| Description (Repository) |
50 B 23
carta qua liece filia radulfi rotomagensis confirmat donationem quam maria, mater ejus, filia laurentii, fecerat canonicis ecclesiae s. mariae de suhwerka, de terra de bedefonte, test. rob . fil. laurentii, gervasio caterine, joh. gubold, rodberto de arle, et aliis seal [no date in cata]
[[[[Hatton bk]]
107
Charter of Lecia, daughter .of Ralf of Rouen, confirming to the priory of St. Mary Overey, Southwark, the annual rent of half a mark given by her mother Mary, daughter of Laurence, and charged on Bedfont, Middx. (Southwark: Hen. II) ORIGINAL: Harl . Chart. 50 B 23. BS FACSIMILE.
Notum sit uniuersis sancte dei ecclesie filiis tam presentibus quam futuris quod ego Liece flu a Radulfi Rotomagensis concedo et presentis scripti pagina confirm° donationem quam Maria flu a Laurentii mater mea fecit deo . et ecclesie sancte Marie . de Suhwerka . et canonicis ibidem deo seruientibus presente et concedente Willelmo flu o meo et herede . uidelicet dimidiam marcaml argenti . de terra de Bedefonte . quam Robertus filius Laurentii auunculus meus tenet . annuatim soluendam2 uidelicet ad natale domini iij solidos et iiij de' narios et ad natiuitatem sancti Johannis Baptiste iij solidos et i_iij denarios. Hanc concessionem facio . in perpetuam elemosinam . pro salute animarum nostrarum . Willelmi uidelicet et domini et sponsi mei . et mee . et heredum . et omnium amicorum meorum . et pro animabus Radulfi patris mei . Laurentii fratris mei . et antecessorum et omnium propinquorum meorum. Hanc Cartam sigillo meo corroboratam super altare sancte Marie in ecclesia de Sudwerka ego et Willelmus filius et heres meus presentauimus. Hiis testibus Roberto filio Laurentii . Willelmo clerico . de Estede . Geruasio Caterine . Johanne Gubold . Roberto de Atle . Thurstano . Radulfo cleric° . Willelmo senescal . Henrico famulo . Odone armigero . Godefrido janitore.
Endorsed: Karta concessionis Liece filia R. de Rum . de terra de
Bedefunte. (12th century.)
dimidia marca BS. 2 soluenda BS.SEAL on tag: pointed oval, 3-1,- x 1 in.; green. A lady standing, wearing a long gown with liripipe sleeves and holding a flower in her left hand; [S]X6IIIIIVSX/ IIIECE . . : BM 6637
This charter and the next, No. 108, when read in conjunction with others referred to below, disclose a family originating in Rouen and connected with London, no doubt by trade, which as early as the reign of Henry I was holding Ashstead in Surrey of the chamberlains of Tancarville. The following pedigree shows the relationship of the persons mentioned in the two charters.
Laurence of Rouen, alias de Sancto Sepulchro, living 1130
1
1
Raff, son of Robert of Rouen —MaryRobert, living 1175
1
William de la Mare, living 1180 —T Lec ia, living 1180 Laurence
1
William de la Mare
A charter of Henry II (Delisle and Berger, Recueil, ii. 456), for which the limits of date are 1180-3, confirms to William de Mare and Lecia, his wife, Ashstead, SUIT., as Laurence de Sancto Sepulchro held it of William the chamberlain of Tancarville (d. 1129); Mitcham, Sum, which Rabel the chamberlain (d. 1140) gave to Ralf son of RAert and his wife Mary, daughter of the aforesaid Laurence; and their
land of Grantham, Lincs., viz. Harlaxton and Londonthorpe, which William the then chamberlain of Tancarville had restored to them as their inheritance. Another charter of Henry II (ibid. ii. 205) confirms to the priory of St. Lô at Rouen a rent of 60 shillings in Rouen, the gift of Ralf son of Robert, and another rent of 60 shillings, the gift of his wife Mary. It will have been noted that in the first of these charters Laurence of Rouen is described as de Sancto Sepulchro; the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Rouen formerly stood between the Vieux Marché and the present Place de la Pucelle not far from the priory of St. LC), and his daughter's benefaction to that house suggests the origin of Laurence's name. Farin (Hist. de Rouen,. 1738 ed. ii, pt. i. 97) prints in translation an agreement between the chapter of Rouen cathedral and William de la Mare, by which the latter released to the chapter all his claim over the patronage of the church of St. Sauveur at Rouen, the chapter promising to commemorate William on the morrow of the Nativity of the Virgin (9 Sept.); and the necrology of the cathedral has the entry, '9 Sept. Guillermus de la Mara' (Rec. Hist. France, xxxiii. 366). The church of St. Sauveur in the Vieux Marché was about 200 yards distant from the church of the Holy Sepulchre. It seems safe to identify this William de la Mare with either the husband or son of Lecia, and this is additional evidence of the exact provenance of the family.
Laurence of Rouen must have had considerable interests in England, for he occurs on the Pipe Roll of 1130 under gurrey, Essex, and London. The Pipe Roll of 21 Hen. II (p. 149) shows Mary's brother, Robert, in possession of Harlaxton; he must have died without issue before 1183, by which time the overlord had restored it to Lecia and her husband as their inheritance. The two charters are contemporaneous, and the handwritings both of the texts and the endorsements are identical, but their date is not easy to determine. Lecia's grandfather Laurence was living in 1130, and her son William was old enough to consent to the grant here made; both Lecia and her husband were living at least as late as 1180. On these data it is difficult to put the charters earlier than the early years of Henry II. A later confirmation by Ralf the chamberlain of Tancarville of these English lands to Lecia's son, William de la Mare, will be found at No. 281. |