Aparel
Clothing.
Band
A neck band or collar of a shirt.
Bedford School
A school is known to have existed in Bedford as early as the late
12th century. Associated with the Collegiate Church of St Paul and
then Newnham Priory, it may have lapsed for a time after Newnham
Priory was dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. In 1552 the townspeople
of Bedford petitioned Edward VI for a licence to receive and hold
lands to enable the teaching of grammar in the town. The letters
patent were granted in August 1552 and the refounded school was
endowed by William Harper, a local man who had prospered in London.
Carrel
A type of fabric.
Catechism
A book giving instruction on Christian doctrine, in the form of
questions and answers.
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The disbanding and destruction of religious houses in England and
Wales under Henry VIII. In 1536 the religious establishments with
annual incomes of less than £200 per annum were dissolved. The attention
of Henry and his chief minister Thomas Cromwell turned to the friaries
in 1537, and thereafter to the rest of the religious houses. By
1540 they had all gone, the last to fall being Waltham Abbey in
Essex. Their lands, properties and incomes went to the Crown. Some
of the monastic buildings remained in religious use – Henry allowed
some monasteries to be refounded as secular cathedrals served by
dean and chapter instead of priors and monks, and in rare cases
the church buildings, or parts of them, were bought by locals to
act as the parish church. Generally however the properties and lands
were simply sold off to wealthy lay people, with the Court of Augmentations
set up to deal with the spoils.
'Dublett' / Doublet
Close fitting body-garment, with or without sleeves.
Exchequer
Administrative body responsible for the collection and administration
of royal revenues.
Frize
A type of coarse woollen cloth.
Fustian
A type of coarse cloth made of cotton and flax.
Girdle
A belt, often used to carry a light article such
as a purse.
Grammar school
A type of school founded in England in the 16th century or earlier,
originally for the teaching of Latin grammar.
'Gramer' / Grammar
A Latin grammar textbook.
Henry VIII
Henry VIII was born at Greenwich on 28 June 1491. He was the second
son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. His elder brother Prince
Arthur died in 1502, making Henry heir to the throne, to which he
succeeded on 21 April 1509. Desperate for a male heir to secure
the Tudor succession, Henry VIII had six wives. During the English
Reformation Henry became head of the Church in England, repudiating
papal supremacy, and closed down the monasteries. The monastic lands
were sold off and the revenues went to the Crown. Henry died at
Whitehall in London on 28 January 1547, and was buried in St George's
Chapel in Windsor Castle.
'his children'
Henry VIII died in 1547 and was succeeded in turn
by his children Edward VI (died 1553), Mary
I (died 1558) and Elizabeth I (died 1603).
Hose
Clothing for legs, reaching to the ankle or sometimes enclosing
the foot like a stocking.
'Iesops Fables' / Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables (short stories, generally portraying animals with
human characteristics, with a moral or lesson at the end), were
used to teach Greek in Tudor grammar schools.
Jerkyn
A close-fitting jacket or short coat, often made of leather.
King's (or Queen's) Remembrancer
One of the two major Exchequer officials concerned with the accounting
and audit procedures and the wider administrative functions of the
Court of Exchequer from the 12th to the 19th century.
Lily's Short Introduction of Grammar
William Lily, 1468? – 1522, was the first high master of St Paul's
school, founded by his friend John Colet in 1509. Colet, Lily and
Erasmus collaborated on various Latin grammar books, which were
remodelled and combined into one work by 1540. Referred to simply
as Lily's Short Introduction of Grammar, it became the
official Latin grammar text book and used in schools throughout
England. Shakespeare was familiar with it and quotes sentences from
it in certain of his plays.
Murrey
A deep-red colour.
'Nether stocke'
Stockings.
Nowell's Catechism
Alexander Nowell, c.1507-1602. Appointed master
of Westminster School in 1543 and a prebendary of Westminster Abbey
in 1551, he was deprived of the latter some time before May 1554
by Mary I, a strict Catholic. He sought refuge at Strasburg, where
he developed Presbyterian leanings. Having accepted the religious
settlement of Elizabeth I, he was appointed dean of St Paul's, London,
in 1560. Nowell is believed to have composed his Catechism in c.1549
but early in the reign of Elizabeth I, he wrote a longer catechism
to serve as a statement of Protestant principles, which was printed
in 1570.
Point
A piece of lace used as a kerchief.
Quire
24 sheets of paper.
Sackcloth
A coarse fabric made of flax or hemp.
Secretary hand
A style of handwriting which developed in
England in the 16th century. It was used for
business purposes. It is a cursive style (from
the Latin 'currere' - to run) so called because
it was written at speed and 'runs' across the
page. The pen does not leave the page between
letters. The use of secretary hand had begun
to wane by the mid 17th century.
Tirrance
Terrence, c.190-159BC, a Roman playwright, whose works are known
to have been used in the teaching of older schoolboys in Tudor grammar
schools.
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