The Great Household in Late Medieval England

In the middle ages, the nobleman's household was one of the key institutions of society. Its functions were both domestic and political. In one capacity it ministered to the everyday needs of the lord and his family, while in another it bore visible witness to his standing and served as an instrument of his power. Woolgar estimates that by the fifteenth century there were as many as 1,200 high-status households in England. In this admirable book he both brings these establishments to life and assesses their significance in society.

Woolgar laid the essential foundations for the present study some years ago with a two-volume edition of medieval diet, or household accounts for the British Academy. Generally, it is the households whose accounts he collected and analysed then which figure most prominently here: those of Joan, widow of William de Valence; Bishops Mitford of Salisbury and Wykeham and Beaufort of Winchester; and a couple of gentry families, the Catesbys of Northampton-shire and the Multons of Frampton near Boston.