Cambridge, University Library, MS Ee.1.3
Common Pleas entries
Contents
Language(s): Latin, Middle English, and Middle French
Precents of return to writs (ff. 2v, 3v) and a copy of a deed poll whereby John Paternoster grants 2s per annum to the churchwarden and parishioners of St Leonard's, Shoreditch
This is a table of contents for ff. i recto-cclxvi verso
Including two writs of debt (ff. 10r-10v), writ of trespass for hindering an archdeacon's registrar in exercising his office in Norfolk and for taking his records (ff. 11r-11v), and a fragment (mostly cut out) of a calendar (ff. 12r-12v)
Probably written in the early 1480s as is indicated by the precedent on f. 19v, which is dated Hil. 22 Edward IV (1483).
The entries mostly date to c. 1435-1445 and are interspersed with miscellaneous precedents and notes, including later entries going up to the 1470s; for more details of the legal items among these entries, see Baker and Ringrose (1996), pp. 161-162.
The collection was evidently compiled by Simon Elryngton since he features as attorney in some of the entries.
Among the entries are some precedents that are not Common Pleas, for a discussion of these items see Baker and Ringrose (1996), p. 162.
Added in the 15th century.
Full transcription; followed by a document entitled ‘Carta de Regis’.
Added in the 15th century
Added in the 15th century.
Added in the 15th century.
Added by various 15th-century hands; the recipes are all in Middle English, but there is one line from a cure for reuma that is also found in the Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum: 'Esuries, scicies, vigeles [sic: 'vigiles']: sic creumata [sic: 'reumata'] cures'.
They address the following:
- f. ccxlvi verso: for joint aches (top margin); for the stomach and breast; for wind and phlegm in the breast and stomach (attributed to Master Payn: 'secundum Magistrum Payn''); two for aches caused by gout
- f. ccxlvii recto: for the stomach and head (top margin); for the liver; for heat in the stomach; for phlegm; for ague/acute fever and aches; for the stone; for colic and for the stomach; for shaking; for haemorrhoids; for cough; for all manner of aches; for phlegm in the stomach or intestines; for sciatica
Added in the 15th century.
Added in the 15th century.
Added in the 15th century.
Part of the text has been obscured by a stain.
Full transcription; the first two lines originate from Aesop's fable on the two mice ('De duobus muribus')
Added in the 15th century.
Added in the 15th century
Added by three different 15th-century hands.
Added by a 15th-century hand.
Written by two 15th-century hands, the second one also copied the last Middle English recipe on f. 266v.
The rentals are entitled: 'Rentale terrarum et tenementorum episcopi Londiniensis factum xxvio anno regis H. viti' (ff. clxvii recto-clxvii verso) and 'Hakeney. Compotus Ricardi Brok collectoris reddituum et firme ibidem' (f. cclxviii verso); the precedent (f. clxvii recto) concerns a writ to a bishop for a beneficed clerk and is followed entries ‘adhuc de Hakeney rentale’.
Added in the early 16th century.
Added in the early 16th century.
These leaves were previously misnumbered as ff. cclxxi-cclxxxix, but the foliation has been corrected on 17 November 2022.
These leaves were previously misnumbered as as ff. ccxc-cccviii, but the foliation has been corrected on 17 November 2022.
Mostly written in the 15th century, but those on the last two leaves date from the reign of Henry VII or Henry VIII.
The plaintiff is probably John Elryngton (d. 1504), filazer of the Common Pleas, Simon's son; or Sir John Elryngton (d. 1483), treasurer of the household 1471-83, Simon's brother.
The inscription consists of the single word 'Camfer', written in a late 15th- or early 16th-century hand, possibly referring to the camphor tree.
Physical Description
The endleaves at the beginning have been foliated ff. 1-2 and those at the end ff. 21-22. The core leaves include f. 12, a parchment stub with writing, a fragmentary leaf (f. v a), and leaves omitted in the 15th-century foliation sequence (ff. cvii a-f, cxxiii a-d, cxlvii a, clxvi a, clxvi a, clxviii a, and ccx a). However, unfoliated blank stubs after ff. cxiii, cxix, ccxlvii, cclxxvii, cclxxviii, and ccxciii are not included in this count.
255 × 170 mm.Current foliation:
1-2 + 3-20, i-v, v a, vi-cvii, cvii a-cvii f, cviii-cxxiii, cxxiii a-cxxiii d, cxxiv-cxlvii, cxlvii a, cxlviii-clxvi, clxvi a, clxvii-clxviii, cxlviii a, clxix-ccx, ccx a, ccxi-ccxlix, cclx-cccxviii + 21-22
The foliation sequence stated above is the one currently in use for this volume (as of December 2022). It comprises a mixture of 15th-, 20th- and 21st-century numbering (see below for further, detailed description of each). Folios 1-2 are the front pastedown (now lifted) and endleaf; 21-22 are the rear endleaf and pastedown (still stuck down).
The main portion of the manuscript had originally been foliated using Roman numerals in the 15th century, with various errors or inconsistencies -
- the same number used twice (ff. cxlvii, clxvi, ccx)
- gaps left (after ff. cvii, clxviii)
- blank leaves left unfoliated (after ff. v, cxxiii)
- a jump in numbering (from f. ccxlix to cclx)
- leaves that were not numbered but after which the foliation sequence continued as if they had been (after ff. ccxxvii and ccxlvi)
In the 20th century, an attempt was made by Basil Atkinson to fill some of these gaps. Atkinson numbered the leaves after ff. cvii using lower case letters: so ff. cvii, cvii a-cvii f. He also continued the sequence of Roman numerals for the remaining leaves in the main section of the manuscript, and used Arabic numerals for the accompanying matter at each end. However, a mistake was made in the sequence of Roman numerals: starting with 'cclxiv', Atkinson continued the sequence up to 'cclxxiii' but on the next leaf accidentally slipped back ten digits to 'cclxiv', which error persisted for the rest of the main section of the volume.
In 2022, in preparation for the manuscript's digitisation, the decision was taken to correct this recent mistake and ensure that all other leaves in the volume were assigned a folio number, as follows:
- Where the same number was used twice in the 15th-century sequence, the second leaf was marked 'a': so, f. cxlvii is followed now by f. cxlvii a; f. clxvi by f. clxvi a; f. ccx by f. ccx a.
- Where gaps had been left and the numbering continued incorrectly, the omitted leaf was marked 'a': so, ff. clxviii, clxviii a.
- Where blank leaves had been left unfoliated, the omitted leaves were marked using lower case letters: so, f. cxxii is now followed by ff. cxxiii a-cxxiii d.
- Where there was a jump in the 15th-century foliation, this has been left as it: so, f. ccxlix is followed by cclx.
- Where leaves were not numbered but the foliation sequence continues as if they had been, numbers have been written onto these leaves accordingly: so, f. ccxxvii is followed by ff. ccxxviii and ccxxix, and f. ccxlvi is followed by ccxlvii.
- Atkinson's foliation has been cancelled from the point of his mistake onwards (so, after f. cclxxiii) and the numbering continued correctly: so f. cclxxiii is followed by ff. cclxxiv through to cccxviii.
- f. 12: this had been counted in Atkinson's sequence but not physically numbered.
- f. v a
15th-century foliation:
i-cclxiii
Numbering in Roman numerals, written in brown ink in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, perhaps by Simon Elryngton.20th-century foliation:
1-20, cvii a-cvii f, cclxiv-cclxxiii, cclxiv-cccviii, 21-22
Numbering in pencil in the upper right-hand corner of the rectos, by the hand of B.F.C. Atkinson , now partially struck out and corrected (see below).Collation
The collation cannot be established due to the tight binding, but the manuscript consists of a large number of small quires of two, four, six, or eight leaves.
Condition
Layout
180-225 × 115-150 mm. Occasional frame-ruling in crayon or pencil. Written in single columns. 18-55 lines to the page.
Hand(s)
Written by many different cursive hands, all of them writing in Anglicana scripts with Secretary features.
Decoration
The manuscript does not feature any significant decoration.
Binding
18th-century Bowtell-style half russia, light brown speckled paper sides; red lable on spine lettered ‘Precedents M.S.’. The spine encases that of a medieval binding with original sewing onto five double thongs, possibly split bands of alum-tawed leather, and endbands worked with blue and (?) red silk, now faded.
Binding height: 265 mm; width: 180 mm; depth: 70 mm.
History
Provenance and Acquisition
1r-22r: Simon Elryngham of Hackney (d. 1481/85) , attorney of the Common Pleas and filazer of that court for Norfolk, 1442-1475: compiled and owned the manuscript as indicated by a rubrics on f. 4r: ‘Kalendare istius libri factum per Simonem Elrygnton’ and f. 8v: ‘Simon Elryngton de Hakeney deo gracias’; and ownership inscriptions on f. clxxiv verso: ‘Liber Simonis Elryngton filiciarii Norff. in Communi Banco ihc. mercy’; f. cclxiv verso: ‘Liber S. Elryngton de Hakeney’; f. cclxvi verso: ‘Explicit quod Simon Elrygnton possessor totius libri etc. ihc’.
Simon Elryngton perhaps passed the manuscript down to his son John Elryngton (d. 1504) , filazer for Hampshire and Wiltshire from 1460 to 1475, and then for London and Middlesex, deputy Custos Brevium as suggested by the item on f. 21v.
1r-22r: Tamezen Grenham : her name inscribed in a 16th-century script on f. 22r: ‘Tamezen Grenham and Alles her dowter’.
John Moore (1646-1714) , bishop of Ely: no. 298 in Bernard, Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum Angliæ et Hiberniæ (c. 1697).
Presented to the University Library in 1715 by George I , but without the donation bookplate engraved by John Pine in 1736.
Additional Information
Record Sources
Availability
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Bibliography
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A Catalogue of English Legal Manuscripts in Cambridge University Library, with Codicological
Descriptions of the Early Manuscripts, Baker, J.H.Ringrose, J.S. (Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 1996)
Books of Entries Historical Jurisprudence Irish Jurist, Baker, John (41, 1-19, 2006)
Privately-Owned English Urban Manuscripts, 1300-1476 (Urban Manuscript Project) Archaeology
Data Service, Riddy, Felicity (2008, https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archives/view/ump_ahrc_2008/index.cfm)
Funding of Cataloguing
Wellcome
Digital Images
Abbreviations
View list of abbreviations and editorial conventions.
