Foreigners living in Suffolk in the 15th century

[gobbitt]

In 1436, during the Hundred Years' War, people from the Low Countries were required to leave England or to take an oath of fealty to the Crown after the Anglo-Burgundian alliance collapsed and Henry VI resumed hostilities against France.

Many of these foreigners had settled in Suffolk. Details of 114 such men who took the oath are arranged alphabetically by surname in the attached table. They were published by the East Anglian Daily Times in 1920 under the questionable heading "SUFFOLK ALIENS NATURALISED IN 1436" and reprinted on various pages (from 74 to 85) of East Anglian Miscellany (numbers 5828, 5831, 5835, 5841, 5850 and 5856). The contributor (R. Freeman Bullen, an east London librarian) provided an example of the original format of the data recorded in the Patent Rolls for one of the immigrants:

"Mandate to all bailiffs and others to permit Matthew Baker, of Holton, co. Suffolk, born in Skluse, in Flanders, dwelling in England, who has taken an oath of fealty, to inhabit the realm peac[e]ably and enjoy his goods."

The source is evidently the Calendar of the Patent Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, Henry VI, vol. ii, 1429-1436 (HMSO, 1907), where the corresponding entry on page 538 (made available online by the HathiTrust Digital Library) reads simply: "Matthew Baker, born in Skluse in Flanders, dwelling at Holton, co. Suffolk". Mr Bullen appears to have taken the expanded text from an entry for a Middlesex resident on the previous page. He mentioned in his introductory article (East Anglian Miscellany 1920 p. 72 no 5,821) that "practically all these persons were born in either Holland, Flanders, or Germany. Some of the place-names have been badly twisted by the Plantagenet scribe, but a little ingenuity will readily make out the name intended."

A hundred years later, we can consult a more comprehensive database, the authoritative England's Immigrants 1330 – 1550, which helpfully gives modern names of locations both local and overseas. The Background tab leads to a great deal of explanatory information, e.g. Letters of Denization and Other Sources, emphasizing that the oath of fealty did not amount to full denization, let alone naturalization, and there are some particularly interesting observations on the alien subsidy returns for Suffolk (1440-1483) and other counties.

[Viktoria]

My knowledge is not nearly so great as yours.
But a one time local hero of Flanders, Jacob van Arteveldt was  instrumental in the declaration of Edward III as King of France in the Friday Market in Ghent.January 26 1340.
Arteveldt was later murdered and his statue now stands  there..
The zCount of Flanders put an embargo on English wool.
Edward prohibited the import into England of zFlemish cloth.
So briefly, for Flemish weavers in particular , the solution was to go to England,which they did ,particularly to Suffolk.
Hence the Wool Churches at
places at Lavenham ,Long Melford etc.
The wonderful funerary brasses in Wool churches are known as Flemish brasses.
It is a complicated picture .
Patricia Carson who lived in Gent when we did wrote a book “ The Fair Fair Face of Flanders”.
Written in 1969,and probably now unobtainable it is an easy read about a very complicated history.

Thanks for the reminder.
I often wish I was back in “ Lekker Lui Land”.

Viktoria.

[gobbitt]

Dank u Viktoria, but you flatter me with your self-deprecation, having taught me almost everything I know about the historic significance of the Flemings in Suffolk!

David

[Viktoria]

Jacob Van Arteveldt was a folk hero but Gentenaars  were very fickle and they turned against him!
However there is a lovely  song Het  Arteveldt Lied,almost like the Fleming’s
second National Anthem.
It is a long and very complicated history and my knowledge is still sketchy,
 but improved somewhat by Pat Carson’s book.
I was always impressed by the Gentenaar s’ knowledge of their history.
Cheerio, nice to remember a very happy rewarding time in my life.
Viktoria.

[KGarrad]

gobbitt - thanks for posting the links.

Unfortunately, not of any help to me in trying to trace my family name!

Garrad has been the spelling almost invariably in records since the late 1500's (not Garrard!).
My earliest known ancestor on my paternal line is one John Garar/Garrad, born c1550, we think in Bures St Mary.
He died in 1617 in Nayland.

I'll just have to keep looking

[Rena]

Good evening Gobbitt, thanks for the interesting link you provided.

May the sun always shine on your parade for leading me to what may (in the future) become a treasure trove with a couple of my Norfok/Suffolk surnames.

Could John Warde (with an English wife) whose origins were the Holy Roman Empire, be responsible for my late husband's black hair and olive skin?   Only time and a paper trail will tell.

 

[Viktoria]

Not sure about that but The Holy Roman Emperor was at one time zMaximillian,who married Mary of Burgundy,daughter of Charles the Bold Count  of Flanders.
Mary and Maximillian’s Son Philip the Fair married Johanna ,sister of Katherine of Aragon and so introduced the Hapsburgh genes into Spanish royalty ,the deformed chin etc.
All the above is just me thinking on my iPad, and makes me think that as The  Holy  Roman Empire was a very widespread area ,your ancestor could have come from anywhere in Europe and further afield.
Maximilian was from Austria.
Hope there is some help in there for you.
Viktoria.

[Rena]

Not sure about that but The Holy Roman Emperor was at one time zMaximillian,who married Mary of Burgundy,daughter of Charles the Bold Count  of Flanders.
Mary and Maximillian’s Son Philip the Fair married Johanna ,sister of Katherine of Aragon and so introduced the Hapsburgh genes into Spanish royalty ,the deformed chin etc.
All the above is just me thinking on my iPad, and makes me think that as The  Holy  Roman Empire was a very widespread area ,your ancestor could have come from anywhere in Europe and further afield.
Maximilian was from Austria.
Hope there is some help in there for you.
Viktoria.

Yes, but it gives me a second chink of light of where the black hair, easily tanned skin originated from.  The other "chink" is that over the years there's been a few Irish footballers running around who could be a twin brother.

Now that you've mentioned the rich inter-married Houses of Flanders, Burgundy, etc. my late mother circa 1960 started to have loose face powder made up for her colouring by a company called "Charles of the Ritz", who appaently said she had what the company termed as the "classic Irish compleiion and colouring".  I've since discovered that her father had Irish roots somewhere in his Norfolk County line.  More interestingly her mother's maternal lines (see my avatar for her mother)  lead back to early English Barons and a family seat in Normandy.

Erm you might have to remind me again Viktoria because my memory cells of history is very weak.  Having said that; my 17% school exam mark wasn't as low as one boy's bottom mark of -2%   

[KGarrad]

I have (or had  ) black hair, and I tan very easily.
I have traced both my father's and mother's lines back to the mid 1500s, with no sign of anything but English blood!

I have been told I have a "Celtic" look?!