There are many extant examples of late medieval vestments in private and public collections in Europe and North America. Little is known, however, about the people who created them and the production methods used. A copy of a formal agreement between Sir Robert Clere and William Morton, included in the Townshend family papers, offers a rare insight into the making of a set of late fifteenth-century vestments. The document specifies the materials and the motifs to be used in making the vestments and the delivery deadline. This paper investigates the individuals mentioned in the agreement, the significance of the symbols and images chosen, and the possible motives behind the contract phraseology. Although these particular vestments no longer exist, parallels for the designs and techniques among extant examples have been used to re-create their possible appearance. Also considered is the relationship between embroiderer and mercer and the ways in which they collaborated to produce garments for royalty, the nobility and an increasing number of wealthy citizens.

This paper is based on the authors’ longstanding interest in Northumberland House and follows two previous papers by Manolo Guerci, which appeared in this journal in 2010 and 2014 respectively. The first paper explored the house as originally built by the 1st Earl of Northampton between 1605 and 1614, while the second looked at both the ownership of the Earls of Suffolk, in the years between Northampton’s death and 1642, and the transformations of the 10th Earl of Northumberland, from that year to 1668. The changes initiated by the 7th Duke and Duchess of Somerset in 1748, and completed by the 1st Duke and Duchess of Northumberland (third creation) in the 1750s and 1760s, finished the process of shifting the public side of the house from the Strand to the river side, begun by the 10th Earl of Northumberland. Never before fully investigated, this period is crucial in the long history of the house, as a large body of renowned craftsmen and builders (presented as supplementary material to the online edition of this paper) experimented with lavish interiors, which became a model for contemporary enterprises. In addition, Northumberland House acted as the showcase of the couple’s taste and patronage, as well as the venue for the private ‘Musaeum’ of the Duchess, within a larger remarkable collection, and probably functioned as a proto-academy for selected artists and connoisseurs.

This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary project that has revealed the location, extent and character of the winter camp of the Viking Great Army at Torksey, Lincolnshire, of ad 872–3. The camp lay within a naturally defended area of higher ground, partially surrounded by marshes and bordered by the River Trent on its western side. It is considerably larger than the Viking camp of 873–4 previously excavated at Repton, Derbyshire, and lacks the earthwork defences identified there. Several thousand individuals overwintered in the camp, including warriors, craftworkers and merchants. An exceptionally large and rich metalwork assemblage was deposited during the Great Army’s overwintering, and metal processing and trading was undertaken. There is no evidence for a pre-existing Anglo-Saxon trading site here; the site appears to have been chosen for its strategic location and its access to resources. In the wake of the overwintering, Torksey developed as an important Anglo-Saxon borough with a major wheel-thrown pottery industry and multiple churches and cemeteries. The Torksey evidence allows for a radical reappraisal of the character of Viking winter camps, and the legacy of the Viking Great Army for Anglo-Saxon England.