A Sergeant of the King’s Bakehouse: Richard Gyll (d.1511)

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I would like to thank Dr Heather Falvey and Dr Sean Cunningham for all the information they kindly shared with me and all their generous support. All errors, of course, remain my own.

Some time ago, while looking for something completely different and getting carried away by all sorts of distractions, I came across the mention of a “Sergeant of the King’s Bakehouse”.

The reference was to an existing brass in St John the Baptist Church in Shottesbrooke, Berkshire. It shows a man in armour with his hands held in prayer, bare headed with shoulder-length hair. He seems to be standing on a mound of grass, with a flower between his feet.

The brass of Richard Gyll, in: Cassell’s Illustrated History of England, vol. 2, 1858, p.609

Underneath is an inscription, which explains that this is Richard Gyll Esq, Sergeant of the Bakehouse for both Henry VII and Henry VIII, and bailiff of the “Seven Hundreds of Cookham and Bray” and that he died on 7 August 1511.

Here lyeth the body of Richard Gyll squyer late sergeat of the Bakehous wt kyng henry VII and also wyth kyng henry the VIII and bayly of the VII hundred of Cokam and Bray.[i] 

The reference to an official of a bakehouse caught my eye, because I like baking bread. And it is a necessity, too. For someone used to the variety and taste of German bread, the average Australian bread is not very exciting. Therefore I decided to find out more about Richard Gyll. Fortunately, his will is still extant. It gives us some information about his personal circumstances (see below).

Read more: A Sergeant of the King’s Bakehouse: Richard Gyll (d.1511)

Richard Pottyer

a man who could predict the future?

Richard Pottyer’s claim to fame is his ability to predict the future in Thomas More’s unfinished The History of King Richard III.  The main problem with this work is that nobody can be sure today what is actually true and what is not.

Siegfried von Westerburg refound in Bonn Minster

The story of a forgotten archbishop

Siegfried von Westerburg, archbishop of Cologne, was buried in 1297 in Bonn Minster, where he seems to have had the unfortunate fate to get forgotten.

Bonn Minster from the north looking west

Thomas Barowe – Richard III’s Master of the Rolls: Part III

Thomas Barowe – 

Richard III’s Master of the Rolls,

churchman, administrator,

and bound by loyalty

Part III:  the Later Years

How the young man from Winthorpe in Lincolnshire became very successful as the man of Richard of Gloucester, later Richard III, was dealt with in Part I and Part II.  Part III will look at his later years under Henry Tudor.

Thomas Barowe – Richard III’s Master of the Rolls: Part II

Thomas Barowe – 

Richard III’s Master of the Rolls,

churchman, administrator,

and bound by loyalty

Part II:  Richard’s Man

While Part I dealt with Thomas Barowe’s family background and early career, Part II will look at him as Richard’s man from 1475 onwards.

Thomas Barowe – Richard III’s Master of the Rolls: Part I

Thomas Barowe – 

Richard III’s Master of the Rolls,

churchman, administrator,

and bound by loyalty

Part I:  Early Years

Thomas Barowe was Richard III’s Master of the Rolls. It is a great pity that to most historians of the late middle ages, he remains a nondescript footnote, not warranting any further details.[i]

Richard III chose as his motto ‘Loyalty Binds Me’.  Obviously, he felt bound by loyalty to those around him, but it would also be fair to say that he appreciated the loyalty of others in return.  One man who remained loyal to Richard until his own death – 14 years after the Battle of Bosworth – was Master Thomas Barowe.  The following is an attempt to find out more about this man and to show him as an integral part of Richard’s closely interconnected affinity.

David Kindersley

Today would be the 101^st birthday of David Guy Barnabas Kindersley, stone-carver and type designer.  He was born on 11 June 1915 in Codicote, Hertfordshire.  Among his extensive work is the Richard III Memorial Stone.  Some of David Kindersley’s work is at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The memorial stone was originally in Leicester Cathedral.  It had been a project of Rev T.C. Hunter-Clare, to which the Richard III Society had contributed. It was dedicated in August 1982.

Since January 2015, just prior to Richard III’s reburial in Leicester Cathedral, the memorial stone has been on permanent display at the King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester.

David Kindersley died on 2 February 1995 in Cambridge.

The photograph was taken in 2013, showing the memorial stone in its original position in Leicester Cathedral.

Richard III Memorial Stone

To learn more about David Kindersley, you may wish his obituary in the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituariesdavid-kindersley-1571426.html

Nicholas Breakspear

An English Pope –

Nicholas Breakspear chosen as pontiff

On 4 December 1154, a new pope was elected, following the death of pope Anastasius IV.  The choice fell on Nicholas Breakspear, so far he has been the only pope from Britain.  He assumed the name Adrian IV.

William Bingham

William Bingham – the founder of God’s House, “the first secondary school training college in England”

While researching something completely different, I made the acquaintance of William Bingham (as you do).

William Bingham was an important educational innovator.  His claim to fame is that he is the “man who founded the first secondary school training college in England. What is even more remarkable, his college still exists, although discharging other educational functions as well.”[i] So this post is especially for all school teachers among our readers.

Strawberries and Cream

Strawberries and Cream – and Richard III

Who doesn’t like strawberries and cream?  And what if Richard III was no exception?

One of my favourite sites on the internet is Medievalists. Net, where I always find some article which interests and inspires me. The latest offering was no exception, ‘Recipes from The Tudor Kitchen’. I immediately thought of Julia, the expert on medieval cuisine of the NSW Branch of the Richard III Society.