The medieval will below can be found in Winchester College's archives. Watch the short video below to learn about it, and then read the article beneath to learn even more.
This document, dated 23 June 1411, is the probate of John Stanlegh’s will. It is written in Latin, hence his name appears as "Johanes Stanlegh".
Medieval wills were both spiritual and functional documents. John Stanlegh states what he wants to happen to his body before his material possessions. Spiritual gifts come before those to his family and friends. He gives 6 shillings and 8 pence to Prior of the Hospital of St John near Wilton and to the Rector of the church of St Michael for his “decimae […] oblitae”, for his forgotten tithes. Tithes (one-tenth of annual income or produce) were like a tax that had to be paid to the church authorities.
The will suggests that Stanlegh had forgotten to pay some tithes. However, this is not necessarily the case. Whilst some people tried to evade tithes, others overpaid, fearing that they had underpaid and that this would count against them after their death. There were two ways of overpaying: secretly (possibly during a Lenten confession) or by including the common clause “tithes forgotten” in your will, which is what Stanlegh has done.
Later in the will, Stanlegh states that he will give 20 shillings to his wife Alice, unless she remarries in which case the 20 shillings should be used for the health of his soul and the souls of his ancestors. Such a clause was not unusual.
On the reverse, where probate is granted, we can see the seal of the Archdeacon of Salisbury, a mandorla (almond shape) with a depiction of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, and the fragmentary seal of the mayor of Wilton. The curving figure of the Virgin Mary is characteristic of Gothic art.
The document featured has the catalogue number 19469 in Winchester College Muniments (3 vols, 1976) by Shiela Himsworth.
My main source in writing this blog post was Going to Church in Medieval England (2021) by Nicholas Orme, p. 34, which itself references Add. MS 34786, ff. 9v-10r, at the British Library, and Somerset Medieval Wills (1901), 16, by Frederic William Weaver, pp. 29–33.
Comments