Viewing posts for the category Unpublished inquisitions
Unpublished IPMs: dower for Constance, who was the wife of Thomas lord Despenser, 1415
Posted by: mholford in Unpublished inquisitions 11 years ago
This document is apparently the only surviving assignment of dower for Constance, wife of Thomas Despenser, who (Thomas) was executed in 1400 after his involvement in the Epiphany rising of January that year. [1. For Constance's biography, see Rosemary Horrox, ‘Despenser, Constance, Lady Despenser (c.1375–1416)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/57622, accessed 27 Feb 2013; subscription required).] Writs for assignment of dower, directed to the escheators of 23 counties and London, were only issued after a very lengthy interval, on 18 February 1415. Constance's dower holdings were summarized in a series of inquisitions taken in 1416-17 (CIPM xix.621-31), including one for Yorkshire which supplements the information given here (CIPM xix.631). As is usual, however, the original assignment contains more information than appears in the later inquisition.
Unpublished IPMs: John Chitewode, 1412
Posted by: mholford in Unpublished inquisitions 11 years ago
This inquisition for John Chitewode (or Chetwode) survives only as a copy in the Exchequer archive. [1. For his biography, see http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/chetwode-sir-john-1412.] It is not clear why it was omitted from CIPM xix. No other IPMs survive for John, whose manors in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire were not held in chief. Nor does the current IPM give a full record of his holdings in Northamptonshire, since he also held the manor of Warkworth, which was held of the bishop of Lincoln. Possibly this inquisition did not record lands held of others than the king because it was realised that, since John held of the king only de honore, of the duchy of Lancaster, the crown (in theory at least) had no right of primer seisin. All the same, this document is an interesting example of how tenants who held of the duchy could be drawn into the IPM system after Henry IV's accession, despite the duchy's administrative independence (again, at least in theory).
Unpublished IPMs: Hugh Waterton d. 1409
Posted by: mholford in Unpublished inquisitions 11 years, 4 months ago
The Gloucestershire IPM for Hugh Waterton survives only in the Exchequer archive of IPMs. It was taken ex officio; a writ diem clausit extremum for Gloucestershire was issued, on 12 July 1409 (CFR 1405-13, 124), but does not appear to have been acted on. The apparent reference to a Gloucestershire inquisition in an old inventory of IPMs (Calendarium, iii.332) seems in fact to be a summary of the surviving IPM for Herefordshire (CIPM xix.819)
Unpublished inquisitions: Elizabeth who was the wife of Thomas, duke of Norfolk, ?1400
Posted by: mholford in Unpublished inquisitions 11 years, 5 months ago
This post continues our occasional series of inquisitions omitted from the published calendars for the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V. It is not fully clear why the present document was not included, but it seems to have been added to its current file in the IPM archive from a different series of documents, and this may have taken place after the printed calendar was published. Unfortunately there seems to be no record of when the document was added to the file, or of its earlier provenance.
Unpublished inquisitions: Robert Shardelowe, knight, 1400
Posted by: mholford in Unpublished inquisitions 11 years, 6 months ago
The process of enhancing the IPMs for Henry IV's reign (to be described more fully in a future post) has brought to light a small number of inquisitions omitted from the printed calendars. Some of these inquisitions seem to have been added to the manuscript files after the printed calendars were completed. Some are exchequer IPMs that have not been correctly identified. Others are out of chronological sequence; they may have been scheduled for publication in future volumes but later omitted. These inquisitions will be added to the online text at this site as it becomes available, but we have also decided to make this unpublished material available immediately on the project blog, where the inquisitions will appear over the coming weeks and months. Editorial principles are based on CIPM xxii-xxvi.