G.M Trevelyan - SHE - Chapter III
[alert-success] ENGLAND IN THE AGE OF CAXTON
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[alert-primary] AGE OF CAXTON [/alert-primary]
[alert-primary] AGE OF CAXTON [/alert-primary]
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We can't imagine how slow change was before the age of inventions. After
the social and intellectual unrest of the 14th century, something
dramatic was expected, but, the 15th century was conservative in most
aspects of life and thought. England experienced social unrest and
disorder in the 15th century. There was no radical change experienced in the 15th century. Trevelyan said misrule affected the entire
social fabric. Trevelyan used the image of the the 14th century Chaucer's Ghost visiting the 15th century only to find the same things in most of the sectors without any newness and novelty.Social disorder of this era was caused by landowners wanting more land.
The War of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) were fought between Yorkists and Lancastrians, the two throne-claiming families. Yorkists wore white rose badges, Lancastrians red. So the war was called the "Roses War." Only nobles participated in the wars, so they didn't affect normal life. Richard, Duke of York defeated Henry VI at St. Albans (1455). York's son became King Edward IV after winning the Battle of Towton in 1461. 'Wars of the Roses' were only a skin eruption on the surface of English life.
Landlord and Tenant
'Overgreat subjects' and 'lack of governance' caused widespread damage. Landowners fought over land, causing social disorder. In the 'Fifteenth Century, a country gentleman was likely to imitate his most highly esteemed neighbours, when he observed them devote their time and energy to increasing their family estates and fortunes by marriage treaties, and frequently by the armed occupation of a neighbour's estate on some trumped up claim of law. Those who had been wronged could only defend their heritage with legal proceedings and brute force. Estate-jumping often involved assault, battery, or murder, committed in public for maximum effect. In the 15th century, land disputes that dragged on for years without resolution were a serious matter for the farmer, especially when both claimants for a manor sent in armed men to extort rents.
The landlord-tenant relationship in open field strips and enclosed farms was modernising year by year. Disputes between landlord and tenant over repairs and rent payments characterised this period of transition from feudal to leasehold money, whose rules had not yet been regularised by tradition. Landed proprietors were kept busy by these controversies, and their lay and clerical agents faced a recalcitrant peasantry. The 15th century was good for peasants and labourers, but not for landlords.
Plague and Population
The landlord-tenant relationship in open field strips and enclosed farms was modernising year by year. Disputes between landlord and tenant over repairs and rent payments characterised this period of transition from feudal to leasehold money, whose rules had not yet been regularised by tradition. Landed proprietors were kept busy by these controversies, and their lay and clerical agents faced a recalcitrant peasantry. The 15th century was good for peasants and labourers, but not for landlords.
Plague and Population
Due to recurring plague, the population had not recovered from the Black Death, and the decline of oppression allowed the labourer to profit by charging for his free labour. The landlord found it expensive to hire labour to work his demesne land and difficult to let farms on the city or in the village's open field.
Plague was most common in towns and ports, where flea-bearing rats multiplied most. The part of the community where wealth was made was most often disorganised and reduced by epidemics. Because of these reasons, the national income was lower, but more evenly distributed. The economy favoured farmers and the poor.
Plague was most common in towns and ports, where flea-bearing rats multiplied most. The part of the community where wealth was made was most often disorganised and reduced by epidemics. Because of these reasons, the national income was lower, but more evenly distributed. The economy favoured farmers and the poor.
Mediaeval Love and Marriage
This time period is best known from the Paston family letters and the Stonor and Cely Papers. The upper classes of both sexes and their lay and clerical agents began writing letters in the 15th century. In Caxton's time, letters had a practical purpose, usually law, business, or local politics. They reveal domestic customs, though. These 15th-century letters show family life, love, and marriage.
Often the bride and bridegroom were small children when they were married, and even if adults, their parents sold them to the highest bidder. The Pastons and other county families viewed their children's marriages as counters in a game of family glorification, useful to buy money and estates or secure powerful patrons' support. If a daughter or female ward who was destined for the altar resisted, she was brutally beaten. Elizabeth Paston was beaten for three months when she hesitated to marry a battered and ugly fifty-year-old widower. Her head was broken in two or three places.
These old established mediaeval customs, still vigorous in the 15th century, may seem inconsistent with the tone of mediaeval literature. For three centuries, poetry had analysed love-longing, the service and devotion of the knight to his lady, sung in rapture and mystic allegory. The Pastons and their neighbours knew such literature. This poetry of love, from Dante's chaste worship of another man's wife to the idealisation of courtly adultery, rarely dealt with marriage.
To educated mediaeval man and woman, marriage was one life, and love another. Love may grow from marriage, as it often has. Since love is not the normal basis of marriage, adultery is idealized and projected.
Often the bride and bridegroom were small children when they were married, and even if adults, their parents sold them to the highest bidder. The Pastons and other county families viewed their children's marriages as counters in a game of family glorification, useful to buy money and estates or secure powerful patrons' support. If a daughter or female ward who was destined for the altar resisted, she was brutally beaten. Elizabeth Paston was beaten for three months when she hesitated to marry a battered and ugly fifty-year-old widower. Her head was broken in two or three places.
These old established mediaeval customs, still vigorous in the 15th century, may seem inconsistent with the tone of mediaeval literature. For three centuries, poetry had analysed love-longing, the service and devotion of the knight to his lady, sung in rapture and mystic allegory. The Pastons and their neighbours knew such literature. This poetry of love, from Dante's chaste worship of another man's wife to the idealisation of courtly adultery, rarely dealt with marriage.
To educated mediaeval man and woman, marriage was one life, and love another. Love may grow from marriage, as it often has. Since love is not the normal basis of marriage, adultery is idealized and projected.
Love Matches
In popular ballad literature of the late 15th century, the love marriage motif became more common, as in the Nut Brown Maid, ancestress of the Bailiff's Daughter of Islington and a hundred other ballad heroines. By Shakespeare's time, literature and drama treat mutual love as the proper, though not always, basis for marriage. The struggle of children against parents for matrimonial freedom has captured the popular imagination, and the most popular subjects on the Elizabethan stage are devoted lovers and runaway couples like Master Fenton and Anne Page. By the end of the Tudor period, love marriages were more common, but child marriages were still common; the reformed Church was initially as guilty as the mediaeval. Bishop Chaderton married his 9-year-old daughter Joan to an 11-year-old boy in 1582.
Among the poor, marriage choice was likely less mercenary. In the lower ranks of society, where maidens couldn't be constantly guarded, marriage to legalise infertility was common. But Pastons' daughters were under their mother's strict watch and ward, so the gentry's lustful amours were usually with the poor's daughters or the rich's wives.
Among the poor, marriage choice was likely less mercenary. In the lower ranks of society, where maidens couldn't be constantly guarded, marriage to legalise infertility was common. But Pastons' daughters were under their mother's strict watch and ward, so the gentry's lustful amours were usually with the poor's daughters or the rich's wives.
Manor-House Life
Organizing the feeding and clothing of the inhabitants of the manor-houses was a life's work, requiring great administrative skills like that of our modern day women in a professional work. Everything the estate couldn't supply must be ordered months in advance: French wines, Mediterranean sugar, spices, pepper, oranges, dates, and the best cloth. It was the woman's job to estimate future needs and place orders with reputable merchants.
Much of the manor's residents' clothing was spun, woven, cut, and sewn on the lady's orders. Her daughters didn't go to town to buy dresses, though one might have one's best dress material brought from London. Young men, who had more freedom to travel, could more often visit a city tailor. Thus, we can imagine the innumerable and constant activities of a wealthy matron and, similarly, a housewife's round of work.
The walls of manor-house rooms were hung with cloth: the hall and better chambers with rich Cloth of Arras tapestries representing hunting scenes or religious or allegorical subjects; the commoner rooms with woven hangings of one bright colour or variegated stripes. The English mansion had no framed pictures, but the walls were painted. Wall chimneys replaced the open hearth in the room, from which smoke escaped through open windows.
Nunneries
Much of the manor's residents' clothing was spun, woven, cut, and sewn on the lady's orders. Her daughters didn't go to town to buy dresses, though one might have one's best dress material brought from London. Young men, who had more freedom to travel, could more often visit a city tailor. Thus, we can imagine the innumerable and constant activities of a wealthy matron and, similarly, a housewife's round of work.
The walls of manor-house rooms were hung with cloth: the hall and better chambers with rich Cloth of Arras tapestries representing hunting scenes or religious or allegorical subjects; the commoner rooms with woven hangings of one bright colour or variegated stripes. The English mansion had no framed pictures, but the walls were painted. Wall chimneys replaced the open hearth in the room, from which smoke escaped through open windows.
Nunneries
If a girl isn't married, she must enter a nunnery. Money was paid to get rid of her, and she was set for life. Nuns without dowries were rare. This helped recruit and finance English nunneries in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Numerous nunneries were small. Only four of England's 111 Houses had over 30 residents. The country had 1500-2000 nuns. Each nunnery had servants and priests.
Numerous nunneries were small. Only four of England's 111 Houses had over 30 residents. The country had 1500-2000 nuns. Each nunnery had servants and priests.
Miracle Plays
Besides the maintenance of a chantry, a school, an almshouse, one of the chief activities was the staging of Miracle Plays. These plays were
very popular in the Fifteenth Century, and it taught the versions
of the Bible stories, in an age when
the Bible as a book was known to few. The actors announced themselves as "I am Abraham or I am Herod".
They dressed in contemporary clothes. God Almighty was bearded and wore
a tiara, a white cope and gloves. Wicked kings wore a turban and
swore by Mahound. High priests were vested as bishops and sat in
convocation. Such was the state of the drama a hundred years and more before Shakespeare.
Christmas Carols
Christmas Carols reflected the most homely religious feeling. Church ales were popular in the 15th century. Church ales is a festival
at which ale was sold to raise
money to meet church expenses and help the poor. Men and women sold and drank ale to raise money for the church or another good cause.
Boy Bishop
The ceremony of the Boy Bishop was regarded much by the orthodox clergies and others. Especially on St. Nicholas Day, a boy would be dressed up as a Bishop in schools and cathedrals. This Boy Bishop would go in procession and preach a sermon to his schoolmates and Church dignitaries. The Dean would even kneel for the boy bishop's blessing.
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