Peterborough Cathedral, MS 1
Cartulary of Peterborough Abbey (The Book of Robert of Swaffham)
Contents
Language(s): Latin, with some Old French and Middle English
See Provenance for further details.
See Origin for further details.
Title taken from marginal annotation.
Title taken from marginal annotation.
Title taken from marginal annotation. 'Henricus rex iii' in the margin.
'List of contents, written rather later than the main text, and including many, but not all, of the later additions, and occasionally some of the marginal notes' (Martin (1978), p. 9)
Entries are keyed to the medieval foliation, in Roman numerals, written here in red.
The last four words are written by a slightly later hand.
Accompanied by marginal chronology and notes, by a later hand.
Continues the narrative from 1177 to 1246, copied by a different hand (Ker (1992), p. 163).
'[I]n various later hands, filling in the blank leaves. The majority are in the list of contents, though not in sequence (at ff. 6v, 12v, 13r, 13v); those dated fall into the period 1260-1275' (Martin (1978), p. 9)
'From Wulfhere (664) to Henry III, but beginning with the Relacio Hedde Abbatis (printed in Dugdale [...]); not all relate specifically to Peterborough, e.g. Henry III's confirmation of Magna Carta, 1225, at f. 61r | xlv recto. The original section ended with the Statute of Merton, 1236' (Martin (1978), p. 9).
Repeated in Peterborough Cathedral, MS 5, ff. 39r | xxiii recto-56r | xl recto. 'The section ends (ff. 71v | lvi verso-80r | lxv recto) with Magna Carta of John, Charter of the Forest of Henry III, Magna Carta of 1235, 'Sentencia data per B. Cant' Archiepiscopum et xiij suffraganeos suos', and Provisions of Merton' (Ker (1992), p. 163)
Wulfhere, king of the Mercians and the Middle Angles, confirms and grants land to St Peter's, Medeshamstede, 664 (Kelly).
King Edgar grants the freedom of the minster formerly called Medeshamstede but now called Burch (Peterborough), with its appurtenances at Dogsthorpe, Eye and Paston; and also grants the same freedom to the estate at Oundle, Northamptonshire, with its eight dependant hundreds; and to the minster's lands at Barrow-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire; and Warmington, Ashton, Kettering, Castor, Ailsworth, Walton, Werrington, Eye and Thorpe, Northamptonshire; together with one moneyer in Stamford, half of Whittlesey Mere, control over the Peterborough market and extensive toll-privileges, 972 (Kelly).
Confirmation by King Edward the Martyr [975×978]; confirmation by King Æthelred [978×984 or 992×1006]; confirmation by King Cnut [1016×1035]; confirmation by Kind Edward the Confessor, with further confirmation of land at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire; and grant of judicial privileges for land at Great Easton, Leicestershire; Fletton, Orton and Alwalton, Huntingdonshire; and Osgodby, Lincolnshire [1061×1066]; and confirmation by King William I, referring specifically to Cotter, Cotton, Manton, Raventhorpe, Messingham, Cleatham, Hibaldstow, Walcot-on-Humber and Muskham, Lincolnshire [1066×1067] (Kelly).
Later additions.
Later additions.
Later additions.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 228v.
Later additions.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 229r.
Later additions.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 218v. See also London, British Library, Egerton MS 2733 , p. 14.
Later additions.
Later additions, with additional commentary on f. 86r | lxxi recto. For an explanation, see: A.S.C. Ross, 'The assize of bread', Economic History Review , new ser. 9 (1956), 332-342.
Begins with the spurious bull of Pope Agatho, 680; ends with Innocent IV, 1249.
In the rubric, 'pape' has been erased.
An imperfect copy; see also ff. 88r | lxxiii recto-89r | lxxiv recto for a complete version.
'pape' erased in the rubric.
Begins with Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and includes agreements with other religious houses and some charters issued by the abbots of Peterborough, especially to the obedientiaries. From f. 115v | c verso, they are arranged under abbots:
- f. 115v | c verso, William of Waterville
- f. 117r | cii recto, Andrew
- f. 117v | cii verso, Acharius
- f. 119v | civ verso, Robert of Lindsey
- f. 121r | cvi recto, Alexander of Holderness, Martin of Ramsey
- f. 121v | cvi verso, Walter of St Edmunds
- f. 122r | cvii recto, William Hotot
- f. 123r | cviii recto, John of Caux
General grants to the abbey and other documents relating to the estates, including extracts from Domesday Book at f. 137v | cxxii verso and the Northamptonshire Survey at f. 139r | cxxiv recto (see: Henry of Pytchley's Book of Fees, ed. by W.T. Mellows, Publications of the Northamptonshire Record Society 2 ([Northampton]: Northamptonshire Record Society, 1927), p. xxxviii; and VCH Northants, 1, pp. 357-89 (ed. by J.H. Round)).
Kind Edward confirms land at Scotton, Scotter and Manton, Lincolnshire, to Peterborough [1061×1066] (Kelly).
King Edward confirm land at Walcot in Alkborough, Lincolnshire, given to Peterborough by Askytel, the king's optimas [1055×1060]; with additional passage in this manuscript and Peterborough Cathedral, MS 5, referring to land in Walcot, Alkborough, Normanby, Althorpe, Lincolnshire; and Muskham, Nottinghamshire (Kelly).
King Edward confirms the land at Fiskerton, Lincolnshire, bequeathed to Peterborough by Leofgifu of London, 1060 (Kelly).
King Edgar grants land at Barrow-upon-Humber, Lincolnshire, to Bishop Æthelwold, for Peterborough Abbey, 971 (Kelly).
Cædwalla, king [of the West Saxons], grants forty hides (manentes) at Hoo, Kent, to Abbot Ecgbald and his familia [probably 686×687]; Sighere, king of the [East] Saxons, confirms this grant [c. 687]; Swæfheard, king [of Kent], confirms this grant and gives a further twenty hides at Hoo and woodland at Fercanhamstede to Abbot Ecgbald [(1 March 687×28 February 688) × (July 692×694), probably c. 691]; Wihtred, king [of Kent], confirms this grant [probably c. 691]; and Confirmation by Æthelred, king of the Mercians [probably c. 691] (Kelly).
Discussed, and some translated, in King, Peterborough Abbey, pp. 27-34 and Van Caenegem, English Lawsuits, vol. 1, nos. 214, 220 (from Peterborough MS 5).
Ælfsige, abbot of Peterborough, acquires fenland at Whittlesey Mere from Thored, in exchange for land at Orton, Huntingdonshire, and a sum of money [1020×1023]; description of Peterborough holdings in Whittlesey Mere (Kelly).
'Four knights and a clerk surveyed the woodland, and this document is the result of their survey. It lists the names of the woods and their extent, together with the names of their owners. Eighty-four pieces of woodland are listed here, amounting to slightly under 1600 acres' (King).
See also ff. 136r | cxxi recto, 257r | ccxliii recto, 257r | ccxliii recto-257v | ccxliii verso.
Written in the margin.
'The abbot and convent on the one hand and the knights and freeholders on the other come to an agreement concerning assarting in their respective woodland. The chief problem here concerned rights of common. This comprehensive agreement comes a generation before the Statute of Merton, and anticipates several of its provisions. It is notable also in being sealed by six knights, as representatives of the local community' (King).
See also ff. 135v | cxx verso-136v | cxxi verso, 257r | ccxliii recto, 257r | ccxliii recto-257v | ccxliii verso.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 71v.
Includes extracts from Domesday Book.
King Edgar grants privileges to Thorney Abbey and confirms its lands, 973 (Kelly).
See also: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add. 3020, ff. 12r-13v (14th-century copy) and 13v-15r (14th-century copy 'with significant variants in dispositive section': Kelly).
King Eadwig grants ten hides (cassati) at Kettering, Northamptonshire, to Ælfsige, minister, 956 (Kelly).
King Eadred grants three hides (mansæ) at Ailsworth, Northamptonshire, to Ælfsige, minister, 948 (Kelly).
King Edgar grants five hides (cassati) at Ofertune (Orton, Huntingdonshire) to Ælfheah, minister, 958 (Kelly).
King Edward grants three hides (cassati) at Ayston, Rutland, to Æthelstan, minister, 1046 (Kelly).
'Aldeuueye' in rubric later corrected to 'Aldedreye'.
King Edgar grants land at Howden and Drax, Yorkshire, to Quen, matrona, 959 (Kelly).
King Æthelred grants ten hides (mansae) at Olney, Buckinghamshire, to Ealdorman Ælfhere, 979 (Kelly).
Cædwalla, king [of the West Saxons], grants forty hides (manentes) at Hoo, Kent, to Abbot Ecgbald and his familia [probably 686×687]; Sighere, king of the [East] Saxons, confirms this grant [c. 687]; Swæfheard, king [of Kent], confirms this grant and gives a further twenty hides at Hoo and woodland at Fercanhamstede to Abbot Ecgbald [(1 March 687×28 February 688) × (July 692×694), probably c. 691]; Wihtred, king [of Kent], confirms this grant [probably c. 691]; and Confirmation by Æthelred, king of the Mercians [probably c. 691] (Kelly).
See also ff. 126v | cxi verso-127v | cxii verso.
Offa, king of the Mercians, grants twenty hides (manentes) to the church at Woking, Surrey [757×796] (Kelly).
Æthelred, king of the Mercians, grants thirty hides (menentes) at Leugttricdun to the minster at Medeshamstede [675×691] (Kelly).
Beonna, abbot of Medeshamstede, grants ten hides (manentes) at Swineshead (?Bedfordshire or Lincolnshire), to Cuthberht, princeps, in return for a payment of one thousand shillings and annual hospitality valued as thirty sicli, with ultimate reversion to Medeshamstede [789×796]
King Edmund Ætheling grants one-and-a-half hides (mansae) at Peakirk and three perches at Walton near Peterborough, Northamptonshire, to 'New Minster' (?at Peakirk) [1015×1016] (Kelly).
Beorhtwulf, king of the Mercians, and Hunberht, ealdorman of the Tomsæte, grant privileges to Abbot Eanmund and the familia in the minster of Breodune (probably Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire), in return for the gift to the king of 180 mancuses of pure gold and fifteen hides (manentes) at Stanlege (?Stanley, Derbyshire) and Bellanforde, and the gift to the ealdorman of a drinking vessel, partly ornamented with gold, 844 [for 848] (Kelly).
Frithuric, princeps of Æthelred, king [of the Mercians], grants twenty hides (menentes) at Breedon on the Hill, Leicestershire, to St Peter's, Medeshamstede, for the foundation of a minster [675×691] (Kelly).
Frithuric, princeps, grants thirty-one hides (menentes) at Hrepingas, to Hædda, abbot [of Breedon] [675×691] (Kelly).
Æthelred, king of the Mercians, grants fifteen hides at Cedennac, to Hædda, abbot of Breedon [675×691] (Kelly).
Includes the second Valuation of Norwich.
From the reign of Walter of St Edmunds to the death of John de Séez (reg. 1114-1125). The text dates from the vacancy of 1125-27, when the abbey was held by Henry I.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 181r.
Described in the list of contents at ff. 13v-14r, mainly from the second half of the 13th century.
First leaf missing; contents relate to Peakirk marsh. Not given a particular heading in the list of contents. Continued by later hands on ff. 189v | clxxv verso-190v | clxxvi verso.
Begins with the sacrist; from f. 196r | clxxxii recto, many relate to the chamberlain; from f. 198r | clxxxiv recto, to various altars in the church; and from f. 202r | clxxxviii recto, to the infirmary. Continued by later hands on ff. 202v | clxxxviii verso-206v | cxcii verso.
No indication in the list of contents as to category. At the beginning, some relate to the London properties, and some to the sacristy (e.g. at f. 220v | ccvi verso). Others appear to be in groups concerning one man e.g. Ralph, son of Martin de Maxey at f. 230v | ccxvi verso, and Hugh Fluri at f. 235r | ccxxi recto). Folios 262r | ccxlviii recto-276r | cclxii recto are almonry charters, and a later hand has added 'ad elemmosinariam' to many of the headings. Continued by later hands on ff. 276v | cclxii verso-278v | cclxiv verso.
'An undertaking to pay the fine in annual instalments of 720, 300 and 200 marks' (King).
See also ff. 135v | cxx verso-136v | cxxi verso, 136r | cxxi recto, 257r | ccxliii recto-257v | ccxliii verso.
See also ff. 135v | cxx verso-136v | cxxi verso. 'This document states how the survey was carried out, and how as a result of it the fine was apportioned between the various tenants. The fines here total £361 3s 1½d, leaving a balance of £452 3s 6½d, and presumably also responsibility for the collection, to be met by the abbey' (King).
See also ff. 135v | cxx verso-136v | cxxi verso, 136r | cxxi recto, 257r | ccxliii recto-257v | ccxliii verso.
No indication in the list of contents as to the category. Continued by later hands on ff. 289r | cclxxv recto-290v | cclxxvi verso. The last document, an agreement with Thorney, is dated 19 April 1306. Includes the following items:
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 167r (see: Henry of Pytchley's Book of Fees, ed. by W.T. Mellows, Publications of the Northamptonshire Record Society 2 ([Northampton]: Northamptonshire Record Society, 1927), p. xliii.
Followed by two more documents relating to the same.
This section, which contains some geneal constitutional material, was added later. Besides various miscellaneous charters, it includes the following:
Articuli x of William I.
Copy of the 'Third Version'.
From the Norman Conquest to the reign of Stephen.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 251r (see: Henry of Pytchley's Book of Fees, ed. by W.T. Mellows, Publications of the Northamptonshire Record Society 2 ([Northampton]: Northamptonshire Record Society, 1927), p. xlii).
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 235v.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 224r.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 221r.
From London, Society of Antiquaries, MS 60, f. 209r.
Paras. 1-3, 5, 6 and 4.
Title from the opening words of the text.
Chapters 1-8.
A case and deeds relating to Polebrooke.
Later material, added by a variety of hands
Title taken from the list of contents, f. 14v.
Erased memorandum after the end of the text.
Twelve 14th-century charters relating to Peterborough; not noted in the list of contents.
Probably late 14th-century.
See: Henry of Pytchley's Book of Fees, ed. by W.T. Mellows, Publications of the Northamptonshire Record Society 2 ([Northampton]: Northamptonshire Record Society, 1927), p. xliii.
From John of Caux (reg. 1250-1262) to Henry of Morcott (reg. 1338-1353).
Physical Description
Note on foliation:
This manuscript contains two main foliation sequences, one medieval and one 17th-century (both written in ink), the latter of which is continued by a 20th-century hand writing in pencil. They overlap with one another, but neither on its own provides comprehensive coverage of all of the medieval leaves in the volume. Standard practice at Cambridge University Library would ordinarily be to follow the foliation in pencil, and supply numbering for other unfoliated medieval and modern endleaves using Roman numerals and lower case letters, in square brackets. However, most scholarship on this manuscript has referred to its contents according to the medieval foliation sequence in lower case Roman numerals. For this reason, it has been decided to provide both foliation sequences in the image labelling and in the folio references in this description.Partial 17th-century foliation, with 20th-century supplements
[a-d] + [i-ix] + 1-63, [63a], 64-381 + 382-383, [x-xx] + [e-h]
Folios 1-140 numbered in ink in the upper-right hand corner of the recto side of each leaf, by a 17th-century hand. '63' was repeated in error; the second of these leaves has been designated [63a] for the purposes of this description. The sequence was continued from 141 to 383 by a 20th-century hand, writing in pencil in the same location.Mid-13th-century foliation
i-clxviii, clxx-cccxi, cccvi, cccxvii, cccviii, cccxix-cccxlvi, cccvii, cccxlviii-ccclviii, ccclx-ccclxxii (for ff. 17-381)
Written in ink in the middle of the upper margin of the recto side of each leaf by a mid-13th-century hand (with occasional corrections by later hands). Tables of contents at the front and back of the manuscript are keyed to this sequence, confirming that it was added at an early stage in the manuscript's history, probably contemporary with its production. Folios cccvi and cccviii should properly have been foliated as 'cccxvi' and 'cccxviii', and folio cccvii likewise should have been 'cccxlvii', and all three are shown as such in the folio references for this description.Collation
- Quire 14 (ff. 1-4: 1st leaf a former (?original) pastedown)
- Quire 28 (ff. 5-12)
- Quire 34 (ff. 13-16)
- Quires 4-1712 (ff. 17 | i-183 | clxviii)
- Quire 1812-1 (ff. 184 | clxx-194 | clxxx: 1st leaf missing, before f. 184 | clxx)
- Quires 19-2712 (ff. 195 | clxxxi-302 | cclxxxviii)
- Quire 2810-2 (ff. 303 | cclxxxix-310 | ccxcvi: 7th and 8th leaves cancelled, after f. 308 | ccxciv)
- Quire 2912 (ff. 311 | ccxcvii-322 | cccviii)
- Quire 3012-5 (ff. 323 | cccix-329 | cccxix: 1st leaf cancelled, before f. 323 | cccix; 5th-8th leaves, after f. 325 | cccxi, removed, probably blank)
- Quire 3112 (ff. 330 | cccxx-341 | cccxxxi)
- Quire 328 (ff. 342 | cccxxxii-349 cccxxxix)
- Quire 334 (ff. 350 cccxl-353 cccxliii)
- Quire 3412 (ff. 354 | cccxliv-365 | ccclv)
- Quire 3512-1 (ff. 366 | ccclvi-376 | ccclxvii: 4th leaf excised, probably blank (aside from foliation), after f. 369 | ccclx)
- Quire 366-1 (ff. 377 | ccclxviii-381 | ccclxxii: 4th leaf not present/?excised, after f. 379 | ccclxx)
14 28 34 4-1712 1812-1 19-2712 2810-2 (7th-8th cancelled) 2912 3012-5 3112 (1st cancelled; 5th-8th removed) 328 334 3412 3512-1 (4th excised) Quire 366-1 (4th not present/?excised)
Leaf signatures mostly absent, with only occasional sequences of various sorts, written in plummet in the lower margin:
- minuscule letters (Q10; ff. 88 | lxxiii-91 | lxxvi only)
- O, with the number denoted by horizontal bars above (Q11, 16 [partly cropped], 20)
- minuscule letter, with Roman numerals (Q14 = b; Q15 = a; Q17 = d; Q19 = f; Q21 = e; Q27, 29 and 31 = numerals only)
Two sets of quire signatures:
- 13th-century: Quires 4-24 signed 'i-xxi' (ff. 17r | i recto-266v | cclii verso), written in the centre of the lower margin of the first recto of each quire
- 14th-century: Quires 4-32 signed 'i-xxix' (ff. 17r | i recto-349v | cccxxxix verso), written at various positions in the lower margin of the first recto and last verso of each quire
The longer sequence of 14th-century quire signatures does not signal the addition of extra quires at this point. They may have been added in preparation for the rebinding of the manuscript.
Catchwords by a 13th-century hand occasionally visible and often partly cropped (see, for example, ff. 28v | xii verso, 63v | xlvii verso), supplanted by additions by a 14th-century hand, apparently the same as that responsible for the quire signatures (and likewise perhaps in preparation for rebinding).Condition
Layout
220-230 × 155-160 mm. Ruled in leadpoint, frame and line. Single columns, 35 lines to the page, written below top line. Number of lines and written space outside the core 13th-century production is more variable.
Hand(s)
The core 13th-century production was written by several hands in littera textualis of varying formality, the principal contributor presumably being either Robert of Swaffham (fl. c. 1250-1271) or someone working at his direction (see Origin for further details). The prefatory tables of contents and many early additions are in charter script, again by multiple hands.
Later additions by numerous hands, writing variously in anglicana (e.g. ff. 45r | xxix recto-47r | xxxi recto, 81r | lxvi recto-82r | lxvii recto, 86r | lxxi recto, 282r | cclxviii recto-282v | cclxviii verso, 299r | cclxxxv recto-300r | cclxxxvi recto, 304r | ccxc recto-305r | ccxci recto, 308v | ccxciv verso-309r | ccxcv recto, 328r | cccxviii recto-328v | cccxviii verso and 354r | cccxliv recto - all early to mid-14th century; 355v | cccxlv verso-364r | cccliv recto - later 14th- and some 15th-century).
Decoration
Four-line initial in blue with red and blue infill and marginal flourishing (f. 17r | i recto) and two-line versions, alternating as above or in red with blue infill and flourishing, at intervals throughout the text. Differences in style and proportion indicate their execution by several hands, all of the 13th century.
Litterae notabiliores in the text touched with red.
Occasional sketches of faces in the margins, in plummet (e.g. ff. 146v | cxxxi verso, 152r | cxxxvii recto).
Rubrics in red.
Additions
Numerous marginal additions and content-markers, by hands of the 13th-15th centuries, as well as further annotations by 16th- and 17th-century hands, throughout the manuscript.
Binding
Conserved and rebound at Cambridge University Library by Shaun Thompson in 2024. Alum-tawed calfskin over quarter-sawn oak boards. Sewn in herringbone with Barbour best common unbleached linen thread on four double unbleached 8-ply linen cord supports. Primary endbands worked on an 8-ply linen core with a back bead, in Barbour thread, through a slit tawed bonnet liner. The secondary endband was secured to the primary by adding a second linen core, with double wrapping turns of silk and one crossover, worked in alternating double turns of white and green. New endleaves of two parchment bifolia, with linen and alum-tawed hinges, sewn all along.
A post-medieval binding of possibly the ?16th century (Ker) or ?17th century (Shaun Thompson, personal communication) was applied to the manuscript, comprising wooden boards (perhaps recycled from the binding of this or another manuscript), covered with brown tanned calfskin, over which a 15th-century cover of blind-tooled leather (now abraded and torn) was applied. Two catches (of which only one survives). The spine was reinforced later, comprising a tawed leather cover or bonnet for the spine and metal-alloy plates (or 'sliders') along the joints holding it in place.
This binding and other materials collected during the conservation process have been retained and are stored with the manuscript. Images of these are placed at the end of the digital facsimile and show the following:
- Images 835-836: Parchment patch liners
- Images 837-838: Rehitching material used in reattaching gatherings to the text-block (top left); plant-based material, possibly including page-markers (top right); rehitching material (bottom left); and tail-ends of tanned skin slips removed from the board holes (bottom right)
- Images 839-840: Heavy sewing supports formed of tanned skin, with attached abbreviated sewing thread
- Images 841-842: Remains of the abbreviated sewing thread (top); and detritus collected from the leaves of the manuscript during conservation cleaning (bottom)
- Images 843-844: Endband cores (top left); red and blue endband tie-downs from a previous endband (?medieval); a seed pod and fragment of pigment (middle left); and ?nib of a feathered pen, in two pieces
- Images 845-846: A medieval decorated hooked catch of metal alloy, from the lower of two clasps, formerly attached to the rear board
The manuscript contains perhaps three sets of medieval endleaves, an accretion that reflects successive rebindings during the medieval period.
The first sets of endleaves appear to have been formed of gatherings of four leaves at the front (now ff. 1-4) and six leaves at the back (now ff. 377-381), of which the first and the last respectively were used as pastedowns. Damage to the lower edge of ff. 1-3 indicates the presence of a chain staple - but the fact that friction holes or rust stains have not transmitted to adjoining endleaves suggests that the manuscript was not chained again after this first binding was removed.
When the manuscript was rebound, these pastedowns were lifted and bifolia added at the front (now ff. [viii]-[ix]) and the back (now ff. 382-383), again with the first and last leaves respectively serving as pastedowns.
The manuscript was bound a third time, at which juncture the pastedowns were once again lifted. That these rebindings took place during the medieval period is evinced by the presence of notes by late 14th-/early 15th-century hands on ff. [viii] recto and 383v, which were only accessible once they had been lifted. The notes on f. 383v concern the reigns of abbots of Peterborough, with the final name, Henry of Morcott, providing a terminus ante quem non for the third rebinding of 1353. At this third rebinding, more leaves were added on either side of the volume: at the front, two gatherings of four leaves (now ff. [i]-[vii]), and at the rear, three gatherings of four leaves (now ff. [x]-[xx]). Some losses had occurred at that point or later: the first leaf of the first gathering at the front (before f. [i]) and the second leaf of the gathering at the back (after f. [xviii]). Again, the first and last leaves in these groups respectively (f. [i] and [xx]) were pasted down.
A decorated hooked catch, not contemporary with the production of the manuscript, but certainly medieval and probably itself recycled from a larger manuscript, was reused in one of the later medieval rebindings of the manuscript and subsequently retained and reused as part of the ?16th/?17th-century binding (see above for further details).
History
'Liber Roberti de Swapham . de prima fundacione Burgensis Ecclesie et de Destructione et Restauracione eiusdem et de Priuilegiis et Cartis et omnibus libertatibus et Immunitatibus Eiusdem Ecclesie': Robert of Swaffham (fl. c. 1250-1271) was the compiler of this cartulary, which was presumably written by him or someone working at his direction. Few details of Robert's life survive. He is recorded as the Abbey's pittancer in 1269 and its cellarer at Easter 1271. He is thought to have died shortly thereafter.
Provenance and Acquisition
Owned by Peterborough Abbey from the manuscript's creation until the Dissolution. It was recorded as 'le Swaffam', in reference to its compiler (see Origin), in the Register of Richard Ashton, abbot 1438-1471 (which now comprises the first part of Peterborough Cathedral, MS 2, the 'Book of Roger Bird'). Thereupon, it remained in the possession of Peterborough Cathedral until the Civil War (see below).
[ii] recto: 'The Coppie of his account', presumably written by the hand of Humfrey Austin, relating the hiding and discovery of the manuscript during the Civil War, and its recovery into the possession of Peterborough Cathedral . 'This Booke was hide in the Church, by me Humfrey Austin; February 1642. And found by one of Coll: Cromwelle Souldgers when thay pul'd downe all ye seats in the Quire, April 22th 1643. And I makeing inquire a mongst them, for an Old Latin Bible which were lost, I found out at last ye partie who had it, and I gave him for ye booke Tenn shillings, as you see by this acq:'. And, beneath that: 'I pray let this Scripture booke alone for he hath paid me for it; therefore I would desire you to let it a lone; By me Henry Topclyffe, Souldger under Capt. Cromwell, Coll: Cromw. sonn; theirfore I praye let it a lone, By me Henry Topclyffe.'
The manuscript was placed on deposit at Cambridge University Library between 1980 and 1983 and remains in possession of the Dean and Chapter of Peterborough Cathedral.
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
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Custodial History
Bibliography
-
The history of the Church of Peterburgh: wherein the most remarkable things concerning
that
place, from the first foundation thereof: with other passages of history, not unworthy
publick view, are
represented...Illustrated with sculptures, Gunton, Simon (London, printed for Richard Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown in S.
Paul's Church-Yard, 1686)
Historiae Anglicanae scriptores varii, e codicibus manuscriptis nunc primum editi, (Londini, Typis Gul. Bowyer, 1723)
Monasticon anglicanum: a history of the abbies and other monasteries, hospitals, frieries,
and
cathedral and collegiate churches, with their dependencies, in England and Wales ;
also of all such Scotch,
Irish, and French monasteries as were in any manner connected with religious houses
in England; together with
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full statement of their
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Chronicon Petroburgense, nunc primum typis mandatum Camden Society, Stapleton, Thomas (Londini, sumptibus Societatis Camdenensis, 1849)
<hi rend="italics">Lestoire des Engles</hi> solum la translacion Maistre Geffrei
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Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Savigny-Stiftung, (Halle a. S., 1, M. Niemeyer, 1898, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.selden/diegese0001&i=1)
Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Savigny-Stiftung, (Halle a. S., 3, M. Niemeyer, 1903, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.selden/diegese0004&i=1)
Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, Herausgegeben im Auftrage der Savigny-Stiftung, (Halle a. S., 3, M. Niemeyer, 1916, https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.selden/diegese0004&i=1)
The valuation of Norwich, Lunt, William E. (Oxford, The Clarendon press, 1926)
Henry of Pytchley's Book of fees Publications of the Northamptonshire Record Society, ([Northampton], Northamptonshire Record Society, 1927)
Papsturkunden in England Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen.
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The chronicle of Hugh Candidus, a monk of Peterborough, (London, Oxford University Press on behalf of the Friends of Peterborough Cathedral,
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<hi rend="italics">Carte nativorum</hi>: a Peterborough Abbey cartulary of the
fourteenth century Publications of the Northamptonshire Record Society, ([Northampton], Oxford University Press, for Northamptonshire Record Society, 1960)
Peterborough Abbey, 1086-1310: a study in the land market Cambridge studies in economic
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Two charters of liberty Northamptonshire Past and Present, King, Edmund (5, 1, 37-42, 1973)
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Medieval manuscripts in British libraries, Ker, N.R.Piper, A.J. (Oxford, 4: Paisley-York, Clarendon, 1992)
The <hi rend="italics">Descriptio terrarum</hi> of Peterborough Abbey Historical Research, Roffe, David (65, 1-16, 1992)
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God's peace and king's peace: the laws of Edward the Confessor Middle Ages series, O'Brien, Bruce R. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999, https://doi.org/10.9783/9781512805222)
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Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
