10 - Letter of Henry III to the Alderman and Bailiffs of Bury St Edmunds, 23 February 1259/60 [BL Harley Ms 638, Fol. 35r]

Summary

Henry by the grace of God [king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and of Aquitaine, and count of Anjou], to his beloved and faithful alderman, bailiffs and upstanding men of the town of St Edmund, greeting. [We do not believe that it has been excised from your memory how Lewis de Gerardville and Petronilla his wife gave to the Friars Minor on account of the honour of God and reverence for the Apostolic See (and also for our salvation) our own farm in your town of St Edmund by Gilbert de Preston our justiciar. We have established this to remain with our letters sent in the forty-second year of our reign, for which we all knew that your convent would receive them kindly in the same town by the previous apostolic mandate, and by the instruction you have received in strict obedience.] On account of your fidelity, we command you, firmly enjoining you, that you are to protect and defend the said friars and their place inasmuch as they shall not be hindered or annoyed by anyone. On account of divine reverence, and reverence for us, you will thus strive to love, favour and promote them, so that from this you may be enabled to obtain an abundance of divine blessing and the merit of the king's full grace. Witness myself at Westminster, the twenty-third day of February in the forty-third year of our reign.