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STATUTES OF THE REALM INCLUDING MAGNA CARTA, in law French and Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM
[England, first quarter of the 14th century]
95 x 55mm. ii + 218 leaves: 1-38, 47(of 8, lacking vi), 5-108, 1112, 12-168, 174, 188, 1912(including 4 misbound folios from 17), 20-238, 247, signature marks and catchwords throughout, 23 lines written in brown ink in a small charter hand between two verticals and 24 horizontals ruled in brown, justification: 74 x 38mm, paragraph marks in red, blue or gold throughout and, from f.188, with red and blue flourishing, TWENTY LARGE EXTRAVAGANTLY FLOURISHED DIVIDED INITIALS OF BURNISHED GOLD AND BLUE with ornate cadels and drolleries into the margin, large illuminated initial with border and drollery, and THIRTY-EIGHT HISTORIATED INITIALS accompanied by a cusped border with leaf terminals and marginal grotesques or drolleries (darkening to leaves of Calendar, a few borders or grotesques slightly cropped, small pigment losses to some initials and borders initials). 18th-century calf gilt with silver catches in modern purple morocco box.
AN EARLY COPY OF THE STATUTES FUNDAMENTAL TO BRITISH LAW WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL AND EXTENSIVE CYCLE OF HISTORIATED INITIALS
PROVENANCE:
1. Knowledge of the statutes of England was the basis for the administration of justice and medieval legal practice and it is probable that this manuscript was made for a lawyer.
2. Thomas Merton: notes added to the Calendar record the births of the children of Thomas Merton, Robert on 2 May and Elizabeth on 21 October, apparently in 1491/2 ('anno vii Henrici vii')
3. Sir Thomas Saunder : note on endleaf ii recording his gift of the manuscript to his son Edmond 20 July 1561
4. Edmond Saunder: inscription on flyleaf dated 20 July 1561
5. Edward Ire(?): cropped note in a 16th-century hand of the recto of endleaf ii
6. Ink-stamped monogram on f.16v, TSR superimposed on EL, with the date 1693
7. William Harcourt Hopper: his bookplate inside upper cover
CONTENT:
The earliest Statute Roll begins in 1278 and copies of the enrolled Statutes of England began to be produced from the beginning of the fourteenth century. The present manuscript opens with the confirmation of Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest that Edward I made following the constitutional crisis of 1297. It was in this form that Magna Carta first appeared in the Statute Book; it remained the most fundamental part of the enacted law until the eighteenth century. The present manuscript contains all the principal Statutes enrolled by Edward I (1272-1307) as part of the wide-ranging legislative reforms with which he sought to clarify the confused tangle of rules with which his realm had been governed: the Statutes of Westminster I and II (1275 and 1285), covering the whole field of property, criminal and constitutional law, the Statutes of Gloucester (1278), the Statute of Winchester (1285) and many others of more restricted application. The latest securely datable Statute included in this manuscript is De Conspiratoribus (ff.167v-168) of 1305 and, although several are of uncertain date and some, for example Visus francii plegii (ff.195-196), have been thought to date from the reign of Edward II, no Statute certainly enacted by him is included. The manuscript was certainly compiled before the reign of Edward III and it seems likely that it dates from the end of the reign of Edward I. It is an early response to the great development of statute law that was characteristic of the fourteenth century.
The statutes were preceded by the Calendar and computational information necesssary to plan the course and courts of the year. The texts in law French in the present manuscript are identified below; the remainder of the texts are in Latin.
Easter tables f.2; Calendar ff.3-8v; list of contents ff.9-10v; list of chapters in Magna Carta, De Foreste, Novi Articuli, Statutes of Merton, Marlborough, Westminster I, Gloucester and Westminster II ff. 11-16; Magna Carta ff.17-25; De Foresta ff.25-29; Sentencia lata in law French (lacking end) ff.29r&v; Assisa Foreste (lacking opening) ff.30r&v; Novi Articuli in law French ff.31-40; Statuta Merton ff.40v-45v; Statuta Marleburgh ff.45v-57v; Statuta Westministerie I in law French ff.58-81; Statuta Gloucestrie in law French ff.81-88; Explanaciones Gloucestrie in law French ff.88-89; De Bigamia ff.89-91v; De Anno and De Bisexto f.91v; Statuta Westministerie II ff.92-136v; De Emptoribus ff.136v-137v; De Religione ff.137v-138v; De Scaccario in law French ff.138v-143v; Districtiones in law French ff.143v-144v; De Mercatoribus in law French ff.145-149v; De Finibus ff.150-153; Statuta Wynton in law French ff.153-158; Articuli Wynton ff.158-159; De Excestris ff.159-166; De Champestris in law French ff.166-167; De Conspiratoribus ff.167v-168; De Recognitoribus ff.168-169v; De Gaveleto ff.169v-170v; Modus Assumpmandi Essonie ff.170v-171v; De Quo Warranto ff.171v-174v; De Quo Warranto II f.175; De Quo Warranto III ff.175v-176; De Presenti Vocato ff.176v-177v; De Vasto ff.177v-179; De Agatis ff.179-180; Contra Prohibitur ff.180r&v; De Ragman ff.181-182v; De Militibus ff.182v-183v; De Armorum in law French ff.183v-185; De Assisa Panis in law French ff.185-186; De Assisa Cervisie in law French ff.186v-187; De Pillorie ff.187-189; De Prisone ff.189-190; De Extenta Manerii ff.190-191v; Contra Vicecomites ff.191v-193v; De Boscis ff.193v-194; Dies Communes ff.194v-195; Visus Franci Plegii in law French ff.195-196; Officium Coronatur ff.196-198v; Exposiciones Vocabulorum ff.198v-201; De Moneta in law French ff.201-202v; Articuli Moneta in law French ff.203-204; Compositio Monete ff.204; Compositio Ponderum ff.204-205v; De Tonsura ff.206-207; De Iudaisino ff.207-210; Modus Capiendo Homagium in law French ff.210-211; Modus de Wardis in law French ff.211-212; De Coheredibus ff.212-213; De Hiis Qui Admittendi Sunt ff.213v-214v; summary of the first four chapters of the Ordinance of Labourers (of 1349), added on ff.215-216
ILLUMINATION:
Secular illuminated manuscripts produced in England are not common and the extent of the illustration in the present book far exceeds that of any other statutes that have been on the market in the past twenty years.
The opening initial introduces the Magna Carta, in the form of the Inspeximus of Edward I, and shows the King seated and holding the Sword of Justice. From that point until f.187 each statute opens with a large illuminated initial, the majority of them containing a scene quite relevant to the subject that the provision or statute regulates; the Forest Charter, for example, shows a huntsman blowing his horn while his hound attacks a running stag. Many of the initials contain equally lively reflections of contemporary life: the two men who watch a hanged man swing on a gallows (f.153) introduce the Statute of Winchester, which opens with regulations to ensure that robbers and murderers are brought to justice; the man holding the large pewter measure (186v) introduces the Assize of Ale fixing prices (one penny for two gallons); and the constrained person mocked by others (f.187) is a baker who had repeatedly disregarded these regulations. The illustrative scheme changed from f.189 when the historiated initials are replaced by initials with divided staves of gold and blue and flamboyant flourishing that extends into the margins and forms foliage and dragons. An additional relief from the serious content is provided by the drolleries or grotesques that accompany the majority of the historiated initials and borders. The style of the illumination is entirely consistent with a date in the first decade of the 14th century.
The subjects of the historiated initials are as follows:
f.17 King with the Sword of Justice
f.25 Huntsman and hound pursuing a stag
f.29 Robert Archbishop of Canterbury addressing a man to threaten excommunication for non-compliance with the articles of the King
f.31 Man holding the Magna Carta complete with the King's seal
f.40v King with a widow (Merton I and II concern the protection of widows' dowers)
f.45v King and two officers
f.58 Man entering a doorway (Westminster I protects religious houses from abuse of hospitality)
f.81 King with one man by the bedside of another
f.88 Seated King
f.91v Head of a man
f.92 Two men disputing
f.136v Shopkeeper and customer
f.137v King with a priest
f.138 Two men disputing over documents
f.143v Two men with a confiscated animal
f.145 King with a merchant with a money-bag
f.150 Two men, each one holding half of an indenture
f.153 Hanged man regarded by two other men
f.158 King questioning official
f.159 One man questioning another standing beside a body: the statutes of Exeter open with the procedure for enquiring into the conduct of coroners
f.166 King ruling on the conduct of two men
f.167v Three conspirators
f.168 Judge and three jurors
f.169v Man with a beast (?sheep) at the city-gate
f.170v Man writing on a roll at the dictation of another
f.171v Judge and petitioner examining a charter
f.175 King petitioned by two men, one holding up a charter
f.175v Two men arguing before the king
f.176v Two men on ploughed land discussing tenancy
f.177v Young man with a dying tree: introducing the statue concerning waste and destruction
f.179 Bishop adjudicating over two men
f.180 King giving ruling to another man
f.181 Justice on horseback entering a city
f.182v King with two petitioners
f.183v Armed Knight: introducing the statute governing the carrying of weapons and conduct at tournaments
f.185 Man weighing bread in scales: introducing the assize of bread
f.186v Man with a ?two gallon pot: introducing the assize of ale
f.187 Baker who had sold short measure in a pillory, watched by two others
[England, first quarter of the 14th century]
95 x 55mm. ii + 218 leaves: 1
AN EARLY COPY OF THE STATUTES FUNDAMENTAL TO BRITISH LAW WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL AND EXTENSIVE CYCLE OF HISTORIATED INITIALS
PROVENANCE:
1. Knowledge of the statutes of England was the basis for the administration of justice and medieval legal practice and it is probable that this manuscript was made for a lawyer.
2. Thomas Merton: notes added to the Calendar record the births of the children of Thomas Merton, Robert on 2 May and Elizabeth on 21 October, apparently in 1491/2 ('anno vii Henrici vii')
3. Sir Thomas Saunder : note on endleaf ii recording his gift of the manuscript to his son Edmond 20 July 1561
4. Edmond Saunder: inscription on flyleaf dated 20 July 1561
5. Edward Ire(?): cropped note in a 16th-century hand of the recto of endleaf ii
6. Ink-stamped monogram on f.16v, TSR superimposed on EL, with the date 1693
7. William Harcourt Hopper: his bookplate inside upper cover
CONTENT:
The earliest Statute Roll begins in 1278 and copies of the enrolled Statutes of England began to be produced from the beginning of the fourteenth century. The present manuscript opens with the confirmation of Magna Carta and the Charter of the Forest that Edward I made following the constitutional crisis of 1297. It was in this form that Magna Carta first appeared in the Statute Book; it remained the most fundamental part of the enacted law until the eighteenth century. The present manuscript contains all the principal Statutes enrolled by Edward I (1272-1307) as part of the wide-ranging legislative reforms with which he sought to clarify the confused tangle of rules with which his realm had been governed: the Statutes of Westminster I and II (1275 and 1285), covering the whole field of property, criminal and constitutional law, the Statutes of Gloucester (1278), the Statute of Winchester (1285) and many others of more restricted application. The latest securely datable Statute included in this manuscript is De Conspiratoribus (ff.167v-168) of 1305 and, although several are of uncertain date and some, for example Visus francii plegii (ff.195-196), have been thought to date from the reign of Edward II, no Statute certainly enacted by him is included. The manuscript was certainly compiled before the reign of Edward III and it seems likely that it dates from the end of the reign of Edward I. It is an early response to the great development of statute law that was characteristic of the fourteenth century.
The statutes were preceded by the Calendar and computational information necesssary to plan the course and courts of the year. The texts in law French in the present manuscript are identified below; the remainder of the texts are in Latin.
Easter tables f.2; Calendar ff.3-8v; list of contents ff.9-10v; list of chapters in Magna Carta, De Foreste, Novi Articuli, Statutes of Merton, Marlborough, Westminster I, Gloucester and Westminster II ff. 11-16; Magna Carta ff.17-25; De Foresta ff.25-29; Sentencia lata in law French (lacking end) ff.29r&v; Assisa Foreste (lacking opening) ff.30r&v; Novi Articuli in law French ff.31-40; Statuta Merton ff.40v-45v; Statuta Marleburgh ff.45v-57v; Statuta Westministerie I in law French ff.58-81; Statuta Gloucestrie in law French ff.81-88; Explanaciones Gloucestrie in law French ff.88-89; De Bigamia ff.89-91v; De Anno and De Bisexto f.91v; Statuta Westministerie II ff.92-136v; De Emptoribus ff.136v-137v; De Religione ff.137v-138v; De Scaccario in law French ff.138v-143v; Districtiones in law French ff.143v-144v; De Mercatoribus in law French ff.145-149v; De Finibus ff.150-153; Statuta Wynton in law French ff.153-158; Articuli Wynton ff.158-159; De Excestris ff.159-166; De Champestris in law French ff.166-167; De Conspiratoribus ff.167v-168; De Recognitoribus ff.168-169v; De Gaveleto ff.169v-170v; Modus Assumpmandi Essonie ff.170v-171v; De Quo Warranto ff.171v-174v; De Quo Warranto II f.175; De Quo Warranto III ff.175v-176; De Presenti Vocato ff.176v-177v; De Vasto ff.177v-179; De Agatis ff.179-180; Contra Prohibitur ff.180r&v; De Ragman ff.181-182v; De Militibus ff.182v-183v; De Armorum in law French ff.183v-185; De Assisa Panis in law French ff.185-186; De Assisa Cervisie in law French ff.186v-187; De Pillorie ff.187-189; De Prisone ff.189-190; De Extenta Manerii ff.190-191v; Contra Vicecomites ff.191v-193v; De Boscis ff.193v-194; Dies Communes ff.194v-195; Visus Franci Plegii in law French ff.195-196; Officium Coronatur ff.196-198v; Exposiciones Vocabulorum ff.198v-201; De Moneta in law French ff.201-202v; Articuli Moneta in law French ff.203-204; Compositio Monete ff.204; Compositio Ponderum ff.204-205v; De Tonsura ff.206-207; De Iudaisino ff.207-210; Modus Capiendo Homagium in law French ff.210-211; Modus de Wardis in law French ff.211-212; De Coheredibus ff.212-213; De Hiis Qui Admittendi Sunt ff.213v-214v; summary of the first four chapters of the Ordinance of Labourers (of 1349), added on ff.215-216
ILLUMINATION:
Secular illuminated manuscripts produced in England are not common and the extent of the illustration in the present book far exceeds that of any other statutes that have been on the market in the past twenty years.
The opening initial introduces the Magna Carta, in the form of the Inspeximus of Edward I, and shows the King seated and holding the Sword of Justice. From that point until f.187 each statute opens with a large illuminated initial, the majority of them containing a scene quite relevant to the subject that the provision or statute regulates; the Forest Charter, for example, shows a huntsman blowing his horn while his hound attacks a running stag. Many of the initials contain equally lively reflections of contemporary life: the two men who watch a hanged man swing on a gallows (f.153) introduce the Statute of Winchester, which opens with regulations to ensure that robbers and murderers are brought to justice; the man holding the large pewter measure (186v) introduces the Assize of Ale fixing prices (one penny for two gallons); and the constrained person mocked by others (f.187) is a baker who had repeatedly disregarded these regulations. The illustrative scheme changed from f.189 when the historiated initials are replaced by initials with divided staves of gold and blue and flamboyant flourishing that extends into the margins and forms foliage and dragons. An additional relief from the serious content is provided by the drolleries or grotesques that accompany the majority of the historiated initials and borders. The style of the illumination is entirely consistent with a date in the first decade of the 14th century.
The subjects of the historiated initials are as follows:
f.17 King with the Sword of Justice
f.25 Huntsman and hound pursuing a stag
f.29 Robert Archbishop of Canterbury addressing a man to threaten excommunication for non-compliance with the articles of the King
f.31 Man holding the Magna Carta complete with the King's seal
f.40v King with a widow (Merton I and II concern the protection of widows' dowers)
f.45v King and two officers
f.58 Man entering a doorway (Westminster I protects religious houses from abuse of hospitality)
f.81 King with one man by the bedside of another
f.88 Seated King
f.91v Head of a man
f.92 Two men disputing
f.136v Shopkeeper and customer
f.137v King with a priest
f.138 Two men disputing over documents
f.143v Two men with a confiscated animal
f.145 King with a merchant with a money-bag
f.150 Two men, each one holding half of an indenture
f.153 Hanged man regarded by two other men
f.158 King questioning official
f.159 One man questioning another standing beside a body: the statutes of Exeter open with the procedure for enquiring into the conduct of coroners
f.166 King ruling on the conduct of two men
f.167v Three conspirators
f.168 Judge and three jurors
f.169v Man with a beast (?sheep) at the city-gate
f.170v Man writing on a roll at the dictation of another
f.171v Judge and petitioner examining a charter
f.175 King petitioned by two men, one holding up a charter
f.175v Two men arguing before the king
f.176v Two men on ploughed land discussing tenancy
f.177v Young man with a dying tree: introducing the statue concerning waste and destruction
f.179 Bishop adjudicating over two men
f.180 King giving ruling to another man
f.181 Justice on horseback entering a city
f.182v King with two petitioners
f.183v Armed Knight: introducing the statute governing the carrying of weapons and conduct at tournaments
f.185 Man weighing bread in scales: introducing the assize of bread
f.186v Man with a ?two gallon pot: introducing the assize of ale
f.187 Baker who had sold short measure in a pillory, watched by two others