II. The ABCs of Written Record
19-23 24 25-26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
The documents in this case illustrate the ways in which transactions were recorded, along with the kinds of changes in the methods and materials of writing which took place over time. While Latin was the official written language of the courts and of learned society throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, French and English rapidly developed as languages of communication, particularly for men and women outside the Church. Moreover, continuing legal innovations demanded a higher level of participation in written culture from everyone in the kingdom, an expectation which gave rise to a bureaucratic revolution during the later Middle Ages.
19-23.
William de la Pole and Robert de Nevill, 1350-1360
A group of five charters from Farnley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, detailing certain agreements made between William de la Pole, mayor of Kingston-upon-Hull and father of Michael de la Pole (the future Lord Chancellor of England and first earl of SuVolk) and his son-in-law Robert de Nevill, son of Sir Robert de Nevill of Hornby (of the Nevill barons of Raby, later earls of Westmorland), who married William's youngest child Margaret. All of these charters are chirographs or "indentures" as they came to be called, since their jagged edges suggest a row of teeth. A chirograph was a useful way of recording agreements made between two people, for it provided each with a copy of the document and in addition acted as a safeguard against forgery or fraud. The text of the agreement was written out twice on a single piece of parchment and between the two the scribe usually put a row of letters: perhaps the word C H I R O G R A P H U M or, more commonly still, the alphabet. Nos. 19 and 23 appear to be alphabetical, while the two halves of Nos. 20 and 21 spell out the word I N D E N T U R A. The parchment would then be cut across with a knife. The half kept by the party of the first part was then sealed by the party of the second part, and vice versa. If a dispute over property arose in the courts, the parties concerned (or their heirs) would be required to produce evidence of their claim. If a chirograph had been drawn up, the two halves could be matched one with the other. It is very rare for both halves of a chirograph to be preserved in the same collection, so these are particularly valuable examples of the process of documentation at this time.
No. 19 is undated, but it is obviously the first of the series, written around 1350. It is the only one written in Latin--the others are in French--and it records the grant by William de la Pole the elder, knight, to Robert son of Robert de Nevill of Hornby, knight, and Margaret his wife of the manor of Farnelay with all its members, appurtenances, free tenements, villein tenements, with the villeins themselves and all their chattels, to hold to them and the heirs of their bodies (that is, in tail) at a yearly rent of £20, payable at Whitsuntide and Martinmas. The explicit reference to a grant of free and villein tenements with their unfree tenants (villeins) and their chattels is noteworthy. Free tenements were held of a lord by free men, that is, men who were personally free and who paid rent or owed services for their land but whose land nonetheless belonged to them and could be sold or used for whatever purpose they chose. Unfree or villein tenements were the property of the lord--as were, technically, the villeins who worked the land and any goods or animals on the land. However, it was very often the case that no material diVerence could be discerned between "free" peasants working their own land in exchange for rent and "unfree" peasants working their lord's land and owing to him the proceeds from it.14
Nos. 20 and 21, the two halves of a bipartite chirograph dated 14 February, 32 Edward III (1358), are witness to an agreement between Sir William and Sir Robert, to the effect that if the grantees pay the grantor 10 marks (£6.5.0) a year plus the money arising from the sale of woods at Farnelay and Collyngg "which they have promised to cut within the next four years" until a sum of 200 marks has been paid, the manor shall be discharged of the annual rent of £20.
No. 22 bears the same date as the chirograph above and repeats the offer made therein, with the stipulation that the monies may be paid either to Sir William or to his executors at Kingston-upon-Hull.
No. 23, another indented agreement between the two parties, dated 29 January, 35 Edward III (1361), rehearses the terms of the other four documents here with a further reWnement: that if Robert and Margaret pay Sir William £10 yearly for the first five years after the date of this deed and 20 marks in the sixth year, then the said manor of Farnelay shall be discharged and quit forever of the said rent.
Seals of the grantor and grantees. On Nos. 19 and 21 a seal bearing arms and the legend: *SIGILLVM.WILLELM... DE.BARLEGO. On No. 19 a seal bearing composite arms (?) and the legend: *S'.MARGARETE:...EVIL. On Nos. 20, 22, and 23 a seal bearing arms and the legend: SIGILLVM WI...MI DE...
24.
1316 May 2
Letters of attorney
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
Nos. 24 and 26 show the uses to which French was being put as a language of law and business. Warin de Bassiggebourne of Wynpole hereby appoints Ingram Berenger as his attorney to take the seisin of his manor at Cheldryngtone in Wiltshire by default of Henry de Nutshellyngge, grocer, of New Salisbury and Joan his wife. Here a lord is authorizing a trusted friend or vassal to re-assert his claim over a manor whose tenants have defaulted on their payment of rent or services. His residence near Cambridge is far away from the disputed holding in Wiltshire and this charter legally enables another man to act in his place.
25 & 26.
1309 and 1316
A pair of receipts
No. 25 is in Latin: William de Pykiring acknowledges receipt of payment from John de Maulenever of 8 marks due for tithes in Arkendale in Yorkshire. It bears a vesica-shaped seal showing Virgin and Child enthroned with the legend: WILLIIELMI [sic] ...EDO.. LEC. No. 26 is the acknowledgement in French of William de Goldyngton, knight, of the receipt from Richard de Bovynton of Bockynge (in Essex) of 20 due on a bond made "in the court of the King." With an armorial seal bearing the legend: *S'WIL...E GOLDRINGTON.
The demand for written records of transactions, the widespread use of writing, the growth of literacy in French and Latin, all contributed to an explosion in the numbers and kinds of documents being produced in England.
27.
1405/6? September 29
Indented receipt on paper
Paper (made of rags) was a relatively new medium in England at the beginning of the Wfteenth century. Pleasantly light and easy to write on, it required none of the elaborate preparation of animal-skin; but it was not as durable as parchment and was therefore not appropriate material for legal documents. It was, however, useful for less formal transactions, as demonstrated here by this indented receipt testifying that Richard Norman has delivered to Henry Godfrey, clerk of the household of Lord Ferrers of Chartley (in StaVordshire), over a period of two years, various household supplies in the quantities and prices specifed. Sum total: £301.17.4.
28.
1459 August 11
Paper draft of a grant
Staverton, Devon
A rare example of a draft made on paper. A proposed grant by Thomas Worth and Isabella his wife to John Wynard, esquire, of the manor of Wolveston in Cornwall with messuages in Staverton in Devon, and elsewhere, all of which lately belonged to Humfrey Devile. The Worth family, prominent landholders in the West Country, are featured in Cases VI and VII. As Nos. 108 and 111 in the latter case will show, Thomas and his son were still delaying in the making of this grant in 1477 and in 1501.
29.
1435 March 20
Indented agreement in English
Leeds, Yorks.
The earliest English document in the collection concerns a marriage agreement and settlement between Perkyn Kay and John of Tymble, to the effect that Henry, son and heir of John, shall wed Janet, daughter of Perkyn, before the Michaelmas next and that John and Agnes his wife are to enfeoV Henry and Janet, in tail, of two burgages in Leeds before the feast of Pentecost next. With a provision that if Henry die without issue the property will revert to Janet and her heirs forever, Janet paying 10 marks. If Janet dies first, Perkyn is to have the premises until he has received £20 from Henry. Also, the said Perkyn is to pay John 24 marks in hand. In a single brief charter, therefore, provision is made not only for the couple's future, but for the livelihood of Janet, should she become a widow.
30.
1439 July 22
Indented will
Tenterden, Kent
Indenture being the will (voluntas, as opposed to testamentum) of Henry Esteghere of Tenterden, conWrming to Thomas Hamys, Robert Dunne, and Thomas Robyn of Tenterden aforesaid and Henry Coldynge of Benynden all his lands and tenements in the parishes of Halden, Wodcherche, and elsewhere in the county of Kent as in the deed more fully set out; and willing that if his wife Joan survive him she is to have all those tenements aforesaid and elsewhere in the county of Kent. After his death, Thomas Austyn, nephew of Joan, is to have the capital messuage and 40 acres of land in the tenure of the prior and convent of Christ Church, Canterbury. Furthermore, John, Thomas, William, and Isabelle, the children of Isabelle Browne his sister, are to have in equal shares 20 marks within four years after his death and that of Joan his wife, to be raised from his land in Botyrforthe, which contains 20 acres. Also that after their deaths, that when his godson (confilius) Henry Austyn attain the age of 20 years, he should have 40 acres called Smythisham and Gybbyston lying in the parish of Tenterden upon the denne of Igolden. Also, to John Locas the son of Joan his wife and his heirs 5 marks within two years after their deaths. Also, 6s. 8d. to his foeVees.
The indented form of the will suggests that it was designed to be produced by the feoffees after Henry's death, when they would make their claim to the bequest. This is an example of "enfeoffment to uses," which was a way of getting around the 1290 law against subinfeudation (Statute of Westminster III: Quia emptores, 18 Edward I). The property was owned or held by Henry and his family but it was worked or occupied by the feoVees.
Seal bearing a band of braided rushes (see No. 65).
31.
1483 January 1
Grant (Latin) and Will (English)
The simplicity of this little "will" is a good contrast to the sizable settlements above and a good example, like No. 29, of a single charter used for multiple purposes. It records a grant by Thomas Staunton to John Wyllne, Thomas Peg, and Robert Barker of a messuage in Loughborough, Leicestershire and the appointment of Gerard Strechley as the grantor's attorney to deliver seisin. At the bottom of the document, written in English, is the note: "I wille that Pegg & Robert Barker make a lauful astate to John Wilne & Margaret his wife of ye place & to ye heris of Margaret." This is another "enfeoffment to uses" by the grantor (see Introduction).
The little seal of red wax, oval in shape, bearing the initial T, is an example of the seals with simple devices or initials (T, J, I, or R) which were mass-produced for the growing number of laymen who needed them for business transactions.15
32.
1414 April 25
Palimpsest
Sandwich, Kent
Grant by Simon Halle of Sandwich to Henry Cok, William Gayler, and Henry Helde of the same, of a tenement with its appurtenances in the parish of St. Mary at Pyllorygate, Sandwich, between the pillory-gate to the west, the tenement of Henry Dyrey to the east, the king's highway to the south, and the seashore to the north. Note that while the text is Latin, the directions are in English, as are the names of places--with the debased usage regiam stratam instead of via regis. The existing charter has been written on "recycled" parchment. The making of a palimpsest was a common and thrifty practice: the original writing here has been erased with pumice but traces of it are visible near the bottom and quite clearly legible under ultraviolet light.
Seal of arms with counterseal (shown) bearing a cipher. Counterseals were yet another way of assuring the authenticity of a document or its seal.
33.
1417 May 27
Letters of attorney
Gresham, Norfolk
Letters of attorney of William Molyns, knight, and John Stokken, appointing John Baxster of Honyng in the county of Norfolk and John Wortheley of Causton in the same county their attorneys jointly and severally to receive from Richard Wyot and Thomas Milreth full possession and seisin of the manor of Gresham with all its appurtenances. With the signature of the scribe in the lower right-hand corner: "R Lyndesay." Not until the 16th century did signatures or signs manual come to have any legal force or significance (see No. 34).
Seal of arms with the legend: Sigillum+Willelmi+Molyns.
34.
1548 September 26
Grant
Farnham St. Martin, SuVolk
Grant by Robert Holt of Bury St. Edmunds and John Holt of Cokfyld, gentlemen, to John Gryffyth, clerk, of one piece of arable containing approximately one acre lying in the parish of Farnham St. Martin; which acre of land lately belonged to Robert Barrett of Bury aforesaid, and Christopher Payton, esquire, and Thomas Badby, gentleman, were lately seised of it to the use of the grantors and of the heirs of Robert, of the gift of John Eyer, esquire, and of the said John Holt by charter dated 27 July 38 Henry VIII [1546]. With appointment of Thomas Andrew and John Boldero their attorneys to deliver seisin. A complicated arrangement, which shows the parties concerned making an effort to comply with the 1536 Statute of Uses (27 Henry VIII, c. 10), which ordered that all feoffees be seised and possessed of the lands in use.16 By this time, signatures as proof of the validity of the transaction have become commonplace. This charter is signed on the front by the grantors and endorsed with the names of witnesses to the livery of seisin and the signatures of the attorneys.
Seal of Robert Holt bearing the initial R. Seal of John Holt: a Wne intaglio(?) flanked by the initials I S R
35.
1611 February 20
Indenture of sale
Packwood, Warwickshire
We have seen evidence of the growing variety and complexity of charters over time and this indenture is an example of the resulting format: so full of information and legal formulæ that the parchment conveying the property must be of enormous size--too large to be unfolded here. While the documents in Case I were symbols of an act or "deed," those in this case have become the act. By the 17th century custom (if not law) dictated that not only seals but signatures must appear on every charter. Here, the signatures of the principals are corroborated by those of all the witnesses on the reverse. A "bargain and sale" of land, often from one family member to another, had become the way to provide for the next generation--but the reality of the transaction had not substantially changed from the days in which this would have been called "grant."
One of the bordering properties described in this document is "a close now or late in the possession of William Shaxper."