Christiana la Saddlehackere – a ‘mulier communis’

Much of what we know about the Middle Ages comes from court records which give a fascinating insight into life as lived by ‘ordinary’ people at the time. Christiana la Saddlehackere was a ‘mulier communis’ or a ‘common woman’.

In 1306 William Douce, a Dublin merchant, complained in court that his packhorse-man had been robbed while taking a load of merchandise from Dublin to the fair in Kilkenny, a long and hazardous journey. The packhorse-man stopped for a night in Naas where he encountered Christiana la Saddlehackere. While he went to get the key of a stable in which to secure his horse and merchandise, Christiana came by a box of William's containing shoes and a pair of hose. Christiana claimed that the packhorse-man had let her keep the box and its contents as a pledge for her fee of two shillings.

By the end of the journey, the fee was not forthcoming and she retained the box. The court decided that the goods were worth no more than twenty pence (less than her fee) and, fortunately, she was only ordered to leave the county. Should she return she could, if discovered, be arrested.

Plying her trade along the route from Dublin to Kilkenny would have been a precarious existence for Christiana, however the court records tell us nothing more of her life. All we have is a tantalising glimpse of it and we can only conjecture as to what the rest of it may have been like. Nonetheless she must have been a woman of some pluck.

What is also interesting, is that for William Douce to send his packhorse-man on a three-day journey from Dublin to Kilkenny, a journey fraught with difficulties in traversing the roads, and danger from robbers much more deadly than Christiana, it must have been an extremely lucrative venture. This in itself tells us a great deal about society in Kilkenny in the early 14th century.