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Archbishop Melton, his Neighbours, and his Kinsmen, 1317–1340
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2011
Extract
It was probably during the thirteen-eighties that the Dominican Thomas Stubbs wrote his short lives of the Archbishops of York. A Yorkshireman, from the forest of Knaresborough, Stubbs had been a close acquaintance of Bishop Bury and Bishop Hatfield of Durham, both of whom, in earlier years, were members of the York chapter. He is therefore likely to have been well informed about his subject. His life of William Melton, archbishop from 1317 to 1340—under whom Bury had been chancellor of York—though laconic, is no merely formal piece. Its phrases suggest a comprehensive knowledge. Stubbs apparently wished to leave a distinctive impression of Melton. He tells his reader that the archbishop was severe in correcting rebels; that he kept a great household, and clothed it in his livery twice a year; that he would often cancel the amercements imposed on his tenants by his bailiffs, and would remit to the needy the farms and debts they owed him. Above all, Stubbs goes on, he frequently assisted the two kings, Edward II and Edward III, and the noble men of the land in their business, both with loans and with gifts—‘tarn ex mutuo quam ex dono’. Finally, Melton was an ardent promoter of his servants and of all his kinsmen.
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References
page 54 note 1 ‘Continuatio Chronicae de Vitis Archiepiscoporum Eboracensium per Thomam Stubbs, ut fertur, conscripta’, in The Historians of the Church of York, ed. Raine, J. (Rolls Series, 1886), ii. 388–421Google Scholar.
page 54 note 2 Historians of the Church of York, ii. pp.xxii-xxv.
page 54 note 3 Ibid., ii. 415–17.
page 54 note 4 Ibid.
page 54 note 5 Register of Archbishop William Melton, preserved in the Diocesan Registry, York. I am very grateful to Colonel Innes Ware, Diocesan Registrar, and to Dr. J. S. Purvis, Diocesan Archivist, for their indispensable help during my work at York.
page 54 note 6 Register of Melton, fos. 564–84v. The register is hereafter cited in the footnotes as ‘R.M.’ The foliation of the original is in roman numerals, here changed to arabic.
page 55 note 1 Dr. A. Hamilton Thompson, who has encouraged the writing of this essay, gave a general description of the cameral section of Melton's register to the International Historical Congress at Oslo in 1928. His address is briefly summarized in the Résumés des communications présentés au Congrés, 107–108.
page 55 note 2 R.M. 58v.
page 55 note 3 For instance, the register shows that Metham received his advance of £26 13s. 4d. in August 1335 (R.M. 59V).
page 56 note 1 R.M. 42, 45; recognizance recorded in Calendar of Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 109.
page 56 note 2 R.M. 42v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 116.
page 56 note 3 Either because they are not set out in the warrants, or because the warrants have not survived.
page 56 note 4 R.M. 31, 53.
page 56 note 5 R.M. 28v, 58v.
page 56 note 6 R.M. 25v
page 56 note 7 Cf. T. F. T. Plucknett, Legislation of Edward 1, 148–9.
page 57 note 1 R.M. 24, 25v, 26v, 29, 33v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1317–1330, 367.
page 57 note 2 R.M. 40, 41; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 81.
page 57 note 3 R.M. 45v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 186.
page 57 note 4 R.M. 38v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1330–1333, 615.
page 57 note 5 R.M. 45, 566; Cal. Close Rolls, 1318–1333, 718.
page 57 note 6 R.M. 30, 41v, 43, 43v; Cal.Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 105, 121, 130.
page 57 note 7 R.M. 14v.
page 57 note 8 R.M. 17v.
page 57 note 9 Cal. Close Rolls, 1318–1323, 565.
page 57 note 10 Ibid., 693; R.M. 16v.
page 57 note 11 R.M. 21, 25.
page 57 note 12 R.M. 31v.
page 57 note 13 R.M. 14v.
page 58 note 1 Cf. F. Pollock and F. W. Maitland, The History of English Law (2nd edn.), ii. 204.
page 58 note 2 E.g. when Newburgh Priory borrowed £40 in 1326 (R.M. 571).
page 58 note 3 Melton's register refers to recognizances and ‘litterae obligatoriae’, and it is to be assumed that the latter were sealed common law bonds. The statute merchant does not occur in the register, although, like the recognizance, it was designed to be capable of execution without litigation, whereas the common law bond needed an action of debt for its enforcement. On the other hand, by the 1330's the policy of the Statute of Merchants —to eliminate litigation for debt—had been frustrated, and the common law bond was therefore by no means obsolete (cf. T. F. T. Plucknett, Legislation of Edward I, 138–50; Pollock and Maitland, op. cit., ii. 203–4).
page 58 note 4 R.M. 34v, 37v, 54.
page 58 note 5 R.M. 39v.
page 58 note 6 R.M.62v.
page 58 note 7 R.M. 28v.
page 58 note 8 R.M. 41.
page 58 note 9 R.M. 48v, 60.
page 59 note 1 The precise date and term of the loan are not given (R.M. 2).
page 59 note 2 R.M. 2, 10v.
page 59 note 3 R.M. 26v, 32v.
page 59 note 4 R.M. 25.
page 59 note 5 R.M. 17, 18v, 19, 19v.
page 59 note 6 Cf. Plucknett, Legislation of Edward 1, 148.
page 59 note 7 R.M. 27; cf. R.M. 33.
page 59 note 8 R.M. 61v.
page 59 note 9 R.M. 44v.
page 60 note 1 R.M. 65.
page 60 note 2 R.M. 23, 23v.
page 60 note 3 R.M. 20.
page 60 note 4 Wilkinson, B., ‘The Sherburn Indenture and the Attack on the Despensers, 1321’, in English Historical Review, lxiii (1948), 1–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar; especially at p. 7.
page 60 note 5 R.M. 27.
page 60 note 6 R.M. 21v, 25, 27, 28, 33v, 41v, 42, 42v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1337–1330, 407. In 1327 Constable entered into an indenture to do Melton's military service with ten mounted men-at-arms with covered horses. He was to be paid £2O if he went to the place of muster, and a truce prevented the campaign; £50 for a campaign of 40 days, £100 for 60 days (R.M. 27v).
page 60 note 7 R.M. 26, 27v, 29v, 31v, 40, 44v, 45, 46v, 566; Cal. Close Rolls, 1318–1323, 718; 1333–1337, 295.
page 60 note 8 Wilkinson, op. cit., 9.
page 60 note 9 R.M. 2v, 20v, 24, 26v, 32v.
page 60 note 10 R. M. 29v, 51, 54, 56v.
page 61 note 1 R.M. 17v, 18v, 29; Cal. Close Rolls, 1318–1323, 718.
page 61 note 2 R.M. 35v, 47v, 48.
page 61 note 3 R.M. 45.
page 61 note 4 R.M. 16, 39, 50v, 51, 53v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1330–1333, 619; ibid., 1333–1337, 482.
page 61 note 5 R.M. 37v, 40, 44v.
page 61 note 6 R.M. 52v.
page 61 note 7 The knightly borrowers not hitherto mentioned were Sir Edmund Bigod, Sir John Bigod, Sir William Boidel, Sir John Bridlington, Sir John Caltoft, Sir Ralph Caraoys, Sir Alexander Cave, Sir Robert Clifford, Sir William Clifton, Sir William Clinton, Sir Robert Conyers, Sir John Cromwell, Sir William Denham, Sir Richard Denton, Sir Hugh Despenser (in 1332), Sir William Erghum, Sir John Grey, Sir Roger Grimston, Sir John Hasthorp, Sir Ralph Hastings, Sir John Hotham the elder, Sir William Malbys, Sir John Mauleverer, Sir Nicholas Metham, Sir Peter Moreby, Sir Robert Moreby, Sir John Neville of Hornby, Sir Hugh Pickworth, Sir John Ros, Sir Peter Saltmarsh, Sir Thomas Sandby, Sir Robert Scarborough (Chief Justice of the King's Bench), Sir William Scargill, Sir Geoffrey Scroope, Sir Roger Somerville, Sir John Sutton, Sir Baldwin Thremhall, Sir John Tiptoft, Sir William Tweng, and Sir Hugh Ulceby. The figure of £6, 351 includes 100 marks lent to Isabella Beaumont, the lady de Vesci, in 1334 (R.M. 50v).
page 61 note 8 Dictionary of National Biography, sub nom.
page 61 note 9 Edward II and his queen got £94 6s. 8d.; Despenser the archbishop's best silver cup, and Despenser's wife a cup called ‘mediocris’ (R. M. 17).
page 61 note 10 R.M. 22, 41v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1327–1330, 173; 1333–1337, 12.
page 61 note 11 The warrant was issued on 2 April; Melton died on 4 April (R.M. 65; Historians of the Church of York, ed. Raine, ii. 417).
page 62 note 1 R.M. 22, 46v, 50v, 53v, 55, 58, 58v, 59, 59v, 60, 63v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 20, 64, 89, 376.
page 62 note 2 R.M. 22, 25, 26, 63v.
page 62 note 3 R.M. 54v, 56.
page 62 note 4 R.M. 20v, 24, 40v, 573, 576v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1339–1341, 271.
page 62 note 5 R.M. 54, 61, 61v, 62v.
page 62 note 6 R.M. 40, 49, 57, 63v; D.N.B., sub nom.
page 62 note 7 R.M. 26, 47, 50, 52v, 56, 57, 58; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 302.
page 62 note 8 R.M. 2, 10v, 18, 504v, 567.
page 62 note 9 I.e. this was the total advanced to all ecclesiastics except the bishops and the religious.
page 62 note 10 Taxatio Ecclesiastica (Record Commission), 325a.
page 63 note 1 Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 498, 526.
page 63 note 2 R.M. 22v, 42v, 45, 61v, 62.
page 63 note 3 R.M. 28v, 36v, 45, 54, 60, 64v.
page 63 note 4 R.M. 11, 19, 23, 25v, 44, 61, 571.
page 63 note 5 R.M. 44.
page 63 note 6 R.M.9v, 20, 30v, 61, 574; 28v, 36v, 49v; 18v, 26v, 30v, 31v, 39v, 571v, 572.
page 63 note 7 R.M. 60.
page 63 note 8 R.M. 27v, 547; 56v, 59, 61v; 42, 45; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 109; 1339–1341, 633.
page 63 note 9 The monastic borrowers so far not mentioned were the abbeys of Bardney, Meaux, Rufford, St. Agatha by Richmond, Selby, and Whitby; the priories of Appleton, Blyth, Bolton-in-Craven, Drax, Helmsley, Hexham, Killing, Kirkham, Monk Bretton, Rosedale, Shelford, Swine, Thurgarton, Waiter, Watton, Wilberforce, Wykeham, and Worksop; and Cockerham, a cell of Lancaster Abbey.
page 63 note 10 His father was a franklin of Melton, in the parish of Welton, near Howden, in Yorkshire (R.M. 28, 63).
page 64 note 1 R.M. 518.
page 64 note 2 Ibid.
page 64 note 3 Ibid.
page 64 note 4 R.M. 518. The Taxacio Nicolai of 1291–1292 was used as the assessment for subsidies paid by the clergy to the Crown.
page 64 note 5 R.M.9v.
page 64 note 6 Ibid.
page 64 note 7 Cave's quittance is in R.M. 14v.
page 65 note 1 Kent's confession, in a French version, is printed in Adae Murimulh Continuatio Chronicarum, ed. E. M. Thompson (Rolls Series, 1889), 253–5.
page 65 note 2 Rotuli Parliamentorum (Record Commission), ii. 31, 54; Cal. Close Rolls, 1330–1333, 286.
page 65 note 3 R.M. 40v, 45, 60, 64v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 87.
page 65 note 4 R.M. 43v, 46, 50v; Cal. Close Rolls, 1330–1333, 613.
page 65 note 5 R.M. 56, 60.
page 65 note 6 R.M.50, 53, 58, 59v, 60.
page 65 note 7 R.M.36v.
page 65 note 8 R.M. 48v, 55v, 57v, 60, 63; W. H. Dixon and J. Raine, Lives of the Archbishops of York, i. 434–6; Calendarium Inquisicionum sive Escaetarum (Record Commission), ii. 162; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 321–2.
page 65 note 9 R.M. 54v, 57, 58; Cal. Close Rolls, 1333–1337, 494.
page 65 note 10 R.M. 47v, 48v, 50v, 52v, 56v.
page 65 note 11 R.M. 33, 36, 44v, 62; Calendarium Inquisicionum, ii. 94; Dixon and Raine, op. cit., i. 436, note t.
page 66 note 1 R.M.29.
page 66 note 2 R.M. 28, 33, 63, 547.
page 66 note 3 R.M.31.
page 66 note 4 R.M.27v, 31.
page 66 note 5 R.M.27v.
page 66 note 6 R.M.44v.
page 66 note 7 R.M. 59v, 61v, 533.
page 66 note 8 R.M. 541v, 542v.
page 66 note 9 R.M. 65; Poulson, History of Holderness, ii. 199.
page 66 note 10 Dixon and Raine, op. cit., i. 433.
page 66 note 11 R.M. 44v.
page 66 note 12 R.M. 35, 39v, 57v, 62v.
page 66 note 13 Melton's ecclesiastical kinsmen must be the subject of another essay.
page 66 note 14 R.M. 22v, 33, 56, 59.
page 67 note 1 R.M. 25, 27, 27v, 48, 54.
page 67 note 2 R.M. 23v–65v, passim.
page 67 note 3 R.M.60v.
page 67 note 4 R.M. 47, 49, 52v, 53v, 56, 57, 57v. These mutua to the Bardi and the Peruzzi were genuine loans, quite distinct from the payments to them of money to be spent for Melton at Avignon.
page 67 note 5 D.N.B., sub. nom.; cf. a contemporary opinion of him in Chronicles of the Reigns of Edward I and Edward II, ed. W. Stubbs (Rolls Series, 1883), ii. 283–4.