Study weekend in York

Marie wrote: I've just got back from the Society study
weekend in York

***

What was the topic? Could you share your notes with
the list? I'd like to hear about it.

Was there time to see the city? I walked around the
city wall twice when I was there in 1972. Is that
still possible?

TIA!

Marion







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--- In , marion davis
<phaecilia@y...> wrote:
> Marie wrote: I've just got back from the Society study
> weekend in York
>
> ***
>
> What was the topic? Could you share your notes with
> the list? I'd like to hear about it.
>
> Was there time to see the city? I walked around the
> city wall twice when I was there in 1972. Is that
> still possible?
>
> TIA!
>
> Marion


Hi Marion,

Sorry to be a long time replying but my apologies for notes were
still in the boot of my car.

Didn't take many notes at all, I'm afraid - just scribbled down the
odd thing that was of interest to me (any generally nobody else).

The topic was Women, so there was a good attendance!

First speaker was Joanna Laynesmith, on 'Royal and Noble Ladies'.
Much was in her book. She made the point, which we have talked about
here, that these childhood marriages were not normally consummated
till the girl was in mid to late teens - Margaret Beaufort was the
exception; she then quoted MB's argument for not sending her 9yr old
grand-daughter to Scotland because James might not wait and might
damage her health. She didn't exactly say so, but the juxtaposition
made it as clear as possible that this is what had happened in MB's
own case. JL also mentioned the marriage of Ann of York to Henry
Holland, and said she stayed with her parents after the ceremony. She
didn't give her evidence, though she did make the point that when
Duke John died, Duke Henry went into York's household. That probably
is her evidence.
She also said that York would have had to sacrifice much property to
extricate himself from his marriage to Cecily.

Margaret of Anjou was very big on the Virgin Mary, possibly because
she was the heavenly model of queenship.
Apparently, upper-crust lying-in chambers had two beds, so there!
(three in France, I think she said). The practicalities of this
perhaps speak for themselves - JL didn't elaborate.

Then we got a very entertaining and informative Housewives and
Children from Toni Mount. She provided a good handout with quotations
from the Menagier de Paris and other contemporary texts, so I didn't
make any notes.

Then Medieval Women in Trade by Jeremy Goldberg. Usual conclusion -
lots of women in trade after Black Death / during 100 yrs War, then
getting progressively squeezed out from middle of 15th century
onwards.

In the afternoon we got Sue Taylor's one-woman play about Margaret
Paston performed in Barley Hall, then free time. I'm sure you can
still walk the walls - I haven't done so for donkeys' years - but I'm
afraid all I managed was craft shops, cake shop and back to pluck
eyebrows and change into costume. Then walking through York in full
regalia to Barley Hall for the banquet - and hardly a head turned.

Sunday we got Ken Hillier on Religious Women - or not? or the
citicisms levelled at some Leicestershire nunneries in the
visitations. Perhaps it should just have been called Naughty Nuns.
They didn't have a study role like monks - they weren't expected to
be able to write or understand Latin; the nunneries were very very
small and the nuns were living on top of one another leading lives of
total routine and repetition with no privacy. They got on each
other's nerves, they got restless; they smuggled in pets, they'd do
anything to break cloister, and they frequently had affairs.
But apparently the monks were even worse.
This was followed by Peter Hammond on The Oldest Profession.
Apparently well embedded in large areas of York. Also, use of arches
in the city walls was sort of institutional.
It also appears that the guidebook version of life in Barley Hall is
probably not quite honest. Both William Snawsell's wife and several
of his female servants were up before the authorities for sexual
transgressions on several occasions, and since his house was very
close to the 'red light' area it is apparently beginning to look as
if he might have been running some sort of prostitution racket on the
side.
Then a talk on medieval costume by Suzi Clarke. A very interesting
talk, well illustrated from genuine medieval pics (I nearly said gen.
medieval slides). An interesting addition to Sarah Thursfield's talk
at Norton Priory - both have similar things to say on the whole, but
slightly different takes in some areas.

And then it was lunch and then all over. Another great weekend, just
wanting slightly better weather to be perfect.

Marie


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> __________________________________
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