Thomas of Farndale

c 1280 to c 1350

The First Family Tree

The Medieval Inhabitants of Farndale

Excommunicated for stealing

FAR00023

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Context and local history are in purple.

1280

John may have been born in or about 1280 in Farndale, probably in the mill at Low Mill. He was the son of John the miller (FAR00021B). He was probably of a similar age to Richard de Farndale (FAR00016).

1282

By 1282, on the death of the landlord Baldwin Wake, the cultivated acreage in Farndale had risen to 768 acres in only six years (FAR000020). There were 90 bondmen by this time in Farndale. This must have represented a planned campaign of settlement and activity in the dale must have been noisy and constant at this time.

1316

Richard de Farndale (FAR00016) and Thomas of Farndale (FAR00023), were excommunicated for stealing on 12 August 1316. (Patent Rolls). This relates to Pickering Castle and may have arisen from an earlier poaching incident.

Sentence of Excommunication; ‘To the Most Serene Prince, his Lord Edward by the Grace of God, King of England, illustrious Lord of Ireland and Duke of Aquitaine, his humble and devoted clerks, the Reverend Dean and Chapter of the Church of St Peter, York; custodians of the spiritualities of the Archbishopric while the See is vacant; Greetings to him to serve whom is to reign for ever. We make known to your Royal Excellency by these presents that John de Carter, William of Elington, Adam of Killeburn, John Porter, Hugh Fullo, Peter Fullo, John of Halmby, Adam Playceman, John Foghill, Thomas Thoyman, Robert the Miller, Adam of the Kitchen, Richard Mereschall, John Gomodman, John Wallefrere, Alan Gage, Henry Cucte, Nicholas of the Stable, John the baker, Adam of Craven, John son of Imanye, Michael of Cokewald, Thomas of Morton, John of Westmerland, Thomas of Bradeford, Adam of Craven, John of Mittelhaue, John called Lamb, William Cowherd, Simon of Plabay, William the Oxherd, Henry of Rossedale, John of Carlton, Peter of Boldeby, Thomas of Redmere, Walter of Boys, William of Fairland, John of Skalton, John of Thufden, Henry the Shepherd’s boy, John of Foxton, Thomas of Farndale, John of Ampleford, John Boost, Roger of Kerby, John of Stybbyng, William of Carlton, Richard of Kilburn, Adam Scot, Peter of Gilling, John of Skalton, Stephen of Skalton, Richard of Farndale, Richard of Malthous, John the Oxherd, Robert of Rypon, Walter of Fyssheburn, Adam of Oswadkyrke, William of Everley, Hugh of Salton, William Robley, William of Kilburn, Geoffrey the Gaythirde, John of the Loge, Robert of Faldington, Nicholas of Wasse, William of Eversley, Robert of Habym, John of Baggeby and William Boost, our Parishioners, by reason of their contumacy and offence were bound in our authority by sentence of greater excommunication, and in this have remained obdurate for 40 days and more, and have up to now continued in contempt of the authority of the Church. Wherefore we beseech your Royal Excellency, in order that the pride of these said rebels may be overcome, that it may please you to grant Letters, according to previous meritorious and pious custom of your Realm, so that the Mother Church may, in this matter, be supported by the power of Your Majesty. May God preserve you for His Church and people.’

Given at York 12 August 1316.

We don’t know the nature of their crime. It seems to have been a crime under canon law, which therefore involved the church in the first instance, and in their sentence of excommunication, and was sufficiently serious that the church felt it necessary to involve the secular authorities when the pride of the rebels could not be quashed.

Under canon law, excommunication was the most serious sanction the Church had to wield against those who disobeyed its laws. Gratian's Decretum (c 1140), which contained the basic texts of the canon law, described excommunication as equivalent to handing a person over to the Devil. Later medieval canonists echoed and amplified this sentiment in their descriptions of the consequences of the sanction. It cut the excommunicate off from the Church's sacraments and from most contacts with other Christians

In England there was an additional penalty of imprisonment for standing obdurately excommunicate for more than forty days. This seems to explain the duration and the language used above.

In the eyes of medieval canonists, these consequences made it necessary that imposition of the sentence of excommunication was governed by a series of procedural requirements for the valid imposition of the sanction. Sentences of excommunication could be imposed only by a proper official, acting in his judicial capacity, normally the bishop of the diocese where the person lived or his deputy. Excommunication required proper citation of the persons involved and provision for them to be heard in their own defence. Imposition of the sentence had to be accompanied by certain prescribed formalities, including judicial deliberation and a written document.

Excommunication in the Middle Ages

There is a podcast in the Gone Medieval series on the impact, or sometimes lack of impact, of excommunication. King John was excommunicated in 1307 and initially at least ignored it.

1350

He might have lived to about 1350.

How do Richard and Thomas Farndale relate to the modern family?

It is not possible to be accurate about the early family tree, before the recording of births, marriages and deaths in parish records, but we do have a lot of medieval material including important clues on relationships between individuals. The matrix of the family before about 1550 is the most probable structure based on the available evidence.

If it is accurate, then both Richard and Thomas Farndale were related to the thirteenth century ancestors of the modern Farndale family, but are not on the direct line of later modern Farndales.