On Sunday, February 20, 2022 at 11:43:57 AM UTC-8, Dennis wrote:
I R
HONI SOIT QVI MAL Y PENSE
DIEV ET MON DROIT
James, By the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, & Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all and singuler Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons, Deanes, and their Officials: Parsons, Vicars, Curats, and to all spirituall persons: And also to
al Iustices of Peace, Maiors, Sheriffes, Bayliffes, Constables, Churchwardens, & Headboroughes: And to all Officers of Citties, Boroughes, and Townes corporate: And to all other our Officers, Ministers, and Subiects whatsoe∣uer they bee, aswell within
Liberties, as without, to whom these presents shall come, greeting.
WHEREAS wee are credibly certified by a Certificate vnder the hands of our trusty and welbeloued Subiects Sir Fulke Grevill Knight, Chancellor of our Exchequer, Sir Thomas Leigh, sir Edward Deuereux, and sir Thomas Holt Knights & Baronets, sir Edward
Greuill, sir Clement Fisher, sir Clement Throgmorton, sir Richard Verney, sir Thomas Lucy, sir Henry Dymocke, sir William Someruill, sir Thomas Bea••on, and sir Henry Rainsford Knights, Thomas Spencer, Edward Boughton, Bartholomew Hales, Iohn
Repington, William Combe, and William Barnes Esquiors, Iustices of the Peace within our Counties of Warwicke & Gloucester: That vpon Saterday the Nynth day of Iuly in the yeare of our Lord God, One Thousand Sixe Hundred and Fourteene, there happened a
sodaine and terrible Fire within our Towne of Stratford vpon Avon within our County of Warwicke, which within the space of lesse then two howres consumed & burnt Fifty & Fower dwelling houses, many of them being very faire houses, besides Barnes, Stables,
& other howses of Office, together also with great store of Corne, Hay, Straw, Wood, & Timber therin, Amounting in all to the value of Eight Thowsand Pounds & vpwards The force of which Fier was so great (the wind sitting ful vpon the Towne) that it
dispersed into so many places thereof, whereby the whole Towne was in very great danger to haue beene vtterly consumed and burnt; by reason whereof, and of two seuerall Fiers happening in the said Towne within these Twenty yeares, to the losse of Twenty
Thousand Pounds more, not onely our said poore Subiects who haue now sustained this great losse, are vtterly vndoone and like to perish, but also the rest of the Towne is in great hazard to be ouerthrowne & vndoone, the Inhabitants there beeing no waies
able to relieue their distressed neighbors in this their great want & misery. AND wheras the said Towne hath béen a great Market Towne whereunto great recourse of people was made, by reason of the weekely Market, Faires, and other frequent mee∣tings,
which were there holden and appointed, and now being thus ruinated & decayed, it is in great hazard to beé vtterly ouerthrowne, if either the resort thither be neglected, or course of trauellers diuerted, which for want of spéedy reparation may bee
occasioned. And forasmuch as our sayd distressed Subiects the Inhabitants of the said Towne are very ready & willing to the vttermost of their powers to réedifie & new build the say Towne againe, Yet finding the performance therof far beyond their
abilty, they haue made their humble suite vnto vs, that we would be pleased to prouide some conuenient meanes that the said Towne may be againe réedified & repayred aswell for the reliefe of the distressed people within the same, as also for the
restoring and continuing of the sayd Market, and haue humbly besought Vs to commend the same good & laudable déed and the charitable furtherance thereof, to the beneuolence of all our louing Subiects, not doubting but that all good and wel-disposed
Christians will for common charity and loue to their Country, and the rather for our Commendation heerof, be ready with all willingnes to extend their charitable reliefe towards the comfort of so many distressed people and the speedy performing of so
good and charitable a worke.
KNOWE yee therefore, that wee (tendering the lamentable estate and lesses of our sayd distressed Inhabitants, together with the humble suit of all our foresaid Iustices made vnto Vs on their behalfes) Of our especiall Grace and Princely compassion,
haue giuen & granted, and by these our letters Patents doe giue and graunt vnto our foresaid trusty & welbeloued Subiects, Sir Richard Verney, sir Henry Rainsford Knights, Bartholomew Hales Esquior, and the Bayliffe & Burgesses of the sayd Towne of
Stratford vpon Avon, and to their Deputie & Deputies, the bearer or bearers hereof, full power, licence and authority, to aske, gather receiue, & take the Almes & charitable beneuolence of all our louing Subiects whatsoeuer Inhabiting within our Counties
of Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Southampton, Wiltes, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, & Cornwal, with our Cittiie of Canterbury, Rochester, & the Cinque Ports, and in our Citties of Chichester, & Winchester, with the Isle of Wight, and Towne of Southampton, & in our
Citties of Salisburie, Exeter, Bristow, Bath, & Wels, with our Towne & County of Poole in our County of Dorset: And in all other Cities, Townes Corporate, priuiledged places, Parishes, Villages, and in all other places whatsoeuer within our said Counties,
and not else where, for & towards the new building, reedifying & erecting of the said Towne of Stratford vpon Avon, & the r∣liefe of al such our poore distressed subiects, their Wiues & Children, as haue sustained losse & decay by the misfortune of
the said Fire.
WHEREFORE wee wil & command you, and euery of you, that at such time and times as the sayd Sir Richard Verney, sir Henry Rainsford, Bartholomew Hales, the Bayliffe & Burgesses aforesaid or any of them, or their Deputie or Deputies, the bearer or
bearers héerof, shall come & repaire to any your Churches, Chappels, or other places to aske, and receiue the gratuities & charitable beneuolence of our said Subiects, quietly to permit & suffer them so to do, without any manner your lets, or
contradictions. And you the said Parsons, Vicars, and Curats, for the better stirring by of a charitable deuotion, deliberately to publish and declare the Tenor of these our Letters Patents vnto our said Subiects, Exhorting and perswading them to extend
their liberall contribu∣tions in so good & charitable a deede. And you the Churchwardens of euery Parish where such Collection is to bee made (as aforesaid) to collect and gather the Almes and charitable beneuolence of all our louing Subiects, And what
shall bée by you so gathered, to endorse on the Backe-side heerof, and deliuer the same to the bearer or bearers heereof, when as therevnto you shall be required. A∣ny Statute, Lawe, Ordinance, or prouision héertofore made to the contrary in any wise
notwithstanding.
IN witnesse wherof, wée haue caused these our Letters to be made Patents for the space of One whole yeare next after the date héerof to endure. Witnesse our selfe at Westminster the Eleauenth day of May, in the Fourteenth yeere of our R••gne of
England, Fraunce, and Ireland• and of Scotland, the Nyne and Fortieth.
Steward.
God saue the King.
Printed by Thomas Purfoot
Stratford upon Avon Fire - July 9 1614
Shakespeare Documented
October 28, 1614
William Shakespeare reaches an agreement with William Replingham to safeguard his income as a leaseholder of the tithes in case of enclosure.
Within two months of it becoming common knowledge that plans were afoot to enclose some of the open fields at Welcombe to the north-east of Stratford, Shakespeare took steps to ensure that his income as a leaseholder of half the tithes of Old Stratford,
Bishopton and Welcombe would not be adversely affected. Tithe holders stood to lose income if, for instance, land was taken out of arable production, thus reducing the crops that contributed to the tithes. (To learn more about the history of the
Stratford tithes, please refer to Ralph Hubaud’s 1605 assignment of a lease of a share in the Stratford Tithes to William Shakespeare.) The enclosure scheme was initiated in the name of two men with no interests in the town, Arthur Mainwaring, and
his kinsman, William Replingham of Great Harborough. Therefore Shakespeare opened negotiations with Replingham, although it soon emerged that he and Mainwaring were merely fronting the scheme on behalf of William Combe, the main freeholder at Welcombe.
The agreement between Shakespeare and Replingham has come down to us in the form of an incomplete copy. It bears what was doubtless its original dated heading: “Vicesimo octavo die Octobris, anno Domini 1614. Articles of agreement indented made
betweene William Shackespeare of Stretford ... gent. on the one partye & William Replingham of Greete Harborowe .... gent., on the other partie…” However, it is followed by the marginal note “Inter alia” (“amongst other things”) and then by a
single paragraph headed “Item” (“also”), instead of beginning “In primis” (“Firstly”), which is how such an agreement would customarily have begun. This indicates that what survives is only a copy of one of several clauses.
It is also clear that this surviving clause had been amended. Although the agreement’s header includes only Replingham’s and Shakespeare’s names, the single clause that was copied out includes wording to protect not just Shakespeare’s interests
but “one Thomas Greene”s as well. Greene confirmed that his name was inserted later in a personal note he made on January 9, 1615. Moreover, because this partial copy is endorsed in Thomas Greene’s hand, it is clear that it had been made for his
particular benefit, not Shakespeare’s. Greene took this step because he had recently become the lessee of the other half of the Old Stratford, Bishopton and Welcombe tithes and, like Shakespeare, feared his income from this source would suffer if
enclosure went ahead. On the crucial issue of Shakespeare’s wider involvement in the agreement, however, we have no direct knowledge, lacking as we do the other clauses. Perhaps Shakespeare had thought it necessary to ensure that his freehold interests
would not be affected either, or to safeguard his pasture rights, as defined more closely in a later survey.
The clause stipulates that any compensation to which Shakespeare might become entitled “for all such losse, detriment and hinderance … by reason of anie Inclosure or decaye of Tyllage” was to be calculated by “foure indifferent persons to be
indifferentlie elected by the said William and William” (or, on Replingham’s failure to co-operate, by Shakespeare himself). Oddly this loss was said to be “in respecte of the increasing of the yearelie value of the Tythes” although all editors
and commentators assume that “increasinge" was a misreading by the copyist of “decreasinge.”
The names of the signatories to the agreement are also given. It is likely that originally there were only two: John Rogers, presumably the vicar, and Anthony Nash, who witnessed other documents to which Shakespeare was a party. Thomas Lucas, and his
clerk, Michael Olney, were probably added when Greene’s name was later inserted.
It is likely that this agreement, and Greene’s involvement in it, would have been kept secret. The Stratford Corporation, from whom Thomas Greene and Shakespeare held their leases of the tithes, was opposed to the enclosure scheme and was in no mood to
compromise. Greene, as the Corporation’s steward, was also under instructions to help frustrate the scheme.
Semi-diplomatic transcription
Written by Robert Bearman
Last updated May 19, 2020
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