Grant of custody of Leper House, St. Stephen near Cork, 22 November 1408.

12 Saturday May 2012

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From Trinity College/Circle.

 

Patent Roll 10 Henry IV

22 Nov. 1408
Waterford

GRANT, for life, of the K.’s special grace, to Henry Offyghan,1 chaplain, of custody of the leper-house of St Stephen near Cork.2

Attested:
Thomas of Lancaster, Lt
Authorized:
By petition.
T:

NLI, [Harris] MS 4, f. 164.

C:

RCH.

N:

Rep. RCI 1816–20, 8th rep., p. 386.

Footnotes:

1 ‘Ossyghan’ in RCH and Rep. RCI 1816–20, 8th rep., p. 386. Archdall renders the name as ‘Henry Fygham’ (Monasticon Hibernicum, p. 68).
2 For St Stephen’s leper hospital, near Cork, see Med. religious houses, Ire., p. 348.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

Tenants of Imokill and Burgesses of Youghal surrounded by enemies, 22nd October 1400.

12 Saturday May 2012

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From Trinity College/Circle.

Patent Roll 2 Henry IV

22 Oct. 1400
Kilkenny

The K.’s beloved cousin James Butler, e. Ormond, has petitioned that all the tenants of the barony of Imokill, co. Cork, both temporal and spiritual, and the burgesses of the town of Youghal situated in the said barony, are so surrounded and hemmed in by enemies and rebels that they dare not these days go outside the said barony and town on account of the dangers of the roads and the peril to their lives. GRANT, of the K.’s special grace, to the said tenants and burgesses that they shall not henceforth be compelled nor distrained to labour outside the said barony and town before any of the K.’s ministers in the said county by virtue of any commands directed to them or any distraint made on them for this purpose; but they shall only answer within the said barony and town for the abovesaid reasons, except when the K.’s Lt, Jcr, C. or T. of Ire. for the time being shall come within the said county, and then only on the K.’s writ or the mandate of the said Lt [etc.] directed to them. And they are not to be troubled contrary to this grant.1

Attested:
John Stanley kt, Lt of Ire.
Authorized:
By petition endorsed by the Lt and sealed with his seal.
O:

NLI, D 1398.

C:

COD, ii, §351.

Footnotes:

1 The engrossed letters patent conclude with the following ‘mention of service’: Everdoun (=Thomas Everdon).

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary
Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

Daily invasions of the surrounds of Cork by the King’s enemies, 8th January, 1390.

12 Saturday May 2012

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From Trinity College/Circle.

 

Patent Roll 13 Richard II

8 Jan. 1390
Naas
To the admiral of Ire. or his deputy, and to all and singular masters and mariners of ships and barges, and also to the keepers of ports and passages and other marine places, and to all and singular mayors, seneschals, sheriffs, sovereigns, provosts, bailiffs, serjeants, sub-serjeants throughout the K.’s land of Ire.

The K. has considered how the K.’s city of Cork is situated on the frontier of the K.’s Irish enemies and is surrounded on all sides by those enemies, and how the K.’s faithful lieges of the parts neighbouring the city are destroyed and devasted by hostile attacks and daily invasions of those enemies, so that the citizens and commons and the K.’s said lieges cannot reside there upon the defence of that city these days without a great supply of produce [absque magna frugum copia] for their sustenance. The K. has also considered the good place that the K.’s city holds in aid and comfort of his faithful lieges and in resistance of the malice of his Irish enemies.

By advice of the Jcr and council in Ire. and of the K.’s special grace, the K. has granted and given licence to the citizens and commons to buy and load all kinds of grain by themselves or their servants and deputies in ships, barges and boats in any ports in the land of Ire. for their sustenance, as is necessary and fit from time to time; and to transport the grain thus loaded to the same city for that reason, both by land and by sea, and to carry it freely and without any impediment whatsoever, notwithstanding any statutes, proclamations or inhibitions to the contrary made before this time. ORDER not to trouble or oppress them in any way contrary to this the K.’s grant.

Attested:
[John Stanley] Jcr
T:

CPI, p. 87.

C:

RCH.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

Due to King’s enemies and rebels Kinsale (Co.Cork) can only be supplied by Water, 23rd May 1389.

12 Saturday May 2012

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From Trinity College/Circle.

 

Patent Roll 12 Richard II

23 May. 1389
Waterford

The commons of the town of Kinsale have shown the K. by their petitition displayed before the K.’s Jcr of Ire. that that town is situated in the marches among the K.’s Irish enemies and English rebels, so that no victuals [or other] sustenance can come or be brought to that town by land, but only by water. And although that town is not enclosed by a wall for the greater part, so that the commons dare not go out of the same town for fear of its capture and loss in their absence by the K.’s said enemies and rebels, yet they are often called and compelled to come to to wards, musterings and parleys [wardas, mustrizonas et parliamenta] at various remote places outside that town by the K.’s keepers of the peace and other ministers and commissioners appointed by the K. in co. Cork; and for not coming they are gravely amerced from time to time, to the grave damage and prejudice of those commons and the manifest peril of the nullification of that town. They seek remedy.

The K. has considered the good place that the said commons daily hold towards the K. and his faithful lieges of the vicinity, and also their diligence, assiduity and the immense costs they sustain and incur upon the enclosing of the same town with a stone wall in aid of the salvation of the neighbouring country in resistance of the malice of the said enemies and rebels. Of the K.’s special grace, GRANT to the same commons and each of them, for their good service performed and to be performed in future, that they shall not be compelled or distrained to come to any wards, musterings and parleys by the K.’s keepers of the peace or any of his other ministers or commissioners whatsoever, nor shall they be amerced because of their absence from such wards, musterings and parleys; but rather they shall be exonerated henceforth from coming to all manner of wards, musterings and parleys by the tenor of these presents, during pleasure.

Attested: 
[Alexander Balscot, bp Meath] Jcr
T: 

CPI, p. 84.

C: 

RCH; BL, Egerton MS 78, p. 24; Bodl., MS Laud Misc. 613, f. 308.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

Term

 Explanation

advowson

The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.

allocate, writ of

A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.

alterage

A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.

assize

Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.

avener [Lat. avarius]

provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor

avoirdupois

Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.

bonnaght [Ir. buannacht]

The billeting of mercenaries or servants.

cask

See tun.

certiorari, writ of

Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.

chattels

Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).

dicker [Lat. dacra]

A measure of 10 hides.

dower

Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.

escheat

The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.

extent

A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.

falding [Ir. fallaing]

A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.

fee-farm
 

A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.

fotmel [Lat. fotmellum]

A measure of lead.

engrossment

Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.

enrolment

Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.

hanaper

A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.

herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator]

One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).

galangal [AN galyngale]

The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).

generosus [Lat.]

Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.

king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis]

The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.

knights’ fees

Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).

liberate, writ of

A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.

linch [Lat. lincia]

A measure of tin.

livery

The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.

mainprize

Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).

mass [Lat. messa]

A standard measure of metal.

messuage

 A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).

mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris]

A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.

nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus]

A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.

novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine]

A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

Writ to the Sheriff of Cork re Parliament in Dublin on 16th June 1382

12 Saturday May 2012

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From Trinity College/Circle.

Close Roll 5 Richard II

29 Apr. 1382
Dublin

Similar WRITS [concerning a parliament to be held at Dublin on 16 June 1382, as in §129] addressed to the following persons, viz.:

the sheriff of Kildare;
the sheriff of Louth;
the sheriff of Carlow;
the sheriff of Wexford;
the sheriff of Waterford;
the sheriff of Limerick;
the sheriff of Cork;
the seneschal of the liberty of Kilkenny and the sheriff of the crosslands of the same;
the seneschal of the liberty of Meath and the sheriff of the crosslands of the same;
the seneschal of the liberty of Ulster and the sheriff of the crosslands of the same;
the seneschal of the liberty of Tipperary and the sheriff of the crosslands of the same;
the seneschal of the liberty of Kerry and the sheriff of the crosslands of the same.

Attested:
[Roger Mortimer, earl of March and Ulster] Lt
C:

NAI, Lindsay MS 1, ff 43–6; Betham, Const. Eng. & early parl. Ire., 328–9; RCH.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

Attack on Kinsale by Spanish, King’s Irish enemies and English Rebels, 28th January, 1382.

12 Saturday May 2012

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From Trinity College,/Circle.

Patent Roll 5 Richard II

28 Jan. 1382
Cork

The town of Kinsale, co. Cork, sits by the sea-coast, and the burgesses of that town have lately suffered a grave attack by the K.’s Spanish enemies, and also the K.’s Irish enemies and English rebels daily plan to destroy of the same town with force (which God forbid!). Having consideration for the salvation of that town, which holds the greatest place in that county, and so that the same town might be enclosed with a stone wall for its salvation against the malice of the said enemies and rebels—just as the burgesses have begun to enclose the same town at their own costs, according to the testimony of the K.’s beloved clerk, master John Colton, dean of Dublin, Jcr of Ire., and others of the K.’s council there—, GRANT to the provost and commons of that town of custody of the K.’s small custom derived from all merchandise carried outside the port of that town by sea, to have for as long as it ought to pertain to the K. by the form of a grant made by the prelates, magnates and commons in the last parliament held at Dublin, rendering annually to the K. at his Ex. of Ire. 10m at Easter and Michaelmas by equal portions. John Galvy and Patrick Galvy have become pledges and mainpernors of the provost and commons of that town. The K. wishes that if anything should remain to the provost and commons of that custom beyond those 10m, they should spend it upon the construction of the walls of that town.

Attested:
The Jcr
T:

CPI, p. 79.

C:

RCH.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

Devastation of Cork by enemies and rebels, 18th January, 1382.

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From Trinity College/Circle.

Close Roll 5 Richard II

18 Jan. 1382
Cork
To the T. and chamberlains of the Ex.

Gerald fitz Morice, e. Desmond, has shown by petition displayed before the Jcr and council that he went at his own expense to Cork, which was devastated by enemies and rebels, to treat with the K.’s marchers and rebels [cum marchionibus et rebellibus] there; and he treated with the les Barretys and restored them to the K.’s peace so that they gave reasonable hostages. He seeks reward. On the advice of the Jcr and council and for his expenses, the K. granted him 100s. ORDER to pay him that sum.

Attested:
John Colton, dean of Dublin, Jcr

Appointments of Admirals for Co. Cork to fight O’Driscolls, 14th January, 1382. ls, 18th August,1381.

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From Trinity College/Circle.

Patent Roll 5 Richard II

14 Jan. 1382
Cork

APPOINTMENT of William Sygyn and John Galvy1 as admirals in all ports within co. Cork, with power to arrest all ships, boats and vessels, and to arrest all mariners and masters, and other defensible men of that county, to fight with God’s aid the lineage of the Hinderscoles [O’Driscolls], Irish enemies, who constantly remain upon the western ocean; with power to amerce refractory persons and to the spend the amercements on the wars.2

C:

NAI, Lodge MS 21, p. 39; RCH.

N:

Hardiman, Statute of the fortieth year of King Edward III, p. 35 note.

Footnotes:

1 RCH reads ‘Galny’.
2 The record as given by Lodge is reproduced in full in Herbert Wood (ed.), ‘The Public Records of Ireland before and after 1922’, TRHS, 4th ser., xiii (1930), at p. 40.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary
Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

APPOINTMENT OF 31 ARCHERS FOR CO. CORK, 18TH AUGUST 1381.

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From Trinity College/Circle.

 

Patent Roll 5 Richard II

18 Aug. 1381

Similar letters [as in §167] addressed to the following persons, who were elected as assessors in co. Cork for finding 31 archers, viz.:

Walter Leynagh, John Goer, Philip s. of Philip Barry, David s. of William Roche, Raymond Caunton, Thomas Scorlag, Patrick Hore, Richard og Barret, Jordan s. of Stephen, Patrick s. of John s. of Matthew Barret, Thomas […] Gregory Walsh, William s. of Walter Clone [de Clon’], Raymond s. of John Roche, James Oconeny, James Braghicok, Adam s. of Philip Roth, Henry Candelan, John Scot, Nicholas s. of Henry Courcy, Robert Barry, Adam Roth Roche, Matthew Barret, Gregory Barry and Matthew Effyng.

C:

RCH.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.

Allowance of Customs Dues towards rebuilding of Youghal, Co. Cork, following destruction, 26th January 1375

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From Trinity College/Circle, calendar rolls, originals lost destruction of Public Records Offfice, Dublin 1922.

Patent Roll 49 Edward III

26 Jan. 1375
Dublin
To the K.’s beloved sovereign, bailiffs and worthy men of the town of Youghal.

The K. has considered how the town of Youghal and its neighbouring parts are impoverished and for the greater part destroyed by various rebels of the K. in co. Cork who continuously prey and kill the K.’s faithful people there, and also the good and advantageous place that the town daily holds for the K.’s faithful people. Earnestly wishing for the relief, improvement and fortification of that town, GRANT that the sovereign, bailiffs and worthy men of the town of Youghal, in person or through deputies appointed by them, may take, collect, receive and have the following customs from all and singular articles for sale coming to that town, both by land and by water, in aid of the murage and pavage of the said town and necessary other works for the two years from 1 March [1375] next remaining from a certain other grant formerly made by the K., and thereafter for a term of 20 years, viz.:

from each crannock of any kind of grain, malt, flour and salt for sale, ½d;
from each [crannock] of woad for sale, 2d;
from each crannock of Corker and symak for sale, 1d;
from each crannock [of tan] for sale, [¼d];
from 12 crannocks of any kind of coal for sale, 1d;
from 12 crannocks of lime for sale, ½d;
from [each horse] or mare, hobby, ox or cow for sale, 1d;
from 10 sheep, goats or pigs for sale, [1d];
from 5 bacon hogs for sale, ½d;
from 12 woollen fleeces for sale, ½d;
from each hide of horse or mare, hobby, ox or cow, [whether] fresh, [salted] or tanned for sale, ¼d;
from each hundredweight of skins of lambs, kids, hares, [foxes], cats and squirrels for sale, ½d;
from each hundredweight of wool-fells and skins of goats, stags, hinds, bucks or does for sale, 1d;
from each millstone for sale, 1d;
from 2 hand-mills for sale, ¼d;
from each large sack of wool for sale, 4d;
from each mease of herrings for sale, ¼d;
from 20 large fish for sale in a ship or boat, ½d;
from each horse-load of fish for sale, 1d;
from each load of [sea]-fish for sale, ¼d;
from 100 large fresh-water eels for sale, 1d;
from each salmon for sale, ¼d;
from each lamprey for sale, ¼d;
from each tun of wine [and ashes for sale, 4]d;
from each tun of honey for sale, 4d;
from each sum of honey for sale, 1d;
from each sum of [ashes] for sale, ½d;
from each sum of [cloth] for sale, ½d;
from each whole cloth of standard size [de assisa] for sale, 1d;
[from 20] ells of Irish cloth, both salewyche and worsted [worstede], for sale, ½d;
from 20 ells of linen cloth, English or overseas, for sale, ½d;
from 20 ells of canvas for sale, ¼d;
from 10 felt hats for sale, ½d;
from each carpet or coverlet for sale, ¼d;
from each cloth of silk or brocade for sale, ½d;
from each cap of muslin for sale, ½d;
from each Irish falding for sale, ¼d;
from each ship coming to the said town laden with articles for sale, 3d;
[from each] from each sum of cloth, ½d;
from each band of iron for sale, ½d;
from 100 gads of steel for sale, ½d;
from 100 large boards for sale, ¼d;
from each [1000] large [shingles] for sale, 1d;
from each 1000 [small] shingles for sale, ½d;
from 100 small boards for sale, ¼d;
from 100 pounds of pitch and resin for sale, ½d;
from each stone of tallow, oil, butter and cheese for sale, 1d;
from 10 pounds of shallot [Oygnenet] seeds for sale, ½d;
from 100 pounds of […] seeds for sale, 1d;
from 2,000 onions for sale, ¼d;
from 8 sheaves of garlic for sale, ¼d;
from each boat laden with brush-wood [busca], ½d;
from each boat laden with timber, 1d;
from each 1000 nails for sale, ½d;
from each hundredweight of horse-shoes and cart-clouts for sale, ½d;
from each 1000 [wooden] dishes [and plates] for sale, ½d;
from 12 [ropes for tackling] ships, ¼d;
from each 1000 hinges for sale, ¼d;
from each dozen cordwain [cordywan], corvesii and bascon’, ½d;
from each hundredweight of tin, [brass and copper], 2d;
from each hundredweight of scallops and dried fish for sale, 1d;
from 10 stone of hemp and flax for sale, [1d];
from 10 gallons of lamp oil for sale, ½d;
from 10 gallons of olive oil for ointment for sale, 1d;
from each hundredweight of coloured glass for sale, 1d;
from each hundredweight of white glass for sale, ½d;
from each hundredweight of avoirdupois for sale, 1d;
and from any kind of merchandise whatsoever worth 5s, or exceeding that value, both from merchandise specified above or other merchandise not specified for sale in the same town, 1d.
similarly, from any kind of merchandise whatsoever worth 2s, ½d; and worth 12d, ¼d.

The money derived from this is to be spent well and faithfully on the murage and pavage and other necessary works in the said town, and not otherwise; and, at the completion of that term, the customs shall cease and be removed entirely. And they are to take, collect, receive and have the said customs from all and singular articles for sale coming to the same town for 20 years beyond those two years remaining from his former grant, as aforesaid, from 1 March [1375] next coming, in the said form. Always providing that at the end of each year a faithful account of the money received by them is rendered before the venerable fathers the bp Cloyne, the dean of the cathedral of Cloyne and the parson of the said church, or one of them, year on year, and that the same auditors or one of them shall send the account before the T. and barons of the K.’s Ex. of Ire., distinctly and openly […].2

Attested:
[William Windsor] governor [and keeper of Ire.]
T:

CPI, p. 67 (=Ir. PR 49 Edw. III, m. 2f).

C:

RCH, p. 90, §13; BL, Egerton MS 76, p. 11; NLI, GO MS 193, pp 37, 40.

N:

RCH, p. 208, §150 (=CIRCLE, PR 2 Hen. V, §161).

Footnotes:

{1} RCH indicates that much of the item was illegible in 1828. It is clear from the transcript given in CPI that the damage was considerable. The grant is, however, sufficiently formulaic to allow the text to be reconstructed.
2CPI erroneously gives the date as 26 Jan. 1374.

The following abbreviations are used within in the text of CIRCLE

  • abp = archbishop [of]
  • BMV = beate Marie Virginis [of the Blessed Virgin Mary]
  • C. = chancellor [plural: chancellors]
  • co. = county (i.e. medieval shire: lower case ‘c’) [plural. cos.]
  • dcd = deceased
  • e. = earl of
  • Edw. = Edward (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • Eng. = England
  • esq. = esquire [plural: esquires]
  • Ex. = exchequer
  • g.s. = great seal
  • Hen. = Henry
  • Ire. = Ireland
  • Jcr = justiciar [plural: justiciars]
  • JP = justice of the peace
  • K. = king
  • kt = knight
  • Lt = lieutenant
  • O.Carm. = Order of Carmelites
  • O.F.M. =  Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans)
  • O.P. = Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
  • Ric. = Richard (used when giving dates by regnal year)
  • s. = son
  • sen. = seneschal of
  • T. = treasurer [plural: treasurers]
  • w. = wife

This glossary is by no means comprehensive. Readers may also wish to consult standard references books such as Joseph Byrne, Byrne’s dictionary of local Irish History from the earliest times to c.1900 (Cork, 2004); P. G. Osborn, Osborn’s concise law dictionary, ed. Sheila Bone (London, 2001).

Abbreviations

  • AN = Anglo-Norman
  • Ir. = Irish
  • Lat. = Latin
  • ME = Middle English
  • OED = Oxford English Dictionary

 

Term Explanation
advowson The right of patronage or presentation to a church benefice.
allocate, writ of A writ authorizing allowance to be made by the officers of the Ex. of a specified amount: often this amount is to be off-set against the debts owed to the K. by the beneficiary.
alterage A form of affinity proscribed in late medieval Ireland between the Irish and the English, whereby a man stood sponsor for a child at baptism; (also) gossipred.
assize Technical term for legal proceedings or various kinds. See mort d’ancestor, novel disseisin.
avener [Lat. avarius] provider of oats, esp. for the household of the K. or his chief governor
avoirdupois Miscellaneous merchandise sold by weight.
bonnaght [Ir. buannacht] The billeting of mercenaries or servants.
cask See tun.
certiorari, writ of Letters close issued by the K. to his officers commanding them to supply information to him concerning a specified matter, normally by searching the records.
chattels Property, goods, money: as opposed to real property (land).
dicker [Lat. dacra] A measure of 10 hides.
dower Portion (one third) of a deceased husband’s estate which the law allows to his widow for her life.
escheat The reversion of land to the lord of the fee to the crown on failure of heirs of the owner or on his outlawry.
extent A survey and valuation of property, esp. one made by royal inquisition.
falding [Ir. fallaing] A kind of coarse woollen cloth produced in Ireland; the mantle or cloak made from the same.
fee-farm A fixed annual rent payable to the K. by chartered boroughs.
fotmel [Lat. fotmellum] A measure of lead.
engrossment Technical term: the action of writing out, for instance patent letters and charters; (also) the documents thus written out.
enrolment Technical term: the action of recording in the records of the K., esp. the registering of a deed, memorandum, recognizance; (also) the specific item or record thus enrolled.
hanaper A repository for the keeping of money. The ‘clerk of the hanaper in chancery’ was the chancery official responsible for the receipt of fines for the issue, engrossment and ensealing of writs, patents and charters issued by the chancery.
herberger [Lat. herbergerius, hospitator] One sent on before to purvey lodgings for an army, a royal train (OED).
galangal [AN galyngale] The aromatic rhizome of certain Asian plants of the genera Alpinia and Kaempferia, of the ginger family, used in cookery and herbal medicine; (also) any of these plants (OED).
generosus [Lat.] Term designating social status: translated as ‘gentleman’.
king’s widow [Lat. vidua regis] The widow of a tenant in chief: so called because whe was not allowed to marry a second time without royal licence.
knights’ fees Units of assessment of estates in land. Originally a single knight’s fee was the amount of land for which the military service of one knight (=knight service) was required by the crown. ‘Fee’ derives from the Latin feudum, which in other contexts translated as ‘fief’. In practice the descent of landed estates meant that many knights’ fees came to be subdivided and, in the later Middle Ages, personal service was frequently commuted to money payments (=scutage).
liberate, writ of A chancery writ issued to the treasurer and chamberlains of the Ex. authorizing them to make payment of a specified amount, often the annual fees, wages and rewards of the K.’s officers.
linch [Lat. lincia] A measure of tin.
livery The delivery of seisin, or possession, of an estate hitherto held in the K.’s hand, for instance when a minor reaches the age of majority.
mainprize Legal term: the action of undertaking to stand surety (=‘mainpernor’) for another person; the action of making oneself legally responsible for the fulfilment of a contract or undertaking by another person (OED).
mass [Lat. messa] A standard measure of metal.
messuage A portion of land occupied, or intended to be occupied, as the site for a dwelling house; (also) a dwelling house together with outbuildings and the adjacent land assigned to its use (OED).
mort d’ancestor, assize of [Lat. assisa mortis antecessoris] A legal process to recover land of which the plaintiff’s ancestor (father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother sister, nephew or niece) died seised (=in possession), possession of which was since taken by another person.
nolumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula nolumus] A standard clause inserted especially in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time.
novel disseisin, assize of [Lat.assisa nove disseisine] A legal process to recover land from which the plaintiff claims to have been dispossessed (=disseised).
pensa See wey.
piece [L. pecia] A standard quantity of merchandise.
pendent seal Seal hanging from engrossed letters patent attached to a tongue or tag of parchment.
perpresture An illegal encroachment upon royal property.
plica A fold along the foot of engrossed letters patent and charters to create a double thickness of parchment, used for attaching the ‘great seal pendent’ to the letters. An incision was made in the plica and through which a tag of parchment was attached. A wax impression of a seal was then affixed to the tag.
protection An act of grace by the K., granted by chancery letters, by which the recipient is to be free from suits at law for a specified term; granted especially to persons crossing overseas or otherwise out of reach of the courts in the K.’s service.
quare impedit, writ of An action brought to recover the advowson of a benefice, brought by the patron against the bishop or other person hindering the presentation.
scutage The commutation of personal military service to the crown for a money payment. Normally called ‘royal service’ in Ireland.
seisin Formal legal possession of land.
sendal [Lat. cendallum; ME cendal] A thin rich silken material (OED).
stallage [Lat. stallagium, estallagium] Payment for a market stall.
tun [Lat. dolium] A large cask or barrel, esp. of wine.
valettus A term designating social status: translated ‘yeoman’.
Vidua Regis [Lat.] See King’s widow.
volumus, clause of [Lat. cum clausula volumus] A standard clause inserted esp. in letters of protection by which pleas and suits are delayed for a specified period of time. In full the clause runs: volumus quod interim sit quietus de omnibus placitis et querelis (=we wish that meanwhile he be quit of all pleas and plaints).
waif A piece of property which is found ownerless and which, if unclaimed within a fixed period after due notice given, falls to the lord.
waivery [AN weiverie] The technical term for proceedings of outlawry in the case of women.
wey [Lat. pensa, peisa, pisa] A standard of dry-goods weight.
worsted [ME wyrstede] A woollen fabric or stuff made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool combed to lay the fibres parallel (OED).
writ [Lat. brevis] Letters close containing commands by the K. to certain specified persons, esp. royal officers. Returnable writs, which were not normally enrolled in the chancery rolls, were to be returned by the officer to chancery with details of the actions taken by the officer in response to the contents. See also allocate, certiorari, liberate.