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Vetusta Monumenta: Ancient Monuments, a Digital Edition

Plate 2.4: Engraving of Ancient Deeds and Seals

Plate 2.4 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts two early- to mid-fourteenth-century deeds and three seals, which confirm land charters related to ecclesiastical establishments in Yorkshire. 478 x 318 mm. Engraved by George Vertue after his own drawings. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1751. Current locations: Rawlinson’s collection passed to the Bodleian Library and to St. John’s and Hertford Colleges, Oxford University, UK.

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1. Plate 2.1: Engraving of Plans for Rebuilding London, 1666 (1 of 2) Plates 2.1-2.2 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce three plans for rebuilding the city of London after the great fire of 1666. The plans were originally submitted to King Charles II in September of 1666 and February of 1668 by John Evelyn and Christopher Wren. Engravings by George Vertue after the original plans by Evelyn and Wren. 478 x 355 mm and 486 x 353 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1747. Current location: Society of Antiquaries of London. Drawings: Volume 1 [196h], fols. 68-69.
2. Plate 2.2: Engraving of Plans for Rebuilding London, 1666 (2 of 2) Plates 2.1-2.2 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce three plans for rebuilding the city of London after the great fire of 1666. The plans were originally submitted to King Charles II in September of 1666 and February of 1668 by John Evelyn and Christopher Wren. Engravings by George Vertue after the original plans by Evelyn and Wren. 478 x 355 mm and 486 x 353 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1747. Current location: Society of Antiquaries of London. Drawings: Volume 1 [196h], fols. 68-69.
3. Plate 2.3: Engraving of a Portrait of George Holmes Plate 2.3 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduces a portrait (c. 1731-1733) of George Holmes, a founding member of the Society of Antiquaries and dedicated Deputy Keeper of the Tower of London. The engraving augments the original oil painting by depicting a more mature Holmes surrounded by objects symbolic of his intellectual and professional pursuits. Engraving by George Vertue after Richard van Bleeck. 332 x 215 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1750. Current location: The original portrait now hangs in the Fellows Room of the Society of Antiquaries of London, London, UK.
4. Plate 2.4: Engraving of Ancient Deeds and Seals Plate 2.4 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts two early- to mid-fourteenth-century deeds and three seals, which confirm land charters related to ecclesiastical establishments in Yorkshire. 478 x 318 mm. Engraved by George Vertue after his own drawings. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1751. Current locations: Rawlinson’s collection passed to the Bodleian Library and to St. John’s and Hertford Colleges, Oxford University, UK.
5. Plate 2.5: Engraving of a View of the Savoy from the Thames Plate 2.5 of Vetusta Monumenta is the first of three depictions of the Savoy engraved for Volume II. This plate presents a picturesque view of the Savoy Hospital from across the river Thames and records the state of the site in 1736, before it was mostly destroyed by fire in 1776. The drawing was made at the same time as the drawings for Plates 2.12 and 2.14. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings. 314 x 463 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1750. Current location: The only surviving building of the Savoy Hospital is the Hospital Chapel, now The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, London, UK.
6. Plate 2.7: Engraving of Greensted Church with Objects Commemorating St. Edmund Plate 2.7 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts a range of objects that find commonality in their association with St. Edmund the Martyr. The central image of the Church of St. Andrew, Greensted, Essex, is rendered along with the burial shrine of St. Edmund and a seal fragment from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, both in Suffolk. Engraving by George Vertue after Smart Lethieullier and John Lydgate. 312 x 447 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1752. Current location: The church still stands in Greensted, Essex, UK; the shrine of St. Edmund was destroyed during the Reformation and the abbey was suppressed, but its ruins may still be seen in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK; the seal fragment is attached to MS Add. Charter 17226 in the British Library, London, UK.
7. Plate 2.8: Engraving of Gloucester Cross Plate 2.8 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the Gloucester Cross, framed by scaled-up images of the sculptures of English kings and queens that were located in the niches of the second story. By including the town hall and other buildings in the background and staffage figures in the foreground, the print emphasizes the civic importance of this fourteenth-century market cross. Engraving by George Vertue after Thomas Ricketts. 441 x 295 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1751. Current location: Originally in Gloucester, UK, the cross was demolished in 1751.
8. Plate 2.9: Engraving of Roman Pavements Found at Winterton and Roxby Plate 2.9 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts three fourth-century CE Roman mosaic pavements discovered in North Lincolnshire in 1699 and 1747. Figures I-III depict two large nearly intact pavements, the Ceres and Orpheus Pavements, with a related fragment, all discovered at Winterton in 1747. Figure IV shows a fragment of a large geometric mosaic discovered nearby at Roxby in 1699. Engraving by George Vertue after Charles Mitley. 441 x 591 mm (bifolium). Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1752. Current locations: Some fragments of the Orpheus Pavement are in the North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, UK; the Ceres Pavement has been reconstructed and is on display at University Campus North Lincolnshire, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, UK; and fragments of the Roxby pavement remain buried in situ at Roxby, Lincolnshire, UK.
9. Plate 2.10: Engraving of Doncaster Cross Plate 2.10 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the Doncaster Cross, which was erected in honor of Otho de Tilly, land steward to the count of nearby Conisborough from about 1165 to 1188. The dense text on either side of the cross relates a brief history of Otho de Tilly, the cross itself, and the manner in which the Society acquired the painting on which this engraving is based. Engraving by George Vertue after an anonymous early seventeenth-century painting. 509 mm x 300 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1752. Current location: The original cross in Doncaster, UK, was demolished in 1792 but was replaced by a replica ex-situ the following year.
10. Plate 2.11: Engraving of Sandal Castle Plate 2.11 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts Sandal Castle as it appeared in the sixteenth century. Engraving by George Vertue after a drawing originally produced for a survey of the properties of the Duchy of Lancaster conducted by the Chancellor of the Duchy, Ambrose Cave, in 1561. Further drawings from this cache were engraved as Plates 1.39, 1.40, 1.41, 1.42, 1.44, 1.46, and 2.13. 307 x 461 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1753. Current location: The lower courses of the barbican, foundations of some of the towers, the base of the keep, and fragments of walls from the great hall and kitchen can still be seen in Sandal Magna, West Yorkshire, UK.
11. Plate 2.12: Engraving of Savoy Hospital Plate 2.12 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the prison and chapel buildings in the Savoy Hospital complex as they stood in 1736. The Hospital Chapel, depicted from two different sides in the lower half and the upper right portion of this plate, is the only Savoy building that survives today. The drawings were made at the same time as the drawings for Plates 2.5 and 2.14. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings. 459 x 334 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1753. Current location: The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, London, UK.
12. Plate 2.13: Engraving of Clithero Castle Plate 2.13 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts Clithero Castle as it appeared in the sixteenth century. Engraving by George Vertue after a drawing originally produced for a survey of the properties of the Duchy of Lancaster conducted by the Chancellor of the Duchy, Ambrose Cave, in 1561. This concludes the sequence of eight drawings of castles preserved in the Office of the Duchy of Lancaster, including Plates 1.39, 1.40, 1.41, 1.42, 1.44, 1.46, and 2.11. 317 x 466 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1753. Current location: The ruined stone keep and parts of the curtain wall remain along with buildings that were added in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Clitheroe, Lancashire, UK.
13. Plate 2.14: Engraving of a Plan of the Savoy Plate 2.14 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduces an annotated ground plan of the various buildings comprising the Savoy Hospital as they stood in 1736. This plan concludes the sequence of views of these buildings presented in Plates 2.5 and 2.12. Engraving by George Vertue after his own drawings. 479 x 356 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1754. Current location: The Queen’s Chapel of the Savoy, London, UK.
14. Plate 2.15: Engraving of Canterbury Cathedral and Priory with a Portrait of Eadwine (1 of 2) Plates 2.15-2.16 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce two images from a twelfth-century manuscript, the Eadwine Psalter. The first is a plan of the monastery precinct at Christ Church, Canterbury, including Canterbury Cathedral as it stood prior to 1174. The second plate reproduces an author portrait of Eadwine of Canterbury, after whom the entire manuscript is named. Engravings by George Vertue after drawings of the manuscript made at Cambridge in 1753 by an unknown draftsman. 590 x 465 mm (bifolium) and 342 x 225 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1755. Current location: The rebuilt cathedral and some architectural remains of Christ Church Priory are at Canterbury, Kent, UK; the Eadwine Psalter is at Trinity College (MS R.17.1), Cambridge University, UK.
15. Plate 2.16: Engraving of Canterbury Cathedral and Priory with a Portrait of Eadwine (2 of 2) Plates 2.15-2.16 of Vetusta Monumenta reproduce two images from a twelfth-century manuscript, the Eadwine Psalter. The first is a plan of the monastery precinct at Christ Church, Canterbury, including Canterbury Cathedral as it stood prior to 1174. The second plate reproduces an author portrait of Eadwine of Canterbury, after whom the entire manuscript is named. Engravings by George Vertue after drawings of the manuscript made at Cambridge in 1753 by an unknown draftsman. 590 x 465 mm (bifolium) and 342 x 225 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1755. Current location: The rebuilt cathedral and some architectural remains of Christ Church Priory are at Canterbury, Kent, UK; the Eadwine Psalter is at Trinity College (MS R.17.1), Cambridge University, UK.
16. Plate 2.17: Engraving of a Roman Bronze Lamp with Vase and Bells Plate 2.17 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts a Roman lamp, an amphora-style vase, and two hand bells from 1366 (left) and 1547 (right). Engraving by George Vertue (his last for Vetusta Monumenta) after his own drawings. 455 x 300 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1756. Current locations: The lamp, vase, and bell on the right are all untraced, but the bell on the left is in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries of London (LDSAL 133), London, UK.
17. Plate 2.18: Engraving of Two Roman Bronzes (Silenus and a Lamp)
18. Plate 2.19: Engraving of a Medieval Seal and Mantelpiece Plate 2.19 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts the third conventual seal of Canterbury Cathedral (13th century) and a segment of a wooden mantelpiece from a house in Saffron Walden featuring carved images and letters (16th century). The plate itself contains commentary on the objects in cursive script. Engraving by James Green after drawings provided by John Ward. 444 x 303 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1758. Current locations: Impressions of the seal are located at National Archives, Kew, UK, and the British Library, London, UK; the mantelpiece remains in situ in the house in Saffron Walden, Essex, UK.
19. Plate 2.20: Engraving of Bronze Age Horns with Medieval Brooch, Arm-Rings, and Shield Plate 2.20 of Vetusta Monumenta depicts two silver arm rings and three bronze horns from Ireland, a fifteenth-century buckler from Wales, and a Viking Age brooch from the Western Isles of Scotland. This engraving documents a conscious effort by the Society of Antiquaries to systematize graphic practices in antiquarian illustration. Engraving by James Basire Sr. after his own drawings. 459 x 330 mm. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1763. Current locations: The arm rings, buckler, and brooch (Canmore ID 10515) are untraced, as is the first horn. The two remaining horns (Figs. IV-V) are in the collection at Mount Edgcumbe House, Cornwall, UK.

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Plate 2.4: Ancient Deeds and Seals Plate: Engraved by George Vertue in 1751. Presents engravings of two deeds and three seals. Both deeds are accompanied by decorative scrolls, which confirm charters of ecclesiastical lands in Yorkshire. The deeds are also accompanied by their seals. A third seal, the seal of Matthew Hutton, appears on the lower right detached from the deed from which it depended. Thomas Wilson of Leeds sent these deeds and seals to Dr Richard Rawlinson, who displayed them at a meeting of the SAL in March 1750 (SAL Minutes VI.34).

Object: Two deeds and three seals, which confirm land charters related to ecclesiastical establishments in Yorkshire. Both deeds with their pendant seals, as well as the seal of Matthew Hutton, came from the collection of Thomas Wilson (c.1702-1761) of Leeds, and were exhibited at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries of London by Dr Richard Rawlinson (1690-1755). The upper deed was confirmed in 1300, despite the decorative scroll next to it bearing the year 1301. The date of the lower deed is unknown but it is likely to have been confirmed in the mid-fourteenth century.

Transcription:

Title

Antient Deeds & Seals

Upper left

Carta Convenc[i]o[n]is inter Walterum [de Langton] Cov:[entry] & Litch:[field] Episcopum Magistrum Hospitalis sancti Leonardi Ebor[acum], & fratres ejusdem Loci, et Rogerum Abbatem & Conventum de Melsa de Redditu Molendinor[um] in Magna Wharrum: dat. 25 Nov. 1301.

Scil[ici]t dic Veneris in Festo s[an]c[t]æ Catherinæ Virginis, 29 Ed. 1.

Upper deed

Anno regni regis Edwardi fil[ii] regis Henrici vicesimo nono die ven[er]is in festo s[anc]te Kat[er]ine v[ir]ginis apud Ebor[acum] co[n]venit[ur] int[er] d[omi]n[u]m Walt[eru]m dei gra[tia] Coventr[y] & Lich[field] ep[iscopu]m mag[iste]r[iu]m hospitalis s[anc]ti Leonardi Ebor[acum] &fr[atr]es eiusde[m] loci ex una parte & fr[atre]m Rog[er]iu[m] Abb[at]em de Melsa & eiusdem loci co[n]ventu[m] ex altera – videl[ice]t q[uo]d cu[m] Hugo mag[iste]r & fr[atr]es hospitalis p[re]d[i]c[t]i aliquando dimissisent fratri Mich[ael]i tunc Abbati de Melsa & eiusdem loci convent[u]m duo molendina aquatica cum stagnis & om[n]ib[u]s aliis p[er]tinentiis suis in magna Wharrum simul cum om[n]ib[u]s sic ubi suor[um] alior[um] molendinor[um] cu[m] p[er]tinentiis in eadem villa que om[n]ia h[ab]uerunt ex dono Willi[am] Fossard Reddendo inde pred[i]c[t]o hospitali annuatim quatuor marcas argenti – p[ro]ut in scriptis inde int[er] eos tunc confectis pleni continuer[ ] videl:[ice]t q[uo]d sing[u]lis annis a temp[or]e confec[t]io[n]is p[re]senciu[?] d[i]ct[us] Abbas & co[n]ventus de Melsa reddant & p[er]solvent hospitali supras[cri]pto quadraginta solidos sterlingor[um] in festis Pentecostes & S[anc]ti Martini p[er] equals porc[i]o[n]es p[ro] pred[ic]tis molendinis & eor[um] p[er]tinentiis ut est p[er]missu[s]. Et si co[n]tingat q[uo]d p[re]d[ic]tus redditus quadraginta solidor[um] de aliquo t[er]mino aretro fuit, de cet[er]o bene liceat magi[str]o & f[rat]rib[u]s & eor[um] successorib[u]s qui p[ro] temp[or]e fu[eru]nt in pred[ic]tis tenementis & eciam in omnib[u]s tenementis que isdem Abbas & co[n]ventus h[ab]uerunt die confect[i]o[n]is presentiu[ ] in predicta villa de Magna Wharrum ad quor[um]cumque manus de [vers?] & distri[n]gere & distri[n]ctio[n]em illam sic capcam quo sibi viderint expedire effugare & eam retinere quousque eisdem magi[str]o & f[rat]rib[u]s de pred[i]c[t]o redditu annuo quadraginta solidor[um] plenrie fuit satisf[ac]t[um] In cui rei fide[m] & memoriam huic scripto bipertito sigilla part[iu]m p[re]dic[t]ar[um] alternativi sunt appensa Dat apud Ebor[acum] die & anno suprad[ic]tis.

upper seal

SIGILLVM ・ ABBATIS : DE : MELSA

Lower right

Carta Confirmac[i]o[n]is Prioris & Conventus de DRAX Joh[ann]i filio Nicholai de Osgoteby de Terris in Osgoteby

Lower deed

Omnib[u]s Xpi Fidelib[u]s hoc sc[ri]ptum visur[is] vel auditor[is] Joh[ann]es Prior de Drax & eiusdem Loci convent[us] sal[ve]m et[er]nam In d[omi]no Novit univ[er]sitas v[est]ra nos co[m]muni assensu totius cap[el]li n[ost]ri dedisse concessisse & hac p[re]senti carta n[ost]ra confirmasse Joh[ann]i filio Nicholai de Osgoteby p[ro] homagio & s[er]vitio suo unu[m] Toftu[m] & unam Bovata[m] t[er]re arrabil[is] int[er]ritorio de Osgoteby cu[m] om[n]ib[u]s p[er]tinenciis suis illud scilic[et] Toftu[m] quod Rob[ertus] Boy aliqu[o] de nob[is] tenuit & illam bovatam t[er]re qui f[rat]rem Joh[ann]es & Rob[er]tus de Barneby In eadem villa aliqu[o] de nob[is] tenuerunt. Habend[us] et tenend[us] p[re]d[i]c[tu]m Joh[ann]I & h[e]redib[u]s suis lib[er]e quiete integ[r]e [bene] In pace In feodo & hereditate cum om[n]ib[u]s p[er]tinentiis suis & a[ ]liamentis in p[ra]tis & pasturis in moris & turberis in viis & semitis In aquis & Wastis & om[n]ib[u]s aliis Locis Infra Villam & ext[ra] ad [t[uu]m?] tenement[m] p[er]tine[n]tib[u]s. Reddendo [inde] annuatim nob[is] & successorib[u]s n[ost]ris unam m[ar]cam arg[e]nti s dimid[ium] m[arce] ad pentecoste & dimid[ium] m[arce] ad festu[m] S[anc]ti Martini in [yeme] p[ro] om[n]ia s[in]c[u]lari s[er]vit[i]o exact[i]one consuetudine & demanda. Nos aute[m] d[ic]ti J. P[ri]or & Convet[us] & successores n[ost]ri p[re]d[ic]to Joh[ann]i & h[e]redib[u]s suis totu[m] pred[ic]t[u]m tenem[en]tu[m] cum om[n]ib[u]s p[er]tine[n]tiis suis p[ro] p[re]d[ic]t[u]m s[er]viciu[m] p[ro] om[n]ia [sicut] p[re]d[ic]t[u]m est cont[ra] om[nes] g[e]n[te]s Warantizabim[us] adquietabim[us] & defendem[us] quid[e]m donators n[ost]ri nob[is] Warantiza[bu]nt quod erit deodante Imp[er]petu[u]m. et [ut] H[ic] donatio n[ost]ra concellio & catre p[re]s[e]ntis confirmat[i]o rata & stabilis p[er]sev[er]et prelemi[?] sc[ri]pto sigillu[m] cap[el]li n[ost]ri appo[suim][us]. Hiis Testib[u]s D[omi]no Will[elm]o de Atton Rob[er]to de Habtorp Joh[ann]e de Klyfe Ricard[o] fil[io] ei Rob[erto] fil[io] Elde[?] de Osgoteby Walt[er]o fil[io] Hug[one] de eade[m] Hug[one]

Lower seal

Obverse

[SIGIL]LVM ・ CAPITVLI [S]TI NICHOL ・DE DRA[X]

reverse + SIGILLVM ・ PRIORIS : DE D

Seal at lower right

Border [SIGILLV]M ◦ MATTHEI ◦ HVT ARCHI[E]PISCOPI ◦ EBOR 1595

Caption The SEAL of MATTHEW HUTTON Archbp. of YORK. with the Counter Seal appendant to a deed dated the 12 of Jany. 1603, in ye first Year of the reign of King James I.

Lower left caption

These Deeds & Seals from the originals in the possession of R. Rawlinson L.L.D. F.R.S.

Bottom right

Sumptibus Soc. Antiq: Lond. 1751.

Translation:

Title

Ancient Deeds & Seals

Upper left

Charter of Confirmation between Walter [de Langton] Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Master of the Hospital of Saint Leonard at York, & the brothers of those places, and Abbot Roger and the house of Melsa of the rents of mills in Great Wharrum: dated 25 November 1301.

To wit the Feast of the veneration of St Catherine the Virgin, 29 Edward I.

Upper deed

At York on the Friday of the feast of St Katherine the Virgin in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of King Edward son of King Henry it was agreed between the lord Walter, by the grace of God Bishop of Coventry & Lichfield and master of the Hospital of St Leonard of York, and the brothers of the same place, on the one part, and brother Roger, Abbot of Meaux [Melsa] and the convent of the same place on the other, that whereas Master Hugh and the brothers of the said hospital once gave up to brother Michael, then Abbot of Meaux, and the convent of the same place two watermills with ponds and all their other appurtenances in Great Wharrum along with the sites of their two other mills with their appurtenances in the same vill, all of which they had from the gift of William Fossard, rendering to the said hospital four silver marks a year, as shown in full in the writs then made: now truly the said Walter, master of the said hospital, and the brothers of the same place have remitted from now on to the said Abbot and the convent of Meaux one silver mark of the above-written rent.

Therefore that every year from the time of the present agreement the said Abbot and the convent of Meaux shall render and pay to the above-written hospital forty shillings sterling in equal portions at the feasts of Pentecost and St Martin for the said mills and their appurtenances, as it is permitted.

And if it should happen that the said rent of forty shillings should at any time be in arrears, then it is furthermore well permitted for the master and brothers and their successors who at such time shall be to distrain into the hands of whomever they shall devise the said tenements and also all tenements which the same Abbot and convent hold in Great Wharrum by the present agreement, and to carry out this distrainment though whoever shall seem most convenient to them, and to retain them until the rent of forty shillings a year is fully paid to the same master and brothers. The seals of the said alternative parties are appended in faith and memory of this bipartite writ. Given at York on the day and year above.

Upper seal

Seal of the Abbot of Melsa

Lower right

Charter of Confirmation of the Prior and Chapter of Drax of John son of Nicholas of Osgodby of Lands in Osgodby

Lower deed

To all the Christian faithful who shall see or hear this writ, John, Prior of Drax and the convent of the same place send eternal greeting. Let all of you [universitas vestra] know that we have, by common consent of the whole chapter, given, conceded and with this our charter fully confirmed to John son of Nicholas of Osgoteby for his homage and service a toft and an oxgang of arable land in the territory of Osgoteby with all its appurtenances; that is, the toft which Robert Boy once held of us and the oxgang of land which the same John and Robert de Barneby once held of us in the same vill, to have and hold the said tenement to John and his heirs freely, quietly and completely [integre]; in peace, in fee and by inheritance; with all appurtenances and agistments; in meadows and pastures; in marshes and turbaries; in roads and paths; in waters and [Wastis] and all other places within the vill and without pertaining to the tenements, rendering yearly to us and our successors one silver mark, of which half a mark at Pentecost and half a mark at the feast of St Martin in observance [yeme] for each secular service, exaction, custom and demand. We, the aforesaid Prior J. [sic] and the convent and our successors shall warrant, acquiesce and defend against all for the said John and his successors the whole of the said tenement with all its appurtenances for the said services as is aforesaid, just as our donors warrant what is given to us forever. And this our gift shall persist in stability by our [concellio] and the confirmation of the present charter. We attach the seal of our chapter to what is written above. Witnesses to this lord William of Atton, Robert of Habt[h]orp, John of Cliffe [Klyfe] and Richard his son, Robert son of [Elde] of Osgoteby, Walter son of Hugh of the same, Hugh son of Peter of the same, and others.

Lower seal

Obverse

Seal of the Chapter of St Nicholas of Drax

reverse + Seal of the Prior of D[rax]

Seal at lower right

Border

Seal of Matthew Hutton Archbishop of York 1595
Caption The SEAL of MATTHEW HUTTON Archbp. of YORK. with the Counter Seal appendant to a deed dated the 12 of Jany. 1603, in ye first Year of the reign of King James I.

Lower left caption

These Deeds & Seals from the originals in the possession of R. Rawlinson L.L.D. F.R.S.

Bottom right

Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London. 1751.

Commentary by Dustin Frazier-Wood and Richard Gilbert: Plate 2.4 depicts two deeds and three seals related to ecclesiastical establishments in Yorkshire. All were sent from Thomas Wilson of Leeds to Dr Richard Rawlinson to display at a meeting of the Society of Antiquaries London (SAL) in March 1750 (SAL Minutes VI.34). Wilson, an antiquary, schoolmaster, and parish clerk, collected and created transcripts of hundreds of medieval manuscripts relating to Yorkshire during his lifetime (Ramm and Wilde 2018). Wilson's interests made him a natural correspondent of Rawlinson, a major collector of English manuscripts and influential member of the SAL whose episcopal motto as a bishop of the non-juring church was "I collect and preserve." Wilson had been proposed for membership of the Society by Rawlinson in January 1750 and was elected a year later, on 2 February 1751 (SAL Minutes VI.20, 78).

The upper deed is an early fourteenth-century confirmation by Walter Langton (1243-1321), Bishop of Lichfield and Treasurer of England under Edward I, of the rights of the Abbey of Melsa (or Meaux) to rents from several mills on the border of Great Wharram and the (later deserted) village of Wharram Percy, where the Abbey had established a grange and mills in the mid-twelfth century (Wrathmell 2012, 226). The decorative scroll to the left of the deed dates it to 25 November 1301 but this seems to be a computational error on the part of the caption writer; the Feast of St Katherine in the twenty-ninth year of Edward I's reign fell on 25 November 1300.

The lower manuscript confirms a grant to Drax Priory of lands at nearby Osgodby. The John identified in the first line as prior is probably either John de Saxton, elected in 1349, or John de Wiggeton, elected in or before 1354. Although John Burton included details of numerous grants to Drax of lands at Osgodby in his Monasticon Eboracense, published in 1758, and consulted a transcript cartulary of Drax owned by William Constable of Everingham, none of the entries matches that of this deed (Burton 1758, 100-13 & 100 n. c).

The final object depicted - the seal of Matthew Hutton (1529-1606), Archbishop of York from 1595 to 1606 - appears detached from the deed from which it depended. As Laura Whatley has pointed out, seals - and, we might add, the documents to which they were attached - occupied a central place in antiquarian culture. They were perhaps the most common objects that antiquaries interested in the English past worked with (Whatley 2021). If they lack the obvious conjuring power of the Westminster Tournament Roll (Pates 1.21-26) or the Oxford Decree against papal jurisdiction (Plate 1.62), or the rarity of the fragments of the Cotton Genesis (Plates 1.67-68), the deeds and seals of Plate 2.4 nevertheless represent the oldest English manuscripts that had yet been published by the Society and demonstrate its commitment to publishing accurate collections of seals (Plates 1.5, 1.28-33, 1.53-1.54, 1.55, 1.56, 1.58-1.60).

The stated motivation to engrave and print this collection related to the objects' rarity and condition: the Society's minutes note that that the concord between the Bishop of Coventry and the Abbot of Melsa bore 'the word CIROGRAPHVM, & other Letters cut thro' indentwise' and a seal 'well cut and preserved'; the seal attached to the Drax deed appeared 'in good preservation and proper to be Engraved to perpetuate the Stile of the Priory' (SAL Minutes VI.34). The week after their exhibition Rawlinson proposed that “the two fine deeds with their Seals annex'd might be Engraved [...] by Mr. Vertue,” a proposal that was agreed by ballot on 19 April (SAL Minutes VI.38).

Vertue's engraving represents as near as possible a true facsimile of both deeds and their seals. Both float in blank but clearly lit space. Shadow lines to the right of each deed and at their bottom folds, and in the curled slips and irregular forms of the wax seals, provide a sense of three-dimensionality. This shadowing continues on the seals themselves, in the subtle additional density of lines to the right of the figure on the seal of Melsa. Such shadowing can also be seen to the right of the face and arm (those parts of the seal in highest relief) of the figure on the obverse of the Drax seal, and to the right of the chest of the figure on its reverse. Hutton's seal, the largest on the page, also appears to be in facsimile, albeit without its attached manuscript. All three seals are damaged, and their reverses appear naturally, in contrast to earlier Vetusta Monumenta plates where seals appear with clean edges and no hint of uneven sides or reverses. The excellent state of preservation of the figures on the seals, the drape of their clothing, the details of the priors' crosiers, and the delicate scrollwork on Hutton's seal are all the more striking in contrast to the broken edges that fragment their legends.

The script of the two deeds is a convincing facsimile of English cursive documentary forms of cursiva anglicana of the fourteenth century. The slightly later Drax charter bears characteristic decorative dotted and cross-hatched capitals, as well as a flourish on the final 's' at bottom right (see Brown 1993, 94-7). Vertue's facsimile takes pains to recreate the numerous abbreviations and scribal ligatures as accurately as possible. This (presumed) fidelity to the originals enables Plate 2.4 to serve as a proxy for those original documents as objects, as texts and as exemplars of two closely related but distinctive fourteenth-century scripts. The plate is simultaneously an act of preservation and a scholarly resource for antiquaries interested in multiple aspects of the study of English manuscripts.

Plate 2.4 might then be understood as one of several Vetusta Monumenta prints that highlight eighteenth-century antiquarian engagement with historic script. Palaeography was both central to antiquarian culture and a specialised field to which only a few antiquaries dedicated their main energies. Those who did exerted lasting influence: Jean Mabillon, Humfrey Wanley, David Casley and, later, Thomas Astle appear frequently in antiquarian work both printed and manuscript (Frazier Wood 2022). Although Vertue is not normally considered a palaeographer, his facsimile engravings of pre-modern manuscripts in hands ranging from the fourth- or fifth-century Greek Cotton Genesis to the sixteenth-century English Tournament Roll (not to mention his work outside Vetusta Monumenta) make him a key figure in the field. As Casley argued in the 1730s, antiquaries had to study either original manuscripts or high-quality reproductions in order to date them and thus to understand English history (Casley 1734). With their high standards of exactness, Vertue's engravings provided precisely the kind of essential reference material that - according to Casley - every antiquary required.

The provenance of the materials so carefully engraved by Vertue also testifies to the affiliative connections between antiquaries and their manuscripts: both deeds and, presumably, the seal of Matthew Hutton, had made their way into print after passing through the hands of three generations of notable Yorkshire antiquaries. Thomas Wilson probably acquired the Drax deed during the dispersal of Ralph Thoresby's (1658-1725) museum. Thoresby had earlier provided a complete transcript of it to John Stevens for publication in the latter's two-volume continuation of Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum (Stevens 1723, 351). John Tanner later cited Thoresby's transcript in the section on Drax in his edition of his brother Thomas Tanner's Notitia Monastica, suggesting that this charter, at least, bore some significance as an important - or at least noteworthy - historical source (Tanner 1744, 655-6). The Meaux deed might also have come to Wilson via Thoresby, although the subtitle of Wilson's manuscript Chartularium Melsense, completed in 1746 and now at Leeds Library, notes that its contents came from the library of Richard Thornton (1659-1710), Recorder of Leeds. Given that Wilson was just eight years old at the time of Thornton's death, the manuscript must have remained in the Thornton family into the 1740s or have passed to Thoresby and then to Wilson. In either case, Wilson continued to associate it with the elder antiquary and collector of Yorkshire manuscripts.

Vertue showed proof prints of Plate 2.4 at a meeting on 29 November 1750 and again on 25 April 1751, when they were finally approved and ordered to be printed (SAL Minutes VI.62, 94). When Vertue delivered the prints, extra copies were given to Rawlinson (as well as to Edward Umfreville and to John Ward, the Society's Director) “for the Care and Trouble he had been at about them.” The nature of this “Care and Trouble” remains unclear but could be linked to the unsubtle engraved note at the bottom left stating that the originals were “in the possession of R. Rawlinson,” directly contradicting the minute book's clear statement that they belonged to Wilson. Whether Rawlinson purchased them, negotiated with Wilson for their extended loan, and/or arranged for their transportation between Leeds and London, remains unclear. So too do the roles played by Rawlinson, Umfreville and Ward in the creation of the print, although Vertue's unusual second display of proofs several months apart might suggest dissatisfaction with his first design and subsequent reworking. Whatever the case, Vertue did not sign the finished print, which contains only the by-then standard publication statement “Sumptibus Soc. Antiq: Lond. 1751.”

If the particular provenance of the deeds and seals and the circumstances of the design and approval for printing of Plate 2.4 remain unclear, its association with Rawlinson - and the prominent display of that association - reflect both Rawlinson's interests and the political circumstances of the SAL at the time of its production. During his lifetime Rawlinson was known as an important collector of English manuscripts and European seals and seal matrices. During the late 1740s and into the 1750s Rawlinson frequently showed both at meetings of the Society, where he had considerable influence and occupied a seat on the Council. At the time, the fate of the unmarried, sixty-year-old Rawlinson's collections "became a matter for public discussion" (Clapinson 2004). The inclusion of Rawlinson's name on Plate 2.4 likely represents a form of encouragement for Rawlinson to leave his collections to the Society, which had obtained its charter earlier the same year and could therefore legally own property. In 1752 Rawlinson made his will, in which he left the Society "all his dyes and matrices of English seals, and for medals, and all his copper-plates, of seals, charters, and other his curiosities . . . his drawings relating to England, 10 walnut-tree book-cases, four mahogony [sic] presses, his collection of English prints, with port folios to keep the same [and] a free-hold estate and copyhold estate at Fulham" (London Magazine 1755, 205). If Plate 2.4 represents the Society's hopes of acquiring a major collection, and perhaps also Rawlinson's intentions, it also serves as a reminder of the frustration of those hopes and of the inseparability of politics and antiquarianism. In the parliamentary election year of 1754, Rawlinson's status as a non-juror and Jacobite led the Society not to re-elect him to his seat on its Council; when the president, Martin Folkes, died later that spring and left a vacancy, Rawlinson was passed over again. Although some members made conciliatory overtures to Rawlinson, he objected to his friend George Ballard that they “mistake me for one Mr. Spaniel, for such they must take a creature to be without resentment.” In a codicil to his will witnessed by four members of the SAL on 25 July 1754 Rawlinson revoked all his bequests (worth in excess of £2000), leaving them instead to the Bodleian Library, and St John's and Hertford Colleges, Oxford (Tashjian 1990, 63-5). Despite the fate of the objects it depicts, however, Plate 2.4 remains a testament to an idea on which Rawlinson and the SAL agreed: the necessity of collecting, preserving and publishing the manuscript remains of English history.

Works Cited:
Brown, Michelle. 1993. A Guide to Western Historical Scripts from Antiquity to 1600. London: British Library.

Burton, John. 1758. Monasticon Eboracense: and the Ecclesiastical History of Yorkshire. York: N. Nickson.

Casley, David. 1734. Catalogue of the Manuscripts of the King's Library: An Appendix to the Catalogue of the Cottonian Library; Together with an Account of Books Burnt or Damaged by a Late Fire. London.

Cherry, John. 2016. Richard Rawlinson and His Seal Matrices: Collecting in the early eighteenth century. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum.

Frazier Wood, Dustin. 2022. "The Face of Antiquity: Script, Manuscript, and Facsimile in Early Eighteenth-Century Antiquarian Culture", Modern Philology 120, No 2. Forthcoming.

The Gentleman's Magazine. 1755. "List of Deaths for the Year 1755" 5, 186-7.

The London Magazine, or Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer. 1755. "Account of Dr. Richard Rawlinson's Will" 24, 205-6.

Ramm, Antony, and Philip Wilde. 2018. 'The Thomas Wilson Collection'. Leeds: Leeds Libraries.

Society of Antiquaries of London. 1718-. Minutes of the Society's Proceedings.

Stevens, John. 1723. The History of the Antient Abbeys, Monasteries, Hospitals, Cathedral and Collegiate Churches. Being Two Additional Volumes to Sir William Dugdale's Monasticon Anglicanum. London: Joseph Smith.

Tanner, Thomas. 1744. Notitia Monastica: or, An Account of all the Abbies, Priories, and Houses of Friers, heretofore in England and Wales, ed. John Tanner. London: William Bowyer.

Tashjian, Georgian R. and Brian J. Enright. 1990. Richard Rawlinson: A Tercentenary Memorial. Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University.

Vertue, George. 1753. Medals, Coins, Great-Seals, Impressions, from the Elaborate Works of Thomas Simon, Chief Engraver of the Mint to K. Charles the Ist. to the Common-Wealth, the Lord Protector Cromwell and in the Reign of K. Charles ye IId. to MDCLXV. London: J. Nichols.

Wilson, Thomas. 1746. Chartularium Melsense, a a collection of Papal Bulls, Royal and Private Benefactions to the Abbey of Meaux, in the East Riding, Ex Bibliotheca Thorntonianæ. Leeds Library.

Wrathmell, S., ed. 2012. A History of Wharram Percy and its Neighbours. York: University of York.