By the third decade of the fifteenth century, the Talbot family, largely through judicious marriages, had accumulated valuable and extensive English estates, both in Yorkshire in the north, and in Shropshire, Gloucestershire, and Herefordshire on the Welsh Marches. The manor of Blakemere, the ancient seat of the Le Strange family, is near the small country town of Whitchurch in north Shropshire, and was added to the Talbot holdings by the marriage of Richard, fourth Lord Talbot, to the heiress Ankaretta Le Strange.
Functions of the OflicialsThe surviving documents relating to Blakemere are accounts of various officials there, namely, the rent collectors of the vills, the receiver, the bailiff of the manor and the steward of the household; as well, there are court rolls of the manor and hundred courts held at Whitchurch. Although the account documents are not numerous nor in an unbroken sequence, they are nevertheless informative about conditions and administrative procedures in the household for the period c. 1390-1420.' Even the activities of an official such as the seneschal, or of a body such as the lord's council, whose own records have not survived, can on occasions be deduced from these documents.Briefly and simply, the duties of the lord's officials who dominated life at Blakemere were these : the seneschal (senescahs) was responsible for holding the courts; he also enforced law and order at the twice-yearly fairs. He was in many ways the confidential agent of the lord and a special room was kept for him when he visited Blakemere. He escorted quantities of cash to destinations ordered by the lord, and his expenses were paid for journeys made on undisclosed business for the lord or lady. He was also a member of the lord's council. This body, known as the consilium &mini, was made up of seneschals from the different regions of the family estates, auditors, lawyers, advisers and administrators, and
