Fiell
the Glover in thirteenth century Gloucester
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
This article follows
the historical records relating to Fiell the Glover who lived in Gloucester in
the mid thirteenth century. As his name suggests Fiell worked as a glover which
was an important job in the medieval period. Soldiers, on foot and on horseback
wore gloves made of leather or metal called a gauntlet. The advent of firearms from
the fifteenth century onwards made hand-to-hand combat rare and as a result,
the need for gauntlets disappeared. Fingerless gloves having one large opening
rather than individual openings for each finger were sometimes called
gauntlets,
During the 13th century,
gloves began to be worn by ladies as a fashion ornament. They were made of
linen and silk, and sometimes reached to the elbow. Such worldly accoutrements
were not for holy women, according to the early 13th century Ancrene Wisse, written for their guidance.
Sumptuary laws were promulgated to restrain this vanity: against samite gloves
in Bologna, 1294, against perfumed gloves in Rome, 1560.
Ordinary workers and
those on horseback would also need gloves to protect their hands and handle
objects more firmly. The wool and leather for the glove trade came into
Gloucester from the surrounding countryside. There was sufficient wool entering
the town for a considerable export trade.[1]
Fiell
the Glover
Early records do not
exist to say where Fiell the Glover was born or where he learnt the trade of a
glover. The term apprentice appears as early as 1261 in a London ordinance and
Bristol was one of the first cities after London to make enactments for
apprentices.[2]
Fiell had learnt his trade well before 1245 when his name first appears in the
records.
View over Gloucester
Land
between the Bridges
In about 1245 Fiell (Fyellus)
the Glover, at the wish of his wife Alice, granted to Gilbert of Eldresfeld a
piece of land with buildings and appurtenances in Gloucester. The land was
situated between the land of William the Bulger (held of the Hospital of St.
Bartholomew) and the land of John the Knight (also held of the same Hospital).
William the Bulger and John the Knight were two of the witnesses to the grant.[3] A
later grant of this land locates the property between the bridges at
Gloucester.[4]
In return for the land
Gilbert of Eldresfeld was to pay 12d yearly to the service of St. Mary in the
church of St. Nicholas. At that time the buildings on the land were worth two
silver marks and if the buildings should be destroyed by fire or Gilbert sells
on the property, he was to pay Fiell the Glover two silver marks. Among the witnesses
were William of Sumer and Roger the Enueise, both reeves of Gloucester, along
with Reginald of Eldresfeld, William the Dyer, Reginald the Smith, Robert the
Young and Henry Silvester.[5]
Family
life and children
Fiell the Glover was
married before 1245 to a woman called Alice and they had at least one child, a
daughter called Cecily. By 1262 Cecily had married William Joce, a glover in
Gloucester. William Joce may have served his apprenticeship with Fiell the
Glover. In about 1262-3 William Joce and Cecily granted to the Hospital of St.
Bartholomew 2s 6d of annual rent received on the land formerly held by Gilbert
of Eldresfeld between the bridges of Gloucester. This land was situated between
that of William the Bulger and Robert the Carter (a successor to John the
Knight). Among the witnesses were Robert Celi and Robert of Putteleye, town
bailiffs, along with Richard Fraunces, Walter of Abenhale, Richard of Sanford,
Hugh the Girdler and Richard the Clerk.[6]
At the same time
Reginald, son and heir of Reginald of Eldresfeld, released that land between
the bridges held by Gilbert of Eldresfeld to the Hospital of St. Bartholomew.
This land was held by Gilbert as a gift from Reginald of Eldresfeld senior and
Hamfelisia his aunt.[7]
Land
outside the East Gate
At about the same time
that Fiell the Glover was granting property on the west side of Gloucester he
was receiving land outside the East Gate. In about 1245 the Brethren of the
Hospital of St. Bartholomew granted in perpetuity to Fiell the Glover a piece
of land outside the East Gate of Gloucester. The land was situated between the
land of Alexander the Duck and that of Richard Buckepotte. Among the witnesses
were William of Sumer and Roger the Enucise, reeves of Gloucester, along with
John of Northampton, Richard of Northampton, Henry the Locksmith, Walter Frere,
Alex Flury and Walter Bucler.[8]
By 1302 this land
beyond the East Gate had somehow reverted to the Hospital of St. Bartholomew
and they had granted it to Richard of Keynesham. On 10th February
1302 John, prior of the Hospital, and the Brethren, confirmed the grant of the
land to Richard of Keynesham and Mabel his wife and their children. Among the
witnesses to the confirmation were Robert the Spicer and Roger the Heiberere,
town bailiffs, along with Robert Bernard, William Chose, Willim Payn, Robert
Pope, Peter of the Hill and Richard of Hunteleye.[9]
For more on the family of Richard of Keynesham see = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/06/keynsham-family-of-gloucester-in-early.html
Meanwhile Fiell the
Glover was still alive in 1260 when he witnessed the grant by Juliana Flure,
widow of John Flure of Gloucester, of a piece of vacant land outside the East
Gate near Goseditch to Henry the Cnusar, burgess of Gloucester. The land was
situated between that of the said Henry and Robert of Wells. Among the
witnesses to this deed were William of Chiltenham and Roger the Enueise, town
bailiffs, along with Henry the Locksmith, Richard son of Mabel, John of
Northampton, Richard the Clerk and the said Fiell the Glover.[10]
Possible
relations
Apart from Cecily
Fiell, it is not known if Fiell the Glover had any other children. Yet, in
about 1285, Benedict Fiell, a glover of Gloucester, granted to Walter of Ouere,
cordwainer, a piece of land outside the East Gate of Gloucester. Benedict had
Fiell’s first name and was employed in the same trade (children often carried
on the same trade as their parents). The granted land was situated between the
land of Henry the Cnusere (one of the witnesses of the grant) and the land of
Robert Wolnath. Among the witnesses to the grant were Alexander of Bykenor and
Walter Sefare, town bailiffs, along with Geoffrey of Cuberley, Richard of
Hunteley, Robert Bernard and John the Clerk.[11]
Place
of residence and death
The above records show
that Fiell the Glover had property on both the east and west sides of
Gloucester which shows that he was a person of acquired wealth even if the
records elsewhere place the glovers as the poorest of all the leather and skin
tradespeople.[12]
Yet the records fail to show where he actually lived. His name does not appear in
the Gloucester rental of 1455 which recorded the names of property occupants in
the time of King Henry III.[13]
It is likely that Fiell
the Glover died between 1260 and 1262 as he was alive in the former year but
not mention in the latter year when his daughter granted to Bartholomew’s
Hospital the land which Fiell the Glover had given to Gilbert of Eldresfeld.[14]
Thus, in the end, we
are left with just a few snap shots into the life of Fiell the Glover in thirteenth
century Gloucester. But then medieval records are like that. Some type of
records, like those relating to property; survive better than others like trade
records.
==================
End of post
==================
[2] Denzil
Hollis (ed.), Calendar of the Bristol
Apprentice Book 1532-1565, part 1, 1532-1542 (Bristol Record Society, Vol.
XIV, 1948), p. 3
[3]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester (Gloucester, 1893), no. 425
[4]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 582
[5]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 425
[6]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 582
[7]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 583
[8]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 424
[9]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 763
[10]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 545
[11]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the
Records of the Corporation of Gloucester, no. 706
[12]
Maryanne Kowaleski, Local Markets and
Regional Trade in Medieval Exeter (Cambridge University Press, 1995), p.
160
[13][13]
W.H. Stevenson (ed.), Rental of all the Houses
in Gloucester A.D. 1455 from a roll in the possession of the Corporation of
Gloucester compiled by Robert Cole (Gloucester, 1890)
[14] W.H.
Stevenson (ed.), Calendar of the Records
of the Corporation of Gloucester, nos. 545, 582
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