Also by Candace Robb
The Apothecary Rose
The Lady Chapel
The Nun’s Tale
The King’s Bishop
The Riddle
of St Leonard’s
AN OWEN ARCHER MYSTERY
Candace
Robb
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Version 1.0
Epub ISBN 9781446439838
www.randomhouse.co.uk
First published in Great Britain 1997
by William Heinemann
an imprint of Reed International Books Ltd
Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, London SW3 6RB
and Auckland, Melbourne, Singapore and Toronto
Copyright © 1997 by Candace M. Robb
The author has asserted her moral rights
A CIP catalogue record for this title
is available from the British Library
ISBN 0 434 00293 3
Contents
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
MAPS
GLOSSARY
PROLOGUE
1 A Reputation at Stake
2 Manqualm
3 Things Fall Apart
4 An Unnatural Mother?
5 An Uneasy Conscience
6 Disturbing Developments
7 A Vow to Heal
8 Julian Taverner
9 The Master’s Cares
10 Alisoun’s Plight
11 The Stones of Sherburne
12 Delirium
13 Bess’s Complaint
14 Complexity
15 A Clash of Wills
16 Unsavoury Characters
17 Alisoun’s Resolve
18 A Riddle
19 Too Many Coincidences
20 Alisoun’s Secret
21 More Than Friendship
22 A Sleuth and a Samaritan
23 A Day of Diplomacy
24 Owen’s Suspicion
25 The Guilt of a Father
26 Tidal Waters
27 Painful Truths
28 Rich as the Master
29 Shattered Plans
30 Jasper’s Despair; Wulfstan’s Request
31 Remorse
32 Honouring the Dead
EPILOGUE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
For Aunt Mae,
who has ever been much more than an aunt to me
.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Lynne Drew and Evan Marshall for nursing me along in the writing of this book during a difficult year. Charles Robb for patient systems support; painstaking work on the map; careful, detailed photography of key sites; and questions that led me deeper into my research. Lynne, Evan, and Victoria Hipps for thorough and thoughtful edits.
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Patricia H. Cullum for her extensive work on St Leonard’s Hospital, and her patience with my questions. Jeremy Goldberg, Joe Nigota, Carol Shenton, and the knowledgeable and generous members of Mediev-l, Chaucernet, and H-Albion for responding to my queries with facts and bibliographies. Any mistakes are my own.
Research for this book was conducted on location in York and at the University of York’s Morrell Library, the British Library, and the libraries of the University of Washington, with additional critical materials from the York Archaeological Trust and my colleagues on the internet.
Glossary
almoner
| one of the canons, whose work was to give alms (food and drink) at the gate (at St Leonard’s, probably the Water Gate on Footless Lane), and also to go out of the house in order to visit the sick, infirm, blind and bed-ridden of the locality
|
ambergris
| a fragrant waxy secretion of the intestinal tract of the sperm whale, often found floating in the sea, used in medicine for its aroma
|
Barnhous
| the undercroft of St Leonard’s infirmary in which the children were housed
|
cellarer
| the canon in charge of supplies of meats and victuals; at St Leonard’s he was often submaster
|
corrody
| a pension or allowance provided by a religious house permitting the holder to retire into the house as a boarder; purchased for cash or by a donation of land or property
|
Gog and Magog
| biblical reference; Gog and the land of Magog were the enemies of Israel; it was believed that the reign of the Antichrist would be heralded by the return of Gog and Magog
|
grammar school
| a school in which the emphasis was on the
Trivium
(grammar, rhetoric and dialectic), or the analysis and use of language, preparing the student for university; St Leonard’s operated a grammar school
|
grandame
| grandmother
|
houppelande
| men’s attire; a flowing gown, often floor-length and slit up to thigh level to ease walking, but sometimes knee-length; sleeves large and open
|
jongleur
| a minstrel who sang, juggled and tumbled
|
Keeper of the Hanaper
| head of the department within Chancery that received fees paid on charters and letters under the great seal, paid the wages of the Chancery staff and bought materials for the office, and accounted for the whole proceeds annually at the exchequer; also received payments of fines by recipients of chancery writs; called the hanaper because the documents waiting to be sealed were kept in a hamper (hanaper)
|
Lammas
| first of August, when the Archbishop of York held an annual fair
|
lay sister
| a woman who takes the habit and vows of a religious order, but is employed mostly in manual labour and is exempt from any studies or choir-duties
|
leman
| mistress
|
manqualm
| an Anglo-Saxon word for plague, pestilence
|
Martinmas
| feast of St Martin, 11 November
|
mazer
| a large wooden cup
|
messuage
| a plot of land occupied by or intended for a dwelling house
|
Petercorn
| income supporting St Leonard’s Hospital, dependent on the harvest (Peter’s corn)
|
prebend
| the portion of the revenues of a cathedral or collegiate church granted to a canon or member of the chapter as his stipend
|
rood
| cross
|
Queen’s Receiver
| officer in the Queen’s household who gathered in revenue which he then disbursed at the Queen’s order in lump sum, paid over to her treasurer; Ravenser had power to act as the Queen’s attorney in any court in England
|
sext
| noon
|
spital
| early English word for hospital, later ‘spitalhouse’ and ‘hospital’
|
staithe
| wharf
|
strays
| common grazing area
|
sweetwater
| a medicinal bath of mallow and sweet-scented herbs
|
swine gall
| exactly what it says; medieval medicine was not without its oddities
|
trencher
| a thick slice of brown bread a few days old with a slight hollow in the centre, used as a platter
|
vespers
| the sixth of the canonical hours, towards sunset
|
