John Brompton was one of Beverley's wealthiest merchants, and a name of influence in the town, having served as one of the keepers of the town first in 1407/08 and on 6 further occasions up to 1440/41. Since Brompton died in July 1444, just three weeks after drawing up his will, the man of this name who was a keeper in 1453/54 must have been one of his grandsons of the name. The relatively luxurious lifestyle revealed by his will makes him exceptional among his peers, and the amount he was able to give to charitable and pious uses, upon turning his mind to death and the afterlife, was correspondingly greater. Brompton was himself the founder of three almshouses for housing the poor; they do not, however, appear to have lasted for many years.

The lavish expressions in the preamble are unusual, perhaps reflecting personal preferences in the selection of the saints, and contrast with the much briefer self-commendation in Whttington's will. The testament of John Baret of Bury St. Edmund's (to come) paints yet another picture, for Baret – Brompton's counterpart in wealth and taste for luxury – focused his attention on funeral arrangements. It would be tempting to give in to modern cynicism and ascribe Brompton's apparent piety to the conscience of a politician and merchant who might have acted in self-interest, to the detriment of others, many times during his career. However, we should not dismiss the possibility that it reflects a sincerely devout and pious mentality. Nor are the two interpretations necessarily incompatible.

Nonetheless, it is a risky business taking the evidence of the last will and testament and trying to reconstruct from it a sense of the religiosity of the testator. Does the will reflect the testator as he or she was, and behaved, during life? Or does it attempt to make amends for failings? To what extent are the provisions of a will motivated by desire to make provision for heirs and dependants? To wrap up unfinished business and personal matters? To make a final display of socio-economic status? Or to arrange for the fate of one's soul? Some wills were drawn up hastily, as death approached, giving the testator little time for self-expression and obliging him or her to rely on the executors or heirs to deal with spiritual investments; others were evidently drawn up with considerable forethought, and possibly under the influence of others, notably the principal heirs. A will may tell us something of the testator's state of mind at death, but not so much about attitudes during life. Furthermore, we cannot generalize from one testator to the class as a whole, and the testament of such a wealthy man as John Brompton should not be taken as typifying the merchant class of late medieval Beverley.

The large sums assigned to pious and charitable purposes, including his own funeral, were of course not affordable for most townsmen. Handouts to the poor on the day of the funeral or obit were probably fairly common, at least in the case of wealthy testators; the aim being to attract to the event the attendance and prayers of those on whom God was believed to look in favour. Brompton made little attempt to identify which poor might benefit – his munificence needed no provisos; less wealthy testators might limit the dole to poor persons in their own parish or neighbourhood.

In the codicil to his will he left amounts ranging from 3s.4d to 10s. to the fabric and decoration of parish churches of various villages in the immediate vicinity of Beverley and Kingston-upon-Hull: Etton, Cherry Burton, Bishop Burton, Walkington, Rowley, Cottingham, Hessle, Swanland, North Ferriby, Melton, Elloughton, Brantingham, Ellerker, South Cave, North Cave, Hotham, Sancton, etc.. These were perhaps places he held land, although the careful sequence in which the places are named – beginning northwest of Beverley, then heading south to the west side of Hull, and then proceeding along the road west out of Hull for a few miles, before veering north again, may have some other significance, such as a route for collecting the wool on which Brompton's mercantile fortune was based. Such gifts to churches, possibly excepting those specified as recompense for forgotten tithes, were likely understood as eliciting prayers of thanks from parish clergy and parishioners, which would benefit the testator's soul.