The archive of the Honour of Eye, manuscripts on paper or parchment [England, 14th and 16th century]

The archive of the Honour of Eye, including a Letters Patent of Richard II, confirming the gift of his queen, Anne of Bohemia, of the manor and honour of Eye to Sir Michael de la Pole, dated 1383; de la Pole's subsequent deed granting part of the same to John Bacon, again dated 1383; and an early sixteenth-century secular cartulary of the entire estate-portfolio; all in Latin, French and Middle English, manuscripts on paper and parchment[England (Honour of Eye, Suffolk), fourteenth and sixteenth century] Three items: (a) large charter on parchment, containing a Letters Patent of King Richard II confirming his queen's grant of the manor and Honour of Eye to Sir Michael de la Pole, 22 long lines in a formal English secretarial hand, space left for opening initial, endorsed in English in a sixteenth-century script, in outstanding condition, the Great Seal of England in green wax, showing the king enthroned and a knight on horseback, dated 7 December 1383, 245 by 390mm., in large green cloth-covered case; (b) Deed of Confirmation of Sir Michael de la Pole of the Grant of the Manor and Honour of Eye to John Bacon, on parchment, 20 long lines in English secretarial hand, traces of red wax seal on green and purple plaited silk cords, slight flaking from ink but without affect to legibility, folds, else excellent condition, dated the Friday following the Feast of the Epiphany, "7 Richard II" (ie. 1383), 170+33 by 380mm.; (c) secular cartulary of the Honour of Eye then in the ownership of Robert Buller, on 27 leaves of paper, single column of 40 lines in a calligraphic English secretarial hand, larger script for keywords and headings, with additions by Robert Buller, watermark a glove with a 'CR' around the wrist and surmounted by a five petalled flower, inkstamp of East Suffolk records office (from temporary loan there) at foot of first leaf, bumping to edges of some leaves and small spots, else excellent condition, dated 1507-1525 with additions of 1562, 320 by 220mm., in limp vellum wrapper made from a bifolium recovered from a fifteenth-century manuscript Missal, Use of Sarum, each leaf of wrapping with double column of 33 lines, 320 by 220mm., with sixteenth-century inscription on front: "A Boke of deedes of londes in Eye" Provenance: 1. Various medieval and post-medieval owners of the Honour of Eye, Suffolk, England, including Sir Michael de la Pole (d. 1415), 2nd Earl Suffolk and 2nd Lord de la Pole. This was a feudal barony in a typically Norman form, a series of manors and estates spread across England but centred on the town and castle of Eye, usually granted to a baron by the English king for provision for knights and their military service to the crown. The term 'honour' was given to the largest of these estate arrangements - usually involving supplies for more than twenty knights and their followings. That at Eye was one of the largest baronial estates in England after 1066, with combined holdings in eight counties; and was assessed in Domesday Book as the second largest landholding in Suffolk. It was seized by the Crown in 1370, and granted to Richard II's queen, Anne of Bohemia, in 1382. The present charter confirms the grant in turn by Anne to Sir Michael de la Pole, on the understanding that he, in turn, grants the land to John Bacon, the king's secretary.2. Schøyen Collection, London and Oslo, their MS 1784; acquired from Quaritch, London, in December 1993. Text: The most interesting document here is the secular cartulary, which includes eighty-eight records of the men who held the various estates of the honour of Eye in the opening years of the sixteenth century. Within these, the last ten items form another smaller secular cartulary, being the lands owned then by Robert Buller.To view a video of this item, click here.