32. Hull in a Violent World

Yorkshire in the 1450s was a violent place.  Two of the major landowning families in the county were the Nevilles and the Percies and between them existed a long-standing feud.  This rivalry heated up in the face of Henry VI’s weakness and the knowledge that he would do nothing to punish them for fighting.  Consequently these ambitious neighbours used their men, money and status to drag the whole county into their squabble and Hull wasn’t excused.

When in summer 1453 Henry VI suffered a mental collapse Thomas Percy, Baron Egremont, saw an opportunity.  Wressle castle, 30 miles to the west of Hull, had been built by the Percy family, however they had lost it in 1403 after they were involved in rebellion against the king.  This loss was one thing but what Egremont couldn’t stand was that following a recent marriage the castle now belonged to the Neville family.  The thought of his deadly rivals at Wressle was too much for him to bear.

On 24th August Egremont and his private army ambushed a group of Nevilles travelling back from the wedding.  Most of the men with Egremont worked on the Percy estates but not all.  Others came from nearby towns including 16 from Hull.  This ambush achieved little apart from a chance to show displeasure, however crucially it went virtually unpunished.  The king sent a stern letter telling those involved not to do it again, but men like Egremont didn’t pay heed to simple letters.  Emboldened he now set his sights higher.

In May the following year Egremont and his allies attempted to incite revolt in York.  He appealed to the people of Hull to join him, knowing that he had at least a few supporters in the town.  Luckily Hull refused this offer.  By now Richard, Duke of York, was acting as Lord Protector whilst the king recovered from his illness, and Richard’s wife was a Neville.  It came as no surprise therefore that when Egremont’s revolt failed, Richard seized the opportunity to throw him in jail.  Richard also sent thanks to Hull for refusing to support the revolt.

Henry VI eventually recovered in December 1454, although not everyone was pleased about his return to health.  Richard had rather enjoyed his taste of power and many nobles thought he had made a better job of being king than Henry.  Gradually the country split between Lancastrians, supporting Henry, and Yorkists, supporting Richard.  After many threats, hard stares, and minor skirmishes, full-scale hostilities finally erupted on 23rd September 1459 at Blore Heath, Staffordshire. 

Hearing of this battle, Hull’s aldermen took measures to protect their town from attack.  After all as a strategic port it was a prize worth fighting over.  Each night 24 men were placed on watch and it was ordered that no corn should leave town in case a siege situation developed.  Then everyone waited.  Around the middle of October came news of the battle of Ludford Bridge, and how the Duke of York had fled to Ireland.  The guard was stood down and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Picture: Section from map by Gerard Mercator, 1564, showing the location of Hull and Wessle

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31. A Fortress Town

Drive into Hull today and the city creeps up on you, the number of buildings slowly increasing from an isolated few to a constant line of houses, storage units and factories.  It’s easy to miss the precise point when you enter Hull itself, unless you specifically scan the roadside for a welcome sign.  Arriving at Hull 600 years ago was a rather different experience; then entering the town was a very definite step.

Travelling into Hull back then, the first sight of the town was a high brick wall visible on the horizon.  As you got closer you could make out the watchtowers dotted along its length.  Finally as you came beneath the wall’s shadowy gloom, you saw the moat running in front of it and across the road itself an imposing fortified gateway.  Hopefully you arrived during daylight, as if not you would have a long wait as the gates would not open again until dawn.

There were four such gateways guarding the entrances into Hull.  Beverley Gate was the most imposing, a grand structure with a fortified entrance way, called a barbican, plus an inner gate for extra security.  There was also North Gate near the ferry over the river Hull; Hessle Gate by the bank of the Humber; and Myton Gate, the site now marked by a roundabout.  If the country was at peace and the security threat low, there was also the option to use one of several postern gates.  Designed for those on foot, these were just wide enough to allow one or two people to squeeze through and could easily be blocked up in times of danger. 

Building such defences did not come cheap.  When in 1423 a new postern gate was added, ten thousand bricks were used during its construction.  Then there was the regular maintenance.  Particularly in the middle of the 15th Century, it would have been most unwise to skimp on this for Henry VI was not making a good job of being king.  In 1449 Parliament impeached his chief minister William de la Pole for financial mismanagement and, fearing that the resulting quarrel would turn violent, towns across the country put security measures in place.

Hull had cause to be particularly fearful given the link that the de la Pole family had with the town.  Although William had his main home elsewhere, he remained a major local landowner. Consequently Hull’s aldermen decided that eighteen guards should be placed on watch every night.  Each town ward was ordered to provide a constable plus two men to remain on duty on between 9pm and 4am.  In the end these precautions were not tested as once William was off the scene things settled down for Henry but the incident was a sign of unrest to come.

Photos: Top, bricks showing the former location of a postern gate in Hull; Bottom, surviving postern gate in York.

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30. The Luck of the de la Poles

In Hull’s Charterhouse hospital there stood two statues, one of William de la Pole, 1^st Duke of Suffolk, and one of Alice his wife.  Each held a jug in one hand and a plate in the other.  Everyday two of the hospital’s residents were brought before these likenesses to receive food and drink paid for using money left by William and Alice.  Looking into the two stony faces, the residents got a powerful reminder of their own duty to pray for their deceased benefactors to help their souls into heaven.  And after William’s turbulent life, his soul in particular was probably in need of help.

In 1415 when William was just nineteen he, his father and brother had sailed to France, taking with them 40 men at arms and 120 mounted archers.  There they joined the ranks of king Henry V’s army.  First task for this gallant force was to lay siege to the port of Harfleur.  During this William himself was invalided home and his father Michael, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, died of dysentery.  Only his elder brother Michael journeyed with their king to meet the French near Agincourt castle. The resulting battle saw a happy band of English brothers vanquish a French force three times its size.  7000 French died and only 500 English, but one of these was Michael.

Despite the fact that his family seemed extremely unlucky in such matters, once recuperated William set off again for war, full of youthful bravado and proudly holding the title 4th Earl of Suffolk.  His battles included the siege of Orleans, during which he was captured by the forces of Joan of Arc and imprisoned till a ransom was paid.  Once back in England, tales of such adventures and an advantageous marriage increased his reputation with the young king Henry VI.  William was also astute enough to assist Henry with his pet projects, helping him establish Eton school and King’s College, Cambridge.  By 1448 he was the most influential man at the royal court and had been promoted to a duke.

Riding high, William should have heeded the warning offered by his grandfather, who had been impeached whilst serving Richard II.  Instead, either through incompetence or ill fortune, William too fell from grace.  The war with France was going badly and Parliament accused him of mismanaging funds, pointing out that the royal debt had increased from £14,800 in 1433 to £372,000 in 1450. William was sentenced to exile for five years but on his way abroad his boat was captured and he was murdered a traitor.  Alice later arranged for the Charterhouse statues to help give her husband some rest in the afterlife following such a violent end on earth.

Photo: Hull’s Charterhouse today

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29. The Charterhouse

Medieval people believed their world had been designed by God and he had given each person a specific role within it.  Some God called to the religious life, blessing them with holy insight and the strength to cope without earthly comforts.  Others were gifted with military strength and the bravery to confront death on the battlefield.  Many more were seemingly destined to a life of valiantly striving each day to keep poverty and destitution at bay.

God gave Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk: high status, military prowess and political nous. These brought financial advantages however also brought the Christian duty to use this wealth to support others.  For those serving God in the religious life, in 1377 Michael founded a Carthusian monastery just outside Hull’s North Gate.  A few years later he addressed his responsibility to those less fortunate.  Next to the monastery he established the ‘Hospital of St Michael, commonly called God’s House without the gates of Hull’, otherwise known by the snapper name of Charterhouse hospital. 

The hospital opened in 1384 and was run separately from the monastery itself, although it was still based on religious principles.  It was no coincidence that it housed 13 men and 13 women (the number of disciples plus Jesus himself).  It was not a hospital in the modern sense, rather a home for the elderly, the poor and those who were unable to work.  Since these were all situations that seldom led to peak fitness, many doubtless feel their health improve after having sufficient food to eat and a restful place to sleep. 

In return for food and shelter, the residents of the Charterhouse hospital were expected to pray for their benefactor and his family.  They were reminded of this duty each time they sat in the chapel, looking at the grave of Michael’s father, the merchant and moneylender William de la Pole.  Michael was later buried alongside him when he died in 1389.  Residents’ prayers were essential to these departed souls.  Only the most saintly were thought to go direct to heaven, and the de la Poles had been far too involved in the murky worlds of business and politics for that to be the case. 

Prayers were needed to lift them from where they were stuck in purgatory to eternal salvation in heaven.  And prayers from the poor residents of the Charterhouse were seen as particularly effective, for with their lack of worldly possessions they had certainly fulfilled Jesus' teaching ‘not to lay up for yourselves treasures on earth’.   For the residents themselves, such prayers were perhaps a small price to pay to receive welfare support that was available nowhere else.

Photo: Plaque displayed on the Charterhouse today commemorating the hospital’s foundation.

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