Curia Regis Rolls
(1196-1201) The Curia Regis, king's court, of mediaeval England took cases from throughout the country, and its records are among the most important surviving from this early period.WODECROFT. Cost: £4.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Fine Rolls
(1246-1272) The fine rolls of the 31st to 57th years of the reign of king Henry III record part of the government administration in England. These excerpts from the rolls list in transcript applications by plaintiffs for various writs (such as 'ad terminum' and 'pone') and for assizes to be held by the justices in eyre to look into their grievances. A fine of half a mark (6s 8d) or a mark (13s 4d) was usually levied; the cases are normally identified by county, and record that the appropriate sheriff had been notified. There are also more extensive records, in which more detail is given. The excerpts were made by the Record Commission and printed in 1836.WODECROFT. Cost: £4.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Patent Rolls: entries for Hertfordshire
(1277-1278) Calendars of the patent rolls of the reign of king Edward I are printed in the Calendars of State Papers: but these cover only a fraction of the material on the rolls. From 1881 to 1889 the reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Record Office also include calendars of other material from the rolls - about five times as many entries as in the State Papers - predominantly mandates to the royal justices to hold sessions of oyer and terminer to resolve cases arising locally; but also other general business. The calendar for the 6th year of king Edward I [20 November 1277 to 19 November 1278], hitherto unindexed, is covered here.WODECROFT. Cost: £6.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Patent Rolls: entries for Hertfordshire
(1279-1280) Calendars of the patent rolls of the reign of king Edward I are printed in the Calendars of State Papers: but these cover only a fraction of the material on the rolls. From 1881 to 1889 the reports of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Record Office also include calendars of other material from the rolls - about five times as many entries as in the State Papers - predominantly mandates to the royal justices to hold sessions of oyer and terminer to resolve cases arising locally; but also other general business. The calendar for the 8th year of king Edward I [20 November 1279 to 19 November 1280], hitherto unindexed, is covered here.WODECROFT. Cost: £6.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Grantees of offices, commissions and pardons
(1317-1321) The Patent Rolls are the Chancery enrolments of royal letters patent. Those for the 11th to the 14th years of the reign of king Edward II (8 July 1317 to 7 July 1321) were edited for the Public Record Office by G. F. Handcock, and published in 1903. The main contents are royal commissions and grants; ratifications of ecclesiastical estates; writs of aid to royal servants and purveyors; and pardons. Most extensive are the commissions of oyer and terminer to justices to investigate complaints about specific crimes and wrongs in particular counties.WODECROFT. Cost: £2.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Grantees of offices, commissions and pardons
(1350-1354) The Patent Rolls are the Chancery enrolments of royal letters patent. Those for the 24th to the 27th years of the reign of king Edward III (25 January 1350 to 24 January 1354) were edited for the Public Record Office by R. F. Isaacson, and published in 1907. The main contents are royal commissions and grants; ratifications of ecclesiastical estates; writs of aid to royal servants and purveyors; and pardons. WODECROFT. Cost: £2.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Clerks and Clergy in Herefordshire, Shropshire and Gloucestershire
(1344-1360) The register of bishop John de Trillek of Hereford, containing general diocesan business, but also including ordination lists for monks and clergy. Only a small proportion of the clerks went on to acquire benefices and remained celibate. Hereford diocese covered almost all Herefordshire, southern rural Shropshire, a westward arm of Worcestershire, and a northwestern slice of Gloucestershire.WODECROFT. Cost: £6.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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Landowners and tenants in London
(1345-1485) Inquisitions ad quod damnum were held by the appropriate sheriff or escheator (or other officer in whose bailiwick the matter in question might lie) to investigate cases in which the royal or public interest might be damaged by proposed alienation or settlement of land (especially alienation to religious uses, into mortmain). The key findings from these inquisitions were as to the tenure of the land and the service due from it; its yearly value; the lands remaining to the grantor, and whether they sufficed to discharge all duties and customs due from him; and whether he can still be put upon juries, assizes and recognitions, so that the country be not burdened by his withdrawal from them. Generally speaking, this process had the makings of a system of licensing such alienations, and raising money in proportion to the valuations. Equally, there are many items that deal with subjects such as the closing of public roads, the felling or inclosing of woods, or the proposed grant of liberties or immunities. A calendar of these inquisitions from the 19th year of the reign of king Edward III to the 2nd year of Richard III was prepared by the Public Record Office and published in 1906. We have now indexed this calendar by surname and county. Most of the individuals appearing in the calendar are either pious individuals seeking to make grants to religious bodies for the sake of their souls; or landowners securing the disposition and settling of their real estate. But some other names do appear - tenants, trustees, chaplains and clerks.WODECROFT. Cost: £6.00.  | Sample scan, click to enlarge
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