Within three generations (1426 to 1485), and through the dark years of the Wars of the Roses, the Pastons established themselves as a family of consequence. Ambitious and highly mobile – womenfolk as well as men – they kept in touch through extensive correspondence. Their letters break upon us across the centuries with the urgency of their preoccupations: defending property, fighting court cases, making the right alliances, and on the domestic side, managing the estates and conducting their courtships. Presented here with Richard Barber’s invaluable linking narrative, they bring the middle ages triumphantly to life.

Contents:
   Introduction
   The Pastons
   Epilogue
 

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Excerpts

April, 1471. A letter from Sir John Paston to his mother, reassuring her that both he and his brother John survived the battle of Barnet, though the Lancastrian army in which they fought had been defeated by Edward IV:
Mother, I commend myself to you and let you know, blessed be God, my brother John is alive and well, and in no danger of dying. Neverthless he is badly hurt by an arrow in his right arm below the elbow, and I have sent a surgeon to him, who has dressed the wound; and he tells me that he hopes he will be healed within a very short time. John Mylsent is dead. God have mercy on his soul; William Mylsent is alive and all this other servants seem to have escaped.
As for me, I am in good heart, blessed be God, and in no danger of my life if it suits me, for I am at liberty if need be.
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The letters of the Pastons include not just accounts of their estates, business and politics; they also include love letters or, more accurately, letters pursuing marriages or negotiating their terms. The following is from Dame Elixzabeth Brews, mother of Margery, the subject of the attentions of John (Paston) III:
Cousin, I commend myself to you, thanking you for the great welcome that you gave me and all my people last time I was at Norwich. And you promised that you would never break the business to Margery until you and I were agreed. But you have made her such an advocate for you that I get no rest by day or night because she is always calling on me and urging me to bring the business into effect.
And, cousin, Friday is St Valentine’s day, when every bird chooses itself a mate; if you would like to come on Thursday night and arrange to stay till Monday, I trust to God you will speak to my husband, and I shall pray that we shall bring the matter to a conclusion. For, cousin, it is a poor oak that is cut down at the first stroke; for you will be reasonable, I trust to God, who have you ever in his merciful keeping.
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