Are murder pennies exactly what their name says….?

  Does anyone know what a “murder penny or pennies” is/was? I have come upon the phrase in the Calendar of Close Rolls, Richard II, 1383, and although I’ve looked around, I can’t find any hint of what these pennies might be. All I get are modern detective novels! Help? Here’s the relevant part of…

Off with the old weaponry and on with the new….

If ever an entry in the Close Rolls of Henry IV was evidence of warfare being at a crossroads between the old and the new, it’s surely this one. Poised between two ages, it concerns arms left by the late Richard II in the great hall of Dublin Castle. Richard had been in Ireland immediately…

Renewing the wax covering Edward I’s body in Westminster Abbey…

While working my way through the Close Rolls of Richard II, I came upon the following intriguing  entry for 11 July 1377, not long after the boy-king’s accession:- “….To the treasurer and the chamberlains. Order of the king’s money to renew the wax about the body of King Edward I buried in the church of…

The joys of rubbish in medieval London….

Oh dear, just as we start imagining the romantic, colourful side of life in medieval London, we’re obliged to consider the other side of that particular coin. My trawlings through the Close Rolls and Richard II brought me to the following entry for 12 March 1393: “….To the bailiffs of Westminster of the abbot of…

A primrose at Candlemas….

  “….and grant of the said manor and lands to Sir Walter for two years from this date, rendering one primrose a year at the Purification…” You’ll find the above extract at this site. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-close-rolls/ric2/vol3/pp296-298 It records an agreement between Sir Walter de Cokesseye and the more famous Sir Hugh Calveley, who was a famous…