A letter from Henry III, king of England (July, 1220)

Translated letter:

The king to all to whom the present writing comes, greeting. We make known to your universality that since our father John, king of England of good memory, made a certain settlement with lady Berengaria, formerly illustrious queen of England, widow of king Richard, our paternal uncle of bright memory, over her dower in England which she had sought from him; so that, according to the tenor of that settlement, which we had and hold confirmed, made by our said father, for himself and his heirs, sworn on his soul, said lady Berengaria must receive annually from him and his heirs in the house of the New Temple at London, 1000 pounds of good and legal sterling as is contained fully with certain other articles in the charter of our father. And that queen asked for that settlement to be observed and 4000 and 500 pounds sterling be paid to her for arrears, because there had been a cessation for so long of the payment of said thousand pounds; on such arrangements we concur for ourselves and our heirs, namely: That of the aforesaid sum of arrears, we give her 1000 marks now and that queen, from the mentioned sum, remitted to us 500 pounds; and of the rest of the arrears, we shall give her each year 500 marks until the whole sum of those arrears is fully paid. Notwithstanding, we shall give her each year 1000 pounds of good and legal sterling, owed to her from the mentioned settlement; and so each year, she will receive 2000 marks for the settlement and the arrears. For which we have assigned our tin-mines of Cornwall and Devon, with all the revenues that come from them and the revenues of our money exchange. And we have placed it in the physical possession of those from whose income she will receive her payments, as mentioned above. If it should happen, however, that anything is produced beyond the 2000 marks from the aforesaid revenues, it will remain with us. If they do not suffice for the mentioned payment, we shall supplement it from our London revenues. And if that also did not suffice, we would give her the remainder from our London exchequer. She will receive the aforesaid revenues and will hold them without opposition or impediment from us or our people, as said above. But we shall assign, in the name of the queen, to collect said revenues and pay them to the queen, faithful and discreet men, who will swear that they will answer faithfully for all the revenues to the lady queen or her attorneys/proxies, in the house of the New Temple, up to the appointed sum of 2000 marks, namely 1000 marks on the feast of All Saints, and 1000 on the Ascension of the Lord. When the payment of arrears is complete, however, the lady queen will receive each year from the aforesaid revenues and said place, as was said above, 1000 pounds of good and legal sterling, owed to her according to the aforesaid settlement. The queen shall be able to dispose of said arrears at her will whenever it pleases her, in life or in death; and we will be bound to her or them to whom she has granted them, in the same manner as to her. If it should happen, however, in some way, that the lady queen does not receive the aforesaid payment, as said above, which according to our oath can not happen, let the whole business be in that state in which it was when the present charter was drawn up: and let the 500 pounds which she remitted to us be not remitted and the mentioned settlement made by our father with that same queen and all the other apostolic documents remain in force. And we will be bound to give that queen all reasonable and moderate and honest expenses which she will have had in pursuit of this business because of our default. We however, by counsel of lord Pandulph, chamberlain of the lord Pope, of the bishop elect of Norwich, the legate of the apostolic see and our archbishops, bishops, and barons, asserting that this is expedient for our land, we have promised said lady queen and had our seneschal John Russel swear on our soul that we shall observe all the aforesaid and the following completely and in good faith; and we shall guarantee and defend her against any man or woman at any time in our life and preserve her in peaceful possession of the aforesaid, within our power in good faith. And to the greater assurance of this thing, at our mandate the archbishops, bishops, barons and other clergy and laymen have sworn that within their power in every way they will do, procure and give effective effort so that all things are fully observed as written and in no way opposed. And for so doing and preserving, each of them gave his letters patent to that queen. And, if some of the aforesaid sworn should die, we will make their successors in their place swear the same and confirm by their letters patent and others whom the lady queen finds necessary to her cause. Wishing therefore to take care for the lady queen over the aforesaid, we entreat the lord Pope faithfully that he confirm all these and affix all assurances which he will find expedient, and we will confirm them. Enacted at London in the year of the Lord's Incarnation, 1220, in the month of July, in the 4th year of our reign.

Original letter:

H. dei gratia rex Angliae, dominus Henricus dux Normanniae, Aquitaniae et comes Andegaviae, omnibus ad quos praesens scriptum pervenerit, salutem. Universitati vestrae notum facimus, quod cum pater noster Johannes, rex Angliae bonae memoriae, quamdam compositionem fecerit cum domina Berengaria, quondam illustri Angliae regina, relicta [vidua] regis Ricardi, patrui nostri clarae memoriae, super ejus dotalitio in Anglia, quod ab ipso eadem repetebat, ita quod secundum tenorem ejusdem compositionis, quam nos ratam habuimus et habemus, a dicto patre nostro pro se et haeredibus suis factae, et in animam suam jurare [non renuit], dicta domina Berengaria ab eodem, et suis haeredibus, in domo novi Templi Londonii mille libras bonorum et legalium sterlingorum deberet recipere annuatim, prout hoc cum quibusdam aliis articulis in carta patris nostri plenius continetur, et ipsa regina compositionem eamdem sibi peteret observari, et quatuor millia et quingentas libras sterlingorum pro arreragiis suis, ea scilicet retione, quia per tantum temporis cessatum fuit a solutione praedictarum mille librarum, super praemissis taliter, pro nobis et successoribus nostris, convenimus cum eadem, scilicet, quod de praedicta summa arreragiorum mille marcas ei reddidimus in praesenti, et ipsa regina de praemissa summa nobis remisit quingentas libras, et de residuo arreragiorum reddemus et quolibet anno quingentas marcas, donec tota summa eorumdem arreragiorum plenarie sit soluta. Nihilominus reddemus ei annis singulis mille libras bonorum et legalium sterlingorum sibi debitas ex compositione praemissa, et ita quolibet anno recipiet duo millia marcarum pro compositione et arreragiis, propter quae assignavimus eidem stagnarias nostras de Cornubia, et Devonia cum omnibus exitibus, qui ex eis provenient, et exitus cambii monetae nostrae, et eam posuimus in corporalem possessionem earumdem, ex quarum proventibus solutiones suas recipit, sicut superius est praemissum. Si autem contigerit, quod aliquid ultra duo millia marcarum ex praedictis provenerit, nobis remanebit, et, si ad solutionem praemissum non sufficerent, supplebimus et de redditibus nostris Londoniarum, et, si illud etiam non sufficeret, reddemus ei residuum ad schacarium nostrum Londoniarum. Praedictos autem redditus percipiet et tenebit absque nostra, vel nostrorum contradictione vel impedimento, sicut praedictum est, sed nos assignabimus nomine reginae ad praedictos redditus colligendos et reddendos eidem reginae viros fideles et discretos, qui jurabunt, quod fideliter de omnibus exitibus dominae reginae, vel attornatis suis respondebunt in domo novi Templi Londoniarum usque ad praetaxatam summam duorum millium marcarum, scilicet mille marcas in festo Omnium Sanctorum, et mille marcas in festo Ascensionis Domini. Finita autem solutione arreragiorum domina regina in praedictis redditibus, et praedicto loco recipiet, ut superius dictum est, singulis annis mille libras tantum bonorum et legalium sterlingorum ex compositione sibi debita praedicta. Poterit autem ipsa regina disponere de praedictis arreragiis ad voluntatem suam quandocumque sibi placuerit sive in vita, sive in morte, et nos ei, vel eis, quibus ipsa concesserit, eodem modo tenebimus sicut et ipsi. Si autem contingeret aliquo modo, quod domina regina praedictam solutionem, sicut supra dictum est, non reciperet, quod salvo sacramento nostro non possit fieri, sit totum negotium in eo statu, in quo erat quando praesens carta fuit confecta, et quingentae librae quas nobis remisit, sicut pro non remissis, compositione praemissa a patre nostro cum eadem regina facta, et omnibus aliis rescriptis apostolicis in suo robore permanentibus, et tenebimur reddere eidem reginae omnes expensas rationabiles et moderatas et honestas, quas in prosecutione istius negotii fecerit pro defectu nostro. Nos autem de consilio domini Pandulfi domini papae camerarii, Norwicen. electi, Apostolicae Sedis legati, et archiepiscoporum, episcoporum et baronum nostrorum asserentium nobis et terrae nostrae hoc expedire, promisimus dictae dominae reginae, et in animam nostram Johannem Rossellum senescalcum nostrum jurare fecimus, quod omnia praedicta et subsequentia ei observabimus illibata bona fide, et warantizabimus et defendemus contra omnem hominem seu feminam toto tempore vitae nostrae, et in pacifica possessione praedictorum eam conservabimus pro posse nostro bona fide. Et ad majorem hujus rei securitatem ad mandatum nostrum juraverunt archiepiscopi, episcopi, barones et alii clerici, et laici, quod pro posse suo modis omnibus facient, procurabunt, et dabunt operam efficacem, quod omnia sicut scripta sunt plenarie observentur et nullo modo contra fiet, et de hoc faciendo, et conservando quilibet eorum dedit litteras suas patentes eidem reginae, et si aliqui de praedictis juratis decesserint, successores eorum loco eorum faciemus hoc idem jurare, et alios, quos domina regina causae suae viderit necessarios, et litteris eorumdem patentibus confirmare. Volentes igitur dominae reginae super praedictis plene cavere, supplicamus domino papae fideliter quod omnia ista confirmet et apponat omnes securitates, quas viderit expedire, et nos eas ratas habebimus. Actum London, anno Dominicae Incarnationis MCCXX, mense julii, anno regni nostri quarto.

Historical context:

Berengaria's nephew, Henry, reaffirms the settlement his father made with his aunt over her dower payments and adds arrangements to cover those that were not made for several years.

Printed source:

Patent Rolls of Henry III, v.1.243-45. Rymer, Foedera, 1.241-42/161-62

Date:

July, 1220