"Anno Domini M.C.lxxiiij. fuit ecclesia Christi Cantuariæ combusta." 74 "In the year of our Lord MCLXXIV the church of Christ, Canterbury, was burnt." The loss of these venerable charters is, however, in some degree supplied by the antient leiger-books and registers in which they had been recorded. From them we will make some extracts, which will throw light upon our Kentish history and tenures. I pass over the Ethelbertine charters, as some doubts have been entertained of their authenticity,75 and proceed to a catalogue taken by Somner from the registers of the church, intituled "Donationes Maneriorum & Ecclesiarum Ecclesiæ Christi Cantuarien', & nomina Donantium, unà cum privilegiis & libertat' eid' eccles' concessis." i. e. "Grants of Manors and Churches to Christ Church, Canterbury, and the names of the Donors, together with the Privileges and Liberties granted to the same church." (Somn. Antiq. Cant.', Appx. No. xxxvi.) 74 Thorne's Chron. (ex Historiæ Anglicanæ Scriptor. x, coll. 1815, 40, and 1818, 64.) Amongst other records which escaped the conflagration of the Romano-British cathedral church of Canterbury (A.D. 1067), is a very curious charter, or grant of K. Edred to Abp. Odo and the church of Canterbury, of the royal manor of Reculver, in Kent. The charter is on vellum, in Saxon characters, written by the celebrated Saint Dunstan. It is preserved with great care, between two plates of glass, in the cathedral library; and every antiquary should make a pilgrimage to Canterbury to inspect it. The style of the charter is to the last degree inflated and extravagant. I lately made a copy of it, on parchment, with an English translation, and a concise history of Reculver from the time of the Romans to that of K. Hen. VIII, which is also deposited in the cathedral library, and will shortly appear in the forthcoming History of Richborough, Reculver, &c., by my learned friends, C. R. Smith, F.S.A., and F. W. Fairholt, F.S.A. (This valuable work has since been published.) The history of the burning and repair of Canterbury Cathedral (A.D. 1174) was written by Gervase, a contemporary historian. A very interesting account of these transactions will be found in Professor Willis's Architectural Hist. of Canterbury Cathedral, pp. 33-62. 75 Somner's Antiq. Canterbury, Battely's ed. 1703, p. 26. Janiberto archiepiscopo rogante, dedit monachis ecclesiæ Christi, Doroberniæ, Hlyden juxta Sandwicum, L. S. A. "Eodem anno, Offa, rex totius Angliæ, dedit Janiberto archiepiscopo, ad ecclesiam Christi Dorober. terram trium aratrorum, quam Cantiani Anglicè dicunt thre swollinges' in occidentali parte regionis quæ dicitur Mersware, ubi nominatur illa terra data Hlyden. Et signatum est hoc scriptum signis prædict' regis & archiepiscopi, & similiter Kinedrithæ reginæ, trium episcoporum, quinque abbatum, Eadbaldi ducis, & XI principum." A.D. DCCLXXXIIII. "Eadmundus, rex Kanciæ, dedit Hwatrede (Wihtrede, fortè) abbati de Reculure, & ejus familiæ ibidem degenti, Scheldwihc, scil. terram XII aratrorum, L. S. A." A.D. DCCXC. Offa, rex Anglorum, anno regni sui XXXVIII, ad instigationem Athelardi archiepiscopi, dedit ecclesiæ Sancti Salvatoris in Doroberniâ, xc tributaria terræ, bipartita, in duobus locis, LX in loco qui dicitur Linganhæse & Geddingas, circa rivulum qui dicitur Fisces, burna, & xxx in aquilonali ripâ fluminis Tamis, ubí appellatur Twicanham, LX ad emendationem ecclesiæ Salvatoris, & xxx ad indumentum fratrum qui Deo serviunt in illâ sanctâ ecclesiâ." A.D. DCCLXXIIII. Offa, the king, at the instance of Janibert, the archbishop, gave to the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury, Lydden, near Sandwich, freely as Adisham. "In the same year, Offa, king of all England, gave to Janibert, the archbishop, to Christ Church, Canterbury, three ploughlands, which the Kentish men call in English 'thre swollinges' (i. e. three sulings), in the western part of the country, which is called Mersware, where the land granted is called Hlyden. And this writing is signed with the marks of the aforesaid king, and archbishop, and likewise of Kinedritha, the queen, of three bishops, of five abbats, of Eadbald, the duke, and of eleven princes." [Thanes ?] A.D. DCCLXXXIIII. Eadmund, king of Kent, gave to Hwatrede (Whitred?), abbat of Reculver, and to his family there living, Sheldwich, to wit, twelve ploughlands, freely as Adisham." A.D. DCCXC. Offa, king of the English, in the XXXVIII year of his reign, at the instance of Athelard, the archbishop, gave to the church of Saint Saviour, in Canterbury, xc 'tributaria' of land, divided into two portions, in two places, LX in the place which is called 'Linganhæse,' and Geddings, about the river which is called Fishbourne, and xxx on the north bank of the river Thames, where it is called Twickenham, LX for the repair of the church of the Saviour, and xxx for the clothing of the brethren who serve God in that holy church." This latter charter we set out, in extenso, as a specimen of the form and style of a royal grant by our Saxon kings, and that the reader may compare it with the above short entry in the leiger-book. Ego Offa, rex Anglorum, DCCXC. anno Dominicæ incarnationis, nostri autem regni Dei gratiâ concessi XXXVIII, cogitans de salute animæ meæ, & de statu regionis Merciorum, perveni ad Lundoniam civitatem ad conloquium venerabilis viri Æthelheardi archiepiscopi, & locutus sum cum eo quid pro salute animæ meæ & totius gentis Mercior.' Deo Omnipotenti darem. Inter hæc postulavit à me venerabilis archiepiscopus Æthelheard ut darem sibi aliquod supplementum ad ecclesiam Sancti Salvatoris in urbe Dorobernia, dicens cum omnibus episcopis nostræ regionis esse inonestum non ditari matrem ecclesiarum à filiabus & filiis suis regibus quos fonte baptismatis regeneravit. Ego vero concessi petitioni illius & omnium episcoporum nostrorum & dedi illi xc tributaria terræ bipertita in duobus locis LX in loco qui dicitur on Linga hæse, & Geddingas, circa rivulum qui dicitur Fisces burna, & XXX in aquilonali ripa fluminis Tamis, ubi appellatur Twicanham, ut habeat LX ad emendationem ecclesiæ Sancti Salvatoris, xxx verò in Twicanhamme ad indumentum fratrum qui serviunt Deo in illâ sanctâ ecclesiâ. Hanc elemosinam humilis & devotus ego Offa, rex Anglorum, pro pignore Christianæ fidei totius gentis nostræ offero Deo Omnipotenti, ad suam sanctam ec "I Offa, king of the Angles, in the DCCXC year of our Lord's incarnation, and in the XXXVIII year of our reign, by the grace of God, mindful of the health of my soul and of the state of the kingdom of the Mercians, came to the city of London, to confer with the venerable man, Æthelheard, the archbishop, and I consulted with him what, for the salvation of my soul, and of all the nation of the Mercians, I should give to Almighty God. Thereupon the venerable archbishop Ethelheard besought me that I would give to him some supply for the church of St. Saviour, in the city of Canterbury, saying, with all the bishops of our kingdom, that it was unseemly that the mother of the churches should not be endowed by her daughters, and sons, the kings whom she hath regenerated at the fountain of baptism. I therefore have inclined to the petition of him and of all my bishops, and have given to him xc tributaria' of land, divided into two portions, in two places: LX in the place which is called on Linga hæse,' and Geddinges, about the brook which is called Fish bourne, and xxx on the north bank of the river Thames, where it is called Twickenham, that he may have LX for the reparation of the church of St. Saviour, and xxx in Twicken clesiam, ut mei memoria & meæ carissimæ gentis ibi celebretur & Deo commendetur. Erat autem in conventu nostro celeberrimus dies Pentecostes, & conventus famulorum Dei quorum nomina scripta sunt hic. Æthelheard archiep. Ceolwulf episc. Unwona episc. Hathored episc. Ceolmund episc. Ealhheard episc. Elfhun episc. Cyneberht episc. Dunferth episc. Wermund episc. Weohthun episc. Omnes isti unà mecum clamaverunt ad Dominum in die sancto in ecclesia Sancti Pauli, Spiritus Domini qui hodiè replevit orbem terrarum & omnia continet, & scientiam habet vocis All'. & omnes sancti Dei apostoli qui ab illo spiritu repleti sunt, tribuat benedictionem sempiternam consentientibus & defendentibus hanc largitatem, & condemnet, & excommunicet, & in hoc sæculo, & in futuro eum qui auferat vel minimam partem hujus doni ab ecclesiâ Sancti Salvatoris quæ sita est in urbe Cantewariorum. Et respondit omnis. chorus Amen. Ad confirmandum verò hoc largitatis donum, in testes aderant & subscripserunt & confirmaverunt donum Salvatori nostro, ham, for the clothing of the brethren who serve God in that holy church. This bounty I, the humble and devout Offa, king of the English, as a pledge of the Christian faith of all our nation, offer to Almighty God, to his holy church, that the remembrance of me, and of my most beloved nation, may be there celebrated and commended to God. And it was, at our meeting, the most celebrated day of Pentecost, and a meeting of the servants of God, whose names are here written. Æthelheard, archbishop; Ceolwulf, bishop; Unwona, bishop; Hathored, bishop; Ceolmund, bishop; Ealhheard, bishop; Elfhun, bishop; Cyneberht, bishop; Dunferth, bishop; Wermund, bishop; Weohthun, bishop. All these, together with me, cried unto the Lord, in the holy day, in the church of Saint Paul May the spirit of the Lord, who hath this day filled the whole earth, and upholds all things, and hath knowledge of the word Alleluia, and all the holy apostles of God, who are filled with the same spirit, bestow everlasting blessing upon those who consent to and defend this bounty, and may he condemn and excommunicate, both in this world and in that which is to come, him who shall take away but the least part of this gift from the church of St. Saviour, which is situated in the city of the Kentish men." And all the people answered, Amen! But to confirm the grant of this bounty, there were present as witnesses, and subscribed and confirmed the grant to our Saviour, |