Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Docheman', who was the 'brekemaker' at Tattershall Castle (Lincolnshire) in
1440. Hamilton-Thompson (1920), reveals the numerous 'brekeleyers' and
'brekehewers' working at Kirby Muxloe Castle (Leicestershire) between 1480
and 1484, under the direction of leading English brick mason John Cowper,
who also worked at Tattershall, were Flemish (confirmed by historians in
Flanders) with names like John Hornne, William Wysoo, William Taillour, Marc
Maligoo, and Turkyn Horwynde. The last, Anthony Yzebronde, is also referred
to elsewhere in the accounts as 'Anthony Docheman', who also worked at
Kirby Muxloe supervising brickmaking; believed by historians in Flanders to be
a Flemish, rather than German name (Beernaert, 1997).
The different terms of address of the craftsmen is of interest as the 'cleric'
(clerk) recording them was likely to alter spelling in the records, anglicise their
names, or write them phonetically. A good example is in the above accounts for
Kirby Muxloe Castle, where 'Wysoo' is also found as 'Wyso' and even 'Wysall'.
Another practice was to record the craftsman's native country, as in 'Anthony
Docheman'. Sometimes the name defines their craft, so that we read (Moore,
1991, 231-3), of Cornelius and Brian Brekemason at Farnham Castle between
1475 and 1477, and of John Prentes and Thomas Lernyng, clearly apprentice
bricklayers at Kirby Muxloe in 1481. The name William Taillour, a Flemish hewer
also at Kirby Muxloe Castle, is revealing, as 'Tailleur' is a Flemish mason's term
for a skilled 'hand-dresser' or 'finisher' of stone or brick.
Moore (1991, 214-16) continues:
…The extensive use of foreign detail on the finest buildings shows the domin-
ation of the industry by foreigners for a considerable period, tailing off only in
the 1470s and 1480s…. Foreign brickmasons were still much in evidence in the
building-accounts of Kirby Muxloe Castle (Leics.) 1481-84.
Preliminary discussion with architectural historians in England, the Netherlands
and Belgium emphasised that West Flanders was the historic centre for the
tradition of cut and rubbed and gauged brickwork. In spite of its turbulent his-
tory, Flanders had prospered through the cloth industries, banking, and tran-
sit trade through ports like Brugge, Ghent, and Antwerp, and the enormous
mercantile benefit of several Flemish towns being part of the rich and powerful
Hanseatic League. Brugge (Bruges) became not only the chief city of Flanders,
monopolising the import of English wool, but also the leading mercantile
centre for Europe, figuring significantly in the development of the Hansa
(Hanseatic League). This offered a close federation of influential cities in the
Netherlands and northern Germany, England and the Baltic region, formed in
the thirteenth century to provide and protect mutual commercial interests.
The conditions that existed in the major towns and cities of Flanders were ideal
for the erection of highly-decorative public and private buildings, financed by
