Description

A new unused book.

About the book >.>.> The surviving recognizances taken for Bristol orphans between 1333-1594. written in Latin. French and English are here analysed translated and summarised. During this period when a Bristol citizen died the guardian of his surviving children was obliged to attend the mayor’s court and make a legally binding promise or recognizance to restore the orphans property to them at the appropriate time. The recognizances provide evidence not only about the burgesses their wealth their occupations and their connections but also about the lives of their widows and orphans. The consequences for the family following the death of its head could be far-reaching. Children might be separated from stepsiblings stepmothers and even their own mothers. The marriages of orphan girls are recorded as are the remarriages of their widowed mothers and the deaths of orphans. Marked increases in the number of recognizances taken reflect the ravages of epidemics such as the Black Death and the plague of 1575. When life was uncertain the efforts made by Bristol’s citizens to protect their surviving children’s property offer a rich source of information which for the first time is made readily accessible to the public. (SP)