Dealings With The Dead Volume II Part 31

Good, old Sir William Dugdale was certainly the prince of antiquaries. His labors and their products were greater, than could have been antic.i.p.ated, even from his long and ever busy life. He was born, Sept. 12, 1605, and died, in his eighty-first year, while sitting quietly, in his antiquarian chair, Feb. 6, 1686.

It seemed not to have occurred, so impressively, to other men, how very important was the diligent study of ancient wills, not only to the antiquarian, but to the historian, of any age or nation. Dugdale's annotations, upon the royal and n.o.ble wills of England, are eminently useful and curious. A collection of "royal wills" was published, by Mr.

John Nicholls, the historian of Leicestershire, and the "Testamenta Vetusta," by Mr. Nicolas. These works are in very few hands, and some of them almost as rarely to be met with, as those of Du Cange, Charpentiere, Spelman, or Lacombe.

There is no small amount of information and amus.e.m.e.nt, to be gathered from these ancient declarations of the purposes of men, contemplating death, at a distance, or about to die; though it cannot be denied, that the wills of our immediate ancestors, especially, if they have ama.s.sed great wealth, and, after a few unimportant legacies to others, have made us their residuary legatees, furnish a far more interesting species of reading, to the rising generation.

There are worthy persons, who entertain a superst.i.tious horror, upon the subject of making a will: they seem to have an actual fear, that the execution of a will is very much in the nature of a dying speech; that it is an expression of their willingness to go; and that the King of Terrors may possibly take them, at their word.

There are others, who are so far from being oppressed, by any apprehension, of this nature, that one of their most common amus.e.m.e.nts consists in the making, and mending of their wills.

"Who," says the compiler of the Testamenta Vetusta, "would have the hardihood to stain with those evil pa.s.sions, which actuate mankind, in this world, that deed, which cannot take effect, until he is before the Supreme Judge, and consequently immediately responsible for his conduct?"

To this grave inquiry I, unhesitatingly answer--_thousands_! The secret motives of men, upon such occasions, if fairly brought to light, would present a very curious record. That record would, by no means, sustain the sentiment, implied, in the preceding interrogatory. Malice and caprice, notoriously, have governed the testator's pen, upon numberless occasions.

The old phrase--_cutting off with a shilling_--has been reduced to practice, in a mult.i.tude of instances, for considerations of mere hatred and revenge, or of pique and displeasure. The malevolent testator, who would be heartily ashamed, to avow what he had done, on this side the grave, is regardless of his reputation, on the other.

Goldsmith places in the mouth of one of his characters, a declaration, that he was disinherited, for liking gravy. This, however it may have been intended as a pleasantry, by the author, is, by no means, beyond the region of probability. Considerations, equally absurd and frivolous, have, occasionally, operated upon the minds of pa.s.sionate and capricious people, especially in the decline of life; and, though they are sensible of the Bible truth, that they can carry nothing with them, they may, yet a little while, enjoy the prospective disappointment of another.

The Testamenta Vetusta contain abstracts of numerous wills of the English kings, and of the n.o.bility, and gentry, for several centuries, from the time of Henry second, who began to reign, in 1154. The work, as I have stated, is rare; and I am mistaken, if the general reader, any more than he, who has an antiquarian diathesis, will complain of the exhumation I propose to make of some, among the "reliques of thae antient dayes."

It is almost impossible, to glance over one of these venerable testaments of the old English n.o.bility, without perceiving, that the testator's thoughts were pretty equally divided, between beds, ma.s.ses, and wax tapers. Beds, with the gorgeous trappings, appurtenant thereto, form a common subject of bequest, and of entailment, as heir-looms.

Edward, the Black Prince, son of Edward III., died June 8, 1376. In his will, dated the day before his death, he bequeaths "To our son Richard,[6]

the bed, which the King our father gave us. To Sir Roger de Clarendon,[7]

a silk bed. To Sir Robert de Walsham, our confessor, a large bed of red camora, with our arms embroidered at each corner; also embroidered with the arms of Hereford. To Monsr. Allayne Cheyne our bed of camora, powdered with blue eagles. And we bequeath all our goods and chattels, jewels, &c., for the payment of our funeral and debts; after which we will, that our executors pay certain legacies to our poor servants. All annuities, which we have given to our Knights, Esquires, and other, our followers, we desire to be fully paid. And we charge our son Richard, on our blessing, that he fulfil our bequests to them. And we appoint our very dear and beloved brother of Spain, Duke of Lancaster,[8] &c., &c., executors," &c.

Joan, Princess of Wales, was daughter of Edmund Plantagenet. From her extreme beauty, she was styled the "_Fair Maid of Kent_." I find the following record in regard to Joan--"She entered into a contract of marriage with Thomas Montacute, Earl of Salisbury; but Sir Thomas Holland, H. G., on a pet.i.tion to Pope Clement VI. alleged a precontract, _consensus et concubitus_, but that, he being abroad, the Earl of Salisbury unjustly kept her from him; and his Holiness gave her to Sir Thomas."

Joan seems to have been a wilful body, and the reader may like to know what sort of a will she made, four hundred and sixty-six years ago. She finally became the wife of Edward, the Black Prince, and, by him, the mother of Richard II. An abstract of her will runs thus--"In the year of our Lord, 1385, and of the reign of my dear son, Richard, King of England and France, the 9th at my castle of Walyngford, in the Diocese of Salisbury, the 7th of August, I, Joan, Princess of Wales, d.u.c.h.ess of Cornwall, Countess of Chester, and Lady Wake. My body to be buried, in my chapel, at Stanford, near the monument of our late lord and father, the Earl of Kent. To my dear son, the King, my new bed of red velvet, embroidered with ostrich feathers of silver, and heads of leopards of gold, with boughs and leaves issuing out of their mouths. To my dear son, Thomas, Earl of Kent, my bed of red camak, paied with red and rays of gold. To my dear son, John Holland, a bed of red camak."

Katherine of Arragon wills, _inter alia_--"I supplicate, that my body be buried in a convent of Observant Friars. Item, that for my soul be said C.

ma.s.ses. Item, that some personage go to our Lady of Walsingham, in pilgrimage, and in going by the way, dole XX n.o.bles. Item, I ordain that the collar of gold, that I brought out of Spain be to my daughter. * * *

Item, if it may please the King, my good Lord, that the house ornaments of the church be made of my gowns, which he holdeth, for to serve the convent thereat I shall be buried. And the furs of the same I give for my daughter."

William de Longspee, Earl of Salisbury, was a natural son of Henry II., by Fair Rosamond, daughter of Walter de Clifford, and distinguished himself in the Holy Land. He bequeaths to the Monastery of the Carthusians--"A cup of gold, set with emeralds and rubies; also a pix of gold with XLII. s.

and two goblets of silver, one of which is gilt; likewise a chesible and cope of red silk; a tunicle and dalmatick of yellow cendal; an alba, amice, and stole; also a favon and towel, and all my reliques; likewise a thousand sheep, three hundred muttons, forty-eight oxen, and fifteen bulls."

It was not unusual, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, to dedicate children, at the hour of their baptism, to the _military_ service of _G.o.d_, in Palestine. An example of this may be found, in the will of William de Beauchamp, who was the father of the first Earl of Warwick, and died before 1269--"My body to be buried in the Church of Friars Minors at Worcester. I will, that a horse, completely harnessed with all military caparisons, precede my corpse: to a priest to sing ma.s.s daily, in my chapel without the city of Worcester, near unto that house of Friars, which I gave for the health of my soul, and for the soul of Isabel my wife, Isabel de Mortimer, and all the faithful deceased, all my rent of the fee of Richard Bruli, in Wiche and Winchester, with supply of what should be short, out of my own proper goods. * * * To William, my oldest son, the cup and horns of St. Hugh. * * * To Isabel, my wife, ten marks[9]: to the Church and nuns of Westwood one mark: to the Church and nuns without Worcester one mark: to every Anchorite in Worcester and the parts adjacent four shillings: to the Church of Salewarp, a house and garden, near the parsonage, to find a lamp to burn continually therein to the honor of G.o.d, the blessed Virgins St. Katherine, and St. Margaret."

The will of his son, the Earl of Warwick, is full of the spirit of the age. He died in 1298--"My heart to be buried wheresoever the Countess, my dear consort, may, herself, resolve to be interred: to the place, where I may be buried two great horses, viz., those which shall carry my armor at my funeral, for the solemnizing of which, I bequeath two hundred pounds: to the maintenance of two soldiers in the Holy Land one hundred pounds: to Maud, my wife, all my silver vessels, with the cross, wherein is contained part of the wood of the very cross, on which our Saviour died. *

* * To my said wife a cup, which the Bishop of Worcester gave me, and all my other cups, with my lesser sort of jewels and rings, to distribute for the health of my soul, where she may think best: to my two daughters, nuns at Shouldham, fifty marks."

Elizabeth De Burgh, Lady of Clare, was the daughter of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, by Joan D'Acres, daughter of Edward I. She was thrice married. Her will is a curious affair, and bears date Sept. 25, 1355. She leaves legacies to her "servants" numbering, about one hundred and forty, and among whom are several knights and "peres."--"My body to be buried in the Sisters Minories, beyond Aldgate. I devise c. c. lb. of wax, to burn round my corpse. I will that my body be not buried for fifteen days after my decease. * * * For ma.s.ses to be sung for the souls of Monsr. John de Bourg, Monsr. Theobaud de Verdon, and Monsr. Roger Dammory, my lords, my soul, and for the souls of all my good and loyal servants, who have died or may die in my service CXL., li.: To find five men for the Holy Land C.

marks, to be spent, in the service of G.o.d and destruction of his enemies, if any general voyage be made within seven years after my decease: To my daughter Bardoff my bed of green velvet."

Elizabeth, Countess of Northampton, wife of William de Bohnn, made her will, in 1356. To the Church of the Friars Preachers, in London, she bequeaths: "C. marks sterling, and also the cross, made of the very wood of our Saviour's cross which I was wont to carry about me, and wherein is contained one of the thorns of his crown; and I bequeath to the said Church two fair altar cloths of one suit, two of cloth of gold, one chalice, one missal, one graille,[10] and one silver bell; likewise thirty-one ells of linen cloth for making of albes, one pulpitory, one portfory,[11] and a holy water pot of silver." She also wills, that "one hundred and fifty marks be distributed to several other convents of Friars Preachers, in such manner as Friar David de Stirrington shall think best, for my soul's health: To the Grey Friars, in London five marks: To the Carmelites five marks: and to the Augustines five marks * * * to Elizabeth my daughter a bed of red worsted embroidered: To my sister, the Countess of Oxford a black horse and a nonche.[12]"

Believers in the doctrine of transubstantation must extend their faith to the very cross; for, to comprehend all the wood, in possession of the faithful, it must have consisted of many cords of substantial timber.

No. CLVI.

The testamentary recognition of b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, _eo nomine_, was very common, in the olden time. There were some, to whom funereal extravagance and pomp were offensive. Sir Ottro De Grandison says, in his will, dated Sept. 18, 1358--"I entreat, that no armed horse or armed man be allowed to go before my body, on my burial day, nor that my body be covered with any cloth, painted, or gilt, or signed with my arms; but that it be only of white cloth, marked with a red cross; and I give for the charges thereof XX_l._ and X. quarters of wheat: to a priest to celebrate divine service, in the church at Ch.e.l.lesfield for three years after my decease, XV_l._: to Thomas, my son, all my armor, four horses, twelve oxen, and two hundred ewe sheep. * * * * To my b.a.s.t.a.r.d son," &c.

Henry, Duke of Lancaster, 1360, wills, "that our body be not buried for three weeks after the departure of our soul."

Humphrey De Bohun, Earl of Hereford, 1361, bequeaths to his nephew Humphrey--"a nonche[13] of gold, surrounded with large pearls, with a ruby between four pearls, three diamonds, and a pair of gold paternosters of fifty pieces, with ornaments, together with a cross of gold, in which is a piece of the true cross of our Lord: to Elizabeth, our niece of Northampton, a bed with the arms of England. * * * * We will also that a chaplain of good condition be sent to Jerusalem, princ.i.p.ally for my Lady my mother, my Lord my father, and for us; and that the chaplain be charged to say ma.s.ses by the way, at all times that he can conveniently, for the souls."

Agnes, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, wills, in 1367, that her body be buried, "within two days after my death, without any other cost than a blue cloth and two tapers of ten pound weight."

Robert, Earl of Suffolk, 1368--"I will, that five square tapers and four mortars,[14] besides torches, shall burn about my corpse, at my funeral: To William my oldest son my sword, which the King gave me, in name of the Earldom, also my bed with the eagle, and my summer vestment, powdered with leopards."

Roger, Lord de Warre, personally took John, King of France, prisoner, at the battle of Poictiers, and obtained the crampet or chape of his sword, as a memorial of his chivalry. His will bears date 1368--"My body to be buried without pomp, and I will that, on my funeral day, twenty-four torches be placed about my corpse, and two tapers, one at my head and one at my feet, and also that my best horse shall be my princ.i.p.al, without any armour or man armed, according to the custom of mean people." He orders his estate to be divided into three parts--"one to be disposed of for the health of my soul."

Joan, Lady Cobham, 1369--"I will that VII. thousand ma.s.ses be said for my soul by the canons of Tunbrugge and Tanfugge and the four orders of Friars in London, viz. the Friars Preachers, Minors, Augustines, and Carmelites, who, for so doing shall have XXIX_l._ III_s._ IV_d._ Also I will that, on my funeral day, twelve poor persons, clothed in black gowns and hoods, shall carry twelve torches."

Sir Walter Manney, 1371--"My body to be buried at G.o.d's pleasure * * * but without any great pomp * * * twenty ma.s.ses to be said for my soul, and that every poor person coming to my funeral shall have a penny to pray for me, and for the remission of my sins. * * * To my two b.a.s.t.a.r.d daughters, nuns, viz., Mailosel and Malplesant, the one cc. franks, the other c.

franks. * * * To Margaret Mareschall, my dear wife, my plate, which I bought of Robert Francis; also a girdle of gold, and a hook for a mantle, and likewise a garter of gold, with all my girdles and knives, and all my beds and clossers in my wardrobe, excepting my folding bed, paly of blue and red, which I bequeath to my daughter of Pembroke."

Thomas, Earl of Oxford, 1371--"For my funeral expenses Cx.x.xIII_l._ To Maud my wife all my reliques now in my own keeping, and a cross made of the very wood of Christ's cross. To Sir Alberic de Vere, my brother, a coat of mail, which Sir William de Wingfield gave me, also a new helmet and a pair of gauntlets."

Anne, Lady Maltravers, 1374--"No cloth of gold to be put upon my corpse, nor any more than five tapers, each weighing five pounds, be put about it."

Edward, Lord Despencer, 1375--"To the Abbot and Convent of Tewksbury one whole suit of my best vestments, also two gilt chalices, one gilt hanap, likewise a ewer, wherein to put the body of Christ, on Corpus Christi day, which was given to me by the King of France. To Elizabeth, my wife, my great bed of blue camaka with griffins; also another bed of camaka, striped with white and black, with all the furniture, thereto belonging."

Mary, Countess of Pembroke, 1376--"To the Abbey of Westminster a cross with a foot of gold and emeralds, which Sir William de Valence, Kt., brought from the Holy Land."

Philipa, Countess of March, 1378--"To Edmond, my son, a bed, &c. Also a gold ring, with a piece of the true cross, with this writing, _In nomine Patris, et Filii, el Spiritus Sancti, Amen_. Which I charge him, on my blessing to keep."

Sir John Northwood, Knight, 1378--"I will that two Pilgrims be sent to visit the shadow of St. Peter, Paul, and James, in Gallacia."

Sir Roger Beauchamp, Kt., 1379--"My body to be buried in the church of the Friars Preachers, near to the grave, where Sybil, my wife resteth. And I desire, that, at my funeral, there be a _placebo_ and _dirige_ with note, and, on the morrow after, two ma.s.ses, one of our Lady, and another of Requiem. And whereas I am bound to do a service on the Infidels, by devise of my grandsire, Sir Walter Beauchamp, to the expense of two hundred marks, I will, that Roger, son to Roger, my son, shall perform the same, when he comes of age. To my Chauntrey of Bletnesho one hundred pounds, for the maintenance of one priest, to sing there perpetually, for my soul, and also for the soul of Sybil, late my wife, and for all Christian souls."

William, Lord Latimer, 1380--"I will that my house in the parish of St.

Mary's be sold, to found prayers for King Edward's soul."

Guichard, Earl of Huntington, 1380--"I will that my heart be taken out of my body and preserved with spices, and deposited in the said church of Engle. I will that the expenses of my funeral, if celebrated with pomp, be bestowed in ma.s.ses for my soul."

Edmond, Earl of March, was a man of great note. His will is dated May 1, 1380--"To the Abbey of Wigmore a large cross of gold, set with stones with a relique of the cross of our Lord, a bone of St. Richard the Confessor, Bishop of Chicester, and a finger of St. Thomas de Cantelowe, Bishop of Hereford, and the reliques of St. Thomas, Bishop of Canterbury. To Roger, our son and heir, the cup of gold with a cover called _Benesonne_, and our sword, garnished with gold, which belonged to the good King Edward, with G.o.d's blessing and ours. * * * Also our large bed of black satin, embroidered with white lions and gold roses."

William, Earl of Suffolk, 1381--"I will that, on the eve and day of my funeral, there shall be five square tapers of the height, which my nearest of kin shall think fit, and four morters; also forty-eight torches borne by forty-eight poor men, clothed in white. * * * I will that a picture of a horse and man, armed with my arms, be made in silver, and offered to the altar of our Lady of Walsingham; and another the like be made and offered at Bromeholme."

One of the most interesting, among the olden wills, is that of John, Duke of Lancaster--the famous John of Gaunt. He died in February, 1399. His will bears date Feb. 3, 1397--"My body to be buried, in the Cathedral church of St. Paul of London, near the princ.i.p.al altar, beside my most dear wife, Blanch, who is there interred. If I die out of London, I desire that the night my body arrives there, it be carried direct to the Friars Carmelites, in Fleet Street, and the next day taken strait to St. Paul's, and that it be not buried for forty days, during which I charge my executors, that there be no cering or embalming my corpse. * * * I desire that chauntries and obits be founded for the souls of my late dear wives Blanch and Constance, whom G.o.d pardon; to the altar of St. Paul's my vestment of satin embroidered, which I bought of Courtnay, embroider of London. * * * To my most dear wife, Katherine, my two best nonches, which I have, excepting that, which I have allowed to my Lord and nephew, the King, and my large cup of gold, which the Earl of Wilts gave to the King, my Lord, upon my going into Guienne, together with all the buckles, rings, diamonds, rubies and other things, that will be found, in a little box of cypress wood, of which I carry the key myself, and all the robes, which I bought of my dear cousin, the d.u.c.h.ess of Norfolk;[15] also my large bed of black velvet, embroidered with a circle of fetter locks[16] and garters, all the beds, made for my body, called trussing beds, my best stay with a good ruby, my best collar, all which my said wife had before her marriage with me, also all the goods and jewels, which I have given her, since my marriage. To my Lord and nephew, the king,[17] the best nonche, which I have, on the day of my death, my best cup of gold, which my dear wife Katherine gave me, on New Year's day last, my gold salt-cellar with a garter, and the piece of arras, which the Duke of Burgoyne gave me, when I was in Calais." This is a mere extract. The will bequeaths numerous legacies of nonches, beds, and cups of gold; and abundantly provides for chauntries, ma.s.ses, and obits.

Eleanor, d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester, 1399--"To the Abbess and Convent of the Sisters Minoresses, near London, without Aldgate, VI_l._ XIII_s._ IIII_d._ and a tonel of good wine. * * * To my Lady and mother, the Countess of Hereford, a pair of paternosters of coral."

Thomas Mussenden, 1402--"I will, that all my arms, swords, b.a.s.t.a.r.d,[18]

and dagger be sold, and disposed of, for my soul."