Philip Mede (c. 1415-1475) (alias Meade, Meede, etc.) of Mede's Place in the parish of Wraxall in Somerset and of the parish of Saint Mary Redcliffe in Bristol, was a wealthy merchant at Bristol, then in Gloucestershire, and was twice elected a Member of Parliament for Bristol in 1459 and 1460, and was thrice Mayor of Bristol, in 1458-9, 1461-2 and 1468-9. [2]
He was the son of Thomas atte Mede, and brother of Sir Thomas Mede, Kt Bailiff of Bristol in 1438, and Sheriff of Bristol in 1452. The Mede family, anciently atte Mede, was possessed, before 1461, of an ancient capital messuage with 100 acres of land at Overton, in the parish of Arlingham, still known as 'Medes Land' in 1900. [1]
Philip was Bailiff of Bristol in 1444, Mayor of Bristol in 1458, succeeding the great William Canynges, [1] and again in 1461 and 1468, and was a Member of Parliament for Bristol in 1460. He was lord of the manor of Barrow, in Tickenham. [1] In 1461 he obtained valuable charters for the City of Bristol from King Edward lV. [1] In 1470 he raised in a single night a contingent of fighting men to support William de Berkeley, 2nd Baron Berkeley (1426-1492), later created 1st Marquess of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle (north of Bristol), in his private Battle of Nibley Green.
He married Isabel, the daughter of Philip Ricard, of Bristol, merchant. She is identified in an entry of the plea rolls of the Court of Common Pleas in Easter term, 1442: Bristol. Philip Mede; Isabel his wife, formerly Isabel Ricard, daughter of Philip Ricard, burgess and merchant of Bristol. [3] Their children included:
Philip Mede died in 1475, having dated his will on 11 January 1471. He ordered his body to be buried at the altar of St. Stephen, in the church of St Mary Redcliffe, to which he was a benefactor. [1] [11] His will included the following Latin text: [12]
By his will Philip Mede founded and endowed a chantry, known as "Mede's Chantry". Its purpose was for a priest to say masses for the souls of Thomas Mede, Philip Mede and Isabel his wife, John Sharpe and Elizabeth his wife, and Richard Mede and Elizabeth and Anne his wives, as specified in his will. [13] Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the subsequent suppression of chantries, the ornaments owned by the chantry were valued at 52 shillings and 8 pence and were in 1547-8 confiscated to the king's use. [1] The income of the chantry at the Dissolution was £17 1 shilling, a large sum. [14] It had been endowed with various lands, including the land now covered by 8-11 Park Row, Bristol, then comprising two gardens, a lodge and a close. [15]
From his will it appears that the surviving fine double monument, [16] known as the "Mede Chantry (chapel)", at the east end of the North aisle of the choir of St. Mary Redcliffe Church, was erected on his order. [1] The monument comprises a beautiful heavily canopied double altar-tomb standing against the north wall of which the westernmost contains the recumbent effigies of a man and his wife, their heads resting upon cushions supported by angels. The man is bare-headed, his hair combed back, and is clad in a sleeveless mantle, from which emerge the arms and cuff of an undergown, a scarf hangs from his left shoulders, and a leathern gypciere from his girdle, his feet resting upon a couchant dog. His wife wears a broad fillet across her forehead, her head-dress falling back, a tight-fitting gown with cuffs at the wrists, and a short girdle, her pointed shoes enveloped in the folds of her dress, resting upon two little dogs. [1] On the wall behind the effigies is an heraldic escutcheon displaying the arms of Mede: Gules, a chevron ermine between three trefoils slipped argent, and upon a fillet of brass along its front is an incomplete Latin inscription: ... predicti Thoma(e) Mede, ac ter maioris istius villae Bristolliae, qui ob(ii)t 20 die mensis Decembris Anno D(omi)ni 1475 quoram animabus propicietur Deus, Amen [1] ("... of the foresaid Thomas Mede and thrice Mayor of this town of Bristol, who died on the 20th day of the month of December in the year of our Lord 1475, on the souls of whom may God look upon favourably, Amen"). It is reasonable to suppose [1] that the missing word before "predicti" may have been filius ("son") or frater ("brother"). The other compartment remains empty, but has the monumental brass of his son Richard Mede affixed to the rear wall (see above). Above both compartments is a handsome continuous canopy of rich stone carving, supported by demi-angels bearing open books, and wearing upright caps with hexagonal flowers upon their heads. Above them rise crocketed and finialled niches, surmounted by cornice and cresting. [1]
Mede's Place, the seat of the Mede family in the parish of Wraxall in Somerset, is believed to have been situated on the high ground known as "the bowling green" and would have had a magnificent situation. No trace of it remains today. [1] In 1467 (two years after his daughter's marriage) "Philip Mede of Bristol, merchant" together with his wife Isabel and son Richard, jointly leased Mede's Place to his daughter Isabel and her husband Maurice Berkeley ("Maurice Bercley, Esquire"), for a term of 20 years. The original deed is held in the Berkeley Castle Muniments, and is summarised as: [17] "Philip, Isabel and Richard have leased to Maurice and Isabel the holding in Feylond in the parish of Wroxsale called Medeisplace; for a term of 20 years, rent 45s. 8d. a year. Witnesses: Richard Arthur, Esquire, Ralph Percevale, Thomas Feylond". Soon after the death of Lady Berkeley (née Isabel Mede) in 1516, Mede's Place appears to have been acquired by the Morgan family, lords of the manor of Easton in Gordano, as Thomas Morgan "of Feilond", by his will dated 1567, bequeaths to Edmund Morgan, his eldest son, "the house of Feilonde called Medes Court".
William II Canynges (c. 1399–1474) was an English merchant and shipper from Bristol, one of the wealthiest private citizens of his day and an occasional royal financier. He served as Mayor of Bristol five times and as MP for Bristol thrice. He was a generous patron of the arts in Bristol, particularly concerning the church of St Mary Redcliffe in Bristol, "The crown of Bristol architecture". Following the death of his wife Joan in 1467, he renounced civic and commercial life and was ordained a priest in 1468, in which capacity he remained until his death six years later. His tomb effigy in St Mary's later inspired the boy poet Thomas Chatterton to write the romantic poem "The Storie of William Canynge".
The title Baron Berkeley originated as a feudal title and was subsequently created twice in the Peerage of England by writ. It was first granted by writ to Thomas de Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley (1245–1321), 6th feudal Baron Berkeley, in 1295, but the title of that creation became extinct at the death of his great-great-grandson, the fifth Baron by writ, when no male heirs to the barony by writ remained, although the feudal barony continued. The next creation by writ was in 1421, for the last baron's nephew and heir James Berkeley. His son and successor William was created Viscount Berkeley in 1481, Earl of Nottingham in 1483, and Marquess of Berkeley in 1488. He had no surviving male issue, so the Marquessate and his other non-inherited titles became extinct on his death in 1491, whilst the barony passed de jure to his younger brother Maurice. However William had disinherited Maurice because he considered him to have brought shame on the noble House of Berkeley by marrying beneath his status to Isabel, daughter of Philip Mead of Wraxhall, an Alderman and Mayor of Bristol. Instead he bequeathed the castle, lands and lordships comprising the Barony of Berkeley to King Henry VII and his heirs male, failing which to descend to William's own rightful heirs. Thus on the death of King Edward VI in 1553, Henry VII's unmarried grandson, the Berkeley inheritance returned to the family. Therefore, Maurice and his descendants from 1492 to 1553 were de jure barons only, until the return of the title to the senior heir Henry, becoming de facto 7th Baron in 1553. Upon his death he was succeeded by his relative George Harding.
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