The Next Generation

When wealth is land, the conundrum that produces goes like this: if you share your wealth equally among your children and they share their wealth equally among their children . . . By the time you get to grandchildren you have moved from prosperity to a postage stamp. Dividing the land among heirs quickly leads to poverty. It is a conundrum faced by every agricultural society: societies in which wealth is land.

The conundrum was not lost on medieval families, including the Boyntons. The first principle was: do not divide the land. In his will Thomas admonished his son, Henry, to hold the family fortune together.

I will and firmly enjoin Henry Boynton, my son, upon my blessings, that he not sell nor depreciate certain principal holdings which are below my manor of Acclom, nor anywhere, for I have diminished none of these from my parents. [translation of will in Testamenta Eboracensia, 1836]

Thomas lived in the second half of the 14th century and wrote his will in 1402. As he noted, the family had held the core of their land for centuries. Acklam, Roxby and Boynton had been the center of the family fortune since 1230 -- no postage stamps there. Thomas had continued the tradition, and he "enjoined" his son to do the same. The general acceptance of the principle can be gauged by noting that Christopher, Thomas' second son, was one of the executors of the will. Christopher was the executor of a will that effectively cut him out of the family fortune if it was followed, which it was.

Holding the family fortune together is one thing, but they are your children. You do not want to turn them out penniless -- especially into a world in which land [agriculture] is almost all there is. Not many airline pilots were required in 1402. So, there were second principles for establishing the next generation.

A second principle that we all know is endowing the happy couple. When you give your daughter in marriage you also give land to help the couple get started. Kings did it [A Boynton Story: Marrying Off the King's Daughter]. So did knights. Ingram de Boynton presented his daughter Avice and Robert de Sethona 2 bovates of land in Boynton when they married.

DATES: mid 13th century DESCRIPTION: Gift:
Ingram de Bouingthona son of Sir William de Bouingthon to Robert de Sethona in marriage with his daughter Avice: - - 2 bovates in Bouingthona with 2 tofts and crofts (i.e. the 2 bovates which Thomas Oakes sometime held lying between the lands of Bridlington Priory and of William de B.; and the tofts lying between the tofts of Gilbert the priest and of Bridlington Priory) - : Doing forinsec service as where 11 carucates make a knight's fee
Hull Document

Tofts and crofts are houses and fenced in areas. Eleven carucates makes a knight's fee is an indication of the value of the land.

Boyntons were on the receiving end, as well. When William Boynton -- the son of the above Ingram -- married Alice de Muncels her parents gave them 3 carucates in Boynton.

DATES: early 13th century - circa 1255 DESCRIPTION: Copies (15th cent.) a) Gift:
Ingram de Muncels to William de Boynton, with his daughter Alice in marriage: - - 3 carucates and capital messuage in Boynton - - : Doing forinsec service as where 48 carucates make a knight's fee
Hull Document

Dowry is what we call it. Daughters were endowed in marriage. It helped the new family get started, but it also gave women an independent claim on the family wealth in widowhood. Men often died before their wives. When that happened the wife was not the heir. The heir was a child of the marriage; a male child if one existed. However, the wife had to be provided for in the settlement. Thomas admonished his son about this in his will, as well.

I will and enjoin to the said Henry, upon my blessing, that he come to amicable agreement with my wife Margaret over her dowry, and for the portion granted to the said Margaret, upon my blessing, or on the contrary, if it is deserved. [translation of will in Testamenta Eboracensia, 1836]

The second half of the sentence suggests that he and his wife had agreed on a split of the estate that would be hers until her death, and it was less than half -- so Henry could give her more that half ("the contrary") if he felt like it. The contribution of Margaret's father to the new family when she married was intended to be support for life.

A second vocation for daughters was the church, and marriage to Christ was also supposed to carry an endowment. When Walter's two daughters entered the Watton Priory they were accompanied by 4 bovates of land in Burnby, which was a village in the same part of the county as Watton Priory [A Boynton Story: You Want to Go Where?].

What about younger sons? The principle was younger sons should receive help getting started, and that would involve land. Two features of the principle are: 1) the land, often, would be purchased outside the basic family holdings; and 2) the heir would be formally involved in making the arrangement [Thomas, 1993]. Walter had two sons: William and Rabot. William was the heir who would receive the family fortune, and Rabot had to be assisted in building his own fortune.

Walterus de Bovintun, cum assensu et concessu Willelmi, filii et haeredis mei . . . Rabodo, filio meo, duas bov. terrae in Rotese [Cartularium Prioratus de Gyseburne, Ebor.]

This document records Walter's purchase of land, with the consent of William, for Rabot. Rabot got a two bovate start as did his sisters -- at least that is what we know about.

Thus was the next generation set. The family fortune was preserved in the inheritance of the single heir. The other children were assisted, but out of the surplus of the basic estate.

. . .

Cartularium Prioratus de Gyseburne, Ebor. Dioeceseos, Ordinis S. Augustini, Fundati, Volumen Primum, Publications of the Surtees Society, 1889, p. 115.

Hull Document These are documents that were deposited at the library of the University of Hull by the Burton Agnes Boynton family in the 20th century.

(1836) Testamenta Eboracensia or Wills Registered at York, from the Year MCCC. Downwards, part I, J. B. Nichols and son, pp. 286-287.

Thomas, Hugh M. (1993) Vassals, Heiresses, Crusaders, and Thugs, University of Pennsylvania Press, pp.