Middle Ages – Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society

The Later Middle Ages: A Missing Chapter in the History of Migration to England

I must confess I had an ulterior motive in inviting our December speaker, Dr Bart Lambert of the University of York, to give a talk about late Medieval migration. Migration has been one of the topics of Manchester Museum’s thematic collecting project for the last 18 months, which culminated for me in a visit to the Greek island of Lesvos to collect a refugee’s life jacket just over a year ago. As part of the project I’ve looked at Roman inscriptions from Mancunium or Manchester in the museum collection but the medieval period posed more of a challenge. Everyone’s familiar with the Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans but Dr Lambert’s talk opened up a whole new chapter about the movement of people during the later Middle Ages.

We are certainly no stranger to late Medieval migration in Leeds. One of the city’s prominent landmarks in City Square opposite the railway station is a statue of the Black Prince created by sculptor Thomas Brock (1847-1922). It was set up thanks to the generosity and civic-mindedness of Colonel Thomas William Harding who sought a suitably distinguished subject to be the focus of the Italianate piazza he had created. That there was no direct link with the history of city mattered little and the bronze scroll around the base of the statue reads like a roll-call of the Ladybird book of well-to-do, respectable and famous people during the reign of Edward III: Sir John Chandos, Sir Walter Nanny, William of Wykeham, John Wycliff, Chaucer, Froissart, van Arteveldt and du Guesclin. Not to mention bronze panels depicting the battles of Crecy and Sluys and a plaque honouring the Black Prince himself, ‘Edward, Prince of Wales, surnamed the Black Prince. The Hero of Crecy and Poitiers. The Flower of England’s chivalry…’

Van Arteveldt’s name in the scroll around the plinth of the statue

Of these, van Arteveldt is credited with encouraging Edward III to bring Flemish weavers and dyers to England, which Colonel Harding may have believed helped to lay the foundations of the West Yorkshire textile industry. As our speaker explained it is more likely that van Arteveldt was finding a home overseas where political exiles from Flanders wouldn’t pose a threat.

If civic statuary inspired by Victorian medievalism is a rather dubious source of information about late Medieval migration, Dr Lambert presented data of far more reliable kind: the records of the country’s alien population that were created for taxation purposes during the reign of Henry VI in order to help fund the war in France. The tax operated between 1440 and 1447. Juries were appointed in each community to identify who was an alien. Returns from the alien subsidy highlights the presence of French people, many of whom must have been refugees fleeing parts of France which had been occupied by the English but were being recaptured by the French monarchy. There were also labourers and servants from the Low Countries who realised that they could earn more money on the other side of the Channel. Similarly, there were Scottish People on the borders and Irish people in the West Country who at that time would have been classified as aliens because they came from a different kingdom of the British Isles.

If any of this echoes recent events you might not be surprised to learn that the immigrants brought with them new skills in making fine and fancy goods including clothing, footwear and jewellery that native crafts people found difficult to compete with. This caused tensions that resulted in appalling acts of violence against the newcomers, and even threats to mutilate immigrant workers so that they could not compete with English (in practice London) crafts people.

The tax came to an end in 1487 because it had ceased to gather significant sums of money. Bart suggested that by this time people on local juries had formed relationships with the immigrants and had less reason to report them to the authorities for taxation. So what begins as a rather unpleasant story about penalising vulnerable people in medieval society develops into something more heartening, a story of solidarity not marginalisation of the other.

Someone once said there’s nothing new under the sun except perhaps the cigarette. In this lecture the echoes of Brexit were all too loud. Many thanks to Bart for making us think as much about the present as about the past.

The St Bees Knight by Chris Robson

Edited shortened version of lecture given to the Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society about the St Bees Knight, by Chris Robson of St Bees Historical Society. Filmed at the Swarthmore Education Centre on 12th December 2015, and edited by Bryan Sitch, Honorary Secretary of the Medieval Section. Posted 15th June 2016.

April 2016 AGM followed by St George & England

The next Medieval Section AGM will take place on Saturday 9th April 2016 2pm at the Swarthmore Education Centre. Our AGM will be followed by a talk on St George and England by Samantha Riches who will be talking about the material in this largely international cult, and how St George relates to England, including the late Medieval material culture at Windsor, as seen in wall paintings, jewellery, etc.

The image of St George – the medieval knight on his horse, slaying a dragon – is so familiar that it is tempting to assume his history is a simple one, but the reality is very different. St George is one of the most significant mythic characters in Christian culture but he can also be found in other religious traditions, appearing in numerous different guises in cultures the world over. An important figure in Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and western European churches, his analogues can be found in Islam, Hinduism, Judaism and the Afro-Brazilian belief system Candomblé; he also makes frequent appearances in ‘pagan’ belief systems due to his identification with nature, springtime and healing.

With or without his dragon, St George has been repeatedly reinvented over the last 1,700 years. Samantha Riches explores this saint’s significance in nations as varied as Lebanon, Ethiopia and Estonia as well as his totemic role for the Roma people, and provides first-hand accounts of celebrations in Georgia, Greece, Malta and Belgium. She describes the inspiration that artists, poets and playwrights have found in myths of St George and considers the sometimes controversial political uses to which the saint has been put.

The first book to draw together many aspects of the international cult of St George alongside some of the evidence for elements in his English cult that have been largely forgotten, St George: A Saint for All published by Reaktion Books is a fascinating history of an enduring icon.

Samantha Riches is a cultural historian based at Lancaster University. She is the author of Gender and Holiness: Men, Women and Saints in Late Medieval Europe (2011) and St George: Hero, Martyr and Myth (2005).

March 2016 talk: Medieval Jug from Africa

Medieval jug from Africa in Leeds Museums collection

Talk Title: A Yorkshire link to an English Medieval ewer recovered from the Asante capital, Ghana, in 1896.

Since 1984 Leeds Museums and Galleries have had on loan a wonderful survival from Medieval England: a bronze ewer, recovered by the Prince of Wales’s own Regiment of Yorkshire from what is now Ghana in 1896. Antonia tells me that the regimental museum in York recently had a major revamp and may well take back the loan later this year, so this may be a timely opportunity to make acquaintance with this fantastic medieval vessel before it returns to the lenders.

Antonia’s talk will situate the ewer in the context of its 1896 retrieval by the British army during an Asante campaign, and explore the routes that this jug, and three others from the same period, may have taken to reach Africa during the 500 or so years following their original manufacture. Clearly the Asante court treasury had a key role in the survival of these jugs and it is interesting to consider what meanings the jugs had for the Asante themselves, as well as their original manufacture and use.

This is not the first time that West Africa has been the focus of interest for us as medievalists. Some time ago we posted on this blog information about a temporary exhibition of ceramic figurines from Komaland in Ghana.

Antonia Lovelace is curator of World Culture at Leeds Museums and Galleries, and author of a paper on the Prince of Wales’s regimental loan to Leeds in the Journal of Museum Ethnography (no. 12, 2000). She curated the ‘Out of Africa’ displays in the World View Galley at Leeds City Museum (2008-2013) and now looks after the ‘Voices of Asia’ gallery in the same space (launched in 2014).

Antonia will refer to a key article by Martin Bailey, 1993 ‘Two kings, their armies and some jugs. The Ashanti ewer’, Apollo (December: 387-390), and to the British Museum Occasional paper 115, by John Cherry and Neil Stratford (1995) ‘Westminster Kings and the medieval Palace of Westminster’, and look at more recent mentions of these English medieval jugs found in Africa.

December Lecture: Chris Robson – The St Bees Man and Woman

St Bees Man Autopsy Team courtesy of Chris Robson

Our Christmas lecture at 2-3pm on Saturday December 12th will be given by Chris Robson of the St Bees Village History Group. Chris will be talking about the St Bees man and woman.

For anyone not familiar with this amazing archaeological discovery from the Middle Ages: in 1981 an archaeological investigation was carried out in a car park (where have we heard that one before? (!) – and even the students involved were from Leicester…), which was once the South Chancel of St Bees Priory Church in Cumbria.

The archaeologists discovered by chance a stone vault that would have at one time been in front of an altar. Inside the vault was a body-shaped lead coffin and the bones of a woman. The lead coffin was opened and to everybody’s surprise inside there was a body wrapped in protective layers of sticky linen.

The wrapped body after opening the lead coffin. Photo: Chris Robson

At a hastily arranged autopsy, the linen cloth was removed to expose a man so well-preserved that it was possible to discover how he died, to look at the state of his heart and liver, to see liquid blood in his lung and to guess what he had eaten for breakfast. The preservation of the body seemed to suggest that the man had been dead for only a few months, yet the building in which he had been buried fell down in 1500.

This lecture, which will be illustrated by some extraordinary pictures (sensitivity alert!), tells the story of the best-preserved medieval body found in modern times, and suggests who the man was and where he met his violent death. The identity of the lady is a key part of this historical puzzle.

This lecture will be held in our new venue at the Swarthmore. This being our December meeting, members will recall that we usually mark the occasion by bringing in mince pieces and savouries and mulled wine. This year I’ve been advised we can still bring in our own food and drink and we may even be able to use one of the hot water boilers to make cups of tea and coffee. If you are willing to bring some food or drink in for the meeting please would you let me know in advance so that we can co-ordinate and not end up with ten boxes of mince pies (!).

Writing a week or so after the event, I am pleased to report it passed off successfully and was enjoyed by all those who came, including the President. Members please be aware that Toby Jones can no longer give the advertised lecture about the Newport ship on 9th January. Instead David Cockman of the Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society has very kindly agreed to step in and speak to us about the Luttrell Psalter. This promises to be a visual treat. Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and New Year.

Bryan Sitch
Hon.Secretary
Medieval Section
Yorskhire Archaeological Society

Richard II and the north

This Saturday, 14th Nov 2015, Alison McHardy is talking about Richard II and the north. Dr McHardy’s interest in Richard II arose from her teaching of this reign at three universities: London, Aberdeen and Nottingham.She has published a source book, The Reign of Richard II: From Minority to Tyranny 1377-97 (Manchester UP, 2012), which is intended to be the students’ friend. Also some articles:

‘Haxey’s case, 1397: the petition and its presenter reconsidered’, in ‘The Age of Richard II’ (1997).

‘Richard II: a personal portrait’, in ‘The Reign of Richard II’ (2000)

‘John Scarle: Ambition and Politics in the Late Medieval Church’ in ‘Image, Text and Church ‘(2009)

Her main research interest is in the relations and interaction between crown and church, and she has been publishing on this since 1972. In 2010 she published, with Gwilym Dodd, her successor at Nottingham, a volume called ‘Petitions to the Crown from English Religious Houses’ for the Canterbury and York Society, and this is the best-selling volume in the Society’s history.

With Phil Bradford, Dr McHardy is editing the material relating to proctors for the clergy in parliament. The first of the two volumes will go into production in the new year. This is also for the Canterbury and York Society.

With Gwilym Dodd Dr McHardy is working on a volume of ‘Petitions from Lincolnshire’ for the Lincoln Record Society – which she describes as great fun.

The lecture will be held at the Swarthmore Centre in Leeds and starts at 2.00pm. Contact the Hon.Secretary, Bryan Sitch, for more details.

Desperately Seeking Silver Salver

Silver salver presented to Peter Muir. What happened to it?

The latest issue (June 2015) of Arrowhead, the newsletter of the Archer-Antiquaries, features an interesting article by Manchester Museum’s Curator of Archery, Wendy Hodkinson, about a silver salver awarded to a man called Peter Muir in 1878. The occasion of the award was Muir’s retirement from his position as Officer and Bowmaker to the Royal Company, a role he had held for more than fifty years in an exemplary manner. The salver is inscribed with the legend ‘Royal Company of Archers The Queen’s Bodyguard for Scotland’ above and ‘His Grace the Duke of Buccleuch Captain General’ below. The General Council and Members of her Majesty’s Bodyguard also presented Peter Muir with 450 sovereigns, which as Wendy points out in her article, is some golden handshake!

Muir was born in the west of Scotland in 1809 and was the only bowyer to win a gold medal for his products at the Great Exhibition of 1851. He was one three bowyers who dominated the trade in the 19th century. Muir competed in archery tournaments. He was champion in England in 1845, 1847 and 1863, and Scottish National Champion in 1859. One of his duties was to teach new members of the Company to use the bow. Yet Peter Muir seems to have to fallen into the position by accident. When the previous Bowmaker to the Company of Archers fell ill, enquiries were made of Peter Muir’s father to see if he knew of anyone who could fill the position, and he recommended his son. Peter Muir’s service lasted fifty years.

In the 21st century it may appear quaint, even a little strange that the Victorians attached so much importance to archery. The Victorians were fascinated with the Middle Ages because it seemed to them to have been a golden age before the horrors of the Industrial Revolution, when it seemed to them social relations had been more harmonious. If there were strict social divisions and people were expected to know their place, at least the great and the good had acted in the interests of the commoners out of a sense of ‘noblesse oblige’. Of course this was all utter nonsense, but it was very influential at the time. It is not for nothing that in the city centre of Leeds, there is a statue of the Black Prince (not that there is any connection with Leeds), Armley Gaol was built to look like a Medieval Castle, and in Thornton’s Arcade shoppers are treated to a clock that shows characters from Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe every hour. The popularity of Neo-Gothic architectural style as exemplified by the Houses of Parliament, Manchester’s Town Hall and our very own Manchester Museum shows how important Medievalism was to the Victorians.

So popular was archery in 19th century Scotland that there was a long list of archery societies with names as eccentric as the sport was archaic: the Kilwinning Papingo (!), the Ardrossan Archers (before 1845), the Dalry Archers (c.1842), the Irvine Toxophilites (1802-1866), the Paisley Archers (1805-1815; 1858-1910; 1968+), the Saltcoat Archers (c.1856) and the Zingari Archers of Kilmarnock (c.1860). I mean you couldn’t make it up could you?

I would read the vogue for archery, including the inauguration of a Royal Bodyguard or Company of Archers as but one rather quaint component of their Medievalism. However, the fact that such a large amount of money and a silver salver were presented to Muir, and the elevated social circle in which he operated show that archery was taken very seriously. As an adjunct to royalty and the highest levels of the Establishment, Victorian archery was akin to another popular Medieval sport, falconry. Muir described himself as a ‘working-man’ and there is nothing unusual in that, in the same way that royalty today happily rub shoulders with jockeys in pursuance of ‘the sport of kings’.

Wendy ends her fascinating article about Peter Muir with an appeal for members of the public to come forward if they know what happened to the silver salver given to Peter Muir. It is known not to be in Archers’ Hall in Edinburgh. It’s not in the Beechin Wood Collection. Nor is it in the Museum of Scotland. So where is it? Over to you dear reader…..

In writing this blog I have drawn heavily on Wendy’s article in Arrowhead, the newsletter of the Archer-Antiquaries, issue 129 for June 2015, pp. 6-10. I am grateful to her for sharing her archery expertise.

New Ways of Interpreting Medieval Sites at the SMA Conference in Colchester 2014

I attended the Society for Museum Archaeology‘s two-day annual conference at Colchester (5th-6th November 2014) called ‘With Fresh Eyes’. The theme of the conference was using digital techniques of interpretation and using collections in new ways. I saw some brilliant innovations in the use of digital technology on sites and in museums and I’d like to share the Medieval examples in particular with section members. They may have applications on some of Yorkshire’s rich Medieval sites. Philip Wise, Collections and Curatorial Manager, Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service (CIMS) opened the conference with a presentation about the work to redevelop Colchester Castle and its displays. A son-et-lumiere tells the story of the site’s long and eventful history from the time of the Roman colonia and its destruction by Boudicca to the construction of a castle by the Normans. CIMS’ strategy was to open up more of the original fabric of the castle interior.

Medieval section of son-et-lumiere at Colchester Castle

This was followed by a presentation about the use of new technology at Falaise Castle in Normandy by Charlotte Lapiche, Head of the Heritage Service of the Commune de Falaise. Though it may not be politic to say so in the present climate, the work on this and other Anglo-Norman castles was funded by the European Union. The French used digital reconstructions and augmented reality (AR) to give visitors a sense of what the castle looked like, especially during the pre-12th century period, about which less was known.

Medieval augmented reality interpretation

room interior augmented reality — Room interior augmented reality: what’s on the tablet screen is what the room looked like in the Middle Ages and it’s responsive.

Stereoscopic binoculars were used outside to allow visitors to compare the present condition of the ruins with how it is thought the castle would have looked during the Middle Ages. Tablets show interiors complete with drapery and other soft furnishings, creating a much warmer impression of what it was like to live there in the aula of the Keep. If the archaeologists aren’t completely sure of the detail because of earlier ill-judged conservation work that sadly destroyed the evidence, it is still worthwhile because it makes the castle more accessible. At Caen Castle visitors use touch tablets and the speaker readily conceded that although this provided better visualisation there was a danger that the technology overshadowed the monument. visitor survey showed very high rates of visitor satisfaction (97%).

Augmented reality Falaise castle, Normandy

Dr John Davies, Norfolk Museums Service talked about the use of new technology in the redisplay of Norwich Castle Museum. though described as ‘one of the most elaborate of Norman donjons in Europe’, ‘… more sophisticated than any other great tower’ and ‘unrivalled in its ostentation’, the castle was the least well-known of Norman donjons. The first earth-and-timber castle erected by the Normans in 1067 was rebuilt in stone between 1090 and 1120. It had a very colourful history: there were no less than five occasions when the castle was besieged, attacked or involved in revolts, and it was twice stormed. Its importance waned after the 13th century and the castle was used as a prison until it was made into a museum during the later 19th century. The Victorian architect, Boardman, who renovated the structure, inserted a floor at the wrong level making it difficult for visitors to understand the building.

Artist's impression of the Bigod entrance — Artist’s impression of the Bigod entrance

However, between 2008 and 2014 the museums service had worked on re-interpreting the castle as part of the Norman Connections project. They have made fairly modest interventions such as projecting onto the Bigod arch to give an idea of how colourful the original appearance would have been.A replacement glazed window on the site of the chapel was brought alive by inserting a light box behind it. Medieval doors will be replaced complete with Norman style wrought iron decoration. They are also displaying material from the period borrowed from the British Museum.

AR interpretation showing Henry I's visit to Norwich Castle in 1121. — AR interpretation showing Henry I’s visit to Norwich Castle in 1121.

Before further work is undertaken there needs to be large-scale recording of the fabric, which is complex and important. The various initiatives will enable the visitor to reconnect with the site as a Norman castle. It would be interesting to find out what Medieval Section members think of these initiatives. At the conference these presentations prompted a great deal of discussion about the accuracy and authenticity of the interpretations. Words like ‘reconstruction’ were used but as the French speaker pointed out they did not claim to have reconstructed the rooms shown in the AR interpretation and they used the word ‘evocation’ as in ‘giving a sense of’. This point was taken up in the final session by Hedley Swain from Arts Council England, who argued that the greater the ‘authenticity’ the greater the inauthenticity of the history or archaeology interpreted. He said it was the authenticity of the emotional experience in response to the site – this might be facilitated by artists – that was important.