Sketch made from the brass
of Sir John Juyn, originally in St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. Born
into a wealthy family of Bristol cloth merchants, he was practising law
in the city and its region during the early years of the 15th century,
and in 1422 is found as Bristol's recorder (chief legal advisor).
Although his practice seems to have remained focused in the West Country,
in 1415 he was appointed a sergeant-at-law by the king, and his career
in the royal service led him in due course to the important position
of Chief Baron of the Exchequer (1423), then to Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas (1436-39), and finally to the Chief Justiceship of the higher court,
the King's Bench – but briefly, for he died in 1440. His brass
depicts him in legal costume: coif, hood, long circular mantle, short cape,
and long plain gown.Image from Mary Houston, Medieval Costume in England and France, The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries. London, 1939.