1450 was a year of great disturbance and anxiety in England. Henry VI who had come to the throne as a child, proved to be a weak and essentially an incompetent ruler. As so often happens, his advisers quickly began to take advantage and purloin the "goods". This was done to such an extent, that a protest that started in Kent, very rapidly became an all-out violent rebellion. This appears in history as "Jack Cade's Revolt", events including an assault on London, looting and beheading of several of those that the mob deemed responsible for the corruption and suppression of the royal authority. Jack Cade was a somewhat shadowy figure, but accepted by enough of his contemporaries to lead the Kentish rabble against the royal forces and the defenders of the capital. The episode in which Lord Saye, and William Crowmer on the 4th of July, were hacked to death, their heads impaled on poles carried by the mob, and at special points along the way, were made to kiss each other gives a sense of the rebel's mood. The king's inability to establish control and the violence eventually culminated in the battle of Towton in 1461, the bloodiest conflict ever fought on English soil.
This state of affairs presented the common people with issues regarding the ownership of real estate, goods and allegiance, resulting in a lot of effort being put into documenting ownership and privilege. Those legalistic documents have survived in some quantity, and we have a remarkably fine example at Fintry, William de Lutton's "will/charter/deed".
In the Trophy Room one can view this document that dates from that year of turbulence, 1450. It is written in Latin, on a sheet of vellum, and is complete with William de Lutton's wax seal in place of a signature. The reverse side gives the date as the 28th year of the reign of Henry VI, 1450. (The year before Columbus was born) The top of the document is cut with the scribe's knife in a wavy line, indicating that two or more copies were required. The text would be written as many times as needed, then the sheet cut apart, so if a copy was of doubtful authenticity, the cut edges would have to match perfectly to be true.
This document became available in an antiquarian dealer's catalogue in London. It took but a few moments to persuade Century 21 Executive Realty in Vernon to provide the funds for us to acquire this 15th century realty document for Fintry. Cole Folk was a student and tour guide at Fintry for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. His interests led him to study this and another mediaeval document in the collection, and he then suggested that his UBCO History professor, Ben Nilson might be interested to see them. Cole arranged the visit, and as a result of Ben's interest and expertise, we now have a much clearer insight on the significance of the documents. The translation of the 1450 piece has not been so easy, as the ink has some 'weak spots' and the folding of the vellum has made some words illegible.
Many thanks however to Ben and his wife Ruth for tackling this project. Here below is the result.
View document and Article originally published in the: March 2025 Octagon Edition
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