Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 THE RISE OF THE STAFFORD FAMILY, 1343–1460
- 2 THE SECOND AND THIRD DUKES OF BUCKINGHAM, 1460–1521
- 3 THE MANAGEMENT OF THE STAFFORD ESTATES, 1438–1521
- 4 THE FIRST DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM'S HOUSEHOLD AND RETINUE, 1438–1460
- 5 CHANGES IN THE DUCAL LIFESTYLE, 1460–1521
- 6 THE FINANCES OF THE STAFFORDS, 14OO–1473
- 7 THE FINANCES OF THE STAFFORDS, 1473–1521
- 8 THE STAFFORDS AND THEIR COUNCIL
- 9 THE STAFFORDS AND THE COMMON LAW
- CONCLUSION
- APPENDICES
- Manuscript Sources
- Printed Sources
- Index
4 - THE FIRST DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM'S HOUSEHOLD AND RETINUE, 1438–1460
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 October 2011
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- 1 THE RISE OF THE STAFFORD FAMILY, 1343–1460
- 2 THE SECOND AND THIRD DUKES OF BUCKINGHAM, 1460–1521
- 3 THE MANAGEMENT OF THE STAFFORD ESTATES, 1438–1521
- 4 THE FIRST DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM'S HOUSEHOLD AND RETINUE, 1438–1460
- 5 CHANGES IN THE DUCAL LIFESTYLE, 1460–1521
- 6 THE FINANCES OF THE STAFFORDS, 14OO–1473
- 7 THE FINANCES OF THE STAFFORDS, 1473–1521
- 8 THE STAFFORDS AND THEIR COUNCIL
- 9 THE STAFFORDS AND THE COMMON LAW
- CONCLUSION
- APPENDICES
- Manuscript Sources
- Printed Sources
- Index
Summary
The first Duke of Buckingham's household was an itinerant body which accompanied him from one lordship to another as he toured the estates or executed official business. The Duke and his son, Humphrey, Lord Stafford, appear between them to have made fairly regular circuits of their property. Each receiving area boasted at least one large residence capable of accommodating the retinue with which they always travelled. The oldest and in many ways the most impressive of these was Stafford Castle, where Duke Humphrey kept a large stable with a resident staff of over forty yeomen and grooms. The Castle, dominating the town and its environs, provided an ideal recruiting centre and assembly point for his retainers in Cheshire, Staffordshire and the Welsh March. It had been built by Ralph Stafford in 1348 as a defence against the Welsh, and his choice of site continued to impress visitors long after the fortifications themselves had fallen into decay. As the crown commissioners sent to survey the Duke's estates in 1521 reported:
… The Castell standenth nigh a myle from the toune upon soo goodly an height that all the countrey may be seen XXti or XXXti myles aboute. An oon way a man may see to the Kynnge's lordship of Caurs in Wales XXX myles from thennes, and an other way to the Kynng's honour of Tutbury.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Staffords, Earls of Stafford and Dukes of Buckingham1394–1521, pp. 66 - 85Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1978