The Celys and their World An English Merchant Family of the Fifteenth Century [Paperback]

A richly detailed study of the Cely family and its activities as staplers and ship-owners.This book documents the activities of the Celys, a family of staplers and ship-owners, in the late fifteenth century, and also gives vivid details of their intimate concerns.This book documents the activities of the Celys, a family of staplers and ship-owners, in the late fifteenth century, and also gives vivid details of their intimate concerns.From the start of his career as a young woolmerchant, about 1473, George Cely was a hoarder. He kept everything, from important business accounts down to the scrap of paper on which his father had once noted that the brewer and tailor hadn't been paid yet. The result is a rich collection, which not merely documents the Cely family's activities as staplers and ship-owners, but also gives vivid details of their intimate concerns: what they ate and wore, where they lived, how they spent their money - and where they went for loans when the cash ran short - how they amused themselves, and how they coped with trade recessions and political turmoil at home and abroad. This is the first comprehensive study to be based on the material.List of figures and tables; Preface; Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Part I. The Celys and their Circle, 147482: 1. The Cely family and their background; 2. 'Japes and sad matters'; 3. Alarms and tribulations, 14801; 4. Two black sheep and a nuisance; Part II. The Wool Trade: 5. The trade in fleece-wool; 6. Wool-fells; 7. Monetary matters; 8. Customers and marts; 9. Calais and the Staple Company; Part III. Richard and George Cely, 14829: 10. Richard and George, 14823; 11. 'The world goeth on wheels', 14825; 12. Marriage and housekeeping; 13. Warfare and trade, 14869; 14. The Margaret Cely of London; 15. Charge and discharge, the Celys' finances, 14829; Postscript on later family history; Select bibliography; Index.