The testamentary recognition of bastards, eo nomine, was very common, in the olden time. There were some, to whom funereal extravagance and pomp were offensive. Sir Ottro De Grandison says, in his will, dated Sept. 18, 1358—“I entreat, that no armed horse or armed man be allowed to go before my body, on my burial day, nor that my body be covered with any cloth, painted, or gilt, or signed with my arms; but that it be only of white cloth, marked with a red cross; and I give for the charges thereof XXl. and X. quarters of wheat: to a priest to celebrate divine service, in the church at Chellesfield for three years after my decease, XVl.: to Thomas, my son, all my armor, four horses, twelve oxen, and two hundred ewe sheep. * * * * To my bastard son,” &c.
Henry, Duke of Lancaster, 1360, wills, “that our body be not buried for three weeks after the departure of our soul.”
Humphrey De Bohun, Earl of Hereford, 1361, bequeaths to his nephew Humphrey—“a nonche[13] of gold, surrounded with large pearls, with a ruby between four pearls, three diamonds, and a pair of gold paternosters of fifty pieces, with ornaments, together with a cross of gold, in which is a piece of the true cross of our Lord: to Elizabeth, our niece of Northampton, a bed with the arms of England. * * * * We will also that a chaplain of good condition be sent to Jerusalem, principally for my Lady my mother, my Lord my father, and for us; and that the chaplain be charged to say masses by the way, at all times that he can conveniently, for the souls.”
Agnes, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, wills, in 1367, that her body be buried, “within two days after my death, without any other cost than a blue cloth and two tapers of ten pound weight.”
Robert, Earl of Suffolk, 1368—“I will, that five square tapers and four mortars,[14] besides torches, shall burn about my corpse, at my funeral: To William my oldest son my sword, which the King gave me, in name of the Earldom, also my bed with the eagle, and my summer vestment, powdered with leopards.”
Roger, Lord de Warre, personally took John, King of France, prisoner, at the battle of Poictiers, and obtained the crampet or chape of his sword, as a memorial of his chivalry. His will bears date 1368—“My body to be buried without pomp, and I will that, on my funeral day, twenty-four torches be placed about my corpse, and two tapers, one at my head and one at my feet, and also that my best horse shall be my principal, without any armour or man armed, according to the custom of mean people.” He orders his estate to be divided into three parts—“one to be disposed of for the health of my soul.”
Joan, Lady Cobham, 1369—“I will that VII. thousand masses be said for my soul by the canons of Tunbrugge and Tanfugge and the four orders of Friars in London, viz. the Friars Preachers, Minors, Augustines, and Carmelites, who, for so doing shall have XXIXl. IIIs. IVd. Also I will that, on my funeral day, twelve poor persons, clothed in black gowns and hoods, shall carry twelve torches.”
Sir Walter Manney, 1371—“My body to be buried at God’s pleasure * * * but without any great pomp * * * twenty masses to be said for my soul, and that every poor person coming to my funeral shall have a penny to pray for me, and for the remission of my sins. * * * To my two bastard daughters, nuns, viz., Mailosel and Malplesant, the one cc. franks, the other c. franks. * * * To Margaret Mareschall, my dear wife, my plate, which I bought of Robert Francis; also a girdle of gold, and a hook for a mantle, and likewise a garter of gold, with all my girdles and knives, and all my beds and clossers in my wardrobe, excepting my folding bed, paly of blue and red, which I bequeath to my daughter of Pembroke.”
Thomas, Earl of Oxford, 1371—“For my funeral expenses CXXXIIIl. To Maud my wife all my reliques now in my own keeping, and a cross made of the very wood of Christ’s cross. To Sir Alberic de Vere, my brother, a coat of mail, which Sir William de Wingfield gave me, also a new helmet and a pair of gauntlets.”
Anne, Lady Maltravers, 1374—“No cloth of gold to be put upon my corpse, nor any more than five tapers, each weighing five pounds, be put about it.”