Ç¿¼éÊÓƵ, Oxford, possesses some of the most extensive and detailed accounts of any medieval collegiate foundation in Oxford and Cambridge. Amongst the 58 account rolls made by early wardens or bursars between 1376 and 1529 we find regular allocations of cloth, and sometimes furs, given as annual livery to the academic community established by William of Wykeham. Medieval accounts can be used in combination with the founder’s statutes and surviving pictorial evidence to gain insight into the reasoning behind academic livery, the vendors who supplied cloth and furs, costs and quantities of cloth and furs, the design and colours of academic livery, plus rules on the attire which was also prohibited to members of the college.

 

The college porter ejects a youth, in distinctly unclerical garb, who is not a member of the college.
Ç¿¼éÊÓƵ Archives, Oxford, NCA 3584

 

New College Library and Archives, Oxford
23NCN2 (2025) Hallett on Liveries.pdf1.02 MB