The Stonor Letters are one of the significant collections of 15th century correspondence that have survived. These series of documents, though not the earliest private letters known in English, has more number and variety in terms of interest, along with the other two major collections from this period, which are the ''
Paston Letters
The ''Paston Letters'' is a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk gentry and others connected with them in England between the years 1422 and 1509. The collection also includes state papers and other impor ...
'' and the ''
Cely Letters''.
Background
Like the Paston family, the Stonor family was founded by a royal judge; his name was
John Stonor. The Stonors did not participate in the
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These wars were fought bet ...
; but
Sir William Stoner was nevertheless attainted in 1483, and his papers seized by the crown, as well as his lands. Though the latter were restored, the papers remained in crown ownership - hence their subsequent survival.
Subject matter
Although the letters do not discuss political issues,
Charles Lethbridge Kingsford
Charles Lethbridge Kingsford, FBA (25 December 1862 – 29 November 1926) was a scholarly English historian and author.
Biography
Kingsford was born on 25 December (Christmas Day) 1862 in Ludlow, Shropshire, the third son of Rev. Sampson Kingsfor ...
has said that they "do not fall short" for content about English society and social life during the period. Subjects discussed in the letters include local office, estate management, legal business, social and domestic life, marriage and the wool trade. The collection has nearly 400 documents. It also included documents such as wood-sale deeds and accounts.
The letters also provided insights about existing norms. For example, based on the sample of writings, the letters show that women of the propertied class adopted three practices when writing: 1) dictating a letter to a literate transcriber; 2) dictating the content but personally writing a signature, greetings, and postscript; and, 3) writing the letter in its entirety.
Kingsford's transcriptions, however, have been described by one 20th-century scholar as "unreliable".
There are scholars who use alternative sources such as Alison Truelove's ''Fifteenth-century English Stonor letters''.
See also
*
Statute of the Staple
The Ordinance of the Staple was an ordinance issued in the Great Council in October 1353. It aimed to regularise the status of staple ports in England, Wales, and Ireland. In particular, it designated particular ports where specific goods could ...
*''
Plumpton Correspondence The ''Plumpton Correspondence'' is a rare collection of 250 letters and writings from 1461 to 1552 that have survived to the modern day. The writings contains day-to-day writings of William Plumpton and his family, revealing the daily lives of a med ...
''
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
**''Supplementary Stonor Letters and Papers, 1314-1482'' (London 1924)
*
External links
Introduction and Text
Medieval historical texts
Medieval letter collections
15th-century documents
15th century in England
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