Margaret Paston to John Paston - Medieval Family Life

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Title

Margaret Paston to John Paston

Reference

Add. 27446, f. 116

Date

February or March 1463

Library / Archive

Transcript location(s) in printed volume(s)

Gairdner, Vol IV, item 539

Transcript from James Gairdner, 'The Paston Letters, A.D., 1422-1509, New Complete Library Edition, Volume IV'

539

MARGARET PASTON TO JOHN PASTON²

PLEASE you to wet that Will. Jeney and Debham cam
to Calcote on Wednysday before none, and ther they
spake with Rysyng and John Smythe, and haskyd hem
rent and ferme, and they seydyn they had payed you, and so
they myght not paye hem. Also, ferthermore, they told hem
that ye had hold a corte ther syn that they enteryd there.
Than Jenney answerd ageyn ‘Be cause he held a corte here we
mad hym hold corte at London, and so shall we make the to
hold a corte at Ipysweche withowt thow wolt pay us the rent
and ferme.’ ‘Sir,’ quod Rysyng, ‘I toke the ferme of my
master and of Sir Thomas Howys.’ Jenney seyd, ‘And as for
Sir Thomas, he and we schall acord well i nowe.’ And so they
hahte seled up the berne dore and woll dryve a wey the catell
bothe of the fermores and of the tenauntes, withowt the fermor
and John Smythe woll fynd hem suerte to pay hem at Esterne,
and Jenney and Debham woll [be] bownd ageyn to hem in a
obligacion of xlli. to save hem harmelese ageyns you. And so
as yet Rysyng standythe under award at Leystofte. So Rysyng
hathe sent word to me that I shall knowe thys nyght or ellis to
morowe what end they hathe mad.

Item, as towchyng the burges of Yermothe they wer chosyn
on Wednysday. The Baly Wydwell ys on; and as for the
todyr the Bischoppe sent to the towne for to have a man of hys
owne, and so they be not acordyd yit of hym; en cas they may
not acord, John Rus shall be the todyr.

Item, as towchyng Grene, a came not to Caster on Thurs-
day, for he went to Norwich the same day, and so he is yet
ther. Daubeney hathe spokyn with Watkyn Shypdam for to
be at Beyton on Monday to kepe a corte ther; and so he woll
be at Caster on Sonday and spek with you, for he seythe that
Fastolfe¹ hathe mad a cleyme ther to; that is the cause he
wolle comon and speke with you ther of hym selff.

Item, I can not, ner Daubeney nowther, fynd your wyght
boke; it is not in the trussyng cofyr, ner in the sprucheste
nothyr. Jon Walsham toke me a quayer, I suppose it lo[n]gythe
to the same boke, that same I send you, and the byllis of Wal-
cote with ale sealyd. Wretyn this day.

By your, M. P.

On the back are the following accounts, written, in a very careless hand, by Richard
Calle:—

Forene’ Recept’.

De Johanne Prentice de Castelaere ad festum Sanctae Fidis per manus vicarii de Sporle,	lxs.
De Roberto Wylley clerico post Nativitatem Domini,	cs.
De Willelmo Whyte, vigil’ Conversionis Sancti Pauli,	vjli. xiijs. iiijd.
De Edmundo Wynter, mason, de Bermynghem circa Conver- sionem Sancti Pauli,	vjs. viijd.
De Willelmo Elys de Wynterton ad Pascha,	vjs. viijd.
De Warino Herman ad Pascha,	xiijs. iiijd.
De Johanna Bakeney uxore Gerard,	xiijs. iiijd.

Item, de Johanne Russe.

Rec. de Willelmo Norwich et M. Johanne Smythe venditio jocalium Johannis Berney de Redham pro tant’ denar’ pro me pro debito ipsius Berney apud Redham solut’,	xxli. xvjs.
Recept’ de Tesauro.
Inprimis, pro viagio Johannis Paston, Jun. cum Rege et aliis causis (?) versus Annewyke de denariis receptis de debito prioris Norwicensis,	lli.
Item, de auro remanente de Coppes in eadem baga,	lxs.
Item, de baga pecuniæ prestandæ eodem tempore,	viij. marc’.
Item, de remanent’ in forcerio tesaur’ li’berat’¹ frater meus Will’ Yelv’n,	xs. iiijd.
Termino Michaelis.²
Item, de pecunia remanente cum Thoma Gresham apud Lon- don; termino Michaelis xxli., termino Hillarij, xxxiijs. iiijd.,	xxjli. xiijs. iiijd.
Item, de tesauro London termino Michaelis, l. marc’, termino Hillarij l. marc’, termino Paschæ l. marc’,	cli.
Item, de tesauro Norffolk cariat’ versus London termino Paschæ, ultra xlli. remanens (sic) apud terminum Trinitatis,	xl. marc’.

² [From Paston MSS., B.M.] This letter, though not addressed, seems to have been
written by Margaret Paston to her husband. The election referred to must have been
that for the Parliament of 1463. From one expression used it is clear that it was
written some time before Easter, and the dispute with Jenney and Debenham about
Calcote proves the date to a certainty. Compare Nos. 538 and 540.

¹ Thomas Fastolf of Cowhawe.

¹ The words ?tesaur? liberat?? are interlined and apparently intended to be inserted
here. I must leave the grammar of the sentence as it stands in the original. The
word at the end, which I believe stands for ?Yelverton,? is very ambiguous from the
careless writing.

² These words are inserted between the lines, but whether they were intended for
a heading is a little uncertain.

FEB.
or
MARCH

1463
FEB.
or
MARCH