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Lansdowne MS 441
- Record Id:
- 040-002075183
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002075183
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000001257.0x0001ee
- LARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100181688617.0x000001
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Lansdowne MS 441
- Title:
- Indenture between Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and John Islip, Abbot of Westminster Abbey, concerning the foundation and support for her chantry
- Scope & Content:
-
This manuscript contains an original indenture between Margaret Beaufort (b. 1443, d. 1509), Countess of Richmond and mother of King Henry VII (r. 1485-1509), and John Islip (b. 1464, d. 1532), Abbot of Westminster Abbey, concerning the foundation and support for her chantry, made on 2 March 1506.
The indenture sets out a detailed list of Margaret's wishes relating to the chantry's foundation and continual support. They cover the regular forms of prayer to be used on specified days, the remembrance of souls for members of Margaret's family, and the daily services to be said by two chantry priests, together with gifts of service books, vestments, and other items required to support them. The services were intended to take place in Westminster Abbey at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Pew, a small space located off the Abbey's north aisle. The indenture additionally includes two sets of letters patent for the foundation and support of a perpetual readership at Oxford and Cambridge University, both dated 8 September 1503. The first Oxford reader was Dr John Roper and the first Cambridge reader was Dr John Fisher (b. c. 1469, d. 1535), later Bishop of Rochester. A shorter summary of the indenture appears at the end of the volume (ff. 50r-59v), with instructions indicating that this was to be read aloud by the Abbot in the Abbey's Chapter House each year.
The indenture is presented in the form of chirograph, the top edge of each folio trimmed to form waves, with the recto or verso displaying remnants of inscribed letters that have been partially cut away. It is unclear whether this part of the indenture belonged to the Countess of Richmond or the Abbot, as its seal is now missing, apparently mislaid among the manuscript collection of its former owner John Somers (b. 651, d. 1716), 1st Baron Somers (see Catalogue of the Lansdowne Manuscripts (1819), II, p. 123).
The production of the indenture was overseen by William Malhom (d. 1517), a Master in Chancery. A set of Margaret's accounts for the years 1506-1507 (now Cambridge, St John's College SJLM/1/1/3/2, f. 149r) records payments to him for 'vellum, and writing and making of the indentures book fashion between my lady's grace and the abbot of Westminster (£6 6s 8d); binding, limning and silk laces for the same indentures (43s 4d); covering the same books with velvet (15s 6d); lining of the same (14d); clasps (2s 10d) and crosses to the same; garnishing of the same book (4s); 2 bags of buckram bought for the same (8d) and for cases for the seals (8d)' (see Payne, 'The First Chantry Chapel of Lady Margaret Beaufort' (2020), p. 278).
A similar bound indenture, made between Henry VII and the abbot and monks of Westminster Abbey in 1504, is now Harley MS 1498.
Contents:
f. 1r: An added note and description of the manuscript, written by James Matthews, Librarian to William Petty (b. 1737, d. 1805), 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne.
f. 2r: An added note and description of the manuscript, probably copied from a former sale catalogue, with the inscribed Lot No 452.
ff. 3r-49v: An indenture between Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and John Islip, Abbot of Westminster Abbey, written in English and Latin, beginning, 'This indenture made the secunde day of Marche the xxith yere of the reigne of the moost cristen and most excellent kyng henry the viith...'
ff. 50r-59v: A shorter summary of the same indenture, intended to be read aloud by the abbot in the chapter house each year, written in English, beginning, 'This indenture made the secunde day of Marche the xxi yere of the reigne of the moost cirsten and moost excellent king henry the vii...'
Decoration:
Two large historiated initials 'T'(his) in colours and gold, bearing the arms of Margaret Beaufort as Countess of Richmond, accompanied by full borders with red roses and portcullises alternately placed, in colours and gold (ff. 3r, 50r).
Small initials in gold on red and blue grounds.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Lansdowne Collection
Medieval and Renaissance Women - Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002075183", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Lansdowne MS 441: Indenture between Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and John Islip, Abbot of Westminster Abbey, concerning the foundation and…" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002060013
040-002075183 - Is part of:
- Lansdowne MS 1-1245 : Lansdowne Manuscripts
Lansdowne MS 441 : Indenture between Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, and John Islip, Abbot of Westminster Abbey, concerning the foundation… - Hierarchy:
- 032-002060013[0306]/040-002075183
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Lansdowne MS 1-1245
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
-
1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- https://iiif.bl.uk/uv/#?manifest=https://bl.digirati.io/iiif/ark:/81055/vdc_100181688617.0x000001
- Thumbnail:
-
- Languages:
- English
Latin - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1506
- End Date:
- 1506
- Date Range:
- 2 Mar 1506
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Letter of introduction required to view this manuscript
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Material: Parchment and paper (ff. 1-2 only).
Dimensions: 330 x 230 mm (written space: 190 x 135 mm).
Foliation: ff. 59 (+ 6 paper flyleaves at the beginning after f. 1 and 2 original and 7 paper flyleaves at the end); f. 1 is a leaf from a paper booklet inserted at the beginning of the volume; f. 2 is a paper flyleaf.
Script: Gothic cursive.
Binding: Post-1600. Brown speckled leather over wooden boards.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
London, England.
Provenance:
Margaret Beaufort (b. 1443, d. 1509), Countess of Richmond and Derby, mother of Henry VII (b. 1457, d. 1509): the arms of the earldom of Richmond (f. 3r); one of two parts of the indenture, which belonged either to her or to John Islip, (b. 1464, d. 1532) Abbot of Westminster Abbey. It is unclear who owned the document, as the original seal is now missing.
John Somers (b. 1651, d. 1716), Baron Somers, lawyer and politician: recorded as being part of his collection in the Catalogue of the Lansdowne Manuscripts (see Catalogue (1819), p. 123); upon his death, much of his library came into the possession of his brother-in-law Joseph Jekyll.
Sir Joseph Jekyll (b. 1662, d. 1738), lawyer and politician: inherited from his brother-in-law John Somers (see above; Catalogue (1819), p. 123).
James West (b. 1703, d. 1772), politician and antiquary: recorded as being part of his collection in the Catalogue of the Lansdowne Manuscripts (see Catalogue (1819), p. 123); possibly Lot 452 (see f. 2r) in one of his sales, May 1773, where all of his manuscripts were purchased by William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne (see Courtney, ‘West, James (1703-1772)’ (2004).
William Petty (formerly Fitzmaurice) (b. 1737, d. 1805), 2nd Earl of Shelburne and 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, Prime Minister: an added note and description of the manuscript by his librarian (f. 1r); purchased by the British Museum together with 1,244 other Lansdowne manuscripts in 1807.
- Publications:
-
A Catalogue of the Lansdowne Manuscripts in the British Museum, ed. by Henry Ellis and Francis Douce, 2 vols (London: Taylor, 1819), II, pp. 122-23 (no. 441).
Matthew T. W. Payne, 'The First Chantry Chapel of Lady Margaret Beaufort at Westminster Abbey', in Performance, Ceremony and Display in Late Medieval England: Proceedings of the 2018 Harlaxton Symposium, ed. by Julia Boffey, Harlaxton Medieval Studies, XXX (Donginton: Shaun Tyas, 2020), pp. 273-83.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)