In 1484, Agnes Curteys submitted two petitions to the Chancellor complaining that she had been so harassed by lawsuits for debt that she’d been forced to “take the privilege of St John’s at Paris Garden” in Surrey across the Thames from London. Paris Garden was a somewhat odd sanctuary – it was a manor ofContinue reading “Taking “the privilege of St John’s at Paris Garden””
Tag Archives: Debt
A London goldsmith in trouble
Robert Myndrym, a London goldsmith, had numerous problems from the mid-1480s into the early 1490s, and found two different recourses to sanctuary helpful. The first time around 1485 he went to Westminster for debt. As his wife Margery explained in a Chancery petition, she went to visit him “as a true wife ought to doContinue reading “A London goldsmith in trouble”
Richard Arnold, sanctuary-seeker
London haberdasher Richard Arnold is most famous for his commonplace book, where he recorded a bunch of random and fascinating things, including (as this 19th century edition headlined) the ballad “The Nutbrown Maid.” He also took sanctuary at one point for debt. Amongst the entries in his book, Arnold includes (pp 123-4) a draft ofContinue reading “Richard Arnold, sanctuary-seeker”
The Stavertons, long-term Westminster sanctuary dwellers
Most of the sanctuary seekers I’ve been featuring have been felons and traitors, but through the early 16th century debtors continued to seek sanctuary, too. One example is William Staverton, a London grocer. Kit French has written an article about William’s wife Katherine Staverton, the source of much of what I say below! Staverton tookContinue reading “The Stavertons, long-term Westminster sanctuary dwellers”
The “Blessed” Adrian Fortescue, violent thug and sanctuary seeker
Sir Adrian Fortescue was amongst a number of aristocrats in Henry VIII’s reign who took advantage of sanctuary to get out of sticky situations. This is one episode in a lifetime of falling in and out of trouble, balanced several centuries later, perhaps, by a (rather questionable) beatification as a Catholic martyr. At 17 Fortescue’sContinue reading “The “Blessed” Adrian Fortescue, violent thug and sanctuary seeker”
Cromwell, an Easterling, and Arras tapestries
In 1524 a Hanseatic merchant or “Easterling” petitioned one Thomas Cromwell, then a relatively obscure “jobbing lawyer” (as MacCulloch calls him), but who’d just entered into the service of Cardinal Wolsey. The merchant, Edward Smyttyng, was “privileaged within the Sanctuarye of Sainte Peter of Westminster” – he doesn’t say why he was in sanctuary, butContinue reading “Cromwell, an Easterling, and Arras tapestries”
A “certificate of persons within St Martin’s sanctuary,” 1525
In 1525 – probably as a result of a fact-finding mission directed by the king’s right-hand man Cardinal Wolsey – a “certificate” of the “persons within St Martin’s sanctuary” was drawn up. This is a fascinating snapshot of 1520s sanctuary seekers. There were 12 people listed, 11 men, 1 woman. In another post I lookedContinue reading “A “certificate of persons within St Martin’s sanctuary,” 1525″
Mistress Chauncy
This is another of those rare women who sought sanctuary – this time a really rare bird, a married woman who sought sanctuary for debt without her husband. In 1536, Gerard Chauncy, stockfishmonger of London and “yeoman of the King’s Chamber and waiter in the Tower of London,” wrote a petition to the Chancellor toContinue reading “Mistress Chauncy”
Bull and Roo: Affirmation of sanctuary at King’s Bench
Two burglars manipulated sanctuary in the early 1530s and the result was something of a surprise: the justices at King’s Bench affirmed the right of felons to take sanctuary – even when they were trying to cheat the system. In May 1530, Maurice Bull & Nicholas Roo, both yeomen of Westminster, appeared before the courtContinue reading “Bull and Roo: Affirmation of sanctuary at King’s Bench”
Flight of an apprentice
In 1538 London apprentice Michael Crowche ran to Westminster sanctuary for fear of his master’s “crueltie of imprisonment.” As he put it, he “did flee and took the sanctuary of Westminster …for the safeguard of his body, until such time as that [he] might avoid the cruelty and extremity of the wilfulness & malice ofContinue reading “Flight of an apprentice”
Sanctuary Seekers in England, 1394-1557 