Breaking the Beer Rules in 1289
Breaking the Assize of Beer
Twelve people. One court session. And all of them had broken the rules.
In 1289, something was going wrong with the beer in Bledlow.
The ale-tasters had been keeping an eye on things...
And they had names.
Twelve of them.
Richard Hull.
Agnes Holemere.
Gregory Miller.
Joan Moor.
Maud Pholip.
William Kavening.
John of Grateley.
John Fellow.
Hugh Wiking.
Hugh Churchyard.
John Newmere.
And John Brown.
All twelve were presented at the manor court for breaking the assize of beer.
And the punishment?
A fine.
Richard Hull paid 6d.
Agnes Holemere, 3d.
Gregory Miller got the full 12d.
Joan Moor and Maud Pholip paid 3d each.
Most of the others were fined 6d.
Hugh Churchyard also got 12d.
And that was that.
No great scandal.
No dramatic confrontation.
Just twelve people caught breaking the rules about beer, all appearing in the same court sitting and all being fined for it.
Which is perhaps the most interesting part.
Because this wasn't some extraordinary event that brought the whole village to a standstill.
It was routine court business.
The ale-tasters found people breaking the assize.
They reported them.
The court fined them.
And everyone presumably got on with making, selling and drinking the stuff.
The record doesn't tell us exactly what each person had done to break the assize. It simply gives us the names, the offence and the fines.
But twelve names in one sitting tells us something rather nicely.
Medieval people were apparently breaking the beer rules often enough for the village to have officials whose job was to catch them.
And in 1289, getting caught meant paying your few pennies and carrying on.
Beer was serious business.
Apparently, so was getting it slightly wrong.
Source: F. W. Maitland, Select Pleas in Manorial and Other Seignorial Courts, p. 33. Manor Court of the Abbey of Bec, Bledlow, Buckinghamshire, court held on St Luke's Day, 18 October 1289.
Image: An alewife in a brewhouse, The Smithfield Decretals, Royal MS 10 E IV, f.114v, c.1300โ1340. British Library. Public domain.