Martyn J Whittock - Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages: Scenes from the Town and Countryside of Medieval England

Martyn Whittock read Politics at the University of Bristol and has taught history for 27 years. He is currently the Director of the Humanities Faculty and Head of History in a Wiltshire secondary school. The author of numerous history textbooks and articles, his specialist interests include medieval and early medieval history, the early development of the Arthurian legends and signs and marvels as recorded in medieval chronicles. He has acted as an historical and educational consultant to BBC radio, the National Trust and English Heritage. He is also a Methodist Lay Preacher and an Anglican Lay Minister. He lives in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, within the ten mile radius in which his direct ancestors have lived since the Middle Ages.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF

MARTYN WHITTOCK

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Copyright Martyn Whittock, 2009

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UK ISBN: 978-1-84529-685-8
eISBN: 978-1-47210-766-4

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First published in the United States in 2009 by Running Press Book Publishers

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US ISBN: 978-0-7624-3712-2

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In memory of William Wyttok, burgess of Langport, Somerset in 1327; the first recorded medieval Whittock. And for John Howard, John Worth and Fiona Holland: good friends who share with me a love of the past.

I am grateful for assistance and advice from the following people while I was carrying out research into this book. Professor Chris Brooks, Durham University; Professor Eamon Duffy, Cambridge University; Professor Chris Dyer, Leicester University; Professor Mark Jackson, Exeter University; Dr Leonard Schwarz and Dr Chris Callow, Birmingham University; Marika Sherwood, Institute of Commonwealth Studies; Dr Brendan Smith, Bristol University; Professor Thorlac Turville-Petre, Nottingham University; Professor Chris Wickham, Oxford University; Professor Barbara Yorke, Winchester University; Wiltshire County Library Service and my friends at Bradford on Avon library. It goes without saying that all errors are my own.

As always my wife, Christine, and our daughters, Hannah and Esther, supported me with their love, advice and encouragement. They know how precious they are to me. In particular I am grateful to Christine and Hannah for reading and commenting on a number of chapters. My good friend John Worth also provided valuable advice and comments.

Martyn Whittock
St Simeons Day, 2008

The time frame of the Middle Ages is traditionally built around two apparent watersheds. In England the boundaries have frequently been set at 1066 and 1485. This time frame is therefore formed from two political events: the first date being the Norman Conquest and the second being the battle of Bosworth and the start of the Tudor dynasty.

These were highly significant events but their role as boundary points can be challenged from a number of angles. While 1066 can be demonstrated to have been a political watershed, ending the Anglo-Saxon political era and bringing in a new Norman dynasty which had an immense impact on England and its political culture, in social terms the date has far less meaning. Many aspects of society continued relatively uninterrupted from the middle and late Saxon periods into and beyond the Norman period. Developments in the Church, while accelerated by the arrival of new leadership, built on long-established trends; the language of the majority of the population remained English (albeit with a large infusion of Norman-French terms and social downgrading of English); trends in urbanization and taxation continued under new management without major dislocation; industrial production of key consumer items, such as pottery, did not reflect the seismic changes happening at the top of the social hierarchy; the penny in the pocket of the average consumer in 1070 not only looked the same as under King Harold (and was minted by exactly the same moneyer within the same system of coinage) but it also bought pretty much the same products as it had done in the 1050s and 1060s. In addition, many of the key features which we associate with the Norman period (such as manorialization, the feudal system and nucleated villages) can be seen as part of a process of development which straddles the mid-eleventh century and which has roots going back at least a hundred years before William the Conqueror took the throne.

Therefore the Middle Ages in England should really be considered to start around the year 900 with the start of the West Saxon re-conquest of the Danelaw