MEDELOND, John

Medelond’s parentage is obscure, but he was probably related to the William Medelond, son and heir of Geoffrey Medelond and his wife Englisia, who in early 1423 claimed to be tenant of property in the parish of Inwardleigh, and who in the 1430s served as one of the wardens of the fraternity of the Virgin at Hatherleigh.2 JUST1/1536, rot. 16d; Devon RO, Hole of Parke mss, 312M/TY235-6. John himself is first recorded in February 1422, when he made an obligation for the substantial sum of £34 14s. 11½d. to the wealthy Exeter lawyer William Wynard. As he failed to pay on the set day, he was convicted in the Exeter mayor’s court later in the year, 3s. 4d. in damages being added to his liabilities.3 Devon RO, Exeter city recs., mayor’s ct. roll 9 Hen. V-1 Hen. VI, rot. 42. Nor was this to be his only clash with Wynard, for in early 1430 he was among a group of men from Hatherleigh whom the lawyer in association with Sir Thomas Carewe and two associates accused of a trespass.4 KB27/675, rot. 55d.

Although Medelond was generally styled a mere yeoman, he was clearly no hempen homespun: in 1423 he was granted the custody of the royal silver mines at Bere Ferrers, jointly with Robert Heth, another local yeoman, in spite of their ostensibly low standing. The former MP for Barnstaple, Richard Wood I* acted as one of their mainpernors.5 CFR, xv. 40; SC6/826/11. This keepership soon brought its problems, and in early 1424 the prominent local lawyer Henry Denbold* sued Medelond and Heth for a debt of £4.6 CP40/652, rot. 357; 654, rot. 69. Soon relations between the two keepers also became strained, and Medelond may have sought election to the 1426 Parliament with the intention of promoting his quarrel with Heth in the royal courts. Indeed, while Parliament was in session, he appeared in the court of common pleas to demand payment of a debt of £6 from his fellow.7 CP40/660, rot. 172. Medelond appears to have been personally present at the Devon shire elections that year, for although he did not attest the indenture recording both the county and borough results, he stood surety for the attendance of Robert Cary* of Cockington, one of the shire knights elected.8 C219/13/4. He possessed prior connexions with Cary, having served him as an attorney to convey seisin in 1420. Their relationship had apparently turned sour by early 1431 when Cary brought an action of account against Medelond before the justices of common pleas.9 Herald and Genealogist ed. Nichols, vi. 15; CP40/680, rot. 169; 682, rot. 235d.

The remainder of Medelond’s documented career was a troubled one. In the spring of 1432 he quarreled violently with one John Mayer at Hatherleigh, forcing the constable of the hundred of Black Torrington to intervene. Resultant litigation dragged on for some time.10 CP40/687, rot. 122. Furthermore, having served as a bailiff at Chagford in the early 1430s, he was subsequently pursued by one Robert Churbury in the royal courts for a debt of 100s. In January 1435 he was arrested and committed to the gaol of Exeter castle, where within a short time he was said to have fallen seriously ill.11 CP40/696, rot. 297. It is indeed possible that he never recovered from his ailments, for he is not heard of for certain thereafter. Some seven years later, a namesake, John Medelond of Stokenham (to the immediate south of Totnes) was excommunicated by Bishop Lacy of Exeter on account of his contumacy, and committed to the Marshalsea prison on the orders of the chancellor, Bishop John Stafford of Bath and Wells, on charges of having forged a royal writ and its seal. The accused was released on bail, but failed to return to court, allegedly because he had in the interim been placed in Exeter castle gaol under custody ‘forti et dura’ to find sureties of the peace.12 KB27/725, rex rot. 38d. The man from Stokenham evidently regained his freedom and was still alive in early 1451.13 CP40/760, rot. 55d.