Letters patent with a great seal of England, Edward I
Details
Type of record: Archive
Title: Letters patent with a great seal of England, Edward I
Classmark: MS 2293
Creator(s): Great Britain. Sovereign (1272-1307 : Edward I)
Site Location(s): Place name - Kirkstead( 53.1411, -0.2153 ); Place name - Covenham St. Bartholomew ( 53.4356, 0.0106 ); Place name - Saint-Calais ( 47.92, 0.7436 )
Date(s): 20 Jul 1303
Size and medium: 1 box; handwritten document; wax seal; cloth pouch
Persistent link: https://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/773746
Description
The handwritten document is a Letters Patent in Latin on one sheet of parchment. The letters give permission for the Abbot of St. Calais or Carileph in the Le Mans diocese of Maine, France, to break the Law of Mortmain by presenting the Manor of Covenham, Lincolnshire, to the Abbot and Convent of Kirkstead, Lincolnshire.
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in written format issued by a monarch or head of state. The Statutes of Mortmain were designed to prohibit people from donating land to the Church to avoid feudal services. They originated in 1215 with the Magna Carta.
In 1303 by these Letters Patent the Priory at Covenham was given to the Cistercian Abbey at Kirkstead founded by Hugh Fitz Eudo, Second Lord of Tattershall, in 1139 A.D.
The Benedictine Priory at Covenham was founded by William de St.-Calais, Bishop of Durham, in 1082 A.D. and was part of the See of Durham. St.-Calais came from Le Mans, Maine, France, and was nominated by King William I of England Bishop of Durham in 1080. He died in 1095.
A great seal of Edward I is attached to the Letters Patent. This shows Edward sitting on his throne on the obverse and a portrait of him on horseback on the reverse. The seal is cracked at the top right hand corner. There is evidence of some repairs to the bottom right hand edge.
The seal is attached to four green and red cords at the centre top. The cords are plaited at the top of the seal. At the bottom the cords are unplaited. There is one red and one green cord at the bottom of the seal on either side of the bottom centre.
The seal is housed in a pouch of unknown age made from a fabric with a twill weave. This was originally gold in colour, but has faded. A pattern of crosses is woven into the fabric in a deeper colour. The crosses probably reflect the religious nature of the Letters Patent.
The pouch is made of two pieces of fabric which have been joined using a cream and blue braid around the edges. Stitching in blue thread appears to be later repairs to the joining seam. The pouch is lined with a plain weave white fabric which was probably added later to reinforce it.
See also: J. A. Symington, The Brotherton Collection: a Catalogue of Ancient Manuscripts and Early Printed Books Collected by Edward Allen Baron Brotherton of Wakefield (Leeds, 1931), p.8.
Physical characteristics
Medium: parchment; wax; fabric
Provenance
The document, seal and pouch were reputedly unearthed near the church path at Wanborough, Wiltshire, in a leather case or satchel.
Access and usage
Access
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Material may be unavailable on conservation grounds. Access is at the discretion of the Conservation Officer.