Preston Charters, Continued

Charters 6 & 7

Following our 2 previous blogposts on the group of charters from Preston in Suffolk, England, now in a private collection, we advance with further reports about them.  Those 2 blogposts, Full Court Preston and Preston Take 2, focused upon 2 of the group, as they considered Charters ‘1’ and ‘2’ (as we first called them), or Charters 7 and 5 in the modern seller’s numbering system entered upon the dorse of each document.

Now we turn to others.  Here we focus upon Charters 6 and 9.  (Remember, Charter 8 is lost.)

The Group

Church at Preston St Mary. Photograph by Andrew Hill via Wikimedia Creative Commons

The owner purchased the group as a single lot of 9 documents, gathered in a bag, in the 1980s in London, probably — according to his recollection — in the Portobello Road, a renowned location of markets and shops of many kinds, including used goods, curiousities, and antiquities.  The group has a consecutive series of modern Arabic numbers, running from 5 to 13.  The individual number is entered in black ink at the top left corner of the dorse (or back) of each document.

Of that original group, only 8 survive in the collection, because Charter 8 disappeared when the owner showed the group to an audience some years ago, considerably before the group came into our view.  Consequently, we know only of Charters 5–7 and 9–13.  Charters 5 and 7 have figured already in our 2 previous blogposts, with detailed photographs and descriptions, transcriptions and translations of their texts, and some observations about their characteristics and contexts.

Each document has a mostly bare dorse, but for the modern seller’s inventory numbers in black ink and the sparse medieval or later docketing inscriptions.  The face is filled with the text of the transaction, laid out in a single column of long lines.  The numbers of lines vary between 9 (Charter 9), 12 (3 charters), 13 (2 charters), 14 (Charter 11), and 16 (Charter 5) lines.

The documents in the set exhibit certain differences.  5 of them have more-or-less rectangular shapes, wider than tall.  Charters 12 and 13 have rippled upper edges, corresponding to the chirographic method of producing an interlocking, and thereby identifiably identical, set of charter-plus-copy (or multiple copies) for the different parties to the transaction in question.  For such a Chirograph, copied in duplicate (or more) upon a single sheet, the cut between them takes the form of a wavy edge; in Charter 12 it runs through an enlarged and spaced word — perhaps the Latin word chirographum, as customary? — to allow the copies to be matched physically as a safeguard against forgery.

Each document has a forward-facing fold at the bottom of its face.  Each has a pendant tag of vellum.  Some retain their wax seals, or parts thereof.  One has a cloth pouch to protect the seal (however, now lost).  At least 1 of the vellum tags comprises a reused strip of already-written vellum.

Group Portrait

With the full group set out for examination, we offer their photographs from the back and the front.  These group portraits demonstrate at a glance the varied sizes and shapes of the different charters, their styles of presentation, the shapes of their pendant tags, and the presence or otherwise of seals attesting to their authentication.

Seen from the Dorse

Preston Charters Dorses. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Preston Charters: Dorse with Guide. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Seen from the Face

Preston Charters Faces. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Private Collection, Group of 8 Preston Charters: Faces Forward. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Folds, Tags, Seals & More

In preparing each document, as customary for such materials, the more-or-less rectangular sheet of vellum was folded horizontally once near the bottom, producing a flap or fold which turns inward to the side of the leaf intended to carry the text — usually the flesh side of the skin.  Sometimes there is writing within that fold, sometimes not.  Around the flap, more or less at its center along the bottom edge of the document, a narrow strip of vellum is laced through a pair of horizontal slits (made across the flap and in the foldline) to form a looped or tied tail or tag.  Sometimes this strip carries a seal of colored wax impressed or pressed in some way onto its extension from the document.  In some cases, the seal survives to some extent (Charters 7, 12, and 13).   One case (Charter 5) retains the old, and perhaps original, cloth pouch designed to protect the seal, but the seal itself has disappeared following its removal through one or other hole in the cloth at both the top and bottom.

The patterns of fold-lines and stains on each document demonstrate that, after completion with their written and attested texts, the single sheets were folded into smaller, block-like units, in which they were stored for a considerable period or periods of time. Mostly the sheets were folded horizontally once or twice, and then vertically into thirds, forming flaps to be turned over, one after the other, and presenting as the front of the unit the centered block at the base of the document, from which extends the vellum tail, with an optional seal.  Brief docketing inscriptions are written in ink on the dorse, within that centered block and/or elsewhere.

One by One

Our earlier blogposts considered Charters 5 and 7 as a pair:  Full Court Preston and Preston Take 2.

Charter 5

See Full Court Preston and Preston Take 2.

Charter 6

Undated Deed of Sale of Land in Preston
by Richard, Son of Galfrid Pecthe
to Thomas, son of Symon Purte of Preston

The single sheet document, plus added tag which laces through its lower flap, turns the hair side of the animal skin outward and the flesh side inward, so that the smoother writing surface may take and hold the text.  Various rust-burns mar the sheet; a couple of them have eaten holes through it.

Written by a single hand, the text records a single transaction for the transfer of “arable land” in Preston from Richard, son of Galfrid Pecthe, to Thomas, son of Symon Purte of Preston.

Dorse

As seen in natural light and incandescent light respectively:

Preston Charter 6 Dorse. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Face

Inside the Fold

No script is visible within the foldline, although lifting the fold reveals in full the last line of the document, which ends with a series of horizontal flourishes connected by jagged lines.

Preston Charter 6 Face, with Fold partly lifted. Photograph Mildred Budny.

The text begins:

[Line 1]

Sciant presentes et futuri quod ego Richard, filius Galfridi Pecthe concessi dedi et presentes carta mea confirmavi Thomi filius Symoni /

Purte de Prestone pro homagio et servicio suo et pro decem solidi argenti quos mihi dedit . . .

That is,

Let all present and future persons know that I, Richard, son of Galfrid Pecthe, have conceded, given, and confirmed, by this present charter of mine, to Thomas, son of Symon Purte of Preston, for his homage and service and for 10 silver shillings which he has given to me . .  .

The list of witnesses begins with Hugo de Batefford (line 10).

Among the names is Thomas Fabro (line 11). Might he be the same individual listed in the Northamptonshire Tax Assessment for 1301 for Fawlsley Hundred, in the Villata de Stavertone (Staverton)?

Docketing Up Close

Written by the same hand as the document within, this inscription identifies the object as the Carta Ricardi Pecthe … Thome / Purte.

Preston, Pure & Simple

Sideways at the right-hand side of the dorse, there stands the inscription in lighter brown ink by a different, rapid hand:  Preston.  A horizontal flourish extends from the raised ‘tail’ of the final –n.

Charter 7

See Full Court Preston and Preston Take 2

Charter 9

Deed of Sale of “Arable” Land in Preston
Dated 8 Ed. II (8 July 1314 – 7 July 1315)
By Alice, Daughter of Richard of ?

The dorse of the document carries several inscriptions entered at various dates.  Standing somewhat to left of center about midway down the sheet, a brief note states the regnal date of “8 Ed. II”, written in black ink with a narrow nib — apparently by the same hand as the modern seller’s inventory number at top left.  According to the Regnal Calendar, this 8th year in the reign of King Edward II corresponds to the span between 8 July 1314 and 7 July 1315.

Or, under incandescent light:

Preston Charter 9 Dorse. Photograph Mildred Budny.

Preston, Pure & Simple But Not So Very Clear

Sideways at the right-hand side, there stands an inscription in light brown ink in the same location, with the same identifier, and apparently by the same annotator as for Charter 6 (see above):  Preston, here ending with an upward flourish of the pen leading to an extended descending stroke which trails to a hairline tip.

The other inscriptions on the dorse comprise

1) a modern note scribbled in pencil below the more carefully written modern regnal date: “Ed 2”, citing the king in question but not his year.

2) a set of letters to the right, written in brown ink, probably as a pen-trial, by an untutored and probably medieval hand.

Face

At the front, the Fold bears the date “1314” in modern numbering in pencil at the lower right.

Preston Charter 9 Face. Photograph Mildred Budny.

The Sheet Itself

Preston Charter 9 Face.

Inside of the Fold and the Tag

Lifting the fold reveals the full extent of the last line of the document.  The inner foldline seems to carry no script.  The 2 ends of the tag are twisted together partway down their length, but there is no seal.

Preston Charter 9 Face, with partly lifted Fold. Photograph Mildred Budny.

The text begins and ends thus:

Sciant presentes et future quod ego A[li]cia filia Ricardi de . . . concessi dedi et hac presentes carta mea confirmavi . . .

. . .

Anno Regni regis Edwardi fili Regis Edwardi octavo.

That is,

Let all present and future persons know that I, Alicia, daughter of Richard of [???] have conceded, given, and, by this present charter of mine, confirmed,

. . .

In the 8th regnal year of King Edward, son of King Edward.

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More research might identify one or more of the vendors, buyers, and witnesses of these 2 charters.

For now, we introduce them as a spur toward such investigations.  Would you like to join the quest?

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We look forward to your suggestions.  Comments are welcome here.  You can also reach us via Contact Us or our Facebook Page.

Next we consider more of the charters in the Preston group.  Watch this space.

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