Discover Medieval Chester

Agnes Filene, Entrepreneur and brothel-keeper

Agnes Filene started out selling ale in Chester, but later got involved in more dubious activities...

In 1484, Agnes Filene broke the assize of ale by over-charging. In 1487-8 she was named among 33 ale sellers in Foregate Street, but by the following year she had married and had become known as Agnes Huet alias Filenes. Established as a wife, her commercial ambitions increased, and she branched out into selling home-baked cakes and even wine. However, after her husband – and then her second husband – died, her fortune took a turn for the worse. She had occasionally been involved in brawls with other alewives and had sometimes been in debt. But in January 1497 she was accused of brothel-keeping, and it seems that from then until 1510, keeping a brothel was her main source of income.