06 March 2023
Where there's a will
One of the benefits of our Medieval and Renaissance Women project is that we have been able to focus on groups of documents that have features in common. Individually, these documents provide insight into the lives (and after-lives) of particular named women; collectively, this evidence is all the richer for revealing social trends and patterns of behaviour. Into this category falls a number of wills of women from the 13th to the 16th centuries, from England, Flanders and Germany.
The cover of the will of Elizabeth Ayrer of Nuremberg, 1534: Add Ch 74114
A full list of the women's wills digitised as part of this project is given at the end of this blogpost. They number 22 individual wills, some with probate certificates, and a commission by the archbishop of Canterbury to administer a will. It's more than likely that many of the women in whose names these wills were issued would have been obliterated from the historical record if these documents had not survived.
The women named in these wills came from different walks of life but they had shared experiences. In each case, they wished to make provision for their possessions and property after they had died, and to make arrangements for the salvation of their souls. Many of them are described as widows. Does this mean that, as they had no husbands to inherit their goods, it was more incumbent upon them to set out who should be the beneficiaries?
Several women were keen to stipulate where they should be buried. In 1318, Gunnilda atte Denne requested that her body be buried in the churchyard of St Peter Newdigate, and she made a bequest to that church for her obit mass (Add Ch 17295). In 1504, Katherine Cooke prescribed that her body be buried in the chapel of St Mary at St Michael the Archangel’s church, Lewes, next to the tomb of John Cooke, her husband (Add Ch 18791). She also left money for the maintenance of her tomb, for masses for her soul, and to Agnes Chamber, her daughter. In 1411, Margery, the widow of John Todenham, knight, left her body to be buried in the chancel of the Austin Friars, Thetford, next to the tomb of Elizabeth Homgrave, her daughter (Add Ch 24243).
The will of Gunnilda atte Denne, 1318: Add Ch 17295
We can also gain insights into the wider social circles and support networks of medieval and Renaissance women. For instance, in 1342, Elizabeth, the widow of Thomas Paytfyn of Heddingley, made bequests to her brothers' children and to her siblings (Add Ch 16789). In 1500, Joanna Lane, widow of Nicholas Lane of Snape, made bequests to her daughters, her goddaughter, and her goddaughter’s family (Add Ch 26317). In 1360, Katherine de Bassi of Tournai, wife of the late Baldwin du Bas, made payments to parish priests, hostels, hospitals, the sick, her relatives and those of her husband (Add Ch 75719). Katherine was here providing for the salvation of her soul, but one imagines that the people listed in her bequest deserved her favour in one way or another.
The will of Katherine de Bassi of Tournai: Add Ch 75719
It is possible to gauge from this documentary material that particular women may have had significant accomplishments, or moved in particular circles. We know, for example, that Margery de Crek was the founder of Flixton Priory. In her will, dated the morrow of the feast of St Luke the Evangelist (19 October), 1282, she left her body to be buried in the church there, which she had founded in 1258 (LFC Ch III 1). She made other bequests to this convent, to the bishop of Norwich, and to her family. One of the most detailed wills we have digitised, comprising 3 membranes folded into bifolia and sewn together, is that of Elizabeth Ayrer, widow of Sebald Neyrer of Nuremberg, dated 1534, and which was certified by the Burgomeister and council of that city (Add Ch 74114). In her will, dated 14 July 1574, Agnes Fearne made provision to establish a free school and a bedehouse at Wirksworth (Derbyshire) (Wolley Ch XII 31). We know that her sister’s stepson and Anthony Gell, one of her executors, founded the school and bedehouse in 1576.
The will of Margery de Crek, founder of Flixton Priory, 1282: LFC Ch III 1
In one instance, a will survives of a woman who was subsequently declared intestate. On 18 March 1455, Sibylla Frances of Dunwich committed her body in her will to the Franciscans of Dunwich, besides making bequests to them, the parish church of Shaddingfield(?), and Peter Codon, the son of Robert Codon (Add Ch 10392). Other records show that by 1457 Sibylla was intestate, implying that her will had either been lost or that it had been deemed invalid. In other words, leaving a will was no guarantee that the woman's wishes be carried out to the letter.
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Will of Joan Ward, widow, of St Saviour’s Parish, Southwark (1544) |
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Will of Sibylla Frances of Dunwich (1455) |
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Will and probate certificate of Elizabeth, widow of Thomas Paytfyn of Heddingley (1342) |
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Will and probate certificate of Gunnilda atte Denne (1318) |
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Will and probate certificate of Katherine Cook of St Andrew’s parish, Lewes (1504) |
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Will and probate certificate of Margaret, widow of John de Covert (1367) |
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Will and probate certificate of Margery, widow of John Todenham, knight (1411) |
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Will and probate certificate of Joanna Lane, widow of Nicholas Lane of Snape (1500) |
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Will of Isabella Russell, widow of John Churchhay of Frome (1361) |
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Will and probate certificate of Margaret Hervy of Ryburgh (1508) |
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Commission by Thomas Bourgchier, archbishop of Canterbury, to administer the will of Emota Newton, widow (1481) |
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Will of Margaret Canon (1424) |
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Will of Margery Loqmer, widow of John Loqmer of Newington-next-Hythe (1473) |
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Will and probate certificate of Joanna Chiltern, widow, wife of John Chiltern of Newington-next-Hythe (1481) |
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Will and probate certificate of Agnes Leigh, widow, of the parish of Cheriton (1516) |
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Will of Elizabeth Ayrer, widow of Sebald Neyrer of Nuremberg (1534) |
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Will of Katherine de Bassi of Tournai (1360) |
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Will of Isabella Storke, wife of William Denton of the diocese of Ely (1496) |
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Will and probate certificate of Agnes Sowle (1465) |
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Will of Margery de Crek (1282) |
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Will of Agnes Fearne, widow, of Wirksworth (1574) |
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Probate certificate of the will of Agnes Fearne (1575) |
The British Library is immensely grateful to Joanna and Graham Barker for the funding of our Medieval and Renaissance Women project.
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