The People of 1381
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Source
| Type | Manorial Records |
| Unique Identifying Text | ERO D/DC 33/24 |
| Archive name | Essex Record Office (Chelmsford) |
| County | Essex |
| Published source (may be more than one) | Partly translated: W. Gurney Benham, 'Manorial Customs in West Mersea, etc. - The tenants' destruction of the ancient records of the manor', EAT, ns xiii (1915), pp. 307-9 |
| Text (English translation) | The Trewe Coppie of a Deed Indented concerning the three Mannors namely [videlicet] Peete Fingringhoe and West Mersea with xx seals thereunto annexed as hereafter followeth word for word. This indenture made between John de Ramsey, prior of Mersea, of the one part, and all his tenants in general of Mersea, Fingringhoe and Peete hamlet [Peldon] of the said vill, of the other part, witnessed that the prior and his tenants are agreed in the following: Whereas the said tenants have burnt and destroyed all the rolls, 'domesdayes' and extents and every manner of other evidences by which the said prior and his officers ('ministers') ought to distrain and raise the rent, and the ancient customs and services due to the prior of Mersea, that the said tenants shall at their own proper cost between this and the feast of Christmas next, assemble either all at one time, or on two or three times, according to their best advice, and shall have with them one clerk or two, at the choice of the prior, and at their own proper cost shall cause to be made a new valuation ('un novelle extent') well and loyally of all the ancient customs, rents, and services and all other manner of things whatsoever in acknowledgement of the ancient right belonging to his priory called Mersea, and shall deliver the said valuation to the said prior or to his council. And the said tenants shall perform well and rightly all the ancient customs and services at the times due and assigned by the said prior or his officers at the due times, without holding or refusing the said rights or any of them. Excepting the claim of a 'reve'(?) made by the prior or his steward and the claim of a riding horse ('palfry') after the vacancy or removal of each prior. But in case the said prior pursues a charter of grant from the king for himself and his tenants which permits them to be toll-free in every market town throughout England that then the said tenants are hereby willing and will grant to be charged to the said prior and to his successors, at every vacancy and removal for one horse of the price of 5 marks good and customary money of England, and also pay for the fee of the charter. And also whereas the prior claims to hold his own land in his own right of his church ('tener sa terr proper de droit de sa eglise') without any profit taking by any of his tenants by way of commons in his said lands, that is to say from the last day of August until the purification, the said prior and tenants, at suit of the parties, shall submit themselves to inquest of the good people of the neighbourhood, without prompting ('procurement') by either of the parties, and if by chance the inquest declares that the demesnes are discharged of such due, that then they shall be discharged without any contradiction by the tenants; and if the inquest declares on the contrary, then the prior, so that the demesnes may be in charged in form and degree as the inquest has declared, shall in future [document torn] [summary] The remainder seems to lay down certain rights claimed by the prior for him and his successors, including the right of a mill. The tenants also agree to pay the prior 25 marks a year in two instalments, namely £8 6s 8d at the feast of All saints and a like sum at the feast of St Nikolas. Twenty-three tenants bound themselves as sureties to the sum of £100 for the due execution of the agreement. In testimony whereof the parties have interchangeably affixed their seals. Given at Mersea ... the day after the feast of St Denis [9 October] in the fifth year of the reign of ... [probably 10 or 11 October 1381] |
| General Information | Copy of an agreement between John de Ramsey, prior of Mersea, and his tenants of West Mersea, Fringinghoe and Peet Hall in Peldon, c. 1600. The heading is in English, the agreement itself in Anglo-Norman. West Mersea was an alien priory belonging to the Abbey of Saint-Ouen in Rouen. |
| Image of Source | _20230601_102308.JPG) |
| Image of Source | _20230531_090839.JPG) |
People
| ID | First name | Last name | Gender | Occupation | Domicile | Role in source | Incidents | Go to participant page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28338 | John | de Ramsey | Male | Prior | West Mersea,Essex | 4658 | Go to participant page |
Incidents
| ID | Summary | Description | Type | Go to incidents page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4658 | Burning of the court rolls of the priory of West Mersea (Essex). | Burning of the court rolls of the manors of Mersea, Fingringhoe and Peldon of West Mersea priory by its tenantry. | Arson: burning of documents,Trespass to chattels: destruction of documents | Go to incidents page |
Incidents and People
| Person | Incident | Role | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| John de Ramsey ( 28338 ) | Burning of the court rolls of the priory of West Mersea (Essex). (4658) | Victim |
