Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-15T00:21:49.364Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

II - Accounts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2023

Gale R. Owen-Crocker
Affiliation:
University of Manchester
Get access

Summary

Introduction

Wardrobe accounts represent an excellent source of information about the naming of medieval cloth, clothing and accoutrement, as well as providing detailed historical evidence of aspects of medieval economic and trade practices. Not only are a variety of textiles, garments, jewellery, footwear etc. specified by name, but frequently cuts and colours are detailed as well, giving a vivid, illustrative picture of medieval suits of garments (robes or sectas).

Most of the extracts below are drawn from accounts that are either long out of print (such as the accounts of Bogo de Clare in Extracts 1a and 1b) or which have been newly transcribed and translated from original manuscripts (such as the Royal Wardrobe accounts in Extracts 2–4). The two extracts from Bogo de Clare’s accounts date from the end of the thirteenth century and demonstrate the range of kinds and costs of garments worn by a particularly flamboyant thirteenth-century bishop. The three subsequent extracts are all drawn from the accounts of the Royal Wardrobe (National Archives, MSS E 101), the first two demonstrating some of the purchases made on behalf of a royal princess, and the third showing a typical set of purchases made by Edward III’s Royal Wardrobe in the mid-fourteenth century. Finally, the last extract (5) offers evidence of late Anglo-French account-keeping, showing cloth and clothing references from the fifteenth-century accounts of the London Mercers’ Company.

Extracts 2–4 are all drawn from previously unpublished manuscripts, transcribed and translated by Mark Chambers, who takes full responsibility for any errors or misreadings. We are very grateful to Dr Alex Rumble from the University of Manchester for his assistance with the transcriptions.

Extracts from the wardrobe and household accounts of Bogo de Clare, 1284–5

Bogo (Boeges, Bevis) de Clare was the third son of Richard de Clare, fifth earl of Hertford and seventh earl of Gloucester. He was the younger brother of Richard’s successor, Gilbert de Clare (1243–95), who would side with Simon de Montfort during the Barons’ Revolt and later switch sides to join the future Edward I (Guiseppi 1918; Altschul 1965).

Owing to his powerful family connections and their continuing patronage, Bogo de Clare’s early life was one of indulgence and luxury, and his adulthood and career as a rising ecclesiastical magnate saw him develop quite a reputation for strategic promotion and the large-scale collection of benefices.

Type
Chapter
Information
Medieval Dress and Textiles in Britain
A Multilingual Sourcebook
, pp. 56 - 88
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×