Johannes de Farnedale

c1303 to c1372

A Saddler made freeman of York in 1363

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The Saddler

John was probably born in about 1303 and it is likely that he was the son of de Johanne de Farndale who had left Farndale for Egton and Rosedale, but later returned Farndale, possibly as its second miller. If that is right, then it seems likely that John would have been born in the agricultural lands of Danby Dale.

John de Farndale was released from excommunication and prison at Pickering Castle on 23 February 1324. To the Most Serene Prince, His Lord Edward, by the Grace of God, King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, William by Divine permission Archbishop of York, Primate of England, Greetings in him to serve who is to reign for ever. We make known to Your Royal Excellency, by these presents that William de Lede of Saxton, John of Farndale and John Brand of Howon, our Parishioners, lately at our ordinary invocation, according to the custom of your Realm, were bound by sentence of greater excommunication and, contemptuous of the power of the Church, were committed to Your Majesty’s Prison for contumacy and offences punishable by imprisonment; and have humbly done penance to God and to the Church, wherefore they have been deemed worthy to obtain from us in legal form the benefit of absolution. May it therefore please Your Majesty that we re-admit the said William, John and John to the bosom of the Church as faithful members thereof and order their liberation from the said prison. May God preserve you for His Church and the people.’ Given at Thorpe, next York, 9 April 1324. His prior offence is unknown, but seems likely to have been an ecclesiastical offence.

In 1327, Johanne de Farndale paid taxes of 2s 1d in the Lay Subsidy at Crofton de Artoft.

The Lay Subsidy of 1327 was a flat rate tax of one twentieth of the value of each person’s moveable goods, hence the tax is also known as the Twentieth. The majority of moveable goods were cattle, sheep and crops and therefore the tax fell harder on the rural population than it did on those in the major towns. The list of names, the Roll, was drawn up and sent to the Exchequer in Westminster for approval. The assessment took some time to complete and it was not until between February and June of 1328 that the money was actually collected. The tax was ordered very soon after Edward III was crowned at the age of only 14, but therefore under the effective rule of Mortimer and his lover Queen Isabella, Edward III’s mother. This Lay Subsidy was one of the earliest pieces of legislation, to raise money to renew hostilities against Scotland which Edward II had pursued unsuccessfully for some years.

John was also reference to a deed on 27 June 1327.

He paid another 2s at Crofton cum Hartoft in another Lay Subsidy of 1333.

The references to Crofton de Artoft and Crofton cum Hartoft must refer to Cropton at the south end of Rosedale, and Hartoft End, a little way up the dale. So by 1327, John was in Rosedale. This makes sense since we know that his farther, John, had six acres of land at Cropton in Rosedale in 1314, where he grew oats. Whilst his father seems to have returned to Farndale as its second miller by 1323, John Junior seems to have remained in neighbouring Rosedale.

The following year, 1334, was a year when the Eyre Court heard cases from the preceding years. John, the son of John the miller, was listed as one of the mainpernors of Adam, son of Simon the miller, who had been indicted for hunting. A mainpernor was a person who gave a guarantee that a prisoner would attend court. It is likely that Adam was John’s cousin. It is not obvious why John gave the guarantee for Adam’s attendance at Pickering Castle, since Adam’s father Simon was the wealthy main miller of Farndale.

He seems to have signed a surety on 23 August 1338 relative to another Lay Subsidy.

On 16 April 1336, John de Farndale of Hovingham took on a debt of £8 from Thomas de Wrelton, a chaplain, before Henry de Belton, Mayor of York and William Gra, his clerk. The first term of the debt ended only a month later on 19 May 1336. John seems to have been living at Hovingham by then, some 20 kilometres south of Farndale, half way to York. He seems to have been taking on substantial credit in a transaction which seems to have been undertaken at York. £8 equates to about £6,000 in today’s money, the equivalent value of about 11 horses or 21 cows. It seems likely that John was taking on debt to set up a new business.

At some point after this, John became a saddler in York. In 1363, after he had presumably established himself in that trade, since he became a freeman of the City of York.

A Medieval Saddler

How to make a medieval saddle.

There were two types of medieval guilds. Trade guilds regulated the activities of a particular trade or craft, while religious guilds were for the spiritual benefit of their members. In York the weavers were first recorded trade guild in 1163, paying the King £10 a year for the privilege. By 1180 glovers, saddlers and hosiers had grouped together, and butchers, drapers and vintners had their own guilds at the end of the 13th century.

Medieval saddles, built from leather thick and resistant, were often richly decorated and designed to offer comfort and safety to riders. Saddlery craftsmen in the Middle Ages used specific methods to manufacture saddles and saddlery accessories. Making leather required skills such as precise cutting of pieces, strong stitching with linen or silk threads, and the use of specialized tools such as awls, punches and dies to embellish the leather. Knights attached great importance to their saddles (equestrian leather) and equipment, often regarding them as valuable objects handed down from generation to generation.

His son was Johannes de Farndall, who also became a freeman of York.

How does Johannes de Farnedale relate to the modern family?

It is not possible to be accurate about the early family tree, before the recording of births, marriages and deaths in parish records, but we do have a lot of medieval material including important clues on relationships between individuals. The matrix of the family before about 1550 is the most probable structure based on the available evidence.

If it is accurate, Johannes de Farnedale, was related to the thirteenth century ancestors of the modern Farndale family, and his descendants were the York Line and the individuals who settled in Doncaster from whom the modern Farndales might descend.

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The webpage of Johannes de Farendale includes a chronology and reference to source material.