Robert Fitz John, abbot of Lilleshall, to Sir Robert Plumpton

106 Robert Fitz John, abbot of Lilleshall, to Sir Robert Plumpton, 28 May
       [1492] (No. 6_5, p. ₃8)

Right worshipfull Sir, we recomennd us vnto you. And so it is that
Dame Joyce Percy¹ hath shewed vnto the earle of Schrewesburie,²
which is our very good lord and tender lord in all our rightfull causes,
how ye enwrong hir of certayne lands lying within our lordship of
Erkenden, were ye be our steward; [. . .]^a <wherein> the said lord hath
made labour vnto vs for the sayd Dame Joyes, and desired vs that we
wold she be not wronged in hir right. And considering how good lord
he hath bene, & yet alwayes vnto us ys, and remembryng allso that
we, being men of the holy Church, owe not to suffer any wrong to be
done to any maner of persons within our lordship, may no lesse doo,
but effectually tender the sayd lordes desire [p. 39] in that behalfe.
Wherfore we desire you that ye will see the sayd Joyes to haue all þat
which she of right ought to haue within our lordship of Erkenden
foresayd, so as she find hir not greved, nor haue cause to make any
more labor to the sayd lord for hir remedy therein. For and she doe,
we must sett some other person in your rome þat will not wrong hir,
soe we may in no wyse abyd the displeasur of the sayd lord. Tendering
therefore this our desire, as we trust you. And our Lord haue you in
his gouernance. From Lillishall the xxviij day of May.

Your good loving     Abbot of Lileshull^b

Endorsed (p. 3⁸): To Sir Robart Plompton knight in Yorkshire be thes
letter deliuered in good speed

     ^a A word deleted.

     ^b Appended: Copied þe 11 day of March 1612.

     ¹ Second wife of Sir Robert Percy, of Scotton, App. III.

     ² George Talbot, 4th earl of Shrewsbury (d.153⁸). His letter to Sir Robert includes a
reference, presumably, to the field of Ackworth, which dates this letter to 1492. A
competent estate administrator, he was chief steward of 11 monasteries, G.W. Bernard,
The Power of the Early Tudor Nobility: A Study of the Fourth and Fifth Earls of Shrewsbury (1985),
148; 108.

LETTER XXXI.

To Sir Robart Plompton, kt. in Yorkshire, be this letter delivered in
good speede.

    Right worshipfull Sir, we recomennd us unto you. And so it is
that dame Joyes Percy hath shewed unto the Earle of Schrewes-
burie,a which is our very good lord, and tender lord in all our
rightfull causes, how ye enwrong her of certayne lands lying with-
in our lordship of Erkenden, were ye be our steward; wherein
the said lord hath made labor unto us for the sayd Dame Joyes,
and desired us that we wold she be not wronged in hir right: and
considering how good lord he hath bene, and yet alwayes unto us
ys, and remembryng allso, that we, being men of the holy church,
owe not to suffer any wrong to be done to any maner of persones
within our Lordship, may no lesse doo but effectually tender the
sayd lords desire in that behalfe. Wherfore we desire you, that
ye will see the sayd Dame Joyes to have all that which she of
right ought to have within our Lordship of Erkenden foresayd,
so as she find hir not greved, nor have cause to make any more
labor to the sayd lord for hir remedy therin. For and she doe,
we must sett some other person in your rome, that will not wrong
hir; for we may in no wyse abyd the displeasur of the sayd lord.
Tendering therfore this our desire, as we trust you; and our Lord
have you in his governance. From Lillishull, the xxviii day of
May.
                         Your good loving        ABBOT OF LILLESHULL.

    a The Earl of Shrewsbury (George) wrote himself to Sir Robert Plumpton from
Ashby on the 8th of July, in behalf of Dame Joyce Percy, who was then attending on
his wife, in respect to certain lands purchased by Sir Robert Percy, her late husband,
to which Sir Robert Plumpton laid claim.?This letter was one of the twenty-six, of
which the transcripts formed that portion of the Towneley MS. which has been torn
off (see Introduction); but it is one of the few letters of this correspondence which were
copied by Dodsworth from the MS. in 1633. (Vol. CXLVIII. Bibl. Bodl.) Sir
Robert Percy was probably of Scotton, near Knaresborough, where a family of the
name was at this time settled.