Margaret's bead bequests

Margaret Paston, PART II

As I mentioned in the first post in this series, I found four clear references to "bedes" or "bedys" (meaning paternoster beads) in the Paston Letters from 15th-century England. I discussed the first one last time; here are the other three.

In 1470 -- almost twenty years later than the first reference -- Margaret Paston's brother-in-law William Paston received a set of coral beads as part of the collateral for a loan. What's particularly interesting here is that the beads are the very first item listed, ahead of such items as twenty silver spoons and several valuable cups. Here's the text:

BILL OF INDENTURE, 1470

This bill endentid [bill of indenture, a record of the loan] made the xv day of August the xth yer of King Edwarde þe iiijte [Edward IV] betwixt William Paston, esquyer, on þe ton partie [on the one part] and Thomas Vyall of Norwich, payntur [painter], witnessith þat þe saide Thomas Vyall hath borowid of þe saide William Paston v li. [five pounds] of lawfull mony, vpon plege of j par of corall bedys with xxj gaudys ["gauds," i.e. marker beads] of siluer and gilte weyng [weighing] vj vnc. [ounces] with þe lace and þe knopp, xx siluer sponys weyng xvj vnc., j standyng pes ["standing piece", probably a covered cup] of siluer with a couer weyng x vnc., a large maseer ["mazer", a type of elaborate wooden cup wil silver fittings] parcell [partly] gilt weyng, þe tymber ["timber", i.e. the wood] and all, xv vnc., j maser siluer and gilt weyng viij vnc., a maser weyng vij vnc. dj. and j quarter and a mase[r] with þe fote [foot] broken, not weyde. And the saide Thomas Vyall byndith hym-silff, his eyres and executours [bindeth himself, his heirs and executors] to pay to þe saide William Paston the saide v li. of lawfull mony at þe fest of þe Natiuité of Our Lorde ["feast of the Nativity of Our Lord", i.e. Christmas] next commyng affter þe date of this present writyng. In witnesse wher-of þe parties beforsaide enterchaungeably haue set to ther seallys. Writen þe day and yer above saide. Wyl[ia]m Paston

The description of the beads is more detailed than most: "j par of corall bedys with xxj gaudys of siluer and gilte weyng vj vnc. with þe lace and þe knopp." This translates as, "One pair [i.e. set] of coral beads with 21 gauds of gilded silver, weighing 6 ounces including the string and the 'knop'." (A "knop" is literally a knot or knob: probably here meaning a large decorative bead or pomander.)

A dozen or so years later, we have the 1482 will of Margaret Paston herself. Several things about it are interesting, and two sets of her beads are mentioned specifically.



(This brass isn't of Margaret Paston, BTW, but it seemed appropriate even though I don't know who it is. I can tell you that it's English, at least.)

MARGARET PASTON'S WILL, 1482

In the name of God, amen. I, Margaret Paston, widowe, late the wiff [wife] of John Paston, squier, doughter and heire to John Mauteby, squier, hole of spirit and mynde, with parfite avisement [perfect awareness] and good deliberacion, the iiijte day of February in the yer of our Lord God a ml cccclxxxj, make my testament and last wille in this fourme folowyng.

Item, I bequeth to Anne, my doughter, wiff of William Yeluerton, my grene [green] hangyng in my parlour at Mauteby, a standing cuppe with a couer gilt with a flatte knoppe, and a flatte pece with a couer gilt withoute [i.e. gilded on the outside], xij siluer spones, a powder boxe with a foot and a knoppe enamelled blewe [blue], my best corse girdill ["coarse girdle," i.e. a large belt], blewe herneised ["harnessed", i.e. decorated] with siluer and gilt, my premer ["primer", i.e. prayerbook], my bedes of siluer enamelled. Item, I bequeth to the seid Anne my fetherbedde with sillour, curteyns, and tester in my parlour at Mauteby... (followed by blankets, sheets, pewter dishes et cetera)

Item, I bequethe to Marie Tendall, my goddoughter, my peir bedys of calcidenys [chalcedony] gaudied with siluer and gilt...

Parenthetically here, those who know the story of this family will appreciate that Margaret's will leaves NOTHING to her youngest daughter Margery, though Margery's sons do get the same bequest as the rest of the grandsons. Young Margery, after many arguments and not a few beatings to discourage the relationship, persisted and secretly married the family's bailiff Richard Call, a descent in social status which her mother strongly disapproved -- in fact, her mother actually went to court to try to have the marriage declared invalid.

The list of valuable items bequeathed to Margery's older sister Anne begins with a green wall hanging (possibly embroidered), a silver "standing cuppe" and covered dish, then smaller items of silver. Next is listed a blue belt, perhaps of silk, with gilded silver fittings (likely a gilded buckle, belt-tip, and several decorative rivets or sewn-on badges). Next come the paternoster beads, and only after all that, bedding and other household stuff, and last of all, money.

This sequence probably means something, and we see similar sequences in other wills and inventories. Some of it is clearly set by custom: a will is a sort of ritual, and things may be listed in a certain order just because that's how it "should" be done in a will. But perhaps this sequence also contains some indications of relative value, whether this means monetary value or perhaps social value or status. By and large, the most costly and precious items seem to be listed first, progressing to those that are more common, practical, and subject to wear and tear.

Anne's beads are gilded silver, clearly a high-status item and quite costly, and they are duly weighed (string and all!) and grouped with the other silver items. Goddaughter Marie's beads are chalcedony, a very hard, semi-translucent stone that could also be quite valuable.

Beads don't appear in exactly the same place in all lists. But the three lists analyzed here make one thing clear: bedes (beads) are definitely worth more than beddes (beds :)

What did Margaret mean?

I'm always grateful for all the blessed souls who have painstakingly typed (or scanned and proofread) long medieval manuscripts so they are available -- and searchable! -- on the Internet.

I recently had occasion to look at the Paston Letters, a famous series of letters and documents from a family of English gentry in the mid to late fifteenth century (1400s). They provide quite a bit of insight into the realities of everyday life for a moderately wealthy family of the period. I'd seen something quoted in translation, and I wanted to see what the original text said.

As usual, I was looking for mentions of prayer beads. At this period, the word "beads" by itself with no qualifiers almost always refers to prayer beads. Once you figure out that "bedys" and "bedes" usually mean "beads", it's fairly easy to do a text search for them and see in what contexts beads are mentioned. I found a couple of citations that were pretty much what I expected, and one that was a surprise. (The search also turned up a few references to "bedes/beddes" that were clearly beds, along with a couple of "fetherbeddes" -- the vagaries of text search and English spelling.)

Here's the surprising one. It's from a 1453 letter by Margaret Paston, the mother of the family, to her husband who is away in London. I love this language, so I'll reproduce as much of this as I have room for.

On the text: The spelling of this period is usually pretty easy to decipher if you try reading the text aloud -- these words may not look like the ones we know, but they do sound like them. The original also spells the word her as "here," which I find entirely too confusing, especially since the word here is spelled identically. I've taken the e's off the ones that mean "her." And I've translated a few things [in brackets].



Right wurshippfull hosbond, I recommand me to yow [you], praying yow to wete ["wit", i.e. to know] that þe [the] man of Knapton þat owyth yow mony [oweth you money] sent me this weke xxxix s. viij d.; and as for þe remenant of þe mony, he hath promysid to bring itt at Wytsontyd [Whitsuntide, i.e. around Pentecost Sunday]. And as for þe prest [the priest], Howardys sone, he yede [went] to Canbryge þe last weke and he shall nomore come hom tyll itt be mydsomer [Midsummer], and therfore I myght not [i.e. could not] do yowr erunde [errand].

As for tydyngys, þe Quene come in-to þis town on Tewysday last past after none [last Tuesday afternoon] and abode here tyll itt was Thursday iij after none, and she sent after my cosyn Elysabeth Clere be [i.e. "at"] Sharynborn to come to her. And she durst not dysabey [disobey] her commandment, and come to her. And when she come in þe Quenys presens þe Quene made ryght meche [much] of her, and desyrid her to have an hosbond, þe which ye shall know of here-after; but as for that, he is non nerrere [no nearer] than he was before. The Quene was right well pleasid wyth her answere, and reportyht of her in þe best wyse, and seyth be her trowth ["by her troth", an exclamation] she sey [saw] no jantylwomman [gentlewoman] syn [since] she come into Norffolk þat she lykyth better þan she doth her...

I pray yow þat ye woll do yowr cost ["do your cost" i.e. spend some money] on me ayens Witsontyd ["against," i.e. before, Whitsuntide], þat I may haue somme thyng for my nekke [neck]. When þe Quene was here I borowd my cosyn Elysabet Cleres devys ["device," i.e. probably an enameled necklace or pendant], for I durst [dared] not for shame go wyth my bedys [with my beads] among so many fresch jantylwomman as here were at þat tym. The blissid Trinyté have yow in his kepyng. Wretyn [written] at Norwych on þe Fryday next before Seynt George. Be yowrys [yours], M. Paston.

Clearly, she is thinking of her paternoster beads here simply as an item of personal jewelry. Displaying her wealth and good taste in the Queen's company, including being well dressed and appropriately jeweled, is simply what she owes to her station in life. She concludes that if she is going to be in the royal presence again, she needs more jewelry.

But what I find most interesting about this is that she mentions needing "something for my neck" in one breath, and in the next, says she felt ashamed to go before the Queen with only her "beads." This clearly implies (though it doesn't prove) that she was wearing her paternoster beads around her neck. Is that what she meant?

Today wearing a rosary around your neck is regarded as irreverent -- which is probably why some modern entertainers do it. But in the 15th and 16th centuries, it was apparently fairly common. I've mentioned some examples in an earlier article here.

I'm told it was a practice that was discouraged at the time, but I still haven't found any reference saying so. If anyone has more specifics on this, I'd love to hear them.

(Footnote: the portrait I've reproduced above is not Margaret Paston; I haven't found any surviving portraits from the family. And it's about a generation later. But it fits my image of her perfectly. It's actually a portrait of an unknown woman from the early 1500s, probably painted by Jacobsz Dirk, and is in the Musée de Beaux-Arts in Lille, France.)

(to be continued)