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Harley MS 861

Record Id:

040-002046690

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002046690

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000652.0x00016f

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 861

Title:

Compilation of texts relating to English claims to the French throne

Scope & Content:

A compilation of texts detailing English claims to the French throne and Anglo-French treaties during the Hundred Years War, compiled by Thomas Beckington (c. 1390-1465), bishop of Bath and Wells. The manuscript dates to sometime after 1443, when Beckington became bishop. The focus on the claims to France of Henry VI suggests it was completed before Edward IV’s accession in 1461.

Contents:

ff. 1r-15r: letters of Edward III to and from the Pope and the arguments of his procurators before the Pope advocating for Edward’s claim to the French throne.

ff. 15v-25v: text on Edward III’s right and title to the French crown.

ff. 25v-27r: text on the succession to the French throne.

ff. 28r-29r: arguments against Edward III’s claim to the French crown.

ff. 30r-38r: Treaty of Troyes, 1420, in Middle English and French.

ff. 38r-58r: Supporting documents for the Treaty of Troyes, including warrants of Henry V and Charles VI.

ff. 59r-60r: list of places in Guyenne held by the king of England.

ff. 60v-62v: extract from rolls of the parliament of Paris regarding the Dauphin and the murdered duke of Burgundy.

ff. 63r-105v: documents relating to John II of France and the Treaty of Brétigny, 1360.

ff. 105v-143v: treaties, warrants, and letters of Henry V, including Troyes (ff. 120v-123v), and of Charles VI of France and the Dauphin.

ff. 143v-146v: declaration by the ambassadors of Basel, 1305.

ff. 147r-149r: letter of Edward I to the Pope regarding his overlordship of Scotland.

ff. 150r-167r: Treaty of Paris, 1439, and supporting documents.

ff. 168r-191v: Thomas Elmham, Liber metricus de Henrico V (Metrical Book of Henry V).

ff. 192r-201r: Treaty of Paris, 1439, and supporting documents.

ff. 202r-203r: the submission of the count of Foix to Henry V.

ff. 203r-211r: examination of French claims to the duchy of Guyenne.

ff. 212r-213r: extract from Bartolus of Saxoferrato on reprisals, ending imperfectly.

ff. 214r-216r: extract from Baldus de Ubaldis on surrender.

f. 216v: ownership inscription (‘Liber Ricardi Nick Norwiciensis episcopi’) and added note (‘Sent down Lot November 21 / Brequigny / To L. January 22 1765’).

ff. 27v, 66v, 94r, 149v, 167v, 179v, 201v, 211v, 213v are blank.

Horizontal catchwords.

Decoration:

Diagrams of the family trees of the kings of England (ff. 27r, 67r). Blank spaces left for capitals.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002046690", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 861: Compilation of texts relating to English claims to the French throne" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002046690

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 861 : Compilation of texts relating to English claims to the French throne

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[0861]/040-002046690

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

English, Middle
French, Middle
Latin

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1443

End Date:

1461

Date Range:

1443-1461

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Paper.

Dimensions: 300 x 220 mm.

Foliation: ff. 216 ( + 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end and 1 blank leaf between ff. 112 and 113).

Script: Gothic cursive.

Binding: British Museum in-house.

Condition: Top right portion of f. 214 torn away.

Custodial History:

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

Richard Nykke, bishop of Norwich (r. 1501-1535), ownership inscription (f. 216v).

Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1635, d. 1699), bishop of Worcester and theologian (see Wright 1972).

Edward Stillingfleet (b. 1661, d. 1708), physician and Church of England clergyman, son of the former; in 1707 acquired by Robert Harley (see Wright 1972).

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts, inscribed as usual by their librarian, Humfrey Wanley ‘13 die Februarij, A.D. 1723/4’ (f. 1*r).

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d. 1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), I (1808), no. 861.

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 316.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Places:

England