At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Clinard Barnhill

This had to be extremely accurate-one mistake discovered years down the road and the lord would lose all his property. He then had to present what was called ‘tenure for livery,’ another group of documents (all costing something to compose) to prove his inheritance. Oh no, he had to ‘prove his age’ which could be very expensive. Upon reaching his majority, the young person was not automatically given his lands. A portion might be paid to the king, though often that was avoided. Until a child reached his/her majority, the guardian would receive all rents and monies collected from the child’s lands. But why would someone wish to buy a ward?īecause it was profitable. If the king needed money, he could sell a ward. However, it didn’t take long for the buying and selling of wards became a lucrative business for everyone except the ward. Wardships were supposed to protect and care for these defenseless children.

In days when warfare, disease and poor medicinal practices were rampant, most children lost at least one parent on their way to adulthood. These children needed to be fed and clothed, educated and maintained according to their rank. Such a system probably began as an honorable way to take care of children who were too young to run an estate. Along with the ward, the king could also sell the ‘marriage rights,’ that is, the power to arrange a marriage for the ward in question. No, the king could either give or sell a ward to another worthy servant. Certainly, such important business could not be left in the hands of the children’s mothers. This was the question the ward system was developed to answer: if a man died, leaving children who had not yet reached their ‘age of majority’ (21 for boys, 14 for girls) someone had to be responsible. But what happened if the knight did his duty, but died in the process? What was to become of his children? If a knight received such lands from the king, he then owed the king his combat service, should the need arise. The ward system sprang from feudalism when a king, such as William the Conqueror, gave lands and tenants to those men who fought for him in battle. I don’t have any such expertise, but I’ll do the best I can to explain a complicated and corrupt system that had been in place for a few centuries before Elizabeth I took the throne and made William Cecil Master of the Court of Wards. I’m sure to understand the ward system in Tudor England, it would help to have some legal training.

At the Mercy of the Queen by Anne Clinard Barnhill