Affinity (medieval)

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Not to be confused with Affinity (Catholic canon law).

The Dunstable Swan Jewel, a livery badge, from ca. 1400 (British Museum)

In post-classical history, an affinity was a collective name for the group (retinue) of

(usually) men whom a lord gathered around himself in his service; it has been
described by one modern historian as "the servants, retainers, and other followers of
a lord",[1] and as "part of the normal fabric of society".[2] It is considered a fundamental
aspect of bastard feudalism,[3] and acted as a means of tying magnates to the lower
nobility, just as feudalism had done in a different way.[4]
One form of the relationship was known as livery and maintenance. The lord
provided livery badges to be worn by the retainer and "maintenance" or his support
in their disputes, which often constituted obstruction of judicial processes.

Contents

 1Origins
 2Composition
 3Later Middle Ages
 4Historiography
 5References
 6External links

Origins[edit]
One of the earliest identifiable feudal affinities was that of William Marshal, 1st Earl
of Pembroke, who by 1190 had gathered a force around him consisting of men
without necessarily any strong tenurial connection to him. Rather than receiving land,
these men received grants of office and the security of Pembroke's proximity to the
king.[5] Historian Michael Hicks has described it as a "personal, not feudal"
connection,[6] which David Crouch called an early example of a bastard
feudal relationship. On the other hand, a hundred years later, the earl of Lincoln
gathered bodies of men—often from among his tenants—from his estates in Lincoln,
who were still linked to the earl feudally through their tenure of his land. [7]

Composition[edit]
Middleham Castle was the centre of the earl of Salisbury's Yorkshire affinity.

Central to a noble affinity was the lord's indentured retainers, and beyond them was
a more amorphous group of general supporters and contacts. The difference, K. B.
McFarlane wrote, was that the former did the lord "exclusive service" but the latter
received his good lordship "in ways both more and less permanent" than the
retainers.[8] Christine Carpenter has described the structure of the earl of Warwick's
affinity as "a series of concentric circles" with him at the centre. [9] It has been noted
that a lord only had to gather a relatively small number of people around in areas
where he was strong, as members of his affinity supported not only him but also
each other; thus, the number of men who could come to his aid was often far greater
than the number of men he actually knew. [7] These were men the lord trusted: for
example, in 1459, on the verge of the Wars of the Roses, the earl of
Salisbury gathered the closest members of his affinity to him in Middleham
Castle and took their advice before publicly coming out in support of the
rebellious duke of York.[10][11]
The lord would often include men in positions of local authority, for example Justices
of the peace, within his affinity.[12] On the other hand, he might, as John of Gaunt did
in the later fourteenth century, recruit people into his affinity regardless of their social
weight, as an expression of his "courtly and chivalric ambitions", as Anthony
Goodman said.[13] A contemporary described these as "kin, friendis, allys and
parttakaris" ("kin, friends, allies, and partakers") to the lord. [14] Members of the affinity
could usually be identified by the livery the lord would distribute for their identification
with him; this could range from simple armbands to "a more exclusive form of livery
—exclusive metal mounted riband bands";[15] high-ranking members of John of
Gaunt's retinue—a "highly prized" position—wore the Collar of Esses.[16] The
members of the affinity closest to the lord were those of most use: the estate
officials, treasurer, stewards, and often more than one lawyer. [9]

Later Middle Ages[edit]

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster: In the later fourteenth century, his affinity was second only to that of the
king.

By the late Middle Ages, kings such as Richard II and Henry IV had created their
own affinities within the regional gentry,[17] for political as well as martial motives.
[18]
 They were therefore at a greater distance from the royal court, but they were also
more numerous than the household knights of earlier kings.[19] By the fifteenth
century, most regional agents of the crown were considered to be in the king's
affinity, as they had a closer connection to the crown than ordinary subjects. [20] By the
reign of Henry VI, E. F. Jacob estimated that the number of squires employed by the
king in the localities increased from 150 to over 300. [21]
In Richard's case, it has been suggested it was for the purpose of building up royal
power to counteract the pre-existing affinities of the nobility and strengthen his own
power.[22] Indeed, they were at the heart of the army Richard took to Ireland on his
1399 campaign, prior to his deposition.[19] This could include several hundred 'King's
knights' and esquires, retained with hard cash.[23] In fact, the amounts the crown
spent on its regional affinity were the cause of much of the discontent over royal
expenditure that Richard II, for example, faced in 1397. [3] Likewise, John of Gaunt's
affinity increased by half between 1381 and the early 1390s and cost him far greater
sums than the 10% of income that magnates generally expended on their retinues.
[24]
 Gaunt used it to defend his position against the crown as Richard II's reign
became increasingly erratic,[24] and his son, Henry of Bolingbroke, inherited it in 1399,
and found it a ready-made army that allowed him to overthrow Richard. [3] In very
similar circumstances, in 1471, Edward IV, returning from exile to reclaim his throne,
gathered his affinity with him as he marched south, and it has been said that "it was
as master of such an affinity that at Barnet and Tewkesbury King Edward won a
wider mastery".[25] The earl of Salisbury, also using his affinity as a show of strength
in 1458, attended a royal council meeting with an affinity of about 400 horsemen and
eighty knights and squires; the contemporary Brut Chronicle estimated it at around
500 men.[26][27]
Affinities were not confined to kings or magnates; in the 1420s, for example, Cardinal
Beaufort maintained an affinity in many English counties, although, as a churchman,
his affinity was political rather than military. [28] They were not also confined to
men: Edward II's consort, Isabella, had an affinity whose "collective influence was as
powerful as the most powerful lords," even if with less of a military. [29] They could also
be expanded through the course of events; Edward IV's covert marriage to Elizabeth
Woodville brought an important Midlands family and their retainers directly into the
royal household.[30]