Archives Nationales Séries JJ 169 folio 228v number 333 (Himanis p. 474)
Charles etc. We make known to all present and in the future we have received the humble supplication of the relatives and close family of Jehan Hanon, poor man, varlet, shoemaker, living in Paris, containing that sixteen or seventeen years ago or thereabouts he took by marriage Huguecte his wife with whom he has been well and honestly by the good counsel of good life that he did up until eight years or thereabouts when the said Huguecte led him a very bad life, leaving him multiple times for one or two months without knowing where she was nor who held her company as she should and was held to do but was held with some ribalds for whose holding in love she did many small purchases and obliged herself towards many people so for the said cause and in default of payment she was for a very long time prisoner for many times without having any good will nor obedience to her said husband but had told him many times in demonstrating her bad will that she would go to Bordeaux and that she wished that her children that she had had with him would become toads and that one day she would make him die a bad death. And at the same time the said Hanon her husband who always had good will to treat her and put her to a good life for his honor and for hers to bring her to retreat many times with him and to pardon as much as he could her misdeeds and sins and lend her gold and silver so that she had no more reason to return to her sins nor to leave his company, the which gold and silver, in persevering and demonstrating her bad will, she gave and loaned to her ribalds who several times at her request set out to injure him in his body. And in fact three of these said ribalds who are said to be of the court of the Official of Paris beat, wounded, and lost his legs everything else in the street of the Prêcheur in Les Halles of Paris and injured very badly and so much that several times he was in the way of being beaten to death. And it was so that after these things were done the Monday 13th day of July last past around seven hours after dinner [midday] that the said Hanon was at the home of his Master in Paris where he worked at his said craft of shoemaking, he was leaving to go to see his said wife who was at the hôtel de la Roche in Paris where she stayed because she never came towards him, the which having come to the said hôtel had called at one of the doors of the said hôtel and such that one of the daughters of the said marriage came to open the door and then he asked her to call her to talk to him and this one called by the said girl who said to her that her father her husband demanded her and wanted to talk to her, to the which words her said mother came and she having come the said Hanon her husband said to her “are you there” “yeah” she said “how are you [formal] doing” to the which he responded “you [formal] hardly know well you never come to see me if I don’t come to see you” to which his said wife responded very bawdily “joy I make to come to you that you weren’t at your master’s place” and the said Hanon said to her “is that all that you know.” And for this he, as if completely drunk, angry, and moved by her responses and by the things before said and by the bad life that she had led him and led for all the time above said and also that she had deserted his honor and livelihood by intention and troubled blood he, tempted by the enemy, hit the said Huguecte his wife with a small knife that he had two blows, one on the side and the other in the belly, by the which blows soon enough afterwards she went from life to death For reason of which deed this Hanon was gone for some time and afterwards returned and was taken and made prisoner in the Castle of La Motte at Luzarches where he has been for three months and still is in great poverty and misery and in the way to miserably finish his days If on this is not to him on this [sic] imparted our grace and mercy as the said supplicants say, Requesting humbly that as in all other cases the said Jehan Hanon has always been of good life, renown, and honest conversation without ever before having been taken, accused, nor convicted of any villainous act, blame, or reproach, we with this our grace and mercy wishing benignly to succor him, For which we considering the things above said and the long detention in prison that he has already suffered, wishing to this party mercy to be preferred to the rigor of justice, to the said Jehan Hanon in the case above said have acquitted, remitted, and pardoned, and by these present with special grace, full power, and Royal authority, we acquit, remit, and pardon the deed and case above said with all penalty, offence, and fine, corporal, criminal, and civil in which for occasion of the things above said he could have incurred against us and justice and we restore him to his good fame and renown in the country and to his goods not confiscated, satisfaction done to the adverse party civilly only if it is not yet done. And we impose on this perpetual silence on our procurer as long as the said Jehan Hanon will be held to make a pilgrimage to Notre Dame du Puy and have a mass celebrated in honor of Notre Dame and for the soul of the said deceased and others who have died during the feast of Easter next coming. ~~ So given in commandment by these same present to the Bailli of Senlis and to all our other Justices present and to come or to their and to each of them as appertains to them that by our present grace, remission, and pardon, have suffered and let this Jehan Hanon enjoy and use fully and peacefully without any more for this in future burden, molest, or impede him in any manner or constraint. And his body for this detained prisoner along with all his goods given or had given to him immediately and without delay to full deliverance without contradiction And so that this will be a firm and stable thing forever we have had placed our seal on these present letters. Except in other things our law and the other in everything. Given at Paris in the month of October the year of grace 1416 and the 37th of our reign.
By the King Messieurs Jacques de Montmor Master Guillaume Chantepoime and others present
~ P. Rautron ~
Charles etc Savoir faisons a tous presens et avenir nous avon receu lumble supplicacion des parens et amis charnelz de jehan hanon povre homme varlet cordonannier demourant aparis contenant que comme des xvj ou xvij ans a ou environ il eust prins par mariage huguecte sa femme avecques laquels il ait este bien et honsetement par le bon ennortement de bonne vie quil lui faisoit jusques ace que viij ans ou environ que ladite huguecte luj a mene tresmauvaise vie la laissie plusieurs fois par un mois ou deux sans savoir ou elle estoit ne soy tenu en sa compaignie comme elle devoit et estoit tenue de faire mais estoit ce se tenoit avecques ses ribaux pour lesquelz tenu en amour elle faisoit plusieurs menues marchandises et sobligoit envers plusieurs personnes dont aladite cause et en default de paiement elle a este par moult long temps prisonniere a plusieurs fois sans avoir en aucune bonne voulente ne obeissance a son dit marj mais lui ait dit par plusieurs fois en demonstrant sa mauvaise voulente quelle sen yroit au bourdeau et quelle vouldroit que les enfans quelle avoit euz de luj feussent devenue crapox et quelle le feroit une fois mourir de mauvaise mort Et toutesuoyes ledit hanon son marj qui tousiours avoit bonne voulente de la traire et mectre abonne vie mener pour son honneur et pour la sienne la retraite par plusieurs fois avecques lui et paronne en ce quil povoit son meffait et pechie et lui baillie or et argent afin quelle neust plus cause de retourner a pechie ne de laissier sa compaignie lequel or et argent en perseverant et demonstrant sa mauvaise voulente elle donnoit et bailloit a ses ribaux qui par plusieurs fois ala requeste delle se sont mis en voye de le grever de son corps Et de fait trois de sesdis ribaux que ondit estre de la court de lofficial de paris lont batir navrer et perde les jambes tout oultre en la rue au prescheur es halles de paris et iniuroit tresgrandement et telement que par aucuneffois ila este en voys destre frape amort Et il soit ainsi que apres ces choses faictes le lundj xiije jour de juillet derreniere passe environ vij heures apres disner que ledit hanon estoit chez son maistre a paris ou il ouvroit de son dit mestier de cordonannier se feust parti pour aler veoir sadite femme qui estoit a lostel de la roche a paris ou elle demouroit pour ce quelle ne venoit point devers luj lequel venu oudit hostel eust huchie lun des aluys dicelluj hostel et telement quil vint ouvrir luys une leur fille dudit mariage ala quele il demanda ou estoit sa mere et elle luj respondi quelle estoit alostel et adont il luj commanda a lappeller pour parler aluj et icelle appellee par ladite fillete luj dist que son pere son marj la demandoit et vouloit parler a elle ala quele parole sadite mere vint et elle venue ledit hanon son marj lui dist estes vous la oyl dit elle comment vous va lequel luj respondj vous ne le savez guaires bien vous ne me vendriez point veoir se je ne vous venoye veoir aquoy ladite femme respondj moult baudement que Joy je faire de votre venue que nestes vous chez votre maistre et ledit hanon luj dist est ce tout ce que vous savez Et pour ce luj comme tout yvre courroucie et esmeu de ses responses et des choses devant dictes et de la mauvaise vie quelle luj avoit menee et menoit par tout le temps dessus dit et aussi quelle lavoit deserte donneur et de chevance de courage et sang esperdu luj tempte de lennemj frapa ladite huguecte sa femme dun petit coustel quil avoit deux coups lun par le couste et lautre par la poutrine desquelz coups assez tost apres elle ala de vie atrespassement Pour occasion duquel fait icelluj hanon a este absent par certain temps et depuis est Retourne et a este prins et mis prisonnier ou chastel de la motte a luzarches ou Il a este par trois mois et encores est a grant povrete et misere et en voye de finer miserablement ses jours Se sur ce ne lui est sur ce impartie notre grace et misericorde sicomme dient lesdis supplians Requerant humblement que comme en tous autres cas ledit Jehan hanon ait este tousiours de bonne vie Renommee et honneste conversacion sans oncques mais avoir este Reprins actaint ne convaincu daucun villain cas blasme ou Reprouche nous diceulx noz grace et misericorde lui vueillons benignement secourir Pourquoy nous les choses dessus dites considerees et la longue detencion de prison quil a Ja soufferte voulans en ceste partie misericorde estre preferee a Rigueur de justice audit Jehan hanon ou cas dessusdit avons quicte Remis et pardonne et par ces presentes de grace especial plain puissance et auctorite Royal quictons Remectons et pardonnons le fait et cas dessus dis avecques toute paine offense et amende corporele criminele et civile en quoy pour occasion des choses dessus dites il puet estre encouru envers nous es justice et le Restituons a sa bonne fame et Renommee au pais et a ses biens non confisquez Satisfacion faicte a partie civilement seulement se faicte nest Et imposons quant a ce scilence perpetuel a notre procureur Parmj ce toutesuoye que ledit Jehan hanon sera tenu de faire un pelerinage a notre dame du puy et y faire celebrer une messe a lonneur de notre dame et pour lame de ladite defuncte et des autres trespassez dedens la feste de pasques prochain venant ~~ Si donnons en mandement par ces mesmes presentes au baillj de Senlis et a tous nous autres Justices presens et avenir ou a leurs et achacun deulx sicomme aluj appartendra que de notre presente grace Remission et pardon facent saeffrent et laissent Icelluj Jehan hanon Joir et user plainement et paisiblement Sans plus pour ce doresevanant le travaillier molester ou empescher en aucune maniere au contraint Et son corps pour ce detenu prisonnier ensemble tous ses biens luj mettent ou facent mettre tantost et sans delay a plaine deliverance sans contredit Et afin que ce soit ferme chose et estable atousiours nous avons fait mettre notre scel a ces presentes lettres Sauf en autre choses notre droit et lautruj en toutes Donne a paris ou mois doctobre lan de grace mil cccc et seize Et de notre Regne le xxxvije
Par le Roy messieurs Jacques de montmor maistre guillaume chantepoime et autres presens
~ P. Rautron ~
Summary
Jehan Hanon was a poor shoemaker from Paris who applied for a pardon for his crime against his wife. Between 16 and 17 years before this plea, he married Huguecte. Hanon was a faithful and good husband to her until eight years into the marriage when Huguecte began to cause problems in the marriage. She would leave Hanon for months at a time without telling him where she went. According to Hanon, she even wished that their children could be turned into toads. This was also when she began threatening his life.
As Hanon was being an honorable husband, Huguecte continued to cause problems. She hired some of the men she had been spending time with to seek her husband out and beat him. He was beaten to the verge of death in the street of Prêcheur in Les Halles of Paris.
After this incident, Hanon was at his Master’s home in Paris where he worked as a shoemaker. He went to see Huguecte in the hôtel de la Roche, where she was staying instead of with her husband. Unlike the English word for hotel, the French hôtel is like a large fancy house that multiple people live in at once. One of their daughters answered the door when Hanon arrived and went to fetch Huguecte. When she confronted Hanon at the door, she was upset with him for spending time at his Master’s place.
Hanon was drunk, and in a fit of rage, he remembered all the misdeeds that he had suffered at the hands of his wife. He stabbed her twice, and she died.
Hanon was taken to prison in the Castle of La Motte at Luzarches and had been there for three months at the time of the letter. Finally, the letter requests that he be pardoned for his crime based on his previous honorable life. His actions toward his wife were framed as an outlier, as he had put up with her bad behavior for at least eight years. Hanon requested pardon from the King and he was granted pardon in October of 1416.
Essays
Medieval Motherhood
In the Middle Ages, being a wife was difficult; so was being a mother. In the Good Wife’s Guide, there is a section dedicated to motherhood. All wives were expected to become mothers. All aspects of child rearing were left up to the mother. The knowledge and fears about childbearing and raising children all stemmed from women, as the husbands were expected to continue working. However, some mothers had to return to work for the family if they were of middle or lower class. Conflict arose between wives and husbands in this scenario, especially if the husband accused the wife of neglecting her duties as a mother. This is evident when Huguecte is accosted by her husband for abandoning her children and wishing they were toads. Other than being a faithful wife, motherhood was the most important job for Medieval women.
Further Reading
Greco, Gina L., and Christine M. Rose, eds. 2009. The Good Wife’s Guide =: Le Ménagier de Paris: A Medieval Household Book. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Atkinson, Clarissa W. The Oldest Vocation: Christian Motherhood in the Medieval West. Cornell University Press, 1991. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctvn1t9zn.
Social Expectations in Medieval Marriage
Women in the Middle Ages were expected to be fully devoted to their husbands, and fully devoted to God. A publication called the Good Wife’s Guide began as a collection of advice, personality traits, and duties of a good Parisian wife. The three main concerns were morality, domestic life, and hosting. The wife’s goal was meant to be a “moral, obedient, and attentive wife.” When Huguecte left her husband, one of the reasons he gives for being so angry at her is that she went to stay with other men in the Hôtel. In addition, women who were married were expected to have children and raise them. These expectations were ingrained in all social aspects of the Middle Ages. There was an emphasis on monogamy and chastity in order for wives to please their husbands and God. In fact, it was believed that the commandment for women to be obedient to their husbands came directly from God. Husbands had the upper hand in the relationship, and often had legal privileges if he did not approve of his wife’s behavior.
Further Reading
Greco, Gina L., and Christine M. Rose, eds. 2009. The Good Wife’s Guide =: Le Ménagier de Paris: A Medieval Household Book. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Butler, Sara. 2006. “Runaway Wives: Husband Desertion in Medieval England.” Journal of Social History 40 (2): 337–59.
Dean, Trevor. 2004. “Gender and Insult in an Italian City: Bologna in the Later Middle Ages.” Social History 29 (2): 217–31.
Otis-Cour, Leah. 2009. “‘De Jure Novo’: Dealing with Adultery in the Fifteenth-Century Toulousain.” Speculum 84 (2): 347–92. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0038713400018078.
Male and Female Honor
Many pardon letters were written to heighten the honorable qualities of the petitioner in order to make him or her appear worthy of a pardon. Men were often insulted in the public sphere, and judgements were made based on their honesty and worth. A lot of violence between men was based on reactions to being dishonored by someone publicly. When a man felt his masculinity affronted, his deepest honor, violence was likely. Women had strict social rules that included avoiding eye contact with people in public. They were taught to avoid perception because it could be misconstrued as promiscuity. Virginity, beauty, wealth, and faith to her husband were the most important qualities of honor in a woman. “Loose” women were frowned upon. Violence involving women were often perpetrated by men, with women as accomplices or instigators.
Further Reading
Dean, Trevor. 2001. “Women and Crime.” In Crime in Medieval Europe 1200-1550. Pearson Education.
Greco, Gina L., and Christine M. Rose, eds. 2009. The Good Wife’s Guide =: Le Ménagier de Paris: A Medieval Household Book. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Money and Class
Husbands were expected to be the bread winners of their households. They were the entire financial security for their wives in the Middle Ages. This ideal continued into the social expectations of marriage. Men were supposed to marry women who were of the same social class in order to avoid unnecessary disagreements. A man’s honor was tied directly to his ability to provide for his family. Sometimes, wives would abandon their husbands if they felt they were not being taken care of. This was a blow to both of their honors. The 100 years’ war was also occurring at this time. This war heavily affected peasants in Paris. These wars destroyed crops, homes, and livelihoods of many low-class workers in the area. For this reason, many worked less than they may have needed in order to make a living.
Further Reading
Butler, Sara. 2006. “Runaway Wives: Husband Desertion in Medieval England.” Journal of Social History 40 (2): 337–59.
Dean, Trevor. 2001. “Women and Crime.” In Crime in Medieval Europe 1200-1550. Pearson Education.
History Today. 1983. “French Peasants in the Hundred Years War,” June 1983.
Witchcraft
In Jehan’s testimony, he recalls an incident where his wife wished that her children would turn into toads. This allegation of witchcraft and cursing would not have been taken lightly in the Middle Ages. Witchcraft was often attributed to women during this time. The involvement of witchcraft and child rearing was a big concern. People in this time were expected to be devoted to God. Any involvement with witchcraft was associated with the devil and often saw harsh interrogation and punishment. This was also a time when cursing could be seen as having actual physical harm. If Huguecte wished that her children turned into some sort of animal, her husband would be frightened. This is especially the case because she would have been responsible for caretaking and parenting of the children.
Further Reading Rider, Catherine. 2012. “Introduction.” In Magic and Religion in Medieval England. Reaktion Books.