The time travellers guide to medieval e mortimer, ian

Contents Cover About the Book About the Author Also by Ian Mortimer Illustrations Title Page Dedication Epigraph Introduction: Welcome to Medieval England The Landscape The People The Medieval Character Basic Essentials What to Wear Travelling Where to Stay What to Eat and Drink Health and Hygiene 10 The Law 11 What to Do Envoi Picture Section Notes Full titles of works mentioned in the notes Acknowledgements Index Copyright About the Book The past is a foreign country; they did things differently there Imagine you could travel back to the fourteenth century What would you see, and hear, and smell? Where would you stay? What are you going to eat? And how are you going to test to see if you are going down with the plague? I n The Time Traveller’s Guide Ian Mortimer’s radical new approach turns our entire understanding of history upside down History is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived, whether that’s the life of a peasant or a lord The result is perhaps the most astonishing history book you are ever likely to read; as revolutionary as it is informative, as entertaining as it is startling About the Author Ian Mortimer has BA and PhD degrees in history from Exeter University and an MA in archive studies from University College London He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in 1998, and was awarded the Alexander Prize (2004) by the Royal Historical Society for his work on the social history of medicine He is the author of four medieval biographies, The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer (2003), The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III (2006), The Fears of Henry IV: The Life of England’s Self-Made King (2007) and 1415: Henry V’s Year of Glory (2009) He lives with his wife and three children on the edge of Dartmoor ALSO BY IAN MORTIMER The Greatest Traitor: The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer The Perfect King: The Life of Edward III The Fears of Henry IV: The Life of England’s Self-Made King 1415: Henry V’s Year of Glory Illustrations All the images in this volume have been kindly provided by the British Library, from manuscripts in their collections The author is grateful for permission to reproduce them Section Wheel of Fortune, from a mid-fifteenth-century copy of Lydgate’s Troy Book (Royal 18 D II fol 30v) Alexander the Great given white elephants, from an early-fifteenth-century romance (Royal 20 B XX fol 82v) Lady at her toilet, from the Luttrell Psalter, c.1325–40 (Add MS 42,130 fol 63r) Woman wearing a wimple, from a philosophical tract illuminated in Paris, c.1300 (Burney 275 fol 166r) Women reaping at harvest time, from the Luttrell Psalter, c.1325–40 (Add MS 42,130 fol 172v) Woman being beaten by a man, from a German manuscript of 1446 (Add MS 17,987 fol 88r) Woman beating a man, from the Luttrell Psalter, c 1325–40 (Add MS 42,130 fol 60r) Lady shooting at a hare, from the Taymouth Hours, c.1325–35 (Yates Thompson 13 fol 68v) King John of England does homage to King Philip of France, from an early-fourteenth-century Chroniques de France (Royal 16 G VI fol 362v) Philippe de Mezières presents his treatise to Richard II of England, c.1395 (Royal 20 B VI fol 2r) Queen Guinevere and the maiden sent by the Lady of the Lake, from a French romance, c.1316 (Add MS 10,293 fol 90v) Two images from De Claris Mulieribus, early fifteenth century (Royal 20 C V fol 5r) Ploughmen, from the Luttrell Psalter, c.1325–40 (Add MS 42,130 fol 170r) Builders, from the Bedford Hours, c.1414–23 (Add MS 18,850 fol 17v) Women spinning and carding wool, from the Luttrell Psalter, c.1325–40 (Add MS 42,130 fol 193r) Women spinning and carding wool in the early fifteenth century, from De Claris Mulieribus (Royal 20 C V fol 75r) Boy being birched by his teacher, from Omne Bonum, c.1360–75 (Royal E VI fol 214r) Burning of the Templars, from a late-fourteenth-century Chroniques de France (Royal 20 C VII fol 44v) Section World map of Ranulph Higden, from a late-fourteenth-century Polychronicon (Royal 14 C IX fol 1v-2r) Map of Great Britain, from Matthew Paris’s Abbreviato Chronicorum Angliae , 1250s (Cotton Claudius D VI fol 12v) Royal travelling coach, from the Luttrell Psalter, c.1325–40 (Add MS 42,130 fol 181v-182r) Early-fourteenth-century cogs, from the Smithfield Decretals, c.1340 (Royal 10 E IV fol 19r) Late-fourteenth-century cogs, from Jean Creton’s Histoire du Roy d’Angleterre Richard II , c.1401– (Harley 1319 fol 18r) Richard II dining, from Jean Waurin’s Chronique d’Angleterre , illuminated in the late fifteenth century (Royal 14 E IV fol 265v) Alexander the Great dining, from an early-fifteenth-century French romance (Royal 20 B XX fol 88v) Gallows, from a 1487 edition of Chroniques de France (Royal 20 E III fol 28r) Executions, from a late-fourteenth-century Chroniques de France (Royal 20 C VII fol 133v) Monk and woman in the stocks, from the Smithfield Decretals, c.1340 (Royal 10 E IV fol 187r) Diagnosis through the inspection of urine, from a late-fourteenth-century Chroniques de France (Royal 20 C VII fol 78v) Physicians administering medicine to a king, from an early-fourteenth-century Chroniques de France (Royal 16 G VI fol 310v) Clergymen with the plague, from Omne Bonum, c.1360–75 (Royal E VI fol 301r) Leper with a bell, from a Pontifical, c.1400 (Lansdowne 451 fol 127r) John of Arderne performing a fistula operation, from a late-fourteenth-century medical text (Sloane 2002 fol 24v) Two musicians and a female acrobat, from the Smithfield Decretals, c.1340 (Royal 10 E IV fol 58r) Carol of love, from an early-fourteenth-century copy of the Roman de la Rose (Royal 20 A XVII fol 9r) Bear-baiting, from the Luttrell Psalter, c.1325–40 (Add MS 42,130 fol 161r) IAN MORTIMER The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century For my wife, Sophie, Without whom this book would not have been written And whom I would not have met Had it not been for this book The past is a foreign country – they things differently there L P Hartley, The Go-Between Roët, Katherine de see Swynford Roët, Philippa de 283, 287 Rome 11, 36, 43, 70, 76, 78, 265–6 Romney Marsh 27 roofs see shingles; stone; thatch; turf roses, rosewater 64, 145, 170, 196 Roxburgh 256 royal armouries 120 royal council 166 Royal Courts of Justice see courts royal household 39, 100, 126, 159, 185, 212, 304; ordinances for 307 royal mints see mints royal palaces see palaces rubbish see sanitation rubies 118 rudeness 81 rugs see beds and bedding rushes 9, 92, 145, 162, 179 rushlights 9, 145, 181 Russell, John 298 Russell, Margaret 56 Russia see Muscovy Rutland 33, 216–7, 240, 294 Rybothe, Island of 275 rye see grain sacrists 185 saddlers 231 saddles 131 saffron see spices sailors see mariners St Agatha 270 St Albans 82, 123, 225, 296 St Anselm 270 St Asaph’s, diocese of 296 St Augustine, missionary 274 St Augustine of Hippo 45 St Bartholomew’s see London St Benedict, Rule of 45, 151, 186 St Benet Hulme 296 St Catherine 270 St Catherine’s Lighthouse 139 St Chad 268 St Christopher 131, 302 St Cuthbert 267 St David’s, diocese of 296 St Dunstan 267, 270 St Edmund, king and martyr 267 St Edward the Confessor 21, 268, 271 St Ethedreda, queen and abbess 267 St Francis 270; see also Franciscans St Frideswide 268 St Gilbert of Sempringham 45 St Guthlac 267 St Hugh, bishop of Lincoln 269 St Hugh of Lincoln, martyr 269 St Inglevert 257 St John of Beverley 267 St John the Baptist 118 St Louis 38 St Martin’s le Grand see London St Mary the Egyptian 270 St Oda 270 St Paulinus 268 St Paul’s Cathedral see London St Peter 269 St Philip 270 St Richard de Wyche 267 St Swithin 268 St Thomas (‘Doubting Thomas’) 270 St Thomas Becket 19, 76, 266–7, 270 St Walter Cantilupe 268 St Werburgh 267 St Wilfrid 268 St William 270 St William, martyr 268 St William of Perth 267–8 St William of York 268 St Wulfstan 268 St Wylgeforte 58 salaries see incomes Salerno 193 Salisbury 10, 16, 19, 83, 223, 296; bishop of 227 Salle 239 Salome, dance of 250 salt 22, 89, 92, 170, 172, 176, 180, 182, 184 (brine), 211, 227 salt cellars 157–8, 227 sanctuary 219, 234, 244–5 Sandin 72 sanitation 6, 12, 17, 18, 22, 23, 126, 145, 152, 164–5, 190, 195–6, 200, 208, 230; on board ship 138; see also baths and bathing; cleaning; diseases; latrines; parasites Santa Croce 270 Santiago de Compostela 70, 265–6 Sapphires 118 sarcasm 62, 253 satin 16 saucerers 161 saucers 157 Savage Company 241 Savage, Roger 241–2 Saxon letters 80 scabbards 118 scaffolding 14 Scandinavia 25, 138 schism see Great Schism science, scientists 76 Sciopods 72 scissors 9, 117 schoolmasters 67 schools 57, 66–7; see also education; universities scolds 230, 233 scotale 250 Scotland, Scots, 3, 32, 34, 36, 37, 43, 69, 71, 119, 122, 125, 135, 154, 219, 276, 296; Marches of 60, 256 screens passage 147–8 scriptoria 15 scriveners 11, 67; see also clerks scrofula see diseases Scrope, Geoffrey le 241 scurvy see diseases sea, the 14, 134–6, 138–41, 183, 264; see also Baltic; Mediterranean seafood see fish sea holly 199 seals (authentication devices) 87–8, 148 seals (sea mammals) 183 secretaries 159; see also clerks Selby Abbey 296 Sempringham Priory 45, 241, 254 sergeants-at-arms 51, 100, 159, 304 servants 12, 17, 42, 49, 51, 60–1, 63, 79, 100, 103–5, 116, 129, 133, 139, 145–6, 148, 152, 155, 160, 163, 175, 180, 182, 184, 186, 197, 212, 230–1, 244, 253, 260 service, bonds of 28, 48–9, 51 seven deadly sins 66 Severn, River 183 sewers see sanitation sexual intercourse 54–5, 63–4, 199, 226, 286; see also crime; prostitution sexual prejudices 53–60, 286–7; see also women shawms see musical instruments sheep 9, 24, 26, 28, 92, 166, 172, 227, 284; lambs 104, 172, 175; rams 261, 310; see also fleeces; meat sheets see beds and bedding shepherds 248 Sheriff Hutton 303 sheriffs 11, 56, 67, 102, 216–22, 224–5, 234, 308; see also courts; London shields see armour shingles 12 ships and boats 16, 19, 27, 59, 76, 84, 122, 135, 237, 251, 277; carracks 136–7; castles on 137–8; cogs 136–9, 302; construction of 130, 136–8; ferries 128–9, 151; fishing boats 183; galleys 136– 7, 141; hulks 136–7, 139, 140; life on board 138–41, 264; repair of 139; rowing 138; see also lighthouses shipwreck 59, 122, 135, 139 shipwrights see ships and boats Shirburn Castle 303 Shitbrook 7–8, 13, 81, 145 shoemakers 14 shoemakers’ thread 131 shoes 61, 92–4, 109, 113–15, 269; boots 114–5, 188 shops 8–9, 11, 13–16, 19, 92–3, 147 shopgirls 103 shopkeepers 114 shopping 91–5 Shrewsbury 10, 16, 296 Shropshire 33 Shrove Tuesday 261 shutters see windows Sicily 167 sickcare see medicines; nursing sickness see diseases; malnutrition side-saddle see horses and ponies sieges 69, 166–7, 208 signs 8–9, 15, 144, 173, 212, 232 silks see cloth silver 95–6, 104, 118, 148, 150, 157–8, 163, 175, 227, 258; gilt-silver 105, 118, 148, 150, 157–8; see also cloth of silver silversmiths 18; see also jewellers Simonburn 34 Skirlaw, Walter 38 slander see crime slates 162 slaughterer 160 slaughtering 17, 18 slings see hunting Sluys 135, 246 Smithfield see London smiths see blacksmiths soap 180, 198–9, 211, 260 solars 113, 145, 147–8, 154–5, 160, 273, 279 (private parlour) Somerset 27, 304 soothsayers 53 Southampton 139 Southwark see London Sowerby 227 spades 134 Spain, Spanish 43, 56, 70–2, 76, 138, 178, 198, 200, 257; see also Castile Spalding, William de 262 Spanish Era 82 spectacles 273 speeds of travel 126, 131–2 spicemongers 11, 17, 18, 177, 228 spices 93, 140, 148, 174, 179, 180, 187, 196, 199, 213, 305; alkanet 180; aniseed 176, 199; cardamom 117, 199; cinnamon 172, 174, 176–7, 182, 199; coriander 176; cloves 117, 172, 176– 7, 180; cumin 199; curry powder 177, 180 (powder forte); fennel see herbs; fenugreek 211; galingale 174, 182; ginger 176–7, 182; liquorice 176, 199; mace 172, 177; mustard 180, 304; nutmeg 117, 176–7; pepper 94, 174, 176–7, 180, 182; saffron 98, 176, 180; sugar see sugar spinning 116 spiritual cleanness 194–7 spiritual devotion 64–5, 75, 190, 194, 200, 251–2; charity 128, 142, 144; pious works 128; see also pilgrimages spits see cooking utensils sponges 197, 213 spoons 131, 148, 150, 157, 163, 286 spurs 131 squirrels 26, 92 Sri Lanka 73 stables 15, 22, 29, 32, 145–6, 159, 184; accommodation above 152; on ships 140 Stafford, earl of 61 Stafford, Ralph 61 Staffordshire 33, 173 Staines 127 stallage 93, 129 Stapledon, Walter 273 Stapleford, Gilbert of 228 starvation see famine steel see metal stewards 51, 68, 158–9, 218, 226, 253 stews see baths and bathing; prostitution stocks 179, 215, 222, 226, 228 stone 31; granite 30; slate 30 stone crosses 125 Stonor, John 242 Strange, Hamon le 304 Stratford Bow 18, 204 Stratford upon Avon 92 straw 23, 31, 145–6, 152–3, 162–3, 165, 183; see also thatch strength, physical 119–20, 263 students 67, 121, 163; see also education; Cambridge; Oxford; universities Suffolk 33, 251, 294 suffragans see archbishops; bishops sugar 98, 176–7, 180–2, 187, 199; syrup 181–2 sumptuary laws 102–5 sundials 83 superstition 74–7, 192; see also alchemy; diseases (King’s Evil); magic; numerology; votive offerings; witchcraft surgeons 9, 18, 67, 159, 190, 192, 212–4; see also Arderne surgery 209, 211–14; amputation 190; eye surgery 214; phlebotomy 191, 210–12, 214; see also medicine surnames 86 Surrey 188, 294 Sussex 32 swans see wildfowl Sweden 70, 137 sweetmeats 175–6 swine see pigs swineherds 104 swine killers 18 swords 59–61, 118–22, 140, 143, 148, 160, 231, 237, 250, 265–6 Swynford, Katherine 283 Syria 71 tablecloths 148–9, 152, 157–8, 163–4, 175, 178 tables see furniture tables (game) see backgammon tailors, tailoring 14, 18, 52, 56, 92, 101, 107–8, 300; Guild of Tailors and Armourers 300 Talbot family 32 tallow 145, 152, 163, 199 (mutton fat) tally sticks 66 tanning 17 tapestries 133, 156; see also rugs; wall-hangings tapets see beds and bedding; cloth Tartary 156, 275 taverners 148, 178, 184, 228, 263, 303 taverns 7, 84, 177–8, 228, 276, 292; see also ale houses Tavistock 297 tax-collectors 55 teeth 212, 225, 256–7, 270; care of 199 Teigh 240–2 tennis 230, 262 terracotta 140 Thames, River 16, 18, 20, 124, 148, 196, 277 thatch 23, 29, 31, 162, 164, 230 thieves, theft see crime Thomas, earl of Lancaster 40, 158 Thomas of Woodstock, duke of Gloucester 154, 272 Thorney Abbey 296 Thorp, William 240 three estates, the 38–51, 201 tilers 99, 232 tiles 155, 162, 196, 230 timber 31, 92, 126, 140, 162, 230; alder 14; ash 14, 162; beech 136; elm 21, 30, 162, 208, 294; fir 25, 294; fruit trees 170; oak 13, 25, 30, 130, 133, 136, 162, 208; poplar 14; unseasoned 162; yew 262; see also trees time: for meals 168; for trading 14, 83, 91; telling the 82–4; see also bells; clocks tin see metal tipping 146 tithes 187 tithings 50, 57, 216, 218, 220–2, 226 tofts 29, 30 toilets see latrines tolls 94, 128–9; freedom from 129; see also cranage; lastage; murage; pannage; pavage; pontage; stallage; wharfage tomatoes 167 tonsuring 66 torches 232, 253 torture 224 Toryntone, Desiderata de 227 Toty, Richard 137–8, 302 tourns see courts tournaments see jousts Towcester 123 towels 157, 164, 180, 196 Tower, the see London town: criers 9, 15, 87; gates 7, 8, 13, 129, 166, 219, 232, 248, see also London; houses see house; ordinances 144, 217 (bye-laws), 228–33, 237, 304, 308; walls 6, 8, 13, 17–19, 22, 52, 175, 228, 232, see also London; watchmen 219, 248 towns, incorporated 41, 87, 217; see also aldermen; town ordinances; freemen; mayors townships 68, 216–8, 220, 225 trailbaston see courts travel, regularity of 68–71 treacle 176 treason see crime treasurer, the 16 trees, 25–6, 130, 166, 225, 294; see also timber trenchers 169, 170, 175, 180, 182 Tresilian, Robert 245 Trevisa , John 38, 275 trial by battle see courts Trim 38 tripods 149, 162; see also cooking utensils Trivium 66 Troglodytes 72 trout see fish trumpets see musical instruments Trumpington 121 tuberculosis see diseases tubs 17, 150, 162, 165; see also washtubs Tuchet, Robert 241 tumblers 52; see also acrobats tunics see clothes turf roofs 164 Turkey 71 turkeys see poultry turners 94 tweezers 117 Tyburn see London Tyngewick, Nicholas 211 underwear see clothes unfit, the 167 unicorns 73 units of currency 95–6 units of measurement 84–5, 94, 228, 234 universities 40, 47, 66–7, 87, 190, 192, 210, 283 Urban VI 43–4 urinals 140 uroscopy 193–4, 210 ushers 88 vagrants 144, 152–3, 216, 223, 238; see also beggars; paupers valets 100, 132, 158–9, 161, 179 vegetables 163, 168, 170, 175, 184, 209; beans 169, 170 (white), 171, 184; cabbage 168, 170–1, 184, 209; carrots 167; cauliflower 184; celery 184; chervil 171; chibols 170–1; colewort 184; garden produce 168, 170, 175, 184; garlic 92, 170, 184; leeks 170–1, 184; onions 170, 172, 180, 184; parsnips 184; peas 167, 169, 170, 184; peascods 171, 184; potatoes 167; potential harmful effects of 170; spring onions 170; turnips 170 Vegetius 272 veils see clothes vellum 122 velvet see cloth Venice 11, 81, 264 verdigris 93 Vere, Robert de, constable of Rockingham 241 Vere, Robert de, marquis of Dublin 123–4, 295 verjuice 184 vetches 166 veterinary care 132 vicars 42, 202 (beneficed clergy); see also priests Vicars Choral 15 villeins 42, 47–51, 56, 66–7, 71, 85–6, 98, 115, 164, 171, 197, 215–6, 218, 221, 226; see also bondmen Vilnius 71 Vinci, Leonardo da 77 vine stems 117 vinegar 117, 172, 177, 182 vintners 95, 178, 283 violence 36, 56, 59–65, 88, 189 violets 64 Virtual History 2–3 vitamin C 168 vitamin D 209 voters 68 votive offerings 190, 260 wafers 175, 182 wages see incomes wagons 133, 251; see also carts; coaches Wakefield 251, 262, 274 Wales 32, 40, 42, 80; Marches of 60, 228 wall-hangings 147–8; see also tapestries Wallace, Sir William 235 Wallingford 100 walnuts 171 Walsingham Priory 268–9 Walsingham, Thomas 59, 74, 183, 297 Waltham Holy Cross 296 wapentakes see hundreds Waraunt family 239 Waraunt, John 239 warehouses 14, 147 warfare 37, 40, 56, 64, 69, 98, 122–4, 167, 219; see also jousts of war warhorses see horses and ponies Warwick Castle 154 Warwick, countess of 112 Warwick, earls of see Beauchamp Warwickshire 123, 201 washbasins see basins washerwomen 158, 198, 306 washing see baths and bathing; cleaning washtubs 63, 198, 306 watchmen 84, 248; see also towns water, attitudes to 174 water carriers 52 water supply 14, 18, 140, 152; see also wells water transport 14 Watling Street 123, 125 wax 87, 94, 158, 211, 253, 260 weavers, weaving 93–4, 114, 116 weeping 90 weights weirs 183 Wells Cathedral 83, 296 wells 30, 155, 165, 269 Welsh language 80 Wensley, Roger de 241 West Country 31, 32, 127, 169, 174, 202; see also Cornwall; Devon; Dorset; Somerset Westminster 16, 20, 129, 235; Abbey 21, 46, 187, 200, 245, 268, 296, 301; abbot 86, 260; palace of 20, 83, 122 Westmorland 33, 294; see also Lake District wetnurses 103 whales see fish wharfage 129 wharfs see ports and harbours wheat see grain Wheel of Fortune 253 wheelwrights 134 whips 115–16 White Canons see Premonstratensians White Friars see Carmelites White Monks 45 Whittington, Dick 99 Whittington, William 99 Whyte, John le 227 Wife-Givers 72 Wigmore 154, 272 wild boar see boar wildfowl 172, 259, 275; bustard 181; cranes 181, 259; curlew 181; ducks see poultry; egret 181; herons 181, 259; larks 176, 181; martinets 181; partridges 176, 181, 260; pheasants 176, 180, 252–3, 258; plover 181; snipe 176; sparrows 181; stork 181; swans 16, 253; teal 176; woodcock 176, 181 Willoughby, Richard 240–1 William of Malmesbury 250 wills 69, 80, 273 Willysdon, Richard 147–8 Wilton Diptych 301 Wiltshire 228 Wimborne Minster 269 wimples see clothes Winchcombe 296 Winchelsea 135 Winchester 10, 16, 212, 293, 296; bishops of 21, 38, 202, 299, 309; Cathedral 268; diocese of 296; Statute of 120–1, 130, 219 windows: coaches’ 133; oriel 14; glazed 14, 147, 155; shuttered 12, 29, 147, 152, 162, 165; unglazed 13 Windsor Castle 83, 100, 153–4, 294 wine 18, 85, 92, 94–6, 133, 137–8, 140, 146–7, 150, 174, 176–80, 184, 188, 284, 287, 303–4; English 27, 178; Gascon 70, 136, 178, 184–6, 305; hypocras 182; Lepe 178; Malvesey 178; Osey 178; red 175, 178; Rhenish 178, 184; Rochelle 178; Romonye 178; Spanish 178, 184; sweet 185 Wingfield Castle 303 witchcraft 74–5, 237 woad 92 wolves 26 women, position of 48–9, 53–61, 63, 90, 100–3, 110–12, 158, 163, 167, 173–4, 197, 199, 220, 222, 224–5, 229, 233, 288 women’s milk, as a medicine 206 woodland 24, 25 wool 17, 70, 92, 94, 117, 131, 161, 163, 172, 198, 233; see also cloth; fleeces Worcester 10, 251, 296; bishop of 44; Cathedral 268; ordinances of 229–232; Severn Bridge 231 Worcestershire 35, 240 wormwood 211 Wressle Castle 303 wrestling 90, 260–1, 310 Wycliffe, John 265 Wykeham, William of 38 Yarmouth, Great 10 yeomen 31, 35, 41, 47, 49, 88, 100, 104, 162, 169, 171, 173–4, 178, 259, 265 Yevele, Henry 20 York 8, 10, 16, 126, 129, 212, 217, 251, 256; archbishops of 42–4, 96, 267–8; Cathedral 268; diocese of 43, 69, 202; duke of 173, 258; province of 43; St Mary’s 296 Yorkshire 84–5, 216, 224, 227, 273, 297 youthfulness 36–7 zodiac man 214 Zouche, Ivo, Ralph and Roger 240 Zouche, William 44 This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly Version 1.0 Epub ISBN 9781448103782 www.randomhouse.co.uk Published by Vintage 2009 10 Copyright © Ian Mortimer 2008 Ian Mortimer has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser First published in Great Britain in 2008 by The Bodley Head Vintage Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA www.vintage-books.co.uk Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm The Random House Group Limited Reg No 954009 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 9781845950996 ... the cathedral) just outside the cathedral close The finest inns, with their signs displayed above their wide arched gates, are to be found on the main streets The towers of the town gatehouses... Westminster – joined to the city by the long elegant street called the Strand – is also the permanent seat of government To be precise, it becomes the permanent seat of government In 1300 the government... main meat market of the city Needless to say, this is where people regularly meet in the course of shopping Even more people gather, however, for the three-day fair held here every St Bartholomew’s