Piece
Transferred to SC 5/8/6 and subsequently to C 47/8/1
Catalogue reference: SC 5/8/7
Transferred to SC 5/8/6 and subsequently to C 47/8/1
Item
Margaret, former wife of Thomas Malefant, knight. Malefant Margaret; Thomas Commons...
Catalogue reference: SC 8/27/1316
What’s it about?
This record is about the Margaret, former wife of Thomas Malefant, knight. Malefant Margaret; Thomas Commons... dating from [1439] in the series Special Collections: Ancient Petitions. It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
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Full description and record details
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Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- SC 8/27/1316
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Date (When the record was created)
- [1439]
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Description (What the record is about)
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- Petitioners
- Margaret, former wife of Thomas Malefant, knight.
- Name(s)
- Malefant, Margaret; Thomas
- Addressees
- Commons in parliament
- Nature of request
- Margaret complains that, after the death of her husband, Lewis Leyson promised Jane Asteley, her mother, that he would bring her safe to London, but he sent counterfeit letters claiming to be from her husband (of whose death she was still then unaware) asking her to hasten to London to comfort him in his sickness. On Whit Sunday, 16 Hen. VI (1 June 1438) at Oucketon, Lewis told her that Griffith ap Nicholas and other enemies were lying in wait for her, but that he would nonetheless take her safe to London. After travelling all that day and until the following evening, she was ambushed in the park of Prys within the lordship of Gower by men of Lewis, and taken by him into the mountains, and starved until Wednesday (4 June 1438), when he took her to Turbervyle's place in the lordship of Glamorgan and imprisoned and threatened her there; on Monday (9 June 1438) she was taken to the church of Tythegston and forced to marry Lewis, despite her protestations, she being with child by her late husband; Lewis then took her to Turbervyle's house at Tythegston and raped her; she was there until Friday after St John the Baptist (27 June 1438), when she came to her mother in London. She asks for a writ of proclamation out of the king's chancery to the sheriff of Somerset, summoning Lewis to appear before the king and his justices to answer for the felony and rape; if he does not appear he is to be attainted for high treason. She also asks for letters under the privy seal ordering Lewis's arrest; that the case be heard in Somerset, the shire nearest to Tythegston; and that her appeal may be valid notwithstanding the alleged marriage between herself and Lewis.
- Nature of endorsement
- The king wishes it, always provided that it does not cause prejudice to marcher lords in future.
- Places mentioned
- Glamorgan, Wales
- London
- Oucketon (Upton), Pembrokeshire, [Wales]
- Park of Prys [unidentified], [Glamorgan, Wales]
- Lordship of Gower, [Wales]
- Twyggeston (Tythegston), [Glamorgan, Wales]
- Somerset.
- People mentioned
- Lewse (Lewis) Leyson, also known as Lewse (Lewis) Gethei
- Thomas Malefant, knight
- Jane Asteley, former wife of Thomas Asteley
- Griffith ap Nicholas
- Gilbert Turbervyle
- Hough, vicar of church of Tythegston.
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Note (Additional information about the record)
- Dated in Rot. Parl. V, p.3 to the parliament which met on 12 November 1439. The events described in the petition are dated June 1438.
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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Former department reference (Former identifier given by the originating creator)
- Parliamentary Petition 5518
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Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
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Language (The language of the record)
- English
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Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
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Publication note(s) (A note of publications related to the record)
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- Calendar of Ancient Petitions Relating to Wales, Board of Celtic Studies, History and Law, (University of Wales, 1975), p.38 (brief calendar)
- Rotuli Parliamentorum; ut et Petitiones, et Placita in Parliamento, vol. V, Hen VI and Edw IV, (Record Commission, 1783), pp.14b-16a (no.28) (transcription of petition on parliament roll)
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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C9061494/
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- View this record page in our current catalogue
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Series information
SC 8
Special Collections: Ancient Petitions
See the series level description for more information about this record.
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Special Collections: Ancient Petitions
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Within the piece: SC 8/27
1301-1350. Individual petitions are described , dated, and are available at item...
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Margaret, former wife of Thomas Malefant, knight. Malefant Margaret; Thomas Commons...
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