The English noble household, 1250-1600 : good governance and politic rule
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The English noble household, 1250-1600 : good governance and politic rule
（Family, sexuality and social relations in past times）
B. Blackwell, 1988
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Note
Bibliography: p. [219]-227
Includes index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The English nobility - gentry, peers, bishops and abbots - organized much of their lives through their households, with vast conglomerations of servants working as companions, advisers and administrators, travelling, eating, worshipping, relaxing, labouring and living together. The very core of noble power and noble social life, households as such have never been the focus of an historical survey, despite large numbers of surviving household documents for the years 1250-1600. Drawing on this evidence as well as the information about households in contemporary literature, chronicles, and correspondence and court records, this book reveals how these massive institutions operated. The first half of the book deals with the mechanics of noble householding. Structures common to households are established, and the people who staffed and lived in these establishments are discussed. The author then discusses the importance of household accounts and accounting, considering the effect of household economic strategies upon the monetary health of the districts upon which the households relied.
Finally, the book examines the role of the household in its master's or mistress's political machinations; the religious life of the household and the use of ritual to create unity, and the relationship of the family in households of minor noble classes in light of recent investigations into family history.
Table of Contents
- Introduction - methods, materials and early history
- household organization
- household members
- the household and the economy - accounting methods - income - expenditure
- "In Negociis Domini" - politics and the household
- the household as a religious community
- family and "familia"
- conclusion - the demise of the household. Appendices: a list of household records
- income and expenditure averages
- average household sizes, 1250-1600.
by "Nielsen BookData"