Dear Mr Cornwell,

I’m reading 1356, and enjoying your descriptions of armourments.

I have a question about chivalry. What is a gosope to a knight? My Mum’s family were called Gossop – farmers, shopkeepers and handymen, village people of East Yorkshire. I have traced back a few generations and found various spellings such as Gossip, written hurriedly; perhaps those being recorded were unable to spell their name. I don’t expect they went on crusades, but they certainly went into the army in the first world war, on the supply chains. A photo seems to show them making coffins. Grandad got shrapnel in the eye, his older half-brother was killed on the eve of peace, but the others returned.

Regards,

Julia Cormack