ABSTRACT
Clerical visitors comprised the lowest number of those of the three estates invited to Acton, and totalled less than 5 per cent of all Alice’s guests. The most frequent religious guests at Acton were friars, understandably perhaps because of their need. The dates of the visits of the Sudbury friars provide some insight into their relationship with Alice and the Acton household. The knights who were guests at Acton no longer defended the realm with the steel of their swords – though in their youth many had joined military campaigns abroad and on crusades – but rather with the metal of their minds and the growing sense of their obligations as Members of Parliament. The majority of Alice de Bryene’s guests, those who were seated at the lower tables, were farm hands and laborers. While women were not specifically represented in the description of the three estates it is evident that they played significant roles.
