Land at Southgate, Rochester, 1114-23 AD
Hugh, in agreement with his wife Emma and his sons, grants land at Southgate to St Andrew’s, Rochester, Date: 1114–231. Textus Roffensis, f. 191v. Translated from Latin by Dr Christopher Monk.
Bishop Gundulf confirms Gilbert the priest's grant at Haddenham, a.1086 AD
Bishop Gundulf confirms a grant by Gilbert the priest of three hides at Haddenham in exchange for Gilbert entering the monastic life, Date: after 10861. Textus Roffensis, ff. 213r–213v. Translated from Latin and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Bishop Gundulf confirms a grant by Gilbert the priest of three hides at Haddenham in exchange for Gilbert entering the monastic life, Date: after 10861. Textus Roffensis, ff. 213r–213v. Translated from Latin and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Transcription
213r2 (select folio number to open facsimile)
De Dudicote. Gundulfus Rofensis episcopus, Rodberto Lincoliensi episcopo,
et Goisfrido uicecomiti, et omnibus fidelibus regis
Francigenis et Anglis de comitatu de Bukin-
geham, salutem. Sciatis quod Gislebertus noster clericus
de Hedenham concessit ęcclesię Rofensi Sancti Andreę
tres hidas terrę quas habuit in suo dominico in He-
denham, ea conuentione quod quando ipse uoluerit
fiet ibi monachus. Et hoc idem concessit et confirmauit
Radulfus filius suus ex toto. Et ego concessi eidem Radulfo
ęcclesiam de Hedenham cum una hida et dimidia terrę, et
duobus pratis, Coiea, et Cetemora, et concessi ei pasturam
decem boum, et omnes consuetudines que ad eandem ęcclesiam
pertinent, insuper quicquid Gislebertus tenuit in Heden-
ham, exceptis illis tribus supradictis hidis terrę. Et de ipsa ęcclesia non faciet ullum seruitium,
nisi, quod ad ęcclesiam pertinet tantum.
Translation
Concerning Dollicott3
Gundulf bishop of Rochester to Robert bishop of Lincoln,4 Geoffrey the sheriff, and all the faithful of the king, the French and the English, of the county of Buckingham, greetings. Let it be known that Gilbert our priest of Haddenham has granted to the church of Saint Andrew in Rochester three hides of land which he held as demesne in Haddenham, 5 with the agreement that when he himself wishes he will become a monk there. And that Ralf his son has granted the same and confirmed it fully. And I have granted to the same Ralf the church of Haddenham with one and a half hides of land and with two meadows, Coiea and Cetemora;6 and I have granted him pasture for ten cows and all customs which pertain to that same church,7 in addition to whatever Gilbert held in Haddenham, except those three hides of land mentioned above.
And the church itself will not create dues for service, except those pertaining to the church only.
Footnotes
1 Gilbert is recorded as the owner of these three hides of Haddenham in an entry of Domesday Book (1086): opendomesday.org/place/SP7408/haddenham [accessed 06.03.18].
2 Folio 213 is a replacement leaf, added sometime later in the twelfth century; the hand is not that of the main scribe.
3 The heading ‘De Dudicote’ alludes to the name of the three hides of land within the manor of Haddenham – a ‘sub-manor’, as William A. Strange puts it – granted by Gilbert to the church of St Andrew, Rochester. The place-name Dudicot evidently corresponds to Dollicot(t), which is recorded in the seventeenth century as a ‘field’ unit of land, and which survives as the street name Dollicott in modern day Haddenham. Dudicot (as ‘Dodecot’) is mentioned in Custumale Roffense (c.1235) as supporting 250 sheep, and the meadow there was to be mown by its tenants ‘for love and not as a duty owed’, for which they were rewarded with ‘one wether and one cheese worth 4 pence and one salt bacon and one bundle of straw’. See William A. Strange, ‘Haddenham and Cuddington: The Early History of Two Buckinghamshire Villages’, Buckinghamshire Papers 11 (2007), esp. pp. 11-12, 25, 28 (Figure Two), and 37. My thanks to William for personally communicating this information about Dudicot/Dollicott. It should be noted that ‘Concerning Dollicott’ (2024) is a correction of my previous ‘Concerning Didcot’ (2018) and the information in this present footnote (2024) is a revision of the original footnote (2018).
4 Robert Bloet (also, Bluet), bishop of Lincoln, r. 1093/4–1123.
5 ‘in demesne’, translating in dominico. ‘Demesne. […] land held for the lord’s own use rather than let or leased’: A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams (D. S. Brewer, 2005). Dominicus, Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources ‘3c. demesne, land held for lord’s use’: logeion.uchicago.edu/index.html#dominicus [accessed 06.03.18].
6 Unidentified place-names of the two meadows; left untranslated.
7 Customs: e.g. tithings and other dues owed the church.
Three acres of garden for the monks at Rochester Priory, c.1088-c.1094 AD
Bishop Gundulf affirms his release to William II of land at Borstal in exchange for three acres of land which were originally granted by bishop Odo to St Andrew’s Priory as garden for the monks, Date: c.1088–c.1094. Textus Roffensis, ff. 211v–212r2. Translated and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Bishop Ernulf grants privileges and lands, c.1114-c.1123
Transcription
196v (select folio number to open facsimile)
Ernulfus Rofensis episcopus. Omnibus hominibus
de Buchingeham Francis et Anglis salutem.
Sciatus me concessisse ęcclesię Sancti Andreę de Roue-
cestra ad luminaria eiusdem ęcclesię ęcclesiam
de Edenham, et terras et decimas omnes quas ipsa
ęcclesia hucusque habuit uel deinceps habere
poterit, cum omnibus rebus in campis et pratis ad
ipsam ęcclesiam pertinentibus. Decimam etiam de do-
minio de Edenham et de Cudintuna in anno-
na, in uitulis, in agnis, in puleinis, in pur-
cellis, unam quoque hagam, et dimidiam hidam terrę
in Hedenham, quas Ansfridus clericus in uita sua
tenuit. Hęc omnia concessi et dedi ęcclesię Sancti An-
dreę, ut ipsa ęcclesia deinceps in perpetuum hęc
habeat et teneat pro anima mea, ita ut secreta-
rius ęcclesię quicunque ille fuerit post obitum meum
singulis annis in die anniuersarii mei det pro
anima mea decem solidatas panis pauperibus, et xxti
solidos in refectorium fratribus. Huius concessionis
testes sunt, ęcclesię Sancti Andreę prior Orduinus, et
totus fratrum conuentus. Heruisus eiusdem ęcclesię
archidiaconus; Rodbertus Dofforensis; Egel-
uuordus et Helias clerici; Ansfridus Dapifer,
et miles eius Uuillelmus de Sancto Albano; Willelmus
de Cusintuna cum filio suo Wimundo; Ra-
dulfus Picot de Stisteda; Robertus et Ricar-
dus cubicularii et plures alii Franci et Angli. 1
Translation
Ernulf, bishop of Rochester.2 To everyone of Buckingham, to the French and the English, greetings. Know that I have granted to the church of Saint Andrew of Rochester, for the luminaries of the same church,3 the church of Haddenham, and lands and all the tithings which the church itself hitherto held or hereafter will be able to hold, with all things in ploughland and meadowland pertaining to this church. And also, the Sunday tithing of Haddenham and Cuddington in grain,4 in calves, in lambs, in piglets, as well as the piece of enclosed land5 and the half-hide of land in Haddenham, which Ansfrid the priest holds for his living.
All these things I granted and I gave to the church of Saint Andrew, in order that this very church may have and hold these hereafter in perpetuity for the sake of my soul, so that the secretary of the church, whoever he may be after my death, each year on the day of my anniversary, may give for my soul ten solid loaves to the poor,6 and twenty shillings to the brothers in the refectory.
The witnesses of this grant are: Ordwine, prior of the church of Saint Andrew, and all the brothers of the monastery; Harvey, archdeacon of the same church; Robert of Dover; Adelard7 and Elias, priests; Ansfrid Dapifer, and his knight William of Saint Albans; William of Cossington, with his son Wimund;8 Ralf Picot of Stisted; Robert and Richard, chamberlains; and many others of the French and English.
Footnotes
1 The text on folio 197r is not by the main scribe. The original folio has been cut out and replaced.
2 Bishop of Rochester at the time of the writing of Textus Roffensis (r. 1114–1124). He likely oversaw its completion around 1123.
3 Latin ‘ad luminaria’: this figurative expression appears to refer to the brethren of the priory as spiritual lights or luminaries; it may also allude to the monks’ work of honouring the dead and saints, since a luminare is a candle used in honouring the shrines of the dead and the saints: see logeion.uchicago.edu (accessed 14.11.17).
4 One tenth of the year’s produce in grains
5 Latin haga, ‘haw’, borrowed from Old English haga, meaning an enclosure, a piece of land surrounded by a hedge; from which the hawthorn gets its name, as it functions well as a hedge. See ‘haw’, Christopher Corèdon and Ann Williams, A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 2005).
6 Or, ‘whole loaves’
7 Tentative; or, alternatively, Ealgheard.
8 Or, Wymund
Land in Frindsbury to Rochester Cathedral, c.1100-c.1123 AD
An agreement made by the monks of Rochester with the wife of Robert Latimer, concerning land in Frindsbury, c. 1100–c.1123. Textus Roffensis, ff. 200v–201r. Translated from Latin and edited by Dr Christopher Monk.
Fifteen hides at Fen Stanton and Hilton, Hunts. to Rochester Cathedral, 1012
Æthelred II grants to Bishop Godwine of Rochester fifteen hides at Fen Stanton and Hilton, Hunts.*, A.D. 1012. Textus Roffensis, ff. 159v–162r. Translated from Latin and Old English by Dr Christopher Monk.
Six sulungs at Bromley to Rochester Cathedral with the use of forest in the Weald, 998
Æthelred II1 restores to the see of Rochester six sulungs at Bromley and the use of forest in the Weald.*, A.D. 998. Textus Roffensis, ff. 156v–159v. Translated from Latin and Old English by Dr Christopher Monk.
Restoration to Rochester Cathedral of six sulungs at Wouldham and one mansa at Littlebrook, 995
Æthelred II1 restores to the see of Rochester at the request of Bishop Godwine six sulungs at Wouldham and one mansa at Littlebrook, 995. Textus Roffensis, ff. 152r–155r. Translated from Latin and Old English by Dr Christopher Monk.
Cnut’s Charter for Christ Church, Canterbury, 1023 AD
Concerns the granting of the port of Sandwich and related water rights to Christ Church, Canterbury. Transcription and translation of Textus Roffensis, 57v by Jacob Scott (pending review).
Concerns the granting of the port of Sandwich and related water rights to Christ Church, Canterbury. Transcription and translation of Textus Roffensis, 57v by Jacob Scott (pending review).
Latin, dating to 1023. No rubric, though there is a space left for one. A space is left for a display initial; or perhaps the initial has been completely obliterated by water damage. The arm of Saint Bartholomew apparently refers to a relic; also mentioned are a large cloak and Bartholomew’s gold crown.
Transcription
57v (select folio number to open facsimile)
[C]NVD rex anglorum dedit aecclesiae
xpi brachium Sancti Bartholomei
apostoli cum magno pallio, et sui capitis
auream coronam, et portum de sandwic,
et omnes exitus eiusdem aquae ab utraque
parte fluminis, ita ut natante naui
in flumine cum plenum fuerit, quam
longius de naui potest securis paruula
super terram proici, debet a ministris
aecclesiae xpi rectitudo nauis accipi. Null-
usque,
Translation
Cnut, king of the English, has given to the church of Christ, the arm of St Bartholomew the apostle with a large cloak, and of the head, a gold crown, and the port of Sandwich, and all of the outlets of the same water from both sides of the river, so that when a ship is in the river and it is full, how far from the ship can a small anchor be thrown on the ground, officials of Christ Church must assess the tightness of the ship, but none.
Acknowledgements
With thanks for the notes of Dr Christopher Monk.