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
John Stepnethe, servant of the prince. Stepnethe John Council of the prince. servant...
Catalogue reference: SC 8/344/E1304
What’s it about?
This record is about the John Stepnethe, servant of the prince. Stepnethe John Council of the prince. servant... dating from [c. 1481] 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 8/344/E1304
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Date (When the record was created)
- [c. 1481]
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Description (What the record is about)
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- Petitioners
- John Stepnethe, servant of the prince.
- Name(s)
- Stepnethe, John
- Addressees
- Council of the prince.
- Occupation
- servant of the prince
- Nature of request
- Stepnethe shows that he kept a court of the prince at Benson on 21 March in the 21st year of the king, and Kidwelly dined there with him and then departed towards Oxford, but was murdered within a furlong by Thomas Wood and others who fled. Harcourt, taking it upon himself to be the prince's coroner and escheator within the prince's honour of Wallingford, sat at Benson upon the sight of the body and enquired of the death, the jury found that Wood and his adherents murdered Kidwelly, but Harcourt would not accept the jury's verdict unless the petitioner was made principal or accessory to the murder. Afterwards Harcourt had the petitioner indicted of the murder in various places to the intent to have his goods forfeited, though he was not guilty of it. Stepnethe requests that the council consider Harcourt's great malice, and that Stepnether may ride daily in keeping the courts in the prince's service, and that they will send for Harcourt and to command him that he not for any reason by colour of his office or presentment trouble the petitioner or his servants in body or goods until the council have examined the matter.
- Nature of endorsement
- A day is given to the parties [...] as appears [? by the Act Book].
- Places mentioned
- Benson, [Oxfordshire]
- Oxford, [Oxfordshire]
- Clanfield, [Hampshire].
- People mentioned
- [Edward Plantagenet], prince [of Wales]
- Walter Kydwelly (Kidwelly)
- Thomas Wode (Wood)
- John Harcourte (Harcourt).
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Note (Additional information about the record)
- The petition is dated to c. 1481 because the petitioner refers to events on the 21st March in the 21st year [of Edward IV] (1481).
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Related material (A cross-reference to other related records)
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For another petition complaining of Harcourt, see SC 8/344/E1293
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Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
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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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Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C9736724/
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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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John Stepnethe, servant of the prince. Stepnethe John Council of the prince. servant...
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