A letter from Eleanor of Provence (10/28/1254)

Translated letter:

MEMBRANE 5d. To Walerand le Tieis and John le Bretun. Henry de Penebrugg and Elizabeth his wife, and Lucy and Eufemia her sisters, have shown that Richard de Tunderle disseised Godfrey de Gamages, father of the said Elizabeth, Lucy and Eufemia, whose heirs they are, of the land of Trewarn, and the said Godfrey by recognition of an assize of novel disseisin which he had arramed by order of the king against the said Richard, before Robert Walerand [recovered seisin thereof], but the said Richard afterwards suggested that the said land was of the honour of Painscastle (castri Matillidis) and no assizes of lands belonging to the said honour ought to be taken without the honour and the king ordered the sheriff of Hereford who then was, to enquire whether the said land was of the said honour, or of the honour of Boghred, which the said Godfrey held in chief, and if it should appear by the inquisition that it was of the honour of Painscastle he should restore seisin thereof to the said Richard, but if of the honour of Boghred he should permit Godfrey to enjoy the seisin which he had recovered; but the sheriff without making any inquisition ejected the said Godfrey by pretext of this mandate and restored seisin to the said Richard. Wherefore the king appoints the said Walerand and John to enquire by jury of the county of Hereford nearest to the land of Elveyn, whether the land of Trewarn belongs to the honour of Painscastle or to the honour of Boghred, and whether the sheriff without making inquisition restored seisin to the said Richard as is said, and they are to send their inquisition to the king's council staying in England, and the sheriff is commanded to provide a jury of twenty-four, both knights and other free men. By the queen and H. de Bathonia.

Historical context:

When Henry III went to Gascony to deal with a rebellion, he appointed Eleanor to run the government with the counsel of his brother Richard of Cornwall (who was married to Eleanor’s sister Sanchia). The Patent Rolls record the actions she took in that position.

Scholarly notes:

(1) After the first two volumes of the Patent Rolls published in Latin, the editors shifted to English translations, explaining that the "language tends gradually to become more formal and verbose."

Printed source:

Calendar of the Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1247-58, 4.374; summary in English.(1)

Date:

10/28/1254