November 2020 Newsletter ~ Magna Carta Project
Welcome New Members
Profile of the Month: Nicholas Brome
Project Page of the Month: Base Camp
Did you know? ...
First and foremost - THANK YOU Magna Carta Project members, both badged and affiliate, for all you do. If you are not currently a project member and would like to join us, simply post an "answer" to our G2G join post. Let us know of your interest. We would love to have you join us.
Welcome New Members
Jody Elizabeth Trumbull joined as a badged member on 21 October, and we had lots of Affiliate members who joined in October: Martha (Strong) Slater, Marilyn Kenyon, Chase Clift, Davine (Moore) Roberts, Sarah Grimaldi, Chris Ferraiolo, Elizabeth Cromer, and Melissa R. Rauh.
Welcome y'all!
Profile of the Month: Nicholas Brome
The second half of the 15th century was a violent time. The Wars of the Roses saw to that. Nicholas Brome could be a violent man, but the killings for which he was known were not in war.
Nicholas's father John was mortally wounded in London in 1469 by John Herthill, a steward of the Earl of Warwick, after a brawl flared up over a land dispute. John's deathbed will records that he forgave Nicholas's brother Thomas for grinning when John was run through by Herthill's sword.
A few years later Nicholas had the opportunity to secure vengeance on John Herthill: he came across him near Longbridge, Warwickshire and slew him. Herthill's widow Elizabeth was persuaded to agree to an arbitration settlement under which Nicholas paid for a priest to say masses for both John Herthill and his own father at Warwick and at Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire, while Elizabeth paid for the bread and wine for the services at Warwick. In the background of all this may have been high politics: the Bromes were Lancastrians, with powerful Lancastrian connections.
There was more violence to come. Nicholas arrived home one day to find the priest of Baddesley Clinton chucking Elizabeth Arundel, the first of his three wives, under the chin. In rage, he killed the priest. He was pardoned for this by king and Pope, but his anger cost him dear. He undertook to pay for a tower and steeple at the church of Baddesley Clinton and a steeple at the church of Packwood, also in Warwickshire.
Nicholas seems to have become respectable, no doubt helped after the accession of Henry VII by his family's Lancastrian sympathies. He was made Escheator of Warwickshire by 1511 and served as Sheriff of the county in 1504. But his conscience must have plagued him. He requested to be buried standing upright at the entrance to Baddesley Clinton church so that anyone going in would tread on his head.
Project Page of the Month: Base Camp
Have you noticed the changes to our Base Camp page? If not, check it out!
In June, the project was restructured into a team format which emphasizes profile development; however, the Magna Carta Project’s main goal remains the same: to complete ONE trail for each colonial American Gateway Ancestor to a Magna Carta Surety Baron. On Base Camp, the project tracks trails for each of the 240 Gateways identified in Richardson’s Magna Carta Ancestry. An average trail from Gateway to surety baron includes 15-20 project-managed profiles (we track A LOT of profiles!).
Base Camp includes one entry for each of the 240 Gateways. The page is divided into three sections: (1) completed trails (green-shaded trails are "badged", orange-shaded trails need more work), (2) trails currently underway and (3) trails needing development. Over the past year, we have examined every profile on every trail listed in Base Camp (well over 1,000 profiles). We also looked at many additional proposed trails that aren’t noted on Base Camp. The development status for each trail was updated on Base Camp and we also made the following improvements:
- Each Base Camp entry now has a link to a full list of trails for each Gateway: "See trail HERE".
- On each Gateway’s profile, we added a full listing of profiles on each trail (in some circumstances, the full trail will be outlined on the profile of the Gateway’s parent). This list is packed full of info, specifically (1) the development status of the TRAIL (badged/unbadged), and (2) the development status of each PROFILE on that trail (badged/trail pending) and whether each profile is developed (100% 5-star or reviewed 2020) or needs work (needs development/needs re-review). Here’s an example of a recently badged trail on a Gateway profile: Somerset; here’s a trail that needs work: Clarkson.
- Every profile on every trail now has a Magna Carta project box (badged or trail pending) and a Magna Carta project section (MCPS).
- The MCPS's on hundreds of profiles were updated to include: trail "ends" (Gateway and surety baron); trail status (badged or needs development); profile status (approved or maintenance category attached); a link to the full trail on the Gateway’s profile; and links to Base Camp and our glossary. Here’s an example of a typical Magna Carta Project section: Somerset.
- Maintenance categories now reflect only the work needed on profiles (rather than sometimes reflecting work needed on a trail).
Many Gateways have multiple trails to multiple sureties, but we ask that you keep in mind the project’s goal: ONE trail from Gateway to surety baron. If you wish to track additional trails, please feel free to create a free space page and link it to the Gateway’s profile. Remember that many of our trails were developed before the Magna Carta's 800th anniversary (in 2015) and many of those profiles are outdated and need a bit of help. No profile is ever 100% complete and we always welcome new sources and data.
Let us know what you think of these new improvements!
Did you know? ... Magna Carta Project was invited to be on WikiTree's 17 October 2020 Live Cast? We now have a space page with a great overview of the project based on information we prepared to share during the Live Cast.
