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Add MS 23938
- Record Id:
- 032-002097580
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 032-002097580
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000041.0x00037e
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100181688540.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Add MS 23938
- Title:
-
Receipts and expenses of the expedition to bring Queen Margaret of Anjou to England
- Scope & Content:
-
This account records the expedition to bring Queen Margaret of Anjou (b. 1430, d. 1482) to England for her marriage to King Henry VI (r. 1422-1461, 1470-1471). The account was compiled by two royal clerks, John Breknoke and John Everdon, covering the period between 17 July 1444 and 16 October 1445 (22 and 24 Henry VI) (see f. 2r).
For the 15 months covered by this account, a temporary household was created with the purpose of organizing the queen’s journey to England and accompanying her until she was provided with a new permanent establishment upon her arrival. The expedition left London in November 1444 and returned to England in April 1445. It was led by William de la Pole (b. 1396, d. 1450), earl of Suffolk, and it included the marchioness of Suffolk and her ladies, five barons and their baronesses, 17 knights, 65 esquires and 204 valets (Griffiths, The Reign of King Henry VI (1981), pp. 315, 486). The queen’s own Angevin servants and entourage joined the expedition on the way back to England.
The account records the receipts and money received to fund the expedition from the Exchequer, additional contributions, and creditors. This is followed by a list of expenses, including a diet account, almsgiving, necessary expenses, gifts, purchase of horses, wages, and the payments to the sailors and the Cinque Ports (five major ports on the south-east coast of England: Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, New Romney and Hastings). These expenses amounted to £5,563 17s. 5d., and at the end of the account there was an outstanding debt of £434 15s. 5d.
Contents:
f. 1r: The title of the account, ‘Compotus Joh[ann]is Breknoke et Joh[ann]is Euerdon de expens[is] d[omi]ne Margarete regine venient[e] in Angl[iam]’.
f. 2r: Contemporary summary of the contents and dates covered by the account.
ff. 3r-4r: Receipts (‘recepta’), from the Exchequer and additional contributions.
ff. 5r-6r: List of creditors (‘nomina creditorum’)
ff. 7r-8v: Diet account (‘dietis’), 17 March-14 April 1445.
f. 9r: Expenses on almsgiving (‘oblaciones et elemosina’)
ff. 9v-10r: Necessary expenses (‘necessaria’).
f. 10v: Gifts (‘dona’).
f. 10r: More necessary expenses (‘ad huc necessaria’).
f. 11v: Purchase of horses (‘emptione equorum’).
f. 12r: Prests or payments of wages in advance (‘praestitia’).
ff. 13r-15v: Wages to members of the expedition.
ff. 16r-20v: Payments to sailors and expenses at Quinque Ports (‘vadia marinariorum’ and ‘quinqus portus’).
f. 21r: Total expenditure covered by the account.
f. 22r: Total expenditure crossed out.
ff. 1v, 2v, 4v, 6v, 12v, 21v and 22v are blank.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Additional Manuscripts
Medieval and Renaissance Women - Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "032-002097580", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Add MS 23938: Receipts and expenses of the expedition to bring Queen Margaret of Anjou to England" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002097580
- Is part of:
- not applicable
- Hierarchy:
- 032-002097580
- Container:
- not applicable
- Record Type (Level):
- Fonds
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100181688540.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- Latin
- Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1444
- End Date:
- 1445
- Date Range:
- 17 July 1444-16 October 1445
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment.
Dimensions: 355 x 262 mm (text space: 260 x 240 mm).
Foliation: ff. 22 (+ 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 2 unfoliated parchment leaves after f. 6 + 1 unfoliated parchment leaf after f. 8 + 1 unfoliated parchment leaf after f. 21 + 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the end).
Script: Gothic cursive.
Binding: British Museum in-house, red half-leather binding with marbled pages over wooden boards; tooled in gold; marbled endpapers.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
England and France.
Provenance:
Purchased by the British Museum from Reverend Miles J. Booty, 7 August 1860 (see f. [iv] recto).
- Publications:
-
Catalogue of additions to the manuscripts in the British Museum in the years 1854-1860 (London: The Trustees, 1875), p. 921.
Griffiths, R. A., The Reign of King Henry VI: The Exercise of Royal Authority, 1422-1461 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981), pp. 315-316, 486.
Hookham, M. A., The Life and Times of Margaret of Anjou... with portraits and illustrations (London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872), I, pp. 256-257.S
tevenson, J., Letters and papers illustrative of the Wars of the English in France during the reign of Henry the Sixth, King of England (London: Longman and Roberts, 1861) I, pp. 443-60 [edition of a contemporary account].
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)