''The Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar (Ricart's Calendar)'' is a book compiled in the late 15th century by Robert Ricart, town clerk of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. The work consists of six parts giving a history of England and of the city of Bristol, a list of civic officers, and details of local customs and ceremonies. Commissioned by

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

William Spencer, the Kalendar was started circa 1478–79. Scribed on vellum, separated by leaves of parchment, the book was reproduced in print in the 19th century for Lucy Toulmin Smith's edition, which omitted some content. It is regarded as one of the earliest examples of a town chronicle outside London. Little is known of Ricart, apart from his office as town clerk and the possibility that he was a merchant, also known as Robert Ricardes. He also appears to have authored parts of the ''Great Red Book of Bristol'', as well as the ''Little White Book''. Both books contain references to his being common clerk and as a witness. His entries in the Kalendar date from 1479 until 1506. The Kalendar is held at the

Bristol Archives Bristol Archives (formerly Bristol Record Office) was established in 1924. It was the first borough record office in the United Kingdom, since at that time there was only one other local authority record office (Bedfordshire) in existence. It ...

Hotwells Hotwells is a district of the English port city of Bristol. It is located to the south of and below the high ground of Clifton, and directly to the north of the Floating Harbour. The southern entrance to the Avon Gorge, which connects the docks ...

, Bristol. The original is fragile, but the contents may be viewed by

microfiche Microforms are scaled-down reproductions of documents, typically either films or paper, made for the purposes of transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about 4% or of the original document size. F ...

Synopsis

Induction of the Mayor from Ricart's Calendar

Prologue

At the start of the book, Ricart details his plan for the execution of the work in six parts, although this plan was not in the end adhered to, he informs the reader that Spencer had commissioned the work to preserve the ancient customs of the town, for .

First part

This consists of a history of England, from the time of Brut or Brute (

Brutus of Troy Brutus, also called Brute of Troy, is a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, known in medieval British history as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain. This legend first appears in the ''Historia Brittonum'', an anonymous ...

), up until the reign of Harold Godwinson. The section is based on earlier sources such as

Wace Wace ( 1110 – after 1174), sometimes referred to as Robert Wace, was a Medieval Norman poet, who was born in Jersey and brought up in mainland Normandy (he tells us in the ''Roman de Rou'' that he was taken as a child to Caen), ending his care ...

's verse epic '' Roman de Brut'', which in turn is based on Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''

Historia Regum Britanniae ''Historia regum Britanniae'' (''The History of the Kings of Britain''), originally called ''De gestis Britonum'' (''On the Deeds of the Britons''), is a pseudohistorical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of Monmouth. I ...

''. The town of Bristol is represented as having been founded by

Brennius Brennius was a legendary king of Northumberland and Allobroges, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was the son of Dunvallo Molmutius and brother of Belinus, probably based upon one or both of the historical Brenni. Claimant to the throne o ...

, one of Brutus' sons. A short interlude at the end of the first part, describes Joseph of Arimathea's visit to Britain and an account of the founding of the abbey at Glastonbury in Somerset.

Second part

Covering the period from the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

up until the death of

John, King of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

in 1216, this section is based heavily on Matthew Paris' ''

Flores Historiarum The ''Flores Historiarum'' (Flowers of History) is the name of two different (though related) Latin chronicles by medieval English historians that were created in the 13th century, associated originally with the Abbey of St Albans. Wendover's '' ...

''. Interpositions contain accounts of the building of Bristol Castle by the Earls of Gloucester and their founding of St. James' Priory, Fitzhardings' foundation of St. Augustine's Abbey, the ancestry of

William the Bastard William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...

, and an account of the charter and privileges granted to Bristol by King John.

Third part

In this section, the material is listed under the terms of office of the town mayors, starting with Adam le Page in the earlier sections it was arranged by the reigns of kings. Much of the subject matter is derived from London chronicles of the time with little local content until the early 15th century, when information on grain prices,

William II Canynges William II Canynges (c. 1399–1474) was an English merchant and shipper from Bristol, one of the wealthiest private citizens of his day and an occasional royal financier. He served as Mayor of Bristol five times and as MP for Bristol thr ...

, local reaction to the Cornish Rebellion of 1497, ship losses, and bad weather started to appear alongside accounts of executions and 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 ...

Fourth part

The fourth section contains descriptions of the oaths of office administered to civic officials, regulations for the sale of bread, coal, and other commodities, civic ceremonies, robes of office, and judicial matters. Robert Ricart's map of Bristol

Fifth part

The whole of this section is a reproduction of the text of the 1374 charter, which granted Bristol civic status, together with the contents of King John's 118 charter.

Sixth part

The last section is mostly a transcription of a book belonging to Henry Darcy, Mayor of London in 1339, which is very similar to the ''

Liber Albus John Carpenter, the younger (about 1372–1442), was a Town Clerk of London. He was elected as Town Clerk to the City of London during the reigns of Henry V and Henry VI. He was the author of the first book of English common law, called ''Libe ...

'' or ''White Book'', an account of the laws of the city of London, written by town clerk John Carpenter in 1419.

Illustrations

The Kalendar contains eighteen illustrations, mostly depicting kings, but there is a notable plan of the town of Bristol, showing its principal features, and an illustration of the annual mayor making ceremony.Fleming, pp 304–5

Bibliography

*Fleming, P. (2004) "Making history: culture, politics and the Maire of Bristowe Is Kalendar". In: Biggs, D., Michalove, S. and Compton Reeves, A., eds. (2004) ''Reputation and Representation in Fifteenth Century Europe''. Brill, pp. 289–316. *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maire of Bristowe is Kalendar, The 15th century in England History of Bristol 15th-century history books 16th-century history books History books about England