New from our Research Blog: “Gold among the Ashes: The Deeds of the Guild of St. Anne”

In 1430, King Henry VI granted Richard Talbot, archbishop of Dublin, members of Dublin’s city council, and other prominent merchants and citizens the right to form a guild dedicated to St. Anne for the purpose of supporting six priests at the altars at St. Audoen’s church, which stood near the High Street on the western end of the medieval walled city of Dublin.

Guild members were laypeople – both men and women. Membership in the Guild of St. Anne conferred spiritual, social, and business privileges; members likely supported one another in business, political, marriage, and property transactions. As lessees of Guild property, they received extremely favorable rates. Upon death, members were frequently interred in St. Audoen’s church and its adjoining churchyard; a survey of names on surviving gravestones matches closely with names in Guild records. St Anne’s Guild also appears to have had a close relationship with civic offices. Many of the medieval and early modern mayors, bailiffs, and city officials of Dublin also appear in St. Anne’s Guild documents – both within and outside of their official capacities. There is strong evidence that some of the Guild’s scribes were also active as city clerks or their assistants; these include scribe and author James Yonge (fl. 1404-1438) and his apprentices Thomas Baghill (fl. 1419-1439) and scribe and author Nicholas Bellewe (fl. 1423-74).

The founding charter of the Guild allowed it to develop its own seal and acquire and control property yielding up to 100 marks per annum for the support of St. Audoen’s chaplains, and in its early years, the Guild set about building its portfolio. One of its notable early acquisitions was the bequest of several properties belonging to John Stafford, a wealthy baker, whose name appears on the founding charter.

As with the Stafford properties, many additional properties were acquired as bequests from Guild members, and several transactions provide for the grantor or his or her survivors for the rest of their natural lives, at which time the property was to revert to the full ownership of the Guild. The gift of property usually ensured that the grantor and his spouse would be remembered forever in the prayers of the priests of St. Audoen’s. [...]

This is an excerpt from "Gold among the Ashes: The Deeds of the Guild of St. Anne," by Theresa O'Byrne (Ph.D. '12). Read the full piece.

Editor's note: Dr. O'Byrne's work is part of the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland, a partnership with the Royal Irish Academy and the Irish Manuscripts Commission. The VRTI "Gold Seams" projects are full-scale reconstructions of entire series of archives destroyed in 1922. The Deeds of the Guild of St Anne Gold Seam, 1237–1778, was curated by Dr. Lynn Kilgallon and Dr. Theresa O’Byrne, with Dr. Peter Crooks, Sadhbh Dunne, Dr. Éamonn Kenny, and with additional contributions by Dr Colm Lennon. The Medieval Institute is honored to feature their work here. The VRTI has also posted about us!