The babees book, Aristotle's A B C, Urbanitatis, Stans puer ad mensam, The lvtille childrenes lvtil boke, The bokes of nurture of Hugh Rhodes and John Russell, Wynkyn de Worde's Boke of keruynge, The booke of demeanor, The boke of curtasye, Seager's Schoole of vertue, &c. &c. with some French and latin poems on like subjects, and some forewords on education in early England. Ed. by Frederick J. Furnivall ...

Bp. Grossetest's Household Statutes.[Sloane MS. 1986, p. 193, ab. 1450-60. [The last page mentions the 19th year of Henry VI.] ] INcipiunt statuta familie bone Memorie dompni Roberti Grossetest, lincolnie episcopi.

LEt alle men be warned þat seruen ȝou, and warnyng be ȝeue to alle men that be of howseholde, to serue god and ȝou trewly & diligently and to perform|yng, or the wyllyng of god to be performed and fulfyll|ydde. Fyrst let seruauntis doo perfytely in alle thyngis youre wylle, and kepe they ȝoure commaundementis after god and ryȝthwysnesse, and with-oute condicion and also with-oute gref or offense. And sey ȝe, that be principalle heuede or prelate to alle ȝoure seruauntis bothe lesse and more, that they doo fully, reedyly, and treuly, with-oute offense or ayenseyng, alle youre wille & commaundement that is not ayeynys god. T the secunde ys, that ȝe commaunde them that kepe and haue kepyng of ȝoure howseholde, a-fore ȝoure meynye, that bothe with-in and with-oute the meynye be trewe, honest, diligent, bothe chast and profitabulle. ¶ the thrydde: commaunde ye that noman be admittyd in ȝoure howseholde, nother inwarde nother vtwarde, but hit be trustyd and leuyd that ȝe be trewe and dili|gent, and namely to that office to the whiche he is admyttyd; Also þat he be of goode maners ¶ The fowrethe: be hit sowȝht and examined ofte tymys yf ther be ony vntrewman, vnkunnyng, vnhonest, lecherous,

stryffulle, drunke [page 194] lewe, vnprofitabulle, yf there be ony suche yfunde or diffamydde vppon these thyngis, that they be caste oute or put fro the howseholde. ¶ The fyft: commaunde ȝe that in no wyse be in the howse|holde men debatefulle or stryffulle, but that alle be of oon a-corde, of oon wylle, euen lyke as in them ys oon mynde and oon sowle. ¶ The sixte: commaunde ȝe that alle tho that seruen in ony offyce be obedient, and redy, to them that be a-bofe them in thyngis that per|teynyn to there office. ¶ The seuenthe: commaunde ȝe that ȝoure gentilmen yomen and other, dayly bere and were there robis in ȝoure presence, and namely at the mete, for ȝoure worshyppe, and not oolde robis and not cordyng to the lyuerey, nother were they oolde schoon ne fylyd. ¶ The viij: Commaunde ȝe that ȝoure almys be kepyd, & not sende not to boys and knafis, nother in the halle nothe oute of þe halle, ne be wasted in soperys ne dyners of gromys, but wysely, temperatly, with-oute bate or betyng, be hit distribute and the[n] departyd to powre men, beggers, syke folke and febulle. ¶ The ix.: Make ȝe ȝoure owne howse|holde to sytte in the alle, as muche as ye mow or may, at the bordis of oon parte and of the other parte, and lette them sitte to-gedur as mony as may, not here fowre and thre there: and when youre chef maynye be sett, then alle gromys may [page 195] entre, sitte, And ryse ¶ The x.: Streytly for-bede ȝe that no wyfe [[MS. wyse]] be at ȝoure mete. And sytte ȝe euer in the myddul of the hye borde, that youre fysegge and chere be schewyd to alle men of bothe partyes, and that ȝe may see lyȝhtly the seruicis and defawtis: and diligently see ȝe that euery day in ȝoure mete seson be two men ordeyned to ouer-se youre mayny, and of that they shalle drede ȝou ¶ The xi: commaunde ȝe, and yeue licence as lytul tyme as ye may with honeste to them that be in ȝoure howseholde, to go home. And whenne ȝe yeue licence

to them, Assigne ȝe to them a short day of comyng a yeyne vndur peyne of lesyng there seruice. And yf ony man speke ayen or be worthe, []t. i. wroth]] say to hym, "what! wille ye be lorde? ye wylle þat y serue you after ȝoure wylle." and they that wylle not here that ȝe say, effectually be they ywarnyd, and ye shalle prouide other seruantis the whiche shalle serue you to youre wylle or plesyng. ¶ The xij is: command the panytrere with youre brede, & the botelare with wyne and ale, come to-gedur afore ȝou at the tabulle afore gracys, And let be there thre yomen assigned to serue the hye tabulle and the two syde tabullis in solenne dayes; ¶ And ley they not the vessels deseruyng for ale and wyne vppon the tabulle, [page 196] but afore you, But be thay layid vnder þe tabulle. ¶ The 13: commaunde ye the stywarde þat he be besy and diligent to kepe the maynye in hys owne persone inwarde and vtwarde, and namely in the halle and at mete, that they be-haue them selfe honestly, with-out stryffe, fowlespekyng, and noyse; And that they that be ordeynyd to sette messys, bryng them be ordre and continuelly tyl alle be serued, and not inordinatly, And thorow affeccion [[MS. affecciori]] to personys or by specialte; And take ȝe hede to this tyl messys be fully sett in the halle, and after tende ye to ȝoure mette. ¶ The xiiij: commaunde ȝe þat youre dysshe be welle fyllyd and hepid, and namely of entermes, and of pitance with-oute fat, carkyng that ȝe may parte coureteysly to thoo that sitte beside, bothe of the ryght hande and the left, thorow alle the hie tabulle, and to other as plesythe you, thowȝght they haue of the same that ye haue. At the soper be seruantis seruid of oon messe, & byȝth metis, & after of chese. ¶ And yf the[r] come gestis, seruice schalle be haued as nedythe. ¶ The xv: commaunde ye the officers that they admitte youre knowlechyd men, familiers frendys, and strangers, with mery chere, the

wh[i]che they knowen you to wille for to admitte and receyue, and to them the whiche wylle you worschipe, and [page 197] they wyllen to do that ye wylle to do, that they may know them selfe to haue be welcome to ȝou, and to be welle plesyd that they be come. ¶ And al so muche as ȝe may with-oute peril of sykenes & werynys ete ȝe in the halle afore ȝoure meyny, ¶ For that schalle be to ȝou profyte and worshippe. ¶ The xvj: when youre ballyfs comyn a-fore ȝoure, speke to them fayre and gentilly in opyn place, and not in priuey, ¶ And shew them mery chere, & serche and axe of them "how fare owre men & tenauntis, & how cornys doon, & cartis, and of owre store how hit ys multiplyed." Axe suche thyngis openly, and knowe ȝe certeynly that they wille the more drede ȝou. ¶ The xvij: com|maunde ȝe that dineris and sopers priuely in hid plase be not had, & be thay forbeden that there be no suche dyners nother sopers oute of the halle, For of suche comethe grete destr[u]ccion, and no worshippe therby growythe to the lorde. [Prof. Brewer has, I find, printed these Statuta in his most interesting and valuable Monumenta Franciscana, 1858, p. 582-6. He differs from Mr Brock and me in reading drunkelewe (drunken, in Chaucer, &c.) as 'drunke, lewe,' and vessels as 'bossels,' and in adding e's [In this he is probably right. The general custom of editors justifies it. Our printers want a pig-tailed or curly g to correspond with the MS. one.] to some final g's. He says, by way of Intro|duction, that, "Though entitled Ordinances for the Household of Bishop Grostete, this is evidently a Letter addressed to the Bishop on the management of his Household by some very intimate friend. From the terms used in the Letter, it is clear that the writer must have been on confidential terms with the Prelate. I cannot affirm positively that the writer was Adam de Marisco, although to no other would this document be attributed with greater probability. No one else enjoyed such a degree of Grostete's affection; none would have ventured to address him with so much familiarity. Besides, the references made more than once by Adam de Marisco in his letters to the management of the Bishop's household, greatly strengthen this supposition. See pp. 160, 170 (Mon. Francisc.). The MS. is a small quarto on vellum, in the writing of the 15th century. It is in all probability a trans|lation from a Latin original."]

¶ Expliciunt Statuta Familie bone Memorie.