William Caxton: The Man who brought Printing to England

When you think about the printing press, you might picture Gutenberg, or maybe the rise of books in the Renaissance. But did you know that the story of printing in England has its own legendary figure? Meet William Caxton, the fellow who introduced the printing press to England and helped make books more accessible for everyone.

"William Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward IV and his Queen"

Engraving published in The Graphic in 1877

Who was William Caxton?

William Caxton was born around 1422 in Kent, England, in an area known as the Weald. The Weald was a vast area of forest, scrub and pasture with few settlements and no towns. The main occupations were iron mining and smelting, the production of charcoal and animal husbandry, especially rearing pigs which could forage in the woods.

According to Caxton, he and the locals spoke English which was ‘broad and rude’ and hardly understood by outsiders. Although Caxton never tells us about his parents, there must have been money enough to pay for schooling and to afford to buy young William an apprenticeship with a wealthy London mercer, Robert Large, by 1438. For his son to serve an apprenticeship with Large – Lord Mayor of London in 1439-40 – William’s father must have had impressive connections in the city and, although there is no certainty, Stevyn Causton (a variant spelling of Caxton) seems a probable contender. Stevyn was a contemporary of and fellow mercer with Large. It was common practice for mercers to take on the sons of their fellows as apprentices and if Stevyn was prosperous and successful, he would probably have owned a town house in London and possibly a country retreat in Kent. Was that how William came to be born in rustic Kent and maybe spent his early years there, learning his English from a local woman who served as his wet nurse? This would fit the few facts that we know but is unlikely ever to be confirmed beyond doubt.

In 1441, Robert Large died, leaving his wife, Joanna, to continue the business and train the apprentices, including Caxton. In his will, Large made numerous sizable bequests which included leaving considerable sums to each of his eight apprentices. Caxton, as one of the two youngest trainees received a very generous 20 marks. Around the time of his master’s death, perhaps under instruction from the widowed Joanna, Caxton appears to have been working in Bruges, in Flanders (modern day Belgium) but quite what he was doing there is unclear. It isn’t certain if he’d completed his apprenticeship or not but he would spend perhaps three decades there, in the Low Countries (now the Netherlands), with occasional visits back to London.     

How did Caxton become a printer?

Mercers did not only trade in cloth and textiles – known as ‘mercery’. They bought and sold other high status goods and, like his master, Robert Large before him, there is evidence that Caxton was building up a market for illuminated manuscripts for which Bruges was a famous centre of production. King Henry VI of England and other noblemen bought many Bruges books, the king’s uncle, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in particular, created a considerable library for the time so there was no shortage of wealthy English customers to buy the exquisite books, each one unique.

But these hand-written and illustrated books took a great many man-hours to create a single volume and, at the time, the printing revolution was already underway in Europe, enabling books to be produced faster than ever before. It was most likely during the eighteen months Caxton spent in Cologne, Germany, from July 1471 to the end of 1472, that he became familiar with the process of printing. Cologne was particularly welcoming to English merchants and was rapidly becoming a major centre of printing whereas England was lagging behind with this new technology.

Why is Caxton important?

After seeing the power of the press firsthand and studying the methods of using it, Caxton decided to introduce this revolutionary new contraption back home and, in 1476, he set up his own printing press in London at the Sign of the Red Pale at the Almonry in Westminster Abbey. This was handy for the king, Edward IV, the nobility at court and anyone involved in parliamentary procedure or the law courts.

Caxton’s biggest achievement was making books more affordable and more widely available, opening up literacy and learning to more people in England. One of his first printed books was The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, a classic of English literature but he didn’t only print books –he translated them from Latin, French and Dutch into English, helping to shape the English language as he did so. He printed works in what we now call ‘Middle English’ and the choices he made in spelling and grammar influenced the way English would evolve. As an example, in a preface to one of his printed editions in 1490, Caxton tells the reader a story to demonstrate some of the difficulties he had in trying to create a version of English that was common to all:

In my days [it] happened that certain merchants were in a ship in Thames, for to have sailed over the sea into Zealand [in the Netherlands] and for lack of wind they tarried at Foreland [in Kent] and went to land for to refresh them. And one of them named Sheffelde, a mercer, came into an house and asked for meat and especially he asked for eggs and the good wife answered that she could speak no French. And the merchant was angry for he also could speak no French but would have had eggs and she understood him not. And then at last another said that he would have eyren, then the good wife said that she understood him well.

Lo, asks Caxton, what should a man in these days now write, eggs or eyren ? Certainly it is hard to please every man by cause of diversity and change of language.      

Caxton’s Legacy

Caxton was a true pioneer in the world of publishing. He worked hard to create a system for translating and printing English texts and his work helped standardise the language at a time when there were no set rules for spelling or grammar. That’s a big deal when you think about how our language has evolved into what we use today!

Plus, Caxton didn’t just print literature. He printed books on a wide range of topics – history, religion, philosophy and instructional books. This means that Caxton’s press helped spread knowledge and ideas to a much wider audience than ever before. His first printed book in England was The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, a translation from a French work and Caxton was so proud of it that he wrote a little preface about how he learned the craft of printing. Such personal touches in his books tell us more about everyday life at the time and bring history alive rather than simply being works of literature.

By introducing the printing press to England, William Caxton helped set the stage for the spread of literacy, education and new ideas. And who can say, without Caxton’s work, maybe our world of books and publishing would look very different – and sparse – today, missing so many great stories.

The Colour of Darkness

In my new novel, The Colour of Darkness, the hero, Seb Foxley encounters William Caxton. Midsummer in medieval London is a joyous festivity but, for some, there is nothing to celebrate when Death stalks the city’s sweltering streets. As livelihoods are brought to ruin and trust withers in the heat, artist-cum-sleuth, Sebastian Foxley, finds trouble has come to his own doorstep. Plague rears its hideous head; fire, theft and murder imperil the citizens.

A beautiful young woman enchants the men of London and the mob shrieks that witchcraft is to blame when waxen dolls, spiked with pins, are discovered. With such horrors in his possession and discovering that guilt lies too close at hand, can Seb unravel the mysteries and save those he loves before it’s too late?

Join Seb Foxley in this intriguing and danger-riddled new adventure The Colour of Darkness

Midsummer in medieval London is a joyous festivity but, for some, there is nothing to celebrate when Death stalks the city’s sweltering streets. As livelihoods are brought to ruin and trust withers in the heat, artist-cum-sleuth, Sebastian Foxley, finds trouble has come to his own doorstep. Plague rears its hideous head; fire, theft and murder imperil the citizens.

A beautiful young woman enchants the men of London and the mob shrieks that witchcraft is to blame when waxen dolls, spiked with pins, are discovered. With such horrors in his possession and discovering that guilt lies too close at hand, can Seb unravel the mysteries and save those he loves before it’s too late?

Join Seb Foxley in this intriguing and danger-riddled new adventure, The Colour of Darkness, published by MadeGlobal and out now.  

Toni Mount is a best-selling author of both medieval fiction and non-fiction, with over 30 published titles. Her book Everyday Lives in Medieval London was named ‘Best History Book’ by Goodreads and became an Amazon bestseller. Her internationally popular Sebastian Foxley medieval murder mystery series has earned over 15 million page reads on Kindle Unlimited.

A historian and experienced educator, Toni holds a Master’s degree from the University of Kent, a first-class BA with Honours, and diplomas in European Humanities, English Literature and Creative Writing from the Open University, as well as a PGCE from the University of Greenwich. She is a member of the Richard III Society's Research Committee and contributes regularly to history magazines and blogs.

Toni also teaches history and offers a range of unique online courses at MedievalCourses.com. She lives in Kent with her husband Glenn and has two grown-up sons.

Toni at the launch of The Colour of Darkness as Sandwich Medieval Centre, Kent 

Photo courtesy of Pepsoft

tonimount.com

The Spy Who Changed the Course of British History

 By Nancy Bilyeau

The year: 1745. London? In a panic. The long-exiled Stuart family, driven out in 1688, was threatening to retake the English throne.

Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Sylvester Severino Maria Stuart, commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his predominantly Scottish army of 6,000 men had made it to Derby, just over 120 miles from the capital.

Since landing at Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides on July 23, 1745, with not even a dozen men, the charismatic prince, grandson of the deposed James II, had recruited influential Highlands leaders, easily taken Edinburgh, and defeated an army led by Hanoverian supporters of the present King at the battle of Prestonpans. Then he turned south, crossing into England.

Portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie, painted by Allan Ramsey in 1745. Source: Wikipedia

A horde of "crazed Highlands thieves" was on the move!  There was a run on the Bank of England! George II, who, like his father, had not troubled to hide the fact that he preferred living in Hanover to England, loaded up a ship with personal valuables, in case he needed to flee the vengeful Jacobites and turn the Continent into his permanent home. These were the sorts of wild rumors that swirled around the city.

Yet in Derby, the temporary headquarters of the invading army, the mood was far from confident. Prince Charles' advisers had noted the lack of English Jacobite support. Few were rallying to their cause. Neither was it at all certain that the French would show up to reinforce the Scottish invasion, a cornerstone of the Stuart strategy.

Most worryingly, a well-trained army, most likely led by King George II's son, the Duke of Cumberland, must surely be coming to meet them. Who knew how large it would be?

Exeter House in Derby, where the prince and his men plotted strategy.
Picture taken in 1853. Source: Wikipedia.

As the advisers to the impetuous 25-year-old prince debated their next move, one of Charles's followers spoke up. It was Captain Oliver Williams, a trusted Irish supporter of the cause.

A Hanoverian force of 9,000 men had been sighted in Northampton, Captain Williams informed the men in the room. This army was not much more than 50 miles away. And other units must be hurrying toward Derby.

That sealed it. Overruling Prince Charles' outrage and passionate protests that he wanted to march on London, the Jacobite army's military commanders said they must instead return to Scotland and consolidate their position. Four months after this retreat came the crushing defeat at Culloden, followed by Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight from Scotland.

Artist's rendition of Culloden. Some feel the depiction of the Highlanders relied on stereotypes. Source: wikipedia

Culloden, the last battle ever fought on the British mainland, has been studied and analyzed ever since those hours of fierce fighting, which killed some 2,000 men. Going beyond historians' domain, Culloden has become a cornerstone of popular culture, such as the center of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books and TV series. The tragedy and glamour of the lost cause, a royal family in embittered exile, even penetrated the Game of Thrones fantasy series, with the Targaryen family living far from the Seven Kingdoms, believed to be modeled on the Stuarts who fled to France and then Italy.  "The people drink secret toasts to your health and cry out for their true king," an adviser whispers to the ambitious young Viserys Targaryen, the "king across the water," in the first episode of the series.

When proposing various "What if"s on the subject of Bonnie Prince Charlie, people often come back to the decision at Derby. 

Historians believe that the turning point was then and there, that he lost the strategic and psychological advantage by retreating. Many of the Scots who followed the prince's cause did so not so much as to prop up a Catholic Stuart monarch as to force through more independence for Scotland. As for the Irish, those followers did wish for a Catholic king, as it would presumably ease the religious discrimination they suffered. Failure brought agony. The punishment the Hanoverian government meted out to the defeated enemy and their supporters was ghastly. The Duke of Cumberland earned the nickname "Butcher" with the slaughter of the injured and the prisoners, and ordered attacks on the helpless civilian population.

The defeat meant that Great Britain became more centralized; bolstered by its industrialized feats and banking policies, the British Empire became a force like no other. The fates of not just Scotland and Ireland but also America and India were arguably influenced by the smashing of Bonnie Prince Charlie's rising.

The impact of Culloden on world history makes it all the more shocking that the information the Stuart army relied on in Derby was a complete lie. There were no 9,000 men in Northampton. In fact, the road to London at that time was clear.

It turned out that Captain Oliver Williams, true name Dudley Bradstreet, was a spy, employed by the Duke of Cumberland to report on the Jacobites' movements and to spread disinformation. Which he most certainly did.

The craft of espionage was in a murky stage in the mid-1700s. Not much is written about the policies and practices of spying between the time of Sir Francis Walsingham, the spymaster of Elizabeth I, and the intense spying that took place later in the 18th century, during the American Revolution.

Those recruited for espionage were a far cry from Ian Fleming's James Bond or any of the Cambridge-educated manipulators from a John Le Carre novel. The Hanoverian government assumed that spying was immoral, so it used immoral men.

Dudley Bradstreet fit that requirement to a "T," a fact he cheerfully admitted in the book he wrote about his life, The Life and Uncommon Adventures of Captain Dudley Bradstreet. There's rarely been a more gleeful rogue than Bradstreet: fortune hunter, gambler, trickster, and spy.

He was Irish; that part was genuine. Bradstreet was born in Tipperary in 1711, the youngest son of landowner John Bradstreet, a man who received Cromwellian grants but, by the time Dudley came along, had a fortune that was "continually declining."

Wrote Dudley in his memoir: "My education was neglected, he removed his whole family from the country to Dublin except for me, whom he left in charge with a Foster-Father. Here I must observe, the injury my being thus abandoned did to my conduct and morals, that it may be a caution to parents whom they trust with the early habits and impressions their children may receive."

Bradstreet became addicted to card playing, and as a young man, left for London with a mistress but returned to Ireland to join the army. He later married for love, but she died; he had children by various women. He inherited nothing from his father and was arrested for debt, managing to marry a wealthy widow to stay afloat.

The Duke of Montagu, Bradstreet's friend, source: wikipedia

"A crony" of the Duke of Montagu, a peer notorious for his practical jokes, Bradstreet came to the notice of the British government in 1744 and was encouraged to infiltrate the Jacobites and report back what he learned. It was a shock to many when Bonnie Prince Charlie, defying the enormous odds against him, landed in Scotland in 1745. Unfortunately for the prince, it meant that Dudley Bradstreet was well-positioned to learn much--and make a lot of mischief.

After "Captain Williams" successfully derailed Bonnie Prince Charlie's quest in Derby, Bradstreet melted away before the Jacobites returned to Scotland. He approached government officials and demanded money and a commission — he got neither. Incredibly, Bradstreet persisted in his haranguing, and eventually George II gave him 150 pounds.

His career then took a decided turn into the fantastical. Bradstreet became a "bottle conjurer," someone who told the gullible he could talk to the dead and restore lost youth. "Bradstreet knew how to touch the infirmity of man," wrote one chronicler. Bradstreet himself said without apology he owed it all to the "superstition" of his victims and their "credulity and faith in wondrous things."

Bradstreet made a lot of money from his conjurings, lost nearly all of it, and then returned to Ireland for good, buying a house and writing his memoir.

The book sold well. "In the free narrative of his reckless adventures, some incidents have a breadth rather suspicious and some a warmth rather indelicate," a critic wrote.

Dudley Bradstreet, the fateful spy in the Jacobite camp, died in Ireland at the age of 52.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nancy Bilyeau is a magazine editor and historical novelist. Her Genevieve Planche series--The Blue, The Fugitive Colours, and The Versailles Formula--is set in the espionage and art world of the mid-18th century. To learn more, go to www.nancybilyeau.com.