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Extracts 2–4 are all drawn from previously unpublished manuscripts, transcribed and translated by Mark Chambers, who takes full responsibility for any errors or misreadings.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.