Step back in time to the spring of 1569—the eleventh year of Queen Elizabeth I's reign—with this beautifully preserved Elizabethan legal bond, a captivating window into the transactional world of Tudor England.Written across a single sheet of heavy vellum, the document dramatically opens with a formal, authoritative Latin demand binding a Gloucestershire gentleman named Henry Thorne to a staggering fifty-pound penalty, a small fortune at the time, should he fail his obligations to the buyer, a man identified on the reverse endorsement as Potelfilde.What follows is a wonderful linguistic shift into Early Modern English, penned in a highly legible, dark iron-gall script known as "English Secretary Hand" that brings the rustic, agricultural geography of 16th-century Gloucestershire to life. Complete with specific, text-verified field names like Toddington Field and Gretton Field, and a fascinating clause restricting the seller's required legal travel to a strict maximum of five miles, this manuscript is a rich, tactile piece of living history from the golden age of Elizabeth I. Latin & English | Secretary Hand | Manuscript (12 × 10 inches | 30.5 x 25.4 cm) | Frame Size (14 × 11 inches | 27.9 x 35.6 cm)

Price $750.00 | Purchase Page  | See all SKU: 31165

Latin - Starting at Line One (Lines 1-5) Be it known to all men by these presents that I, Henry Thorne of Toddington in the County of Gloucester, gentleman, am held and firmly bound to Potelfilde in fifty pounds of good and lawful money of England, to be paid to the same Potelfilde, his certain attorney, executors, administrators, or assigns. To which payment well and faithfully to be made, I bind myself, my heirs, executors, and administrators firmly by these presents. Sealed with my seal. Dated on the fourth day of April in the eleventh year of the reign of our Lady Elizabeth, by the grace of God of England, France, and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, etc. [April 4, 1569].

Middle English - Starting at Line Six (Lines 6-end of document)

The Condicion of this obligacion is such that If the above bounden Henry Thorne by his dede indented bering equall date with the date and yere of the date of the obligacion above written hath bargained sold enfeoffed & and made stedfast to the above named Potelfilde two parcells of land being the premisses lying and being in the Lordshipp of Toddington in the said countie of Glouc[ester] whereof one parcell is called Toddington Field and conteyneth by estimacion thretene acres of land whether there be more or les and the other is Gretton Field and conteyneth by estimacion seven acres or there abouts And the sayd Potelfilde his heires and assignes for ever as by the same dede indented more at large it doth and maye appeere that the Henry Thorne in the daye of the makyng of the said dede was lawfully seased of and in the said two parcells of land and of every part thereof of a lawfull estate of inheritance in fee simple without condicion exception or lease of the same before made and also if the said Potelfilde his heires and assignes and every of them may alwayes hereafter lawfully have hold and enjoye the said two parcells of land and every part thereof without any interupcion stopp or troble of the ladies grace next heyres of the said Henry Thorne and also of the said Henry Thorne in convenient tyme at the request to be made by the said Potelfilde his heires & or assignes doo knowledge and suffer all and every further assurance of and in the premisses to the said Potelfilde and his heires as shall be reasonably devised or advised by the learned councell of the said Potelfilde so that it be done next after the date hereof so that the same assurance to be made nor any Warantie but only against the said Henry and his heires And by the agrement to except all suche leases as be above made of the premisses or of any part thereof And also that the same Henry Thorne be not compelled to travell above v miles from the place where he shall be at the tyme of such request to be made And that he shall not be compelled to assure in any other court but the court of Assurance to be at the costs and charges in the lawes of the said Potelfilde his heires or assignes that then this present obligacion to be voide or else to remayne in all his full strength and effecte.

Backside of the Parchment | Endorsement Transcription: Line 1: 4to Aprilis 11 Eliz Reg. (4th of April, 11th year of Elizabeth's reign) Line 2: Henry Thorne for Potelfilde Line 3: Sr Henry Choyne Line 4: Ralphe Cole

Modernized spelling and punctuation:

The condition of this obligation is such that if the above-bounden Henry Thorne, by his deed indented bearing equal date with the date and year of the obligation written above, has bargained, sold, enfeoffed, and made steadfast to the above-named Potelfilde two parcels of land being the premises lying and being in the Lordship of Toddington in the said County of Gloucester (whereof one parcel is called Toddington Field and contains by estimation thirteen acres of land, whether there be more or less, and the other is Gretton Field and contains by estimation seven acres or thereabouts);And if the said Potelfilde, his heirs and assigns forever—as by the same deed indented more at large it does and may appear—can verify that Henry Thorne, on the day of making the said deed, was lawfully seized of and in the said two parcels of land and every part thereof as a lawful estate of inheritance in fee simple, without any condition, exception, or prior lease;And also if the said Potelfilde, his heirs, and assigns, and every one of them, may always hereafter lawfully have, hold, and enjoy the said two parcels of land and every part thereof without any interruption, stoppage, or trouble from the Lady's Grace, the next heirs of the said Henry Thorne, or the said Henry Thorne himself;And also if the said Henry Thorne, at a convenient time upon request made by the said Potelfilde, his heirs, or assigns, does acknowledge and allow all and every further legal assurance of the premises to the said Potelfilde and his heirs, as shall be reasonably devised or advised by the learned counsel of the said Potelfilde—provided that it be done next after the date hereof, that the assurance carries no warranty except against the said Henry and his heirs, and that it agrees to except all such leases as are made above regarding the premises or any part thereof;And also provided that the same Henry Thorne shall not be compelled to travel above five miles from the place where he shall be at the time such a request is made, and that he shall not be compelled to provide assurance in any other court but the Court of Assurance, which is to be at the costs and charges in the law of the said Potelfilde, his heirs, or assigns; Then this present obligation shall be void, or else it shall remain in all its full strength and effect.

English Common Law Bond (obligation)

Documents like this were designed to prevent the need for court action. One party (the "above bounden" Henry Thorne) bound himself to a steep financial penalty. If he failed to fulfill the real estate agreement detailed in the lower section, the contract became active. If Henry Thorne broke his promise, the injured party would take this physical document to an English central court, most commonly the Court of Common Pleas or the Court of King’s Bench in Westminster, to successfully sue for the financial penalty.

Physical Place of Origin

In early modern English common law bonds, the very first line establishes the jurisdiction and physical presence of the person making the promise. Scribes wrote these documents where the obligor (the person taking on the debt) was residing or physically standing at that moment. The text reads:"Noverint universi per presentes me Henricum Thorne de Toddington in Com[itatu] Glouc[estriae]..."The phrase "de Toddington" (of Toddington) acts as a strict identifier of personal residency. Because this is a private bond rather than a crown land grant managed by central clerks in London, it was drawn up locally where Henry Thorne's household, seals, and witnesses were concentrated. The Local "Five-Mile" Delivery Clause, near the bottom of the English text, shows a specific enforcement clause regarding where further deeds and legal titles must be delivered. The text stipulates that Henry Thorne cannot be compelled to travel "above five miles from the place" to execute additional paperwork. This explicitly links the legal fulfillment of the contract to a five-mile radius centered entirely around the parish of Toddington, proving the transaction was locally managed rather than settled at a distant regional court.

Scriptorium & Materials Evidence

The specific handwriting used indicates a localized English Secretary Hand utilizing iron gall ink on animal parchment, is characteristic of a regional manor scribe or local parish notary public rather than a high court clerk in Westminster. Scribes working for local estates like the Lordship of Toddington generated these custom contracts on-site, immediately executing them upon the signing, sealing, and delivery by local parties.

Collector's Guide: How to Read This 1569 Document—Early modern English legal documents follow a strict, dual-part formula. Understanding this structure helps you navigate the parchment like an archivist.1. The Document StructureThe Top Section (Latin): Known as the Obligation. It uses formal Latin to state who owes the money (Henry Thorne) and the steep financial penalty (£50).The Bottom Section (English): Known as the Condition. It shifts into Early Modern English to explain the "loophole." If Henry Thorne fulfills his land sale promises, the top penalty is canceled.2. Deciphering the HandwritingThe Script Style: This document is written in English Secretary Hand, the dominant business and legal script of the Tudor era.Tricky Letterforms: Look closely at the lowercase "e"—it often looks like a modern backwards "e" or an "o." The lowercase "c" looks like a small vertical crescent with a top stroke, and the letter "s" frequently looks like a modern "f" (the "long s").Abbreviations: The scribe used standard 16th-century shorthand. For example, a straight line or a loop over a word indicates missing letters (like Com' for Comitatu / County).3. Spotting Key Historical MarkersThe Royal Title: In the first two lines of the Latin text, scan for the words "Elizabetha dei gratia" (Elizabeth, by the grace of God). This immediately establishes the absolute authenticity of the Elizabethan era.The Location: Look at the end of the very first line for the Latinized regional names: "Toddington" and "Glouc" (Gloucestershire), proving the document's West Country origin.The Currency: The Latin text lists the penalty in pounds using the word "libris". In the English section, look for the traditional "£" or the word "pounds" written in secretary script to see the monetary terms.

16th Century Provenance & Context: The Royal and Aristocratic Connection

The archival inscriptions on the reverse of this parchment elevate it from a standard regional land agreement into an extraordinary artifact of high-stakes Elizabethan politics. The document bears witness to a fascinating, highly unusual crossover between the provincial gentry of the West Country and one of the most glamorous court circles of the Tudor era. The primary catalyst for this document’s immense historical value is the signature of Sir Henry Choyne (historically spelled Cheyne, Cheney, or Cheyney). A favorite courtier of Queen Elizabeth I, Cheyne was personally knighted by the Queen in 1563 at his sprawling estate, Toddington Manor in Bedfordshire. He and his wife, Lady Jane, were pillars of the royal social orbit, even presenting the Queen with a lavishly embroidered yellow velvet petticoat as a famous New Year's Day gift. Cheyne's hospitality was so legendary, and so ruinously expensive, that he was nicknamed "the extravagant Lord Cheney" after building a palace large enough to host the Queen and her entire traveling royal court on multiple grand progresses. Beyond his legendary courtly life, Cheyne was a heavyweight in Elizabethan military and judicial affairs. Elevated by the Queen to the peerage as the 1st Baron Cheyne of Toddington in 1572, his political career reached its historical zenith when he was appointed as one of the elite peers of the realm to sit in judgment at the historic, high-treason trial of Mary, Queen of Scots. His ancestral roots, however, were firmly planted in Kent, England, where he inherited vast coastal estates from his father, Sir Thomas Cheyne (the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports). Serving as the Member of Parliament and High Sheriff for Kent during the 1560s and 1570s, Lord Cheyne was a crucial guardian of the English coast, so much so that when his lavish spending caused his Kentish military estates at Shurland to decay, Queen Elizabeth's Privy Council stepped in to secure the strategically vital coastal defense zone for men-at-arms. The presence of Lord Cheyne's name on this 1569 document brilliantly solves the geographic puzzle that has surrounded this artifact for many many years. While the front of the deed explicitly records a land transaction between a wealthy West Country gentleman, Henry Thorne, and a buyer named Potelfilde within the Lordship of Toddington, Gloucestershire, it eventually wound up under Cheyne's official purview. Because Cheyne was famously the Lord of Toddington (Bedfordshire) and the premier administrator of Kent, contemporary clerks and later 19th-century antiquarians conflated the name of the town, mistakenly indexing this rare Gloucestershire artifact within Kentish or Bedfordshire estate archives. Signed additionally by the archival hand of Ralphe Cole, a member of a prominent family of Tudor legal clerks, this beautifully preserved vellum bond stands as a remarkably rare, tangible connection to the courtly world of Queen Elizabeth I, the military defense of the realm, and the high-treason politics of the Tudor dynasty.

Price $750.00 | Purchase Page  | See all SKU: 31165

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