Wills of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, 1439-1474 : wills from the register 'Baldwyne'

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Wills of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, 1439-1474 : wills from the register 'Baldwyne'

edited by Peter Northeast ; general editor David Dymond

（Suffolk Records Society, v. 44, 53）

Boydell Press, 2001-2010

  • part 1: 1439-1461
  • part 2: 1461-1474

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Description and Table of Contents

Volume

part 1: 1439-1461 ISBN 9780851158112

Description

Suffolk wills of ordinary inhabitants illustrate all aspects of the social conditions of the time. ARCHIVES: The making and registering of wills by ordinary people became widespread in East Anglia a century earlier than parts of midland and western England. It is of enormous value therefore to have one of the earliest surviving registers from an archdeaconry made available. [The volume] provides us with a window into rural society in mid-fifteenth-century East Anglia. It was a society bustling with small farmers, craftsmen involved in the cloth industry, and other artisans and traders. The wills record their concern for religion, the local community and the future welfare of wives, children, godchildren and even servants. There is a wealth of information here for the historianof religion, the family, material culture, agriculture and industry. This volume contains abstracts, in English, of nearly nine hundred wills made by residents of the western part of Suffolk in the mid-fifteenth century, together with a further five hundred 'probate sentences' - details of the granting of probate, without the associated wills. These are the earliest surviving wills of ordinary inhabitants of that part of Suffolk, excluding the titled, the wealthy and the clergy. They illustrate in considerable detail the social conditions of the time, including housing and household possessions, landholding and farming patterns, and provision for the poor. They are especially rich in references to the religious practices of the day. The introduction outlines the probate system of the area at that time and examines the form and content of a medieval will.
Volume

part 2: 1461-1474 ISBN 9781843835325

Description

Abstracts of wills made by residents of fifteenth-century Suffolk provide a wealth of information on life at the time. The making and registering of wills by ordinary people became widespread in East Anglia a century earlier than parts of midland and western England. It was a rural society bustling with small farmers, craftsmen involved in the cloth industry, and other artisans and traders. The wills record their concern for religion, the local community and the future welfare of wives, children, godchildren and even servants. They provide fascinating details of the socialconditions of the time, including familial and neighbourly relationships, housing and household possessions, landholding and farming patterns, trades and crafts, and provision for the poor. And, typically for late-medieval wills,they offer particularly rich details of religious practices, not only concerning devotions in, and the adornment of, parish churches, but also the activities of parish gilds. This volume contains abstracts, in English, of more than 770 wills made between 1461 and 1474, made by residents of the parishes of western Suffolk and eastern Cambridgeshire that comprised the archdeaconry of Sudbury. There are also some 50 probate sentences, together with "probate sentences", which provide details of the granting of probate, without the associated wills. The introduction outlines the probate system at the time and examines the form and content of a medieval will; the volume is completed with full notes and an extensive glossary.

Table of Contents

Glossary Introduction The Register 'Baldwyne': Part II Bibliography Index of Testators in Parts I and II Index of Place of Residence of Testators in Parts I and II

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