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Ancient Petitions, Henry III - James I

Edward I (Cat. ref. E 368/68)

Search and download over 17,000 images from the series of Ancient Petitions which draws together petitions addressed to the king, to the king and council, to the king and council in parliament, to the chancellor, and to certain other officers of state. The petitions include detailed information about the circumstances of the parties involved, and the conditions of the locality. These documents reveal something of the attitude to public authority in the later Middle Ages and the social conventions and political culture.

Most of the petitions are in Anglo-Norman French, although some early examples are in Latin, while English was increasingly used as the fifteenth century progressed. Most of the petitions came from England, but a significant minority were from Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Aquitaine, Gascony and other parts of France.

The majority of petitions were presented by named individuals, men and women, singly or in groups. Although there are examples of petitions presented by members of the peasantry, it was more usual for petitioners to be members of the gentry, the nobility, the urban elites or the higher clergy.

In addition to petitions presented by individuals, a significant number of cases were presented in the name of communities and corporations: many examples exist of petitions presented by villages, towns, ecclesiastical institutions and mercantile associations. There are also petitions addressed from the "commons" or "people".

Structure of the petitions

Generally the petitions fall into two categories: some ask for the redress of grievances which could not be resolved at common law; others are straightforward requests for a grant of favour.

The formal statement of grievance or request which lies at the heart of each petition can include detailed information about the circumstances of the petitioner, as well as a wealth of incidental material about social, political, economic and cultural conditions. In most cases the petition was presented in the hope that it would mobilise royal grace. Early on it was common for the crown's response to be recorded on the dorse of the petition, but from the mid-fourteenth century this practice declined as the use of authorising writs, which were usually attached to the petition, gathered momentum.

The documents were rearranged by archivists in the nineteenth century and unfortunately many of the writs formally attached to the petitions were separated and then grouped with other records, most notably in Chancery: Warrants for the Great Seal in the seriesC 81. Although it is likely that a large proportion of the petitions contained in SC 8 were presented in parliament, the uncertain origins of the series, and the disparate nature of its contents, means that some caution should be exercised before this is assumed to be the case.

Dating of petitions

The earliest petitions date from the reign of Henry III (1216-1272) and the latest from James I (1603-25). Most of the petitions belong to the period between the late thirteenth century and the middle of the fifteenth century, with a concentration of documents dating to the reigns of Edward I (1272-1307), Edward II (1307-1327) and Edward III (1327-1377).

Few petitions can be directly dated unless they carry a dated endorsement or memorandum of process. They are not, however, undateable. All the petitions have been ascribed a date or a period when they are most likely to have been presented. This estimation is based on cross-references to other sources, most notably to the parliament rolls and the printed calendars of chancery rolls; in other cases it is based more impressionistically on the hand and form.

Searching in DocumentsOnline

You can search on any or all of the following:

Other Keywords you might search on are Addressees, Petitioners or Other People mentioned or the older forms of surnames (for example Heryng for Herring).

When you read through the Image Details of a document, you might notice square brackets, [ ], and round brackets ( ). Square brackets are used for derived dates, and derived places, for example, counties, which are not named specifically within the document. Round brackets are used for the modern form of a placename: for instance, if "Lincoln" appears as "Nicole" in the petition, then this would be described as "Nicole (Lincoln)".

You can see an example from the Ancient Petitions by clicking on the image on the right.

This image is from the petition in SC 8/29/1411. At one time the silkwomen and throwsters of London had a monopoly of worked silk. However they were now feeling threatened by "Lombards and other foreigners" who began to bring in various articles of worked and unworked silk of poor quality. They asked that such goods brought in be forfeit, and that the seller should pay £10, with half given to the King's household, and half to the person who sued. They also asked: that the King's lieges should be able to sue an action of debt on this matter; that the Mayor of London should be able to appoint suitable people to search for contraventions of this; and that they should report back to the Mayor and Aldermen.

Further information and research guides

In many cases it is possible to identify a corresponding writ with its original petition, for example, Chancery: Warrants for the Great Seal in C 81. A large proportion of the outcomes to individual petitions can be identified in other records produced by central government, including: the Chancery, Charter Rolls C 53, Close Rolls C 54, Fine Rolls C 60, Gascon Rolls C 61, Patent Rolls C 66; the Exchequer, King's Remembrancer Memoranda rolls E 159; and the King's Bench Coram Rege rolls KB 27. Many petitions presented in parliament up to 1334 were written up, with the corresponding replies, on the parliament rolls (SC 9; C 65).

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Why is access to the Medieval Petitions free of charge?

We are fortunate to be able to provide free access to the images because the project, based at the University of York, has been funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council through its Resource Enhancement Scheme.