Medieval History Term of the Week: Purveyance
Purveyance
[per-vey-uhns]
The king’s right to requisition food and goods in return for payment. Purveyances were made to supply the royal household and households of the royal family members in ordinary times as well as to supply royal armies in wartime. (Waugh, Scott. England in the Reign of Edward III, 238)
Exaction of provisions, especially for the king’s household. (Sayles, George O. The King’s Parliament of England, 145)
*term definitions retrieved from Netserf’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary)
From the Charter of Homage and Fealty, 1110:
And when the abbot shall mount his horse I and my heirs, viscounts of Carc assonne, and our successors ought to hold the stirrup for the honor of the dominion of St. Mary of Grasse; and to him and all who come with him, to as many as two hundred beasts, we should make the abbot’s purveyance in the borough of St. Michael of Carcassonne, the first time he enters Carcassonne, with the best fish and meat and with eggs and cheese, honorably according to his will, and pay the expense of shoeing of the horses, and for straw and fodder as the season shall require.
Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval Glossary, Medieval History on October 30th, 2009
A much complained about practice - the forced taking of supplies with only the promise to pay was hated by the Commons of England, and often complained about in Parliament.