Add MS 6159

ESTATE BOOK OF CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL PRIORY; late 13th-early 14th cent. Latin and French, with some Anglo-Saxon. Origin: England. Compiled in the time of Prior Henry Eastry (1284-1331), with a small number of later medieval additions. Davis, Cartularies, no. 167. Small number of late medieval marginals relative to the text, some in dry point, eg. ff. 49v, 54, 183. 16th-17th cent. notes of an antiquarian nature occur relative to the text, eg. ff. 30, 32, together with added dates in brown ink, which should be treated with caution (eg. ff. 94v, 101). Half-erased notes; 'y lowe him beste hof alle . . .', etc; 15th cent. (f. 159). 'Sum Giuliel . . . 1565', with surname erased, f. 1. For later provenance of this MS. see

Add. 6156.

Vellum; ff. 288. 16th cent. foliation 1-290, bottom right-hand corner, from modern folio 1. Old folios 3, 6, 91, 201 and 208 are missing, 181 and 204 occur twice. Composite manuscript. 275 x 195mm. Gatherings: ff. 1-4 irregular, i(16?, lacks 14?), ii6, iii-vi12, ff. 87-88 irregular, viii-ix10, x-xii12, xiii16 (lacks 13-15), xiv12, xv12 (lacks 10-12), xvi12 (f. 188 inserted), xvii-xxiii12, xiv10. Counting of gatherings was difficult at the beginning of the volume, owing to tightness of the binding. Catchwords: ff. 37v, 49v, 61v, 73v (ties to f. 75), 120v, 132v, 205v, 217v, 230v, 242v. Quires marked in two series of small roman numerals: i-iiii at top of first folio recto, quires iii-vi (ff. 26, 38, 50, 62); i-xi in dry point at foot of first folio recto, quires xiv-xxiii (from f. 160). Signatures: small letters in sequence b, d, a, c, and roman numerals to quires iii-vi; roman numerals to quires xvii, xix, xx, some cropped. The quire marks and signatures, and the repetition of contents, suggest that the volume may have originally been two separate MSS, the break occurring between ff. 159-160. Single columns except ff. 26-88v, 160-218v. The following articles begin on a new quire: 2, 5, 8, 9, 13, 22, 24, 27-29. In a variety of English documentary cursive and cursive book scripts, some of which occur more than once. The main hands are as follows: A. articles 5 and 6 (part). ff. 26-73v, 75-77;- B. articles 9-12, 24-27. ff. 109-144v, 219-266v;-

C. articles 22, 23. ff. 160-218v;- D. art. 28. ff. 267-278v;- E. art. 29. ff. 279-288v. Red and blue for headings, etc., and for penwork initials, passim. Black penwork initials, ff. 279-288v. Marginal black penwork sketches, dragons

(ff. 279, 288), man slaying a dragon (f. 288v).

Contents:

1. ff. 1-3v. Miscellaneous items, circa 1307-1327, with later additions.

(a) Coronation oath of the Kings of England. French. Followed by an exploratory sentence in Latin. In the same hand as (b) and (c) below. The form of oath is that of the 'Liber Regalis', see: English Coronation Records, ed. L. G. Wickham Legg (1901), pp. 87-88; Three Coronation Orders, ed.

J. Wickham Legg, Henry Bradshaw Soc., xix (1900), p. 40. The present text is close to the French version of the oath in the 'Forma and Modus', see English Coronation Records, pp. 178-179. f. 1;- (b) Chronology from Adam to the coronation of Edward II, 1307. Latin. f. 1;- (c) Series of archbishops of Canterbury from St Augustine to the death of Walter Reynolds, 1327. Latin. Continued in a later hand to the death of Simon Sudbury, 1381. ff. 1v-2v;- (d) Succession of kings from William the Conqueror to Edward II, with a note of their coronation. Latin. Continued to the accession of Richard II in a later hand used in (c) above. ff. 3-3v.

2. ff. 5-19. Chartulary, annals, etc.; early 14th cent. (a) Documents mainly relating to the case brought against Boniface, Archbishop of Canterbury, by the Prior and Chapter of Christ Church; Nov. 1258-Dec. 1259, n.d. Latin. ff. 5-6v;- (b) Royal and archiepiscopal charters, temp. Edward the Confessor - Henry II. Anglo-Saxon and Latin. Numbered i-xvii. This MS. was used in P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters, and in Regesta Regum Anglo-Normanorum. ff. 7-10v;- (c) Compositions agreed by Christ Church with the archbishop and other religious houses, 1233-1259. Latin. Numbered xviii-xx. ff. 10v-16;- (d) 'Exposiciones de sake and sochne'. On the meanings of Anglo-Saxon legal terms. Latin and Anglo-Saxon. f. 16;-

(e) Glossary in French of Anglo-Saxon legal terms. ff. 16-16v;- (f) Annals of Christ Church; 1331-1332. Latin. Material added on ff. 19-19v has been excised. ff. 18-19.

3. ff. 20-20v. Summary accounts, taxation records and financial memoranda; 14th-15th cent. Latin.

4. ff. 21-25v. Extent of the manor of Borley, co. Essex; 27 Feb. 1308. Latin. Printed in W. Cunningham, The growth of English industry and commerce during the early and middle ages (1905), i, pp. 570, 576-584. Probably copied at the time of the manor's grant to Christ Church, 1346.

5. ff. 26-73v. Rentals, etc., of Christ Church Priory; early 14th cent. Latin. A reference in an added item (f. 27) to 'anno xvj', 16? Edward II, suggests a date before 1322 for the main entries. For another copy of this material with minor variations, see art. 21 below, ff. 160-215. (a) Rental. ff. 26-55v;- (b) Dues owed to the archbishop from the prior and chapter. ff. 55v-56;- (c) Fee farm rents and gabelum. ff. 56v-61v;- (d) Pensions, etc.

ff. 61v-62;- (e) Gavelkind rents in Canterbury. ff. 62v-70v;- (f) Rents owed to the Treasury by diverse indidviduals and institutions. ff. 71-72;-

(g) Pesepanes and suvelpenes, i.e. pittances to household servants. ff. 72v-73v.

6. ff. 73v-85. Ecclesiastical taxation records, chiefly assessments of the tenth granted by Pope Nicholas IV to Edward I, 1292; early 14th cent. Latin. See also Add. 6160, ff. 125v-139v. The valuations are printed in Taxatio Ecclesiastica Angliae et Walliae auctoritate P. Nicholai IV, Record Commission (1802). This edition, and manuscripts of the valuation, are discussed in W. E. Lunt, Financial relations of the papacy with England to 1327 (1939), App. VII. Material on ff. 73v, 75-81 also occurs with minor variations on ff. 215v-218v, art. 23 below. Items (a) and (b) bear comparative entries from the Valuation of Norwich, 1254. (a) Taxation of spiritualities in the diocese and city of Canterbury. ff. 73v, 75-77;-

(b) Taxation of exempt deaneries, i.e. peculiars, of the archbishop of Canterbury. ff. 74-74v;- (c) Taxation of the temporalities of the archbishop and religious houses in the City and diocese of Canterbury. ff. 78, 79v-81;- (d) Taxation of churches appropriated to religious houses in the diocese of Canterbury, from the Valuation of Norwich; 1254. ff. 78v-79;- (e) Taxation of the spiritualities and temporalities of Christ Church; 1292. ff. 81v-83;- (f) Assessment for a fifteenth on the movables of Christ Church; 1280-1281. f. 83v;- (g) Summa of assessment for all ecclesiastical property in the provinces of Canterbury and York. ff. 84-85.

7. ff. 85-88v. List of religious houses in the province of Canterbury; early 14th cent. Latin.

8. ff. 89-108v. Register of letters, chiefly of the time of Prior Henry Eastry; 1285-1331. Latin. Materials include in and out letters of the prior and chapter, formula items and archiepiscopal correspondence. For registers of Eastry's correspondence, see: Literae Cantuarienses, ed. J. Brigstocke Sheppard, Rolls Series (1887), i; Cambridge University Library MS. Ee.v.31, the contents of which is fully listed in A Catalogue of the Manuscripts preserved in the library of the University of Cambridge, ii (1857). Items associated with the primacy of Walter Reynolds, 1313-1327, occur from f. 100v. (a) Prior Thomas Ringmer and Chapter to Edward I, against the confirmation of Walter Scammel as Bishop of Salisbury; 7 Dec. 1284. ff. 89-89v;- (b) 'Item Registrum diversarum'. Most items are undated and do not specify both the writer and recipient. Included is the award of Pope Boniface VIII as arbitrator between the kings of France and England, taken from a notarially certified version; June 1298 (ff. 95v-97). The award was incorporated in a bull of 27 June 1298, see Foedera, ii, 820-822. At the foot of f. 98v is the heading 'Littere pro Priore instituendum sede vacante': this item continues at the head of f. 107. ff. 89v-98v, 107-107v;- (c) Letter to the English Church from Petrus filius Cassiodori, n.d. ff. 99v, 108-108v;- (d) Formulae of Henry Eastry, and of Walter Reynolds, archbishop of Canterbury 1313-1327: (i) for election of a prior. f. 100;- (ii) Dimissory letters and letters of institution by Eastry during the vacancy of the see of Canterbury; 1293-1294. f. 100v;- (iii) Walter Reynolds: form of profession for a bishop, dimissory letters, letters on non-residence. ff. 100v-101;-

(iv) Eastry, freeing a serf; 15 Jan. 1321. f. 101;- (e) Letters to Pope John XXII in support of the canonization of Robert of Winchelsea; 1320-1321: (i) from Archbishop Reynolds; 9 Nov. 1320. ff. 101v-102;- (ii) from Edmund fitzAlan, 2nd or 9th Earl of Arundel; 6 Jan. 1321. ff. 102-102v;- (iii) from Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster and Leicester; 2 Jan. 1321. ff. 102v-103v;- (f) List of Kings of England from Arthur - Edward II, with a note of their coronations; 15th cent. ff. 104-105;- (g) Tract criticising excessive papal appointments in England and other papal claims; 14th cent. Beg. 'De effrenata multitudine provisionum apostolicarum'. ff. 106-106v.

9. ff. 109-116v. Statute of Westminster I; 1275. French. Statutes, i, pp. 26-39.

10. ff. 117-122v. Collection of charters, etc. French. (a) The Third Charter of Henry III; 11 Feb. 1225. Printed in Latin in Statutes, Charters of liberties, pp. 22-25. ff. 117-119v;- (b) Charter of the Forest; 6 Nov. 1217. Printed in Latin, ibid., pp. 20-21. ff. 119v-121;- (c) Customs of Kent; temp. Edward I. Printed in Statutes, i, pp. 223-225. ff. 121-122v.

11. ff. 123-136. Statute of Westminster II; 1285. Latin. Ibid., i, pp. 71-95.

12. ff. 136v-144v. Proceedings concerning the election of Robert Winchelsey as Archbishop of Canterbury; 1292-1293. Latin. Printed from the present MS. in Registrum Roberti Winchelsey, ed. R. Graham, Canterbury and York Series, lii (1956), ii, 1257-1278. See also art. 28 below.

13. ff. 145-149. Regulations and memoranda chiefly relating to the cellarer's department; 14th cent. Latin and French. In the same hand as art. 8(d), i-ii. (a) On the office of steward of the guest house. Latin. ff. 145-145v;-

(b) On the office of porter of the outer gate. Latin. ff. 145v-147;-

(c) Memoranda of wines due to the priory from France. Latin. Printed in Monasticon, i, 103. ff. 147-147v;- (d) On measures for French wine. French. ff. 147v-148;- (e) On weights and measures of various merchandize. Latin. ff. 148-148v;- (f) Dues of bishops of the province on their enthronement. Latin. f. 148v;- (g) Memoranda on the confiscation of the priory's wine by France, 1294, and restoration of the privileges, 1300-1302. Latin and French. ff. 148v-149.

14. ff. 149v-150v. Letters relating to the disputed election of Walter Reynolds to the see of Canterbury; 1313. Copies. Latin. See: H. G. Richardson, 'Clement V and the see of Canterbury', EHR (1941), pp. 97-103; J. R. Wright, The Church and the English Crown 1305-1334, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, Studies and Texts 48 (1980), pp. 266-267. (a) Prior and Chapter to Thomas de Cobham; May-June 1313. Wilkins, Concilia, ii, 427. f. 149v;- (b) Prior and Chapter to Pope Clement V; 10 Aug. 1313. Ibid., ii, 428. f. 149v;- (c) Pope Clement V to Edward II; 16-30 June 1313. Printed in Richardson, op. cit., pp. 101-103, from thie unique manuscript. ff. 150-150v.

15. ff. 151, 152-155. Seventeen letters of? Prior Henry Eastry; n.d. Copies. Latin. Names of addressees are not given.

16. f. 155. Four lines of religious verse; 14th cent. Latin. Beg. 'Christe tibi conqueror'.

17. ff. 155v-156. Dues allowed to the Earl of Gloucester at the enthronement of an archbishop; 14th cent. Latin. See Monasticon, i, p. 100.

18. f. 156v. Letter from Richard II to Pope Urban VI; 1379-1380. 15th cent. copy. Latin. Printed in The Diplomatic Correspondence of Richard II, ed. E. Perroy, Camden Third Series, xlviii (1933), no. 9, from the present MS.

19. f. 156v. Letter from Anne of Bohemia to her brother, Emperor Wenceslas; n.d. 15th cent. copy, in same hand as art. 18. Latin.

20. f. 157. Theological memoranda; 15th cent. Latin.

21. ff. 157v-159. Rents and customs of the manor of Great Chart, co. Kent; 15th cent. Latin.

22. ff. 160-215. Rentals, etc., of Christ Church priory; early 14th cent. Latin. For another copy, with minor variations, see art. 5 above. Inserted is an indenture stating the extent and value of lands of Christ Church inundated by the sea, in Middleton al. Milton, Prittlewell, co. Essex, testified by the inhabitants; 20 Sept. 1327 (f. 188).

23. ff. 215v-218v. Ecclesiastical taxation records; early 14th cent. Latin. For another copy with minor variations, see material on ff. 73v, 75-81, art. 6 above.

24. ff. 219-222. The 'Husbandry', a treatise on accounting, compiled before 1300; early 14th cent. French. Beg. 'Au primer deit celuy ke rent'. Printed with introduction from various manuscripts including the present in Walter of Henley, ed. D. Oschinsky (1971), pp. 417-437.

25. ff. 222v-227. 'The Husbandry' of Walter of Henley, compiiled circa 1276-1290; early 14th cent. French. Beg. 'Le pere set en sa veyllesce'. Printed with introduction from various manuscripts including the present, ibid.,

pp. 307-385.

26. ff. 227-254v. Collection of statutes. French. (a) Westminster II; 1285. Printed in Latin in Statutes, i, pp. 71-95. ff. 227-241;- (b) Statute of Merchants; 12 Oct. 1283. Ibid., pp. 53-54. ff. 241-242;- (c) Westminster I; 1275. Ibid., pp. 26-39. ff. 242v-249v;- (d) Third charter of Henry III;

11 Feb. 1225. Printed in Latin, ibid., Charters of Liberties, pp. 22-25.

ff. 249v-252;- (e) Charter of the Forest; 6 Nov. 1217. Printed in Latin, ibid., pp. 20-21. ff. 252-253;- (f) Customs of Kent; temp. Edward I. Statutes, i, pp. 223-225. ff. 253v-254v.

27. ff. 255-266v. Statute of Westminster II; 1285. Latin. Ibid., pp. 71-95.

28. ff. 267-278v. Proceedings concerning the election of Robert Winchelsey as Archbishop of Canterbury; 1292-1294. Latin. Chiefly repeats material in art. 12, see above, but with the addition of documents subsequent to the election, for the period March 1293-Nov. 1294, from f. 375. All these additional documents occur in Cambridge University Library MS. Ee.v.31, nos. 272-276, 317-318, 326, 329, 330, 486.

29. ff. 279-288v. Chartulary section; late 13th cent. (i) Papal letters, chiefly to the Prior of Christ Church; 1145-1275. Latin. The twelfth century items, ff. 279-281, are all recorded in W. Holtzmann, Papsturkunden in England, ii (1935), where the present MS. is discussed, p. 21. The letters of

Innocent III, ff. 281-283v, are printed in C. R. and M. G. Cheney, The Letters of Pope Innocent III . . . (1967), nos. 211, 235, 237, 726. All items are recorded in the index. ff. 279-285;- (ii) Archiepiscopal and other charters, the latest dated item being 1259 (f. 287v). ff. 285v-288v.