Record revealed
Plea roll for the Court of King’s Bench, with a portrait of Henry VIII
This record of disputes taken to court in 1518, written in abbreviated Latin, includes a vivid portrait of the reigning monarch at the time.
Images
Image 1 of 3
The title rotulet (small roll) of the King’s Bench plea roll, featuring an illumination of Henry VIII.
Placita cora[m] d[omi]no Rege apud Westm[onasterium] de Termi[n]o Sancte Trinitatis Anno Regni Regis Henrici Octavi post conquestum decimo
Teste J Fyneux
Smyth rot[ul]o s[e]c[un]do Smyth
Pleas before our lord the king at Westminster for the term of St Trinity in the tenth regnal year of Henry VIII post conquest
Witnessed by Sir John Fyneux [Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench]
[Signed] Smyth [filazer for the Court], rotulet 2, Smyth
Image 2 of 3
Close-up of the illustration of Henry VIII on the King's Bench plea roll.
Image 3 of 3
A normal rotulus from the King's Bench plea roll. It records a case between Sir Ralph Brereton as the complainant, summoning the three defendants Peter Dutton, Thomas Bulkeley, and Henry Leddesham.
Adhuc de T[er]mi[n]o S[an]c[t]e Trinitatis T[este] J[ohn] Fyneux
Midd[lesex]: Petrus Dutton nup[er] de Hatton in Com[itatus] Cestr[iae] armiger, Thomas Bulkeley de Ferneton in Com[itatus] Cestr[iae] yoman, et Henricus Leddesham de Cestr[ensis] in Com[itatus] Cestr[iae] yoman attachiati fuerunt ad respondend[ur] Ranulpho Brereton nup[er] de villa Westm[onasterium] in p[re]dicto Com[itatus] Midd[lesex], militi…
…
J[ohn] Rooper lxii [62] W[illiam] Rooper
More of Trinity Term, witnessed by Sir John Fyneux
Middlesex: Peter Dutton late of Hatton in the county of Cheshire, esq, Thomas Bulkeley of Ferneton in the county of Cheshire, yeoman, and Henry Leddesham of Chester in the county of Cheshire, yeoman, were attached to respond to Sir Ralph Brereton, knight, late of the town of Westminster in the aforementioned county of Middlesex…
…
John Rooper 62 William Rooper [Chief Clerks of the Court]
Why this record matters
- Date
- 1518
- Catalogue reference
- KB 27/1028
As the repository (storage centre) of the central law courts in England and Wales, The National Archives holds hundreds of thousands of legal records relating to pleadings from the medieval period onwards.
Pleadings were the formal written documents in which parties going to court set out their dispute. Though they were created differently depending on which legal system the parties were using, the purpose of the pleadings remained the same: to explain the wrong that had allegedly been committed, so that the court could make a judgment on it.
For the medieval and early modern common law courts, pleadings are preserved in the plea rolls, which recorded the stages of each case. The plea rolls of the court of King’s Bench recorded the business of this court from 1273 until 1702, after which separate rolls were kept for the Crown and for civil pleas. These rolls hold hundreds of rotuli (the Latin word for rolls), which are single sheets of parchment that list cases heard by the court.
A typical plea roll entry shows the terms of the writ (the document giving the court its authority in the case), then details the claim by the plaintiff (the person bringing the case to court) and the plea from the defendant. It can also include the plaintiff’s replication (the response to the plea), and the defendant’s rejoinder (the response to the replication).
As well as being important for preserving the thousands of cases heard by the court over the centuries, the medieval and early modern plea rolls sometimes also include portraits of the monarch. This example, the plea roll for Trinity Term in 1518, contains an illuminated portrait of Henry VIII on the title rotulus (roll).
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