Elizabeth de Burgh, Lady of Clare (1295-1360)
Subtitle: household and other records
By: edited and translated by Jennifer Ward ; general editor, Mark Bailey
Contributors: Suffolk Records Society
Series: Suffolk Records Society -- LVII; Suffolk Records Society (Series) -- 57.
Publisher: The Boydell Press
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 186
ISBN-13: 9781843838913
Copyright date: 2014
Subjects: Home economics; Archives; Sources; Biography; Nobility; History
Description: Noble widows were powerful figures in the later Middle Ages, running their own estates and exercising considerable influence. Elizabeth de Burgh (1295-1360), daughter of one of the most powerful earls in England and cousin of Edward II, lost her third husband at the age of twenty-six, and spent the rest of her life as a widow. In 1317, having inherited one-third of the lands of her brother, Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester and Hertford, who had been killed at Bannockburn three years earlier, she established herself at Clare, which became her main administrative centre for her estates in East Anglia, Dorset and South Wales. She enjoyed a noble lifestyle, was lavish in her hospitality to family and friends, entertaining Edward III in 1340, and she displayed her piety through her patronage of religious houses and her foundation of Clare College in Cambridge. Her life and activities are portrayed in vivid detail in her household accounts and her will, selected extracts from which are provided in this volume. Altogether, 102 accounts of various types survive from the years of her widowhood, and the records here have been chosen to illustrate the great range of information provided, throwing light on Clare castle itself and its furnishings, daily life and religious practice, visitors, food and drink, livery and retainers, travel, and business.  --
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-164) and indexes.

Translated from the Latin. Includes Latin text.
Table of contents: title: Elizabeth de Burgh and Clare, autumn 1326; title: The wardrobe and household account, 1339-40, with Latin text; title: Clare Castle. Building and repairs ; Contents : indenture, 1 October 1332 ; Servants and retainers ; Extract from the goldsmiths' account, 1333 ; The Lady's private expenditure: extracts from the lady's chamber account, 1352; title: Food, hospitality and travel. Expenditure for 17-23 December 1340, with Latin text ;Expenditure for 31 March-6 April 1359 ; Food and expenditure for 1-7 November 1355, with Latin text ; Expenditure on feast and fast days, 1350-1 ; Provisions for those on business trips or staying at Clare when the Lady was away ; Hospitality to family and friends at Clare ; Travel; title: Estates and Lordship. The value of the lands of Elizabeth de Burgh, 1338-9 ; Account of Henry de Neuton, receiver of Clare, 1342-3 ; Account of John Segor, reeve of the manor of Clare, 1336-7 ; Account of the bailiffs of the borough of Clare, 1357-8 ; The court of the manor of Clare, 20 October 1338 and 7 April 1349, with Latin text ; The court of the borough of Clare, 20 April 1337 ; The court of the honour of Clare; title: Patronage and influence. Almsgiving ; Wardship and education ; The Lady's interventions on behalf of herself and members of her council ; Patronage of religious houses ; Letter concerning the defence of the realm, 1360; title: The will of Elizabeth de Burgh, 1355.