The King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard

The Yeomen of the King’s Guard 1485-1547

Anita Rosamund Hewerdine

of the

London School of Economics and Political Science

University of London

A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

in the University of London

August 1998

UMI U613438 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition ©

Permission to publish this thesis was provided by its author Dr Hewerdine in June 2020.

Abstract

The Tudor bodyguard known as the Yeomen of the Guard has been viewed generally as a ceremonial body used to add splendour to the royal court. This thesis shows that, while the Guard's ceremonial role was of special importance, the corps was of greater significance than this function would suggest. The corps was a true bodyguard, in constant attendance upon the sovereign throughout the two reigns described. One of Henry VII's first acts as king was to institute a personal bodyguard which also provided him with an impressive retinue, arrayed in richly embellished jackets of his livery and forming part of the royal affinity. Like other members of the affinity, the yeomen were appointed to crown offices in the provinces, safeguarding the king's interests, collecting his revenues and upholding the law. They reported on local situations and brought news of events at court to the provinces, thus supplying a means of communication between central and local government. The origins, foundation and constitution of the Guard are traced, as far as the absence of any foundation documents will allow. Methods of recruitment are described, together with the remuneration, rewards and other benefits received by the yeomen. The Guard's complement did not remain static and by using evidence contained in royal accounts its size has been indicated more accurately than previously known. The duties and functions of the Guard were more varied than has been supposed, both within and outside the court, and included military and naval service, at home and abroad. Some of the yeomen also formed part of a peace-keeping force in the garrison at Toumai in 1513-19. The thesis ends with a description of individuals in the Guard, showing their family and social background, private occupations and offices held, as well as their geographical spread throughout the country.

Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations
Introduction

1. Foundation of the Guard
Origins: Early Opinions
The Guard's Foundation and Constitution
Sources of Recruitment to the Guard
Yeomen of the Guard, Crown and Chamber
Conclusion

2. Remuneration and Development of the Guard
Remuneration
(a) Wages
(b) Fee of the Crown
(c) Other Fees
(d) Annuities and Corrodies

Other Rewards and Privileges
The Guard's complement
Reforms of 1490's to 1515
Reforms of 1519
Reforms of 1526
Reforms of 1539/40
Later changes
Officers of the Guard
Conclusion

3. Functions and Livery of the Guard
Conditions of Service
Duties at Court
Duties Outside the Court
Duties at Royal Events
Special Offices
Livery
Ceremonial Events
Conclusion

4. The Guard’s Involvement in Naval and Military Activity
Background to Methods of Enlistment to the Royal Army
The Guard's Military Obligations
Special Responsibilities
General Naval Activities and Offices Held
Preparing for Campaigns
Military Training
Payments to the Guard on Active Service
Naval Activity Under Henry VII
Early Tudor Combats

Military Activity Under Henry VII
Rewards and Forfeitures
Naval Activity Under Henry VIII
Military Activity Under Henry VIII
Garrison Duties
(a) Calais
(b) Toumai
Possible disaffection in the Guard
Conclusion

5. The Role of the Guard in the Localities
Bastard Feudal Society and the Royal Affinity
The Hierarchy of Local Government
Appointment of Yeomen to County Offices: Fees and Other Benefits
Offices Granted in Survivorship and Reversion
Contemporary Conduct in Securing Offices
Service on Commissions
Activities of Office Holders
Problems Encountered by Office Holders and Commissioners
Complaints Levelled Against Individual Yeomen
The Use of Yeomen in County Administration
Conclusion

6. Family and Social Status of Members of the Guard
Recruitment by Special Recommendation
Status of Royal Servants
Diversity of Information on Yeomen's Backgrounds and Careers
The Yeomen as Businessmen and Property Owners
Financial Standing of the Yeomen
The Family Backgrounds of the Yeomen
Public Service and the Importance of Status
Personal Petitions and Lawsuits
The Guard As Seen By Others
Geographical Distribution of the Yeomen
Memorials to Individual Yeomen
Conclusion

7. Conclusions

Bibliography

Appendices not included

List of Tables

1. Yeomen of the Guard named in grants during first year of Henry VII's Reign
2. Wardrobe accounts showing the number of yeomen ushers and yeomen of the Chamber entitled to receive livery of cloth for watching clothing
3. Yeomen of the crown in receipt of the crown fee in Henry VII's Reign
4. Henry VII's yeomen of the crown in receipt of the crown fee who are listed as yeomen of the Chamber
5. Numbers of yeomen ushers and yeomen of the Chamber, 1496-1546
6. Yeomen of the Guard at Toumai who signed the letter of protest to Wolsey and the Council
7. Showing differing rates for certain yeomen on two assessment lists for the subsidy in the royal household

List of Illustrations

1. Henry VII
2. Soldier of the French king's Scots bodyguard during Francis I's reign
3. Earliest known representation of yeomen of the Guard

Preface

The preparation of this thesis has been a long and arduous task, since it was necessarily undertaken on a part-time basis, and it is entirely my own work. It would not have been started without the initial assistance of Miss Margaret Dixon, who allowed me space in her home in London for several years, enabling me to get the research under way The choice of topic originated from an incident many years previously, when my father handed to me a copy of Sir Reginald Hennell's book which had belonged to his father, G. J. F. Hewerdine. This thesis may be seen as a form of tribute to the grandfather I never knew, a member of the illustrious royal bodyguard whose origins I set out to discover. Many people have shown an interest in my research, and I gratefully acknowledge in the text the references to documents and publications which they provided. Thanks are due to Dr. David Starkey, who supervised my work throughout, and to Professor John Gillingham, who gave practical advice in the later stages. It is a pleasure to record my thanks, for comments on papers read in early form, to members of the Tudor and Stuart seminar at the Institute of Historical Research, and to members of the Late Medieval and Early Modem Students' Group Methodology and Theory Seminar at the London School of Economics. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Shelagh Mitchell, a member of both these seminar groups, for her friendly help and support over the past seven years. My special thanks go to Dr. Andrew Thrush for his interest, advice and practical help. The encouragement of Mrs. Jean Tsushima and Miss Frances Devereux has also sustained me over the years. I gladly acknowledge the assistance given by the staff at the various institutions I have visited, especially the librarians at the Institute of Historical Research. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Ian van Breda for producing the final copy of my thesis on his Macintosh computer, and am grateful to Mr. R. H. Tucker for processing my Amstrad discs to make the transition possible. Finally, I thank my twin sister, Celia Hewerdine, for her support in various ways during the long years of my endeavours.

Ant. Rep. The Antiquarian Repertory
Bacon J. Spedding, R. L. Ellis and D. D. Heath, eds., The Literary and Professional Works of Francis Bacon

BIHR Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research
BL British Library
CA College of Arms
CCR Calendar of the Close Rolls
CIPM Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem
CPR Calendar of the Patent Rolls
CPR Yorkist Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III 1476-1485

DKR Reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records
DNB Dictionary of National Biography
ed. Editor
EETS Early English Text Society
EHR English Historical Review
HMC Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts
HO A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household Made in Divers Reigns from King Edward III to King William and Queen Mary

LP Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-1547

Ms. Manuscript
NS New series
PCC Prerogative Court of Canterbury
PPE Henry VIII Privy Purse Expences of Henry VIII
PRO Public Record Office
Rot. Pari. Rotuli Parliamentorum
RS The Royal Society
transl. Translator
VCH Victoria History of the Counties of England
WAM Westminster Abbey Muniments
WC Westminster City Archives

Manuscripts cited without location are in the Public Record Office, and those prefixed BL are in the British Library. In transcriptions from manuscripts the spelling has been modernized, abbreviations have been expanded, and modem punctuation and capitalization adopted throughout. Names of individuals and places have also been modernized as far as possible. The figures following citations of LP refer, unless otherwise stated, to numbers of documents. Where the original document cited in LP has been used, the reference to the manuscript is given first, followed by the LP reference. Unless otherwise stated, the place of publication of printed sources was London. Full references to printed works will be found in the Bibliography. Archives visited in connection with the research:

Public Record Office
British Library
College of Arms
Guildhall Library
East Sussex Record Office
Sussex Archaeological Society
Westminster City Archives
Westminster Abbey Muniments
The Royal Society
Yeomen of the Guard Headquarters, St. James's Palace

Introduction

From ancient times kings and other rulers used bodyguards to protect them from their enemies, particularly in wartime. In England, succeeding monarchs took what measures they considered necessary for their own security, and the duty of guarding the king was often attached to more than one group of royal servants. Although all members of the royal household had an obligation to ensure die safety of the sovereign, and to serve in the royal army when required, by the thirteenth century three groups of royal servants shared the specific duty of guarding the monarch:- the sergeants at arms, the king's foot archers and the esquires of the household (1) Royal protection was raised to an unprecedented level towards the end of the fourteenth century, when Richard II added substantially to the forces guarding him, recruiting an extra bodyguard of over 300 archers from Cheshire, with a further reserve of another 300 archers (2) But these did not endure beyond the reign.

By the late fifteenth century the esquires of the household had diminished (3) so that the duty of guarding the king was shared by the sergeants at arms and the king's foot archers, both groups being based permanently at court. A household ordinance of 1318 had stated that the number of sergeants at arms should not exceed 30, of whom four were to sleep outside the king's chamber at night while the rest were to sleep in the hall, and when the king travelled all of them were to ride before him.4 In Edward Hi's time the number varied between 16 and 22 (5). According to Edward IV's household ordinances of about 1471, known as the Black Book, the complement of sergeants at arms was set at four, of whom two were always to attend upon the king's person and his Chamber (6) The 1318 ordinance shows a complement of 24 foot archers, but in practice this varied in number from 16 to 44 (7) and in the Black Book the successors to the king's foot archers are shown as the 24 yeomen of the crown, who were to be girded with their swords or other weapons when they were on watch at night (8) The numbers specified for both the sergeants at arms and the yeomen of the crown were known also to have been exceeded in

1. C. Given-Wilson, The Royal Household and the King's Affinity. Service, Politics and Finance in England 1360-1413 (New Haven and London, 1986), p.22.
2. Ibid., pp. 54 and 223.
3. A. R. Myers, The Household of Edward IV. The Black Book and the Ordinance of 1478 (Manchester, 1959), p.127.
4. Given-Wilson, p.54 and pp.21-2, citing M. C. Prestwich, War, Politics and Finance under Edward I (1972), p.48, and T. F. Tout, The Place of the Reign of Edward II in English History (second edition by H. Johnstone, 1936), pp .253-4.
5. Ibid., p.22.
6. Myers, p.131.
7. Given-Wilson, p.22.
8. Myers, p.11.

Edward IV's time and later. Richard Hi's known household included 138 yeomen of the crown, who apparently "had not entirely lost their protective function' (1) Possibly these formed the guard with Richard III at Bosworth, mentioned by Polydore Vergil (2) At the time of Henry Tudor's victory on 22 August 1485, therefore, the sergeants at arms and the yeomen of the crown represented the survivors of the ancient royal bodyguards.

Although several writers have published a general history of the royal bodyguard of the yeomen of the Guard, the corps has not previously attracted the serious attention of historians. This may be partly due to the assumption that the Guard was merely a ceremonial body, used to enhance the splendour of the Tudor court. While this was indeed a very important role of the Guard, it was by no means the only one.

The bodyguard is mentioned briefly in Polydore Vergil's Anglica Historia (3) written early in the sixteenth century, and in Robert Fabian's The New Chronicles of England and France (4) Edward Hall's Chronicle, published in 1547 (5) includes several references to the Guard and to individual members. Later authors to mention the Guard included Francis Bacon, in his History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh, completed in 1622 (6) But the first writer to attempt a description of the Guard's history was Samuel Pegge, a royal servant whose narration was included in his Curialia (7) first published in 1782. Although Pegge, like those after him, could find few particulars for Henry VII's time, he mentioned the likelihood that the bodyguard was modelled on that of the French king, which both Vergil and Hall had previously suggested. Pegge also referred to the use of the Guard as a military force in Henry VIII's French campaigns of 1513 and 1544, citing Rymer's Foedera as his source. The first author to produce a book entirely devoted to the subject of the Guard's history was Thomas Smith, whose work was published in 1852 (8) In the preface the author stated that the work was abridged from Pegge's Curialia and other sources, including the records of the Guard. A more substantial history, published in 1904 in a limited edition, was written by Sir Reginald Hennell (9) who held

1. R. Horrox, Richard III. A Study of Service (Cambridge, 1989), pp. 232 and 246.
2. Sir Henry Ellis, ed., Three Books of Polydore Vergil's English History, comprising the reigns of Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III, Camden Society, 29 (1844), [hereafter Ellis], p.220.
3. Denys Hay, ed. and transl., The Anglica Historia of Polydore Vergil 1485-1537, Camden Society, 74 (1950) [hereafter Vergil], p.7.
4. R. Fabian, The New Chronicles of England and France. Reprinted from Pynson's 1516 edition with a biographical and literary preface and an index by Henry Ellis (1811).
5. Edward Hall's Chronicle, ed. H. Ellis (1809 edition) [hereafter Hall], p.425.
6. J. Spedding, R. L. Ellis and D. D. Heath, eds., The Literary and Professional Works of Francis Bacon, 6 vols. (1857-8), vi, Literary Works, i [hereafter Bacon], p.35.
7. S. Pegge, Curialia, or an Historical Account of Some Branches of the Royal Household (1782; 1791 edition).
8. T. Smith, Some Account of the Royal Body-Guard entitled the ancient corps of the Yeomen of the Guard, instituted 1485. With a brief notice of the Warders of the Tower (1852).
9. Sir Reginald Hennell, The History of the King's Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard (1904).

office as lieutenant of the Guard at the time. This incorporated material from Thomas Preston's The Yeomen of the Guard: their history from 1485 to 1885. And a concise account of the Tower Warders, published in 1885 and 1887. The inclusion of the Tower Warders in the books by Smith and Preston indicates a close relationship between these two bodies. As this thesis will show, the yeomen on duty at the Tower of London formed a distinct and separate unit from the royal bodyguard, being based permanently in the Tower. The personnel, however, consisted of former yeomen of the Guard or other royal servants who had served in the Chamber of the king or queen.

Hennell made use of far more manuscript sources than the previous authors, but he too referred to the difficulty experienced in his attempts to find information on the foundation and early history of the Guard. No records of the earliest years of the Guard's existence were to be found at its headquarters in St. James's Palace, and Hennell assumed that they had been destroyed in a fire which damaged the palace in January 1809. Pegge, Smith and Hennell used as their main source for the earliest years Francis Bacon's History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh, and cited the works of Polydore Vergil and Edward Hall. In more recent years, Sir Julian Paget's The Yeomen of the Guard, giving a general and updated account of the Guard to commemorate its quincentenary, was published in 1984.

Apart from these general accounts of the royal bodyguard, one substantial article by C. R. Beard appeared in The Archaeological Journal in 1925, on the clothing and arming of the Guard (1). Beard severely criticised some of the information given by Hennell, who did indeed make inaccurate statements and misinformed judgments, despite his stated intention to include in his book only the evidence which could be authenticated. This is particularly noticeable in Hennell's speculative descriptions of the livery worn by the Guard in the reign of its founder, Henry VII. He assumed, incorrectly, that from the start the yeomen had been clad in a shade of red and that the monogram of the reigning monarch had been displayed on their jackets. The list of captains of the Guard which Hennell includes is also flawed. For example, although he correctly shows the first four captains in the text, he follows Thomas Preston in including John de Vere, earl of Oxford, Sir Richard Guildford and Sir John Gage on the list of captains. There is no evidence at all that any of these ever served in the office, although Gage became vice-chamberlain.

Nevertheless, Hennell was a professional soldier, not a trained historian. Some distinguished modem historians, moreover, have also made inaccurate and sweeping

1. C. R. Beard, The Clothing and Arming of the Yeomen of the Guard from 1485 to 1685', The Archaeological Journal, 82 (1925) and 32 (1928), 91-148.

statements about the Guard. Both G. R. Elton and J. D. Mackie seem to have been unaware that the Guard was an active bodyguard which protected the king wherever he went, including the battle-field. In his England under the Tudors, Elton remarked that the Guard 'was never more than a ceremonial body useful in adding dignity to the royal person and in policing the court' (1) while Mackie in The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558, referring to Henry VII's Guard, declared that "There is no record of their having taken part in the warfare of the reign' (2) Both writers also made misleading statements on the colour of the Guard's apparel in Henry VII's time. Elton referred to the 'red-coated' Guard,(3) while Mackie repeated a suggestion that the 'scarlet of their uniforms symbolized the dragon of Cadwaladr'.(4) It may be partially due to these comments that the Tudor bodyguard has been overlooked as an institution worthy of serious study.

The reason for the somewhat dismissive statements on the yeomen of the Guard may stem partly from Bacon's assertion that Henry VII himself emphasized the Guard's ceremonial role,(5) and partly from certain references made by foreign diplomats visiting the English court during Henry VIII's reign. Their dispatches, published in 1854 in Rawdon Brown's Four Years at the Court of King Henry VIII, referred to the impressive appearance of the king's Guard lining the approaches to the presence of the monarch.(6) In the absence of any other readily accessible material about the royal bodyguard, this particular role as a ceremonial corps was widely regarded as its sole function. More precise information on the Guard was obtainable if specifically sought, however, from the printed sources already noted, and from the Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-1547(7). In addition, the presence of the Guard accompanying Henry VUI as he set off for war with France is noted by Hall for the 1513 campaign (8) and by Rymer for the action of 1544.(9) A suggestion of a military role is contained in a Venetian diplomatic report of 1498, printed by the Camden Society in 1847, in which fiie members of Henry VII's bodyguard were described as 'soldier courtiers'.(10)

1. G. R. Elton, England under the Tudors (1955; 1963 edition), p.42.
2. J. D. Mackie, The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 (Oxford, 1952), p.208.
3. Elton, p.43.
4. Mackie, p.208.
5. Bacon, p.35.
6. Rawdon L. Brown, ed. and transl., Four Years at the court of King Henry VIII; Selection of Despatches written by the Venetian Ambassador, Sebastian Giustinian, 2 vols. (1854) [hereafter Rawdon Brown], pp. 78 and 85.
7. J. S. Brewer, J. Gairdner and R. H. Brodie, eds., Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-1547,21 vols. and Appendix (1862-1932) [hereafter LP].
8. Hall, p.539.
9. T. Rymer, ed., Foedera, Conventiones, Litterae ... et Acta Publica, third edition, 10 vols. (The Hague, 1739-45), xv, 52.
10. C. A. Sneyd, ed. and transl., A Relation, or rather a true Account of the Island of England ... about the year 1500, Camden Society, 37 (1847) [hereafter Sneyd], p.47.

Nevertheless, one modem historian, C. G. Cruickshank, was well aware of the Guard's military role, including some information in his books on Henry VIIl's campaign of 1513 (1).

The chief reason why no previous historian has attempted to write a history of the yeomen of the Guard is probably due to the lack of a single archive. No original material now exists for the early Tudor period at the Guard's headquarters in St. James's Palace, or at the Tower of London. The manuscript sources which have survived are fragmentary and scattered among various classes of documents in different locations, principally at the Public Record Office and the British Library. Therefore the printed accounts of the royal bodyguard which have been cited above have formed the accepted view of this institution.

It is known that certain records were kept at the time, probably by the administrative officer in the Guard called the clerk of the cheque, and there are references in the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber to 'the book of the Guard'.(2) The material collected would have consisted of orders, attendance records, payments of wages and fees, livery warrants and possibly details of other offices held. It is likely that as books were filled they were regarded as obsolete, and although they may have been retained for a while they were eventually discarded.

Initially, in order to determine what type of record had survived, the principal calendars of primary sources for the period concerned were consulted. These were the Rev. William Campbell's Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII (3) the Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry VII, 1485-1509 (4) the Calendar of Fine Rolls, Henry VII, 1485-1509 (5) and, as mentioned earlier, the Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-1547. Details of many different types of grants made to the yeomen were obtained from these sources, augmented in the earliest cases by the information given in Henry VII's Act of Resumption, printed in Rotuli Parliamentorum (6) The calendars also included information on the contents of warrants to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe, excerpts from the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber, and ordinances of the royal household. Several examples of the latter were examined in greater

1. C. G. Cruickshank, Army Royal. Henry VIU's Invasion of France 1513 (Oxford, 1969) [hereafter Cruickshank, Army Royal]; The English Occupation of Toumai 1513-1519 (Oxford, 1971) [hereafter Cruickshank, Toumai]; Henry VIII And the Invasion of France (Stroud, Gloucestershire, 1990) [hereafter Cruickshank, Invasion].
2. E36/215, f.252v; E36/216, fos.44r and 65r.
3. Rev. W. Campbell, ed., Materials for a History of the Reign of Henry VII, from Original Documents preserved in the Public Record Office, 2 vols. (1873,1877).
4. Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry VU, 1485-1509,2 vols. (1910-16) [hereafter CPR Henry VII].
5. Calendar of Fine Rolls: Henry VII, 1485-1509 (1962) [hereafter Calendar of Fine Rolb]. 6. Rotuli Parliamentorum, 1278-1504, J. Strachey et al., eds.,
6 vols. (1767-77), vi: 1472-1504 [hereafter Rot. Pari.].

detail in A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household. (1)

Narratives of events at court appearing in The Antiquarian Repertory, (2) John Leland's Collectanea (3) and Rawdon Brown's Four Years at the Court of King Henry VIII, (4) along with Anstis's The Register of the most noble Order of the Garter, (5) provided another important source of printed material relevant to the Guard.

An attempt has been made to discover as much as possible about the Guard's origins, early history and activities, bearing in mind the limitations of the surviving original records. The information sought specifically related to the Guard's foundation and constitution, pay, rewards and other benefits, duties and functions, as well as to its apparel and accoutrements. Apart from these basic facts, the object of the research was also to determine the Guard's place at court, its activities beyond the confines of the court, particularly its involvement in armed service to the crown, and its role in local government. Finally, it was resolved to make a detailed examination of the individuals who served in the royal bodyguard, including evidence of their experiences and progress in royal service as well as their private concerns, family and social background and, where possible, their county of origin or residence.

In order to build up a picture of the Guard from 1485 to 1547, many classes of original documents were examined, some of which produced no relevant material. This applied particularly to the Declared Accounts of the Pipe Office and Audit which, while containing much military and naval material, produced nothing of direct significance to the Guard itself. The research included challenging the accepted belief that the Guard was actually founded by Henry VII, and a search was made through manuscript records of the Exchequer and Great Wardrobe in the reigns of Edward IV and Richard HI, as well as the former's household ordinances, producing a negative result. As will be shown, the sole reference discovered on the Guard's foundation in an original source appears in a draft document of c.1536/7, proposing the formation of a company of gentlemen at arms. A check was also made on the information printed by Campbell and in the calendar of Henry VII's patent rolls, to establish that the description of individuals as yeomen of the Guard was correctly shown. The original manuscripts of the earliest of Henry VII's patent rolls were studied, together with the Chancery

1. A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations for the Government of the Royal Household Made in Divers Reigns from King Edward III to King William and Queen Mary (Society of Antiquaries, 1790) [hereafter HO].
2. F. Grose and T. Astle, eds., The Antiquarian Repertory, 4 vols. (1775-84; 1807-9 edition) [hereafter Ant. Rep.].
3. J. Leland, De Rebus Britannicis Collectanea, T. Heame, ed., 6 vols. (1770) [hereafter Leland].
4. Rawdon Brown, pp.78 and 85.
5. J. Anstis, The Register of the most noble Order of the Garter, 2 vols. (1724).

warrants for the Great Seal which authorized the letters patent. (1) In both instances the printed sources were found to be correct. The source of Bacon's statement that Henry VII intended the bodyguard to be a permanent one (2) has not been traced, though the fact has proved to be true.

It became clear early in the research that in Henry VII's time yeomen of the crown, and to a lesser extent yeomen of the Chamber, were mentioned in manuscript sources far more frequently than yeomen of the Guard. The unravelling of these three categories of royal servants posed one of the greatest problems, which in the case of the yeomen of the crown was further confused by payment of a special fee, granted by patent, to a certain number only. While this matter may not be entirely resolved, the question has been closely studied, from a variety of manuscript sources, and a theory propounded.

In seeking evidence indicating the Guard's complement, all of the extant accounts kept by the treasurer of the Chamber were searched for details of wage payments. These accounts survive only from 1495, with a gap throughout most of the 1520s, but the warrants for issues from the Exchequer of Receipt produced documents from 1493, showing the total annual amount set aside for the Guard's wages. Certain warrants sent by the king to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe supplied another means of establishing the strength of the Guard. For the later years of Henry VIII's reign a further source for estimating the Guard's complement was provided by the assessments for subsidy payments due from personnel of the royal household, where a few complete lists of yeomen of the Guard have survived. In addition, the reforms which took place in the bodyguard were traced, largely from evidence provided in the treasurer of the Chamber's accounts. From all of these sources combined, it became evident that the Guard's complement did not remain static.

Intensive research was conducted on the Guard's duties, on its apparel and its accoutrements. In order to verify a printed description of the Guard's duties, a detailed study was made of eight manuscript copies of the household ordinances, held at the Public Record Office, British Library, College of Arms, and the Royal Society. Five of these manuscripts contained an identical section on the duties of the Guard. Their particular functions when sent out of court on the king's business were also indicated by the payments shown to individual yeomen in the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber. In attempting to discover how the yeomen were clad and equipped, a multitude of records relating to the Great Wardrobe were examined, producing valuable evidence of the apparel worn by the Guard on different occasions, and showing the weapons which they bore.

1. Classes C66 and C82 respectively.
2. Bacon, p.35.

The Eltham ordinances of 1526 represented a major revision of the rules and regulations for the royal household, and included a section devoted to the Guard, which provided details of the reforms to be made, rather than specifying duties. All the known manuscripts in the Public Record Office and British Library were studied, together with a microfilm copy of the only surviving contemporary text, Bodleian manuscript Laud miscellaneous 597, kindly loaned by David Starkey. In every manuscript a space was left, in the section on the Guard, for a crucial figure which was never inserted. This omission necessitated further searches elsewhere.

The yeomen's functions in serving as part of the armed forces were traced through payments made by the treasurer for war and the treasurer of the Chamber, through other Exchequer accounts and the State Papers of Henry VIII, together with evidence of rewards granted expressly for such service, shown in the royal accounts. These original sources were supplemented by information found in printed material. The activities of the yeomen holding local offices were investigated, and several of the original records which they kept were located and examined. These included the accounts of county escheators, bailiffs of towns or hundreds [Ministers' accounts], and customs officials in various ports. Again, these original documents were augmented by published material.

In addition to the quest for details on the Guard as an institution, extensive searches were made for information on its personnel. The names of individuals serving in the Guard were collected from the calendars already mentioned, from the original manuscripts of the treasurer of the Chamber's accounts, various classes of Exchequer records, and warrants to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe. The latter also supplied the name of the captain of the Guard at the time. Assessments of the yeomen's personal wealth were extracted from subsidy lists for the personnel of the royal household, and in some cases from county lists. In addition, copies of individual wills were searched at the Public Record Office, Guildhall Library, and the Westminster City Archives, as well as in printed sources. Photo copies of three wills were obtained from the Hereford and Worcester Record Office. Details of the yeomen's families were sought, in genealogical publications such as those of the Harleian Society and Surtees Society, and in other published collections of county histories.

Legal cases involving members of the Guard were examined, in the records of the Chancery, the Court of Star Chamber, the Court of Requests, the Court of Augmentations and Court of General Surveyors: Miscellaneous. These provided an insight into the relationships between the yeomen and their neighbours, and the difficulties encountered by each. Some cases appeared also in printed sources.

This thesis aims to remove some of the misconceptions which have been current for many years about the royal bodyguard of the yeomen of the Guard in the time of the first two Tudor monarchs, and to show that the Guard's significance extended far beyond the ceremonial role which some historians have supposed was its only function.

Chapter 1

Foundation of the Guard

This chapter starts by analysing the statements made by contemporary authors on the Guard's origins, and considers the factors which may have influenced Henry Tudor in founding a new bodyguard. The earliest references to the Guard which appear in contemporary documents are then presented, and the constitution of the Guard is described. After discussing methods of recruitment, a summary of the ancient offices of yeomen of the Chamber and yeomen of the crown introduces the evidence which indicates how these two groups of royal servants were closely associated with the yeomen of the Guard.

Origins: Early Opinions

Polydore Vergil included in his history of England, written during the early years of the sixteenth century, the statement that Henry VII was the first English king to appoint retainers, to the number of about 200, to be a bodyguard, which he incorporated in his household so that they should never leave his side.(1) Edward Hall, writing slightly later in the sixteenth century, reported that Henry VII 'constituted and ordained a certain number of good archers and other persons being hardy, strong, and of agility, to give daily attendance on his person, whom he named yeomen of his guard'.(2) Neither writer actually indicated precisely when Henry VII instituted this new bodyguard. In his History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh, Francis Bacon declared that the yeomen of the Guard, consisting of 50 archers under a captain, were instituted by Henry VII on the day of his coronation, which took place on 30 October 1485 (3). One point on which Vergil was incorrect was his assertion that Henry VII was the first English king to appoint a bodyguard of retainers in his household, since we know that Richard II had such a bodyguard nearly a century before. Hall, however, appears to be completely accurate, even to the extent of naming the new corps. Both authors gave the impression that the corps was for the protection of the king, and neither suggested that it was instituted for ceremonial purposes. Nevertheless, Bacon stated that Henry VII intended the Guard to be seen rather as a 'matter of dignity than any matter of diffidence appropriate to his own case', and to be 'understood for an ordinance not temporary but to hold in succession for ever after'.(4)

1. Vergil, p.7.
2. Hall, p.425.
3. Bacon, p.35.
4. Ibid.

No official documentation on the Guard's foundation appears to have survived, if indeed any ever existed. We can only speculate on the reasons why Henry VII wished to set up a new bodyguard and why he envisaged it as a permanent corps. As already stated, the sergeants at arms and the yeomen of the crown survived as royal servants, and they continued under all the Tudors. Henry VII must have been well aware that Richard III was inadequately protected in his last battle, even allowing for Richard's impetuous charge beyond the line of his own forces to attack Henry personally and for the desertion of many of his supporters.

According to both Vergil and Hall, the yeomen of the Guard were modelled on the bodyguard of the French king, and Bacon indicates that Henry was imitating what he had known abroad.(1) Henry Tudor, while earl of Richmond, had spent about a year in France, following thirteen years in exile in Brittany. By this time he was a contender for the English throne, and Charles VIII of France in due course provided him with military aid.

While in France, Henry Tudor would have learned of the organization of the French army as well as of the French court. In 1445 Charles VII had instituted a group of 15 ordnance companies (compagnies d'ordonnance) , to form a permanent army. Two of these companies had been established some twenty years earlier and were composed entirely of Scots men. One of these consisted of 100 men-at-arms, while the other was the king's personal bodyguard of 104 archers, under a Scots captain, known as the 'Compagnie Ecossaise de la garde du Corps du Roi'. The foundation of the Scots men-at-arms and of the Scots bodyguard was later stated by Louis XII to have been an acknowledgment of the service the Scots had rendered to Charles VII, and of the great loyalty they showed. (2) In 1474 Louis XI formed a further company of 100 gentlemen, each with two archers. Although these gentlemen shared bodyguard duties with the Scots guard, the latter always remained the senior bodyguard. The archers were detached from the gentlemen in 1475 to form a separate company, and this latter body was the one compared by Samuel Pegge with the yeomen of the Guard.(3) Closer parallels can be seen, however, between the French king's Scots guard and the English king's Guard. The personnel of both were described as archers, though they also bore swords and halberds, both were part of the royal retinue, marching or riding immediately following the king, and both were used for ceremonial purposes, when they were arrayed in richly embellished and embroidered jackets, displaying

1. Vergil, p.7; Hall, p.425; Bacon, p.35.
2. W. Forbes-Leith, S.J., The Scots Men-at-Arms and Life-Guards in France. From their Formation until their final Dissolution 1418-1830, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1882), i, pp.32, 55-56, citing Bibliotheque Nationale, Cabinet des Titres MS., 684; General Susanne, Histoire de la Cavalerie, 3 vols. (Paris, 1874), i, p.36.
3. Forbes-Leith, p.140; Pegge, Curialia, pp.4-5, citing Pere Daniel, Histoire de la Milice Francoise, Tom.II, p.102, and Montfaucon, Monumens de la Monarchie Francoise, Tom.III.

one of the royal badges.1 See Illustration 2, p.13, for the French king's Guard, and Illustration 3, p.60, for the English Guard. In addition, both of these royal bodyguards incorporated a select group of 24 men who received a special fee, which will be described later. Bacon indicates that in founding the Guard Henry VII gave emphasis to the dignity of its ceremonial role, rather than to his own need for special protection.2 Apart from his wish to play down this need, there may have been a further reason for giving prominence to the Guard as a ceremonial body. Since Henry was thought to have emulated the French king, by instituting a bodyguard which would add to the splendour of his court, some contemporaries may have surmised that he would also follow the example of the French king in establishing a standing army, to which the English had a traditional aversion. If Bacon is right in saying that Henry emphasized the ceremonial role of the Guard, this may have been a covert attempt to allay fears that he was beginning to set up a standing army. Nevertheless, quite apart from any other reason, since time immemorial the importance of a European ruler had been reflected in the display of wealth and magnificence at his court, including his retinue, particularly as seen by visiting dignitaries and diplomats. While the Burgundian court had earlier been reputedly the most magnificent in Europe, it was rivalled by the French court at this time, and there is some evidence that Henry was known to favour French procedures, even after some years on the English throne. For instance, when the Spanish diplomat Ayala wrote to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella on 25 July 1498, he commented that Henry VII 'would like to govern England in the French fashion but he cannot'.4 The foundation of the Guard, however, may perhaps be seen as a successful example of this inclination. Perhaps also, since the French royal bodyguard had served successive monarchs from 1425, the English king envisaged a similar permanent institution for the Tudor dynasty which he hoped to found. Henry Tudor was anxious to establish himself securely on the throne which he had won in combat as the Lancastrian representative, and to demonstrate his authority as a monarch of some significance among the European rulers. His own observations at the courts in Brittany and France would have increased his awareness of the importance of visual display as an effective indication of a monarch's power and prestige. The new bodyguard was therefore probably modelled in the French fashion to enhance the status of fiie new English sovereign, wearing his livery colours of white and green.

1. Forbes-Leith, pp.58, 74,80 and 131 (for French guard).
2. Bacon, p.35.
3. Anglo, pp.104-5.
4. C. H. Williams, England under the Early Tudors (1485-1529) (1925), p.149, citing Calendar of State Papers, Spain, i, 210.

The Guard’s foundation and constitution

The earliest references to the yeomen of the Guard in official sources date from September 1485. These are contained in signet warrants, or signed bills, from the king to the keeper of the Privy Seal, directing him to send letters to the chancellor authorizing the preparation of letters patent granting offices of various kinds to certain individuals. The first of these warrants was dated 16 September 1485, appointing John Frye, one of the yeomen of the king's Guard, to the office of searcher in the port of Bristol,(1) and the second, dated 18 September, appointed William Brown, 'yeoman of our guard', bailiff of the lordship of Brailes, Warwickshire.(2) In the same month similar bills, and privy seal letters, granted offices to a further 20 individuals described as yeomen of the king's Guard.(3) These documents authorizing the grants of office, together with the resultant letters patent, therefore represent firm evidence that the bodyguard was in existence within a month of Henry VII's accession to the throne. Nine more grants were made to yeomen of the king's Guard during October and November, and a further one in January 1486, making a total of 32 identifiable members of the bodyguard in the first few months of the reign.(4) [See Table Below]

In many grants, however, the recipient is described merely as king's servant, or is not described at all. Identification may be difficult in these cases but this is sometimes resolved by a later document obviously referring to the same person, and some of these individuals subsequently appear in further grants where they are described as yeomen of the Guard. One example is that of Robert Jay, who was given no description in a grant of 21 September 1485,(5) but on 6 October following, when granted further offices, he was described as one of the yeomen of the Guard.(6) Similarly, John Carre on 22 September appeared without description,(7) but was shown as yeoman of the Guard on 6 October.(8) Therefore it is possible that some individuals who received only one grant, in which they were not precisely described, could also have been members of the Guard. Others may not have received any grant at this time, so remain unrecorded.

Apart from information in grants of office, identification may be established by reference to another official source. For instance, when John Lewes and Walter ap Lewes were granted

1. C82/2, m.393; Campbell, i, p.7.
2. Campbell, i, p.8.
3. C82/2; Campbell, i, pp. 11,14,15,37,45-6,47-51,53,57,64,66, 71,88.
4. C82/3 and C82/4; Campbell, i, pp. 76-7,79,96-8,105,151,167,242,262.
5. Campbell, i, p.25.
6. Ibid., p.77.
7. Ibid., p.32.
8. Ibid., p.76.

New Paragraph

Table 1: Yeomen of the Guard named in grants during first year of Henry VII’s Reign

Enrolled Office
PS 23 Sept. Owen ap Griffith 24 Sep. Steward/hayward, Laughame lordship,
Carmarthen; constable of castle
PS 17 Nov. Richard ap Philip 18 Nov. Ragler, co. of Cardigan
PS 23 Sep. Robert Bagger+ 24 Sep. Bailiff/porter/park keeper, Maxstoke, Warwickshire
SB 18 Sep. William Brown*§ Bailiff of Brailes, Warwickshire
PS 21 Sep. John Byde 24 Sep. Water bailiff, Duvelyn and Drogheda, Ireland
PS 20 Sep. Henry Carre* 26 Sep. Bailiff, Doncaster; keeper, Fyppen park, York
? John Carre* 6 Oct. Bailiff, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
PS 21 Sep. William Cheseman*§ 27 Sep. Bailiff, lordship of Lewes, Sussex
PS 24 Sep. John Edwardes 25 Sep. Bailiff, Bewdley, keeper of place and park;
Keeper Yamewood park, Salop.
PS 26 Sep. Richard Frere 15 Oct. Bailiff, Great Marlow, Bucks.
SB 16 Sep. John Frye 24 Sep. Searcher, port of Bristol
PS 20 Sep. Thomas Fulbroke$ 24 Sep. Forester/ranger, Kingswood, Glos., and Fulwood, Somerset
PS 4 Nov. Thomas Gaywood§ 8 Nov. Porter, Stafford castle; bailiff, Mawdeley and Boris tone, Staffs.
PS 23 Sep. John Gerveys 25 Sep. Bailiff, Offley and Doxey, Staffs.
PS 2 Nov. John Hony 3 Nov. Bailiff/park keeper, Rampisham, Dorset
PS 3 Oct. Robert Jay*§ 6 Oct. Constable, Laughame castle
PS 21 Sep. Stephen John 2 Oct. Gaol-keeper, Dorchester, Dorset
PS 27 Sep. Thomas Kingman 2 Oct. Bailiff, Somerton, and gaoler, Ilchester, Somerset
PS 23 Sep. Thomas Leche* 24 Sep. Porter/keeper, Exeter castle; water- bailiff, Plymouth, Devon
PS 21 Sep. Henry Ley 24 Sep. Park-keeper, Lanteglos and Hellesbury, Cornwall
SB 20 Sep. Piers Lloyd$ Corrody, St. Augustine's monastery, Canterbury
PS 7 Oct. William Maddockes 24 Oct. Keeper, park and warren, Kenton, Mdx.
PS 18 Oct. Robert Palmer 21 Oct. Keeper, garden of Eltham, Kent
PS 21 Sep. Richard Pigot 24 Sep. Keeper, Portnall park, Surrey
SB 19 Sep. John Rothercomme Keeper, Marshwood Vale park, Dorset
PS 19 Sep. John Rigby*§ 24 Sep. Bailiff, town of Rye, Sussex
PS 20 Sep. Richard Selman 22 Sep. Bailiff, lordships of Torrington and Holsworthy, Devon
? Richard Stapull 27 Jan. 1486 Bailiff, Foreyn of Walsall, Staffs.
PS 1 Oct. John Thomas 7 Oct. Steward/receiver, lordship of Haye and Glynbough;
Constable Haye castle
SB Robert Walsh 20 Sep. Constable, Trematon castle; havener, duchy of Cornwall
PS 21 Oct. Thomas Westbury 22 Oct. Bailiff, Burley, Southampton
PS 23 Sep. Thomas Wood 27 Sep. Customer, bridge of Staines, Mdx.

+ a later grant shows present in victorious journey
* previous service overseas indicated in grant
§ present in victorious journey (culminating in battle of Bosworth)
$ a later grant mentions service overseas

offices in October and December 1485 respectively, they were not described. Both received a saving, or confirmation, of their offices, however, under Henry VII's Act of Resumption of 1485, where they were shown as yeomen of the Guard, the latter being shown as Walter Lewes.(1) In the records of the duchy of Lancaster for September 1485 Nicholas Owdeby was named as an office-holder in the duchy lands and described as one of the king's Guard.(2) Further sources supplying identification are contemporary records describing certain events. For example, the names are recorded of five yeomen of the Guard and of the crown who were on special duty at the christening of Prince Arthur in Winchester cathedral in September 1486:- William Racke, John Burley, Robert Walker, William Waghan [or Vaughan] and John Hoo.(3) This brings the total of known members of the Guard in the first year of the reign to 40. The personnel involved will be discussed later, when the questions of recruitment and complement are examined. Meanwhile one more grant of office completes the evidence for the Guard's existence early in Henry VII's reign. Apart from the grants describing the recipient as a yeoman of the king's Guard, the Lancaster Roll shows that on 1 March 1486 the keepership of Postem park, Derby, was granted to Sir Charles Somerset, described as captain of the king's Guard.(4) This is the only evidence which has been found indicating an officer of the Guard at that time, and it confirms Bacon's statement that the Guard was under a captain.

While die sources so far described prove the existence of the Guard at this time, a document, probably of 1536/7, provides some evidence of the Guard's foundation. This document is a draft order for the establishment of the gentlemen at arms, eventually instituted at the end of December 1539. The document is endorsed: 'An order taken for 100 gentlemen to wait upon the king's highness'. It begins by making a comparison with the Guard, and states that 'the most noble and memory worthy king Henry VII for the better fumishment of his house first established and ordained the yeomen of his guard in their livery coats to wait upon his grace in his chamber, to the great setting forth and honour of his house'.(5)

The statements made by Hall and by Bacon that the Guard was founded by Henry VII are therefore confirmed by the evidence contained in this document. Bacon's assertion that the

1. Rot. Pari, pp.368-9. 2. R. Somerville, History of the Duchy of Lancaster,
2 vols. (1953,1970), i, p.591, citing DL 41/34/1, f.95, and DL 42/21, f.147.
3. BL Additional Ms. 6113, f.76v; see also Leland, iv, p.205, and The Antiquarian Repertory, 4 vols. (1775-84), iv, p.194.
4. Campbell, i, p.327, citing L.R. 98b.
5. BL Harley Ms. 6807, f.25; LP XIII ii, 1111; cited in J. G. Sandeman, The Spears of Honour and the Gentlemen Pensioners (Hayling Island, 1912), p.7; W. J. Tighe, The Gentlemen Pensioners in Elizabethan Politics and Government' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, 1983) [hereafter Tighe thesis], p.3, footnote 14. Dr. Tighe has dated the document by reference to the number of Gentlemen, since by January 1537 the complement had been fixed at 50.

Guard was instituted on the day of Henry VII's coronation presumably means that its first appearance took place then. The records for this event show signs of hasty preparation, a copy of the regulations for Richard Ill's coronation being used as a draft which was imperfectly adapted. While the yeomen of the Guard are not mentioned, there is a reference to yeomen of the crown and yeomen of the Chamber 'in a great number'.(1) The significance of this will become apparent later. Since the bodyguard was attached to the king's Chamber, it came under the overall jurisdiction of the lord chamberlain, who was responsible for all Chamber staff. The lord chamberlain also had responsibility for the protection of the sovereign, as well as for ceremonial events. Before the post of vice-chamberlain was formally established, provision was made for an usher to act as deputy to the lord chamberlain in the latter's absence. During Edward IV's time Roger Ray (later Sir Roger) had deputized in this way,(2) and Henry VII's household ordinances of 1493 stipulated that 'In the absence of the chamberlain the usher shall have the same power to command in like manner.' (3) In the 'Book of the earl of Arundel', lord chamberlain to Henry Vm, which was said to be a copy of a book of Henry VII's chamberlain (Giles, Lord Daubeney), there is a reference to 'my said lord chamberlain or his said deputy if he have any or any of the said ushers'.(4) Although Sir Richard Guildford was described as vicechamberlain of the king's Chamber in an Exchequer account of 1488,(5) the establishment of this office remains elusive. It is evident, however, that Sir Charles Somerset, already named as captain of the Guard in 1486, was acting as vice-chamberlain by 1498.(6) Before the end of Henry VII's reign, therefore, the posts of vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard were held by the same person. While this dual role became usual, it was not invariable, as will be shown.

Sources of Recruitment to the Guard

There appear to be no official documents referring to initial appointment to serve in the royal bodyguard. The first members of the Guard, in particular, must have been carefully selected, and known personally by the king or by one of his confidants. Who were these men, and how were they recruited? One source of recruitment to the Guard was from the trusted servants and supporters who had already joined the Lancastrian claimant, both before and

1. BL Egerton Ms. 985, f.2v; see also BL Additional Ms. 18,669, f.lv; S. Anglo, Spectacle, Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford, 1969), pp.12-13.
2. Myers, p.32, footnote 3; p.90.
3. HO, p.116.
4. BL Harley Ms. 4107, f.l32v.
5. E405/76, f.2r. SeeLeland, iv, p.243. 6. Rymer, Foedera, Tome V, part iv, p.125.

after the rebellion of 1483, and eventually fought for his cause at Bosworth field. After the execution of the duke of Buckingham following the earl of Richmond's abortive attempt at a landing in England in 1483, many Lancastrian supporters involved fled to the continent, to join the exiled earl and to escape the retributions of Richard HI.(1) According to Commines, the earl of Richmond had a retinue of 500 while in Brittany,(2) and Vergil records that initially about 300 of the Englishmen remained at Vannes when Henry Tudor fled secretly from Brittany to France.(3) Many of the grants to royal servants in the first few months of Henry VII's reign refer to service overseas. Of the 32 earliest grants to the members of the Guard, 13 refer to former service overseas, and 6 indicate their presence at Bosworth field. [See Table 1, p.15.] The other 13 grants mention good and faithful service, which could include either service overseas or presence at the victorious battle, or both.

A second source of recruitment was evidently by selection from men who were known to a member of the aristocracy, perhaps by service in his household or in his retinue. Young men of some standing were sent to the households of nobles and gentlemen to be trained in the duties attached to attendance upon aristocrats, in a civilian as well as a military capacity, and to improve their chances of social advancement. Evidence of this source of recruitment for royal service is provided in household ordinances of both Edward IV and Henry Vm, where it is enacted that officers' servants brought into court should be of good personage, honest, and cleanly clad, so that they could be admitted to the king's service if suit were made for them.(4) Direct reference to the Guard was made in a letter sent to Henry VII in about 1505 by John Flamank, servant and son-in-law to Sir Richard Nanfan, the deputy at Calais. Flamank referred to a statement made by Hugh Conway, treasurer at Calais, that the greater part of the Guard were formerly the servants of the lord chamberlain (Giles, Lord Daubeney).(5) This was probably an exaggeration, but it might suggest that the lord chamberlain's household acted as a conduit whereby men from many different households were introduced to royal service. The ideal was perhaps indicated in Edward IV's Black Book, where the yeomen of the crown were stated to be:

'bold men, chosen and tried out of every lord's house in England for their cunning and virtue'.(6)

1. Ellis, pp. 200-209.
2. S. Kinser, ed., and I. Cazeaux, transl., The Memoirs of Philippe de Commynes, i (Columbia, S. Carolina, 1969), p.367.
3. Ellis, p.207.
4. HO, pp.67 and 239.
5. J. Gairdner, ed., Letters and Papers Illustrative of the Reigns of Richard III and Henry VII, 2 vols. (1861 and 1863) [hereafter LP Richard III and Henry VII\, i, p.232.
6. Myers, p.116.

This statement bears a resemblance to a description of the yeomen of the Guard dating from 1501 on the occasion of Prince Arthur's wedding:

'....chosen persons of the whole country...'(1)

Some household servants remained in, or were re-appointed to, their positions in the royal household in successive reigns. Among a number of Henry VII's yeomen of the crown who had served previous monarchs were William Knight,(2) Piers Warton,(3) and John Davy.(4)

Yeomen of the Guard, Crown and Chamber

Although the Guard does not feature in Henry VII's household ordinances of 1493, it appears in those of Henry VIII's time, portions of which have been identified by David Starkey as originating between 1494 and 1501.(5) These ordinances are contained in a manuscript at the College of Arms, of which two slightly varying copies are in the British Library. One of the sections in these ordinances is headed 'The room and service belonging to yeomen of the crown of the Guard and of the king's chamber to do'.(6) This heading indicates the close relationship between die three categories of royal servants named, which needs to be clarified before proceeding further. The actual duties referred to will be described in chapter 3.

The yeomen of the Chamber had existed as a group of royal servants at least since Edward II's time, and they continued throughout the reigns of the Tudor monarchs. The number of yeomen of the Chamber varied at different times. Edward II apparently had eight, which was the complement given in Henry Vi's household ordinances of 1454,(7) when the establishment was drastically reduced, the previous ordinances of 1445 having allowed 24, of whom 12 were to be continually at court.(8) In contrast, Edward IV's Black Book specified only four yeomen of the Chamber. (9) These figures are known to have been exceeded, however.(10)

1. Sneyd, p.105, note 62.
2. Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III, 1476-1485 (1901) [hereafter CPR Yorkist], p. 159; Horrox, p.257.
3. CPR Yorkist, pp.l, 100,136.
4. Ibid., p.258; Horrox, p.244.
5. D. R. Starkey, The King's Privy Chamber 1485-1547' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Cambridge, 1973) [hereafter Starkey thesis], p.20.
6. College of Arms [hereafter CA] Ms. Arundel XVII/2; BL Additional Ms. 34,319 and BL Harley Ms. 4107. This particular section is not given in the latter manuscript, but appears in CA Ms. M.8, BL Additional Ms. 21,116, BL Harley Ms. 2210 and Royal Society [hereafter RS] Ms. 61.
7. T. F. Tout, The Place of the Reign of Edward II in English History (2nd edition by H. Johnstone, 1936), p.253; HO, p.18; Myers, pp.70-71.
8. Myers, pp.70-71.
9. Ibid., p.117, HO, p.39.
10. HO, p.39; Myers, pp.117 and 233 (footnote 42).

Probably the greatest increase took place between about 1438 and 1448, when Henry Vi's yeomen of the Chamber rose from 28 to 71.(1)

Rosemary Horrox has indicated that in Richard Ill's household 'a yeoman of the Chamber was a yeoman of the crown who had been assigned to duties in the Chamber'.(2) This also appears to be true of Henry VII's household, as an examination of the records of the Great Wardrobe shows. These include warrants from the king to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe, authorizing the issue of five yards of material described as russet cloth or tawny medley worth 4s. a yard, for 'watching clothing' to the Chamber personnel (yeomen ushers, yeomen, grooms and pages), all of whom are named under their respective headings. Although livery of cloth for watching clothing was given annually, only three of these documents survive for Henry VII's reign, for the years 1496, 1502 and 1508,(3) together with a similar warrant for black cloth on the occasion of Elizabeth of York's funeral in 1503.(4) Significantly, the captain of the Guard is also included in the warrants for 1502 and 1508, receiving 6 yards of French tawny worth 13s. 4d. a yard, with fur. The totals of yeomen of the Chamber listed in these warrants are shown in Table 2. A comparison of the names of yeomen ushers and yeomen listed in these

Table 2: Wardrobe accounts showing the number of yeomen ushers and yeomen of the Chamber entitled to receive livery of cloth for watching clothing

Year Yeomen Ushers Yeomen Reference
1496 8 67 E101/414/8, f.53
1502 3 53 E101/415/7, f.152
1508 8 73 E101/416/7, unfol.

warrants with the names of yeomen of the crown and yeomen of the Guard known from other sources reveals that many are identical.

As already indicated in the Introduction, yeomen of the crown were the successors to the ancient foot archers of the English kings. The term 'yeomen of the crown' can itself cause some confusion, because not all were appointed in the same way. Several records of Henry W's time refer to 'one of the 24 yeomen of the crown at 6d. a day',5 which seems to imply that the number was restricted to 24, as stated in Edward IV's Black Book. The restriction, however, was on the number who received the 'fee of the crown'. This particular fee will be described

1. D. A. L. Morgan, 'The house of policy: the political role of the late Plantagenet household, 1422-1485', in D. R. Starkey, ed., The English Court: from the Wars of the Roses to the Civil War (Harlow, 1987), p.41.
2. Horrox, p.243.
3. E101/414/8, f.53; E101/415/7, f.152; E101/416/7, unfoliated.
4. LC 2/1, fos. 61r-61v. 5. E407/6/137, m.14; C82/128; CPR Henry VII, ii, p.22.

after the discussion of wage payments. For the present purpose of identification it is sufficient to note that fairly full records survive throughout Henry VII's reign for the relatively small number of yeomen in receipt of the fee of the crown. When one of these yeomen died or surrendered his patent, his crown fee was granted by patent to another yeoman of the crown. It is therefore possible to follow the succession of most of these particular yeomen throughout the reign. [See Table 3. Below] Again, a comparison of the names with those of yeomen of the Chamber in the Wardrobe warrants shows a close agreement. [See Table 4, Below]

Table 3: Yeomen of the crown in receipt of the crown fee in Henry VII’s Reign

Starred names are of earliest yeomen to be appointed. Where no names follow,
this shows they continued into the next reign.

Paid from the Exchequer

John Aimer*
William Aimer*
John Amyas*
John Brereton*
Thomas Caldewell* - John Holland 1496 - John Jevan 1502
William Cope* [disappears from accounts by Easter 1489]
Nicholas Dounton [from Easter 1489] - surrendered patent to Edmond Huntwade 1495
John Forde*
John Gittons [from Easter 1489] - Richard Davy 1501 - Walter Cunye June 1509
David Gough [from Easter 1490] - Robert Nevell June 1509
Robert Harrison [from Easter 1489] - John Gildon 1502 - William Keby May 1509
William Knight* [died 1495] - Turner or Page (see below)
Henry Ley* - Henry Strete 1503
Piers Lloyd [from Michaelmas 1487] - Henry Hopkins 1504
John Monkeley* - John Geffron 1502
Richard Rake* - William Kingston 1497 - William Rolte July 1509
John Stanshaw* [disappears from accounts by Easter 1489]
Henry Walker* - Hugh Adams 1499 - Robert Washington 1502 - John Wortley May 1509
Robert Walker*
Piers Warton*
John Wattes* - John Sandford 1510 (on surrender by Wattes)
Benedict Weaver* - died 1505; no successor found until John Braband July 1509
John Whittington [from Easter 1491]

William Page [appointed 1495] - Nicholas Jackson June 1509
Oliver Turner [appointed 1495]

Paid from other sources

John Punche* - David Gough 1490
John Edwardes* - Thomas Broke May 1509
John Upcote* - John Whittington 1491
Thomas Harper* - ?

Table 4: Henry VII’s yeomen of the crown in receipt of the crown fee who are listed as yeomen of the Chamber

[illegible] Adams (probably Hugh) William Aimer

John Amyas Thomas Broke

Richard David [Davy] John Edwardes

John Evan [Jevan] John Forde

John Geffron John Gildon

David Gough John Holland

Henry Hopkins Edmond Huntwade

Nicholas Jackson William Keby

William Kingston Piers Lloyd

John Monkeley Robert Nevell

William Page Henry Strete

Oliver Turner Piers Warton

Robert Washington John Wattes

John Whittington John Wortley

The names of fifty yeomen of the crown and five yeomen of the Chamber not so far identified as yeomen of the Guard can be gathered from grants up to the end of 1486, from the Act of Resumption, and from records of the duchy of Lancaster.(1) Of the fifty yeomen of the crown named, seventeen were in receipt of the crown fee at the time. From these sources and later grants, as well as from the warrants to the Great Wardrobe already cited, it becomes clear that there are many examples where the same man appears in official documents with varying descriptions. For instance, Henry Ley was described as one of the king's Guard in a patent of 21 September 1485, appointing him keeper of two parks in Cornwall, but as a yeoman of the crown when granted the crown fee in the following month.(2) When Piers Lloyd was granted a corrody in the monastery of St. Augustine, Canterbury, on 20 September 1485 he was described as 'one of the yeomen of the king's Chamber and of the king's Guard', but in June 1487 a patent granting him an office at Calais showed him as a yeoman of the crown.(3) The use of these varying descriptions for the same man continued into Henry VIII's reign. Henry Strete was described as a yeoman of the crown in February 1501 and January 1502; he was granted the crown fee in August 1502, and received livery of cloth as a yeoman of the Chamber in December 1502, and February 1503.(4) He again appeared as a yeoman of the crown when granted offices in Devon in June 1508, and in December of that year he was described as

1. Campbell, i and ii, passim; CPR Henry VII, i, passim; Rot. Pari, vi; Somerville, i.
2. C82/2; Campbell, i, pp.49-50; CPR Henry VII, i, p.30; C82/3, m.136.
3. C82/2; Campbell, i, p.15; Campbell, ii, p.158.
4. E404/83; E404/84; CPR Henry VII, ii, p.261; E101/415/7, f.152; LC 2/1, f.61.

a yeoman usher of the Chamber. In May 1509 he received livery of black cloth as a yeoman of the Guard for Henry VII's funeral, while a grant of November 1511 showed him once more as a yeoman of the crown.(1) A further example is that of John Braband, who was described as a yeoman of the Guard when granted the fee of the crown in July 1509, a yeoman of the Chamber when granted an office in Devon the following October, and again as a yeoman of the Guard when granted further offices a year later.(2) In addition, a number of those usually described as yeomen of the crown were included in the list of yeomen of the Guard who received livery of black cloth for Henry VII's funeral in May 1509. Among these were Robert Brickenden or Brigandyne, clerk of the king's ships, and sixteen of the yeomen currently receiving the fee of the crown.(3) These were John Aimer, William Aimer, John Amyas, John Brereton, John Evan, John Forde, John Geffron, Edmond Huntwade, Henry Strete, Robert Walker, Piers Warton;(4) Thomas Broke, Nicholas Jackson, William Keby, Robert Nevell and John Wortley. (5) Yeomen of the crown did not therefore form a completely exclusive group, inasmuch as yeomen of the Guard and yeomen of the Chamber were included among them. In other words, the term 'yeomen of the crown' covered a group of royal retainers, any of whom were liable to serve as yeomen of the Chamber or yeomen of the Guard.

It may now be seen that, with the inclusion of those described as yeomen of the crown or yeomen of the Chamber, the names of yeomen of the Guard identifiable in the early years of Henry VII's reign can be increased substantially. The evidence cited, from the varying descriptions in grants and even from the few lists available, shows the strong correlation of names between these three groups. Although it cannot be stated categorically that all those described as yeomen of the crown also served as yeomen of the Guard, or yeomen of the Chamber, it seems feasible to include them in view of the overwhelming evidence found where this has proved to be the case. Nevertheless some caution has been exercised in this respect, and the bulk of the material used in this thesis has concentrated on those who have been described on at least one occasion as a yeoman of the Guard. Where no such reference has been found for an individual, those described as yeomen of the Chamber, and those described only as yeomen of the crown.

1. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.558; E101 /416/7; LC 2/1, f.l23r; LPI i, 969 (20).
2. LP 1,249; LP I i, 132 (9); LP 1,571; LP 1,1255.
3. LC 2/1, f.l34r.
4. Ibid., f.l23r.
5. Ibid., f,122v.

Conclusion

While it is clear that the yeomen of the Guard represented a new bodyguard, created by Henry VII to be in constant attendance, it was adapted from existing structures within the household. The king evidently took care not to abolish the older offices of yeomen of the crown and yeomen of the Chamber, but combined them with his new retinue, which perhaps he regarded as a form of modernization, fashioned on the French model. The members of the Guard were selected for their proven loyalty as well as for their strength and martial skills. With the exception of Richard II, it was probably the largest bodyguard that any English king had had in peace-time. Although the yeomen were assigned to certain duties in the personal service of the king, the ancient protective function of the yeomen of the crown was specifically retained for the new corps. A greater prominence was given to the Guard by using it also as a splendidly arrayed retinue, wearing the Tudor livery, to enhance the reputation of the court and of its ruler. The role of the Guard, however, extended far beyond the confines of the household and court, its individual members being involved in many aspects of royal activities, both in peace and in war. These will be explored in chapters 3 and 4. Meanwhile the wages, fees and other benefits received by the Guard will be described in die next chapter.

Chapter 2

Remuneration and Development of the Guard

In this chapter methods of wage payments to the Guard are first discussed, and rates of remuneration shown. Details are then given of additional fees and benefits received by some of the yeomen, followed by a section describing further rewards and privileges accorded to them. The question of the Guard's original size is next discussed, showing estimates quoted by contemporary writers and evidence from various contemporary manuscript sources, including wages accounts. This is followed by an account of the Guard's development over the two reigns, including a substantial section on the Eltham ordinances of 1526, and ending with a short description of the Guard's officers.

Remuneration

(a) Wages
No wages accounts survive for the Guard in the earliest part of the reign, but from 1493, when the king's revenue system was being reorganized, references occur to wage payments for the Guard. A series of warrants from the king to Lord Dynham, treasurer of the Exchequer, indemnified John Dawtrey, one of the customers at the port of Southampton, for payments which he had been commanded to make from the revenues of the port. These included a sum of £1,200, paid annually, for the wages of the yeomen of the Guard. The first of these warrants is dated 9 June 1493.(1) In the second one, dated 13 December 1494, it is stated that the king gave his instruction to Dawtrey orally as well as by letter.(2) Apparently many commands were given in this informal way in Henry VII's time, and even accounts were declared orally before his most trusted servants, such as Sir Reginald Bray and Sir Robert Southwell.(3) This helps to explain to some extent the absence of written records. The first three warrants indicate an evolving procedure, stating variously that the sums were paid 'to the yeomen of our Guard' or 'to our hands', or 'for the use of the yeomen of our Guard'.(4) From the warrant of 5 December

1. E404/81/2
2. E404/81/3.
3. W. C. Richardson, Tudor Chamber Administration 1485-1547 (Baton Rouge, 1952), p.76. F. C. Dietz, English Government Finance 1485-1558, University of Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences, 9 (Urbana, Illinois, 1920), p.69.
4. E404/81 /2; E404/81/3; E404/82.

1496 each one invariably shows that the money was paid to John Heron, treasurer of the Chamber.(1)

In Heroes earliest surviving accounts the statement appears in October 1495 that 'John Dawtrey, customer of Hampton, shall pay the king yearly of the Custom of Hampton assigned for the wages of the yeomen of the crown £1,200'.(2) Heron's receipts for November 1502 and December 1504 also show the same amount from Dawtrey, as wages of the yeomen of the Guard.(3) In addition, from September 1495 Heron's accounts show the monthly wages paid to the yeomen of the Chamber.(4) If these are added together for a whole year they amount to a sum of approximately £1,000. For the year September 1505 to August 1506, for example, a total of £1,075.13s. 8d. was paid.(5) The annual provision of £1,200 for the Guard's wages therefore corresponds to the approximate annual total of monthly wages recorded in the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber for the yeomen of the Chamber. Once again it can be seen how the yeomen were variously described in official sources.

Although it is not possible to state how the yeomen were paid during the first ten years of the reign, Heron's accounts commencing in September 1495 show varying monthly wage totals, which indicate that the yeomen were paid according to attendance. The accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber do not normally show the individual rate paid, but two levels of 12d. and 8d. a day are clearly indicated for the eight months from February to September 1506.(6) From the payment for October a single total is again shown.(7) The total sums paid to yeomen receiving 12d. a day during the months of February to September ranged from about £77-£80, representing 55-57 yeomen, while the totals for those receiving 8d. a day were about £15-£20, representing 16-19 yeomen, so the majority were paid at the higher level. There is no indication whether the lower rate was paid for a specific duty or to yeomen who were junior in service or less skilled.

Similar instances occur in Henry VIII's time. From February to May 1513, 'certain yeomen of the chamber', were paid at 8d. a day (8) but again no reason is indicated. An entry in the royal accounts for June 1515 shows three levels of payment to the yeomen of the Chamber, at 12d.,

1. E404/82, /83, /84, /85, /86.
2. E101/414/6, f.107.
3. E101/413/2 (3), p.21.
4. E101/414/6, fos.3r, 7r, 12r, 15v.
5. E36/214, fos.4r, 6v, 9v, 13v, 19v, 22v, 25v, 29r, 33r, 38r, 44v, 49r.
6. E36/214, fos.22v, 25v, 29r, 33r, 38r, 44v, 49r, 51r.
7. Ibid., f.53v.
8. E36/215, fos.ll8r, 123r, 125v, 128v.

8d., and 6d. a day,(1) but this is the only example found. Differences in wages within the Guard also occurred in times of war, when payment was made by the treasurer for war, rather than the treasurer of the Chamber. These will be specified in chapter 4. Yeomen of the Guard continued to receive wages of 12d. or 8d. a day until 1540, when an annual rate of £24 was introduced.(2) There are many instances where yeomen of the Guard were paid when they were sick. In Henry VII's time the royal accounts show, for example, that a sum of £4.10s. was paid to five sick yeomen in May 1497,(3) and nine yeomen received a total of £8. 2s. in July 1499.(4) Individuals are named in the accounts during Henry VIII's reign. Thomas Ferror received £6 in July 1515, in respect of his wages for 120 days at 12d. a day 'which the king's grace hath given unto him in reward towards his recovery of his sickness',(5) and Hugh Troublefeld was paid £4.17s. for his wages of 12d. a day for 97 days in 1531, 'in all which time he was sick'.(6) The yeomen of the Guard were relatively well paid. The master of the barge and the sergeant of the minstrels were each paid at 7Id. a day,(7) while ordinary soldiers received 6d. a day. The sergeants at arms, who were often recruited by promotion from the Guard, received 12d. a day, being appointed for life by patent. It is also evident from the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber that during Henry VII's reign the cash for the wages was paid to one of the yeomen ushers of the Chamber, to distribute to his colleagues. The cash was received by Edward Griffith in October and December 1495 (8) and by Thomas Greenhow in February and March 1496.(9) In addition to exercising a supervisory role in the Chamber the yeomen ushers therefore bore some responsibility within the Guard. The duty of paying the yeomen from money received from the treasurer of the Chamber later became the responsibility of the clerk of the cheque to the Guard, an office which was probably introduced towards the end of Henry VII's reign, and which will be discussed later.

1. BL Additional Ms. 21,481, f.l91r; E36/215, f.l92r (shows 171 yeomen, but the Additional Ms. shows the final digit crossed through).
2. LC 5/178, p.90.
3. E101/414/6, f.70v.
4. E101/414/16, f.68r.
5. E36/215, f.l95v; E101/417/7, m.92.
6. E101/420/11, f.l56vt
7. E407/6/137, m.15.
8. E101/414/6, fos.3r and 12r.
9. Ibid., fos.l9r and 22r.

(b) Fee of the crown
Before proceeding further, the payment of the fee of the crown should be described. This was paid at the rate of 6d. a day, and was received by no more than 24 yeomen at any one time. These yeomen were appointed for life by letters patent, and were paid half-yearly at Easter and Michaelmas from the Exchequer, irrespective of their presence on duty. In a few cases this fee was paid from local revenues due to the king rather than directly from the Exchequer. John Punche, for instance, received his fee from the customs and subsidies of the port of Poole,(1) and John Upcote was paid from the revenues of Cornwall.(2)

The payment of the crown fee to 24 yeomen shows another parallel with the French king's Scots guard referred to in chapter 1, since the 24 most senior members of that bodyguard received a special payment of twenty crowns a month.(3) This remuneration therefore suggests that the English recipients held some seniority in the Guard. Nevertheless, a striking example of a yeoman who had to wait for a vacancy may be seen in Lawrence Eglisfeld. He served as clerk of the cheque to the Guard from 1513, having become a yeoman usher of the Chamber by January 1512, but did not receive the crown fee until January 1527.(4)

(c) Other fees
While the 'fee of the crown' in Tudor times was 6d. a day, certain yeomen received wages of 3d. a day. The accounts of Sir Thomas Lovell, treasurer of the Chamber, show that he received £50 on 10 June 1495 from the customers of Poole for the wages of the yeomen at 3d. a day, due at Easter.(5) A statement in the accounts of John Heron, Lovell's successor in office, dated 1 October 1495, shows that 'the cofferer shall answer the king yearly for the wages of the 33 yeomen of the crown after 3d. by day due at Michaelmas £100'.(6) In 1503 and 1504 Heron's receipts show a payment of £100 from William Cope, cofferer, as 'wages of certain yeomen of the Chamber at 3d. a day for one year'.(7) The total of £100 per annum in fact corresponds to 22 yeomen at 3d. a day rather than 33. There is evidence in Henry VIII's time that yeomen ushers of the Chamber received an extra fee of 3d. a day above the wage paid for each day of service, and perhaps these accounts refer to this fee. When John Bromefeld replaced John Willesdon as a yeoman usher early in 1546, his fee for the office was shown as 3d. a day.(8) Edward Ingham,

1. Campbell, i, p.51; CPR Henry VII, i, p.8.
2. CPR Henry VII, i, p.37.
3. Forbes-Leith, i, p.75.
4. LP IV ii, 2839 (12).
5. E101/413/2 (2), f.88v.
6. E101/414/6, f.108; BL Additional Ms. 59,899, f.l84v.
7. E101 /413/2 (3), pp.98 and 175.
8. SP 4/1 (79); LP XX ii, 1067 (79); LP XXI i, 148 (79).

yeoman usher of the Chamber, by his will of 9 October 1534, bequeathed to his son-in-law the wages due to him at the end of December from the paymaster of the Guard, John Williams, as well as his wages at 3d. a day from the cofferer's clerk.(1) Payment at this rate was also made to yeomen holding miscellaneous offices in the royal household such as wardrobe keeper to a royal child. On 1 May 1515 William Lambert, presumably the yeoman of the Guard of that name, was paid 3d. a day for a whole year for 'keeping the princess's wardrobe stuff of beds'.(2)

(d) Annuities and Corrodies
In addition to wages and fees, the yeomen enjoyed other forms of reward from the monarch. Several received an annuity, while others were granted a corrody, or dining rights, in a religious house. Among the former were Henry Spencer and William Meghen, yeomen of the crown who were apparently otherwise unpaid. Henry Spencer was granted an annuity of £10 for life from Easter 1486, payable from the revenues of the counties of Berkshire and Oxford.(3) On 20 February 1487 William Meghen was rewarded with an annuity of £8 for life for his service 'as well at our prosperous entry into this our Realm toward our town of Shrewsbury and so forth to our most victorious field as for the good service that he intendeth to do and yet doeth to his great proper costs and charges without fee or other reward of us'. The annuity was to be paid by the farmers or occupiers of the town of Wrockwardine, Shropshire.(4) In October 1485 Richard Frere was granted a corrody in Thame monastery, Oxford, and in April 1486 Robert Palmer received the grant of a corrody in the priory of Bath, Somerset.(5) Henry VIII's yeomen were rewarded in similar ways, William Studdon receiving an annuity of £10 for life in August 1513, and Edward Johnson receiving one for £9.10s. in November 1540.(6) Corrodies were granted to John Robards in the monastery of Vale Royal, Cheshire, in February 1532, and to William Bonde in the monastery of Ceme, Dorset, in October 1537.(7)

This variation in the remuneration of the yeomen was not unusual, since there is evidence that in earlier reigns, and in later Tudor times, some servants within the same category were paid while others were unpaid. Many of Richard H's sergeants at arms had been unpaid, and in Henry VIII's time a sergeant at arms without fee, John Reeming, was granted the next

1. Westminster City Archives [hereafter WCA] Wills Register Bracy, f.46v.
2. E36/215, fos.l50v and 188v.
3. E404/79, m.242.
4. Ibid., m.165.
5. C82/3, m.71; Campbell, i, pp.81 and 412.
6. LP 1,4385; LP I ii, 2222 (4). LP XVI, 305 (31).
7. LPV, 838(5). LP XII ii, 1008 (24).

vacancy with 12d. a day, in April 1544.(1) In addition, as David Starkey has pointed out, only five of the Privy Chamber staff of 15 were in receipt of wages before January 1526.(2)

Other Rewards and Privileges
As well as the payments already mentioned, the yeomen were often among royal servants who were rewarded by a single sum of money, irrespective of whether they received the crown fee or wages. One of those without remuneration was John Spynell, a yeoman of the crown who had evidently 'borne great costs and charges in our service ... from the beginning of our reign and afore' without recompense or reward. He was awarded the sum of £6.15s. 4Id. in June 1486, to be paid from the town of Shrewsbury.(3) Thomas Broke and Thomas Dey, yeomen of the Guard, received a reward of £19 on 25 November 1506,(4) and two yeomen of the crown, Robert Harrison (in receipt of the crown fee) and William Young (without the fee), shared a reward of £60 with another royal servant in December 1493.(5) Amounts totalling £33. 6s. 8d. were shared between three yeomen of the Chamber, John Lugar, William Studdon, and John Whalley, on 24 January 1501.(6) Rewards were often from sums forfeited by those failing to appear before justices on a certain day, or by gaolers who allowed a prisoner to escape. Three yeomen of the Guard shared a reward of £20 in March 1500, when Thomas Winter, Richard Stapull and Thomas Basshe were granted the sum forfeited by a carter of London who failed to appear when summoned.(7) A reward of £20 was shared in similar circumstances by Richard Lewes, John Champyne and William Catcote, three members of the Guard, in September 1546(8). On 25 November in an unspecified year which was probably 1508, a forfeit of £5, payable for the escape of a prisoner in Gloucestershire, was awarded to Robert Thomas of the Guard,(9) and Maurice Eton was rewarded with the £5 fine exacted for an escape in Wales in September 1546.(10)

One of the privileges granted by the sovereign to the yeomen as a group of royal retainers was the payment of 40s. annually, to celebrate the feast of St. David on 1 March. This was evidently in recognition of the number of Welshmen in the Guard, and Henry VII's privy

1. LP XIX i, 442 (22).
2. Starkey thesis, p.165.
3. E404/79, m.329; Campbell, i, p.445.
4. E404/86, m.42.
5. E404/81/3, unnumbered.
6. E404/83, unnumbered.
7. Ibid.
8. LP XXI ii, 199 (90).
9. E404/86, m.28.
10. LP XXI i, 963 (125).

purse expenses in 1492, 1494 and 1503 actually show the payment 'to the Welshmen'.(1) Later payments for the feast of St. David, recorded in Henry VIII's privy purse accounts for the years 1530 to 1532,(2) are shown as made to the Guard. Occasionally the Guard received a sum of money for a feast in the summer. The privy purse accounts of Henry VII's queen, Elizabeth of York, record a payment of 20s. in August 1502 for a buck to reward the king's Guard (3), and in August 1531 40s. was paid from Henry VIII's privy purse 'by the king's commandment to the Guard for to eat a buck at Woodstock'.(4) The Guard was not the only group of royal servants to receive this form of appreciation, however. In July 1516 the king rewarded the ministers and gentlemen of his Chapel with 40s. for wine, to drink with the venison he had already given to them, 'to make merry with'.(5) The provision of venison seems to have been a popular means of showing goodwill, since in July 1541 the king sent to the lord mayor of London, Sir William Roche, by 'Philiper', one of the Guard, a great stag and two fat bucks 'to make merry with his brethren the Aldermen'.(6)

As individuals, members of the Guard were rewarded by special gifts or payments in different personal circumstances. These might be in recompense for lost wages after prolonged absence due to illness, or following some particular misfortune. In November 1518, for instance, Sir Richard Jemingham, the deputy at Toumai, was commanded to pay to Richard Donolte, yeoman of the Guard late in the retinue of Toumai, his wages at 8d. a day from 1 October previously and henceforward, in consideration of the losses he had sustained by long sickness and by the burning of his house.(7) The reason for Richard Heyboume's grant of 12d. a day for life in February 1529 is not indicated.(8) Payments to him at this rate appear in the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber, where he is shown as 'late of the Guard'.(9)

Several yeomen received a gift from the king to mark the occasion of their marriage. In the accounts of Peter Curteis, keeper of the Great Wardrobe, between 1 March 1487 and 30 September 1488, Richard Newneham is shown as having received black cloth and chamlette as

1. BL Additional Ms. 7099, pp.3 and 15; S. Bentley, Excerpta Historica (1831), pp.90,97 and 130. See also BL Additional Ms. 59,899, f.l4v.
2. Sir Harris Nicolas, ed., Privy Purse Expences of Henry VIII from November 1529 to December 1532 (1827) [hereafter PPE Henry VIII], pp.28,114 and 197.
3. N. H. (Sir Harris) Nicolas, ed., Privy Purse Expenses of Elizabeth of York: Wardrobe Accounts of Edward the Fourth (1830) [hereafter Nicolas], p.38.
4. PPE Henry VIU, p.156.
5. E36/215, f.231v; BL Additional Ms. 21,481, f.230v.
6. C. Wriothesley, A Chronicle of England during the reigns of the Tudors from A.D. 1485 to 1559, ed. W. D. Hamilton, Camden Society, NS, 2 vols., 11 (1875) and 20 (1877), i [hereafter Wriothesley Chronicle], pp.126-7.
7. LP II ii, 4575.
8. E101/420/11, f.21ir.
9. E101/420/11, fos.25r, 33 et seq.

a gift from the king 'towards his marriage'.(1) The custom of giving wedding clothing to royal servants is shown in the household accounts of Edward IV and in those of Elizabeth of York. In March 1502 William Pastone, page of the queen's beds, was rewarded with 40s. for the purchase of his wedding clothing.(2) By Henry VIII's time varying sums of money were given to the yeomen on marriage. William Wynnesbury and James Gartside each received £6.13s. 4d. in June 1510 and November/December 1516 respectively.(3) They may have been specially favoured yeomen, since later in the reign the recorded payments were less generous. In May 1531 John West received £3.6s. 8d.(4) and in June 1532 John Holland was rewarded with £5.(5)

A further form of reward was the privilege of importing or exporting goods, without having to pay the usual duty. A licence was granted to John Holland and William Walesse to import 600 tons of Gascon wine or Toulouse woad in February 1514,(6) and Walter Jago and Bartholomew Flamank were licensed to export 1,000 quarters of com in January 1516.(7) An example of the kind of service which preceded such grants can be seen in the details of Adam Sampson's licence to export 300 quarters of wheat, free of duty. This is shown in the privy seal document of 5 April 1531, as granted 'in consideration of the said Adam having caused to be made a ship for the king's navy, called the Trinity Guild [Trynyte Gilde], of 240 tons'.(8) It seems likely that those granted such licences were traders or in a business venture of some kind, which will be discussed in chapter 6.

Another way in which some of the yeoman were rewarded by the king for their good service was by promotion to sergeant at arms. Appointment to this office was by letters patent, and the fee of 12d. a day was paid for life, irrespective of attendance. The majority of those who served as sergeant at arms were drawn from the Guard, and recruitment was particularly active just before a military campaign.

Several yeomen enjoyed an additional income from property leases on advantageous terms. In May 1502, for example, William Maddockes was granted, during pleasure, certain buildings and gardens in the parish of St. Giles without Cripplegate. The property did not exceed 7 marks in yearly value, but was held at a rent of one red rose annually at Midsummer.(9) Another yeoman, John Geffron, was granted tenements of the yearly value of

1. Campbell, ii, p.497.
2. Nicolas, p.4.
3. E36/215, fos.32r and 240r.
4. PPE Henry VIII, p.131.
5. Ibid., p.218.
6. LP 1,4797.
7. LP Hi, 1464.
8. LPV, 220 (7).
9. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.271. Also Ibid., p.269 and LP I i, 257 (56).

£10, at an annual rent of 4d., in May 1513.(1) These particular privileges will be further elaborated in chapter 6.

Members of the Guard were also able to benefit from their appointment to a variety of crown offices in the localities. Some of these offices were indicated in chapter 1, set out in Table 1, p.15, and will be fully described in chapter 5.

Towards the end of their long and loyal service, some of the yeomen received a particular appointment. Henry Spencer, yeoman of the crown, was especially valued by Henry VII, and on 29 October 1493 he was appointed for life as one of the knights of the king's alms in the royal college of Windsor, 'in consideration of his good service in his youth to Henry VI and his tribulations and losses sustained through his allegiance to Henry VI'.(2) Similarly, in 1542 Henry VIE granted the position of an alms-man of the foundation of the cathedral church of Canterbury to John Lufton.(3) Several yeomen were appointed to serve in the Tower of London, where they were paid quarterly, at the rate of 6d. a day. An allowance of 26s. 8d. for firewood was also made to the group half-yearly.(4) In Henry VII's time these particular yeomen, usually numbering twelve, were referred to as 'certain of the yeomen of our crown and Chamber giving their attendance by our commandment within our Tower of London'.(5) During Henry VIII's reign this description was sometimes shortened to 'the yeomen at the Tower',(6) and in the latter part of the reign, when the number had increased to fourteen or sixteen, the term 'yeomen waiters' or 'daily waiters' was applied to them.(7) Among the former yeomen of the Guard serving at the Tower in this way during the two reigns were Oliver Turner (who became porter there), John Whittington (who became under-porter and later porter), Henry Hopkins, William Maddockes, David John or Jones, John Williams, Henry Southworth, Hugh Braband and Edmond Huntwade.(8) Most of the yeomen at the Tower can be identified as former yeomen of the Guard or yeomen of the queen's Chamber.

Some assistance was occasionally given to widows of the yeomen. In July 1530 Elizabeth Fisher, widow of Richard Fisher, yeoman of the crown, was granted an annuity of 10 marks from the revenues of the manor of Wexcombe, Wiltshire, during the minority of Edward Darell, kinsman and heir of Sir Edward Darell.(9) This annuity had originally been granted to

1. LP 1,3998; LP I ii, 1948 (14).
2. CPR Henry VII, i, p.455.
3. Hennell, p.83.
4. E36/215, f.86v; BL Stowe Ms. 554, f.39v; E101 /417/7, m.118.
5. E101/416/7.
6. BL Stowe Ms. 554, f.36v; E315/456, f.43r.
7. BL Additional Ms. 18,826, f.45; SP 4/1; LP XX ii, 1067.
8. E101/416/7; LP I i, 20; E101/417/3, f,100;E101/418/5, f.26.
9. LP IV iii, 6542 (4).

Richard Fisher and his wife Elizabeth in survivorship in March 1486, during the minority of Edward, duke of Buckingham, so long as the manor remained in the king's hands.(1) Anne Greenhill, widow of Andrew Greenhill, was granted a 21-years' lease of Beryhouse and Bery mill, with fields and pastures adjacent, in the lordship of Redmarley Dabitot, Worcestershire, in January 1536, at an annual rent of £4 and 12d. increase, on surrender of her husband's lease (2).

Rewards to the yeomen also came from the nobility, usually for a particular service. On New Year's day 1525 the earl of Rutland rewarded the yeomen ushers of the king's Chamber with 3s. 4d., as well as giving 20s. to the pages of the king's Chamber and 3s. 4d. to the henchmen.(3) The duke of Buckingham was notably generous in rewarding members of the Guard, although this fact was cited in evidence against him at the time of his downfall in 1521. The payment of 6s. 8d. which the duke made to John Haywood for bringing news from the earl of Surrey from Ireland in October 1520 (4) was not excessive, but the £5 rewarded to Hugh ap Howell in January 1521, for presenting the duke with a New Year's gift from the king,(5) perhaps does appear so. Nevertheless, the same sum was given to a servant of the queen at the time,(6) and the rate of reward to servants conveying such gifts clearly differed in accordance with the status of the giver. The earl of Rutland's accounts show that the servants delivering New Year presents in 1525 from the earl and countess of Devon each received 6s. 8d.,(7) whereas the servant who took the queen's gift to lady Rutland in 1537 was rewarded with 22s. 6d.(8) Minor rewards of an informal nature show that members of the Guard performed a small service to aristocrats at court, no doubt because they happened to be available there. The accounts of Henry Courtenay, earl of Devon, include a payment of 4d. on 27 January 1519, 'to a yeoman of the Guard in the king's Chamber for keeping of gages when my lord played at shuffle a board'.(9)

The Guard’s Complement
The foundation of the Guard in 1485 marked part of the changes which took place in the royal household following Henry VII's accession. In the absence of any firm evidence it is not possible to state the initial size of the corps with certainty, but the likely complement may be

1. CPR Henry VII, i, p.81.
2. LPX, 226 (37).
3. Historical Manuscripts Commission [hereafter HMC]. The Manuscripts of his Grace the Duke of Rutland, K.G., preserved at Belvoir Castle, iv (1905) [hereafter Rutland accounts], p.266.
4. LP mi, 1285/4.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Rutland accounts, p.267.
8. Ibid., p.281.
9. LP Mi, 152, p.50.

assessed. One method of discovering the strength of the Guard at any time would be by referring to wages accounts, but these are not available early in the reign. Later accounts will be considered, after examining near-contemporary reports and exploring other methods.

Hall states that the number in Henry VII's Guard was greater than had previously been known to give daily attendance upon the monarch,(1) but he does not say what the number was. Although Vergil gives a figure of about 200,(2) and Bacon only 50,(3) no formal information exists on the size of the Guard at its inception. From the sources already cited, the names of approximately 100 yeomen have been identified for the first year or two of Henry VII's reign. Presumably this would have been the minimum number in the earliest years, and it bears comparison with the Scots bodyguard of the French king, mentioned in the Introduction. During the 1470s, in addition to the captain and two men at arms, this bodyguard consisted of 25 archers of the body and 77 archers of the guard, a total of 105.(4)

Later in Henry VII's reign, documents concerned with particular events provide an indication of the number of personnel in his Guard. A force of 200 is suggested by the king's stated intention to 'subdue in person' insurrections in the north of England in April 1489, when he ordered 200 pairs of brigandines (a form of body armour) for 'yeomen'.(5) The author of 'An Italian Relation', in his report of 1498 for the Venetian envoy, Andrea Trevisan, commented of Henry VII that 'the military escort who compose his guard [and] are from 150 to 200 in number'.(6) On the other hand, the Milanese envoy Raimondo de Soncino reported to the duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, in 1497 that Henry's bodyguard was supposed to number fewer than 100 'although he is now living in a forest district which is unfortified'.(7) A force of 200 may have been considered the appropriate size for an escort where there was likely to be real danger. The earl of Northumberland, writing to the duke of Norfolk in 1529, stated that the wardens of the Northern Marches had always had 200 men about their own person as well as 300 in the garrison.(8) When Henry VII met the archduke Philip of Austria during a month's visit to Calais in 1500, however, it is recorded that, in addition to lords, knights and gentlemen, 80 of the Guard were in attendance.(9)

1. Hall, p.425.
2. Vergil, p.7.
3. Bacon, p.35.
4. Forbes-Leith, ii, p.46.
5. E404/80, m.68.
6. Sneyd, p.39; A. Goodman, The Wars of the Roses. Military Activity and English Society 1452-97 (1981), p.132.
7. A. F. Pollard, The Reign of Henry VII from Contemporary Sources, 3 vols. (1913-14), i, p.160, citing Venetian Calendar, i, 751, and Milanese Calendar, i, 323.
8. LP IV iii, 5920.
9. BL Harley Ms. 1757, f .361 v; LP Richard III and Henry VII, i, p.91.

It is probable that normally a proportion of the corps would be on duty at any time, the whole force being commanded to attend only when required for special events. For important ceremonial occasions at home, for example, a much larger retinue was used. At the ceremonies marking the marriage of Prince Arthur with Katherine of Aragon in November 1501 the yeomen of the Guard were reported by a herald to number 300.(1) This was also the total of the Guard recorded in the great procession which took place the day before Henry VIII's coronation.(2) The only extant list of yeomen of the Guard for the whole of Henry VII's reign is in the lord chamberlain's records, showing in three different groups the names of those who were to receive livery of black cloth for the king's funeral on 11 May 1509.(3) This contains a total of 193 names, some of which are known only by this source. The supply of apparel and equipment for the Guard also gives some indication of its likely size at the time. On 2 November 1501 the keeper of the Great Wardrobe was commanded by the king to deliver to John Fligh, yeoman of the Robes, 100 jackets of white and green cloth 'of the second sort' (that is not the best sort) for the yeomen of the Guard.(4) Part of an account of John Heron, treasurer of the Chamber, dating from c.1505, shows that £200 was paid to John Vandelf for making 200 rich jackets for the king's Guard.(5) In May 1495 the Exchequer officials were authorized by the king to pay to Sir Charles Somerset, captain of the Guard, £27.10s. to buy 110 sheaves of arrows for the Guard, at 5s. a sheaf,(6) and £18. 6s.8d. for 110 bows, at 3s. 4d. each.(7) In June 1496 John Young, the king's fletcher, delivered 100 sheaves of arrows for the use of the Guard, with cases and girdles.(8) The variation in the total wages recorded each month by the treasurer of the Chamber indicates that the number of yeomen in attendance fluctuated by ten or more in different months, assuming that all were paid at the normal rate of 12d. a day. One of the reasons for the fluctuation in the numbers attending the king appears to have been absenteeism. Although permission was often given for the duties of certain local offices to be carried out by a deputy, service within the royal household was expected to be performed in person. The problem is indicated by an Act of Parliament of 1488, which stated

1. Ant. Rep., ii, p.258.
2. A. H. Thomas and I. D. Thomley, eds., The Great Chronicle of London (1938) [hereafter Great Chronicle], p.340.
3. LC 2/1, fos. 122v-123r, 131r-131v, 134r; LP I i, 20.
4. E101/415/7, f.54.
5. E101/415/16, f.l2v.
6. E404/81/1, m.19.
7. E404/81/3, m.16.
8. E404/82.

that yeomen and grooms of the king's Chamber were to give their attendance upon the king.(1) Absenteeism continued to be a recurring problem into the next reign, as will be shown in due course. From the evidence contained in the various sources discussed, it therefore appears that the Guard's complement stood at a minimum of 100 in the earlier years of the reign of its founder. The number on duty clearly varied according to circumstances, and it is possible that an increase took place in 1495, at the time of the treason charges against the lord chamberlain and the former lord steward of the household. While the normal attendance on the king in his Chamber appears to have ranged from 50 to 70, the corps was readily available for special ceremonial occasions and in times of war, when it could be augmented as required. This was achieved, at least in part, by commanding the services of all of the yeomen of the crown, including those who did not attend regularly at court but nevertheless were engaged upon the king's business.

Reforms of 1490’s to 1515
It has already been noted that the size of the Guard was not constant, and although the number of yeomen on duty fluctuated, little evidence is available to assess the changes in Henry VII's Guard. Possibly the household reforms of the 1490's affected the corps in some way not now discernible, apart from a slight increase in the number on duty. The surviving documentary evidence from 1493 regarding payment of the Guard's wages from the revenues of the port of Southampton seems to indicate that a change had recently taken place. While the Guard of 300 on the occasion of Prince Arthur's marriage in 1501(2) may seem an exaggeration, it does not appear so excessive when compared with the 100 persons attending the young duke of York at this event.(3) The figure of 300 is also recorded for the Guard on several occasions in Henry VIII's time, apart from the great procession which took place the day before his coronation in June 1509,(4) already noted. These are contained in two reports made by diplomats in 1515,(5) and in a description of the procession connected with the proceedings of the Order of the Garter in 1519.(6) [See chapter 3.] Undoubtedly the most dramatic rise in the size of the Guard took place in 1513, in readiness for Henry VIII's war with France. It is well documented that the king was

1. Rot. Pari., vi, p .418.
2. Ant. Rep., ii, p.258.
3. E101/415/7, f.74.
4. Great Chronicle, p.340.
5. Rawdon Brown, pp.78 and 85.
6. CA Ms. N50, f.39v; Anstis, i, App. p.xii.

accompanied by his Guard, numbering 600, in the campaign during the summer of 1513.(1) This will be fully discussed in chapter 4. As part of the drastic economy drive in the royal finances during 1515, however, 170 yeomen of the Chamber were discharged of their daily attendance on the king in June. They were granted 4d. a day for life, to be paid quarterly, and were to hold themselves available to serve the king whenever commanded. The first quarterly payment was made to them by the treasurer of the Chamber in September 1515.(2) It was probably at about this time that a deputy to the vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard was introduced. Despite the formalization of the office of vice-chamberlain in the later years of Henry VII's reign there were occasions when both the lord chamberlain and his deputy were absent. This was the case when the festival of St. George was celebrated at Greenwich in April 1516. Sir John Peche was named as deputy to the vice-chamberlain in a herald's report of the event.(3) Peche was also described as deputy captain of the Guard in a petition by one of the Guard which referred to the date of 1 May 1517, although the date of the document itself is illegible.(4) A herald's detailed description of the ceremony to honour St. George and the noble Order of the Garter which took place in 1519 names Sir Robert Wingfield as the deputy to Sir Henry Mamey, captain of the Guard.(5) These instances are the only indication found for the early Tudor period of an additional officer in the Guard deputizing for the captain, but the position does not appear to have been formalized.

Reforms of 1519
When the garrison at Toumai was finally dismissed in 1519, following Henry VIII's agreement to hand back the city to French jurisdiction, the unknown number of the Guard still serving there had to return to England.(6) Hall's account of this event shows that a similar arrangement was made for them as for those discharged in 1515:

The end of March the king sent for all the yeomen of [the] Guard
that were come from Toumai, and after many good words given to
them, he granted to them 4d. the day without attendance,
except they were specially commanded.(7)

Some further expansion again took place in 1520, when 200 of the Guard were selected to accompany Henry VIII to the Field of Cloth of Gold, while it was planned to send 400 others to

1. SP 1/3, f.159; E101/62/11, m.l (though numbered 4); BL Lansdowne Ms. 818, f.2v; BL Cotton Ms. Faustina E.VH.6; LP I ii, 2053.
2. BL Additional Ms. 21,481, f.l91r; E36/215, f.l92r (shows 171 yeomen, but file Additional Ms. shows the final digit crossed through).
3. CA Ms. N50, f.33r.
4. E101/416/4, f.38.
5. CA Ms. N50, f.39v.
6. Cruickshank, Toumai, p.102.
7. Hall, p.598.

Ireland with the earl of Surrey. These events will be described in chapters 3 and 4 respectively. Following further military activity in France and Brittany in the early 1520s, a major attempt was made to reorganize the royal household and reduce expenses. This resulted in a completely new set of ordinances which were discussed with the king at Eltham palace during Christmas 1525, subsequently becoming known as the Eltham ordinances of 1526.(1)

Reforms of 1526
The Eltham ordinances were devised after a period of war and, as David Starkey has shown, they were the result both of Wolsey's political manoeuvring and a genuine need to reduce the size of the royal household, which had become inefficient and unwieldy, partly due to previous piecemeal changes over a number of years.(2) The ordinances stated that with the coming of peace it was possible to reorganize the royal household, which had been disrupted by the recent wars. Wolsey personally set out the regulations for the Privy Chamber, which he was anxious to keep under his own control, but the streamlining of the rest of the household was delegated to the comptroller, for the household generally, and the vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard, for the outer Chamber.(3) For the first time in a royal household ordinance, a substantial section was included on the regulations for the king's Guard, which was the responsibility of the vice-chamberlain. This section, headed 'Diminution and reformation of the Guard',(4) stated that, because of the late wars, the king had increased the number in his Guard 'above that which was accustomed', and as this number was no longer needed, a reduction was to be made to a certain level. The yeomen ushers were to be included in the total complement, and were to be chosen by the king. Although a space was left for the number at which the Guard was to be established, this was never filled in, and no indication was given of the number to be discharged. According to Hall 64 were discharged,(5) while Holinshed gives the total as 84.(6)

The ordinances indicate that the lately inflated size of the Guard had caused problems in overcrowding in the king's hall and in lodgings nearby. The situation had been worsened by the presence of servants of the yeomen, each of whom had one or two lads or simple servants in the court. Therefore it was stipulated that in future none of the Guard would be permitted

1. Bodleian Ms. Laud Misc. 597.
2. Starkey thesis, pp.133,160,180.
3. LC 5/178, p.10; Starkey thesis, pp.162-3.
4. Bodleian Ms. Laud Misc. 597; BL Cotton Ms. Vespasian C.XIV, fos.255r-256r; BL Harley Ms. 642, f.156; BL Harley Ms. 610, f.67; LS13/278, p.178; LC 5/178, pp.11-12; E36/231; HO, pp.146-7.
5. Hall, p.707.
6. R. Holinshed, Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, 6 vols. (1807-8), iii, p.711.

to keep any servants in the court or to allow them to enter it. Penalties for disobeying this ruling would be, for the first offence the loss of three days' wages, for the second a week's wages, for the third a month's wages, and for the fourth loss of office. The yeomen remaining in the Guard were to continue to receive wages of 12d. a day, with any other allowances which they had at the time. As for those discharged, it was the king's pleasure that they should be made yeomen of the crown. In consideration of their service, a special arrangement was provided: those who held no office from the king to the value of 2d. a day would receive 6d. a day, and those who did hold offices worth 2d. a day would receive 4d. a day. Payment was to be made quarterly or half yearly by the treasurer of the king's Chamber and the discharged yeomen were given permission to return to their homes and to hold themselves ready to serve the king when commanded. It was expressly stated that these payments were personal to them, becoming extinct on their death. This statement was necessary because the normal practice on the death of a yeoman in receipt of the crown fee was to grant the fee to another yeoman. The discharged yeomen were therefore effectively pensioned off on half pay. This was similar to the arrangement made for former yeomen discharged of attendance in 1515 and 1519, all of whom, however, had been granted 4d. a day. At the end of 1545,147 yeomen were still receiving their 4d. a day, and 40 were receiving 6d. a day.(1)

Many questions are raised by the statements made in the Eltham ordinances relating to the total of personnel in the Guard. What was the established number intended to be? What was the 'accustomed number' referred to? How many were in office at the time the ordinances were drawn up? How many were discharged?

In view of the considerable fluctuations in the size of the Guard, it is difficult to conjecture what was the 'accustomed' number referred to and how far back in time one should go in order to determine this. It may be possible, however, to make an estimate from information contained in two documents of a later date. The first is a list of yeomen ushers, containing 23 names and shown as 'paid with the Guard'.(2) From the names on this list, it can be assigned to a date no later than 1523. Thomas Jackson had died by 10 August that year and Roger Becke had been appointed a sergeant at arms by 10 October. The importance of the list lies not only in the likely date but in the number of yeomen ushers, since this could give some guidance to the probable total in the Guard at the time. By referring to other lists of the Guard it is possible to see what proportion of the whole were yeomen ushers. Figures taken from official documents spanning fifty years, from 1496 to 1546, are shown in Table 5, p.41. Judging from

1. BL Additional Ms. 27,404, fos.26-32; LP XX ii, 1035.
2. LP IV i, 1939 (8).

Table 5: Numbers of yeomen ushers and yeomen of the Chamber, 1496-1546

Year Yeomen ushers Yeomen Reference

1496 8 67 E101/414/8, f.53

1502 3 53 E101/415/7, f.152

1503 14 72 LC 2/1, f.61

1508 8 73 E101/416/7, unfol.

1509 10 83 E101/417/3, f.33

1510 10 69 E101/417/3, f.57

1512 9 75 E101/417/6, f.54

1514 11 159 E101/418/5, f.27

1546 16 112 E179/69/56

these, a total of 23 yeomen ushers indicates that the Guard must have been about 180 strong at the time of its reform in 1526.

The second document relating to the king's Guard which gives a clue to the 'accustomed' number is an undated manuscript of the lord chamberlain's office. This shows the cost of the wages of eight yeomen of the Guard increased above the number of 80, 'which be the whole ordinary by the king's book, every of them at £24 per annum',(1) totalling £192. Clearly, this indicates that the Guard numbered 80 previously. Incidentally, the figure was misinterpreted as 24 in A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations of the Royal Household, where the total sum for wages is also erroneously given as £136.(2) These errors are repeated in Letters and Papers.(3) The wage of £24 per annum also contains a clue as to the likely date of the manuscript, since increases in household salaries and wages took place in Cromwell's reforms of 1540, when the Counting House again became the source of staff wages.(4) The daily rate of 12d. previously paid would have equalled £18.5s. per annum, assuming attendance on every day of the year.

The strength of the Guard is shown as 80 in two other manuscripts, both dating from c.1540, under the headings 'Paid in the exchequer and by the treasurer of the Chamber now charged in the household',(5) and 'Wages now paid in the household which heretofore hath been paid in the receipt and by the hands of the treasurer of the king's chamber'.(6) It is therefore certain that 80 was settled as the normal complement of the Guard at some point of time before 1540, and this is most likely to have been when the Guard was reformed in 1526. The increased complement of 88 referred to in the document mentioned above agrees closely with

1. LC 5/178, p.90.
2. HO, p.213.
3. LP XXI i, 969.
4. Starkey thesis, p.219.
5. BL Cotton Ms. Vespasian C.XIV, f.276v.
6. BL Royal Ms. 7 CXVI, f.l29r.

the 89 listed by William Dunche, a royal servant, in 1539/40, which includes the yeomen ushers but does not identify them.(1) From the evidence cited, then, it may be concluded that the Accustomed' number referred to in the Eltham ordinances was 80, that the size of the Guard at the 1526 reduction was about 180, and that, since the figure of 80 was clearly adopted, about 100 must have been discharged of daily attendance. A force of 80 has a significance historically, as Henry VII was accompanied by 80 of the Guard when he visited France in 1500,(2) although this was unlikely to have been the whole corps.

As already stated, the discharged yeomen were to be paid at the rate of 6d. a day if they had no other office from the king, or at 4d. a day if they had offices worth 2d. a day or more. By consulting the royal accounts it is possible to calculate the approximate number receiving 6d. a day, as a group of yeomen paid at this rate appears for the first time in December 1528, when the first quarterly figures are available after 1526.(3) The sum shown of £107. 6s. 6d. corresponds to a number of approximately 47 yeomen. A difficulty arises in the number of discharged yeomen receiving 4d. a day, as the figure for this group, £417.11s. 8d., indicates a total of approximately 273 yeomen.(4) Payment at this rate was already being made to those dismissed in 1515 (5) and in 1519.(6) From September 1518 to September 1519 the wages increased from £506. 7s. 8d. to £608.15s. 4d., indicating a rise in the number of yeomen from 331 to 397 (7) Royal accounts for 1525 show a quarterly payment signifying about 316 yeomen,(8) so it is impossible to be precise about the number in this category who were discharged in 1526. Since many of the Guard held one or more offices from the king, however, it may be assumed that these totalled at least as many as those who held none, so that the number of 47 may legitimately be doubled. While those discharged from office no doubt felt aggrieved, retrenchment was not in itself an unusual occurrence, as has already been noted. The most radical change in the Eltham ordinances relating to the yeomen of the Guard affected those who remained. This was the regulation forbidding the yeomen to keep any servants in the court, or to allow them to enter it. Why should this be such a severe loss? An indication is given in the ordinances, where it is

1. A. G. W. Murray and E. F. Bosanquet, eds., 'Excerpts from the Manuscript of William Dunche', no. 3, The Genealogist, NS, 30 (1914) [hereafter Dunche (3)], pp.22-3.
2. BL Harley Ms. 1757, f.361v; LP Richard III and Henry VII, i, p.91.
3. E101/420/11, f.llr.
4. Ibid., f.lOr.
5. E36/215, f.203r. This figure represents 190 yeomen, although the accounts show that 170 were discharged - perhaps 20 were already receiving the fee.
6. E36/216, fos.20r, 31 v, 40v, 53r, 64v.
7. Ibid.
8. BL Egerton Ms. 2604, f.5r.

stated that the yeomen 'be not able at their own charge to give sufficient and honest living' to their servants.(1) This suggests that the servants of the Guard were kept at court partly at the king's expense. The Guard must have been by far the largest group of royal servants, and thus particularly vulnerable to reduction. There is evidence, for instance, that the Guard had an allocation of stabling for 120 horses and 60 beds for servants at about this time.(2) Although restrictions were also imposed on the numbers of servants that other officers were allowed to take into the court,(3) members of the Guard appear to have been the only group to be totally denied the presence of any of their personal servants. Elsewhere in the ordinances reference is made to the 'great confusion, annoyance, infection, trouble and dishonour that ensueth by the numbers as well of sickly, impotent, unable and unmeet persons as to rascals and vagabonds now spread, remaining and being in all the court, whereby also such noblemen and other of good behaviour as be allowed to have bouch of court be oftentimes disappointed of the same'.(4) In the section on the Guard it is stated that their servants added to the annoyance, infection and confusion at court, and no doubt part of the annoyance was concerned with difficulties experienced over bouch of court. As the servants were no longer to be allowed at court, presumably the members of the Guard would have to allow them some recompense at their own cost, just as some yeomen had received board wages from the king when the corps became too large to be accommodated within the household. [See chapter 4.]

There was a further reason why the loss of the servants' presence at court was so keenly felt by the Guard. According to Hall, the king was sometimes served by the servants of the Guard rather than the yeomen themselves.(5) The ordinances did in fact stipulate that all officers of the Chamber and household were to serve in person, and not by any substitute or other servants under them.(6) As mentioned earlier, this was a recurring problem and service within the royal household was expected to be performed in person. Therefore, the yeomen of the Guard not only had to find subsistence for their servants in future, but had to attend at court in person, thus curtailing their activities on any private business in which they were involved. Naturally, their personal fortunes varied; and as they grew older and less active they would be more likely to be adversely affected by a drop in their anticipated income. The yeomen who held other offices which could be served by deputies presumably still received

1. LC 5/178, pp.11-12; HO, p.147.
2. BL Cotton Ms. Vespasian C.XIV, f.264r; BL Harley Ms. 610, f.56r; BL Harley Ms. 642, f.l39r.
3. HO, pp.147-8.
4. LC 5/178, p.10.
5. Hall, p.707.
6. HO, pp.139 and 149.

income from these sources if they were unable to carry out the duties themselves. It was the yeomen without any other royal appointment who were the worst afflicted by their discharge from the Guard. Hall states that many of the Guard were far advanced in age, and that young men were put in the places of those discharged.(1) This statement certainly indicates a radical change in the personnel of the Guard. Obviously, something had to be done about a bodyguard which was becoming old and feeble, and the general reorganization of the royal household presented a suitable occasion.

The Eltham ordinances also introduced a separation of the offices of vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard. These appear separately in the list of officers who were to serve on a reconstituted council.(2) In addition, the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber for April 1529 indicate that bills for wages of Chamber personnel were signed by the vice-chamberlain and the captain of the Guard.(3) Sir John Gage is shown as vice-chamberlain in the royal accounts of 1528-9,(4) when Sir William Kingston was captain of the Guard. The two offices were again combined, however, when Sir Anthony Wingfield was appointed vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard, by 12 March 1539.(5)

Reforms of 1539/40
The provisions of the Eltham ordinances probably effected the most radical reform of the Guard since its foundation. The Cromwellian household reforms of 1539/40 increased wage rates generally and altered the source of wage payments, restoring to the cofferer of the household responsibility for paying household staff, as in previous reigns. From this time members of the Guard received £24 per annum. The Guard's complement of 80, set at the time of the Eltham ordinances, was evidently found to be insufficient for the king's needs since, as shown earlier, the 1540 reforms added a further eight members.(6) But even this number did not endure for long. In 1544, probably due to the French campaign of that year, the Guard had increased to 130,(7) and by July the number had reached 500.(8) The subsidy list of 1546 for the royal household names 128 yeomen of the Guard, including 16 yeomen ushers.(9)

1. Hall, p.707.
2. HO, p.159.
3. E101/420/11, f.32y.
4. E101/420/11, f.9r.
5. LP XIV i, 505.
6. LC 5/178, p.90.
7. Ibid., p.49.
8. LP XIX ii, 424.
9. E179/69/56.

Although Thomas Cromwell's reforms increased the Guard to 88, it was apparently sometimes difficult to find suitable recruits. In a letter to Cromwell of 31 March 1539, Sir Thomas Cheyne informed him that "the muster of the three hundreds in the Downs was very unsatisfactory, both in number and in personages; not one man seemed meet to be of the King's Guard'.(1)

Perhaps partly arising from this difficulty, Cromwell's reforms also instituted another body of royal servants. It was originally planned that this corps should consist of one hundred gentlemen of good birth, but the figure was subsequently halved to fifty.(2) Possibly Henry VIII was planning to follow the example of Louis XI of France, who in 1474 had formed a company of one hundred gentlemen who were experienced soldiers, each with two archers, to share protective duties with his ancient Scots bodyguard.(3) Unlike the case of the yeomen of the Guard, the foundation of the fifty gentlemen, later known as the spears or gentlemen at arms, is well documented. The reasons for instituting the new group of courtiers are indicated in a draft order (4) which refers to absenteeism in the king's Chamber, resulting in an insufficient number to wait upon him, as well as the need for young gentlemen to be trained in the arts of combat. The draft document also states that, like the yeomen of the Guard, the gentlemen were to serve in the king's Chamber, but whereas the yeomen of the Guard bore halberds, the gentlemen were to bear bills or pole axes. It also specified that the gentlemen were to receive livery gowns of velvet for winter and satin or damask for summer. The ordinances for this new band of gentlemen at arms survive only in an Elizabethan copy, which is more specific about the place of duty of the gentlemen, indicating that they were to serve the queen in the Presence Chamber.(5) No evidence has been found to indicate the effect on the Guard of the newly-created gentlemen at arms.

Later Changes
Some changes of personnel in the Guard took place in 1545. New appointees recorded in the State Papers, with a wage of £24 per annum, were:-(6)

Geoffrey Cawerden Geoffrey Keyting Edward Lewes
Roger Emerson Richard ap Robert Oliver Tatam
William Courtney William Cartwright Francis Wilmott
Thomas Edwardes Davy Williams John Beswike
John Baugh John Dewell Randall Rigges

1. LP XIV i, 633.
2. Tighe thesis, p.3, footnote 14.
3. Forbes-Leith, i, p.140.
4. BL Harley Ms. 6807, f .25; LP XHI ii, 1111.
5. BL Harley Ms. 6142; Tighe thesis, p.4; Sandeman, p.9. See HO, p.276.
6. LP XX ii, 1067, citing SP 4/1.

Edward Lawes Oliver Tatam Francis Wilmott John Beswike Randall Rigges

Those who were to be discharged, with 6d. a day for life, were named as:-(1)

David Phillips John Belson Thomas Gittons
Ralph Holford William Oliver Thomas Battersbie minor
John Hayman William Gibbes Robert Gibbes
John Tilcock Christopher Chapman Thomas Battersbie
Reynold Whitakers John Belson

was also to have the reversion of office as a yeoman waiter in the Tower.(2) Only one yeoman, John Perpoint, was to be discharged with a rate of 4d. a day for life.(3) The document in the State Papers detailing these changes can be used to date approximately the list of the Guard appearing in A Collection of Ordinances and Regulations of the Royal Household, where it is assigned to 1526,(4) and to verify another in William Dunche's account of royal household personnel, which is stated to be of 1539/40.(5) Those newly appointed appear on the former list (with the exception of Richard ap Robert, John Dewell and Randall Rigges), while all of those listed above as discharged in 1545 (with the exception of John Hayman) are included on Dunche's list. The former list therefore shows the Guard after the 1545 changes and the latter before they took place.

Officers of the Guard
Although the names of captains of the Guard are known, their precise dates of appointment have not been found, with one exception, as shown below.

Date appointed

By 1 March 1486 Sir Charles Somerset (later Lord Herbert, earl of Worcester) (6)
? 1508 Lord Darcy (to 11 May 1509) (7)
12 May 1509 Sir Henry Mamey (later Lord Mamey) (8)
? 1523 Sir William Kingston (9)
By 12 March 1539 Sir Anthony Wingfield (10)

In addition, Sir Richard Jemingham was captain of the Guard at Toumai, from 1513 to 1519,(11) when the garrison there was dismissed.

Since the captains were knights or peers, information about them is available in printed sources and it is not considered necessary to repeat this here. A few instances relating to their

1. Ibid.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. HO, pp.170-1; this agrees with the manuscript LC 5/178, p.49.
5. Dunche (3), pp .22-3.
6. Campbell, i, p.327, citing Lancaster Roll 98b.
7. E101/416/7; BL Harley Ms. 3504, f.254v; LP I i, 20, p.21; Leland, iv, p.304.
8. C66/611, m.33; C82/336; LP I i, 54 (9).
9. E101/420/11, f.l35v
10. LP XN i, 505.
11. E36/236, pp.331-347; LP H ii, p.1514; LP D i, 1762.

activities with the Guard are relevant. Sir Charles Somerset's role as captain of the Guard is shown in an Exchequer record of war payments covering Henry VII's French campaign in the latter part of 1492.(1) Further Exchequer accounts of May 1495 indicate that payments were made to Somerset as captain of the Guard for the supply of bows and arrows for the yeomen.(2) Somerset is also mentioned as being present with the Guard at the creation of prince Henry as duke of York in 1494,(3) and in 1501 he was commanded to see that the Guard was suitably arrayed and ranged for the official reception at court of Princess Katherine of Aragon.(4)

It is not known when Lord Darcy became captain of the Guard. He is shown as holding the office in a warrant to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe dated 1 December 1508, ordering livery of cloth for 'watching clothing' for the personnel of the king's Chamber.(5) His appointment probably dated from about 30 May 1508, when Charles Somerset (by then Lord Herbert) became lord chamberlain. On 11 May 1509 Darcy headed the Guard for the last time, on the occasion of Henry VII's funeral.(6) Sir Henry Mamey was appointed to the posts of vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard from 12 May 1509 (7) His patent stated that he was to serve 'in as ample a manner and form as the Lord Herbert or the Lord Darcy', which indicates that his two predecessors also held both offices. Mamey's patent represents the first formal recognition of the office of vice- chamberlain. Wardrobe warrants of November 1509, December 1510, January 1512 and December 1514 for personnel of the king's Chamber show his entitlement to livery of cloth as captain of the Guard.(8) Mamey served in the French campaign of 1513, when he had the misfortune to suffer a broken leg, caused by a kick from a horse as the troops were assembling.(9) In 1521, accompanied by 100 of the Guard, Mamey was responsible for arresting the duke of Buckingham, in the king's name.(10) Sir William Kingston was appointed captain of the Guard following Mamey's death, which occurred on 24 May 1523.(11) It is not known whether he was initially appointed vice chamberlain as well, but the two posts were evidently separated by 1526.(12) Nevertheless,

1. E36/285, p.18.
2. E404/81/1, m.19; E404/81/3, m.16.
3. BL Cotton Ms. Julius B.XII, f.91; LP Richard III and Henry VII, i, p.393.
4. BL Harley Ms. 69, f.25; Earl of Hardwicke, Miscellaneous State Papers from 1501 to 1726 (1778), i, p.ll.
5. E101/416/7, unfoliated.
6. BL Harley Ms. 3504, f.254v; LP I i, 20, p.21; Leland, iv, p.304.
7. C82/336; C66/611, f.33; LP I i, 54 (9).
8. E101 / 417/3, f.33,417/6, f.54,417/3, f.57 and 418/5, f.27.
9. LP I ii, 2391.
10. Hall, p.622.
11. Kingston, DNB, xi, p.186; Mamey, G. E. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, revised by V. Gibbs and later by H. A. Doubleday and Lord Howard de Walden, 13 vols. (1910-49), iii, p.523.
12. BL Harley Ms. 642, f.l42v; LC 5/178, p.26; LS13/278, p.201; HO, pp.153 and 159.

Kingston was described in Dunche's manuscript as vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard.(1) The accounts of Andrew Windsor, keeper of the Great Wardrobe, show that Kingston received livery of cloth as captain of the Guard in November 1524.(2) On 17 March 1531 Kingston was paid his expenses of £41.10s.l0d. incurred in travelling north with 24 of the Guard to attach cardinal Wolsey.(3)

Sir Anthony Wingfield's appointment as vice-chamberlain and captain of the Guard had been made by 12 March 1539.(4) On 24 July 1544 Wingfield was camped, with 500 of the Guard, at Causey Point, just outside Calais, in readiness to join the rest of the army with the king for the French campaign.(5) During this campaign Sir Richard Southwell, vice-treasurer of the middle ward (the king's ward) was commanded to deliver sums of money to Wingfield as captain of the Guard, for wage payments.(6)

One of the developments in the Guard during the later part of Henry VII's reign was the introduction of the office of clerk of the cheque to the Guard. The first reference to this office occurs at the beginning of the next reign, when the office-holder, Thomas Broke, sued for a pardon from Henry VIII.(7) The role of this officer was to check those on duty each day, for appropriate payment of their wages, which he paid from cash received from the treasurer of the Chamber. He also made payments to various tradesmen supplying materials and other items for the Guard, as well as for transport of the Guard's jackets and equipment. Following Broke's promotion to sergeant at arms in May 1513,(8) Lawrence Eglisfeld held the office. By a warrant of 24 June 1513 John Daunce was authorized to pay £2,000 from the war revenues to Eglisfeld, as clerk of the cheque to the Guard, for the Guard's wages.(9) Eglisfeld continued in office until his death, which occurred between 7 July and 1 October 1531.(10) He was followed by Griffith Rede,(11) who was in office for less than two years, since he had died by 8 February 1533.(12) Possibly Rede had been in poor health, since a few months before his death he had signified his willingness to vacate the office in favour of Robert Delwood, or Woode. One Robert Norwych wrote to Thomas Cromwell on 13 October 1532 in support of 'my brother

1. Dunche (2), p.147; LP XII ii, 1060, citing Heralds' College Ms. 1,11, f.37.
2. E36/224, p.55; LP IV i, 1673.
3. E101/420/11, f.l35tf PPE Henry VIII, p.115.
4. LP XIV i, 505 (and see 479).
5. BL Cotton Ms. Caligula E.IV, f.57; LP XDC ii, 424.
6. BL Additional Ms. 5753, f,141r; LP XIX ii, 524,1 (4).
7. LP I i, 438 (1), m.12.
8. LP 1,4047.
9. E36/61 (30); LP I ii, 2023.
10. PROB11/24 (8 Thower).
11. LPV, 1419.
12. LP VI, 196 (16).

Woode' for the office, if it should please the king.(1) Cromwell's 'Remembrances' of November 1532 include the cryptic note 'Robert Dell Woode and Griffith Reede'.(2) In October 1533 Delwood was described as clerk of the cheque of the king's Guard when granted the crown fee of 6d. a day for life.(3) Robert Delwood held the office until his death, which had occurred by June 1540.(4) On 27 October 1540 John Piers was described as clerk of the cheque to the Guard in the patent granting him the fee of the crown vice Robert Delwood, deceased.(5) Piers remained in office until his death about nineteen years later, in the reign of Elizabeth I.(6) One more officer should be mentioned in this category. Barnard Grete was described as 'late clerk of the cheque at Toumai' in a grant of 12 August 1520 (7).

Conclusion
Although developments within the Guard during Henry VII's time are somewhat difficult to assess, there is enough evidence to show that its complement fluctuated according to the king's requirements at any one time. This trend continued more markedly in the next reign, during which more detailed records appear to have been kept. These records indicate the active role played by the yeomen, and by the clerk of the cheque as the Guard's financial officer, which will be discussed in the next chapter.

1. LPV, 1419.
2. LP V, 1548, citing BL Cotton Ms. Titus B.I.429.
3. LP VI, 1383 (5).
4. LP XVI, 220 (37).
5. Ibid.
6. CPR Elizabeth 1558-1560 (1939), p.248.
7. LP Mi, 967 (12).

Chapter 3

Functions and Livery of the Guard

After a brief introduction indicating certain conditions relating to service in the royal household, this chapter discusses the various roles of the Guard, starting with the ways in which the yeomen protected the royal family. General duties within the court are then examined, followed by examples of the varied tasks performed by the yeomen when sent out of court on the king's business. The Guard's involvement with personal events in the lives of members of the royal family is then considered, and a section follows on a number of specific offices held by some of the yeomen. The accoutrements and clothing of the Guard are next described, since they are relevant to the concluding part of the chapter, which gives an account of the Guard's role in ceremonial events.

Conditions of service
Since the yeomen of the Guard were servants of the royal household, they were required to take an oath of allegiance to die king upon their appointment. A form of oath used for the Chamber staff generally is included in some of the household ordinances (1). When two brothers, John and Bartholomew Flamank, were nominated for the next vacancies in die Guard in September 1511, the captain of the Guard was commanded to give them immediately their oath as servants to the king.(2)

It is possible that the yeomen served at court for specific terms of duty, at least in theory. The Tudor household ordinances indicate that some royal servants attended quarterly while others served on a daily basis.(3) David Starkey has drawn attention to an order of April 1532 which divided the gentlemen of the Privy Chamber into two shifts each of six weeks, but which did not endure for long, since it was found to be impracticable.(4) It is clear from Tudor records that some of the yeomen attended the king more frequently than others, and this is probably true for most of the varied groups of royal servants attached to the Chamber. William Rolte, one of the Guard, was appointed to the next vacancy as a sergeant at arms to Henry VIII in November 1511, 'in consideration of the daily service done unto us', and which office he had already exercised by the king's commandment.(5) Robert Walker also appears to

1. BL Harley Ms. 4107, fos.l32v and 133r; BL Additional Ms. 21,116, fos.2 and 6v.
2. E101/417/7, m.136.
3. BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f.5r; BL Additional Ms. 34,319, f.3r; CA Ms. Arundel XVII/2, f.3r.
4. Starkey thesis, p.188; LP V, 927, citing BL Additional Ms. 9,835, f.24.
5. E101/417/7, m.128.

have attended the king frequently in the previous reign. In March of an unspecified year, possibly 1494, Henry VII commanded the officers of the Exchequer to pay without delay Walker's crown fee, which was half a year in arrears, 'considering his costs and charges sustained in giving attendance about our person'.(1)

Duties at Court
The chief function of the Guard was the protection of the king, his family and his property. One of Henry VII's heralds described the Guard as 'evermore standing by the ways and passages upon a row in both the sides where the king's highness should from chamber to chamber or from one place to another at his goodly pleasure be removed'.(2) The same herald, reporting on the pageants which took place to mark Katherine of Aragon's reception into London in 1501, related that the sixth pageant was witnessed by the king with Prince Arthur and some nobles, watching from a merchant's chamber, and by the queen with other members of the royal family in another chamber nearby, while 'above, in windows, leads, gutters and battlements stood many of the yeomen of the Guard'.(3) The protective role of the yeomen of the Guard included keeping order around the king's person as two incidents early in Henry VIII's reign well illustrate. First, at the tournament which followed the coronation in June 1509, the Guard was used to separate some of the eager contestants who had evidently become unruly.(4) Secondly, during the celebrations following the birth of Prince Henry early in 1511, the king had allowed some ladies and ambassadors present to take the gold letters from garments worn by himself and his companions, as a token of liberality. On seeing this, some of the onlookers, described by Hall as 'the common people', proceeded to divest the king and his companions of some garments, when 'the king's Guard came suddenly and put the people back, or else as it was supposed more inconvenience had ensued'.(5)

While the Guard was concerned particularly with security and control, other duties were allotted to the yeomen. As mentioned very briefly in chapter 2, the household ordinances of Henry VIII's reign incorporated portions of those evidently from Henry VII's time. One section in particular, headed 'The room and service belonging to yeomen of the crown of the Guard and of the king's chamber to do',(6) sets out the household duties of the three groups of

1. E404/81/3.
2. Ant. Rep., ii, p.258.
3. Ibid., p.277.
4. Great Chronicle, p.343.
5. Hall, p.519; H. Ellis, Original letters illustrative of English history, 11 vols., Series II (1827), i, p.187.
6. CA Ms. Arundel XVH/2, fos.l3v-15v; BL Additional Ms. 34,319, fos.l3v-15r. See also BL Additional Ms. 21,116, fos.!2r-13r; CA Ms. M.8, fos.l4r-16r; and RS Ms. 61, fos.llv-13v.

yeomen. It is clear that these duties overlapped to a considerable extent. The ordinances indicate that the yeomen bore torches when conveying the king to and from chapel; set up and took down the king's board (or table) in the Great Chamber; warned the relevant catering officers to prepare for the king's meals and waited on the sewer to bring in the king's meat; and gave water to the lord chamberlain, gentlemen ushers, chaplains, and knights and squires for the body to wash their hands.(1) Another duty of the yeomen was to assist in making the king's bed, in a manner fully described in the household ordinances.(2) At dinner and supper time a yeoman usher was required to pass up and down the Chamber to ensure good service and order.(3) Towards the close of each day a yeoman usher assisted a gentleman usher in the ritual known as All Night. This consisted of collecting various items of food and drink for the king which were delivered to the charge of the esquire for the body on duty in the Presence Chamber. The esquire for the body, who was responsible for taking a wax mortar to the king's bedchamber and for locking the doors, collected from the yeoman usher the roll of the watch for that night.(4)

It is evident that some of these duties were modified over a period of time. The 1521 ordinances show two sections describing how the king's bed should be made, one of which is referred to as 'the old order', with the proviso that it should be followed only if specially commanded by the monarch. This was an ancient ritual which included the direction that a yeoman with a dagger was to search the straw 'that there be no untruth therein', before the canvas and feather bed were laid upon the bed. The newer version omits this item, stating that a yeoman of the crown or Chamber was to 'leap upon the bed and roll up and down', smoothing the feather bed.(5) Both versions, however, set out precise instructions for the way the sheets, pillows and covers were to be placed upon the bed. It is unlikely that even the revised proceedings were used after the reforms-of 1518-19 and especially after 1526, when entry to the privy lodgings had become much more restricted.(6) Another modification may be seen in setting up and taking down the king's board for meals. The ordinances of 1493 specify

1. BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f.12; BL Additional Ms. 34,319, f.l4v.
2. BL Harley Ms. 642, f.216r; BL Harley Ms. 4107, f.106; BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f.20; RS Ms. 61, fos.25v-26r; HO, pp.121-2.
3. BL Additional Ms. 34,319, f.lOv; HO, p.153.
4. Hennell, p.150; see also Myers, p.119, and BL Harley Ms. 4107, f.l02r.
5. BL Additional Ms. 21,116, fos.l6r and 20v; BL Additional Ms. 34,319, f.l9r; BL Harley Ms. 2210, f.20v; RSMs. 61, f.17.
6. Starkey thesis, p.168.

that the board should be set up by two yeomen of the crown and taken down by two esquires,(1) while the 1521 ordinances show that two yeomen of the Chamber were to perform both tasks.(2)

The yeomen were also involved in controlling entry to the king's Great Chamber, and kept watch throughout the night, when they were required to 'search the king's chambers and all the king's place well and truly' every quarter of the night, for any dangers or mishaps such as fire, affrays, treasons, or noise which might disturb the king.(3) According to the household ordinances of 1493 and 1521, yeomen of the crown and yeomen of the Chamber were to sit outside the Chamber door when not actually serving within the Chamber.(4) A gentleman usher controlled entry to any chamber where the king happened to be, with the exception of his Privy Chamber.(5) When the king was in his Council Chamber, the gentleman usher was either to guard the door on the outside or hand over the duty to one of the lowliest in the council; and when the king was in his Secret or Privy Chamber the keeping of the door was to be transferred 'to such a one as ... should best content the king's mind and is accustomed thereunto'.(6) The ordinances of 1521 state that 'there ought to be waiting at all times at the king's Chamber door without or nigh thereunto where he is present a yeoman usher' (7). These regulations are similar to those shown in Edward IV's household ordinances dating from about 1471, where it is stated that a gentleman usher was to keep the door of the chamber where the king was present, while a yeoman usher was to be posted at the second chamber door, and a yeoman of the crown at the third chamber door, 'and there to come in yeomen of the crown yeomen of the chamber and other of the king's servants and such other as by him which keepeth the door shall be thought fit and convenient'.(8)

The yeomen ushers and yeomen on duty were required to be within the Great Chamber by 8 a.m. at the latest, giving their continual attendance unless given permission to leave by the lord chamberlain or, in his absence, the vice-chamberlain. A yeoman usher took charge of the Chamber, discharging the watch and ordering those arriving for duty to give their attendance. He was not allowed to leave the Chamber door without first giving the charge of it to another yeoman usher. The yeomen ushers and yeomen were empowered to remove any person they deemed unsuitable to be in the king's Chamber, referring doubtful cases to the lord

1. BL Harley Ms. 642, f.210v; BL Harley Ms. 4107, f,109v.
2. BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f,12v.
3. BL Additional Ms. 34,319, fos.l4v-15r; BL Additional Ms. 21,116, fos.l2r and 13r; see also BL Harley Ms. 2210, f.l5r.
4. BL Harley Ms. 642, f.210r; BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f.23v; HO, p.113.
5. BL Harley Ms. 642, f.207r; BL Harley Ms. 4107, f.l02r; BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f.4r; HO, p.109.
6. BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f.4v; see also BL Harley Ms. 2210, f.lOr.
7. BL Additional Ms. 21,116, f.8r.
8. BL Harley Ms. 2210, f.5.

chamberlain or, in his absence, the vice-chamberlain.(1) The yeomen therefore carried out the majority of their household duties in or around the Great Chamber. Nevertheless, in the words of Henry VII's herald quoted earlier, the yeomen of the Guard were positioned according to the king's movements 'from chamber to chamber or from one place to another'.(2) In common with other staff of the Chamber, however, they were liable to perform any other service which the king required, either within the court or beyond it.

Although all members of the royal family had their own household staff, the yeomen were sometimes required to serve them temporarily. Two members of the Guard, William Studdon and Thomas Hill, were described as yeomen of the Chamber when they were appointed to wait upon 'the Princess of Castile', Henry VIII's younger sister Mary, in November 1509,(3) and in December 1528 Nicholas Purfrey, described as late yeoman of the Guard, was giving his daily attendance upon 'the princess',(4) the king's daughter Mary. When the king's elder sister Margaret, Queen of Scotland, was staying at the English court in 1517, four yeomen of the Guard (Hugh Parker, Roger Witton, Robert Wythes and Robert Whelouse) were appointed to attend her.(5) Together with other royal servants, members of the Guard were assigned special duties for a particular event. On the occasion of Prince Arthur's marriage in November 1501 a yeoman usher, Thomas Lovell, was made responsible for the ordering of trumpeters and minstrels at the marriage ceremony and at the wedding feast.(6) At Anne Boleyn's coronation in 1533, John Bromefeld, Adam Holland, Lewis ap Watkin and Edmund Stoner were appointed to attend upon the queen;(7) and Henry Birde was nominated to superintend the 'servitors from the dresser' attending the mayor of London in the Great Hall, Westminster.(8)

Duties Outside the Court
When sent out of court on the king's business the yeomen were charged with a variety of tasks, the most common of which were transporting the king's correspondence or apprehending and guarding prisoners. Thomas Greenway received 16s. 8d. in September 1497, to cover his costs in 'riding for the ordnance',(9) and in November 1506 William Standon was

1. BL Harley Ms. 642, f.210; BL Harley Ms. 4107, fos.l09v, 117v-118v; BL Additional Ms. 21,116, fos.l0r-13r; BL Harley Ms. 2210, fos.l4v-15r; HO, pp.152-3.
2. Ant. Rep., ii, p.258.
3. E101/417/3, f.66.
4. E101/420/11, f.llr.
5. E36/215, f.259r.
6. Hardwicke, pp.13-14.
7. LP VI, 562, p.246, citing BL Additional Ms. 21,116.
8. Ibid., p.249.
9. E101/414/6, f.88r.

paid 40s. for "going about the king's business for his orchard at Oking'.(1) In May 1497 John Amyas received 13s. 4d. for his costs incurred in riding to the lord steward,(2) and in August of that year Richard Selman was reimbursed his expenses of 10s. for riding on the king's message.(3) Robert Whelouse received Is. 8d. in October 1520 for riding from Windsor to London with a letter to Robert Amadas.(4) In May 1504 Henry Hopkins and Thomas Jenet were paid 6s. 8d. for 'riding to Reading for two prisoners',(5) and in February 1514 Maurice Clonne and John Williams received a sum of 26s. 8d. for their costs lying in wait 'to take divers felons'.(6) Sometimes the members of the Guard were assisted by others, presumably with special knowledge of a particular area, since the royal accounts for February 1513 record a payment of £3 to 'guides going with certain of the king's Guard to take certain thieves in divers parts'.(7) In February 1541 John Piers, clerk of the cheque to the Guard, was sent with five others to Dover to apprehend one John Mason on his return from abroad, and to bring him before the council.(8) In the following month two former Eton scholars named John Hoorde and Thomas Cheney, who had confessed to robberies at their old college, were committed to the clerk of the cheque. (9) Again, comparisons may be seen with earlier yeomen of the crown, who had been used to make arrests. In 1468 Godfrey Greene mentioned in a letter to his master, Sir William Plumpton, that yeomen of the crown "had ridden into divers counties to arrest men that be impeached',(10) and Thomas Aldersey was one of the commissioners appointed to arrest Otewel Ratcliff in January 1478.(11)

The Guard was also employed when persons of note were arrested. Sir Henry Mamey, captain of the Guard, was accompanied by 100 of the yeomen when he arrested the duke of Buckingham in 1521,(12) and in 1530 Sir William Kingston, captain of the Guard, was sent to the earl of Shrewsbury at Sheffield castle 'with divers of the king's Guard for the conveyance of the cardinal of York to the Tower of London'.(13) According to George Cavendish, one of Wolsey's gentlemen ushers, there were 24 of the Guard present on this occasion, most of whom had

1. E36/214, f.54r.
2. E101/414/6, f.71v.
3. Ibid., f.83r.
4. E36/216, f.l08r.
5. BL Additional Ms. 59,899, f.55r.
6. E36/215, f.l45v.
7. LP II ii, p.1459 (King's Book of Payments).
8. BL Arundel Ms. 97, f.l73;LP XVI, 1489.
9. LP XVI, 611 and 615, citing Nicolas P.C.P., VH, 152,153.
10. T. Stapleton, ed., Plumpton Correspondence, Camden Society, 4 (1839), p.20.
11. CPR Yorkist, p.79.
12. Hall, p.622.
13. E101/420/11, f.l35v, Hall, p.774.

formerly served in the cardinal's own household. They were allegedly sent with Kingston to attend Wolsey, 'knowing best how to serve him'.(1)

The protection of the king's property included guarding his money. One such occasion was in 1489, when a sergeant at arms, John Jackson, was appointed to take the sum of £7,000 to Lord Broke, captain general of the army in Brittany. John Amyas with eight other yeomen provided an escort when the money was transferred from Westminster to Dartmouth.(2)

One of the more unusual duties carried out by the yeomen involved taking inventories for the king, possibly in connection with enquiries into religious foundations. In April 1529 Richard Forster and Reignold Whitacres were sent to Pilgrim's Hatch in Essex 'to take inventory by the king's commandment',(3) and in November of the same year the master of Jesus College, Cambridge, wrote to inform Cromwell that on the 13th 'Mr. John Wellysbum, esquire for the Body, and Mr. Thomas Halle, of Ipswich, came as commissioners from the king, with six yeomen of the Guard and their servants, eighteen persons in all. They have taken an inventory of all the plate and stuff, and of the building materials, and have taken away with them 24 copes, four vestments, etc. ...' (4) Apparently the commissioners stated that the king only wanted to see the items and, they supposed, would return them to the college.

Duties at Royal Events
Evidence of the Guard's presence is to be found on many occasions centring on the private lives of members of die royal family, some of which involved a certain amount of public display. These included christenings and weddings, as well as funerals. It is possible that the whole of the Guard, or a substantial part of it, performed a ceremonial role which is not mentioned in the surviving manuscripts because its presence was taken for granted. The facts that were recorded, however, show a closer, more personal, involvement. When Prince Arthur was christened in Winchester cathedral in September 1486, five yeomen of the Guard controlled access to the two entrances leading to the specially constructed stage erected there for the royal font.(5) Princess Margaret was christened at Westminster on 30 November 1489, when 120 torches were borne before the chapel by knights, esquires and other gentlemen, and yeomen of the crown.(6)

1. CA Ms. N51, f.84.
2. E405/75, f.46v. I am grateful to Prof. John Currin for assistance in translating this Latin reference.
3. E101/420/11, f.30.
4. LP IV iii, 6061.
5. BL Additional Ms. 6113, f.76v; Leland, iv, p.205; The Antiquarian Repertory, 4 vols. (1775-84), iv, p.194.
6. Leland, iv, p.254.

The yeomen of the Guard are mentioned several times in the herald's record of the celebrations following Prince Arthur's marriage, which continued for two weeks, in November 1501. After the king had heard mass and made an offering at St. Paul's church he was followed by Prince Arthur, the duke of Buckingham, the earls of Northumberland, Essex and Kent, other members of the nobility, and 'all the yeomen of his Guard, right well beseen'.(1) A few days later jousts and tournaments were held at Westminster, where several strong stages were built for spectators, one for the king and his entourage, and another next to it for the mayor of London and other dignitaries, as well as some for the 'honest and common people' who were allowed to watch from a suitable distance. The stages must have been very large, since the herald who recorded the event states that there came to the king's stage three hundred people of the royal and noble families, together with lords, knights, squires, gentlemen and 'yeomen of his Guard to his noble estate and grace awaiting'.(2) On the Friday night following, after an elaborate 'disguising' in Westminster Hall, there was a 'void in the manner of a banquet'. One hundred earls, barons and knights wearing gold collars and chains entered, divided into pairs, one of each pair bearing a spice plate and the other a cup. Yeomen of the Guard followed them with pots of wine to fill the cups, and the 'goodly multitude of estates and gentles' were served refreshments.(3) At the conclusion of the festivities a week later, die king departed for Richmond, where he arrived late in die evening, having been conveyed from Mortlake by torchlight. The torches were borne by three hundred or more gentlemen and yeomen of his Guard.(4) The next Saturday afternoon the yeomen were commanded to give a display of their archery skills, watched by the king and the Spanish visitors with him.(5)

When a member of the royal family died, the yeomen of the Guard were among the royal servants attending the funeral, together with the household servants of the deceased. On the occasion of Henry VII's funeral in May 1509, twelve members of the Guard were given the special duty of bearing the coffin of their founder from the west door of St. Paul's to the high altar (6) and the next day carried it into Westminster abbey.(7) As well as the king's servants, the funeral procession included aldermen, sheriffs, clerics, justices, lords, and the Mayor of London. Among those following the chariot carrying the late king's corpse were the duke of

1. Ant. Rep., ii, p.294.
2. Ibid., p.297.
3. Ibid., p.302.
4. Ibid., p.313.
5. Ibid.
6. Leland, iv, p.305, citing BL Harley Ms. 3504.
7. Ibid., p.306.

Buckingham, five earls, knights of the Garter, nine henchmen and Sir Thomas Brandon, master of the horse, then Lord Darcy, captain of the Guard, 'with the Guard and many other gentlemen'.(1) On such occasions, the yeomen of the Guard were usually on foot, holding their halberds reversed, that is upside down. At Jane Seymour's funeral in 1537, however, the yeomen were mounted, 'in their best order, three and three', led by their captain, Sir William Kingston.(2) Henry Vffl's burial took place in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on 16 February 1547. The coffin was conveyed into the choir by sixteen yeomen of the Guard on 15 February and the same number lowered it into the vault the next day, beside the coffin of the king's third wife, Jane Seymour.(3)

Special Offices
Occasionally one of the yeomen received an appointment to an additional office within the royal household or closely allied with activities in the king's service. The most notable of these offices was that of clerk of the king's ships, which will be described more fully in chapter 4, together with other naval activities in which the yeomen were involved. This post was held successively by Robert Brickenden from 1495 to 1523,(4) and by Thomas Jermyn, whose appointment dated from 3 April 1526.(5) John West, yeoman of the crown, was master of the king's barge from July 1497 until 1501/2.(6)

The diverse roles performed by certain individual yeomen show how royal servants were fully utilized in the functioning of the royal household. According to Edward IV's Black Book, it had been customary for certain offices in the royal household to be filled by yeomen of the crown. This applied particularly to the yeoman of the Wardrobe of Robes, yeoman of the Wardrobe of Beds, and the yeoman of the buckhounds, as well as to the offices of yeoman of the armoury and yeoman of the bows.(7) With the development of the Guard changes were undoubtedly introduced since, except for the last named office, other royal servants tended to be appointed to these positions. From the beginning of Henry VII's reign, however, Peter or Piers Warton had held the offices of keeper of the Little Wardrobe in the Tower of London, and keeper of the gates and houses of the inner ward of Windsor castle.(8) In August 1486 he was

1. Ibid., p.304.
2. LP XH ii, 1060, citing Heralds' Coll. Ms. 1.11, f.37; Dunche (2), p.147.
3. J. Pote, The History and Antiquities of Windsor Castle, and the Royal College, and Chapel of St. George (Eton, 1749), p.361.
4. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.17; LPBIii, 2992 (21).
5. LP IV i, p.954; LP Addenda I i, 68 (10); LP TV i, 546 (6).
6. E405/80, f.24v; E404/84.
7. Myers, pp.116-7,119.
8. E404/80, m.377; Campbell, ii, pp.74-5 and 192.

described as yeoman of the king's Beds.(1) It seems unlikely that the later holders of the office, or that of yeoman of the king's Wardrobe of Robes, would have served in the Guard. In July 1514 James ap Jenkin was granted, in survivorship with William Butler, a sergeant at arms, the keepership of the palace of Westminster, with tenements in Westminster palace called Paradise and Hell, together with other tenements, lands and houses.(2) John Gilmin may have had some musical aptitude, since he was appointed marshal of the king's minstrels on 17 October 1514.(3) In March 1530 Robert Kirk was granted the office, in survivorship with Humphrey Ferrar [undescribed], of clerk of the market in the king's household, with power to make enquiries concerning false weights and measures in England.(4)

Livery
Before proceeding to discuss the ceremonial role of the Guard, its general appearance will be described, in relation to the accoutrements or weapons carried and the apparel worn on different occasions.

As indicated in chapter 1, the weapons supplied for the use of the Guard were principally bows and arrows and halberds, but javelins were also included, at least in Henry VIH's reign. It seems probable that the yeomen provided their own swords, since they are not mentioned in the royal accounts. Evidence that they were carried is contained in a sketch which appears in an illuminated treaty of 1527, between Henry VIII and Francis I of France.(5) See Illustration 3. Two of the figures depicted appear to represent yeomen of the Guard, one holding a halberd and the other carrying a bow, while both bear swords. In earlier times, yeomen of the crown were evidently armed with swords, as Edward IV's Black Book stipulates that when on watch at night they were to be girded with their swords or other weapons.(6) An account itemizing ordnance and artillery supplies received by John Dawtrey during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII shows that 95 bows were delivered to Henry VII's yeomen of the Guard at an unspecified date,(7) and various accounts record the delivery of arrows to the Guard. In June 1499 the king's fletcher, John Young, delivered to Sir Charles Somerset, captain of the Guard, 70 sheaves of arrows, with cases and girdles.(8) One hundred and four leather cases for arrows, together with girdles, were ordered for the Guard from the king's fletcher, Walter Endiss, in

1. Campbell, i, p.571.
2. LP 1,5211; LP I i, 3107 (3).
3. LP 1,5504; LP I ii, 3408 (17).
4. LP TV in, 6301 (26).
5. E30/1114, p.l; LP IV ii, 3356/3.
6. Myers, p.117.
7. E36/3, f.7r.
8. E404/183.

July 1517,(1) and 108 sheaves of arrows with cases and girdles were ordered from William Temple, the king's fletcher, in July 1519.(2) Twelve halberds were supplied for the Guard in August 1518,(3) and in April 1520 Sir William Skevington, master of the Ordnance, received a payment of £91.6s. 8d. for gilt halberds and javelins for the Guard.(4)

While no firm evidence has been found that the Guard was equipped with bucklers, it seems likely, at least in Henry VIIIs time. The well-known picture at Hampton Court of the Embarkation at Dover for the Field of Cloth of Gold includes a yeoman of the Guard with a buckler over the hilt of his sword, and a page attending another member of the Guard is carrying a buckler. Although this pictorial representation cannot be regarded as firm evidence, it appears feasible that the sword-bearing Guard would be provided with bucklers. This view is reinforced by the fact that the queen's bodyguard carried bucklers on this celebrated occasion.(5) Furthermore, in the late 1520s a Welsh buckler maker named Geoffrey Bromefeld provided Henry VIII with a buckler,(6) and by 1531 he was receiving a wage of 2d. a day as the king's buckler maker.(7) He was described as a yeoman of the Chamber in 1539 (8) and a yeoman of the crown in 1539/40.(9) It is probable that he was related to John Bromefeld, a yeoman of the Guard.

As far as armour is concerned, Henry VII employed at least three armourers as early as 1486 (Vincent Tentelere, Ralph de Pontieu and William Rabarough),(10) and it would appear likely that they supplied armour for the Guard. The 200 pairs of brigandines which Henry VII ordered for 'yeomen' in April 1489 were presumably for the Guard.(11) Early in Henry VIII's reign workshops were set up at Southwark and Greenwich, where armourers from Germany, Milan and Brussels were employed.(12) The 'Almain' armourers were provided with a livery of red cloth.(13) When discussions were taking place on the detailed arrangements for the Field of Cloth of Gold of 1520, Henry VIII was informed by Sir Richard Wingfield, the deputy at Calais,

1. E101/418/10, f.18.
2. LP IE ii, p.1536 (King's Book of Payments).
3. Ibid., p.1479.
4. Ibid., p.1539.
5. LP mi, 852, p.295.
6. E101/420/11, f.16; Ifor Edwards and Claude Blair, 'Welsh Bucklers', The Antiquaries Journal, 62, part 1 (1982), section II by C. Blair [hereafter Blair, 'Welsh Bucklers'], pp.84-5. I am grateful to Mr. Henry James for drawing my attention to this article.
7. Ibid., citing E101 /420/11, f.l56v; LP V, p.324 (Treasurer of Chamber's Accounts).
8. LP XIV i, 904 (7); Blair,'Welsh Bucklers', p.87.
9. LP XV, 1032 (Books of the Court of Augmentations, p.566, citing Aug.Bk. 212, f.ll4b).
10. Campbell, i, pp.304 and 467.
11. E404/180, m.68.
12. LP I ii, 3608, pp.1496-7.
13. LP Dlii, p.1536.

that the French king's Guard 'always ride in their brigandines',(1) in case he wished his Guard to follow suit. There is no evidence that Henry VIII chose to emulate the French fashion in this respect, but the observation made certainly suggests that body armour was provided for the English Guard.

The clothing of the Guard took three different forms, according to the occasion. First, for royal funerals all household staff were allocated a quantity of black cloth from the Great Wardrobe, the yeomen of the Guard receiving four yards each.(2) Secondly, as part of the Chamber personnel, members of the Guard also carried out duties as yeomen of the Chamber. In this capacity they received an annual livery of cloth for their 'watching clothing', common to all Chamber staff, for their more routine duties on watch around the king's Chamber at night. This was issued from the Great Wardrobe, usually shortly before Christmas, and consisted of five yards of material, described either as russet cloth or as tawny medley. Warrants of both Henry VII's and Henry Vffl's time show that the material was to be 'of as good assuete (suit or sort) as it hath been used and accustomed'.(3) Although no details are available to show how the watching clothing was made up, it seems to have consisted of some type of gown and no doubt followed the fashions of the time. According to one authority russet cloth could be either a reddish brown or grey,(4) and there is evidence that some of the gowns were of 'crane colour' in Henry Vffl's time.(5) Significantly, the captain of the Guard was included in the livery of watching clothing, but naturally his material was of a superior quality. Whereas the yeomen's material cost 4s. Od. a yard, the captain received six yards of French tawny, at 13s. 4d. a yard, 'with a fur of good black buge',(6) which was lamb skin with the wool dressed outwards.(7)

The third form of clothing used for the Guard was the most important and significant. For their chief court duties the yeomen of the Guard were clad in the Tudor livery of white and green, which gave emphasis to their role as part of the king's retinue within the royal affinity. This is not to say that they were the only royal servants to wear the king's colours, since others included the clerk of the navy,(8) the master of the barge and the bargemen,(9) as well as some of

1. LP mi, 806.
2. LC 2/1, fos.61,122v-123r, 131,134r and 171r.
3. E101/415/7, f .152; E101/416/7; E101/417/3, f.33.
4. J. R. Planche, A Cyclopedia of Costume, 2 vols. (1876,1879), i, p.438.
5. BL Egerton Ms. 3025, f.32v.
6. BL Egerton Ms. 3025, f.l6v; E315/456, f.llv; LP XIV ii, 238. See also E101/417/3, f.33; E101/417/4, f.l7v; E36/209, f.l2r.
7. Planche, i, p.63.
8. BL Egerton Ms. 3025, fos.30v-31r.
9. E101/415/7, f.62.

the minstrels (1) and footmen.(2) Nevertheless, it is evident from the many references in royal records that the coats or jackets worn by the members of the Guard were particularly distinctive and costly. Details included in the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber and in warrants from the king to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe indicate that the Guard wore two kinds of livery jackets: those described as 'the rich jackets' or 'the best sort' and others described as 'of the second sort'. Most of these warrants, authorizing the supply of material to be delivered to the yeoman of the Robes, described it merely as 'cloth', but some were more specific. Others actually called for jackets, occasionally with some further description, but almost invariably the colours of white and green were mentioned.

The number of jackets ordered varied according to need at the time, whether for new recruits or to replace worn-out jackets, or as a new consignment for the whole corps, and could be anything from 20 to 200. In March 1497, 24 jackets of white and green were ordered for yeomen of the crown, with bases of white and green.(3) The bases were shaped like a kind of short skirt tapering from the waist of the jacket.(4) The material was not actually mentioned in this particular case, but a warrant of 2 June 1499 shows that 20 jackets were made for the king's Guard, each being half of white woollen cloth and half of green woollen cloth, costing 3s. 4d. a yard. The jackets cost 16d. each to be made, and they were embellished with goldsmiths' work and embroidery. The goldsmith John Vandelf was paid £6. Os. 8d. and the embroiderer, William More, received £9.(5) On 2 November 1501, one hundred jackets were ordered for the Guard, of white and green cloth with sleeves and bases, and were described as 'of the second sort'.(6) In February of an unspecified year, perhaps 1505, John Vandelf was paid £200 for making two hundred rich jackets for the king's Guard.(7) A further detail was included in a warrant of 28 October 1508, requesting rich jackets of white and green cloth for the Guard. The manuscript is faded where the number of jackets is given, but it was possibly 14. These were to have bases and demi sleeves, with a border of blue cloth of gold of tissue.(8)

The only contemporary description of Henry VII's Guard was written by a herald who was present at the ceremonies marking the marriage of Prince Arthur with Katherine of Aragon in November 1501. The yeomen of the Guard were clothed in 'large jackets of damask,

1. E101/414/8, f.40; E101/415/7, f.110.
2. E101/412/20, f.26.
3. E101 /414/8, f .28; Beard, p.94; Hennell, p.288.
4. Planche, i, pp.35 and 114.
5. E36/209, fos.23v and 28r.
6. E101/415/7, f.54.
7. E101/415/16, f.l2v.
8. E101/416/7, f.3.

white and green, goodly embroidered both on their breasts before and also on their backs behind, with round garlands of vine branches, beset before richly with spangles of silver and gilt, and in the middle a red rose, beaten with goldsmiths' work, with bright halberds in their hands'.(1) These jackets were probably similar to what was known as horsemen's coats of the time, closely fitting the body, with wide bases from the waist to the knees,(2) and they were undoubtedly the rich jackets.

Except for the occasion of Henry VIII's coronation in June 1509, when all of his household servants were dressed in red or scarlet,(3) the Guard continued to wear the Tudor colours into the next reign. A further detail is shown in some of the warrants early in the reign, where it is stated that the jackets were to be 'bordered and guarded' with crimson velvet or crimson cloth of gold of tissue. The style still included half sleeves and bases.(4) Henry VIII spent vast sums of money on arraying his Guard. The royal accounts for March 1512 show that a total of £548.0s.lld. was paid for gilt and white spangles and embroidery for an unspecified number of jackets for the Guard, including silks, cloth of gold and tinsel satin.(5) The 600 placards of green satin of Bruges supplied for the Guard in May 1514 were embellished with silks and gilt and white spangles, costing the sum of £1,083.11s. 5d.(6) Placards, or stomachers, were the forerunners of waistcoats (7).

From this time some variations were made in the Guard's attire, at least for special events. At the time of Princess Mary's marriage with Louis XII of France in October 1514, the duke of Suffolk, Charles Brandon, was sent in embassy to the French king, attended by 18 yeomen of the Guard. Fifty-four yards of black velvet at 12s. Od. a yard were supplied for their doublets, together with 18 yards of green satin of Bruges and 36 yards of white satin of Bruges at 2s. 4d. a yard, and 54 yards of white fustian at 9d. a yard.(8) Their coats were of scarlet cloth costing 8s. Od. a yard, of which 84 yards were used,(9) and the coats were trimmed with 27 yards of black velvet.(10) Eighteen caps were supplied by the king's capper, Bartholomew Wale, at 2s. 4d. each.(11) Unfortunately, no information survives on the colour of these caps. In June 1515 green

1. Ant. Rep., ii, p.258.
2. Beard, pp.93-4.
3. LC 9/50, f.219v; BL Harley Ms. 6079, f.22r.
4. E101/417/3, f.7; E101/417/6, fos.47 and 80; LP I i, 1073 and 921
5. LP II ii, p.1455 (King's Book of Payments).
6. Ibid., p.1464.
7. Planche, i, p.401.
8. SP1/230, f.289r.
9. Ibid., f.299.
10. Ibid., f.289r.
11. Ibid., fos.292r and 300r.

cloth was ordered for 132 coats for the Guard,(1) and in July 1518 123 coats of green cloth and three of red cloth were embroidered for the Guard. Presumably the red coats were for yeomen ushers, or petty officers of the Guard. The embroidery on the green coats cost 6s. 8d. each, and that on the red coats cost 5s. Od.(2) It seems that Henry VIII was already contemplating changing the colour of the Guard's livery coats by this time, since for the Garter ceremony in May 1519 the Guard wore rich coats of scarlet, set with spangles of silver and gilt.(3) These were probably the spangles for which Robert Amadas, the king's goldsmith, was paid £1,419.18s. 2d. two months previously.(4)

It may be that King Henry was anticipating the great ceremonial event of 1520 known as the Field of Cloth of Gold. For this occasion each yeoman of the Guard had two coats: one was described as being of goldsmiths' work, with the king's cognizance, and a scarlet base guarded at its lower part by cloth of gold, and the other as red cloth with a rose and crown imperial, 'after such form and manner as the riding coats be now'.(5) These in fact would appear to have been the rich coats and the coats of the second sort, often referred to in the royal warrants and accounts. The well-known picture of the Field of Cloth of Gold which is at Hampton Court was painted by an unknown artist or artists at least twenty-five and perhaps fifty years later. Although it is of great interest it cannot be accepted as an entirely reliable record as far as details of colour are concerned. Apart from artists' licence in these matters, some colours may have been altered in restoration work. It has often been noted that although the yeomen of the Guard are wearing identical jackets in this picture, the colour of their caps, hose and stockings varies. It does not seem plausible that this would have been the case. Official records of the event show that the Guard were to have doublets, hose and caps 'of one suit', presumably meaning identical.(6) This evidence is reinforced by the survival of a more detailed account of Queen Katherine's bodyguard on the same occasion. The materials supplied for her 55 yeomen consisted of:- white satin for the doublets, green velvet for the coats, crimson velvet for arrow girdles, white kersey for the hose, and Milan bonnets.(7) Since all the members of the queen's guard were dressed in identical colours it seems most unlikely that the king's were clad in varying colours.

1. E101/418/5, f.14.
2. SP1/232, f.79; LP Addenda I i, 214.
3. CA Ms. N50, f.39v; Anstis, i, App. p.xii.
4. LP ffl ii, p.1535 (King's Book of Payments).
5. LP Mi, 704 and 704/2.
6. Ibid.
7. LP mi, 852.

Slightly varying descriptions of the attire worn by the English king's Guard are preserved in contemporary French records, most of which mention the colours of white and green. One report describes the jackets as white and green satin with a rich rose on the breast and back.(1) Another states that the jackets were of white and green velvet, while the same source also describes jackets of red cloth with a rich rose on the breast and back.(2) A letter sent from the court of France to the Magnifico Pietro Montemerlo, royal senator, stated that on 5 June when the English king and his court arrived at Guisnes the Guard wore doublets of green velvet and white satin, the breast of the doublets bearing the rose surmounted by a crown.(3) Another report covering the English king's arrival at the Field on 7 June described the Guard as clad in doublets of white and green velvet 'in chequers', with the royal badge of the rose embroidered on their breasts.(4) Presumably these were jackets or tunics rattier than doublets, and this may have been a question of translation, from Sanuto's diaries. These variations may be due partly to what the writer observed and thought worthy to record, as well as to differences in attire worn for separate events. An English description of Cardinal Wolsey's cavalcade on making initial contact with the French king before the celebrations began states that the fifty yeomen of the king's Guard bringing up the rear were clad in red cloth jackets, with a gold rose before and behind.(5)

It appears that the livery coats were officially changed to red cloth in June 1526. The king made an order that he had determined to give livery coats, as well to the Guard as to all other yeomen, grooms, pages and children of the Chamber, Household, Chapel and Stable. This order is somewhat unusual, since it was addressed to the two clerks of the Green Cloth and the clerk controller, rather than to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe.(6) It was no doubt connected with the reorganization of the royal household which was taking place at the time arising from the Eltham ordinances, the details of which took several months to finalize. The sum of £56.18s. 8d. was paid to Lawrence Eglisfeld, yeoman usher of the Chamber and clerk of the cheque to the Guard, to buy 2131 yards of broad cloth of red colour for 60 yeomen of the Guard, at 5s. 4d. a yard. Various yeomen of the Chamber and Wardrobes were to receive red cloth worth 4s. 8d. a yard, while the 28 grooms and pages of the Chamber and Wardrobes were

1. Beard, p.97, citing La description et ordre du camp, 1520, p.4.
2. Ibid., pp.97 and 103, citing Lordonnance et ordre du toumoy, etc., Lordre de lentrevue, p.ll.
3. R. L. Brown, ed., Calendar of State Papers and Manuscripts existing in the archives and collections of Venice 1520-1526, iii (1869) [hereafter Cal. State Papers, Venetian], 68.
4. Ibid., 50.
5. LP HI i, 870.
6. BL Cotton Ms. Vespasian C.XIV, fos.269v-270v; LP IV iii, App. 63.

to have red cloth costing 4s. Od. a yard.(1) A further detail of the decoration on the Guard's jackets is indicated in an account of December 1528, when William Mortimer, the king's embroiderer, was paid £18. 4s. Od. for embroidering 62 coats of red cloth with the rose and the crown imperial.(2) This included five yards of crimson satin for the roses at 8s. Od. a yard, and two yards of white satin of Bruges at 4s. a yard. These jackets were presumably of the second sort, since the roses were of satin rather than of goldsmiths' work.

The only contemporary pictorial representation of yeomen of the Guard during the early Tudor period appears in an illuminated border in one of a series of documents forming the Treaty of Amiens, ratified in August 1527.(3) This has already been mentioned on page 59 in connection with the accoutrements borne by the Guard. The two yeomen depicted are dressed in striped tunics or sleeveless jackets of white and green, with a broad gold band round the neck and a gold crowned rose on the breast. The doublets appear to have been originally white, but the paint has oxidized over the centuries, resulting in slight discoloration, giving a mauvish grey hue.(4) One yeoman wears scarlet stockings and a gold coloured cap, the other white stockings and a black cap. This pictorial description of the yeomen is particularly valuable since it shows their apparel before the change to red livery took place, and accords with some of the reports quoted from 1520.

Since the documents were prepared in France,(5) it seems probable that the illustrator based his depiction of the English yeomen on information recorded in 1520. The visual impact made by the Guard is evident from reports made by foreign diplomats following their visit to the English court. These show not only that the visitors were suitably impressed by the appearance of the Guard, but again that there were variations in the apparel worn. The Venetian ambassador, reporting on his visit to Richmond palace in 1515, includes a rare description of the Guard wearing body armour:

'... we were conducted to the presence, through sundry chambers all
hung with most beautiful tapestry, figured in gold and silver and in
silk, passing down the ranks of the bodyguard, which consists of 300
halberdiers in silver breast-plates and pikes in their hands; and,
by God, they were all as big as giants, so that the display was
very grand.'(6)

The more restrained report of the duke of Nagera's visit to the English king in February 1544 described the progress of the duke's party 'through three halls hung with tapestry, in the

1. Ibid.
2. LP V, p.306 (Accounts of Treasurer of Chamber).
3. E30/1114,p.l.
4. C. C. P. Lawson, A History of the Uniforms of the British Army, 5 vols. (1941-67), iii, p.25.
5. D. R. Starkey, ed., Henry VIII: A European Court in England (1991) [hereafter European Court], p.78.
6. Rawdon Brown, i, p.85.

second of which stood on either side the king's bodyguard, dressed in red and holding halberds'.(1)

Further descriptions of Henry VIII's Guard on special occasions have survived. The chronicler Edward Hall stated that when the Guard left Greenwich in 1513 to travel to France, all 600 were dressed in white gaberdines (a kind of cloak) and caps.(2) French sources describing Henry VUI's triumphal entry into Toumai on 25th September 1513, following the surrender of the city, reported that the yeomen of the Guard wore tunics of white and green, with collars and cuffs of cloth of gold, and a red cross on the front and back.(3) Unless the report was in error, this appears to have been a rare occasion when a cross was worn rather than a rose on the Guard's jackets, but of course the red cross of St. George was the usual emblem worn at the time by English soldiers, who were traditionally clothed in white.(4)

Great care was taken in keeping the Guard's costly jackets in good order. John Piers and John Belson, yeomen of the Guard, were paid 6s. Od. by the treasurer of the Chamber in February 1538, for themselves and four women 'to brush and air the rich coats' for two days.(5) During Henry VIII's reign the royal accounts contain numerous references to the transportation and storage of these jackets, which were kept in large containers or chests known as standards.(6) Usually two carts were needed to move them from place to place as required. Thomas Broke (clerk of the cheque to the Guard) was paid 9s. 6d. in September 1510 to cover the cost of transporting the jackets 57 miles from Salisbury to Romsey, then to Bishop's Waltham, Portchester, Agam, and Waltham.(7) In April 1519 Lawrence Eglisfeld (then clerk of the cheque) received 3s. 8d. to pay for two carts to take the standards with the rich coats of the Guard from Greenwich to Richmond.(8) In July 1520 Eglisfeld was reimbursed £6. 2s. Od. for transporting the coats from London to Calais and Guisnes and return. He had to wait until January 1521 for the 6s. 8d. in respect of the hire of accommodation to house the coats and the accoutrements of the Guard while in Calais.(9)

The coats were stored in rented premises rather than in one of the palaces or standing wardrobes. In July 1516 John Champneys of Greenwich was paid for the rent of a room for the

1. LP XDC i, 296, p.189, citing BL Additional Ms. 8,219, f.l30b.
2. Hall, p.539.
3. Cruickshank, Toumai, p.ll, citing A. Hocquet, Toumai et Voccupation anglaise (Toumai, 1900), v, p.92, and A. G. Chotin, Histoire de Toumai et du Toumesis, ii (Toumai, 1840), p.93.
4. The Hon. J. W. Fortescue, A History of the British Army, second edition, 14 vols. and 6 vols. of maps (1910-30), i,pp.ll0-lll. 5. BL Arundel Ms. 97, f.lv; LP XDI ii, 1280.
6. Beard, p.98.
7. E36/215, f.39r; LP II ii, p.1447 (King's Book of Payments).
8. E36/216, f.40v.
9. E36/216, fos.99r and 121r.

great standards and coats of the Guard, for seventeen weeks at 4d. a week, and 8d. for removing them into his house;(1) and in January 1517 Lawrence Eglisfeld was reimbursed for renting space in 'Amadas's house at Greenwich' for fifteen weeks for the same purpose (2). This was probably the house of John Amadas, a yeoman of the Guard, since a payment of 12s. Od. was made to him in October 1517 for the hire of a house for the standards and coats for eighteen weeks.(3) Later in the reign a quarterly rent was paid for storage of the standards with the rich jackets. In June 1538, for example, Robert Delwood, clerk of the cheque, received 6s. 8d. from the treasurer of the Chamber for renting accommodation in London for the standards with the rich coats of the Guard for one quarter.(4) Similarly, for the Midsummer and Michaelmas quarters of 1542 John Piers, then clerk of the cheque, received payments of 6s. 8d. for renting a house for the same purpose.(5)

Ceremonial Events
A particularly important event in the lives of kings and queens was their coronation, which was also a public spectacle. Although few details have been found for the Guard's role at coronations, the corps appeared in the great procession which customarily took place on the eve of the ceremony. In June 1509 three hundred of the Guard were included in the procession, 'wearing the old king's livery', the greater part of them carrying bows and arrows and the rest halberds and other weapons.(6)

Ceremonies connected with the creation of a prince or a royal duke were always important occasions, but the creation of Henry VII's second son Henry as duke of York was of particular significance. This took place in the parliament chamber on 1 November 1494, the day after the prince had been dubbed a knight.(7) The creation was a shrewd political move which served to emphasize the unity of York and Lancaster, while showing that the previous duke of York was dead and that Perkin Warbeck was an impostor.(8) It is recorded that the procession which took place after the creation ceremony included Sir Charles Somerset with the Guard.(9) Upon Prince Henry's creation as Prince of Wales on 18 February 1504, a sum of 3s. 4d. was given to the yeomen of the Guard who 'watched', i.e. kept vigil.(10) Sometimes

1. E36/215, f.230v; LP D ii, p.1472.
2. E36/215, f.247r; Ibid., p.1474.
3. Ibid., p.1476.
4. BL Arundel Ms. 97, f.20v; LP Xm ii, 1280.
5. BL Stowe Ms. 554, fos.l7r and 34v.
6. Great Chronicle, p.340.
7. BL Cotton Ms. Julius B.XII, f.91; LP Richard III and Henry VII, i, pp.391-3.
8. S. Anglo, Spectacle, Pageantry, and Early Tudor Policy (Oxford, 1969), p.53.
9. BL Cotton Ms. Julius B.XII, f.91; LP Richard III and Henry VII, i, p.393.
10. BL Additional Ms. 46,354, f.25v. I am grateful to Miss Frances Devereux for this reference.

individuals made payments to the members of the Guard who had performed a personal role at a ceremony. When Sir John Legh of Stockwell, Surrey, became a knight of the Bath on the occasion of Prince Arthur's marriage in November 1501, he paid 2s. Od. to 'yeomen of the Guard that watched'.(1)

As well as the more personal events relating to the royal family, there were various annual festivals and special ceremonies in which the king's Guard had a role. One of the annual events was a solemn feast held at Windsor at Whitsuntide 'to the honour of God, St. George and the noble Order of the Garter'. A detailed account of the proceedings has survived for 27 May 1519, with a description of the traditional procession.(2) This records that Sir Henry Mamey, captain of the Guard, was not in the accustomed place leading the Guard, because he was also a knight of the Garter and was with the other knights of the Order going before the king. His place at the head of the Guard, following the nine henchmen and the master of the horse who came immediately after the king, was therefore taken by Sir Robert Wingfield, described as deputy to Sir Henry Mamey. After Wingfield there followed on horseback three hundred 'likely personages well beseen yeomen of the Guard [and] in rich coats of scarlet set with spangles of silver and gilt'. Lawrence Eglisfeld, clerk of the cheque to the Guard, came after them, also mounted.(3)

The description of the 1519 Garter ceremony also includes the scene during the church service as well as at the feast following. The yeomen of the Guard were present within the church, positioned along both sides, during the procession which wound its way through the chancel, the north and south aisles and the choir, to the high altar.(4) At the Garter feast the yeomen carried the dishes to the board, and 'none did service in carving, bearing of cups and sewing under the degree of a Gentleman, but the yeomen of the king's Guard'.(5)

Another annual event was the celebration of Easter. Although no precise details have been found for the Guard's involvement, evidence of its presence is shown in the royal accounts. In Lady quarter 1530 John Gittons, yeoman of the Guard, received 13s. 4d. for hiring two carts from London to Windsor and back, with the rich coats of the Guard 'against the feast of Easter';(6) and in 1540 John Belson and Ralph Holford were reimbursed their costs of 14s. 8d.

1. BL Harley Ms. 41, f .17r.
2. CA Ms. N50, f.39v; Anstis, i, App. p.xii.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., p.xvii.
5. Ibid., p.xx.
6. E101/420/11, f.8)y.

for transporting the Guard's coats between London and Hampton Court for 'the time of Easter'.(1)

Some of the king's movements can be traced through the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber, which show that the Guard accompanied the king upon his progresses. In July 1538, for instance, John Piers and John Belson, yeomen of the Guard, were paid for conveying 77 bows, 77 sheaves of arrows and three javelins from the Tower and from the king's fletchers 'for the yeomen of the Guard to ride with the king in his progress'.(2) Similarly, John Belson and Ralph Holford were paid their costs of 3s. Od. in 1539, for 'going to the Tower of London to set out bows and javelins for the Guard to serve the king in his Grace's progress', and for a barge to convey the bows and javelins plus 77 sheaves of arrows from the Tower to the clerk of the cheque's lodging at Strand bridge.(3)

Since the Guard was founded partly to provide the king with a spectacular retinue as a means of enhancing the reputation of his court, it held a position near the sovereign at the formal reception of important visitors from overseas. When the emperor Charles V visited England in June 1522, he was accompanied into London by Henry VIII in a sumptuous manner. An elaborate tent of cloth of gold had been set up on the approaches to London, where the king and his guest had separate apartments to prepare themselves. Both were attired in identical coats of cloth of gold, embroidered with silver. In Hall's words the heralds had appointed every man their room' and they set out in order, 'richly apparelled in cloth of gold, tissue, silver, tinsel and velvet of all colours', and 'there lacked no massye chains nor curious collars'. Each Englishman was accompanied by a visitor, riding together and paired according to their rank. Following Henry VIII and the emperor were heir henchmen, the king's in coats of purple velvet and the emperor's in coats of crimson velvet. Then came the captains of the Guards, followed by the emperor's Guard on the right hand and the English Guard on the left hand.(4) Unfortunately, the attire of the English Guard was not described on this occasion.

Elaborate arrangements were made to welcome Henry VIII's fourth queen, Anne of Cleves, when she proceeded to Greenwich in January 1540. In the great procession which made its way through Greenwich park the Guard followed the king after the sergeants at arms, the master of the horse and the henchmen.(5) This event marked the first appearance of the

1. BL Arundel Ms. 97, f.115v.
2. BL Arundel Ms. 97, f.27v.
3. Ibid., f.82v; LP XIH ii, 1280.
4. Hall, p.637.
5. LP XV, 10.

newly-founded gentlemen at arms, who, together with other gentlemen and knights, lined the route through Greenwich park to the meeting place with the new queen. After the royal meeting, the captain of the Guard returned with the yeomen to Greenwich, to position the Guard at suitable places in the palace where they could ensure good order and keep out any persons who had no legitimate business there.(1) The royal accounts show that John Belson and Ralph Holford, yeomen of the Guard, received their costs for selecting and sending 100 sheaves of arrows and 31 bows for the Guard from the Tower to the king's fletcher's house on London bridge, 'against the meeting of the queen's grace', as well as going to Greenwich to collect 100 halberds.(2)

During the embassy sent from France in 1518 great care was taken to pair off the officers involved from both countries according to their rank, and to ensure equal numbers. On 27 September when the earl of Surrey, as lord high admiral of England, received the ambassadors led by the admiral of France, 24 of the French king's Guard accompanied 24 of the English Guard.(3) In July 1546 members of the Guard were in attendance during the further visit of the admiral of France. A gentleman usher was appointed marshal of the admiral's lodging, assisted by ten yeomen of the Guard, who were to have half a dozen horses with footcloths ready to bring the ambassador and his party from their boat to their lodgings. In addition, 81 members of the Guard extraordinary were in attendance from 6 July 'during the continuance of the admiral here', each receiving wages of 16d. (or Is. 4d.) a day.(4)

The Guard's role was sometimes extended beyond the royal family and out of the court, notably for diplomatic occasions. Early in 1514, when the provost of Toumai travelled to England for a meeting with Henry VIII, he was accompanied by two yeomen of the Guard, Francis Graunt and Anthony Woodeshaw.(5) As already mentioned, the duke of Suffolk was attended by 18 yeomen of the Guard when he was sent as ambassador to Louis XII of France in October 1514. At this time the marriage took place of Henry VIII's sister, Princess Mary, with the French king, fulfilling one of the conditions of the peace treaty of July 1514, in the aftermath of the 1513 war.(6) Sir Henry Guildford also went to Paris in October 1514, to attend the jousts following the coronation of the new French queen, when he was accompanied by

1. LP XIV ii, 572, p.200, citing Chronicle of Calais, p.167.
2. BL Arundel Ms. 97, f.101 v; LP XIV ii, 781.
3. Hall, p.594.
4. LP XXI i, 1384, citing Vesp. C.XIV, pt. 1,67; 1424 and 1516.
5. E36/215, f.l48v.
6. SP1 /230, fos.292r, 299r, 299v, 300r; LP I ii, 3426.

two sergeants at arms and twenty yeomen of the crown and king's Guard.(1) On several occasions cardinal Wolsey's retinue included a number of the king's Guard when he went in embassy to the French king. These included the visit to Calais in July 1521, when Wolsey was sent with die earl of Worcester, lord chamberlain, and a total of 460 lords, knights and gentlemen, to entreat for peace between Francis I and the emperor Charles V (2). Another instance was during the first stage of the ceremonies at die Field of Cloth of Gold, when fifty of the king's Guard brought up the rear of the cardinal's procession upon his initial embassy to the French king at Ardres.(3)

The Field of Cloth of Gold presented the occasion of the most costly and ostentatious spectacle of Henry VIII's reign. The main purpose of this celebrated event was to enable the kings of England and France to meet personally, which they had not done before, and to ratify the treaty of London, which had been concluded in October 1518. This treaty, principally between England and France but incorporating all the other European powers, was intended to ensure perpetual peace among those involved.(4) The meeting, and its associated festivities extending over nearly two weeks, took place in a valley known as the golden dale, between Guisnes and Ardres, early in June 1520.(5) The days were filled with a variety of activities, notably jousting, feasting and dancing, as well as serious negotiations, and the total number of participants from the English court has been estimated as at least 6,000.(6) Sir Henry Mamey, captain of the Guard, had been commanded to appoint 200 of the 'tallest and most elect persons' of the Guard to attend, and to see that 100 provided themselves with suitable horses.(7)

Apart from its function of providing a magnificent retinue for Henry VIII, the Guard performed several other duties during the celebrations. There was great suspicion on both the French and English sides as to the other's intentions and each carried out an inspection to check whether the other was armed. It was found that, in accordance with the articles for the meeting, all were unarmed (8). Prior to the initial meeting of the kings, troops of each country were stationed in the fields around the appointed meeting place. Henry VIII commanded that his Guard be in the van, 'the breast of the battle'.(9) When he finally departed from Guisnes for

1. SP1/230, f.319r; 7; J. G. Nichols, ed., The Chronicle of Calais in the Reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII to the year 1540, Camden Society, 35 (1846) [hereafter Chronicle of Calais], p.16.
2. Hall, p.625.
3. LP mi, 869.
4. European Court, p.76.
5. J. G. Russell, The Field of Cloth of Gold. Men and manners in 1520 (1969), App. C, p.210.
6. Russell, p.2.
7. LP Eli, 704.
8. Col. of State Papers, Venetian, iii, 50.
9. Hall, p.608; Russell, pp. 95 and 101; see also Col. of State Papers, Venetian, iii, p.21.

his first meeting with Francis I on 7 June, Henry Vm was accompanied by 60 noblemen and 60 of his Guard on horseback with javelins. These numbers matched those to be used by the French king. Similarly, twenty of the Guard and as many of the French king's Guard were posted at the entrances to the field where the two monarchs were to meet, ensuring admission only to those specially chosen to be present.(1) Following the kings' meeting, tension eased and the celebrations began in earnest. One day when the windy weather prevented any jousting a wrestling contest was held. Some of the yeomen of the Guard took part, and excelled at the sport by casting two of the Bretons who were renowned for their wrestling skills.(2) On another occasion twenty-four of the yeomen were commanded by Henry VIII to demonstrate their prowess in archery before the King of France.(3)

Conclusion
Apart from the ceremonial role of the Guard, some similarities can be seen between the duties performed by the Guard and those carried out by yeomen of the Chamber and yeomen of the crown in previous reigns. The diverse functions of the yeomen of the Guard did not diminish their primary duty in protecting the monarch. Because they were a permanent force they were readily available whenever order was to be restored or excitable crowds controlled. Their presence at the arrest of great persons may be seen as a visible expression of the king's authority as well as providing security for their captain, who acted on that authority. Finally, the costly raiment which they wore gave additional lustre to the court and proclaimed the significance of their master as an important European ruler, whether he was personally present or represented by a high-ranking subject.

1. W. Jerdan, ed., Rutland Papers, Camden Society, 21 (1842), p.43; Beard, p.109.
2. Russell, p.131.
3. Ibid., p.132, citing Seigneur de Florange, Memoires du marechal de Florange dit lejeune adventureux (Paris, 1913), i, 272; and J. Michelet, Histoire de France au seizieme siecle, VIII, Reforme (Paris, 1874), pp.108-9; Bod. Ms. Ashmole 1116, f.lOlv (Appendix C).

Chapter 4

The Guard’s Involvement in Naval and Military Activity

This chapter examines the ways in which the royal bodyguard was involved in naval and military activity during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. It starts with a summary of general methods of enlistment available to the crown, then discusses the Guard's military obligations and responsibilities, followed by a section on the royal navy showing the offices filled by the yeomen during the two reigns. Ways in which the yeomen were involved in preparing for naval and military campaigns are then described. This is followed by a discussion on naval activity during Henry VD's reign. At this time all of the yeomen cited were described as yeomen of the crown, and it has not been possible to verify that they also belonged to the Guard. This seems likely, however, in view of the number of Henry VIII's seamen who can be positively identified as yeomen of the Guard. After a summary of the early Tudor rebellions, the military activities of the Guard under Henry VII are presented, together with details of the rewards and forfeitures which followed. The account of naval activity in Henry VIII's time shows that from the early years of his reign yeomen of the Guard were closely involved with service at sea. Details of the yeomen's roles in Henry VIII's military campaigns are then shown. The account of garrison duties starts with a brief statement about the few yeomen of the Guard who are known to have served in the Calais garrison, but this section principally relates to the activities of the yeomen in the Toumai garrison of 1513-19. Finally, the yeomen's loyalty to the king is considered.

While the topics of a standing army and methods of military recruitment are related to the subject of this chapter, they are mentioned only briefly, being beyond the scope of this work. For the same reason the laws of retaining are not discussed here.

Background to Methods of Enlistment to the Royal Army
Unlike France and Spain, England had no standing army in the early sixteenth century. Such a force had occasionally been contemplated but rejected on financial grounds, since the English crown could not afford the continuing costs involved. Its resources were already stretched by the commitment to maintain the garrisons protecting the English borders. In the 1470s Sir John Fortescue had indicated, in The Governance of England, that it would be unwise to impoverish the people by placing extra burdens upon them so that they could not afford to equip themselves to rebel, which had happened in France, for they might then also be unable to equip themselves to fight effectively for the king when he needed their assistance. Sir John's experience as a leading participant in the Wars of the Roses had convinced him of the benefit of traditional methods of raising an army in England. Apart from considerations of costs, it had been found politically preferable and simpler to adapt existing practices.(1) While temporary armed service was generally accepted as customary, demands for unfamiliar service carried the risk of alienating the people.(2) By the later years of his reign Henry VII introduced a method of establishing what amounted to a skeleton army, without cost to himself. A statute of 1504 included a proviso allowing the king to grant licences to certain peers and knights, authorizing them to retain a specified number of men by indenture or covenant, to serve the king at his pleasure. The licences themselves were to endure 'during the king's pleasure and no longer'. Since these contracts were for an indefinite term, had force in peace as well as war, and included service overseas, they resembled those made between Lord Hastings and his retainers, rather than conventional military indentures. The preamble to a placard apparently drafted between 1504 and 1509 stated that it was wise 'in time of peace to foresee the remedy against the dangers of war', and set out the king's intention, by the advice of his council, 'to provide a substantial and competent number of captains and able men ... to be in readiness to (serve us at our pleasure when the case shall require (3) .... During Henry VIII's time Thomas Cromwell is known to have drafted a proposal for a standing army, as part of his political programme, but this was not pursued.(4)

The early Tudors therefore continued to rely on the recruitment of temporary forces for specific occasions, by two chief methods: first by the commissions of array or county levies, and secondly by military contracts or indentures. The forces raised by these methods were often supplemented by hiring mercenaries, and for overseas campaigns auxiliary troops supplied by a continental ally were also engaged.(5) From the second quarter of the fourteenth century military recruitment in the form of the indentured retinue had become the basis of English armies taken overseas. The individual contracts made between the crown and its lieutenants or captains set out the number of men to be retained in each category according to the arms they were to bear, the duration of the service to be performed, rates of pay and other

1. Goodman, pp.150-1. For recruitment methods and a discussion on proposals for a standing army in the period under review see Goodman, pp.127-151, Cruickshank, Invasion, pp.164-171; also J. J. Goring, 'The Military Obligations of the English People, 1511-1558' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1955), H. Miller, Henry VIII and the English Nobility (Oxford, 1986), pp.133-161. On laws of retaining, see W. H. Dunham, Jr., Lord Hastings' Indentured Retainers 1461-1483 (1970), p.96.
2. Goodman, p.150.
3. Dunham, pp.90 and 96-7; E101/59/5.
4. F. L. Stone, The Political Programme of Thomas Cromwell, BIHR, 24 (1951), 1-18.
5. Cruickshank, Invasion, p.169; Miller, p.158.

conditions. In his turn the captain indented with knights and men at arms to provide the types of fighting men required for his retinue, stipulating the terms of service in a similar form to his contract with the crown. After the company concerned had been mustered to the satisfaction of the king or his deputy, the captain received an advance of wages to pay his men.(1)

For the war with France in 1492 Henry VII made contracts with men at arms and squires as well as peers and knights, the individual himself usually being named as one of the men at arms. John, Viscount Welles, contracted to supply three men at arms (including himself), each with their custrell and page, 20 demi lances, 15 archers on horseback, 45 archers on foot, and 20 halberdiers on foot.(2) Sir Charles Somerset, captain of the Guard, indented to supply one man at arms (himself) with custrell and page, six demi lances and six archers on horseback.(3) A member of the Guard, Lewis ap Rice, indented with the king to supply one archer (himself) on horseback, eight archers on foot and six bills on foot 'garnished as they ought to be'. This indenture is subscribed at the foot 'By your diligent servant Lewis ap Rice one of your yeomen of the Crown'.(4)

The only permanent military forces were the garrison troops, who were scattered, however, in more than a hundred castles and fortresses, the largest contingents being at Berwick, Dover and Calais. Although the total number was probably between 2,000 and 3,000 men, these could hardly be used as a nucleus for an army, since they were always required where they were based.(5) Apart from these troops the only other groups which could possibly form part of an armed force were the small band of spears, which existed between 1503-6 and in an expanded form between 1510-15, the fifty gentlemen at arms established from December 1539, and the yeomen of the Guard. The latter corps, in existence continually from 1485, contained the greatest number of permanent royal servants, although the gentlemen at arms could swell their number by the inclusion of their own attendants, having at least two each.

The Guard’s Military Obligations
The principal duty of the royal bodyguard was naturally to protect the person of the king. Wherever the sovereign went, his bodyguard was in attendance, forming part of his personal

1. Goodman, pp. 127-8.
2. E101/72/3, m. 1072.
3. Ibid., m.1076.
4. Ibid., m.1081.
5. Cruickshank, Invasion, p.165.

retinue. In common with all servants of the royal household, members of the Guard were expected to be ready to provide military service whenever summoned. The obligation to join the royal army applied also to holders of leases, annuities or offices granted by the monarch, whether members of the royal household or not. Any who failed to appear without good reason when commanded to do so were liable to forfeit one or more of their royal grants. Earlier monarchs such as Richard II and Henry IV had frequently summoned their annuitants as well as their retainers to give armed service,(1) and from Edward IV's reign the military support of retainers was more specifically relied upon.(2) By Henry VII's time, therefore, the yeomen of the Guard, on all of these counts, had a strong obligation to accompany the sovereign in battle.

Special Responsibilities
The yeomen's prime duty of personally protecting the sovereign was extended by appointing members of the bodyguard to offices concerned with security of varying kinds, not only within the court but throughout the realm. A basic element of security was the safe custody of weapons and ammunition, and several members of the Guard performed this function in permanent positions, some of which were in the Ordnance office. This office had evolved in the fifteenth century from the Privy Wardrobe of the Tower, and was headed by a master, assisted by a clerk and a yeoman.(3) From 1494 the masters were always knights. A surveyor was added to the complement in 1537, and from 1544, when Sir Thomas Seymour became master, a lieutenant was appointed, taking over the former duties of the master.(4)

Members of the Guard who served in the Ordnance office included Henry Southworth, who was appointed on 3 March 1498 to the office of bowmaker and surveyor of the bowmakers and keeper and purveyor of bows in the Tower of London, in Ireland and elsewhere.(5) Later, Henry Birde also held the office of yeoman of the bows,(6) receiving money from the treasurer of the Chamber to pay bills for equipment. In December 1528, for instance, he received £21.11s. 4d. to pay William Pikeman and William Buckstede, the king's bowyers, for supplying bows, arrows, strings, forked heads and quivers for the use of the king and his

1. Given-Wilson, p.64.
2. Goodman, p.132.
3. C. S. L. Davies, 'Supply Services of English Armed Forces 1509-50' (unpublished D.Phil. thesis, University of Oxford, 1963) [hereafter Davies thesis], p.137.
4. Ibid., p.124.
5. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.132.
6. LP V, p.760, citing H. Nicolas, Privy Purse Expences of Henry VIII; H. H. Drake, ed., Hasted's History of Kent: The Hundred ofBlackheath (1886) [hereafter Drake], p.230, also citing Nicolas.

natural son, the duke of Richmond.(1) Piers Mainwaring was clerk of the Ordnance in July 1503.(2) He had instructions to call together all the gunners once a year to demonstrate their shooting skills to the master of the Ordnance and the chief gunner. From time to time the master, clerk, yeoman of the Ordnance and the chief gunner were to certify how many gunners were proficient and how many were not, so that the king did not waste his money in paying them and that he was "not deceived in time of need'.(3) An account of half year wages for officers of the Ordnance from July 1518 to Easter 1519 includes the names of four members, or former members, of the Guard, Simon Burton, John Amyas, Oliver Turner and Thomas Jackson, all described as yeomen of the crown, but no other role is indicated.(4) The office of yeoman of the Ordnance was held at this time by Elis Hilton, a yeoman of the queen's Chamber.(5) No positive evidence has been found showing that a yeoman of the Guard held this particular office.

Apart from these central offices it is evident that various members of the Guard served a similar role in the localities. In July 1489 Hugh ap Rice was appointed keeper of the armoury within Warwick castle,(6) and in June 1514 John Wortley received two consignments of sheaves of arrows at Pontefract castle, 'for the king's use'.(7) In addition, by 1491 Robert Harrison, yeoman of the crown, had become supervisor of the works at Hartfield in Ashdown forest, Sussex, where William Neal, the king's master gunfounder, had set up a base manufacturing 'pellets of iron for our ordnance'.(8)

As well as these specific offices, some of the yeomen held appointments which carried the right to raise local men for the royal army, and to lead them in battle. This was known as the manred and applied particularly to stewards of crown or ecclesiastical lands and to constables of castles. Often the stewardship of an area was bestowed upon the constable of a castle within the district.(9) Among yeomen of the Guard holding these dual appointments early in Henry VII's reign were Owen ap Griffith, steward and hayward of the lordship of Laughame, co. Carmarthen, South Wales, and constable of Laughame castle;(10) and John Thomas, steward and

1. LP V, p.306, Treasurer of Chamber's Accounts; Drake, p.230, citing Trevelyan Papers 145, Camden Society.
2. E404/84.
3. Ibid.
4. E36/127, p.100.
5. Ibid., p.93; LP I ii, 3613.
6. Campbell, ii, p.451.
7. E101/56/9; LP I ii, 3613, V, p.1513.
8. E404/80, m.326; E405/78, f.39v; E404/81/1, m.108.
9. Goring thesis, pp.165,169; see also Miller, p.140, and David Starkey, Intimacy and innovation: the rise of the Privy Chamber, 1485-1547' in D. R. Starkey, ed., The English Court: front the Wars of the Roses to the Civil War (Harlow, 1987), p.87.
10. Campbell, i, p.46.

receiver of the lordship of Haye and Glynbough, and constable of Haye castle.(1) In addition, a greater number of the yeomen held one of these two appointments. John Sandford received the stewardship of the town of Marton, Westmorland, in September 1514,(2) and Robert Stoner was appointed steward of the lordships of Tredington, Pamington, Fiddington, Stoke Orchard, Kemerton and Northey, Gloucestershire, in May 1537.3( )Yeomen serving as constable of a castle included Nicholas Owdeby, at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, from 1485,(4) and Peter Motton, appointed constable of Pembroke castle, South Wales, in March 1528.(5) It appears that in Henry VIII's reign stewards were more likely to be chosen from those former yeomen of the Guard who had become sergeants at arms. John ap Guilliam was appointed chief steward of the lordship of Fownhope, Herefordshire, in September 1516, Thomas Greenway held the office of steward of Cuddington, Buckinghamshire, by 1522, and David Cecil became steward of the lordship of Collyweston, Northamptonshire, in August 1523.(6)

Despite intensive searches, only sparse evidence has been found regarding the number of men that individual yeomen were able to raise, presumably by virtue of the offices they held. In 1490 Thomas Brereton was paid 14s. Od. for the expenses of 25 soldiers travelling from various locations to London, to serve at sea in Lord Brake's company, while John Brereton received £2.13s. 4d. for his costs involved in retaining an unspecified number of soldiers to serve the king in Brittany.(7) In 1492 Lewis ap Rice supplied 14 men for the royal army.(8) An Exchequer account detailing expenditure on the Cornish rebellion of 1497 shows a payment of £17. 16s. 6d. to Edward Griffith for fees and travel expenses, indicating responsibility for a substantial number of men. Another yeoman of the Guard shown in the same accounts, Hugh Richard, received £2. 12s. 8d.(9) Thomas ap Guilliam was one of the gentlemen in Gloucestershire appointed to attend upon the king, with 100 men, at the time of the northern rebellion in 1536.(10) The muster records for 1544 show that Edmund Stoner and Geoffrey Bromefeld were able to supply soldiers from the counties of Oxford and Denbigh respectively, but the numbers are not given.(11)

1. C82/3, m.7; Campbell, i, p.79.
2. LP 1,5395; LP I ii, 3324 (9).
3. LP XII i, 1330 (32).
4. DL 41/839, f.95; DL 42/21, f.147; Somerville, i, p.591.
5. LP IV ii, 4124 (15).
6. LP Hi, 2345; A. C. Chibnall, ed., The Certificate of Musters for Buckinghamshire of1522, Bucks. Record Soc., 17 (1973), p.72; LP III ii, 3289 (18); O. Barron, ed., VCH Northampton Families, Genealogical Volume (1906), p.25.
7. E36/124, fos.48r and 46 v.
8. E101/72/3, m.1081.
9. E36/126, pp.72 and 73.
10. LP XI, 580 (2).
11. LP XIX i, 273, p.153; Ibid., p.156; Blair, 'Welsh Bucklers', p.87.

General Naval Activities and Offices Held
Certain yeomen of the Guard were closely involved in naval activities, in times of peace as well as in war. In Henry VII's time probably the most significant naval development was the establishment at Portsmouth by the 1490s of the first permanent royal dockyard with a dry dock.(1) Since Henry VII was more interested in trade than in warlike pursuits, the crown owned only five ships in 1509, while during Henry VIII's reign 47 were actually built and 35 bought or taken as prizes.(2) Although additions were made to the Portsmouth dockyard by Henry VIII, most of his ship-building was concentrated in the Thames estuary, at Woolwich, Deptford and Erith.(3) As a result of this great increase in naval activity, the Navy Board gradually developed as a bureaucratic body during Henry VIII's reign.(4)

The only official directly concerned with naval administration, under the lord admiral, in Henry VII's time, was the clerk or keeper of the king's ships. On 19 May 1495 Robert Brickenden or Brigandyne, yeoman of the crown, was appointed keeper of the king's ships and held the office until April 1523. He received 12d. a day for himself and 6d. a day for his clerk, plus 3s. for every day when riding in the course of his duties 'for the purveyance of goods and necessaries for the said ships .. [or] .. for the taking and arresting of ships'.(5) Brickenden's involvement with ships first became evident in August 1488, when he was one of three commissioners appointed to impress caulkers for a ship to be 'made anew' in the Weald of Kent.(6) Possibly Brickenden's introduction to royal service came through Sir Richard Guildford, since both lived in Kent and both were concerned with ships. The Tellers' Rolls for 1488 and 1489 include details of payments made to Guildford 'by the hands of Robert Brickenden'.(7) Guildford was not only a principal courtier, leader of the royal affinity in Kent,(8) master of the horse, master of both the ordnance and the armoury, and a ship owner, but was appointed overseer and governor of the new ship under construction in Kent by April 1487, which was to be similar in design to the Columbe of France. This was the ship to be known later as the Regent.(9)

1. Oppenheim, History, pp.xxxiv - xxxix.
2. Davies thesis, p.99.
3. M. Oppenheim, ed., Naval Accounts and Inventories of the reign of Henry VII, Navy Records Society, 8 (1896) [hereafter Oppenheim, Accounts], pp.xvii - xviii.
4. Davies thesis, p.99.
5. CPR Henry VII, ii, p. 17.
6. Campbell, ii, p.342; CPR Henry VII, i, p.219.
7. E405/76, fos.4r and 5r; E405/78, fos.6v and 17r.
8. M. Mercer, 'Kent and National Politics, 1437-1534: The Royal Affinity and a County Elite' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1994), p.160.
9. E404/79, m.176; C82/2, m.384; E404/79, mm.37, 187, 178 respectively; E405/78, f.4r. Oppenheim, Accounts, p.35; Campbell, ii, pp.136-7.

Brickenden was already a yeoman of the crown when he was granted an annuity for life of £10 on 15 November 1490.(1) An account for war wages during 1492 described him as having been 'the king's shipwright7, and shows that a sum of £241.13s. 4d. was paid to him for making a dock for the king's ships at Portsmouth, for building the Sovereign, and for work on another ship then being built.(2) From 1496 Brickenden was on many commissions connected with naval matters, ranging from enlisting 'ropers' for making ropes and rigging to seizing ships and other vessels for the king's use. Other yeomen of the crown (among them William Bamefeld, Benedict Weaver, John Monkeley and John Whittington) also served with him on some of these commissions.(3) On 28 July 1509 Brickenden received a new patent for his office.(4) It is possible that he was responsible for the design as well as the construction of the great ship the Henry Grace a Dieu, which was built early in Henry VIII's reign.(5)

As mentioned in chapter 3, Brickenden's successor in office was Thomas Jermyn, described as yeoman of the Guard and crown when appointed on 3 April 1526.(6) Jermyn had been associated with naval payments at least since March 1516.(7) In July 1524 he was described as keeper of the king's ships at Portsmouth, when granted an annuity of £5, 'in consideration of his services in the wars'.(8)

Another yeoman of the crown closely involved in naval affairs was Thomas Spert, a merchant seaman who possessed at least two ships. By 1511 he had become master of the Mary Rose, and in the following year he was appointed master of the new foundation of Trinity House, as well as master of the Henry Grace A Dieu, the newest and largest of the king's ships.(9)

In January 1512 Spert was granted, during pleasure, 8d. a day from the petty customs of the port of London, and in November 1514 he was granted an annuity of £20, which appears to have been connected with pilotage.(10) The previous recipient of this particular payment, John Woodlesse, was also a yeomen of the crown and a founder member of the new corporation of Trinity House.(11) In July 1517 Spert was appointed by the lord high admiral, the earl of Surrey, to the office of ballaster of ships in the Thames, his appointment being confirmed by Surrey's

1. CPR Henry VII, i, p.333.
2. E36/285, p. 78.
3. CPR Henry VII, ii, pp.91-2.
4. LP 1,353; LP I i, 132 (101).
5. Oppenheim, History, p.53.
6. LP IV i, 2132 (3).
7. LP Addenda I i, 68 (10).
8. LP IV i, 546 (6).
9. G. G. Harris, The Trinity House of Deptford 1514-1660, University of London Historical Studies, 24 (1969), pp.24-5; LP I ii, 3608, p.1499.
10. LP 1,2059; LP I ii, 3499 (25); Harris, p.25.
11. LP 1,3670; Harris, pp.25 and 68.

successor, Henry, duke of Richmond, at the king's instigation, in 1526.(1) At an unknown date before Brickenden's resignation in 1523, Spert was described as clerk of the king's ships at Portsmouth, when he was given 'the rule of all the foresaid ships, masters and mariners, with the advice of Brickenden'.(2) Spert was granted the fee of the crown of 6d. a day in March 1524 and was knighted in 1529(3)

Preparing for Campaigns
Apart from the permanent posts already described, members of the bodyguard were required to take an active part in preparing for campaigns. In the months preceding naval or military action detailed arrangements had to be made, to muster men and to ensure that sufficient supplies of ships, horses, carts, food, drink and other necessities would be available. In February 1492, for instance, John French, yeoman of the crown, received £6.13s. 4d. for his expenses in requisitioning ships for the king's use from the counties of Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire.(4) In the same month Richard Slythurst was one of the commissioners for the counties of Oxford and Berkshire charged with the responsibility of providing horses, as well as labourers and carters, for the transport of the king's ordnance, in readiness for the campaign in France in the autumn of that year.(5) Edmond Huntwade received a similar commission for the counties of Northampton and Rutland.(6) In December 1496 David Cecil was on the commission to purvey grain in the county of Rutland for the army to be sent towards Scotland.(7)

In January 1497 Brickenden was commissioned to 'inspect and seize all ships ... and other vessels' found in any ports in Kent, Sussex, Southampton, Dorset and South Devon, and to recruit masters and crew, in order to convey the king's troops towards Scotland. He was also ocommanded to certify the king and council of the number of such masters, mariners and boys.(8) John Gildon, another yeoman of the crown, was on the similar commission for ports in Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire.(9)

To some extent examples can be found in earlier reigns where yeomen of the crown were among the royal servants performing similar functions. This applies to the office of clerk

1. LP D ii, 3459; LP IV i, 2287, and 1990 citing BL Cotton Ms. Otho E.DC.401; LP IV ii, 2450.
2. Oppenheim, History, p .84.
3. LP IV i, 213 (2); Harris, p.25.
4. E36/285, p.62.
5. CPR Henry VII, i, p.394.
6. Ibid.
7. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.92.
8. Ibid., p.91.
9. Ibid.

of the king's ships, to which a yeoman of the crown, Richard Clyvedon, had been appointed in 1442.(1) John Davy of Fowey, yeoman of the crown to Edward IV and Richard III (and later to Henry VII), was captain of the royal ship the Carvel of Eu. He was employed to guard the fishing fleet and, under Richard HI, was active in the attack on Breton shipping, which appears to have involved him in some piracy on his own account (2).

Military Training
Little is known about the military training received by individual members of the Guard, beyond the fact that they practised archery, at which many of them excelled. Although swords, pikes, bills and guns were in general use in England at the time, the long bow was still the principal infantry weapon. Stow recounts how gardens which had existed for 'time out of mind without Moore gate of London' were destroyed in 1499 to provide 'a plain field for archers to shoot in'.(3) The possession of bows and arrows, prescribed by the Acts of the Maintenance of Archers to encourage the practising of archery, was regulated by the manorial courts as well as by commissions of muster.(4)

There is evidence that from an early date the archers of the Guard were called upon to demonstrate their shooting skills. Henry VII commanded them to give such a demonstration to Spanish visitors in November 1501,(5) and Henry VIII arranged a display by 24 of the Guard in the French king's presence during the festivities at die Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520.(6)

Rewards were paid to the yeomen for shooting by Henry VII in 1503(7) and Henry VIII in 1531(8). The youthful Henry VIII took a personal interest in his Guard, and was present during a shooting contest at Windsor when 'Barlow of the Guard' won the best prize. This gave great pleasure to the king, who jested that he would call Barlow the duke of Shoreditch, 'as he did dwell there'.(9) Evidently the monarch was a keen archer himself, and his strength in drawing the bow was mentioned by Hall10 and by a Venetian diplomat.(11) John Taylor's Diary of 1513 relates that while at Calais in July, preparing for the French campaign of that year, Henry was visited by three ambassadors, who found that 'the king was practising archery in a garden

1. Oppenheim, Accounts, p.xiv; Oppenheim, History, p.24.
2. Horrox, p.244; Oppenheim, Accounts, pp.28-9.
3. J. Stow, Annales, or a General Chronicle of England (1632), p.480.
4. Goring thesis, p.35, citing 3 Henry VIII, c.3,6 Henry Vm, c.2,33 Henry VIE, c.9.
5. Ant. Rep., ii, p.313.
6. Russell, p.132.
7. BL Additional Ms. 59,899, f.38r.
8. PPE Henry VIII, p.135.
9. Smith, p.8, citing Wood, The Bowman's Glory, or Archery Revived; Pegge, Curialia, I, iii, p. 18, citing same source.
10. Hall, p.515.
11. Rawdon Brown, i, p.89.

with the archers of his guard'.(1) Since members of the Guard were specially noted for their skills they were sometimes called upon to give instruction to others. In the earl of Rutland's accounts for 9 August 1541 a payment is shown to 'Holland of the Guard teaching my lord's servant to shoot in the longbow'.(2)

While archery was given the greatest prominence, wrestling was also practised by members of the Guard, who were successful in contests held for this sport. Richard Skopham, yeoman of the crown, evidently excelled in both skills, since by his will of 19 December 1501, he bequeathed to his son Edmond a silver goblet which he had won at shooting, and to his son Thomas a piece of silver which he had won at wrestling (3). As with their shooting prowess, members of the Guard were occasionally commanded to demonstrate their mastery of wrestling. A payment to the yeoman of the Robes, recorded in the expenses of the privy purse in October 1532, shows a sum of 44s. 8d. 'for doublets for the Guard to wrestle in before the king and the French king at Calais'.(4)

It is likely that certain men were appointed to the Guard principally because of their experience in combat. Apart from individual skills, it was necessary to train men in the kind of groups or formations likely to be encountered on the battlefield. Military methods in England were not so insular as sometimes assumed, since many Englishmen had served in continental armies, and the scientific study of warfare was encouraged at the highest levels of English society.(5) Nevertheless it was recognized that some English captains and men at arms were likely to be inexperienced in warfare. William Caxton recorded in the epilogue to his translation of Christine de Pisan's compilation Le Livre des Faits d'Armes et de Chevalerie, the occasion on 23 January 1489 when Henry VII had asked him to produce the English translation, so that

'every gentleman bom to arms and all manner men of war, captains,
soldiers, victuallers and all other should have knowledge how
they ought to behave them in the feats of war and of battles'.(6)

At a later date, during Elizabeth I's reign in 1562, a book was published as a guide to captains on the training and drilling of their men. This book was unique at the time, being of an entirely practical nature and devoid of the references to antiquity which characterized earlier well-known military manuals. The author was Henry Barrett, a yeoman of the Chamber

1. LP I ii, 2391 and 4284; BL Cotton Ms. Cleop. C.v, f.64.
2. Rutland accounts, p.315.
3. PROB11/13, f.91 (10 Blamyr); Horrox, p.246.
4. PPE Henry VIII, p.269; LP V, p.761, citing BL Additional Ms. 20,030, f.l34v.
5. Goodman, pp.8 and 166, citing William Caxton, The Book of the Fayttes of Armes and of Chyvalrye, ed. A. T. P. Byles (EETS, 1937), p.291.
6. Goodman, p.166.

who had formerly served in Queen Mary's Guard.(1) In his preface Barrett mentions the experience which he had gained while serving in European armies. It is possible that earlier yeomen of the Guard had seen similar service and had passed on their experience at first hand, but left no record behind.

Payments to the Guard on Active Service
When on active service members of the Guard usually received their normal rate of pay, but there were exceptions, notably in Henry VII's war with France in the autumn of 1492 and in Ireland in 1520-22. Details of these are shown in appropriate places in the text. From March 1513, however, an additional payment of 'board wages' was introduced. This was when the increasing number in the Guard (at that time 300) in preparation for war had become too great for them to be accommodated at court.(2) By May 1513 400 yeomen were receiving the allowance,(3) usually at a daily rate of 2Id. or a weekly rate of 18d.(4) The last recorded payment of this allowance in the royal accounts was in September 1514.(5)

Naval activity under Henry VII Although naval activity in Henry VII's time was not so great as in his son's reign, there were plenty of occasions when ships were required by the king, and these were requisitioned as needed. It is perhaps significant that several of the yeomen were ship owners, some being also masters or captains, and it is a matter for speculation whether they held their appointments because of this. At the start of Henry VII's reign John Bingham was owner and master of a ship which was hired between September 1485 and Easter 1486, to transport the king's commissioners.(6) Bingham was a yeoman of the crown by 24 May 1486, when he was appointed to the office of customer at the 'Lantemgate' of Calais, which was the main entrance to the town, although he exercised this office mostly by deputy.(7) In 1491 Thomas Furgon was owner and captain of the Gabriel of Fowey, which had 170 soldiers on board,(8) and John Ismay, owner and master of the Anthony of Dartmouth, was commissioned to impress sailors and soldiers and purvey victuals for his ship, to sail with other ships 'against the king's enemies'.(9)

1. J. R. Hale, On a Tudor Parade Ground. The Captain's Handbook of Henry Barrett 1562, The Society for Renaissance Studies, Occasional Papers no. 5 (1978), p.15.
2. E36/215, f.l22v.
3. Ibid., fos.l25r and 127r.
4. Ibid., fos.l43v, 144v, 145,153,155v, 156r, 157r, 159r, 162v.
5. Ibid., f.l66v.
6. Campbell, i, p.494.
7. Ibid., pp.439-440; CPR Henry VII, i, p.109; E101/690/33, accounts of John Randall, deputy of John Bingham, customer of the Lantemgate, Calais.
8. E405/78, f.29.
9. CPR Henry VII, i, pp .350-1.

Ismay received a similar commission in January 1497 in respect of the Gregory Ismay of Dartmouth, 'to be sent with armed power towards Scotland'.(1) Other yeomen who were also seamen included William Nasshe, who was rewarded with £20 in December 1493 'for the great costs and charges and for the safe keeping and guiding of our ship called the Bonaventure which he has in his rule and governance'.(2)

Early Tudor Combats
There is little documentary evidence regarding the combats of Henry VII's reign, the principal surviving information being contained in the records of chroniclers. As C. G. Cruickshank has pointed out in connection with overseas campaigns, the paucity of documents is partly explained by the fact that 'when the army was commanded by the king in person, there was no need to send home frequent dispatches'.(3) This applies equally to encounters within the kingdom which were commanded by the sovereign.

As already shown, many of the earliest yeomen of the Guard had served overseas with Henry Tudor when he was still the exiled earl of Richmond, and their appointment to the royal bodyguard followed soon after the victory at Bosworth. The first grants of office to them from Henry VII referred to their 'true and faithful service' overseas as well as at 'our late victorious journey'.(4) Their presence at Bosworth field may therefore be seen as the first of their campaigns in support of the new monarch.

Several armed rebellions took place in the early years of Henry VII's reign, despite the decisive victory at Bosworth. What was tine role of the bodyguard during these events? The first rebellion occurred after Easter 1486, while the king was on progress in the north of England. Rumours of the rebellion by Humphrey Stafford and Francis, Lord Lovell, were verified while the monarch was in York, where the citizens were known to have esteemed Richard III. Henry realised that it would be difficult to raise a reliable force from the area, and Polydore Vergil relates that, since it was essential to act swiftly, the monarch was obliged to engage his whole retinue against the rebels, including his bodyguard. Obviously the Guard on its own would have been an inadequate force against any organized army. Vergil states that Henry's supporters totalled 3,000 ill-equipped men, the majority of whom made armour for themselves from leather.(5) After assembling this force, the king averted a dangerous situation

1. Ibid., ii,p.91.
2. E404/81/3.
3. Cruickshank, Toumai, p.27, and Cruickshank, Army Royal, p.8.
4. Campbell, i, pp. 53,57,66.
5. Vergil, p.ll.

by the successful strategy of announcing that he would pardon all those who laid down their arms, and no conflict took place. Unfortunately, Vergil does not say how many of the Guard were with the king, but the number is not likely to have exceeded 200 men, and was probably only about 80.

The first military encounter of the reign after 1485 occurred at Stoke, Nottinghamshire, on 16 June 1487. This arose from a conspiracy against the king in support of the impostor Lambert Simnel, who had been crowned in Ireland by Yorkist followers as Edward VI. On this occasion a fierce battle did take place, but the king was not personally involved and watched the engagement of his vanguard from a safe distance. Although the Guard is not specifically mentioned in records of the encounter, a herald's report of the proceedings relates that after hearing mass in a village church on 14 June, Henry put his own retinue through its paces in preparation for battle.(1) This retinue would certainly have included his bodyguard, but again it is not possible to state the number of personnel involved. It also remains uncertain whether any members of the Guard actually took part in the battle.

Military Activity Under Henry VII
In 1489 Henry VII commanded all his true liegemen and subjects to repair to Sir Charles Somerset, who was appointed to take the musters in London for the army to be sent to Britfatny.(2) Individual yeomen were appointed by the king to serve there. The actual number is unknown, but the names of eight of them are shown in the Exchequer accounts of 1488-9:- William Slater, Hugh ap Richard, Henry Goodclerk, Robert Buckley, William Stedman, John Desmond, William Dodde and Richard Frere.(3) The first two were not described, the next three being called yeomen of the crown and the last three yeomen of the Chamber.

The first occasion on which it is known that the royal bodyguard as a whole was actively involved in a military campaign was in the autumn of 1492, when Henry VII led his army in France, and laid siege to Boulogne. A surviving record of war payments, covering the period from 25 September 1492 to mid-January 1493, shows the number in the king's bodyguard, divided into categories.(4) Under the captain, Sir Charles Somerset, the Guard consisted of

8 demilances @ 9d. a day

157 yeomen @ 12d. " "
4 yeomen @ 8d. " "

101 archers @ 6d ." "

1. M. Bennett, Lambert Simnel and the Battle of Stoke (Gloucester and New York, 1987), p.82.
2. Rymer, Foedera, Tome V, pt. iv, p.4.
3. E404/80, mm.119 and 165; E404/79, m.145.
4. E36/285, p. 18.

totalling 270 in the first month. This number decreased to 265 in the following two months, reducing further to 150 in the month beginning on 18 December, when no demilances or archers were shown. The falling numbers may be accounted for by the fact that peace was concluded in November, resulting in the Treaty of Etaples, whereby it was agreed that peace would endure between the two countries for the lifetime of both monarchs. Members of the Guard also saw active service in the battle of Blackheath in 1497. This battle marked the culmination of the Cornish rising against the taxation levied for the war with Scotland.

Rewards and Forfeitures
Following the Conflict of 1497, several members of the Guard were rewarded for their service on the battlefield. Among these were John Holland, who on 3 August 1497 was appointed to the office of keeper of the little park of Denbigh, North Wales;(1) Thomas Greenway, a yeoman usher of the Chamber, who received a grant of two tenements in the city of London on 15 August;(2) and William Serche, who was appointed on 25 August as one of the keepers of Galtres forest, Yorkshire(3)

These examples show the particular importance attached to the readiness of royal servants to reaffirm their loyalty by attending the sovereign on the battlefield whenever the necessity arose. Those who omitted to do so were likely to be penalised by loss of favour and offices. The penalty of forfeiture of offices, annuities and fees was actually legalized by Parliament in 1495, and extended to include forfeiture of royal gifts of land by a further Act in 1504.(4) In each of the grants of office mentioned above, the name of the previous holder is given, together with the statement that it was forfeited for absence from the king's last campaign, or in one instance from 'the last battle on Blackheath and from the king's expedition to Boulogne'.(5) The legislation enacted by Henry VII was in fact a codification of earlier practices. Henry V had declared a similar forfeiture for all men who were of his livery and retinue, as well as knights, esquires or valets holding fees, wages or annuities of the crown, whether granted by himself, Henry IV, Richard II or Edward HI.(6) On 8 May 1471 Edward IV had written to Henry Vernon, desiring and charging him to bring suitably arrayed supporters to resist rebels, on his allegiance 'and forfeiture of all that thee may forfeit'.(7) Similarly, in 1485

1. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.113.
2. Ibid., pp.113-114.
3. Jbui., pp.120-121.
4. Miller, pp.133-4, citing 11 Henry VH, c.18,19 Henry VII, c.l.
5. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.113.
6. Dunham, p.62.
7. Goodman, p. 134.

the commissioners of array in Yorkshire were instructed by Richard III to command that all knights, squires and gentlemen be prepared to serve him at an hour's warning without fail, on peril of losing their lives, lands and goods.(1)

Naval Activity Under Henry VIII
The events of Henry VIII's reign are recorded in much greater detail than those of his father, and the Guard features in several records of the expeditions and campaigns of the time, at sea as well as on land. The young monarch took a particular interest in his navy, and in July/August 1512 he visited the fleet at Portsmouth, to see the ships which had been prepared for war, numbering about 25 at that time,(2) excluding the 26 Hemish hulks and the victuallers. During this visit the king appointed captains for the principal ships, and 60 yeomen of the Guard were assigned to the Sovereign, which was under the joint captaincy of Sir Charles Brandon and Sir Henry Guildford.(3) Several members of the Guard were appointed to serve as captains or petty captains. Among these were Robert Leighton, appointed petty captain of the Gabriel of Topsham,(4) and William Keby, who became captain of the Swallow.(5) Early in April 1512 Keby and Leighton had been commissioned to 'muster the mariners in the ships and those coming to them from day to day, marking the days of their entering the ships'.(6) An account of charges of the 'army by sea' for a month from March to April 1513 shows that 191 'soldiers of the Guard' were on board the Great Nicholas, and from May to July of that year fifty yeomen of the Chamber served at sea with the lord admiral,(7) when a further attack on the French fleet was planned.

One of the yeomen who was a ship owner in Henry VIII's reign is shown in an undated document of 1512, where the king agreed to lend the sum of £40 for a stated time to William Sabyn, described as yeoman of the crown and owner of a ship called the Sabyn, 'with the which ship he shall do unto us service upon the sea' (8). Sabyn had been established as a trader in Ipswich before 1504, and became a very active and prominent captain, serving in his ship, which was included in the king's 'army royal by the sea' in 1513 and 1514 as well as in 1512.(9)

1. R. Horrox and P. W. Hammond, eds., British Library Harleian Manuscript 433, 4 vols. (Upminster and London, 1979-83), ii, f.220.
2. A. Spont, ed., Letters and Papers relating to the War with France 1512-1513, Navy Records Society, 10 (1897) [hereafter Spont], p.xxiv.
3. E36/3, f.7r; Hall, p.534.
4. E101/417/2 (3), f.186; LP E ii, p.1457.
5. LP 1,3591.
6. SP1/229, f.46; LP I i, 1134.
7. BL Royal Ms. 14B xxv; LP 1,3980; E36/215, fos. 125v and 129v.
8. E101/417/7, m.108.
9. J. G. Webb, 'William Sabyn of Ipswich: an early Tudor Sea-officer and Merchant', The Mariner's Mirror, 41 (1955), 209-221, p.210; SP 1/8, f.H9v; LP 1,3591,3977,4474,5112,5761.

The sixty soldiers and forty mariners who served on the Sabyn in 1512 had been impressed by Sabyn from the area around Ipswich, principally from Bawdsey, Alderton and Sutton, and places in the Colne Valley.(1) It was probably through his seafaring contacts with Edward Echyngham, an Ipswich associate of the Howards, that he came to the notice of the lord admiral, Sir Edward Howard, who recommended him to Wolsey, also from Ipswich. Howard sent Sabyn back to England with news for Henry VIII regarding the proposed attack on the French fleet in 1513, and subsequently mentioned his name in a letter to the king dated 17 April 1513, in which he assured the monarch that they would do everything possible, 'seeing that God hath sent us here in so great advantage of your enemies, as I am sure Sabyn hath informed your Grace'.(2) Sabyn conveyed a royal letter back to Howard, and was evidently entrusted with advising the lord admiral on the action to take. Nevertheless Howard, to his own cost, failed to accept Sabyn's advice regarding an attack on the enemy. Sabyn, a very experienced seaman, evidently considered that the French fleet was too strong to be attacked from the sea, especially since galleys had been positioned across the entrance to Brest haven, where the French fleet was situated, but he considered that a land attack could have been effected. Following the action in which the lord admiral was killed, Sabyn reported to Wolsey on 30 April that he had offered his advice as Wolsey, his Tread and governor', had commanded, but a Spanish captain named Charran had persuaded Howard that there was no great danger in making a sea attack on the galleys in the haven. Further, Sabyn stated that the enterprise on the galleys was not conducted as he would have advised, and the admiral had attacked them before his arrival. Sabyn added that Howard had died like a valiant man.(3)

Sabyn continued to be involved in warfare, at sea and on land, serving in the force led by the earl of Surrey to repel the invasion of the Scottish king, James IV, in the late summer of 1513, as well as a further mission along the French coast the following winter. In 1515 Sabyn, as captain of the Anne Galant and vice admiral, commanded a small fleet of royal ships sent to the coast of Scotland to lend support to the widowed Queen Margaret, elder sister of Henry VIII. Two years later he was sent to negotiate for the return of the royal ship Black Bark, which had been taken by the French. Some doubt was expressed by the commissioners whether Sabyn had sufficient authority to conduct the matter, whereupon the king himself wrote to confirm Sabyn's power to act on his behalf. Sabyn again commanded a small fleet along the

1. Webb, p.210.
2. S. E. Vokes, The early career of Thomas, Lord Howard, Earl of Surrey and Third Duke of Norfolk, 1474-C.1525' (unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Hull, 1988) [hereafter Vokes thesis], p.87; Webb, p.212; Spont, p.128; LP 1,3903.
3. Webb, pp.212-3; LP 1,3974, citing BL Cotton Ms. Caligula E.I.II, 120; Spont, p.xxxviii.

Scottish coast in 1522, keeping Surrey informed by letter of the progress made in harrying the Scots.(1)

It was not unusual for seamen in royal service to be appointed to patrol certain areas of the seas, to protect English ships as well as the coasts. This duty had the advantage of providing opportunities for personal gain. In August 1543 a patent under the great seal of the high admiral commanded all admirals and others to aid Miles Middleton, yeoman of the Guard, who was licensed by the king to sail from Hull 'with two ships, furnished at his own cost, to annoy the king's enemies and take prizes'.(2)

As well as the ship owners and captains already cited, the yeomen of the Guard serving as masters or captains in later years included Thomas Jermyn, master of the Less Bark in 1513 (when Sabyn was temporarily captain),(3) and master of the Mary Rose and the Henry Grace a Dieu during the 1520s.;(4) James ap Jenkin, captain of the Anne of the Tower in 1522-3,(5) and Thomas Ranger, captain of the Marie Fortune of London in 1546.(6) Philip Lockyer of Bristol, whose death was reported by the duke of Suffolk to Sir William Paget in August 1545, was described by the former as 'a very good captain, one of the Guard'.(7)

Military Activity Under Henry VIII
There were two occasions when Henry VIII personally led his armies, in 1513 and 1544. The campaign in France during the summer of 1513 is well documented. Initially, the council felt it too perilous for the king to be exposed to the dangers of war, and favoured the appointment of a commander who would conduct the campaign in accordance with the king's wishes. Nevertheless, since Henry was anxious to demonstrate his prowess as a warrior, and persisted in the view that his subjects would fight more eagerly if led personally by their Sovereign, he finally persuaded the council to agree to his involvement (8)

A warrant dated 28 June at Canterbury commanded John Daunce to pay to the master of the king's barge, John Thurston, from the 'war money' in his keeping, the sum of £15. 5s. 4d. for the hire of barges to take the Guard from Greenwich to Faversham.(9) Hall recounts that the king's Guard at this time consisted of 600 men, who embarked for France from the royal manor

1. Webb, pp.214-6; E101/61/23.
2. LPXVmii,8.
3. BL Royal Ms. 14B xxv; LP 1,3980.
4. LP IV iii, 6138; IV i, 244.
5. LP HI ii, 2296 (2), 3062 (4).
6. LP XXL i, 538.
7. LP XX ii, 3.
8. Vergil, pp.197 and 199.
9. BL Stowe Ms. 146, f.85.

of Greenwich on 15 June 1513, wearing 'white gaberdines and caps'.(1) This large number is confirmed in various official documents recording the royal army and showing the totals for each part of the forces,(2) the whole of which has been estimated at 30,000 to 40,000 men.(3)

The army was divided into the three traditional parts of fore ward (or vanguard), middle ward, and rear ward. The fore ward consisted of about 12,000 men, the middle ward over 14,000, and the rear ward around 7,500.(4) The middle ward was further subdivided into three, the centre part containing approximately 6,700 men, including the king with his Guard of 600, plus 800 of his household servants. The central division was flanked by a wing on the left and right, each consisting of 1,500 men plus artillery.(5) Undoubtedly this arrangement afforded the maximum protection possible for the inexperienced young monarch in his first military encounter. The king himself commanded the middle ward, while Sir Henry Mamey, the captain of the Guard at that time, had command of the left wing with a force of 800, which included 400 servants of the petty captains and of the king's Guard.(6)

A full account of Henry's first military campaign has been given by Cruickshank,(7) who has followed this by the sequel describing the occupation of the captured city of Toumai.(8) This will be discussed later.

As with the 1513 campaign led personally by Henry VIII, the yeomen of the Guard were involved in the warfare of 1544-5 when the king again headed his forces, besieging and eventually capturing Boulogne. The English army, consisting of some 36,000 men,(9) was certainly one of the largest sent abroad up to that time. On this occasion the Guard was 500 strong, headed by the captain, Sir Anthony Wingfield.(10) Even in times of war, the importance of ceremony was not forgotten, and the king left Calais for Boulogne in a great procession surrounded by his bodyguard.(11) War accounts for July and September 1544 show that John Piers, clerk of the cheque to the Guard, received wages to pay the following, the figures shown in brackets being for September:

2 grand captains (Wingfield and Piers) @ 4s. a day
2 petty captains @ 2s. a day
124 yeomen in ordinary @ 40s. a month [+ 1 for 22 days @ 16d. a day]

1. Hall, p.539; Hennell, p.65.
2. SP 1/3, f.159; E101/62/11; BL Lansdowne Ms. 818, f.2v, BL Cotton Ms. Faustina E.VH6.
3. Cruickshank, Army Royal, p.15.
4. Ibid., pp. 28 and 31.
5. SP 1/3, f.159.
6. LP I ii, 2053, citing Shrewsbury Ms. A., f.83, Heralds' College; Lodge 1,1; SP 1 /3, f.159.
7. Cruickshank, Army Royal.
8. Cruickshank, Toumai.
9. Davies thesis, p.265; Miller, p.157.
10. LP XDC ii, 424, p.239, citing BL Cotton Ms. Caligula E.IV, f.57, and Rymer xv. 52.
11. Ibid.

40 archers on horseback @ 12d. a day

11 [10] light horsemen @ 12d. a day

187 [194] yeomen on foot @ 8d. a day

totalling 362 [369].(1) Comparison with the similar account for 1492 (maximum total 270 men) shows the increased strength of the bodyguard protecting Henry VIII.

Apart from the campaigns led personally by the sovereign, yeomen of the Guard were occasionally deployed in forces under one of the commanders appointed by the king. This was the case during the years 1520-22, in Ireland and in France, when the earl of Surrey was the commander. A draft circular to certain members of the Guard shows that they were to appear before the council on 24 March 1520, and to be ready to accompany the earl of Surrey to Ireland at Easter.(2) Since their pay was to be increased from 4d. to 6d. a day, the yeomen were evidently among those discharged when reductions took place in 1515 or 1519, with a wage of 4d. a day and an obligation to serve the king when summoned. The circular also warned that if they did not appear on the appointed day, other suitable persons would be put in their places and they would be discharged.

A document in the State Papers shows that initially it was intended to send 400 members of the king's Guard to Ireland in 1520, included in a total of 1,000 men.(3) The accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber for May show a sum of £40 paid to the lord admiral for 400 jackets 'for them that goeth with him in to Ireland'.(4) The strength of the force eventually sent was reduced to just over half, however, and only 220 of the Guard went with Surrey.(5) This reduction was probably an economy measure but may also have been influenced by the king's requirement for sufficient personnel to serve him in France in July, at the Field of Cloth of Gold, when 200 of the Guard were included in his large entourage.(6) The earl of Surrey wrote to the king from Dublin on 23 July, informing him that sickness was so prevalent in the English pale that it was difficult to lodge the yeomen of the Guard in groups of 40, 30 or even 20 in towns which were clear of infection. Many of the Guard were anxious to return to England, some for fear of dying from the sickness, others because they could not live on their wages, and several wished to take care of their farms, which they feared were being neglected in their absence. Surrey reported that he had told them all that he dared not send any home until he

1. BL Additional Ms. 5,753, f.144 (July) and f.143 (September); LP XIX ii, 524,1.ii (7) and I.i (21).
2. LP m i, 669; SP 1/19, pp.224-5; Hennell, pp.74-75.
3. SP 60/1, p.69; LP IQ i, 670, Memoranda for Ireland.
4. E36/216, f.89v.
5. LP IQ ii, App. 15; Vokes thesis, p.190.
6. LP IQi, 704 and 869.

had approval from the king.(1) In fact 18 of the 220 members of the Guard sent with Surrey had died by 24 September 1520.(2)

In July/August, Henry VIII granted Surrey's requests to have horsemen sent from the north of England and Wales, and to discharge an appropriate number of the footmen of the Guard to cover the cost. The king's letter indicated what Surrey had informed him, that many of these footmen, being wealthy householders, would be contented to receive only Id. or 2d. a day to return to England, if they were assured of 4d. a day after the wars were over. This suggestion obviously appealed to the sovereign, whose further letter to Surrey in September shows that 117 of the Guard were discharged and assigned Id. a day from the royal coffers until the Irish war was ended.(3) The royal accounts for 1 April 1521 also indicate that the rate of Id. a day was indeed paid to certain members of the Guard,(4) although others continued to receive 6d. a day,(5) as promised in the circular of March 1520.

Surrey returned to England in March 1522, when he was accompanied by 65 yeomen of the Guard.(6) In July he was sent to France, where his forces took the wealthy town of Morlaix.(7) Hall mentions that the king greatly commended Surrey, and praised the members of his Guard, 'and specially fifty, which left pilfering and never went from the lord captain'.(8) At the end of August Surrey was again dispatched overseas, entering Picardy with a force of over 14,000, together with 200 yeomen of the king's Guard.(9)

Once again, a few brief references to the presence of the king's Guard are sufficient to indicate that the yeomen were employed in combat, even when the sovereign was not personally involved. From the organization of supplies, ships and men, to the battle itself, the yeomen of the Guard played a significant part in the warfare of the first two Tudor monarchs. Why should they have been used in combat when the sovereign was not present? There may have been several reasons for this. As members of the royal bodyguard their loyalty to the king could be particularly relied upon. In addition, their experience and expertise in warfare was probably an important influence in selecting them for service under an appointed commander. Perhaps more importantly, it would seem wasteful both of finance and of

1. LP in i, 924, citing Lambeth Ms. 602, p.52 and St.P.II, 35.
2. LP in ii, App. 15, p.1569; J. S. Brewer and W. Bullen, eds., Calendar of the Carew Manuscripts 1515-1574 (1867), p.14, citing vol. 602, p.71 and St.P. II, 51.
3. Cal. of Carew Mss., p.14, citing Vol. 602, p.71 and St.P. II, 51.
4. E36/216, f.l31r.
5. LP HI ii, 2102, citing SP D 95.
6. Ibid.
7. Hall, pp.642-3; Vergil, p.297; Chronicle of Calais, p.31.
8. Hall, p.643.
9. Chronicle of Calais, p.32.

resources to keep men on the royal payroll merely as a reward for past services when their expertise could be utilized in this way, at little extra cost.

Garrison Duties

(a) Calais
Several yeomen of the Guard served in the garrison at Calais, where positions were eagerly sought.(1) Possibly this provided a potential means of entry to royal service, as well as to a career within the garrison itself. A record of soldiers serving in the town and castle of Calais on 8 October 1501 includes names of several archers who may have been yeomen of the Guard:- Henry Hill, William Dyer, William Hayward, Thomas Pinnock, John Gittons, John Allen, David ap Howell and John Richmond.(2) John and Bartholomew Flamank were described as late soldiers of Calais when they were nominated to the next vacancies in the Guard in September 1511.(3) In November 1518 John Pigot received a payment of £8.1s.4d. to cover his wages of 8d. a day from 3 March to 31 October. The warrant from the king to the treasurer of the Chamber, authorizing the payment, commanded that Pigot was to receive this daily rate as a reward until he entered into his former position at 8d. a day within the retinue of the town of Calais.(4) Another yeoman of the Guard known to have served in the garrison was John Ovenden, who received wages of 4d. a day for 50 days from 1 April to 20 May 1520, on which date he entered into wages at Calais.(5)

(b) Tournai
The military significance of the royal bodyguard did not always end as soon as the battle was over. As mentioned earlier, the campaign of 1513 terminated with the surrender of Toumai to the English king, who made a triumphal entry into the fallen city on Sunday, 25 September 1513. When Henry VIII returned to England he left in Toumai an armed force of 5,0006 to safeguard the city against possible attack by the French. According to Hall, this force included 400 of the Guard,7 and there is evidence from other sources to show that the yeomen of the Guard played a notable part in the garrison which was set up as a short-term measure until the war with France could be resumed in the following summer. The plans for this

1. S. J. Gunn, The French Wars of Henry VIII', in J. Black, ed., The Origins of War in Early Modem Europe (Edinburgh, 1987), p.41.
2. E101 /55/23, fos. 3r, 7r, and 8.
3. E101/417/7, m.136.
4. E101/418/12, m.14.
5. E36/216, f.lOOv.
6. Cruickshank, Invasion, p.145.
7. Hall, p.566.

further conflict did not mature, however, and the garrison continued to be manned for six years, becoming an increasing financial burden to the English crown.

What contribution did the members of the Guard make to the life of the garrison? Several of the yeomen held offices of various kinds, among them Henry Spurr, who was appointed chief bowyer and keeper of the bows of the ordnance in Toumai in 1515,(1) and John Clogge, whose appointment as a gunner quartermaster was authorized by the king himself, in recognition of Clogge's 'true and faithful' service.(2) In addition, Roger Hacheman was appointed keeper of the seal of the bailliage, or 'seal royal' in 1515, back-dated to the king's victory over the city on 21 September 1513.(3) This particular appointment was a matter of concern to the lieutenant there in 1515, Lord Mountjoy, who communicated his feelings to Wolsey on 12 July. He pointed out that his predecessor, Sir Edward Poynings, had given the office to a learned man of the town who still retained it, and who was very suitable for the position, while Hacheman had 'neither learning nor great language'.(4) Despite Mountjoy's objection, Hacheman was granted the office for life, although by September 1516 the office was held by a Toumaisien lawyer.(5)

The garrison posed many problems, in which members of the Guard became involved. Early in 1515 economy measures were introduced, which included administrative changes and a reduction in the garrison, although not in the Guard, which at that time totalled 314, plus a captain, Sir Richard Jemingham, and four petty captains.(6) The morale of the occupying force was adversely affected by the economy measures, coupled with a rumour that it was proposed to pay the wages of the garrison monthly in arrears rather than in advance.(7) According to Hall, all the soldiers rebelled except those who were of the Guard.(8) Nevertheless, the situation was exacerbated by a yeoman of the Guard, Davy ap Howell, who succeeded in persuading many of the soldiers that they would lose a month's pay if the proposal were to be implemented, and he led the demonstration which took place outside the council's meeting place on 6 February 1515.(9) The difficulties experienced by Lord Mountjoy led him to send a declaration to the king, showing what action was necessary to ensure the safe keeping of the city. Significantly, one of the points included in the declaration was a request for a letter to be

1. LP Hi, 1375.
2. Cruickshank, Toumai, p.92.
3. LP II i, 714; Cruickshank, Toumai, pp. 8,51 and 189.
4. LP II i, 701, citing BL Cotton Ms. Caligula D.VI.299.
5. Cruickshank, Toumai, p.189.
6. LP II ii, p.1514.
7. Cruickshank, Toumai, p.68, citing BL Cotton Ms. Caligula El, f.42.
8. Hall, p.583; Hennell, pp.67-68.
9. Cruickshank, Toumai, pp.70-71.

sent from the king to his Guard, enforcing obedience to the lieutenant there.(1) It is not clear whether Davy ap Howell was punished for his behaviour, but he may have lost his position at Toumai. Possibly he was the unnamed yeoman of the Guard referred to in Mountjoy's letter to Wolsey of 12 July 1515, where the former complained that a member of the Guard recently mustered in England was 'one that was put out from hence for his misrule and was one of the chief beginners of the business at my first coming'.(2) The demonstration achieved the desired effect, however, and the soldiers were assured that wages would continue to be paid in advance. Nevertheless, discontent among members of the garrison again arose over the method of wage payments in May 1518. A change to quarterly payments had been made in 1517, when Sir Richard Jemingham was appointed governor or lieutenant, but his skill in handling the garrison apparently avoided any trouble.(3) On 22 April 1518, however, Wolsey addressed a letter to the gentlemen, constables and vinteners of Toumai indicating a proposal to pay them half yearly, to bring them in line with other garrisons, and asked them to confirm that they would be 'content' with this arrangement.(4) This invitation to comment elicited strong and well-reasoned protests from the three groups concerned. Their replies were similar, especially those from the ten vinteners and fourteen constables, all of whom were also members of the Guard, as shown in Table 6, Below (5) They pointed out that prices for food, drink and other commodities were high and that the local traders were reluctant to extend credit to the English. In addition, unlike other garrisons, they had to pay a tax of 40s. on a tun of wine and Is. on a barrel of beer. Attention was also drawn to the fact that the members of the garrison were not among friends, as were those in other garrisons, and that the currency was not worth so much in purchasing power.(6) The constables continued their letter with a plea for the king to have consideration and pity for them, 'considering the true and faithful service that we his poor Servants, yeomen of his most Honourable Guard with all the whole Retinue of the said Garrison, have done unto his Highness heretofore and hereafter intendeth to do'.(7) The statements made were fully supported by Jemingham in forwarding the letters to Wolsey, although it is not clear whether six-monthly pay was introduced before Toumai was

1. LP Hi, 148 (22).
2. LP II i, 701; Cruickshank, Toumai, p .77.
3. Cruickshank, Toumai, pp.100-101.
4. LP II ii, 3322; J. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, 3 vols. (Oxford, 1820-40), I ii, App. iv.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. Strype, I ii, App. iv.

Table 6: Yeomen of the Guard at Tournai who signed the letter of

protest to Wolsey and the Council

Vinteners Constables

Robert Leighton John Prince

Henry Birde William Bentall

Gerard Osbome Richard Forster

Clement Frere Robert Mitchell

Hugh Bennett John Erdeley

Griffith Rede Thomas Gray

Roger Griffith Thomas Stribithill

Richard Heyboume William Harford

John Allen Richard Dobell

John Turner Evan Bodmer

John Brodger

Thomas Wallett

Richard Stone
Robert Axe

Sources: BL Cotton Ms. Caligula E.1,146; LP II ii, 3321 and 3322; Strype, I ii, Appendix 4.

returned to the French in 1519.(1) An unknown number of the Guard remained in the city until that time, when, as reported by Hall:

'In the end of March the king sent for all the yeomen of [the] Guard
that were come from Toumai, and after many good words given to
them, he granted to them 4d. the day without attendance,
except they were specially commanded (2)

Possible disaffection in the Guard The loyalty shown to the king by the yeomen of the Guard rarely seems to have been doubted, but in 1524 a rumour was heard of possible disaffection by a few individuals. Sir William Fitzwilliam informed Wolsey on 13 May of a report that the Burgundians had taken certain Englishmen of Richard de la Pole's who were formerly in the king's Guard, 'Tompson being one'. Fitzwilliam continued that he did not know whether this was true but that he had written to Fynes (the Burgundian leader) not to let them go for any ransom, as he would reward those who took the prisoners when he knew the king's pleasure and Wolsey's.(3) The next day Fitzwilliam wrote again to Wolsey, saying he had received a letter from Fynes, denying that there were any Englishmen taken belonging to Richard de la Pole. Nevertheless, Fitzwilliam reported, a Burgundian archer of the garrison at Guisnes had told him that he saw

1. Cruickshank, Tournai, p. 102.
2. Hall, p.598.
3. LP IV i, 330, citing BL Cotton Ms. Caligula D.VBI, 298.

such Englishmen go into St. Omers.(1) Nothing further has been discovered about this rumour, however.

Conclusion
As indicated throughout this chapter, members of the royal bodyguard were engaged in a wide variety of activities covering all aspects of warfare and national security. They were in evidence whenever there was a need to protect the king or his territories, and wherever the authority of the crown was to be upheld. As part of the royal affinity, they performed the duties allotted to them in a diligent way, and their trustworthy service to the monarch was extended also to his lieutenant. Nevertheless, some evidence of unrest, if not dissent, involving a few yeomen has been indicated, in the request for the king to write to the Guard enforcing obedience to the lieutenant of the garrison at Toumai, and possibly in the rumour of defection to Richard de la Pole. On the whole, though, the Guard's loyalty to the monarch was never in doubt, and it continued to be a distinctive and permanent body which could be readily transformed into a military force, providing the nucleus of a royal army.

1. Ibid., 334.

Chapter 5

The Role of the Guard in the Localities

Sir John Fortescue, in his book The Governance of England, written in the 1470s, advised that the king might maintain his servants by office rather than land, so that he need not give away his own livelihood, and that such offices should be given to those who served only the king. By this means, Fortescue stated, the king would have 'a greater might and a guard of his officers' whenever he wished to call upon them. "For the might of the land, after the great lords thereof, standith most in the king's officers. For they best rule the countries where their offices are, which is in every part of the land' (1) Fortescue considered that a bailiff could do more in his area than a man of degree without office, and that a forester of the king could bring more men to the field well arrayed than a knight or squire "of right great livelihood" dwelling nearby who held no such office.(2)

The practice of appointing royal servants to local offices was well established when Henry VII ascended the throne. Many yeomen of the Guard were among those who received such offices, and the volume of grants to them is striking owing to their great number as a specific group of royal retainers.

This chapter aims to show how the yeomen of the Guard were deployed in extending royal authority to the provinces, as part of their role in the king's "bastard feudal' affinity A brief statement on bastard feudalism and the nature of the royal affinity is followed by a description of the hierarchy of local government offices. A substantial section then gives examples of the local offices to which individual members of the Guard were appointed. The fees and other benefits attached to these offices are also described. Details are then shown of the yeomen's activities in their various local offices, including some of the problems encountered.

Bastard Feudal Society and the Royal Affinity
The so-called "bastard feudal" society of the late middle ages and early modem period was a term first used towards the end of the nineteenth century by Plummer and developed in the mid-twentieth century by McFarlane. It was defined by the latter to describe a society "where the tenurial bond between lord and vassal had been superseded as the primary social

1. Sir John Fortescue, The Governance of England, ed. by Charles Plummer (Oxford, 1885), pp.150-1.
2. Ibid.

tie by the personal contract between master and man'.(1) In other words, the tenurial relationship had been replaced by the performance of service in return for a cash payment. Yet the link between them continued to be one of mutual benefit; while the lord or master expected certain services from members of his affinity, such as assistance in his business and local affairs, he would in return be prepared to use his influence in supporting the interests of those members, particularly where legal cases were involved. Although in this respect there was no more than a moral obligation on the lord's part, his co-operation and potential protection was known as 'good lordship'.

The royal affinity had the same basic characteristics as the affinities of the great magnates and lords. It consisted of the king's household servants, his retainers, annuitants and tenants, as well as his more personal associates, courtiers and high-ranking officers. The affinity provided a retinue, both to protect the king and to display publicly his sovereignty and wealth. In addition, it supplied the means of extending royal authority throughout most regions of the country, and of keeping the king informed of local conditions. Therefore the affinity provided an effective tool for controlling substantial areas of the kingdom. In return for their service, whether paid or unpaid, members of the affinity looked directly to the king for his 'good lordship'.

The monarch was particularly well placed to distribute his authority throughout the realm by appointing members of his affinity to crown offices in the localities. Although many of these offices could be served by a deputy, the status of the office holder was important, as it bestowed some prestige locally. Conversely, while appointment to a crown office was prestigious to an individual, it was also advantageous for the monarch to select individuals of standing in their own localities for deployment on the king's behalf. In this way the natural leaders in a region could ensure co-operation among the gentry, at least in theory, to support the interests of the king. In addition to extending royal authority to the regions and ensuring that trustworthy men were placed in certain posts, grants of office were therefore also a means of rewarding the past service of individuals, and encouraging them to remain loyal.

The Hierarchy of Local Government
To set in context the kind of offices to which members of the Guard were appointed, a brief outline follows on the organization of local government and its hierarchy of officials in the early Tudor period. Each shire, or county, was divided into administrative units of

1. See Plummer's introduction to Fortescue; K. B. McFarlane, Bastard Feudalism, BIHR 20 (1945), 161-180, cited in J. G. Bellamy, Bastard Feudalism and the Law (1989) [hereafter Bellamy], p.2.

hundreds, boroughs and townships, and each of these divisions might be administered directly by an official of the king.(1) The principal county offices were those of sheriff, escheator, and justices of the peace. To be eligible for appointment to any of these offices, candidates were required to be land holders of some substance, that is worth at least £20 per annum, and justices of the peace had to be resident in the county. Other permanent officers in the counties were coroners (who were also required to be land-holders), constables, gaolers, customs controllers and collectors, and forest officials. The customs or port officers were usually required to serve personally in their posts.(2) In certain areas, known as franchises or liberties, where a powerful individual or a corporation held delegated royal authority to administer the king's laws, the same administrative units were used, the officials being appointed by those holding the delegated authority. In such liberties the chief official was known as the steward rather than the sheriff, but all other offices were similar to the county offices.(3)

As the head of the county hierarchy of officials the sheriff was the chief financial officer and the principal representative of the crown within the shire. Some sheriffs held office for two counties, such as for instance Bedford and Buckingham or Warwick and Leicester.(4) The sheriff was selected annually by the king, who made his choice by 'pricking' one of the three names submitted to him as suitable candidates for the office by the lords of the council, royal justices, barons of the Exchequer and Master of the Rolls.(5) Because of his authority and responsibilities, the sheriff was usually selected from the higher gentry. As well as taking responsibility for the administration of justice, receiving and executing writs relating to the shire, and presiding over the county court, the sheriff controlled the selection of jurors and was authorized to raise the posse comitatus (county armed forces) in times of political crises.(6) The sheriff had a staff of his own, including a deputy as under-sheriff, at least one receiver for revenues, clerks to keep the records of the local exchequer and chancery, sergeants and bailiffs. The regular local officials appointed as hundred bailiffs and constables, riding or itinerant bailiffs, constables of castles and townships, bedels and catchpolls, were liable to receive orders from the sheriff even if they were not actually of his staff.(7)

1. H. M. Jewell, English Local Administration in the Middle Ages (Newton Abbot, Devon, and New York, 1972), p.42.
2. Ibid., pp.33 and 37.
3. Ibid., pp.62-7. For fuller account see Jewell, pp.69-80.
4. Ibid., pp.190-1; C. Carpenter, Locality and Polity: A Study of Warzvickshire Landed Society, 1401-1499 (Cambridge, 1992), p.265.
5. LP V, 1518; Jewell, p.33; Bellamy, p.10.
6. Carpenter, pp.263-4; Bellamy, p.13.
7. Jewell, pp.197-9.

The function of county escheator, formerly part of the sheriff's duties, had evolved by the fourteenth century into a separate office.(1) Like the sheriff, the escheator was appointed on an annual basis. Although the qualification for office of holding land to the value of at least £20 per annum continued to be the same as that for the sheriff, escheators tended to be appointed from the minor gentry.(2) The main responsibility of the escheator was to ensure that the king received the feudal rights and revenues due to him from sources within the county. A principal function of the office, therefore, was to hold an inquisition post mortem upon the death of a tenant-in-chief, to determine the value of the lands held in chief, that is from the king. The escheator would take the lands into royal custody and establish who was the legal heir. If the deceased left an heir under age, the escheator arranged for a wardship to be made. Land also escheated to the king in cases where it was forfeited by attainder. A further important duty of the escheator was to restore 'the temporalities' (or the possessions and endowments) of religious houses upon the election of a new abbot or abbess. The office of escheator covered two counties in many instances, the country having been divided into specific areas or escheatries by the time of Henry V.(3)

While the office of escheator declined to some extent towards the end of Henry VII's reign, giving way to ad hoc commissions, the commission of the peace was growing in importance. Justices of the peace were appointed by the crown, acting on the advice of the chancellor, treasurer and council. In practice the local magnates and more powerful gentry probably influenced the choice of candidates through their network of contacts on the council.(4) Justices of the peace were concerned with minor crime and disorder and had authority to make arrests, imprison suspects and send them for trial, as well as to take security for keeping the peace. By Tudor times the justices of the peace were drawn from magnates, knights of the shire, local gentry, lawyers and clergy.(5)

Appointment of Yeomen to County Offices: Fees and Other Benefits
On the whole yeomen of the Guard do not appear to have been appointed as sheriffs, although there may be a few exceptions. Three sheriffs who were possibly yeomen of the Guard were Anthony Hansard, pricked for Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire in 1523, Thomas Jermyn, selected for Norfolk and Suffolk in 1530, and Peter Motion, who was

1. M. S. Giuseppi, Guide to the Public Records, 2 vols. (1899), I i, pp.92-3.
2. Carpenter, p.272.
3. Giuseppi, pp .92-3.
4. Jewell, p.146; Bellamy, p.17.
5. Jewell, p.146; for development of commission of peace see Carpenter, pp.267-72 and Bellamy, pp.17-23.

appointed sheriff of Flint in November 1541.(1) John Piers, clerk of the cheque to the Guard, was appointed bailiff and sheriff of the twelve hides of Glastonbury, Somerset, in November 1546,(2) and David Cecil, a former yeoman of the Guard, became sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1532,(3) when he was a sergeant at arms.

Among the yeomen appointed to the office of escheator were Henry Ley, for Devon and Cornwall in November 1487,(4) John Markham, for Essex and Hertfordshire in November 1488,(5) and Robert Lloyd for Denbigh, North Wales, in 1492 and 1509.(6) Yeomen serving as collectors of customs and subsidies in ports (often called searchers of ships) included John Smethurst, appointed for the port of Yarmouth, Norfolk, on 18 September 1501,(7) and William Keby, appointed for the port of Boston, Lincolnshire, in October 1509.(8) It was in the interests of holders of this office to perform their duties diligently, since they received a proportion of any goods seized on the king's behalf. John Smethurst's patent, for instance, granted him 'the usual wages with half the forfeitures',(9) and George Geffron's grant of 11 June 1507 for the ports of Exeter and Dartmouth allowed him a proportion of all forfeitures 'taken by him or his deputy.'(10) The latter shows that, despite the normal requirement for this office to be performed in person, it was sometimes possible to serve by deputy. In March 1522 Robert Wood or Delwood was licensed to appoint deputies in his office of customer at Kingston-on-Hull, 'having been retained as usher of the Chamber'.(11) On the other hand, John Whittington was excused from duties at court c.1508 because he had a 'chargeable' office at Bristol. This was as customer or searcher in the port there.(12)

Yeomen of the Guard who were appointed receivers of lands included John Pole, receiver of the earl of Huntingdon's lands in Somerset and Dorset by 1491,(13) and Anthony Hansard, receiver of the lands of the late Lord Welles and Lady Cecilia, in August 1509.(14) Those holding the office of steward included Owen ap Griffith, appointed steward and hayward of the

1. LP m ii, 3583; PRO Lists and Indexes, ix (1963); LP XVI, 1391 (67).
2. HMC, Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records (1864), Appendix 1 - Calendar of Crown Leases 33-38 Henry VUI, (Exchequer, Augmentation Office, Miscellaneous Books, vol. 230), P-21.

3. LP V, 1598 (10).

4. Calendar of Fine Rolls, 178.

5. Ibid., 194.

6. CPR Henry VII, i, p.379; LP 1,344; LP I i, 132 (93).

7. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.265.

8. LP 1,552; LP I i, 218 (10).

9. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.265.

10. Calendar of Fine Rolls, 860.

11. LP HI ii, 2145 (24).

12. BL Egerton Ms. 2603, f.3; CPR Henry VII, ii, p.77.

13. E101/413 (2), f.23r; see also E101/414/16, f.81r; E101/415/3, f.l47r and E101/414/6, f.101.

14. LP 1,449; LP I i, 158 (63).

lordship of Laughame, Carmarthen, in September 1485,(1) and John Sandford, appointed steward of the town of Marton, Westmorland, in September 1514.(2) John Byde was appointed constable of Totnes, Somerset, in I486,(3) and Thomas Gray held the posts in reversion of steward and constable of Castle Donington, Leicestershire, in 1535.(4) Among those holding office as coroner were Henry Strete for Devonshire in the 1520s-30s,(5) and Ralph Warbleton, yeoman of the crown, in the lordship of Holdemess, Yorkshire, from 1522.(6)

The bulk of the varied offices granted to the yeomen of the Guard throughout the reigns of the first two Tudor monarchs included those of bailiff, parker, forester or ranger, keeper or constable of castle and gaoler, as well as tax collector of various kinds. Many of these offices involved ensuring that the revenues due to the crown were actually paid, while others were concerned with maintenance and control of lands and forests, or security. The fees paid for these offices varied to some extent, and often the true value was far greater, with additional benefits such as rights of pasture or wood for fuel, or the provision of a lodge as a dwelling.

Robert Bonnington, bailiff of the town of Chapel Brampton, Northamptonshire, in June 1510, received 2d. a day (£3. Os. lOd. per annum),(7) while John Hickling was paid Id. a day in 1530 as bailiff of the lordship of Moulton, Northamptonshire, with 40s. per annum as keeper of the warren there.(8) In July 1538 William Bonde was appointed reeve and bailiff of Charlton Camville, Somerset, receiving "the pasturing of 100 sheep, the farm of one acre of meadow, pasture for 16 beasts upon the down and in other places, and the keeping of two woods there with herbage of the same within the lordship of Carleton Somers'.(9) At the same time Bonde was appointed bailiff of the adjoining hundred of Horethome, taking two loads of wood every year. These benefits were in addition to 'the usual fees' for the offices.(10) Richard Pigot received 4d. a day (£6. Is. 8d. annually) in 1486 as keeper of Portnall park, Surrey,(11) and John Whitwell, as keeper of the garden of Langley and overseer of the garden of Woodstock in 1511, was paid 10 marks (£6.13s. 4d.) per annum.(12) John Baldwin, one of the four foresters of Galtres

1. C82/2 (3), m.369; Campbell, i, p.46.
2. LP 1 5395; LP I ii, 3324 (9).
3. Campbell, i, p.242.
4. Somerville, p.574.
5. S. T. Bindoff, ed., The House of Commons 1509-1558, The History of Parliament, 3 vols. (1982) [hereafter Bindoff], iii, p.399.
6. LP m ii, 2074 (8).
7. LP 1,1109; LP I i, 519 (49).
8. LP IV iii, 6363 (6).
9. LP Xllli, 1519 (41).
10. Ibid.
11. Campbell, i, p.47 and pp.358-9; CPR Henry VII, i, p.6.
12. LP 1,1868.

forest, Yorkshire, received 4d. a day upon appointment in September 1485,(1) and Richard Frere's fee as ranger of Kingsbere, alias Westbere, forest in county Southampton was 2d. a day in 1496.(2) The fee for the ranger of Waltham forest, however, held by Ralph Coterell, yeoman of the crown, in 1485 and William Rolte in 1521, was 6d. a day.(3)

In 1492 William Bendell received three offices in one patent, all in the county of Gloucestershire - as bailiff of the hundred of Berkeley, with an annual fee of 40s., parker of Whitecliffe park, also with 40s. annually, and bailiff of the lordship or manor of Arlfngham, at 20s., making a total in fees of £5 per annum.(4) Robert Wighthill's grant of 10 January 1496 as controller of the works and woods and supervisor of the foresters, park keepers and officers of the woods in the manors of Woodstock, Havebergh, Stonesfield and Wootton, Oxford, as well as Woodstock park, gave him a variety of benefits. He was to receive lid. a day, together with four cartloads of hay and six cartloads of wood for fuel, pasture for two cows and two horses, and a mansion within Woodstock manor known as 'the controller's lodging'.(5) John Gilmin's patent as keeper of Bristol castle in February 1509 included the profits of the small close of six acres there, worth 10s. a year, and of the moats of the castle.(6) John Punche, yeoman of the crown, as constable of Shrewsbury castle, 'with the keeping of the gaol and prisoners there', received a fee of 71/2d. a day (£11. 8s. lid. p.a.) in September 1485, with a further grant of a meadow near Hencote, at an annual rent of 12d.(7) while Peter Motton, constable of Pembroke castle in March 1528, was paid at the rate of £5 per annum.(8)

These examples by no means exhaust the type of office in which the yeomen served, but are the most representative. They may be compared with the use made of royal servants in the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III, when yeomen of the crown were appointed to similar offices. For instance in 1474 Hugh Shirley was escheator in Hereford and the marches of Wales adjacent;(9) in June 1482 Thomas Patyngeham was bailiff of the lordship of Walsall, Staffordshire,(10) and John Sylton was a collector of customs and subsidies in the port of

1. Campbell, i, pp.431-2.
2. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.85.
3. E405/ 75, fos.8v and 18v; C82/4, m.17; Campbell, i, pp.230 and 250; CPR Henry VII, i, p.110. For Rolte, LP HI ii,1451 (4).
4. CPR Henry VII, i, p.391.
5. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.45.
6. C66/607, m.31; CPR Henry VII, ii, p.594.
7. Campbell, i, p.51; CPR Henry VII, i, p.8.
8. LP IV ii, 4124 (15).
9. CPR Edward IV and Henry VI1467-1477 (1900), p.459.
10. E404/77/3, m.28.

Chichester;(1) and in August 1484 Nicholas Rigby had been granted for life the constableship of the king's castle of Bodiam, Sussex, with the keeping of the park there.(2)

Among the more unusual grants was that of Robert Rake, yeoman of the crown, whose appointment as keeper of Freemantle park, county Southampton (now Hampshire), in September 1486, included in addition to 'the ancient emoluments of the office' a payment of 5 marks annually for life 'for conveying to the park by pipes and carts a sufficient supply of water for the game and wild animals' there, 'it having come to the king's knowledge that game and wild animals of Freemantle park often die from want of water in seasons of drought'.(3) Other unusual grants were those received by Henry Marton and Baldwin Heath. Henry Marton was appointed to the governorship of the lead mines in the lordship of Middleham in November 1493, succeeding Edward Walton, another yeoman, who forfeited the office by his rebellion.(4) Baldwin Heath was appointed surveyor of the king's 'stallions and studs' in the counties of Warwickshire and Worcestershire in December 1519.(5) This office gave Heath authority to appoint three servants to attend the horses and break in their foals, and a smith to administer medicines, with 4d. a day for himself and certain pastures, 2d. a day for each of the servants, and 40s. a year for the smith, to be paid from the revenues of Warwick's and Spencer's lands. In addition, Heath was appointed keeper of the stables in the manor of Upton, Worcestershire, and of the lodge and Colthouse in Budbrooke, Warwickshire, with 100s. allowed for mowing, 23s. 4d. for forage, collars, shoeing, etc., for each of three 'stallions', and for every foal broken in.(6)

Many examples may be found where office-holders took the opportunity to add to their spheres of activity in the area of an initial grant, being well placed to find out which offices became available. One of the yeomen concerned was John Barkatt, already bailiff of the lordship of Chaddesley Corbett, Worcestershire, when he was granted in June 1508 the fishery of Harvington at a rent of 20s., the herbage of the park there at a rent of 20s., the farm of Harvington at a rent of 53s. 4d., and the profit of the 'chase of coneys' there at a rent of 6s. 8d.(7) John Braband also acquired additional offices. He already held the crown fee of 6d. a day from 2 July 1509, and was appointed bailiff of the lordship of Exminster, Devon, in October of that

1. E404/77/3, m.59.
2. CPR Yorkist, p.535.
3. Campbell, ii, pp.32-3.
4. CPR Henry VII, i, p.459.
5. LP mi, 581 (12).
6. Ibid.
7. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.590.

year, with the use of the meadows, coney warren, fishing, and a tenement and stable.(1) A year later he received a fresh patent, to include the office of keeper of the woods called Otterbury, with the rabbit warren in Ken and Exminster, to date from Michaelmas 1509(2) On 11 April 1511 this patent was again renewed, to add to the foregoing two meadows called Woodmede, alias Lachemershe, near Otterbury wood, as well as a garden with the tenement and stable (3).

Offices Granted in Survivorship and Reversion
In some cases a patent was surrendered by the holder in exchange for a new one to include another person, either a colleague or relative, in survivorship. This type of grant ensured that the original grantee kept his patent but chose his successor, and when the position became vacant it could be automatically claimed by the second party. John Gilmin, who was appointed keeper of Bristol castle in February 1509,(4) was granted a new patent on 26 April 1515, appointing him also as doorward of the castle, in survivorship with his colleague John Williams.(5) Following the death of Williams, a patent of 27 June 1524 appointed Gilmin to both offices together with his son John, an usher of the Chamber, in survivorship.(6) Thomas Johns and Thomas his son were appointed keepers of Witeley park, Surrey, in survivorship, in July 1521, on surrender by the father of his patent dated 20 September 1514 granting the same to him and his son Robert, 'now deceased'.(7)

Other grants in survivorship were made by agreement with another courtier, often for a cash consideration, to enhance his standing or control in a particular area, or to provide certain advantages. For example, in September 1510 Henry Skillman received a grant in survivorship with Sir John Petche as keeper of Eltham park, of the houses in Eltham manor and of the new park of Home.(8) These offices had been held by Skillman alone since September 1485.(9) Robert Acurs, another yeoman, and Anthony Knyvet, gentleman usher of the Privy Chamber, were granted in survivorship the offices of bailiff and keeper of Barkeswell park, Warwickshire, with the herbage and pannage, in January 1529.(10) Even high-ranking courtiers such as Sir Charles Somerset and Sir William Sandys obtained offices as parker, the former at Postem park,

1. LP 1,249 and 571; LP I i, 132 (9) and 218 (28).
2. LP 1,1255; LP I i, 604 (11).
3. LP 1,1602; LP I i, 749 (22).
4. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.594.
5. LP Hi, 380.
6. LP IV i, 464 (27).
7. LP HI ii, 1451 (20).
8. C82/354; C66/613, m.6; LP 1,1223; LP I i, 587 (2).
9. Campbell, i, p.34.
10. LP IV iii, 5243 (27).

Derby,(1) and the latter at Crookham, Berkshire.(2) Fortescue indicates the reason for the advantage to be gained from such appointments, suggesting that "such men as serve about the king's person or in his council, may have in their counties a parkership for their disport, or such another office as they may keep by their deputies".(3)

Grants in reversion also became fairly common under the early Tudors, in contrast to the preceding Yorkist regime, when they were very rare owing to a reluctance to allow office- holding by an implied hereditary title.(4) This type of grant took effect when the current officeholder died or relinquished the post. On 14 November 1509 James Borough was appointed bailiff, in reversion, of the lordships of Sutton-on-Derwent and Elvington, Yorkshire, which office was currently held by one John Eglisfeld.(5) In December 1530 William Morice received the grant of office in reversion as surveyor and general receiver of the possessions of Margaret, late countess of Richmond and Derby, the king's grandmother, in England, Wales and the marches thereof, which office had been granted earlier to James Morice (William's father) and Hugh Edwards, deceased.(6)

Appointments to the office of one of the 24 yeomen of the crown in receipt of the crown fee, or to sergeant at arms, were also often made in reversion or survivorship. In June 1528 Edward Ingham, yeoman usher of the Chamber, received a grant in reversion of the crown fee of 6d. a day which had been granted to William Standon by patent of 28 May 1513.(7) Henry Holden in December 1529 received the reversionary grant of the crown fee held by Hugh Parker.(8) John Amyas and Thomas his son were granted the office of sergeant at arms in survivorship, in April 1523, on surrender of John's patent of 16 February 1520.(9)

Contemporary Conduct in Securing Offices
The proximity of courtiers to the king, or their cordial relationship with one of his ministers or personal servants, was often crucial to the outcome of a bid to acquire a particular office or property lease. Probably a typical example of contemporary attitudes is indicated in the letter sent to Cromwell on 30 June 1533 by Nicholas Jackson, sergeant at arms and a former yeoman of the Guard, concerning a grant which he was hoping to obtain from the king:

1. Campbell, i, p.327, citing Lancaster Roll, 98b.
2. LP 1,3789.
3. Fortescue, p.153.
4. Horrox, p.262.
5. LP 1,5585.
6. LP IV iii, 6803 (31).
7. LP IV ii, 4445 (10).
8. LP IV iii, 6135 (29).
9. LP HI ii, 2992 (12).

'You promised me the farm of Canne Hall, for which several persons
are making labour with the king. Make what haste you can, and let
the lease endure for 60 or 80 years. As I am the king's servant I
should have it as well as another.'(1)

As E. W. Ives demonstrates in his detailed study of the career of Sir William Brereton, the methods used by courtiers to further their own interest were often ruthless, and it was not uncommon for a person of some standing to oust deliberately an existing office holder.(2) Evidence of this behaviour may be seen in the case of Nicholas Poyntz (later Sir Nicholas), who was appointed keeper of Micklewood chase in Gloucestershire in February 1533,(3) which office Thomas ap Guilliam, one of the Guard, had held since February 1510.(4) A letter sent by Poyntz to Cromwell early in February 1533 reveals such a situation, and even a twinge of conscience:

'... Whereas the king gave Thomas ap Gwillyms the keepership of
Micklewood chase in Gloucestershire but afterwards, at your desire,
gave it to me for term of my life, I beg you will let me know what is
the king's pleasure concerning Gwillym's grant. I suppose I should
have obtained it by gentleness, but do not like to meddle therein
without knowing your further pleasure.'(5)

Poyntz's gain was short-lived, however, since in February 1535 Thomas ap Guilliam and his son John were granted in survivorship the offices of ranger of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, bailiff of Fownhope and Mansell Lacy, Herefordshire, and keeper of Micklewood chase, Gloucestershire, on surrender of the earlier grants to Thomas alone.(6)

Speed of action was also necessary to secure positions which were likely to attract several applicants. This is well illustrated by William Sabyn's success in gaining the controllership of the Ipswich customs in August 1527.(7) By June of that year it was known that Sir Edward Echingham, who held the office, was ill. Henry Wingfield, who through family connections was probably one of the first to hear of Echingham's condition, made a bid for the office. He had the backing of the duke of Suffolk, who obtained the support of the duke of Norfolk, the lord treasurer. Walter Walshe, a groom of the Privy Chamber, was asked to approach Henry VIII upon the matter, and the king agreed to the appointment, conditional upon Norfolk's opinion. Suffolk informed Walshe that Norfolk was agreeable and Walshe was asked to solicit the king further for Henry Wingfield. Norfolk also approached Lord Rochford and asked him to speak to the king about the suit. By 15 July only Walshe's final solicitation remained to be

1. LP VI, 727
2. E. W. Ives, ed., Letters and Accounts of William Brereton ofMalpas, Record Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 116 (1976), p.25.
3. LP VI, 196 (40).
4. LP 1,909 and 1000; see also LP I i, 381 (84) and 447 (27).
5. LP VI, 133.
6. LP Vm, 291 (62).
7. S. J. Gunn, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, c.1484-1545 (Oxford, 1988), p.99.

made, and Echingham had died no more than a week earlier. But Sabyn obviously acted even faster, as he was able to secure a grant under the great seal for the office on 23 August.(1) As Steven Gunn points out, 'with Wolsey abroad, Norfolk and Suffolk in the country, Rochford only just on his way to court and Wingfield too busy to come to London, the situation may have been exceptional' (2) Nevertheless, Sabyn was influential in Ipswich, his native town. He was the former yeoman of the crown and noted sea captain who was known personally to Henry VIII, and by this time he had become a sergeant at arms (3)

In other cases persons of rank were granted offices when the yeomen surrendered them or died. In March 1513 Sir William Sandys was appointed bailiff of Crookham, Berkshire, and keeper of both parks there, on surrender of John Stanshaw's patent of 24 September 1485.(4) Following the death of Lewis ap Rice, Sir Francis Bryan was appointed to the offices of bailiff and park keeper of Hanslope, Buckinghamshire.(5) Upon the death of Edmund Horsley of the Guard in 1537, Sir Giles Capell petitioned Cromwell, unsuccessfully, for his offices in Beaulieu.(6)

In addition to grants of office by the king, members of the Guard occasionally received an appointment from a nobleman. In January 1545 John Piers, clerk of the cheque to the Guard, was appointed clerk of the courts of Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, in Yorkshire.(7)

Service On Commissions
There was another way in which yeomen of the Guard were involved in county activities. This was by their appointment to serve on a variety of commissions, not only in preparation for war, as shown in chapter 4, but in peace time also. In September 1492 John Bingham was one of six commissioners appointed to oversee Richard Berkeley and James Rawson, masters respectively of the ships the Mary and the Anthony, both of Winchelsea. Together with other vessels, these had been appointed to protect the ships and fishermen of the Cinque Ports. The commissioners were to levy contributions for the expenses involved from those who desired to fish under protection.(8) In November 1506 John Edwardes was on a commission to enquire of wards, marriages, reliefs, etc., in Warwickshire and Worcestershire,(9) and in November 1508

1. Ibid.
2. Ibid.
3. Bindoff, iii, p.242; E101/417/7, m.108; LP 1,3591,4474,5112,5761; LP B ii, 4509.
4. LP 1,3789.
5. LP HI ii, 3214 (13).
6. LP Addenda, I i, 1251, citing SP 241; LP XIII i, p.582.
7. E313/11/134.
8. CPR Henry VII, i, p.415.
9. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.508.

John Dyson received a commission to enquire in the county of Stafford 'of the lands of felons, of widows who had married without licence, etc (1) David Cecil served on several commissions for sewers, in Lincolnshire in December 1503 and March 1524,(2) and in Rutland and Lincolnshire in July 1505.(3) Robert Kirk was one of two commissioners appointed in April 1521 to make inquisition in all counties concerning false weights and measures, with £20 a year from the fines and forfeitures.(4) Among the yeomen serving on commissions for the collection of the subsidy were John Amadas, for Devon in 1523-4,(5) and John Flamank for the hundred of Trigg, Cornwall, in 1524-7.(6) Robert Langdon, a commissioner of the peace in Cornwall in 1538,(7) and Richard Selman, who served on many commissions of the peace for Shropshire and Staffordshire between 1508 and 1539,(8) may have been the yeomen of the Guard of those names. More positive examples are found, however, of sergeants at arms, formerly of the Guard, serving on these particular commissions. Among these were Henry Thornton in Somerset, in February 1531, and December 1532 to January 1533;(9) Thomas Greenway in Buckinghamshire, in November 1512, October 1514 and December 1536;(10) and David Cecil in Rutland in 1531/2.(11)

Activities of Office Holders
Some evidence of the activities of early Tudor office-holders may still be found. To start at the highest level, the circumstances of David Cecil's second term of office as sheriff of Northamptonshire illustrate both the reasoning behind the selection of a particular individual for the position, and the fact that the king was not bound to choose one of the three names submitted to him. The surviving correspondence also shows that the manipulation of jurors by sheriffs was an accepted fact at the time. Cecil had sought Cromwell's assistance for reappointment as sheriff in the coming year. In a letter of 4 November 1532 Cecil reminded Cromwell that the king had promised that he should lose nothing by taking the office, but pointed out that he would be a great loser unless he had the office for a further term.(12) At this

1. Ibid.,p.627.
2. Ibid., p.358; LP IV i, 213 (2).
3. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.410.
4. LP mi, 1262.
5. LP Hlii, 3282 (iii); LP IV i, 547, p.233.
6. T. L. Stoate, Cornwall Subsidies in the Reign of Henry VIII (Bristol, 1985) [hereafter Stoate, Cornwall], p.153; LP m ii, 3282 (iii), p.1364; LP TV i, 547, p.236.
7. LP XIH i, 384 (17,63).
8. For Staffordshire see CPR Henry VII, ii, p.659; LP I, HI, IV, V, XI and XIII; for Shropshire see LP I, HI, IV, V, XI, XHI, and XIV.
9. LP V, 119 (36) and 1694 (ii).
10. LP 1,3522 and 5506; LP XI, 1417 (5).
11. LP V, 119 (55) and 1694 (ii).
12. LP V, 1516, citing BL Cotton Ms. Titus B.1,351.

time the lands of the former sheriff, Sir William Spencer, recently deceased, were in dispute, since one of Lady Spencer's brothers, Edmund Knightley, was attempting to 'defeat the king's title to the heir', despite an agreement reached in the matter between Lady Spencer and the executors.(1) Cromwell had received letters from Sir Thomas Audley and Edward Montague, both dated 4 November 1532, recommending that Cecil should be appointed sheriff of Northamptonshire again in the coming year. Each letter shows that there was a strong reason for doing so, apart from the advantage to Cedi himself. Audley's letter informed Cromwell that 'David Cecil, the sheriff, has endeavoured himself uprightly for the king and shows me there is no doubt in the jury, but that the king shall be truly served.'(2) Montague advised Cecil's continuance in office 'as the king's matters concerning Spencer and Mauntel's lands are not yet found.'(3) These comments clearly show that, with Cecil in office, his influence over the selection of jurors would ensure a decision in the king's favour. A statement in Audley's letter also shows that he would have recommended Cedi to serve again but the judges advised that he could not do so.(4) In the event the three names submitted to the king for sheriff of Northamptonshire were Sir Thomas Tresham, Thomas Griffith and Sir William Parre. The king chose none of these but added the name of 'Davy Cissell' in the margin of the document, and Cecil was duly appointed.(5)

Apart from such well-documented examples, evidence exists of office-holders' more mundane activities. Among the surviving accounts of escheators who were yeomen of the Guard are those of Thomas Grove, appointed to the office for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire on 5 November 1499,(6) Edmond Huntwade, appointed escheator for Northamptonshire and Rutland on 6 November 1489,(7) and Nicholas Owdeby, appointed escheator for Lincolnshire on 5 November 1490.(8) A few of the ledgers and accounts have survived of George Geffron, collector of customs and subsidies on exports in the ports of Exeter and Dartmouth and adjacent places. These cover only the years 1523-24, 1528-29 and 1530-33,(9) although he was originally appointed to office as early as June 1507.(10) The accounts

1. Ibid., 1051,1298.
2. Ibid., 1518.
3. Ibid., 1517.
4. Ibid., 1518.
5. Ibid., 1598 (10).
6. Calendar of Fine Rolls, 670; E150/5; Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry VII [hereafter CIPM], 3 vols. (1898,1915,1955), iii, 874-91.
7. Calendar of Fine Rolls, 325; E150/671; CIPM, i, 557,666,667.
8. Calendar of Fine Rolls, 341; E150/1238 (accounts for October 1492).
9. E122/42/8; E122/42/10; E122/201/7,43/3,43/5 and 43/8.
10. Calendar of Fine Rolls, 860.

dating from Michaelmas 1533 to March 1534 were completed by Geffron's widow and executrix, Joan Geffron.(1)

Accounts of receipts by the treasurer of the Chamber in Henry VII's reign also indicate that the yeomen were actively engaged in collecting revenues for the king. Sums of £13 and £20 respectively were received by the treasurer from John Wattes and John Amyas in the autumn of 1487.(2) In June 1489 receipts are recorded of £40.7s. 6d. from Henry Walker and £17 from Thomas Trollop Tor the collectors of Lincolnshire',(3) and of £283 from the same two yeomen in July Tor Lindsey in Lincolnshire'.(4)

Two examples show the yeomen safeguarding the king's interests against tax evasion. David Gough, yeoman of the crown, petitioned the king in October 1488 for a piece of broad cloth and three kerseys which were forfeited to the crown as the owner intended to send them overseas without paying the customs duties. Henry VII signified his agreement to this request to the officers of the Exchequer at their discretion, provided that thereby 'no man be injured by us contrary to our laws'.(5) Richard Braine, yeoman of the crown, a riding forester of the Forest of Dean, seized as goods forfeited to the king a quantity of fish worth £40 which had been purchased at Minehead, Somerset, in December 1500 and was being conveyed on the river Severn to Gloucester, presumably without payment of the relevant dues.(6)

Problems Encountered by Office Holders and Commissioners
There were occasions when the yeomen were obstructed in their duties, perhaps due to personal rivalry or ill-feeling locally. Henry Birde evidently experienced some difficulty in carrying out his duties as bailiff of Ashbourne and of Wirkworth, Derbyshire, in 1534. A letter addressed to all tenants and inhabitants in these places ordered them to pay to the bailiff and his deputy the rents and customs due to the king, and to assist him in his office, 'not letting for Sir Thomas Cokayne nor Sir Henry Sacheverell nor any other'.(7) A communication sent to John Scudamore from Robert Burgoyn on 7 February 1540 required the former, 'in accordance with the enclosed letter of the Chancellor unto us directed,' to put the bearer, William Penson, one of the king's Guard, 'in peaceable possession of his office of keeping the park of Hallow,

1. E122/43/10.
2. E101 /413/2 (1), fos.7r and lOr.
3. Ibid., f.25r.
4. Ibid., f.26r.
5. E404/80, m.336.
6. Calendar of the Close Rolls preserved in the Public Record Office: Henry VII, 2 vols. (1955,1963) [hereafter CCR Henry VII], ii, 66.
7. LP VII, 1268.

Worcestershire' (1) At times complaints were made about the actions taken by the yeomen in the exorcise of their offices. One of the yeomen, John Reynolds, alias John ap Rhydderch, was clerk of Ihe peace and of the crown for Merioneth and Anglesey, North Wales, from February 1542. He was co-defendant with the clerk of the peace for Carnarvonshire in a suit brought by the inhabitants of the counties concerned, complaining of demands for excessive fees and excessively frequent appearances from persons bound over to the peace' (2)

The difficulties likely to be encountered in carrying out duties, allied with an element of personal enmity, can be seen in a case in Cornwall. At an unrecorded date between 1527-30, John Amadas, sergeant at arms, and Thomas Mone, yeoman of the Guard (presumably Amadas's son-in-law of that name), were two of the four commissioners appointed to investigate robberies at sea, upon the complaint of Barnard Bullen, a Breton merchant (3). The culprits, at least ten in number, were all inhabitants of Looe, Cornwall. When brought before the commissioners in Looe parish church, they confessed to the crime and restored goods to the value of £3 to Bullen, agreeing to compensate him for the rest of his goods which they had stolen. At this moment, one William Kendall entered the church, allegedly with about a hundred persons whose identity was unknown to the commissioners, 'riotously arrayed with swords, bucklers and other unlawful weapons', saying that he would answer for the robbery and malefactors, calling the commissioners knaves and striking at them, so that their lives were endangered. The rioters then left the church, so the commissioners were unable to take further action. They requested that writs of subpoena be directed against Kendall and those accompanying him, as well as against the thieves already identified, commanding them to appear in Star Chamber.(4)

Kendall's answer to the bill of complaint against him consisted of a complete denial of the events as cited.(5) He stated that on the feast of St. George he went on pilgrimage with his wife and a servant lad to St. George's chapel, having no knowledge that the commissioners were in tire town. Kendall saluted the commissioners 'in as loving manner as he could', and they all went to the house of one of the commissioners named Mayowe and drank together. Later, when returning home after dining at a friend's house, he received a message to go to a further meeting of the commissioners in the chapel. He had only a dagger and a white rod in his

1. LP XV, 173; BL Additional Ms. 11,041, f.39.
2. Sir Edgar Stephens, The Clerks of the Counties 1360-1960 (1961), p.51.
3. STAC 2/1,149; W. J. Blake, 'A History of Cornwall 1529-1539', Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, 19 (Plymouth, 1915) [hereafter Blake], pp.392-3.
4. Ibid.
5. STAC 2/26,257; Blake, p.392.

hand, and was accompanied by a servant of the king named John Lytle (presumably the yeoman of the Guard of that name).(1) Kendall declared that Amadas used /high and wilful words to him' and told him he lied, whereupon Kendall retaliated and 'with the back of his hand casting abroad happened to strike' Amadas on the cheek without injuring him.(2) He denied assembling a hundred persons and said great numbers of people went to the chapel on pilgrimage. The outcome of the case has not been found. It is worth noting, however, that the name of William Kendall appears as the defendant in fifteen cases in Star Chamber, mainly on charges of assault and forcible entry.(3) As will be shown elsewhere in this chapter, Kendall was a gentleman servant of the marquis of Exeter.

Amadas probably acted in a high-handed manner himself and obviously had enemies, since on several occasions he claimed to have been threatened and violently assaulted. One such attack took place in Calstock, Cornwall, when Amadas and a companion were assaulted. Amadas declared that one of the four assailants, named Thomas Tomson, had used slanderous and spiteful words against the king shortly before the attack.(4) Other assaults on Amadas occurred at Tavistock. On 10 November 1528, when he was on his way to church to hear mass, a gentleman named John Fitz, together with a riotous assembly, attacked Amadas 'with most violent strokes laid at him with swords as though they would have hewn him in pieces/ Amadas defended himself 'with all his might and power' and was eventually assisted by one of his servants who heard of the affray, otherwise he would have been 'utterly slain out of hand.'(5) Fitz apparently threatened to murder Amadas on more than one occasion, and some time later, on 29 May (presumably 1529), 'with other malefactors and riotous persons', he lay in wait for Amadas.(6) According to Amadas, he was returning home from Tavistock abbey, and went through the parish churchyard, where he was fiercely assaulted and driven to the church door, the attackers having no 'regard to God or the holy place ... or to any dread of your grace or of your laws.' Amadas managed to flee into the church but was followed and assaulted again so violently that he expected to die. Somehow he then made his way to the abbey church, with the assailants still in pursuit, where he was saved by the monks there who, seeing the 'abominable riot', closed the choir door. The servant who came to defend Amadas was injured by violent blows, including one on the head, but (miraculously it seems) Amadas

1. Ibid.
2. Ibid.
3. Blake, p.392.
4. STAC 2/1,149.
5. Ibid., 148.
6. Ibid.

evidently escaped serious injury himself. This does suggest that his reports were highly exaggerated, but the fact that the assaults took place at all appear to indicate that there were people with a serious grudge against him.

Complaints Levelled Against Individual Yeomen
Complaints were also directed towards yeomen who were felt to abuse their authority. As a yeoman of the crown and supervisor of the king's ordnance works in Ashdown forest, Sussex, in the 1490s,(1) Robert Harrison was seen by local people as a man of some influence in the area. Harrison was the defendant in a Star Chamber case where it was alleged by one Hugh Barris that Harrison had unlawfully entered into lands which he claimed by right of his wife Elizabeth, sister and one of the two heirs of William Jupe.(2) Barris was married to the other heir, Jupe's niece Joan, daughter of his sister Margaret, and they had occupied certain lands in the Hartfield area until the time that Elizabeth married Harrison. Immediately afterwards Harrison had entered the lands of Hugh and Joan Barris, claiming these as well as the lands of his wife Elizabeth. The plaintiff also stated that when he was commanded to appear before the king's council at Greenwich Harrison had set three men upon him, grievously wounding him. Barris claimed to be daily in jeopardy and fear of his life 'of the said Robert and his affinity', and alleged that he and his wife were 'not of power to have the remedy in the common law because the said Robert is of so great might and strength'.(3) Predictably, Harrison denied the charges against him, claiming that by a series of enfeoffments and a sale the disputed property belonged to his wife and himself. He also denied any responsibility for the attack on Barris, and stated that he had dismissed the servant concerned.

Incidentally, this case is printed in the volume Sussex Record Society 16, where it is assigned to the date c.1523. The manuscript, however, refers to a fine levied in Hilary term 'in the ninth year of the reign of the king our sovereign lord that now is'.(4) This has been interpreted by the transcriber and editor as the ninth year of Henry VIII (22 April 1517 to 21 April 1518), whereas it relates to Henry VII's reign and therefore dates between 22 August 1493 and 21 August 1494. Robert Harrison, who was active in the Hartfield area, had died by August 1502, and no other yeoman of that name has been discovered.(5)

1. E404/80, m.326; E405/78, f.39v; E404/81/1, m.108.
2. STAC 2/3,170; P. D. Mundy, ed., Abstracts of Star Chamber Proceedings relating to the County of Sussex, Henry VII to Philip and Mary, Sussex Record Society, 16 (1913), pp.8-10.
3. Ibid.
4. STAC 2/3,172.
5. CPR Henry VII, ii, p.26.

The Use of Yeomen in County Administration
Instances are recorded of the yeomen acting as witnesses or informers about alleged seditious statements made by certain persons. Some action needed to be taken in such cases in order to prevent possible disturbances. A young man named Kettilby, calling himself James Billingford, was evidently under suspicion for statements which he had made in various places. Adam Holland, yeoman of the Guard, signed a statement, on 21 January 1535, reporting Kettilby's words spoken at the Bull's Head in Nottingham at the previous season of Martinmas [10-12 November], when Kettilby claimed that he was the queen's kinsman and her scholar at the university, that he was henxman to the duke of Norfolk, and that the late lord Willoughby of Lincolnshire was his uncle.(1)

Thomas Catlyn, yeoman of the Guard and bailiff of Leicester town, was involved in the examination of men accused of seditious statements on at least two occasions. A surgeon named Robert Molton appeared before the mayor of Leicester, John Barton, and Catlyn as bailiff, on 27 March 1532, when he denied statements which he was alleged to have made against William Gibson, an innholder of the town.(2) On 14 December 1533 Ralph Churlis, a baker of Monstull (probably Mountsorrel), Leicestershire, was accused of speaking seditious words to Catlyn, threatening that local bakers would bring white bread into the town for the Christmas season contrary to instruction, and that they would have 'staves in their baskets to defend them'.(3)

There was some encouragement for royal servants to act as informers, since they were likely to be well rewarded for their vigilance. In 1537 Henry Birde, together with another person, reported that, contrary to the Acts of Parliament (which were quoted), Nicholas Goodeyre of Edgware had continued as clerk to the sheriffs of Middlesex for substantially more than one year. Goodeyre incurred a penalty of £600 for his misdemeanour, half of which went to the king and the other half to the informers.(4)

The use of royal servants in obtaining information on local conditions and opinions is well illustrated in the case of the marquis of Exeter, who was arrested in September 1531, having been forbidden to attend at court earlier in the summer.(5) At the time the king's divorce proceedings against Katherine of Aragon were causing much discussion and speculation. It was rumoured that if Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn, his cousin Henry Courtenay, marquis

1. LP Vm, 81 (ii).
2. M. Bateson, ed., Records of the Borough of Leicester, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1899-1905), in, p.31, citing Box J, no. 438.
3. Ibid., pp.34-5, citing Hall Book I, p.309.
4. LPXnii,1009.
5. LP V, 340 and 416. The 'young Marquis' mentioned was initially stated to be Dorset, but this was corrected by the editors in LP XIII ii, pp.318 and 399.

of Exeter, would become king. Two of the king7s Chamber servants who were Comishmen, Roger Becket, a gentleman usher, and John Worth, a sewer, were sent to Cornwall to make secret enquiries into the conduct and demeanour of William Kendall, the marquis's servant mentioned earlier, who was considered largely responsible for spreading the rumour.(1) The royal servants were instructed to appear to be merely visiting friends in the area, and carried letters from the king addressed to various gentlemen and to John Thomas, sergeant at arms. Thomas enjoyed the special confidence and trust of the king, being also a commissioner and assessor of the duchy of Cornwall, and he was to assist Becket and Worth in their investigations. These aimed to discover the number of servants Kendall kept in his house, what other servants he had, and whether he had lately retained any men in the county, their number and his intent for retaining. In addition the royal servants were to discover whether there was any rumour that the marquis should be heir apparent.(2)

As a result of the investigations, it was found that the marquis was indeed regarded throughout the county as the heir apparent to the king. Statements made by various local persons about Kendall's activities were recorded. These included the evidence of John Amadas, sergeant at arms, who had heard from another royal servant, John Cornish, as well as two other people, that Kendall retained many men for the marquis. John Lytle of the Guard testified that Kendall told him that the marquis had sent for men to the country, and that Mr. Lowre (a duchy officer) had sent him four, while Kendall himself would send a tall fellow and two more. Both Kendall and another servant of the marquis named Quintrell were reported as saying that if the king should marry 'Lady Anne' there would be 'need of such good fellows', and that their master must then be king.3 Kendall and Quintrell were arrested and taken to the Tower by John Thomas, sergeant at arms.4 As shown in chapter 3, yeomen of the Guard were involved in apprehending suspected felons and keeping them in custody. In September 1538 William Fitzwilliam informed Thomas Cromwell that a harper of Havant had been arrested, and had implicated a surgeon named Richard Heyre as the source of a statement that Sir Geoffrey Pole would have sent over the sea to his brother if he had not been taken. The harper had been committed to ward, and Heyre was in the custody of Walter Russell of the Guard, who was also bailiff of Havant.5 Similarly,

1. LP Xm ii, 804 and 961; Blake, pp .361-3, citing Harl. Ms. 296, f.35b, printed in Archaeologia, 22, p.24; A. L. Rowse, Tudor Cornwall Portrait of a Society (1941), p.235.
2. Rowse, p.235, and Blake, p.390.
3. LP Xin ii, 961; Blake, pp.364 and 368.
4. Blake, p.368; PPE Henry VIII, p.153.
5. LP Xin ii, 393.

in April 1540 the mayor of Salisbury informed the earl of Southampton that, according to his command, a prisoner named John Aisshewood had been delivered to the custody of John Willesden and George Escotte, yeomen of the king's Guard.(1) A more serious case, involving a murder, was discovered in 1520, by Thomas Sounde of the Guard. Details eventually appeared in a Star Chamber petition by Giles Huncote, which recorded that a monk in Combermere abbey, Cheshire, was stabbed to death on 11 February 1520 by John Jenyns, a household servant of the abbot there.(2) The servant was protected by the prior at Combermere, who was anxious to keep the murder secret because, as he stated, 'this abbey is already in an evil name for using of misrule'.(3) He therefore asked those who knew about the murder to keep quiet about it, getting them to swear an oath to conceal the matter. Six months or so later the crime came to the knowledge of Thomas Sounde, who arrested Jenyns and had him imprisoned in Chester gaol on suspicion of felony.(4)

Conclusion
The yeomen of the Guard were fully involved in helping to protect die interests of the monarch in their areas of activity. By the diligent exercise of their offices they collected the king's revenues, preserved his feudal rights, sought out tax evaders, and maintained his parks and forests. They upheld the law by reporting illegal practices and statements likely to cause unrest, as well as by apprehending suspected felons and guarding prisoners.

1. LP XV, 446.
2. C. H. Williams, England under the Early Tudors (1925), pp.201-2; R. Stewart-Brown, ed., Lancashire and Cheshire cases in the Court of Star Chamber, i, Lancs, and Cheshire Record Society, 71 (1916), p.129; VCH Cheshire, iii (1980), p.154; LP VII, 923, xxi.
3. Williams, pp.201-2.
4. Ibid.

Chapter 6

Family and Social Status of Members of the Guard

This chapter is concerned with the individuals who served in the king's bodyguard, and examines their social background. The amount of information which it has been possible to find on individual yeomen varies considerably. In some cases a name occurs once or twice and no further details can be found, while in others a wealth of information has been discovered from different sources. The majority of the yeomen fall between these two extremes. Following examples of the means of entry to royal service through aristocratic households, a brief section discusses the social status of royal servants generally. The contrasting amount of information available on different yeomen is then demonstrated. This is followed by an account of the private activities in which some of the yeomen were engaged. The next section describes yeomen who were property owners, and an assessment follows on the financial position of individuals. This leads to a discussion of the yeomen's standing in the community, and their family connections. Examples are then given of a variety of events illustrating their personal lives, and the attitudes of other people towards the Guard. Next comes an indication of their geographical distribution throughout the country, and the chapter concludes with a description of memorials to some of the yeomen.

Recruitment by Special Recommendation
As shown in chapter 1, some of the earliest members of the Guard were chosen from Lancastrian supporters, many of whom had shared some part of Henry Tudor's exile, and others were recruited from aristocratic households. Among the latter were John Forde, a former servant of Giles, Lord Daubeney,(1) and Thomas Broke, who formerly served Edmund de la Pole, earl of Suffolk.(2) Later examples include James Gartside, who had been brought up in the earl of Derby's household,(3) and Roger Ellis, who came to the court from the household of the marquess of Exeter.(4) Appointments to the Guard were made upon personal recommendation. In January 1546 Sir Thomas Heneage submitted the name of Reynold Jones

1. D. A. Luckett, 'Crown Patronage and Political Morality in Early Tudor England: The Case of Giles, Lord Daubeney' in EHR, 110 (1995), 578-595, p.583.
2. LP I i, 438 (l),m.l2.
3. F. J. Child, ed., The Ballad of Flodden Field' from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, iii, (New York, 1957 edition), 353-62, p.358. I am grateful to Mr. Henry James for drawing my attention to this ballad.
4. LP Xm ii, 755; PROB11 /28 (7 Alenger).

for the next vacancy in the Guard,(1) and a year later the lord chamberlain and vice-chamberlain subscribed warrants for Richard Gibbs and John Auger to be appointed to the next vacancies to occur in the Guard.(2) In some families royal service tended to continue in successive generations, in a variety of household offices. William and John Aimer, yeomen of the Guard, were the sons of John Aimer, marshal of die Hall to Henry VII.(3) John Gilmin's son John became an usher of the Chamber,(4) and John Stanshaw's son Robert was a groom of the Chamber.(5) There are a number of instances where sons of the yeomen also joined the Guard. Among these were Andrew Greenhill's son John (6) and John Thomas's son Robert.(7)

Status of Royal Servants
Servants of the royal household were accorded a higher social status than those performing similar functions elsewhere, and ranked higher than the description of their offices might suggest. Service to the king or other members of the royal family bestowed an added status to an individual's position in his local community. Robert Washington and Nicholas Downes were described in a recognizance of February 1504 as 'gentlemen of the king's household',(8) and Edward Ingham appears in the Westminster rental of the Abbey sacrist of c.1530 as 'gentleman and yeoman of the king's Guard'.(9) These instances compare with the standing of royal servants in pre-Tudor times. Rosemary Horrox has indicated that yeomen of the crown and grooms of the Chamber in Richard Ill's reign came from a wide social range, and cites the description of William Parker, Edward IV's yeoman of the scullery, as a gentleman of the household.(10) A distinction in rank existed between the various yeomen within die royal household, however, depending upon the department where they held office. While yeomen of the crown carried out special domestic duties in the domus magnificencie, those yeomen holding offices in a department belonging to the domus providencie were never described as yeomen of the crown.(11)

1. SP 4/1,83; LP XX ii, 1067.
2. LP XX ii, 770.
3. Campbell, ii, p.522; Bindoff, i, p.313.
4. LP IV i, 464 (27).
5. LP I i, 2617 (29); PROB 11/18 (19 Holder).
6. LP X, 392 (27); LP XV, 436 (4); PROB 11/32 (41 Populwell).
7. LP n i, 1543; LP IHii, 2862 (12).
8. CCRHenry VII, ii, 295.
9. G. Rosser, Medieval Westminster 1200-1540 (Oxford, 1989), p.347. I am grateful to Dr. Fiona Kisby for this reference.
10. Horrox, p.244; pp .240-1.
11. Ibid., p.243.

Diversity of information on yeomen’s backgrounds and careers In many cases little is known about an individual beyond the inclusion of his name on a list or a reference to him as a particular office holder. Among these yeomen is John Frye, who was appointed searcher in the port of Bristol on 24 September 1485, receiving a saving of the office in the Act of Resumption.(1) He appears in the 1496 warrant to the keeper of the Great Wardrobe listing Chamber personnel authorized to receive livery of cloth for watching clothing,(2) but is heard of no more. Robert Bagger, who took part in Henry VU's Victorious journey' to Bosworth in 1485, and received the offices of bailiff, porter and park-keeper of Maxstoke, Warwickshire, on 24 September that year,(3) may have been the tax collector of that name in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, in 1489,(4) otherwise no other evidence of his activities has been discovered.

At the other extreme is Roger Hacheman, who appears in the Wardrobe warrants listing Chamber personnel in November 1509(5) and December 1510.(6) Hacheman was the recipient of many grants between 1511 and 1549/50. In November 1511 he received the grant, in fee, of a property called Sircotes, alias Sithcotes lands, in the lordship of Hartwell, Buckinghamshire, arising from the attainder of Sir Richard Empson.(7) While serving in the garrison at Toumai, Hacheman was appointed to the office of 'seal royal' there on 15 July 1515, back-dated to 21 September 1513, the date of Henry VEI's entry to the city.(8) [See chapter 4 for more details.] In April 1522 Hacheman was granted a 21-years' lease of a dwelling and lands called 'Bekesplace' in the lordship of Ewelme, Oxfordshire, lately belonging to Edmund de la Pole, at a rent of £4, with 2s. increase.(9) He received a grant of the ferry, fishery and boats at Shillingford ferry, between the counties of Oxford and Berkshire, in the honour of Wallingford, on 21 June 1529.(10) Two years later, in October 1531, he received a further grant of the fishery in the river Thames at Shellingford, with the ditches and creeks there called 'Huddesbut' and meadows adjoining, together with three acres of meadow in Woodford, formerly held by the priory of Wallingford, of the annual value of 40s. 4d; and the office of keeper of the great wood known as 'le priory wood'.(11) On 23 March 1536 Hacheman was granted the annual rent of 48s. from certain lands

1. C82/2 (3), m.393; Campbell, i, pp.7 and 30; Rot. Pari, vi, p.363.
2. E101/414/8, f.53.
3. C82/2 (3), m.364; Campbell, i, pp.45-6.
4. Col. of Fine Rolls, 245.
5. E101/417/3, f.33.
6. Ibid., 157.
7. LP 1 1985; LP I i, 969 (56).
8. LP II i, 714; Cruickshank, Toumai, pp.8 (which shows 23 September), 51 and 189.
9. LP m ii, 2214 (10).
10. LP IV iii, 5748 (21).
11. LP V, 506 (8).

near Chalgrove, Oxford, formerly belonging to Wallingford priory.(1) He was described as Roger Hacheman of Ewelme when he received the leases, in 1536-7, of two water mills known as Overly Mills (2) and the rectories of Nettlebed and Overey, Oxon., formerly belonging to Dorchester monastery.(3) During the same period he was appointed bailiff of the lands late of Dorchester monastery and keeper of the woods of Dorchester at Rewley and Goring.(4) A lease in 1537-8 gave him further lands in the lordship of Ewelme, formerly belonging to Edmund de la Pole.(5) Finally, in 1549 or 1550 Hacheman obtained the lease of Bishop's Court Farm, at an annual rent of £14.13s.(6)

The selection of yeomen was made chiefly, but not exclusively, from those whose names appear in the records most frequently, or about whom the most information could be found. Restrictions of space prevent the inclusion of further biographical notes which had been prepared.

The Yeomen as Business Men and Property Owners
Many of the yeomen were engaged in private business outside the court, in occupations such as tradesman, merchant, seaman or farmer. Oliver Turner was a vintner of London (7), and John Matthew a citizen and baker of London.(8) John Lorkyn of St. Clement Danes, London, and John Rudgewey of Exminster, Devon, were butchers,(9) William Hunt of Coventry was a weaver or clothmaker,(10) and John Ayer was a co-partner of Stertmore tinworks in Devon.(11) Inn-holders included Robert Talbot of Ely, Cambridge, and Ipswich and Hailey, Suffolk, and Thomas Boleyn of Bishop's Lynn and Boston.(13) Those who were merchants included George Geffron of Ottery St. Mary, Devon,(14) and Adam Sampson of Kent,(15) the latter trading in timber. Early in 1513 Sampson received 21s. Id. for wood which he supplied for use in the royal ship the Sovereign,(16) and in October 1520 the abbot of Lesnes monastery, Kent, indented

1. LPX, 597 (45).
2. LPXIHi, 1520,p.578,citing Augm. Book 209, f.l4b; VCHOxford, vii (1962),p.44.
3. Ibid., p.579, citing Augm. Book 209, f.25.
4. Ibid., p.573, citing Augm. Book 232, f.47, and p.582, f.62.
5. Ibid., p.589, citing Augm. Book 210, f.32.
6. VCH Oxford, vii, pp.43 and 47, citing Cal. Pat. 1557-8,102; LR 2/189, f.llb.
7. LP I i, 438 (3), m.4.
8. R. R. Sharpe, ed., Calendar of Wills in the Court ofHusting, London A.D. 1258-A.D. 1688, 2 vols. (1890), ii, p.636.
9. LPHlii, 2749 (12); LPX, 597 (16).
10. LP I i, 438 (3), m.10.
11. STAC 2/2/274. I am grateful to Mr. Philip Ward for this reference.
12. LP I i, 438 (3), m.ll.
13. Ibid., m.12.
14. Ibid., m.14.
15. SP 2/G, f.211v. I am grateful to Mr. Philip Ward for this reference.
16. E36/12, p.141.

to sell a quantity of wood to Sampson.(1) Richard Berkeley of Rye, Sussex, was both a merchant and a seaman.(2) These two occupations were often combined, since merchants who owned ships tended to serve on them as captain or master. Among those already mentioned in chapter 4, John Ismay, Thomas Spert and William Sabyn were initially ship-owning merchants.

Some members of the Guard were wealthy householders and farmers. Among the yeomen who came from families which had been established as land-owners for several generations were Henry Birde and Thomas Cocke. Henry Birde's grandfather, Philip Birde of Eltham, Kent, left by his will of 19 September 1497 three tenements in Eltham as well as lands and farms in Kent.(3) The lands and farms were equally divided between his two sons, Robert and Thomas. Henry Birde was one of the three sons of the latter, and shared equally with his two brothers the lands and tenements bequeathed by their father. Henry Birde's own will of 26 June 1544, proved on 31 March 1545, shows that he left a house and land in Lewisham, where he had lived, tenements in Greenwich, and lands in Eltham. The annual net value of his properties was shown in his will as £11. Is. 8d.(4) Thomas Cocke was the second of the four sons of John Cocke of Prittlewell, Essex.(5) Thomas was a substantial property owner in Essex, as his will of 21 July 1544, proved on 7 February 1545, reveals.(6) Besides houses and shops in Prittlewell, Cocke owned houses, woods, crofts and pieces of land in the parish, and his farm known as Reynolds, which extended to 60 acres of arable and pasture. In addition, he held the lease of a farm called Shelford and Bredworth in Foulness, well stocked with sheep and oxen, and lands in Little Wakering, leased from the master and brethren of St. Bartholomew's hospital, Smithfield, London, in December 1529 for 99 years.(7 )These lands may have included the 'oyster layings' at Little Wakering, mentioned as Cocke's property in his will.

Other property owners among the Guard included John West, Henry Skillman, and John Griffiths. In January 1501 John West sold property which had belonged to his father, Robert West, to Walter Cromwell, beer brewer and father of Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's future chief minister. This included sixteen acres of arable land in Wandsworth, and one acre in the 'Northfeld', Wandsworth, as well as a dwelling, a garden and a wood.(8) In 1526 Henry

1. SP 2/G, f.211v.
2. LP I i, 438 (l),m.4.
3. Drake, p.230.
4. PROB 11/31 (6 Alen).
5. H. W. King, The Descent of the Manor of Little Stambridge ..., Transactions of the Essex Archaeological Society, NS, 2, (Colchester, 1884), 190-206 [hereafter King, Little Stambridge], p.201.
6. H. W. King, Ancient Wills, Trans. Essex Arch. Soc., 3 (Colchester, 1865), 167-197 [hereafter King, Ancient Wills], p.192; King, Little Stambridge, p.201, citing PCC 22 Pynning.
7. Ibid.; N. Moore, The History of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 2 vols. (1918), ii, pp.122-3. I am grateful to Dr. Andrew Thrush for the latter reference.
8. CCR Henry VII, ii, 57.

Skillman bequeathed to his wife Eleanor the house in which they lived, together with lands, pastures, meadows and woodlands within the parish of Eltham.(1) John Griffiths of Eystanes ad Montem (probably Easton), Essex, was able to purchase from Lord Audley in 1539 'The Saracen's Head' in Aldgate, as well as buildings and grounds in the parish of St. Catherine Christchurch, London, at a cost of £67.Os.lOd.(2)

Several yeomen of the Guard were among those who enclosed land in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire. An enquiry took place in 1517 and 1518 into lands which had been enclosed since Michaelmas 1488.(3) This revealed that in Buckinghamshire Thomas Greenway had enclosed 30 acres of land in Upton and 40 acres in Great Kimble,(4) and in Oxfordshire Thomas Broke had enclosed 200 acres at 'Newnham',(5) probably Newnham Murren, the next parish to Ewelme, where he held offices as parker, bailiff and woodward.(6) In Warwickshire, Baldwin Heath had enclosed 24 acres of land in Wootton,(7) and William Brown was found to have enclosed 192 acres at Brailes, where he was bailiff, which involved putting four ploughs out of action, destroying two dwellings and evicting 16 people.(8)

In some instances yeomen of the Guard held land given to them by the sovereign, and many received grants of property on varying terms. By his will of 20 June 1517, proved on 15 November 1521, John Geffron bequeathed to his brother George lands and tenements in Canterbury, Kent, which he stated had been given to him by Henry VIII.(9) Henry Birde was granted lands by the king in October 1542, as a reward for services.(10) These lands, in the parishes of Lewisham and Lee, Kent, consisted of Little Bankers (about three acres), Great Hatchfield (about 33 acres), one acre called Bridgehouse land, and a close of eight acres called Great Wotty, with an annual rent of 50s. The annual net value of the house and land in Lewisham which he had 'of the king's majesty's gift' was shown as £3. 6s. 8d. in his will of 26 June 1544, proved on 31 March 1545.(11)

In September 1501 William Maddockes was granted 'certain lands with gardens' in the parish of St. Giles without Cripplegate, London, forfeited by Humphrey Stafford. A further

1. Kent County Record Office, Maidstone, DRb/PWR.8, f.60. I am grateful to Mr. D. W. Skillman for sending me a copy of this will.
2. LP XIV i, 220.
3. I. S. Leadam, ed., The Domesday of Inclosures 1517-1518, 2 vols. (1897), i, p.10.
4. Ibid., pp.189 and 205.
5. Ibid., p.364.
6. VCH Oxford, v (1957), p.243n; LP I i, 438 (3), m.12.
7. Leadam, ii, pp.451 and 651.
8. Ibid., pp.419,649 and 654n.
9. PROB 11/20 (18 Maynwaryng).
10. Drake, p.248, citing Pat. 34 Henry VIII, p.7; LP XVII, 1012 (54).
11. PROB 11/31 (6 Alen). *prol>aiZy Easton.

patent in May 1502 specified the messuages and gardens in Whitecross Street and Redcross Street, not exceeding the value of seven marks, to be held at a rent of one red rose annually at Midsummer, with an additional grant of the income from the properties since 21 January 1493.(1) In February 1511 John Grey, together with a yeoman of the queen's Chamber, Thomas Wodrofe, received the grant of a house at the comer of Bow Lane in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster, at Dovegate, London, and three tenements in Cussyn Lane, in the parish of Allhallows the More, forfeited by the attainder of Sir Richard Charleton.(2) John Vaughan and Richard Rayneshawe were each granted a 30-years' lease in 1530, arising from the dissolution of the monastery of St. Mary de Pratis, Hertfordshire. Vaughan's lease was for the manor called Beaumonds, at an annual rent of 4 marks (53s. 4d.),(3) and Rayneshawe's lease covered the manor of Pratis and six messuages, two cottages, 100 acres of land and 100 acres of wood in Pratis, with the fair there, at an annual rent of £7.(4) Following the large-scale dissolution of the monasteries a few years later, many of the Guard were among the royal servants who benefited from the king's generosity with his new-found wealth. In February 1538 Richard Gilmin was granted the lands of a farm called Landshott in Horley and Home, Surrey, formerly belonging to Merton priory.(5) Lancelot Harrison was leased the site of Jervaulx monastery, Yorkshire, with various parts of its demesne lands, in February 1539, for a term of 21 years.(6) The annual rent was initially set at £12, but this was evidently found to be grossly undervalued, as a patent of 17 May 1539 granted a similar lease to Harrison at a rent of £23. 8s. 0d., on surrender of the earlier patent.(7)

Financial Standing of the Yeomen
The financial standing of the individual yeomen can also be seen in the records of assessments made for the subsidy for the wars, in 1524-5 and the 1540s. At the time of the 1524-5 subsidy John Flamank was assessed on land worth £20 in the parish of Bodmin, Cornwall,(8) and George Geffron was initially assessed on goods of £100 at Ottery St. Mary, Devon.(9) In 1525, however, Geffron was allowed a reduction of £26.13s. 4d., being the amount of a loan which 'to the assessors' knowledge' he never recovered.(10) At this time John Amadas

1. CPR Henry VII, ii, pp.269 and 271.
2. LP 1,1508.
3. LP IV iii, 6542 (11).
4. Ibid., 6363 (4).
5. LP XIV i, 1355, p.595; VCH Surrey, iii, p.202.
6. LP XIV i, 403 (42).
7. Ibid., 1056 (37).
8. Stoate, Cornwall, p.92.
9. T. L. Stoate, ed., Devon Lay Subsidy Rolls 1524-7 (Bristol, 1979), p.27.
10. Ibid., p.28.

was assessed on land worth £13. 6s. 8d. in Tavistock, Devon,(1) but by the time of the 1543 subsidy his assessment on land had risen to £40.(2) Severed of the surviving documents showing the assessments for subsidies made on members of the royal household contain incomplete lists of the Guard. The one for 1542-3 includes only 67 yeomen,(3) but among these were Henry Birde and Thomas Cocke, mentioned earlier. This shows that both were assessed on goods, the former on £24 and liable to pay 24s, the latter on £26, to pay 26s. Both died early in 1545 so do not appear in subsequent assessments. The assessment for the royal household for 1546 includes a full list of yeomen of the Guard.(4) The rates of assessment were at a monthly contribution, spread over the five months June to October 1546, of 2d. in the pound for goods worth from £15 upwards, and 4d. in the pound for income from lands and fees of £2 and above. Sixteen yeomen ushers and 112 yeomen are listed, making a total of 128 yeomen of the Guard. Of these, 93 were assessed on wages only, 19 on wages and lands, 8 on wages and fees or annuities, 5 on goods, and 3 on wages, lands and fees. Those who were assessed on wages only, of £18 per annum (despite the fact that their wages in 1545 were shown as £24 p.a. - see chapter 2), paid a total of 30s., at the rate of 6s. per month. Of the others, John Piers, clerk of the cheque, and Thomas Johnson were each assessed on goods of £100, paying a total contribution of £4. 3s. 4d., at 16s. 8d. per month, John Lane paid a total of £2.10s. on goods worth £60, at 10s. per month, and George Gates and Robert Owen each paid £1.13s. 4d. on goods of £40 at 6s. 8d. per month. John Holland was assessed on wages and lands valued at £45, paying a total of £3.15s. Od. at 15s. per month. Hugh Proffett, Thomas Timewell, Thomas Okey and Christopher Lonsdale paid £2.10s. on wages and lands of £30, at 10s. a month, and John Willoughby, assessed on wages, lands and annuities of £30, paid £2.15s., at 11s. per month. The proportion of yeomen assessed on wages only in 1546 is very high compared with the yeomen of former years, many of whom received other fees. This may have been partly due to the change in personnel during 1545, shown in chapter 2, when 14 yeomen were discharged and 15 appointed, the newer members having received no grants of office bearing fees at that stage. A check made on those yeomen listed in the Wardrobe warrants of Chamber personnel for 1496 and 1512 (5) indicates that the proportion holding other offices, or receiving fees or other monetary rewards, was respectively 66 and 61 per cent, whereas the proportion for 1546

1. Ibid., p.152.
2. T. L. Stoate, ed., Devon Lay Subsidy Rolls 1543-5 (Bristol, 1986), p.137.
3. E179/69/38.
4. E179/69/56.
5. E101/414/8, f.53; El 01/417/6, f.54.

appears to be only 27 per cent. Nevertheless, it has been estimated that assessments for early Tudor subsidies did not reflect the true position of a person's financial state, and it is likely that royal servants knew how to ensure that they were not unfavourably taxed. There may be some evidence of this in the details given for certain yeomen in the 1546 list who appear in another for 1545-6,(1) where higher assessments were made, with two exceptions, as shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Showing differing rates for certain yeomen on two assessment

lists for the subsidy in the royal household

1545/6 1546
Assessment on wages Amount due Assessment on Amount due
£ £
Thomas Boyse et al 18 36s. wages 18 30s.

Assessment on land

Thomas Timewell 31 62s. wages & land 30 50s.
Thomas Medgate 20 40s. wages & land 18 30s.
Hugh Proffett 30. 6s. 8d. 60s. 8d. wages & land 30 50s.
John Northcott 21 42s. wages & fees 21 35s.
Richard Wilson 28 36s. wages & land 28 46s. 8d.
Richard Jacke 20 40s. wages 18 30s.
Robert David 22 44s. wages 18 30s.
Chris. Lonsdale 23 46s. wages & land 30 50s.

Assessment on goods

John Lane 60 80s. goods 60 50s.
Richard Williams 30 40s. wages 18 30s.
John Bostock 30 40s. wages 18 30s.

Sources: 1545/6: E179/69/50; 1546: E179/69/56

Despite the lower figures which were evidently adopted, some yeomen appear to have had difficulty in paying all of their instalments by the required time. Of those assessed on wages and lands, Hugh Proffett owed 10s. of the 50s. due and John Baugh owed 7s. of the 35s. due, while of those assessed on wages only, Edward Lawes (one of the newest recruits to the Guard) owed the whole amount of 30s. and Thomas Snow, William Winchester and John Glynne each owed 5s.(2)

1. E179/69/50.
2. E179/69/45.

The Family Backgrounds of the Yeomen
The families of several yeomen can be found among the published collections of county pedigrees based on heralds' visitations, and some of these families were armigerous. Among the latter were the families of John Amadas (arms described as azure, a chevron ermine between three oaken slips acomed, proper),(1) Lawrence Eglisfeld (arms described as or, three eagles displayed gules),(2) Thomas Greenway (arms described as gules a fess and a chief or with three martlets vert in the chief),(3) and Thomas Noke (on a fess sable between three leopards' heads, a bow between two coronets, 'over them a helmet with a crest of a lion's paw erased and erected, encircled by a coronet and grasping an arrow').(4) Other yeomen who feature in known pedigrees include Henry Birde,(5) David Cecil,(6) Thomas Cocke,(7) John and Bartholomew Flamank or Flammoke,(8) and Roger Temple.(9) Relationships through marriage may also be seen in similar sources. Lewis ap Watkin married Isabel, one of the three daughters and coheiresses of Sir Edmund Tame;(10) John Flamank's wife was Joyce, daughter of Sir Richard Nanfan;(11) and Roger Becke was married to Mabel, second daughter of Sir Lawrence Warren of Pointon, baron of Stockport, by his wife Margaret, daughter of Sir Piers Legh of Lyme, Cheshire.(12) Through a marriage two generations previously, the Warren family was related to the Stanley family.(13)

In several other cases the name of a yeoman's father is recorded. Among these are Thomas Boys of Calais and Walmer, who was the third son of John Boys of Kent,(14) and Roger

1. J. L. Vivian, ed., The Visitations of the County of Devon. Heralds' Visitations of 1531,1564 and 1620 (1895), p.12; F. T. Colby, ed., The Visitation of the County of Devon in the year 1564: with additions from the Earlier Visitation of 1531 (Exeter, 1881), p.2; F. T. Colby, ed., The Visitation of the County of Devon in the year 1620, Harl. Soc., 6 (1872), p.186; Drake, p.xxii. 2. C. B. Norcliffe, ed., Visitation of Yorkshire 1563 and 1564 by William Flower, Harl. Soc., 16 (1881), p.107.
3. VCH Buckinghamshire, ii (1969), p.280.
4. H. T. Morley, Monumental Brasses of Berkshire (14th to 17th Century) (Reading, 1924), p.181.
5. Drake, p.230.
6. O. Barron, ed., VCH Northamptonshire Families. Genealogical Volume (1906), pp.21-2; T. Blore, The History and Antiquities of the County of Rutland (Stamford, 1811), pp.75-6 and 80; F. W. Weaver, ed., The Visitation of Herefordshire made by Robert Cooke, Clarencieux, in 1569 (Exeter, 1886), p.18; J. Duncumb, Collections towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford, ii, pt. 1 (Hereford, 1812), p.303; J. Simmons, ed., J. Wright's 1684 publication The History and Antiquities of the County of Rutland, Classical County Histories (Wakefield, Yorkshire, 1973 edition), p.63.
7. King, Little Stambridge, p.201.
8. Bindoff, ii, p.146.
9. BL Additional Ms. 5524, f.l61v.
10. LP XXL i, 1166 (67).
11. Bindoff, ii, p. 146.
12. Visitation of Cheshire 1580, Harleian Society, 18 (1882), p.243; J. P. Earwaker, East Cheshire: Past and Present, ii (1880), p.287; G. Ormerod, The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester, iii, pt. 2 (1882), p.686.
13. I. Arthurson, The Perkin Warbeck Conspiracy 1491-1499 (Gloucester, 1994), p.95.
14. Bindoff, i,p.479.

Porter of Wallespole in Powesland, North Wales, and Westminster, son of Hugh Porter.(1) William Morice's father, James Morice of Roydon, Essex, served as master of the works to Henry VIPs mother, Margaret, countess of Richmond and Derby, before becoming a gentleman usher in the royal household.(2)

Many of the yeomen showed benevolence towards poor people, particularly in their wills, where this was a customary gesture for good Christians to make, for the good of their souls. Cornelius van Dun was wealthy enough to show this benevolence during his lifetime, as well as after, founding almshouses at the west end of Petty France and at St. Ermin's Hill, Westminster.(3) The latter may have been the 20 houses which he had built in Westminster at his own cost for poor widows.(4) Thomas Cocke, by his will of 21 July 1544, provided for three bushels of wheat to be baked and made into penny loaves and for a bullock to be killed and distributed to poor people annually at Christmas eve.(5) Robert Delwood directed in his will of 12 September 1538, proved in June 1540, that £10 be distributed among his poor neighbours living in Abingdon at the time of his burial, and £6 both at his 'month's mind' and at the anniversary of his death.(6)

Public Service and the Importance of Status
Since a number of the yeomen of the Guard were of some substance, their standing in the community, enhanced by royal service, led to their election as mayors and Members of Parliament. John Stanshaw represented Reading in Parliament in 1497 (7). Henry Strete sat for Plymouth in 1510,(8) and John Flamank was elected as member for Bodmin in 1512 and 1515 (9). David Cecil served as mayor of Stamford (though the traditional title there was alderman) in 1504-5,1515-16 and 1526-7, and as Member of Parliament for Stamford in 1504,1510,1512,1515 and 1523.(10) Richard Berkeley was MP for Winchelsea in 1495 and 1497-8, and mayor there in 1497-9; he represented Rye in Parliament in 1504 and 1510, becoming mayor there in 1503-4 (11). These elections to Parliament did not create a precedent, since yeomen of the crown in former

1. LP I i, 438 (4), m.18.
2. Bindoff, ii, p.631.
3. A. M. Burke, ed., Memorials of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster (1914), p.433; Westminster City Archives, Wills Register Elsam, fos.143-5; J. Strype, ed., Stow's Survey of the Cities of London and Westminster (1720), Book 6, p.65.
4. Ibid., p.56.
5. King, Ancient Wills, p.192; King, Little Stambridge, p.201.
6. PROB 11 /28 (7 Alenger).
7. J. C. Wedgwood, Biographies of the Members of the Commons House 1439-1509 (1936), p.802.
8. Bindoff, iii, p.399.
9. Ibid., p.146.
10. Bindoff, i, p.602.
11. Ibid., p.419.

reigns served in the same way. Nicholas Buckley was MP for Bodmin in 1449 and for Lostwithiel in 1453-4,(1) and John Boston represented Bedford in 1467-8 and 1472-5.(2)

The importance an individual attached to his standing in his community is illustrated by an incident concerning the election of a new abbot at Muchelney abbey in 1532. Henry Thornton (by that time a sergeant at arms) was a fairly wealthy and influential man in Somerset, having represented Bridgwater in Parliament in 1529, and he enlisted Thomas Cromwell's support to secure the election of his nominee for the post, to which there had been strong local opposition.)(3) Thornton's letters to Cromwell clearly indicate his fear that his status in the county was threatened. Although Thornton's nominee was eventually successful, the new abbot had to pay a large sum of money for his position.(4) David Cecil (also a sergeant at arms), towards the end of his life, had occasion to complain to Cromwell about a suit which one Merynge brought against him regarding an obligation at Nottingham which was fictitious. Although the sum involved was only 20 marks, his defence had cost him £20. His letter to Cromwell of 8 April 1534 referred to his long service to two kings, and continued 'I desire you somewhat to ponder my truth and poor honesty, for it was never disdained in the king's father's days, when I was some time put in trust, nor yet in this king's time till now.'(5)

Personal Petitions and Lawsuits
There are many instances where the yeomen petitioned the king on various personal matters, from seeking the payment of overdue wages, to appealing to him as their 'good lord' for assistance in lawsuits, whether concerning property or financial matters, coercion by magnates or in cases of murder. Richard Pigot petitioned Henry VII in March 1486 for his wages of 4d. a day as keeper of Portnall park, within the precincts of Windsor castle. He was unable to obtain payment from the Exchequer because 'the office was not ancient' according to the limitation of a statute of Edward III and Richard II.(6) Humphrey Acton's petition relates that, on the king's commandment, he had returned to court on 1 July 1518, after duty in the garrison at Toumai, but remained unpaid a year later, because his correct name was not presented in the bill for certain of his company to receive 4d. a day.(7)

1. Ibid., p.129.
2. Ibid., p.94.
3. Bindoff, iii, pp.446-7.
4. Ibid.
5. BL Cotton Ms. Vespasian F.XHI, 159; LP VII, 451.
6. Campbell, i, pp.358-9.
7. E101/418/17, m.21.

Petitions for lawsuits were usually addressed to the king or his chancellor. Bills of complaint have survived in greater number than the subsequent answers and further proceedings of many such cases, so that the final outcome is often unknown.(1) At an unknown date between 1504 and 1515, when William Warham was chancellor of England, John Sandford and his wife Maud sought the good lordship of the chancellor in granting a writ of subpoena on one Thomas A Warton, commanding him to appear before the king in Chancery regarding a debt, for which no remedy could be found by the common law. The debt concerned a sum of £4 owing to Maud's former husband, Richard Warkop, deceased, which was due to Maud as his executrix. At the request of Thomas A Warton, Warkop had agreed to board two married women, who were in his keeping for a quarter of a year. Although A Warton had promised to guarantee the costs involved, it had not been possible to recover these from him.(2) During the same period, when Warham was chancellor, Baldwin Heath pleaded for assistance on a property matter. Although he had lawfully bought and paid for two dwellings and land in Castle Bromwich, Warwickshire, the vendor, Thomas Bradwall alias Watson, had detained the deeds.(3) In 1536 John Catcot of Batcombe, Somerset, petitioned the king in Star Chamber, seeking a remedy for damage to his hedges and dykes caused by a riotous group of twenty people during the night of 24 February that year, on the three acres of enclosed land in Batcombe which Catcot had held by copyhold for 12 years of the earl of Arundel's manor of Spargrove. Catcot complained that he was unable to get possession of the land to carry out repairs.(4) This may have been one of the cases typical of the time, where the allegation of a riotous act was requisite for a case to be brought before the Star Chamber, as a matter of form rather than of fact.(5)

Complaints were sometimes made to the king by members of the Guard who had suffered at the hands of their local magnates. Two examples show the very different outcome which resulted in such instances. Griffith Mores reported the behaviour of Sir William Griffith, chamberlain of North Wales, who had sent a subpoena for Mores to appear at the exchequer in Carnarvon on a certain day.(6) Mores duly arrived, to find the exchequer was closed,

1. J. A. Guy, The Court of Star Chamber and its records to the reign of Elizabeth I, Public Record Office Handbooks No. 21 (1985) [hereafter Guy, Star Chamber], p.24.
2. Cl 358/78. I am grateful to Miss K. Lacey for this reference.
3. Cl 323/30.
4. G. Bradford, ed., Proceedings in the Court of the Star Chamber in the Reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII, Somerset Record Society, 27 (1911), pp.186-7.
5. G. R. Elton, The Practice of History (1967), p.78; Guy, Star Chamber, p.26.
6. STAC 2/28/76. I am grateful to Dr. S. J. Gunn for this reference; see his article The Regime of Charles, Duke of Suffolk, in North Wales and the Reform of Welsh Government, 1509-25 in The Welsh History Review, xii,4 (December 1985), pp.473-5.

whereupon he went to see the chamberlain's deputy to learn the nature of any charge against him. The deputy commanded him not to depart from Carnarvon, on forfeit of £40, so Mores stayed there at some expense for nearly three weeks before the chamberlain arrived. Mores complained that Sir William reviled and rebuked him shamefully, before letting him go without charge. He requested that, since Sir William was then in London, he should be sent for to appear before the king's council to answer for his behaviour and to show what just cause he had against Mores. The bill of complaint mentions the great extortions and oppressions for which the chamberlain was notorious in the three shires of North Wales, resulting in great impoverishment of the king's subjects there. A further point was made concerning the retainers which Sir William had appointed, numbering 500 and more, whereby the inhabitants had no remedy of the law, since in any disputes some of the retainers were impanelled, following 'only the mind of the said Sir William and not the truth of the matter'.(1)

There was evidently some long-standing enmity between the chamberlain and Mores, which was revealed when Sir William was called upon to explain charges of high-handedness. He pointed out that the great difficulty of governing North Wales needed firm control, and alleged that the charges against him were contrived by Mores. The chamberlain explained his refusal to grant a particular farm to Mores, though pressed 'at the desire of other of the king's grace most honorable Guard his fellows', because he wanted to prevent the yeoman's brother- in-law from using it as a base for his gang of eighteen outlaws. Sir William's enemies, on the other hand, claimed that he victimised Mores because he had 'bare witness with Doctor Glynne [archdeacon of Bangor] against the chamberlain about a benefice'. Despite strong evidence against him regarding not only his abuse of power but his illegal retinue, the council which met on 6 June 1519, recognising that the chamberlain's powerful control was indispensable, merely placed restraints on Sir William. The unfortunate Griffith Mores, as chief plaintiff against him, was committed to the Fleet, for falsely accusing the chamberlain.(2)

A similar case was brought to the Court of Requests by Elis Decka, who lamented the extortion and great power of Sir John Shilston, under-steward of the lordship of Bromfield in the marches of Wales.(3) During Decka's absence in Ireland when he was serving the king in the earl of Surrey's retinue, both his sister and her husband, David ap Griffith ap Robert, had died, leaving two young sons, who were heirs to their father's lands. According to the law and

1. Ibid.
2. Ibid.
3. REQ 2/12/154. I am grateful to Dr. Gunn also for this reference; and see his above-mentioned article, pp .484-5.

custom of the lordship, in such cases the nearest in blood who was not an inheritor of the land should have the custody of the heirs and the lands until the heirs reached full age. Shilston had ordered that the lands should be in the hands of certain of the children's uncles, but that Decka's mother should be responsible for the expense of looking after the children, without any revenue from the lands. Decka had complained about the matter to the king's commissioners in Shrewsbury, and it had been decreed that Decka, as the nearest in blood, should have the custody of the children and lands until the heir came to full age.(1) The commissioners had informed Shilston that Decka should be recompensed for the time when the other uncles wrongfully received the revenue, but there seemed to be difficulty in enforcing this ruling. Decka was fortunate, however, as he was able to see the king at Hertford, and this resulted in a directive signed by Henry VIH which Shilston could not ignore. Nevertheless, further prompting was necessary, through the influence of Sir Thomas More, before Decka succeeded in his suit.(2)

Although die outcome of some cases cannot be traced, a number of instances are known where yeomen were pardoned for murder. These were probably cases where fatal injury was deemed to have been inflicted in self-defence, as happened to Edmund Stoner, who had been committed to the Marshalsea prison.(3) Sir Walter Stoner explained the circumstances in a letter to Cromwell dated 9 September 1535, begging him to be 'favourable to his brother Edmund', who had evidently been attacked by one of Sir Walter's servants and had struck him on the head in trying to defend himself. The servant had died from his injury eleven days later.(4) The pardon for murder was received in due course, in July 1536.(5) Two other instances may be cited: Anthony Saunders of Southwick, Hampshire, alias of London, was pardoned for murder in 1523 (6) and John Sandford of Appleby, Westmorland, received a pardon in August 1529 for the slaughter of Henry Salkeld.(7) The latter case indicates that a long-standing feud between the Sandford and Salkeld families still continued.(8)

As already shown, the yeomen were not always exonerated from punitive measures for offences. Perhaps the most serious and unpardonable crime was the shedding of blood within the court. Early in 1512, during the session of Parliament, a yeoman of the Guard named

1. Ibid.
2. Ibid.
3. LP XI, 202 (25).
4. LP DC, 317.
5. LP XI, 202 (25).
6. LP in ii, 2994 (28).
7. LP IV iii, 5906 (4).
8. Rev. F. W. Ragg, Helton Flechan, Askham and Sandford of Askham, Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, NS, 21 (1921), 174-233, p.191.

Richard Newbold (or Newbolt) wilfully killed one of Lord Willoughby's servants in Westminster palace. Hall records that, although in the king's great favour and a special archer, Newbold was hanged, in the palace, where his body was left for two days as an example to others.(1)

It was perhaps inevitable that among several hundred men over the two reigns, a few of the yeomen were involved in scandals of some sort. On 9 January 1500 Peter Lloyd entered into a bond in £100 with Sir Giles Daubeney and Sir Charles Somerset. The condition was stated that 'if Peter pay Margery Floyde [sic] alias Foster at the White Hart Inn, Southwark, 46s. 8d each year, i.e. 26s. 8d. at the Annunciation and 20s. at Easter, until he shall have obtained a lawful divorce from her by the church, this recognizance shall be voided'.(2) Two years later they were apparently still legally married, since on 25 January 1502 Thomas Benne of London, sherman, and Elizabeth his wife acknowledged receipt from William Warham, bishop of London, of 10 marks delivered to the bishop by Elizabeth's mother, Margery Lloyd, wife of Peter Lloyd, yeoman of the crown, for her marriage portion.(3)

In a case brought before Henry VII's council by Geoffrey Ellis, vicar of Thatcham, Berkshire, John Stanshaw was accused of attacking the vicar in his church on Sunday, 5 February 1503.(4) An unusually full account of the case can be constructed from the evidence recorded at the time, probably because of the status of the accused. The cause of the scene arose from the fact that Stanshaw had left his wife and had lived in adultery for some years with a woman known as Joan Stanshaw. The bishop of Salisbury heard of this and ordered them to appear before him at his manor of Ramsbury. The vicar of Thatcham read the citation at the morning service in the presence of Joan Stanshaw, who threatened that the priests would repent the matter before night came. That afternoon Stanshaw entered the church accompanied by 16 riotous persons, armed with weapons, while evensong was taking place. Stanshaw with his son and a servant went into the chancel while the rest of his followers remained in the nave. The vicar was alarmed by his threatening demeanour and asked him what he meant. Stanshaw's reply was to ask whether the priest was not content that he was there, as he threw off his cloak and took his sword and buckler from his servant. His other servants then came into the chancel and would apparently have murdered the vicar if the latter's own servants had not rescued him. In his defence, Stanshaw declared that he had gone

1. Hall, p.526; Great Chronicle, p.379.
2. CCR Henry VII, i, 1214.
3. Ibid., ii, 180.
4. C. G. Bayne and W. H. Dunham, eds., Select Cases in the Council of Henry VII, Selden Society, 75 (1958), p.cxliii.

to church peaceably for evensong and that after sitting in his seat in the chancel the vicar shut the chancel door and called a number of servants, intending to attack him, so that his own servants then pressed in to protect him. It is clear from the evidence, however, that Stanshaw was the aggressor. He rarely attended evensong and had earlier in the day announced his intention of going to the church and making a 'fray'.(1) The outcome of the case has not been found.

The Guard As Seen By Others
The Guard was evidently perceived as a significant part of the royal affinity, not only by those in authority or of a high rank, but by people seeking the king's patronage. Sir Richard Empson was accused of using some members of the Guard in 'an unwarranted act of force' against Sir Robert Plumpton in 1501.(2) This concerned a property dispute in which Empson used a jury with vested interests in an attempt (initially successful) to eject Plumpton from his patrimonial inheritance in Yorkshire. Among the 200 persons Empson assembled at the York assizes were 'divers of the Guard of our sovereign lord the king arrayed in the most honourable livery of his said Guard'.(3) As already indicated, the duke of Buckingham's generosity towards members of the Guard rebounded on him. At his indictment in May 1521 at the Guildhall, London, it was alleged that he tried to win the favour of the king's Guard by giving them presents of silks and cloth of gold and silver, as well as appointing them to offices in his lands for the purpose of retaining men.(4) The confession and deposition of the duke's chancellor, Robert Gilbert, included the statement that the duke had 'always endeavoured to gain the favour of the king's Guard and has often rejoiced to think of himself sure of it.'(5) Further, the deposition referred to officers recently appointed on the duke's lands for purposes of retaining, allegedly to assist the duke in his treasons. In the accounts of the officers of the duke's lands, made by the king's commissioners in July to November 1523, Ralph Warbleton, described as yeoman of the crown, is shown as keeper of the North Park in Holdemess, and Nicholas Clerke, similarly described, appears as bailiff of Fobbing, Essex.(6)

Dr. John London reported to Cromwell on 8 July 1538 on the actions taken according to the king's commission 'at all the places of the friars in Oxford'.(7) He stated that 'it is rumoured

1. Ibid., pp .cxliii-cxliv.
2. T. Stapleton, ed., Plumpton Correspondence, Camden Society, 4 (1839), p.cix.
3. Ibid., p.cvii.
4. LP Dli, 1284/ii, p.491 and 1284/2 (6), p.493. BL Harley Ms. 283, f.72; HMC, Third Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, App. 2,230-1.
5. LP mi, 1284/3 (4), p.494.
6. LP m ii, 3695, pp.1531-2.
7. LP Xin i, 1342.

that divers of the Guard intend to beg these houses of the king, and this moves me to petition you for my neighbours. We have, in Oxford, the king's servants Mr. Banaster and Mr. Pye, who have nothing but 4d. a day of the king/ Both men had served as mayor of Oxford, and Dr. London suggested that it would be charitable to obtain the site and profits of the White Friars for Banaster and the site and profits of the fair of the Austin Friars for Pye.(1)

On 11 August 1538 Henry Broke wrote to Cromwell informing him that the prior and convent of the friar's house of Newcastle-under-Lyne had freely surrendered it to the king's commissioner, the bishop of Dover.(2) Broke mentioned that he had land adjoining and had taken three leases of the prior and convent a few months earlier, which he hoped would be confirmed. As the bishop had told him he had no power to confirm these leases, he asked for Cromwell's help, promising him £30 if he could get the king's gift of it and all the goods now left, including the lead upon the high chancel and part of the cloister, two bells, glass, stone and iron. Broke concluded his letter with the statement that he 'hears that one Bothe, of London, and John Smith of the Guard will make suit for it'.(3) The bishop of Dover also sent a communication to Cromwell, dated 27 August 1538, saying that since departing from him he had received to the king's use twenty-eight monasteries. He continued that several of the king's servants had begged him to write for them and offered 20 nobles or more, but that he would take none, concluding with the information that John Turner of the Guard, of Ludlow, was one of them.(4)

These references to the Guard seem to indicate that at least some contemporaries feared that the yeomen would be unduly favoured by the king. Apart from the great number of grants received by the yeomen following the dissolution of the monasteries, already referred to, perhaps the most significant indication of the reality of this view lies in the draft of Henry Vm's will. The draft provided for a legacy of £20 to each yeoman of the Guard upon the king's death. This legacy clause was one of several cancelled later, but probably not by the king himself, as he never actually signed the will.(5) According to the few personal servants around him during the final days of his life, Henry VIII gave certain oral directions regarding the contents of his will, when alterations were made on his behalf and the dry stamp of the king's

1. Ibid.
2. LP XIII ii, 75.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., 200.
5. LP XXI ii, 634 (10).

signature was affixed.(1) The fact that the clause was originally included in the king's draft will, however, suggests that he held the Guard in special favour.

Geographical Distribution of the Yeomen
As far as the geographical distribution of the yeomen throughout the country is concerned, they came from most of the counties in England and from Wales, but there was a strong concentration in the south, which was the stronghold of the Tudors.(2) It is emphasized that the figures shown represent the minimum number in each county, based on surviving information. The figure of 18 for Wales is striking, in view of the distance from the capital. While some of the yeomen retained their homes in the provinces, some moved either temporarily or permanently to places nearer London and the court, and this undoubtedly accounts for the high figures for Kent and Surrey. John Gittons' will, made in his chamber at the Tower of London on 26 November 1500, shows that he resided at Northampton.(3) John Forde was described early in Henry VIII's reign as being of Donyatt, Somerset; Richmond, Surrey; Greenwich, Kent; and London.(4) His will of 1523 shows him as John Forde of Ilminster, which is about two miles from Donyatt.(5) In March 1540 Geoffrey Bromefeld was described as being of Westminster, and in May 1546, after his return home to Denbigh, he was referred to as Geoffrey Bromefeld of Wales.(6) It is possible that Henry VII was aware of the advice given to Henry IV by his Privy Council in 1400, to recruit retainers and the members of his bodyguard from each county.(7) This practice avoided the resentment caused by recruiting heavily from a particular county, as Richard II had done in the later part of his reign, when he concentrated on Cheshire men.(8) As shown in chapter 1, Edward IV's Black Book, which had its origins in the household ordinances of Edward in, also made the point that yeomen of the crown should be chosen from every lord's

1. D. R. Starkey, The Reign of Henry VIII: Personalities and Politics (1985), pp.159-65; H. Miller, Henry VIII's Unwritten Will: Grants of Lands and Honours in 1547', in E. W. Ives, R. J. Knecht and J. J. Scarisbrick, eds., Wealth and Power in Tudor England, Essays presented to S. T. Bindoff (1978), pp.87-105.
2. D. R. Starkey, 'The Political Structure of Early Tudor England', in M. Falkus and J. Gillingham, Historical Atlas of Britain (1981), pt. 1, p.85.
3. PROB11 /12 (20 Moone).
4. LPI i, 438 (3), m.l.
5. PROB 11 /21 (8 Bodfelde).
6. LP XV, 1032, Books of the Court of Augmentations, p.566, citing Augm. Book 212, f.ll4b; LP XXI i, 963 (128).
7. Given-Wilson, p.219.
8. Ibid., pp.37,57 and 215.

house in England,(1) indicating a wide geographical spread. The first two Tudor monarchs certainly appear to have followed this practice to some extent.

Memorials to Individual Yeomen
Several yeomen were commemorated by a memorial in their local church, usually a brass. In Higham church, Kent, a brass to Robert Hilton, who died in 1523, records that he was 'late yeoman of the Guard with the high and mighty prince of most famous memory Henry the VlII.(2) Thomas Lynde was depicted at St. Neot's church, Huntingdonshire, in 1527 wearing the apparel of a yeoman of the Guard, 'with his pole axe, a rose on his breast and a crown on his left breast or shoulder', together with his wives Alice and Joan.(3) Thomas Noke is commemorated in the church of St. John Baptist, Shottesbrook , Berkshire, with his three wives. He is shown in a long gown lined with fur, and bears a crown badge on the left shoulder.(4) The inscription shows that he died on 21 August 1567, in his eighty-seventh year, and includes the information that 'for his great age and virtuous life he was reverenced of all men and commonly called Father Noke', and that he was 'of stature high and comely and for his excellency in artillery made yeoman of the crown'.(5) Below his memorial another plate shows an epitaph in Latin on the death of Thomas Noke by the Lady Elizabeth Hoby , translated thus by Ashmole:

Thou good old Man, and venerably Sage
Whole antient Probity, and hoary Age;
Thee justly still a Father and a Friend,
Steady to love, and Faithful to defend:
Accept my last Adieu; Like him may I,
Great Heav'n, thus pious live and peaceful die.(6)

Brasses are also recorded in Lee church, Kent, to Henry Birde, who died in 1545,(7) to Thomas Broke and his wife Anne at Ewelme, Oxfordshire, dating from 1518,8 and to Thomas Greenway and his wife Elizabeth, in the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Dinton,

1. Myers, p.116.
2. M. Stephenson, A List of Monumental Brasses in the British Isles (1926), p.236; W. D. Belcher, Kentish Brasses, 2 vols. (1905), ii, 215. I am grateful to Dr. Maria Dowling for this last reference.
3. Stephenson, p.203, citing Visitation of Huntingdonshire, 24 July 1684, K.7, f.18, in College of Arms, quoted in G. C. Gorham's History and Antiquities ofEynesbury and St Neots, 1.160.
4. Morley, pp.178 and 181; Stephenson, p.26; VCH Berkshire, iii (1923), p.169. See also H. Druitt, Costume in Brasses (1906), p.286; Rev. C. Boutell, Monumental Brasses and Slabs (1847), p.136, and A Manual for the Study of Monumental Brasses tvith a Descriptive Catalogue of Four Hundred and Fifty 'Rubbings' in the possession of the Oxford Architectural Society, Topographical and Heraldic Indices, etc. (Oxford, 1848) [hereafter A Manual], No. 358.
5. Morley, p.181; VCH Berkshire, iii, p.169.
6. Morley, p.181.
7. Drake, p.229.
8. Druitt, p.192; Stephenson, p.405; M. W. Norris, Monumental Brasses. The Portfolio Plates of the Monumental Brass Society 1894-1984 (1988), No. 293; A Manual, p.218.

Buckinghamshire.(1) Although Greenway died in 1538, and his wife the following year, the memorial was not erected until 1551, upon the death of their son Richard, a gentleman usher of the Chamber, who is commemorated on a separate brass.(2) In the chapel of St. George at Windsor, on the wall near the south door, a brass plate commemorated George Brooke, who served in the Guard from Henry VIII's reign to Elizabeth I's. He died in 1593, and an epitaph records that:

He lived content with mean Estate,
And long ago prepared to die,
The Idle Person he did hate,
Poor People's Wants he did supply (3).

The most imposing memorial to a yeoman of the Guard of Henry VIII's time is probably the effigy of Cornelius van Dun, shown in his ceremonial dress, in St. Margaret's church, Westminster. The inscription records that he was bom at Breda in Brabant, and served with Henry VIII at Toumai. His concern and care for the poor is also recorded on the monument. He continued in the Guard during the reigns of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I, dying in 1577 at the age of 93.(4)

Conclusion
Although the yeomen who feature in county pedigrees and memorials may be a small proportion of the hundreds whose names are known, they do provide evidence that a notable number were from families who were fairly wealthy and/or land-owners. This is confirmed by their wills and other legal documents. There were many others, however, who had little beyond their wages and whatever extra fees they could obtain through royal service. The names of those who received no grants and were not involved in legal cases are known chiefly from payments shown in the various royal accounts, from wardrobe warrants, or from lists of royal servants. But for these valuable records, their names would have remained unknown.

1. Stephenson, p.39; An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Buckinghamshire, i, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) (1912), p.124; VCH Buckinghamshire, ii, p.280.
2. Ibid.
3. J. Pote, The History and Antiquities of Windsor Castle, and the Royal College, and Chapel of St. George (Eton, 1749), pp 406-7.
4. A. M. Burke, p.433.

Chapter 7

Conclusions

This thesis has confirmed that the royal bodyguard of the yeomen of the king's Guard was instituted by Henry VII in the earliest days of his reign, and made its first public appearance at his coronation on 30 October 1485. The Guard's foundation so early in the reign indicates that it originated from plans formulated by Henry Tudor while in exile, when he was able to observe the courts of Brittany and France, both of which had been influenced by the splendour of the Burgundian court. While Henry Tudor's interest in wishing to rule in the French fashion may be reflected in the establishment of the Guard, he was cautious in making changes in the royal household, preferring to modify, rather than to dispense with, existing offices. Since many of his supporters had already served Henry Tudor as earl of Richmond during his long exile overseas, while others had joined him after his arrival in Wales, a pool of recruits to the new bodyguard already existed. Thereafter members of the bodyguard were selected on the recommendation of an aristocrat or courtier who had some knowledge of their suitability, either personally or through contacts. Since no formal documents of appointment appear to have been made, however, it is not possible to state exactly when an individual became a yeoman of the Guard.

The evidence presented from Exchequer and Wardrobe records, together with household ordinances and the accounts of the treasurer of the Chamber, has shown the close relationship between the three categories of yeomen of the Guard, yeomen of the Chamber and yeomen of the crown, and the duties which they shared. The varying descriptions are undoubtedly one of the reasons why difficulties have been experienced in identifying some of the earliest yeomen of the Guard, and why references to the Guard are not so numerous in the records of Henry VII's reign as they became afterwards. Even those described in letters patent as yeomen of the Guard are often subsequently referred to as yeomen of the crown. From an intensive study of these records it appears that all yeomen of the Guard were liable to serve as yeomen of the Chamber (though some were excused this duty), and to be called yeomen of the crown. The distinction appears to have depended on the circumstances or duties on which the individual was engaged at the time the record was made. It is also to be noted that in the accounts showing wage payments made to those members of the Guard who were discharged following reductions in 1515, 1519 and 1526, the three varying descriptions were still used.

From the evidence found, it appears that the lowest complement of the Guard stood at 80, following the reductions of 1526. While this was supposed at the time to be the 'accustomed' number in the Guard, it is clear that it did not remain at this level for long. Records both of Henry VII's reign and of Henry VIII's show fluctuations in the strength of the Guard, particularly those arising from increases for war or ceremonial purposes followed by retrenchment. The increase to 88 in 1540 indicates the minimum number considered sufficient to serve the king properly, but many records show that this number was usually exceeded.

Perhaps one of the most surprising aspects about the yeomen of the Guard was the variety of duties which they performed, yet these were largely concerned with security and order within the court, and safeguarding the king's interests when sent out of court. There were always sufficient yeomen on duty to protect the king while others went about his business outside the court, or indeed returned temporarily to their homes and private activities. Duties involving attendance upon other members of the royal family or high- ranking individuals show the confidence placed in the yeomen by the sovereign, as well as his intention to honour those served in this way. The Guard's inclusion in the retinue of those sent in embassy overseas emphasized the ambassador's role as the representative of the English monarch, and enhanced the ambassador's own prestige.

There were several reasons why the yeomen of the Guard were especially distinctive. They formed the largest group of royal servants based in the royal household, they wore the king's colours, initially, displaying a royal badge, usually the crowned rose, and they bore halberds. The fact that the Guard was so frequently mentioned by visitors to the English court, notably in diplomatic reports, indicates that the corps indeed fulfilled its role in creating the visual impact envisaged by its founder. Clad in particularly sumptuous jackets of the king's livery, or later in red, the Guard played a unique role on all ceremonial occasions, forming a distinctive part of the royal retinue, within the palaces and elsewhere, enhancing the sovereign's reputation as a wealthy and influential ruler. The concept that clothing a particular group of royal servants in the king's livery brought honour and glory to the court was not new in England. According to Edward IV's Black Book, it had always been customary for esquires of the household to wear the king's livery 'for the more glory and in worship this honourable household.'(1) As noted in the Introduction, esquire of the household was a category of royal servant which had greatly diminished by the time Henry VII won the English throne.

It has been demonstrated in this thesis that the bodyguard was indeed a protective corps, as well as a ceremonial retinue. The belief of the chroniclers Polydore Vergil and Edward Hall that Henry VII modelled his bodyguard on that of the French king can be verified by a

1. Myers, p.128.

comparison of the two corps. Evidence has been presented to show the close parallels between the French king's senior bodyguard of Scotsmen (the 'Compagnie Ecossaise de la garde du Corps du Roi') and the yeomen of the Guard, in the way they were clad, wearing the king's colours and badge, and in their deployment both as a bodyguard and as a ceremonial retinue. It has been suggested that a comparison of these two foundations may also indicate Henry VU's reason for emphasizing the ceremonial role of his bodyguard, to dispel suspicion that he was beginning to institute a permanent armed force. Temporary increases in the strength of the Guard in both reigns, however, indicate its potential as the nucleus of a standing army. The retrenchment which ensued after military campaigns did not always take place immediately, and a gradual growth usually followed the cuts which were made. The use of the Guard in the garrison at Toumai, lasting for six years, was an extension of its role in protecting the king's property, but here again this deployment could be interpreted as an intention to create a permanent force. The Guard's involvement in military and naval activities was not confined to particular campaigns, since the yeomen held minor permanent offices in maintaining and safeguarding weaponry. They also played a significant part in organizing supplies and making preparations for combat. In peace time those who were ship owners could be called upon to patrol the English channel and other waters, to protect merchants and fishermen from pirates, and generally to harass the king's enemies.

The appointment of the yeomen to crown offices in the localities was of great significance. While they were not generally appointed to the top of the hierarchy of local government, they played a role in extending royal policy and authority to the provinces and by virtue of their offices were enabled to recruit men to serve the king in times of war. Through their local offices the yeomen upheld the king's laws, took offenders into custody, maintained his parks, hunting grounds and forests, and secured the payment of revenues due to the crown. In addition, office holders were able to observe local conditions and report back to the king or his ministers any information which they considered should be made known. They acted as informers on people who made statements or behaved in a way which could be interpreted as injurious or detrimental to the crown. As well as reporting back on local conditions, the yeomen were able to bring news of events at court to their areas of activity. The yeomen of the Guard therefore constituted a significant body of royal servants within the king's affinity, supplying a connection and a means of communication between central and local government covering wide areas of the country. As well as their appointment to local crown offices, the yeomen served on a variety of commissions, reflecting the trust placed in them in conducting local business efficiently and in the king's interests.

From the rich source of information which legal cases can provide on life in the localities, it has been shown that some of the yeomen had cause to complain about the treatment they received at the hands of their local magnate. As indicated in this thesis, the outcome was not always to the plaintiff's advantage. The fact that the complaints were made at all, however, is an indication of the confidence which the yeomen felt in appealing to the king as their lord and master. The same source also contains evidence that the yeomen were in turn accused by local residents of oppressive behaviour, abusing their influence in the area. The fact that some yeomen were obstructed in carrying out their duties as office holders or commissioners, and on occasion either threatened or physically attacked, certainly indicates that there was strong feeling against some of them, but it is not always clear whether this involved resentment against the incumbent of a particular office or commission, or enmity of a more personal nature.

As a distinctive group within the royal affinity the yeomen of the Guard, at least by the middle part of Henry VIII's reign, were viewed by other courtiers as the recipients of particular favour from the king. This is shown from the actions of those seeking certain offices which had been held hitherto, often for many years, by members of the Guard. It is also indicated in correspondence, where concern was expressed that a yeoman of the Guard was 'making suit' for a stated local office, and suggestions were made of alternative worthy candidates. By the later years of Henry VIII's reign, a number of titled courtiers held offices which had previously been filled by yeomen of the Guard. While this in itself was not unusual, since offices were not distributed according to the social status of the recipient, it does show that the offices to which the yeomen were appointed were seen to be of real value to their social superiors. Probably the value lay in practical benefits, such as the right to hunt in a particular area, or to raise local men for service in the royal army.

It has been demonstrated that the personnel serving in the Guard were drawn from diverse social backgrounds, from those whose families were unrecorded, to tradesmen, business men, farmers and merchants, men of property and land-owners. Some were related to existing household servants, with perhaps a family tradition of royal service, others may have been introduced through previous service in a noble household, or through the petition of an aristocrat or courtier who knew their background. Despite the personal wealth of some of the yeomen, they did not rise to political power, but in several cases the local influence of a yeoman led to his election as mayor and Member of Parliament. This diversity suggests that those who served in the Guard were selected for their personal qualities and suitability rather than for their social standing. David Cecil's rise to the office of sheriff may be exceptional, but it shows that it was possible for a yeoman of the Guard to reach this position eventually. Though Cecil's connection with Sir David Phillips probably influenced his early career, he continued in favour long after the latter's death.

This thesis has concentrated on the early years of the Guard's formation and development, from the time during Henry VII's reign for which documentation proved fragmentary to the end of Henry VIII's reign when it became more copious. It has proved possible to establish the methods of remuneration of the Guard from the 1490's, and to identify the further rewards and benefits which the yeomen received from 1485, including the fee of the crown, paid from the Exchequer. In addition, the fluctuating size of the Guard throughout the two reigns has been revealed, together with its varied roles in naval and military activities. The part played by the yeomen in local offices has also been explored, showing their involvement as members of the royal affinity. Possibly further work might be done on relationships between office-holders in the provinces and sheriffs or fellow courtiers in the area concerned. More research could certainly be carried out on the individuals who served in the Guard in the two reigns covered. The evidence presented here has laid the foundations for future studies of the Guard in subsequent reigns.

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