Philipot and Nicholas Exton. These men were very definitely patronised by Richard II in opposition to John Northampton, Richard Northbury and John More.

During Chaucer's tenure of the office of controller only one certain adherent of the Northampton faction acted as collector--Richard Northbury, who was dropped from the office almost as soon as Richard II came to the throne. The other men with whom Chaucer had to deal were the very leaders of the royal faction. Further they were the most eminent merchants of their time. In the first half of the fourteenth century the king had been forced to rely upon foreign, especially Italian, merchants for financial aids, loans, etc., since no group of Englishmen could control sufficient money to aid him in an emergency. But in the second half he had at his hand a group of London merchants, powerful enough to meet the sudden financial needs of government. Moreover they were picturesque figures-Sir William Walworth striking down Wat Tyler in the presence of the peasant-host, Sir John Philipot fitting out a fleet at his own expense, scouring the channel and finally bringing the dreaded pirate Mercer in triumph to London.

NICHOLAS BREMBRE, Collector 1374, 1375, 1378-1386. See account in D. N. B. Brembre was mayor in 1377, 1383-4-5. He was the political leader of the group of King Richard's friends in London. Of his public career I shall not treat since that is sufficiently covered elsewhere. To illustrate his financial dealings, the following abstracts of documents are important. In September 1377, the King borrowed L10,000 of Brembre, Wallworth, Philipot and John Haddele , and certain other merchants, for whom these were attorneys, pledging the crown jewels. In May 1378 this sum was repaid. In 1378, Hugh de Calvylegh, captain of Calais, Nicholas Brembre and John Philipot, in the service of the war, agreed to pay to William von de Voorde of Bruges, the sum of L2,166, 13s. 4d. as directed by the council, delivered their bond to the King's clerk, and a tally of that amount was placed in the hands of William de Wallworth. In 1382 the King granted Brembre in discharge of 2,000 m. lent by him to the King to discharge a debt to Sir Bretrucat de Lebret, half a mark from the subsidy of each sack of wool and wool-fells passing out of the ports of London and Boston, with custody of one part of the coket seal of the latter port, until the loan should be fully paid . In 1380 Brembre, Philipot and Walworth were appointed .

In the latter part of his career complaints were sent to Parliament against him and Exton, by the Mereers, Cordwainers, Pounders, Sadlers, Painters, Armourers, Pinners, Embroiderers, Spurriors and Blacksmiths--obviously the trades belonging to the then defunct party of John Northampton.

He was accused in 1388 together with de la Pole, Robert Tresilian and other friends of the King of the following: having prevented access by others to the King, misled the King, caused the King to give manors, lands, and other offices to persons of their party and to persons from whom they received gifts or whom they wished to use , having caused the King to grant them money, etc. As is well known Brembre was condemned and executed.

At his death Brembre left extensive estates in London and Kent.

WILLIAM DE WALWOKTH was born about 1320. He was apprenticed to John Lovekin, Stockfishmonger, Mayor of London, 1348, 1358, 1365, 1366. He was executor of Lovekin's will and seems to have retained a special feeling of loyalty for him, because in 1381 he founded a college of a master and nine chaplains to celebrate divine service for the good estate of the King, himself, and Margaret his wife, for their souls after death and for that of John Lovekin, formerly his master. He was elected Mayor of London in 1374 and again in 1380. In 1370 he and Simon de Morden lent the king L300. On the day of Edward Ill's death he and John Philipot went to the young King, implored his favour for the city of London, and asked him to put a stop to John of Gaunt's persecutions. When the Commons voted a subsidy to the King for carrying on the war, they expressed distrust of the management of it, and demanded that the funds be intrusted to Walworth and Philipot, treasurers for the war. In 1381 Walworth accompanied the boy King at his meeting with the Peasant leaders, and he, Brembre and Philipot were knighted by the King for their bravery on this occasion. He died in 1381. Walworth was appointed on many commissions of various sorts and dealt extensively in land.

JOHN WARDE did not bulk so large in London affairs as did the others and consequently I have been able to learn but little about him. He belonged to the Grocers' Company and consequently without doubt to Brembre's faction. He had been sheriff in 1366 and was elected Mayor of London in 1375.

ROBERT GIRDELERE is even more difficult to trace than Warde. He was sheriff of London 1368-9. I have found reference to a transaction in which Robert Girdler agreed to buy certain cables and cords . Consequently he may not have been a dealer in provisions and was perhaps a member of John Northampton's party. The last reference that I have found to him is the date of his collectorship, 1376.

RICHARD NORTHBURY was a leader of John Northampton's party. He was a member of the Mercer's Company. In 1384 he was found guilty with John of Northampton of sedition, and imprisoned. Certain tenements which he held in London were forfeited to the King . In 1385 the King granted him 10m. a year for clothing and 26m. a year for victuals, while he was a prisoner in Corfe Castle . In 1391 the Commons petitioned the King to annul the decision against him and to restore him his lands, at the same time making similar petitions for John Northampton and John More. All three were granted .

JOHN PHILIPOT is treated in D. N. B. He was apparently a ship owner, and certainly a member of the Grocers' Company. In 1363 he was appointed on a commission to seize forfeited goods for the King. In 1364 he was granted license to buy victuals and take them to Calais. In 1378 he was elected Mayor. In 1379 Sir Roger Beauchamp, lord chamberlain to the King's household, bequeathed him "my great cup gilt, which the King of Navarre gave me," and made him one of the executors of his will. In the same year he contributed largely to fitting out a fleet against the French, hiring a number of ships at his own expense and redeeming a thousand sets of armour and arms which had been pawned. In 1383 he was appointed on a commission to treat of peace with the Duke of Flanders. He died in 1384.

JOHN OEGSN was alderman of London and sheriff in 1385. I have not been able to discover what company he belonged to. In 1378 he was appointed one of the collectors of the tax of two-fifteenths. In 1383 he was appointed one of the collectors of the subsidy of 2s. from each tun of wine and 6d. in the pound from the merchandise in the port of London. From these appointments it seems likely that he was friendly to the Brembre faction--note also that he succeeded Philipot at the latter's death.

JOHN DE BURLEY

SIR EDWARD DE BERKELEY

SIR THOMAS DE PERCY

SIR WILLIAM DE BEAUCHAMP

That Sir William de Beauchamp was a friend to Chaucer has been recognized for some time. In May 1888 Mr. W. D. Selby called attention to this connection with Chaucer in a short article in The Athenaeum. In this article Mr. Selby gave a few facts about him, gathered professedly from Dugdale, but omitted all mention of the curious connection Sir William de Beauchamp had with the property of the Earl of Pembroke, for his custodianship of which Chaucer was one of the sureties.

In 1377 he was granted for life the custody of Feckanham forest and park at a farm of L37, 14s. 4-1/2d. From the beginning of his reign, Richard II granted many pardons at the supplication of William de Beauchamp. In 1379 he was chamberlain of the King's household; in 1380 he was granted an annuity of 200m. He was regularly on commissions of the peace in Warwick, in company with his brother, the Earl of Warwick. In 1379 he and Lewis de Clifford aided Robert de Ferrers in acquiring the manor of Wemme in fee. In 1383 he was appointed on a commission to treat with Flanders. In 1384 he was appointed Captain of Calais--a position he held until 1392.

To return now to one matter in which Chaucer is closely connected with William de Beauchamp. In 1378 the King granted William de Beauchamp the custody of the Castle and estates of Pembroke, in his hands by reason of the minority of the Earl of Pembroke. The father of the last Earl of Pembroke, John de Hastings, had, by license from the crown, settled all his possessions, in the event of failure of his own issue, except the Castle and town of Pembroke, upon his cousin William de Beauchamp These lands were in the hands of the King in 1378 because John de Hastings had died and his son was still a minor; naturally he appointed the next heir custodian of them. But William de Beauchamp's management of the estates was certainly not satisfactory and, if the suretyship of Chaucer was anything but a form, the poet stood a good chance of losing by it. The first notice we find of Beauchamp's unsatisfactory management is in 1386, when a commission was appointed to enquire touching the waste in the possessions of John de Hastyngs by William de Beauchamp, to whom the King had committed the custody of the land. In the same year we find record of an indenture made between Margaret Mareschall, countess of Norfolk, guardian of John de Hastyngs, and the said John, on the one side, and William de Beauchamp on the other, whereby the latter agreed to surrender his custody of the estates, and the former in return to free him of liability for the "waste." In 1389 the King appointed a commission to enquire touching the waste in the lands of the alien priory of Kirkeby Monachorum, county Warwick, in the time of William de Beauchamp, Knight, farmer thereof.

In 1390 we find a "Revocation for reasons declared before the King and council in the present parliament, with the assent of the nobles, magnates, etc., of recent letters granting during pleasure to William de Beauchamp the custody of the lands, tenements, etc. of John de Hastyngs." In the same year the custody was regranted to John Golafre, Knight of the King's chamber, at a farm of L600 . In 1390, however, the young Earl of Pembroke was killed in a tournament, and according to the provisions made by his father, the estates devolved upon William de Beauchamp. Other heirs contested his rights to them, but he won. A curious story told about his claim, is as follows: "Beauchamp invited his learned counsel to his house in Paternoster Row in the city of London; amongst whom were Robert Charlton , William Pinchbek, William Brenchesley, and John Catesby ; and after dinner, coming out of his chapel in an angry mood, threw to each of them a piece of gold and said: 'Sirs, I desire you forthwith to tell me, whether I have any right and title to Hasting's lordships and lands!' Whereupon Pinchbek stood up and said: 'No man here, nor in England, dare say that you have any right in them, except Hastings quit his claim therein; and should he do it 'being now under age, it would be of no validity.'" .

He married Joan, second sister and coheir of Thomas Fitz Alen, Earl of Arundel. He was a Knight of the Garter. Dugdale prints the wills of William de Beauchamp and his wife, remarkable medieval documents.

RICHARD FORESTER

The name of Richard Forester is connected with Chaucer's first in 1378, when Chaucer, about to go abroad on a mission for the King, had letters of attorney under the names of John Cower and Richard Forester, and again in 1386, when a lease for the house over Aldgate which Chaucer had occupied during his years as controller of the customs in London was made out by the Mayor and Aldermen to Richard Forester, citizen of London. Various entries with regard to Richard Forester occur in the public records. Whether all of them refer to one man or not, and whether any concerns Chaucer's friend, I cannot say. I shall merely present them in order of their occurrence.

HENRY SCOGAN

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