Henry, Sergeant of Framlingham Castle purchased a cottage inside Framlingham Castle which came with a messuage (dwelling house and the land occupied by it).
Life inside Framlingham Castle, 1369 – Patent Rolls, Edward III 1367-1370, Volume 14, p. 276, Membrane 40, July 4 1369 Westminster, 43 Edward III, part II (catalogue reference: C 66/280, m. 40)
Translation
Pardon, for ½ mark paid in the hanaper [a small wickerwork basket, often used to hold official papers] by Henry Serjaunt of Framlynghamcastell, to him for acquiring from Edmund le Graunt an estate in fee in a messuage and a cottage in Framlynghamcastell, held in chief, which Edmund acquired from Bartholomew Pulter, and he from his late father John Pulter, and he from Thomas de Brotherton, late earl of Norfolk, and entering into the same, as Edmund, Bartholomew and John had successively done, without the king’s licence; and licence for him to retain them. Dated 4 July 1369
Simplified translation
Henry, Sergeant of Framlingham Castle is pardoned, after his payment of ½ mark for buying a cottage and messuage inside in Framlingham Castle from Edmund le Graunt.
Questions
- What does the existence of a cottage and a messuage inside the walls of Framlingham Castle suggest about how the castle would have looked like? Does it change your perception of what it would have been like to live in the castle?
- What does the document reveal about the function of Framlingham Castle in Medieval England?