General Notes

Sir Hugh De Stode lived during the latter part of a transitional century in the history of England. He was born around 1250, the son of a knight and the great grandson of one (who may have died in battle as he was only about 34). Hugh probably grew up in Strode, lived in the nearby hamlet of Hewstock and died in Chalmington, all in Dorsetshire. Dorset was a maritime county from whose ports were shipped enormous flocks of sheep. Its somewhat rough land was best for grazing over and around the two ranges of chalk hills called North and South Downs where the soil was mostly chalk, gravel and sand interlaced with some fertile valleys. Hugh de Strode took to wife one Beatrice Fichet who was from the adjoining county of Somerset; they were married in her home village of Stringston about 1274. Only one child is recorded, although there may have been more. The 1200's in which they lived saw the start of improved economic conditions and a more promising existence for many. Villages grew into towns and cobblestones were placed on the narrow dirt street. Because many town were inside defensive walls, which limited the space available, houses were crowded together and many were built as much as five or six stories high. People generally were eating well. Adequate grain for bread, milk if they owned a cow, a little smoked meat, root crops such as parsnips (the green top growth of which was fed to the cow), and dried peas and beans. Besides being eaten, dried beans were also used for counting -- probably the origin of the term "bean counters" often applied to accountants. Occasionally, the menu was varied with a wild hare, jugged and placed whole in an earthen pot with a few wild plums to give tang to the gravy, then buried in hot wood ashes to cook. Among the innovations in day-to-day living: the first spinning wheel was invented, trundle beds for servants and children were developed to replace pallets of straw, benches with backs were created and a sink for washing kitchen utensils was built with a drain to the outside. Peasants began to leave the manors to seek a new life. Some became craftsmen or merchants; others farmed land made available by the landlord to keep them on the manor and sold or bartered their produce with the townspeople. Trade with other countries, which had lain fallow for centuries, took on increasing importance. Kind Edward I conquered Wales in 1284 and later Scotland but perhaps his greatest mark was the holding of a "model parliament", in which nobles, knights and burgesses from shires and towns were summoned to what became the first representative government. As a knight, Hugh de Strode undoubtedly was a participant. Although unconfirmed, his responsibilities as a knight also probably mandated his participation in the Welsh and Scottish campaigns as well. It is said that medieval society was divided into three classes -- those who fought, those who prayed and those who worked. Knights were not of the nobility -- such as Duke, Earl, Viscount or Baron -- but were certainly of the gentry. Most had manors granted to them by an overlord in return for military and other services. A powerful overlord might have fifty or more knights in his domain. The cost of equipping themselves to fight was substantial. Armor, sword, lance, helmet, gauntlets and shield were enormously expensive and had to be crafted by skilled armorers, the best being German, Spanish or Italian. Good armor, like a perfectly-fitting suit, was made to measure; sometimes models of the limbs and trunk were created to facilitate the fitting. A single shirt of mail could contain 100,000 forged iron links, and some mail coats reached to the knees, requiring almost twice that number of links. The armor plates had to be placed and intricately hinged to allow free movement of the body and limbs as well as distribute weight evenly over the whole body. Although heavy, this regalia was not as burdensome as often thought: field armour ranged from 41 to 90 pounds, m