Winchester College Hall Book

Winchester College Archives: 22827

f [31v] (29 September–29 September)

...

Iouis duo histriones ad prandium cum famulis/

...

f [34v]

...

die martis ... vnus histrio vj tripidiantes ... de parochia de roppeley ad prandium cum famulis/...

...

  • Footnotes
    • Iouis: probably 9 May 1437
    • die martis: probably 28 May 1437
  • Record Translation

    f [31v] (29 September–29 September)

    ...

    Thursday Two entertainers at dinner with the servants

    ...

    f [34v]

    ...

    Tuesday ... One entertainer, six dancers ... from the parish of Ropley at dinner with the servants...

    ...

  • Endnote

    The Thursday on f [31v] may be either 2 May (if the first term started, unusually, on the Saturday of Michaelmas itself) or more likely 9 May (if the term started as usual one week after Michaelmas). Similarly the Tuesday on f [34v] is probably 28 May but would be 21 May if the year was started on Michaelmas itself.

  • Document Description

    Record title: Winchester College Hall Book
    Repository: Winchester College Archives
    Shelfmark: 22827
    Repository location: Winchester

    The hall books were rough accounts, in paper booklets, kept by the hall steward (this job was rotated weekly between the junior fellows), listing by name in two columns all those eating in hall each day. The totals were entered later in the bursars' accounts, 'Commons' section. The visitors eating in hall were entered at the end of each week, generally across both columns, under the heading of 'Jurnelli,' that is, guests. The listings start on the left with the day of the week followed by a list of guests, usually without commas or virgules, and then a formulaic entry such as 'ad prandium/cenam cum socijs' or 'cum famulis.' Sometimes the visitors were listed as eating at the top table with the warden, sometimes with the junior fellows ('socijs'), and sometimes with the servants ('famulis'). This pecking order gives us some idea of the status accorded to the various sorts of visitors.

    There are datings of regnal years on the covers, sometimes the year the book was started and sometimes when it ended. Sometimes there are two entries in different hands; the lengthier one in Latin appears to be contemporary and the other brief one is in a later hand. Each week starts with a Saturday and is not dated but designated by a heading such as '2nd week, 2nd quarter' and then by the days in Latin. These have been given specific dates with reference to H. Chitty, bursar from the 1910s to 30s, who went to considerable lengths to verify the dates and also to establish dates where no cover has survived, through reference to the corresponding account rolls where they exist or else to lists of scholars/fellows and their dates of admission. The accounting period is usually Michaelmas to Michaelmas and the new year begins with the Saturday following Michaelmas (with one or two exceptions). The quarters are divided into thirteen weeks each, although the fourth quarter sometimes contains a fourteenth week to make the first quarter of the next year start on the Saturday after Michaelmas.

    1436–7; Latin; paper and parchment; 52 leaves in 3 quires; 300mm x 110mm; bound in parchment, on cover: '15 H VI 1436' and 'Nomina Commensalium in Collegio Anno regni regis Henrici vjti xvo.'

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