Life in a Medieval Castle (10 page)

The fine points of matters of honor (as well as the fact that the honor in question was exclusively masculine) are illustrated by two cases recorded by Matthew Paris. A knight named Godfrey de Millers entered the house of another knight “for the purpose of lying with his daughter” but was seized, with the connivance of the girl herself, “who was afraid of being thought a married man’s mistress,” and was beaten and castrated. The perpetrators of this deed, including the girl’s father, were punished by exile and the seizure of their property. Ambiguous though the evidence was—the girl may well have simply been defending herself against attack—Matthew Paris unhesitatingly pronounced her a “harlot” and “adultress” and the punishment of the knight “a deed of enormous cruelty…an inhuman and merciless crime.” At about the same time “a certain handsome clerk, the rector of a rich church,” who distinguished
himself by surpassing all the neighboring knights by the lavishness of his hospitality and entertainment—a universally admired trait in aristocratic circles—was similarly treated for a similar malfeasance. The king, like Matthew Paris, deeply grieved at the cleric’s misfortune, ordered it to be proclaimed as law that no one should be castrated for adultery except by a cuckolded husband, whose honor, unlike that of the lady’s father, her family, or the lady herself, was sacred.

The man who made a conquest, on the other hand, might boast of it—as did Eleanor of Aquitaine’s grandfather William IX when he versified about disguising himself as a deaf-mute and visiting the wives of “Lords Guarin and Bernard” (whether these were the names of real personages is not known). After testing him and assuring themselves that he in truth was “dumb as a stone,”

Then Ann to Lady Eleanor said:

“He
is
mute, plain as eyes in your head;

Sister, get ready for bath and bed

And dalliance gay.”

Eight days thereafter in that furnace

I had to stay.

How much I tupped them you shall hear:

A hundred eighty-eight times or near,

So that I almost stripped my gear

And broke my equipment;

I never could list the ills I got—

Too big a shipment.

Medieval ideas were far from the Victorian notion that nice women did not enjoy sex. Physiologically, men and women were considered sexual equals—in fact, as in William IX’s verses, women were commonly credited with stronger sexual feelings than men. In the fabliaux and in the satiric writings of medieval moralists women were constantly portrayed as lusty and even insatiable. The
author of the thirteenth-century
Lamentations of Matthew
complained that his wife claimed her conjugal rights with energy, and “if I don’t give them to her because I don’t have my old vigor, she pulls my hair.”

An excerpt from a commentary on Aristotle by the thirteenth-century German scholar Albertus Magnus, widely circulated under the title
On the Secrets of Women
, asked the question, Was pleasure in intercourse greater in men than in women? The answer was no. In the first place, according to the sages, since matter desires to take on form, a woman, an imperfect human being, desires to come together with a man, because the imperfect naturally desires to be perfected. Therefore the greater pleasure and appetite belonged to the woman. In the second place, orgasm was the indication of the emission of the female seed in intercourse. Double pleasure was better than single pleasure, and while in men pleasure came from the emission of seed, in women pleasure came from both emission and reception. Consequently, any woman who conceived was believed to have taken pleasure in intercourse, and judges denied suit for rape if a woman became pregnant from the assault. Another theory of Albertus, also taken from Aristotle, stated that the female seed, or
menstruum,
gradually collected in the womb, increasing sexual desire as it accumulated. Menstruation, seen as the equivalent of a man’s ejaculation, provided periodic relief. Therefore, though men’s pleasure might be more intensive, women’s was more extensive. During pregnancy, when the
menstruum
was retained to form and nourish the fetus, a woman was thought to be at the peak of her sexual desire. The sexual attitudes set forth by Albertus were also an expression of a cleric’s contempt for women; the woman’s desire was greater not merely physiologically, but because of the weakness of her judgment, and because of her imperfection, the inferior’s desire for the superior.

The conventions of chivalry directed that, in the words of
the thirteenth-century
Roman de la Rose
, men should “do honor to ladies…Serve ladies and maidens if you would be honored by all.” Men were to be courteous, witty, accomplished, to speak gently, to “do nothing to displease” a lady—yet in practice a lord might strike or beat his wife. Geoffrey de La Tour tells of a man breaking his wife’s nose because she talked back to him before strangers, “and all her life she had her nose crooked, which spoiled and disfigured her visage so that she could not for shame show it, it was so foully blemished.”

Courtesy, in any case, did not mean an improvement in women’s status; on the contrary, it emphasized woman’s role as an object. A dialogue between a knight and lady in
De Amore
told of a lady, loved by two suitors, who “divided the solaces of love” into two parts and let them choose either the upper or the lower half of her; the question to be debated was which suitor had chosen the better part. The knight contended that the solaces of the upper part were superior, since they were not those of the brute beasts, and since one never tired of practicing them, whereas “the delight of the lower part quickly palls upon those who practice it, and it makes them repent of what they have done.” The lady disagreed: “Whatever lovers do has as its only object the obtaining of the solaces of the lower part, for there is fulfilled the whole effect of love, at which all lovers chiefly aim and without which they think they have nothing more than certain preludes to love.” In
De Amore
the question was resolved in favor of the knight, but it was adjudged differently in another work, the French
Lai du Lecheoir
(“Lay of the Lecher”): Eight ladies in a Breton court, “wise and learned,” discussed the question of knights’ motives for their tournaments, jousts, and adventures:

Why are they good knights?

Why do they love tournaments?…

Why do they dress in new clothes?

Why do they send us their jewels.

Their treasures and their rings?

Why are they frank and debonair?

Why do they refrain from doing evil?

Why do they like gallantry…?

The answer is given by the poet in a series of plays on the French word
con,
the earthy designation for the center of the “solaces of the lower part.”

Whatever the effect on the lady of the castle, the ideas of chivalry and courtly love had their influence for good or ill on a later age, in much of modern etiquette, and above all in the concept of romantic love.

B
ESIDES THE LORD
,
HIS LADY
,
AND THEIR CHILDREN
, the household of a castle consisted of a staff that varied in size with the wealth of the lord, but that usually comprehended two main divisions. The military personnel, or
mesnie,
included household knights and knights from outside performing castle-guard duty, squires, men-at-arms, a porter who kept the outer door of the castle, and watchmen. The ministerial and domestic staff, headed by the steward, or seneschal, administered the estate, handled routine financial and legal matters, and directed the servants.

Out of a natural division of duties by departments of the house grew the principal offices of the castle. The steward was at first the servant in charge of the great hall; the chaplain or chancellor was in charge of the chapel or chancel (the altar area of a church); the chamberlain was responsible for the great chamber; the keeper of the
wardrobe, for clothing; the butler (or bottler), for the buttery, where beverages were kept, in butts or bottles; the usher, for the door of the hall; the cook, for the kitchen; and the marshal, for the stables. Some of these offices expanded in the course of time to entail larger duties: The steward became the manager of the estate; sometimes the chamberlain, sometimes the wardrobe keeper became the treasurer; the chaplain and his assistants became a secretarial department.

In royal households, the duties gradually decayed into honorific rituals. The biographer of William Marshal tells how on Christmas Day in Caen, just before the feast, a servant prepared to pour water for Henry II and his sons to wash their hands when William Marshal’s sponsor, the Norman baron William of Tancarville, burst into the room, seized basins and executed the function which was his by right as hereditary chamberlain of Normandy. Matthew Paris described the ceremonies at the wedding of Henry III, in which the king’s great barons performed the menial tasks prescribed by their offices:

The grand marshal of England, the earl of Pembroke [William Marshal’s son Gilbert] carried a wand before the king and cleared the way before him both in the church and in the banquet hall, and arranged the banquet and the guests at table…The earl of Leicester supplied the king with water in basins to wash before his meal, the Earl Warenne performed the duty of king’s cupbearer, supplying the place of the earl of Arundel because the latter was a youth and not as yet made a belted knight…The justiciar of the forests arranged the drinking cups on the table at the king’s right hand…

Under the household officials a large staff of servants operated. In 1265 the king’s sister Eleanor de Montfort, countess of Leicester, had more than sixty, while in the 1270s the household of Bogo de Clare, an ecclesiastical kinsman of the Chepstow lords whose accounts have
survived, included two knights, “numerous” squires, thirteen grooms, two pages, a cook, a doctor, and many clerks and lesser servants.

The most important member of the castle staff was the steward. In the twelfth century the steward commonly supervised both the lord’s estates and his household, but by the thirteenth century there were often two stewards, one in charge of the estates, the other in charge of the domestic routine. The estates steward, frequently a knight, held the lord’s courts, headed the council of knights and officials that advised the lord, supervised local officials, and sometimes represented the lord at the king’s court or acted as his deputy. He was highly paid, furnished with fine robes trimmed with fur, and sometimes had a house of his own. Simon de Montfort’s steward, Richard of Havering, held one-fourth of a knight’s fee from his lord, together with other lands and rents, including a parcel for which the annual rent was a symbolic single rose. During the great baronial rebellion led by Simon in 1265 his trusted steward was given charge of Wallingford Castle.

With the aid of auditors, the steward kept the accounts of the lord’s lands and fiefs, listing the revenues, acreage, produce, and livestock on each manor, the taxes and other charges paid, the money rents, and the profits from his law courts.

A thirteenth-century manual on estate administration called
Seneschaucie
(“Stewardship”) described the requirements for the steward, or seneschal:

The seneschal of lands ought to be prudent and faithful and profitable, and he ought to know the law of the realm, to protect his lord’s business and to instruct and give assurance to the bailiffs who are beneath him in their difficulties. He ought two or three times a year to make his rounds and visit the manors of his stewardship, and then he ought to inquire about the rents, services, and customs…and about franchises of courts, lands, woods, meadows, pastures, waters,
mills, and other things which belong to the manor…

The seneschal ought at first coming to the manors to cause all the demesne lands of each to be measured by true men…to see and inquire how they are tilled, and in what crops they are, and how the cart-horses and cattle, oxen, cows, sheep and swine are kept and improved…The seneschal ought to see that each manor is properly stocked, and if there be overcharge on any manor more than the pasture can bear, let the overcharge be moved to another manor where there is less stock. And if the lord be in want of money to pay the debts due, or to make a purchase at a particular term, the seneschal ought before the term, and before the time that need arises, to look to the manors from which he can have money at the greatest advantage and smallest loss…

The seneschal ought, on coming to the manors, to inquire how the bailiff bears himself within and without, what care he takes, what improvement he makes, and what increase and profit there is in the manor in his office, because of his being there. And also of…all other offices…He ought to remove all those that are not necessary for the lord, and all the servants who do nothing…

The seneschal ought, on his coming to the manors, to inquire about wrong-doings and trespasses done in parks, ponds, warrens, rabbit runs, and dove-houses, and of all other things which are done to the loss of the lord in his office.

A picture of a steward at work is given by the letters of Simon of Senlis, steward of the bishop of Chichester, who reported to his lord in 1226:

Know, my lord, that William de St. John is not in Sussex, wherefore I cannot at present carry through the business which you enjoined upon me, but as soon as he comes into Sussex, I will work as hard as I can to dispatch and complete it in accordance with your honor. I sent to you 85 ells of cloth bought for distribution for the use of the poor. As regards the old wine which is in your cellar at Chichester, I cannot sell to your advantage because of the over-great abundance of new wine in the town of Chichester. Further, my lord, know that
a certain burgess of Chichester holds one croft which belongs to the garden given to you by our lord the king, for which he pays two shillings a year, which the sheriff of Sussex demands from him. Wherefore, since the land belongs to the said garden, and was removed from it in ancient times, please give me your advice about the said rent. I am having marling [fertilizing with clay containing carbonate of lime] properly done in your manor of Selsey, and by this time five acres have been marled…

Later he wrote:

To Richard, whom Thomas of Cirencester sent to you, I have committed the keeping of the manor of Preston, since, as I think, he understands the care of sheep, and I will see that your woods at Chichester are meanwhile well treated, by the grace of God, and are brought to their proper state; also I wish your excellency to know that Master R., your official, and I shall be at Aldingbourne on the Sunday after St. Faith’s day, there to make the division between my lord of Canterbury and you. And if it please you, your long-cart can easily come to Aldingbourne on that day, so that I can send to you in London, should you so wish, the game taken in your parks and other things, and also the cloth bought for the use of the poor, as much as you wish, and of which I bought 300 ells at Winchester Fair. For at present I cannot send these by your little carts on the manors because sowing time is at hand. Among other things, know that the crops in your manors have been harvested safely and profitably and to your advantage and placed in your barns.

And again:

Know, dearest lord, that I have been to London, where I labored with all my might and took care that you should there have…wood for burning, brewing and repairs. Thanks be to God, all your affairs, both at West Mulne and elsewhere, go duly and prosperously. Also I have taken care that you should have what I judge to be a sufficient quantity of lambs’ wool for your household against the winter…Speak also with Robert of Lexington about having beef for
your larder in London…If you think it wise, my lord, I beg that part of the old corn from West Mulne shall be ground and sent to London against your coming…

In other letters Simon arranged for the purchase of iron and its transport to Gloucester and then to Winchester; advised his lord to think of getting his sheep from the abbey of Vaudey in Yorkshire and sending them down to his Sussex manors; reported on the vicar of Mundeham’s two wives, on a dilatory agent, on the servant of one of the manors whom he wished to promote.

The household steward kept the accounts of the daily expenditures of the castle—sometimes, in a great household, separate accounts for the lord and the lady, and in the royal household even one for the children. Every night, either in person or through a deputy appointed by the lord, the steward went over expenses with the cook, the butler, the pantler (the servant in charge of the pantry, i.e., “breadery”), and the marshal, and listed supplies received—meat, fish, grain. The meat was cut up in his presence and enumerated as it was delivered to the cook; the steward had

to know how many loaves could be made from a quarter of wheat, and see that the baker delivered that number to the pantler.

Household accounts were kept from Michaelmas (September 29) to Michaelmas, and they listed, usually in the same order, the amount of grain or bread, the wine and beer, the kitchen supplies, the stable supplies, the number of horses, the amount of hay and oats, and the manor which furnished them. Guests were also listed. They were not always welcome to the household staff. The accounts of Prince Edward (later Edward II) in June 1293 recorded: “There came to dinner John of Brabant [Prince Edward’s brother-in-law], with 30 horses and 24 valets, and the two sons of the Lord Edmund [younger brother of King Edward I], and they stay at our expenses in all things in hay, oats and wages.” For four days afterward the accounts laconically reported: “Morantur [They remain].” Finally the entry: “They remain until now, and this is the onerous day”—the guests, with some foreigners, went to the jousts at Fulham, and the household had to provide a sumptuous entertainment.

A rare insight into the domestic economy of the thirteenth-century castle is provided by the accounts of Eleanor de Montfort, the earliest such accounts preserved. For a typical week (in May 1265), they give minute particulars of the household’s subsistence. (To give an idea of monetary values, the usual daily wage of a skilled craftsman in the thirteenth century was about 4
¹
/
₂
pence—there were 12 pence in a shilling, 20 shillings in a pound.)

On Sunday, for the Countess and lord Simon de Montfort, and the aforesaid persons [of her household]: bread, 1
¹
/
₂
quarters, wine, 4 sextaries; beer, already reckoned.
Kitchen.
Sheep from Everley, 6, also for 1 ox and 3 calves and 8 lbs. of fat, 12s. 2d.; 6 dozen fowls 3s.; also eggs 20d. flour 6d. Bread for the kitchen 3d. Geese 10, already reckoned.
Marshalcy
[stable]. Hay for 50 horses. Oats, 3 quarters and a half.

Sum 17s. 7d.

For the poor, for 15 days, 1 quarter 1 bushel [of bread]. Beer, 34 gallons. Also for the hounds for 15 days, 5 quarters 5 bushels [of bread]. Also for the poor, on Sunday 120 herrings. Paid for preparing 27 quarters of malt wheat from grain at Odiham [Castle], 2s. 3d. Also for the laundry from Christmas, 15d. Also for yeast, 6
¹
/
₂
d. For the carriage of 3 pipes of wine from Staines to Odiham by Seman, 13s. 6d.; and that wine came from the Earl’s household at London.

Sum 17s. 6
¹
/
₂
d.

On the following Monday, for the Countess and the aforesaid persons, dining at Odiham and leaving late for Portchester [Castle], bread, 1 quarter, 2 bushels of grain; wine, 4
¹
/
₂
sextaries; beer already reckoned.
Kitchen.
Meat, already reckoned, eggs, 15d., fowls already reckoned.
Marshalcy.
Smithy, 2d. For one horse placed at the disposal of Dobbe the Parker to guide the Countess, 10d.

Sum 27d.

Tuesday and Wednesday, the household was paid for by lord Simon de Montfort at Portchester.

On the Thursday following, for the Countess, at Portchester, R. de Bruce and A. de Montfort being present, with their household, and lord Simon’s servants, and the garrison of the castle; bread bought, 8s., and also
¹
/
₂
a quarter received from a servant from Chawton; wine, from stock.
Kitchen.
Meat bought, 2s. 5d., 6 sheep from a servant from Chawton, and 1 cured hog from the stock of the castle. Eggs, 400, 18d. Salt, 3
¹
/
₂
d.
Marshalcy.
Hay for 45 horses, of which the Countess had 24, the lord Simon and his household 9, Amaury 8, the parson of Kemsing 3, from the castle stock. Oats, 1 quarter received from the servant from Chawton and 2 quarters bought, 5s. Food for the fowls, 14d.

Sum 18s. 4
¹
/
₂
d.

On the Friday following, for the Countess and the aforesaid persons, bread 6s. 2d., bought, and also 1 quarter from Chawton. Wine from stock, 8 sextaries good and 10
¹
/
₂
sextaries of another sort.
Kitchen.
Mackerel, 21d. Fat, 8d. Mullet and bar, 15d. Flounders, 7d. Eggs, 9d. Meal, 13d. Earthen pots, 3d. Salt, 3
¹
/
₂
d. Capers, 3
¹
/
₂
d.
Marshalcy.
Hay for 48 horses, of which the lord Simon had 12, 12d. Oats, 3 qrs., 1 bushel, of which 1 quarter was bought, and cost 2s. 6d. For gathering grass for 3 nights, 2d.

Sum 16s. 9d.

On the Saturday following, for the Countess and the aforesaid persons, J. de Katerington and others; bread 1
¹
/
₂
quarters, from the servant from Chawton; wine, 16 sextaries, of which 9 were of good wine. Pots and cups, 6
¹
/
₂
d.
Kitchen.
Fish, 4s. 7d., eggs, 2s. 4d., cheese for tarts, 10d. For 4 mortars bought, 17d. For vinegar and mustard, 5d. Porterage, 5d.
Marshalcy.
Grass, bought in bulk, 13s. 1d. Oats for 52 horses, of which the lord Simon had 12, 2
¹
/
₂
quarters, from the servant from Chawton. For carrying two cartloads of grass, 7
¹
/
₂
d.

Sum 24s. 3
¹
/
₂
d.