Add MS 49359

FEODARY AND CHARTULARY OF THE COURTENAY FAMILY, Earls of Devon, etc.; temp. Edward III [1335?]-early 15th cent. Latin and French. Possibly originally compiled in connection with the recognition of Hugh de Courtenay as de iure Earl of Devon, 1335. See Cal. of Close Rolls, 1333-1337, pp. 341-2, 351, 376. No. 1229 in G. R. C. Davis, Medieval Cartularies, 1958; no. 1228 is another Courtenay chartulary. Belonged, until 1956, to the Vyvyan family of Trelowarren, co. Cornw., by inheritance from the Courtenay family. See M. Coate, Trans. Royal Hist. Soc., 4th ser., xxxii, 1950, pp. 113-4. Christie's sale-cat., 17-18 July 1956, lot 90.

Vellum; ff. 95. 345 x 240mm. Temp. Edward III-early XV cent. Written in several 14th-15th cent. hands, with partial rubrication. Gatherings of 6 leaves (xv8, 1 cancelled). Several bifolia have been made up from single leaves in modern repair work, with some disturbance of the correct order and the medieval quiring, viz.:- iii2 (f. 14, with a catchword) and iii3 (f. 15) were formerly the last and first leaves of adjacent gatherings; iv4, iv5 (ff. 22, 23) and v1, v2 (ff. 25, 26) were probably part of the same gathering; v3, v4 (ff. 27, 28) belong with the material at ff. 7-21; f. 31 should follow f. 24 (catchword); i2-6 (ff. 2-6) were possibly once contiguous to x4-6 (ff. 58-60). Illuminated initials of a king with a shield of arms of England on f. 7 and of Plympton castle on f. 24. Annotations, 16th cent., on ff. 28b, 55b, including (f. 55b) a note by William Camden (d. 1623). Badly damaged by damp and in places illegible. English binding of leather on boards bound in reverse order, blind-stamped with an ornament of quatrefoils in lozenges, 16th cent.; rebacked, with a 19th cent. brass clasp.

The contents are as follows:–

1. f. 1. Grant by William le Spek in 'Wolseres Worthy' [Woolfardisworthy, co. Devon?]; 16 Mar 1334. Copy, early 15th cent.

2. f. 2. Advowsons of the Earl of Devon in cos. Berks, Bucks, Cornw., Devon, Dors. and Som.; temp. Edward III. French.

3. ff. 2b-3. Articles against Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, presented in Parliament on 26 Nov. 1330; temp. Edward III. French. Rot. Parl., 1783, ii, pp. 52-3.

4. ff. 3b-6. 'Modus Tenendi Parliamentum'; aft. 1330. French. Printed by T. D. Hardy, The Archaeological Journal, xix, 1862, pp. 266-74, from the only other recorded MS. of the French version, now Finch Hatton MS. 2295, Northamptonshire Record Office. See also E.H.R., xxxiv, 1919, pp. 209-25. A transcript of the present MS., annotated by Sir Simonds D'Ewes, is now Harley MS. 305, ff. 284-293.

5. f. 6b. The punishment for breaking homage; early 15th cent.

6. f. 6b. Memorandum of agreement between the Earl of Devon and Philip Courtenay over fees in Bratton, Ugborough, Kentisbeare, etc., co. Devon; early 15th cent. French.

7. ff. 7-23, 25-28b. Fees in co. Devon, arranged by hundreds, extracted from rolls of inquisitions for 1252-1253, 1279-1280, 1314-1315; temp. Edward III.

8. ff. 24, 24b, 29-35. Register of fees of the honour of Plympton, arranged by principal tenants; temp. Edward III.

9. ff. 35-37. Assize rolls, 1281, and Placita Coram Rege rolls, 1399. Extracts, temp. Edward III-early 15th cent.

10. ff. 38-53b. Register of fees and liberties of Hugh de Courtenay, mainly in co. Devon, arranged by baronies (Plympton, Okehampton) and hundreds; compiled 1310-1311. Copy, temp. Edward III. Includes lists of knights owing suit of court, tithings, aids leviable, etc.

11. f. 54. Perambulation of Dartmoor, co. Devon; 1239-1240. Copy, temp. Edward III.

12. ff. 54-55. Genealogical history of the Courtenay family to Hugh de Courtenay (b. 1303), compiled 1335-1340, followed by miscellaneous memoranda; temp. Edward III. Another copy is in the Okehampton 'leiger-book' in the Henderson Collection in Truro Museum. Another, longer, genealogical history, extracted by Robert Glover from a Forde Abbey register, is printed in Monasticon, v, 1825, pp. 377-82, from Cotton MS. Julius B. X, now Bodleian Lib., Dodsworth MS. 20, ff. 56b-60. Another copy of the longer history, by Samson Lennard (d. 1633), is in Harley MS. 1178, ff. 97b-103.

13. f. 55b. Mortuary roll of the Earls of Devon to Hugh de Courtenay (d. 1340; the date of death is incorrectly given as 1339) and Courtenay genealogy to Hugh de Courtenay (b. 1303); early 15th cent. French.

14. ff. 56-57. Fees of Edward de Courtenay, Earl of Devon (d. 1419) in co. Cornw., arranged by manors; early 15th cent.

15. ff. 58-73. Pleas, inquisitions, Courtenay charters and other documents; temp. Henry III-20 May 1374 (f. 73). Partly French. Copies, temp. Edward III-early 15th cent.

16. ff. 74-78b. Extent and rental of Crook, in North Tawton, co. Devon; compiled 1315-1316. Copy, early 15th cent.

17. ff. 79-81b. Fees in cos. Berks, Bucks, Devon, Som., Southt. and the I. of Wight, etc.; early 15th cent.

18. ff. 82-85b. Deeds and inquisitions; 13th cent.-1408-1409. Copies, late 14th-early 15th cent.

19. ff. 87-89b, 95b. Memoranda rolls, etc.; 1343-1344. Extracts, early 15th cent.

20. f. 92. 'Status domus', i.e. accounts of Cowick Priory, co. Devon, by Prior William de Estrepeny; 13 Apr. 1394. Copy, early 15th cent.

21. ff. 92b-95. Statute rolls; 13th-14th cent. Partly French. Extracts, early 15th cent.