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Brothers and sisters of the House of God of Berwick-upon-Tweed King and council The...

Catalogue reference: SC 8/34/1659

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This record is about the Brothers and sisters of the House of God of Berwick-upon-Tweed King and council The... dating from [1333-1334] in the series Special Collections: Ancient Petitions. It is held at The National Archives, Kew.

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Full description and record details

Reference
SC 8/34/1659
Date
[1333-1334]
Description
Petitioners
Brothers and sisters of the House of God of Berwick-upon-Tweed
Addressees
King and council
Nature of request
The brothers and sisters state that Rydal founded the house ordaining a staff of chaplains and choir-men to celebrate mass under a master chaplain, and providing sustenance and clothing for five poor sick people in the house. To maintain the house Rydal purchased £100 of land and rent in Scotland and England. He ordained that vacancies be filled by the mayor and commonalty of the town, and in their default by the king. The king appointed Paynton and then after the battle of Bannockburn one Edmund de London who was ousted by Robert the Bruce, whose nominee, Roxburgh still holds the position. During Roxburgh's tenure only one other chaplains has been appointed, no poor men receive sustenance, Roxburgh lying with his concubine and spending the goods of the house. The petitioners request remedy in that Roxburgh has always been a chief enemy of the king, and has killed two men and married two women in Berwick. The petitioners request that they consider the unsuitability of Roxburgh and the ruin of the house, and make orders for the maintenance of the chantry and the provision of the poor people as they are all begging for their bread.
Nature of endorsement
Because it is witnessed that the advowson of the hospital pertains to the mayor and bailiffs of Berwick let it be ordered to them by a writ that they make such redress and amendment upon the things contained in this petition so that the king doesn't have to intervene in their default
Places mentioned
Berwick-upon-Tweed, [Northumberland]
Bannockburn, [Scotland]
People mentioned
Philip de Ridale (Rydal)
Thomas Paynton, clerk
Edmond de Londres (London)
Robert de Brus, King of Scotland
William de Rokesburgh (Roxburgh)
Note
The petition obviously post dates the recapture of Berwick, and probably precedes SC 8/33/1608 where the master of the house is recorded as desperately trying to repair the damage inflicted on the buildings by the siege machines. Fraser also notes that Roxburgh was in prison in Newcastle in 1335, so must have been deprived by then (Northern Petitions, pp.82-3).
Related material

For another petition by the same petitioners see SC 8/33/1608

Held by
The National Archives, Kew
Former department reference
Parliamentary Petition 681
Legal status
Public Record(s)
Language
French
Closure status
Open Document, Open Description
Publication note(s)
Northern Petitions Illustrative of Life in Berwick, Cumbria and Durham in the Fourteenth Century, Ed. C.M. Fraser, (Surtees Society, vol. CXCIV, 1981), pp.80-2 (no.49) (full edition of petition)
Record URL
https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C9061856/

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Series information

SC 8

Special Collections: Ancient Petitions

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Brothers and sisters of the House of God of Berwick-upon-Tweed King and council The...

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