Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Fiell the Glover in thirteenth century Gloucester

Fiell the Glover in thirteenth century Gloucester

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

This article follows the historical records relating to Fiell the Glover who lived in Gloucester in the mid thirteenth century. As his name suggests Fiell worked as a glover which was an important job in the medieval period. Soldiers, on foot and on horseback wore gloves made of leather or metal called a gauntlet. The advent of firearms from the fifteenth century onwards made hand-to-hand combat rare and as a result, the need for gauntlets disappeared. Fingerless gloves having one large opening rather than individual openings for each finger were sometimes called gauntlets,

During the 13th century, gloves began to be worn by ladies as a fashion ornament. They were made of linen and silk, and sometimes reached to the elbow. Such worldly accoutrements were not for holy women, according to the early 13th century Ancrene Wisse, written for their guidance. Sumptuary laws were promulgated to restrain this vanity: against samite gloves in Bologna, 1294, against perfumed gloves in Rome, 1560.

Ordinary workers and those on horseback would also need gloves to protect their hands and handle objects more firmly. The wool and leather for the glove trade came into Gloucester from the surrounding countryside. There was sufficient wool entering the town for a considerable export trade.[1]

Fiell the Glover

Early records do not exist to say where Fiell the Glover was born or where he learnt the trade of a glover. The term apprentice appears as early as 1261 in a London ordinance and Bristol was one of the first cities after London to make enactments for apprentices.[2] Fiell had learnt his trade well before 1245 when his name first appears in the records.

View over Gloucester 

Land between the Bridges

In about 1245 Fiell (Fyellus) the Glover, at the wish of his wife Alice, granted to Gilbert of Eldresfeld a piece of land with buildings and appurtenances in Gloucester. The land was situated between the land of William the Bulger (held of the Hospital of St. Bartholomew) and the land of John the Knight (also held of the same Hospital). William the Bulger and John the Knight were two of the witnesses to the grant.[3] A later grant of this land locates the property between the bridges at Gloucester.[4]

In return for the land Gilbert of Eldresfeld was to pay 12d yearly to the service of St. Mary in the church of St. Nicholas. At that time the buildings on the land were worth two silver marks and if the buildings should be destroyed by fire or Gilbert sells on the property, he was to pay Fiell the Glover two silver marks. Among the witnesses were William of Sumer and Roger the Enueise, both reeves of Gloucester, along with Reginald of Eldresfeld, William the Dyer, Reginald the Smith, Robert the Young and Henry Silvester.[5]

Family life and children

Fiell the Glover was married before 1245 to a woman called Alice and they had at least one child, a daughter called Cecily. By 1262 Cecily had married William Joce, a glover in Gloucester. William Joce may have served his apprenticeship with Fiell the Glover. In about 1262-3 William Joce and Cecily granted to the Hospital of St. Bartholomew 2s 6d of annual rent received on the land formerly held by Gilbert of Eldresfeld between the bridges of Gloucester. This land was situated between that of William the Bulger and Robert the Carter (a successor to John the Knight). Among the witnesses were Robert Celi and Robert of Putteleye, town bailiffs, along with Richard Fraunces, Walter of Abenhale, Richard of Sanford, Hugh the Girdler and Richard the Clerk.[6]

At the same time Reginald, son and heir of Reginald of Eldresfeld, released that land between the bridges held by Gilbert of Eldresfeld to the Hospital of St. Bartholomew. This land was held by Gilbert as a gift from Reginald of Eldresfeld senior and Hamfelisia his aunt.[7]

Land outside the East Gate

At about the same time that Fiell the Glover was granting property on the west side of Gloucester he was receiving land outside the East Gate. In about 1245 the Brethren of the Hospital of St. Bartholomew granted in perpetuity to Fiell the Glover a piece of land outside the East Gate of Gloucester. The land was situated between the land of Alexander the Duck and that of Richard Buckepotte. Among the witnesses were William of Sumer and Roger the Enucise, reeves of Gloucester, along with John of Northampton, Richard of Northampton, Henry the Locksmith, Walter Frere, Alex Flury and Walter Bucler.[8]

By 1302 this land beyond the East Gate had somehow reverted to the Hospital of St. Bartholomew and they had granted it to Richard of Keynesham. On 10th February 1302 John, prior of the Hospital, and the Brethren, confirmed the grant of the land to Richard of Keynesham and Mabel his wife and their children. Among the witnesses to the confirmation were Robert the Spicer and Roger the Heiberere, town bailiffs, along with Robert Bernard, William Chose, Willim Payn, Robert Pope, Peter of the Hill and Richard of Hunteleye.[9] For more on the family of Richard of Keynesham see = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/06/keynsham-family-of-gloucester-in-early.html

Meanwhile Fiell the Glover was still alive in 1260 when he witnessed the grant by Juliana Flure, widow of John Flure of Gloucester, of a piece of vacant land outside the East Gate near Goseditch to Henry the Cnusar, burgess of Gloucester. The land was situated between that of the said Henry and Robert of Wells. Among the witnesses to this deed were William of Chiltenham and Roger the Enueise, town bailiffs, along with Henry the Locksmith, Richard son of Mabel, John of Northampton, Richard the Clerk and the said Fiell the Glover.[10] 

Possible relations

Apart from Cecily Fiell, it is not known if Fiell the Glover had any other children. Yet, in about 1285, Benedict Fiell, a glover of Gloucester, granted to Walter of Ouere, cordwainer, a piece of land outside the East Gate of Gloucester. Benedict had Fiell’s first name and was employed in the same trade (children often carried on the same trade as their parents). The granted land was situated between the land of Henry the Cnusere (one of the witnesses of the grant) and the land of Robert Wolnath. Among the witnesses to the grant were Alexander of Bykenor and Walter Sefare, town bailiffs, along with Geoffrey of Cuberley, Richard of Hunteley, Robert Bernard and John the Clerk.[11]

Place of residence and death

The above records show that Fiell the Glover had property on both the east and west sides of Gloucester which shows that he was a person of acquired wealth even if the records elsewhere place the glovers as the poorest of all the leather and skin tradespeople.[12] Yet the records fail to show where he actually lived. His name does not appear in the Gloucester rental of 1455 which recorded the names of property occupants in the time of King Henry III.[13]

It is likely that Fiell the Glover died between 1260 and 1262 as he was alive in the former year but not mention in the latter year when his daughter granted to Bartholomew’s Hospital the land which Fiell the Glover had given to Gilbert of Eldresfeld.[14]

Thus, in the end, we are left with just a few snap shots into the life of Fiell the Glover in thirteenth century Gloucester. But then medieval records are like that. Some type of records, like those relating to property; survive better than others like trade records.

==================

End of post

==================




[2] Denzil Hollis (ed.), Calendar of the Bristol Apprentice Book 1532-1565, part 1, 1532-1542 (Bristol Record Society, Vol. XIV, 1948), p. 3
[3] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester (Gloucester, 1893), no. 425
[4] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 582
[5] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 425
[6] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 582
[7] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 583
[8] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 424
[9] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 763
[10] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 545
[11] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 706
[12] Maryanne Kowaleski, Local Markets and Regional Trade in Medieval Exeter (Cambridge University Press, 1995), p. 160
[13][13] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Rental of all the Houses in Gloucester A.D. 1455 from a roll in the possession of the Corporation of Gloucester compiled by Robert Cole (Gloucester, 1890)
[14] W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, nos. 545, 582

No comments:

Post a Comment