This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------A6BB155A771003DF1FED6DD4 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Dear Bruce, You are probably right in that John & Henry may have been the sons of John or Jean le Carpentier-13043 b. Abt 1250 Lord of Daniel et Avesnes les Aubert, Du Nord, France. This would also help explain the Stephen and Henry that were temporarily assigned to Maurice. Thier presence in the London area was always a great question. FAMILY NUMBER:511 - ----------------------------------------------------- Husband:Maurice le CARPENTIER-1407 Br/Ch:Abt 1275/1280 ---------------------------------------------------- CHILD BR/CH ----- ----- 1. Stephen CARPENTER-16313 ** Abt 1300 2. Henry CARPENTER-36558 ** Abt 1300 3. Pierre le CARPENTIER-13035 Abt 1300 4. John OR Jean CARPENTIER le-85 Abt 1303/1305 5. Renaud OR Richard CARPENTIER le-13037 Abt 1307 6. Alix OR Alexandrine CARPENTIER le-13056 Abt 1309 7. Mehant le CARPENTIER-13034 Abt 1313 The impression I have is that Jean le Carpentier (b. abt. 1250) was the wool merchant trading wool for wine. His brother Jehan (or ?) was in the shipping (Jehan was the father of Robert). Jean le Carpentier settled in the London area with his sons (Maurice, John and Henry) while brother Jehan focused on the major ship building areas near Bristol. Peter and Oliver may have been of this line also since they were involved in the wine business. This per your message below. One way the King helped secure loyalty was by the "honour" of Knighthood. It this the new "knight" would swear loyalty to the King. (and give a portion of his increse to the King also!) It is interesting to note that the climate had changed in this time period. England which once had a thriving grape business (in roman and post roman times) was now less suitable for the vine. One of the complaints of the Norman Invaders of 1066 was the lack of suitable local wine and the gloomy days compared to Central France. The attached file has some notes and possible sources (web & other) and research books available on ... Wine in France Wool in England Medieval England I hope some dedicated researcher can make a dent in these and report back to the rest of us. Like you have done in bits and pieces. Piece by piece. A little here and a little there. What are the impressions of other Carpenter researchers? Keep bringing in the data! Sincerely, John R. Carpenter La Mesa, CA USA Bruce E. Carpenter wrote: > > An excellent study of the wine trade has enlightened my in respect to many > of the details on Carpenter history. The book is A History of the Vintners > Company by Anne Crawford, Constable London, 1977. She presents evidence that > argues that merchants like Peter and Oliver Charpenter were major players in > the trade, by right of their royal license. Originally I thought Carpenter > involvement in court finance and politics dated about the time of Henry Vl. > The evidence now points to the 1300s at least, as a starting point. > According to Anne Crawford, merchants who actively supported the crown were > rewarded with knightships. This explains the Staunton St. John knight John > Carpenter who held many manors. In my romantic conception of medieval > England I thought all knights were products of knightly families. A wine > merchant becoming a knight was something I couldnt quite imagine. John > Carpenter, I now seriously suspect, was a Jean le Carpentier > directly related to Eduard le Carpentier, London wine merchant. The > documents explicitly mention that Knight John was the son of a John. Could > John and Eduard have been brothers, both being the sons of the mentioned > John senior? Could this John have been the Jean le Carpenter granted a royal > charter to export wool in 1273? Likewise could this whole line be from the > Peter le Charpenter granted a royal charter to import wine about 1260? In > another letter I will explain the significance of Gascony France and her > merchants in England. Peter le Charpenter was a Gascon, as were most of the > wine merchants of 1300s. > > Sincerely, > Bruce E. Carpenter --------------A6BB155A771003DF1FED6DD4 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1; name="WineWool&Medstuff.txt" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Disposition: inline; filename="WineWool&Medstuff.txt" The following data is gleamed from the web. It would take a dedicated researcher months to research all the following. I hope some one will nible here and there for Carpenter Research. John R. Carpenter jrcrin001@home.com INDEX Wine in France Wool in England Medieval England Wine in FRANCE French Wine making areas Number 1, 5 and 9 in in the northern area of France. 1.Alsace 2.Bordeaux 3.Burgundy 4.Beaujolais 5.Chablis 6.Loire 7.Rhône 8.Languedoc - Roussillon 9.Champagne 10.South West Region - Includes what used to be Gascon. Climate variations throughout France make for a wild assortment of wine styles. France produces many of the world's finewines, notably those of the great Bordeaux and the Burgundy regions. Otherwine regions include Alsace, Champagne, the Loire Valley, Provence, Corsica,Languedoc-Roussillon, Jura, Savoire, Bugey, South-Western France, and theRhone Valley. #9 THE HEART OF THE Champagne region lies 90 miles (145km) northeast of Paris near the Belgian border. It is generally divided into three parts the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs. The Aube, 70 miles to the southeast, is important for wines they produce that go into many of the nonvintage blends of the major champagne houses. Of the regions 75,000 acres of vineyards, most and the greatest vineyards of Champagne, are planted in the département of the Marne. The vineyards are not owned by great landowners but by thousands of growers, often working part-time. All of the vineyards are situated on deep chalk soils. Champagne is situated on the same great basin that also forms the famous white cliffs of Dover in southern England. The chalk, a natural moisture regulator, provides good drainage (chalk can absorb up to 40% of its volume in water) and reflects precious sunlight and its heat. The thin layer of arable topsoil constantly needs a top dressing of fertilizer to do its job. Laws dictate which of the three permitted grapes may be planted where. Trial and error over time has shown the wine growers the grape types best suited for each zone of production. In a region where the annual temperature is just slightly above the minimum temperature required to ripen grapes 50°F(10°C) slight variations of slope and aspect are crucial. Most of the best vineyards are planted on slopes at an altitude high enough to be clear of frost (usually above 300ft or 90m), but low enough (below 690ft or 210m) to be sheltered from extreme weather conditions. Lying on a deep bed of crustaceous chalk beneath a thin layer of topsoil, the slopes of the Montagne de Reims and the Côte des Blancs provide the best vineyards. The greatest concentration of villages designated as Grand and Premier Cru are found in these two areas. The Montagne de Reims is planted mainly with Pinot Noir. Although it contains the northernmost vineyards some even north-facing its peculiar microclimate is well suited for the growing of the Pinot Noir grape. The Montagne is a forested plateau south of Reims. Its wines give the great champagnes their backbone their weight and richness. Along both banks of the River Marne, is the Vallée de la Marne. With mostly south-facing, lower-lying vineyards, this zone produces the fullest, ripest wines, predominately from the Pinot Meunier and to a lesser extent the Pinot Noir grapes. Some Chardonnay is beginning to make inroads into the area. Extending south from Epernay for about 13 miles (21km) is the Côte des Blancs. The ridge is planted on both slopes, but the best vineyards are on the eastern side. The chalk subsoil combined with its relative warmth, produces the fine Chardonnay that give freshness to the blend and encourages the sparkle. The Aube is Champagne's most southerly zone. Located about 65 miles (112km) south of Epernay, its climate has more extremes in temperature and the grapes achieve greater ripeness. Though rarely talked about, its wines are an important component of the nonvintage wines of the big houses. A newcomer to Champagne is Côte de Sézanne. Planted in the 1960's almost exclusively with Chardonnay, its southern location means that its grapes ripen better than most of the other zones. continued ... CHAMPAGNE WAS A REGION long before it was a sparkling wine. The region lies at a crossroads of northern Europe the river valleys leading south to the Mediterranean and north to Paris, the English Channel and Western Germany and thus has been the setting of many dramatic events in the history of the French nation. As a convenient access point, it has been for hundreds of years, the chosen path of many invaders including Attila the Hun. The Hundred Years' War and the Thirty Years' War brought repeated destruction to the region as armies marched back and forth across its landscape. By the 17th century, the city of Reims has seen destruction seven times and Epernay no less than twenty-five times. But crossroads also bring trade. Champagne gained importance in its own right, during the middle ages as a center of European trade. The medieval counts of Champagne were wise enough to encourage commerce and strong enough to protect the traveling merchants. They created the then famous, Fairs of Champagne. Though these fairs were mainly about cloth, they were of obvious benefit for the wines of Champagne as it gave them easy exposure and access to important wine markets. Champagne also benefited when the cathedral at Reims was chosen in 987 AD, as the coronation site for the French king Hugh Capet and establishing Reims as the spiritual capital of medieval France. In fact, thirty-seven kings of France were crowned there between 816 and 1825. The monasteries in Champagne with the economic assistance of the crown, were to make wine production a serious venture until the French Revolution in 1789. Before the mid-1600's there was no Champagne as we think of it. For centuries the wines were still wines and were held in high regard by the nobility of Europe. But the cool climate of the region and its effect on the wine making process was to play an important part in changing all of that. ************************************************************************ Wool in England Unfortunately the following sites is down, overloaded or unreachable ... Medieval England 1066-1399 - Bibliographies 25 THE WOOL TRADE. Baker R.L., (1956), The Establishment of the English Wool Staple in l3l3, Speculum, xxi Bowden P.J., (1956), Wool Supply and the Woollen Industry, Ec.H.R., Bowden P.J., (1962), The Wool Trade in Tudor and Stuart England Bridbury A.R., (1982), Medieval Clothmaking Carus-Wilson E. & Coleman O., (1963), England's Export Trade, l275-l547 Carus-Wilson E.M., (1954), Medieval... http://www.history.bangor.ac.uk/h3h03/h3h03b25.htm As is the following site ... Medieval England 1066-1399 - Bibliographies H3H03: BIBLIOGRAPHY SELECT FROM: Use Cut and Paste in conjunction with the Library Catalogue Link to check the availability of books in the Bangor Library ... http://www.history.bangor.ac.uk/H3H03/h3h03men.htm Medieval England 1066-1399 - Bibliographies 26 GENERAL TRADE. Bridbury A.R., (1955), England and the Salt tra