Desktop versionMobile version

La guerre en Normandie (XIe-XVe siècle)

 | 
Anne Curry
, 
Véronique Gazeau

Documents Concerning Lancastrian Normandy in the Collections of Saint Petersburg1

Aleksandr Lobanov and Ekaterina Nosova

Abstract

This article concerns documents relating to Normandy under English domination during the 15th-century phase of the Hundred Years’ War which are to be found in the archives and libraries of Saint Petersburg. The documents derive from two principal sources: the Department of Manuscripts of the National Library of Russia (formerly the Bibliothèque Saltikov-Chtchédrine) and the Archives of the Historical Institute of Saint Petersburg. Before coming into the NLR the relevant documents formed part of the collections of P. P. Doubrovsky (1754-1816), Prince A. Y. Lobanov-Rostovsky (1788-1866) and Count P. K. (J. P. van) Suhtelen (1751-1836). The documents in the Archives of the Historical Institute of Saint Petersburg derive from the collection assembled by N. P. Likhatchev (1862-1936). The article ends with a calendar of 17 documents and a full transcript of an act of Henry VI concerning the auditing of accounts of Pierre Surreau, receiver-general of Normandy.

Full text

  • 1 The authors would like to express their gratitude to N. A. Elagina, head of the Western Manuscript (...)
  • 2 BNF, NAF 3295, described as “Analyse de quelques chartes et documents, du XIIe au XVe siècle, relat (...)
  • 3 H. de La Ferrière (Count), Deux années de mission à Saint-Pétersbourg: manuscrits, lettres et docum (...)
  • 4 M. Nortier, “Le sort des archives dispersées de la Chambre des Comptes de Paris”, Bibliothèque de l (...)
  • 5 This also refers to the Katalog pisem gosudarstvennyh i politicheskih dejatelej Francii XV v. iz so (...)
  • 6 Only some of the 14th-century documents appear to have been described in any detail but they are li (...)
  • 7 G. Bertrand’s summaries take only one volume (BNF, NAF 3295) to describe the 12th- to 15th-century (...)
  • 8 E.g. an indenture of Sir John Salvain as captain of Château-Gaillard for a year from 29 June 1444, (...)

1Saint Petersburg, founded in 1703, two and a half centuries after the fall of Bordeaux, is not a city strongly associated with the Hundred Years’ War. Yet the existence there of original documents relating to the medieval and early modern history of France is not unknown to historians. The reports of 19th-century French scholars such as Gustave Bertrand2 and Count Hector de La Ferrière3 enabled Michel Nortier to mention the Bibliothèque Saltikov-Chtchédrine in Leningrad (today the National Library of Russia in Saint Petersburg) in his article on the dispersal of documents from the French Chambre des Comptes4. The documents from Saint Petersburg were to be found within collections of letters linked to people of note, but historians’ interest in them tended to concentrate on the period from the reign of Louis XI onwards5. Earlier periods such as the Hundred Years’ War largely escaped notice6. This lack of attention is easily explained. For a start, the documents of the earlier period were much less numerous than documents for later years: this is apparent from Bertrand and La Ferrière7. In addition the very phenomenon of Lancastrian France (or La France anglaise in French historiography) – the territories, most notably those in Normandy, under English rule between the capture of Harfleur in 1415 and the French reconquest of 1449-1450 – was not of much interest to 19th-century historians. It was brought into wider discussion through the works of Benedicta Rowe, Richard Newhall, Paul Le Cacheux and André Bossuat in the 1920s-1930s, and subsequently by the researches of Christopher Allmand, Anne Curry and others. Important research was made possible thanks to a particularly extensive survival of the documents related to Normandy, even though they came to be widely scattered around the world and still can occasionally be found in saleroom catalogues8. The present paper aims to assemble evidence on the presence of such documents in the public collections of Saint Petersburg, to trace, where possible, their provenance, and to provide a descriptive calendar of them in Appendix I.

  • 9 It was not possible to find any documents originating from Lancastrian France in the manuscript col (...)

2Documents originating from the Lancastrian kingdom of France can be found in two repositories: the National Library of Russia [hereafter NLR] and the Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg Institute of History [hereafter SPbIH]9. Most of these pieces came to Russia through private collections. The relevant documents in the NLR which are already known to historians belong to one of its founding collections, that of P. P. Dubrovsky (1754-1816). Two other pieces come from the collections of Prince A. Y. Lobanov-Rostovsky (1788-1866) and Count P. K. (J. P. van) Suhtelen (1751-1836), although the origin of two further documents remains unclear. The documents in the Institute of History all come from the collection of N. P. Likhatchev (1862-1936).

  • 10 “Posluzhnoj spisok P. P. Dubrovskogo”, in Arheograficheskij ezhegodnik za 2004 g. [“The Service Rec (...)
  • 11 S. O. Shmidt, “K jubileju P. P. Dubrovskogo: diplomat-kollekcioner v kontekste razvitija otechestve (...)
  • 12 “Posluzhnoj spisok…”, pp. 389-390.

3Piotr Petrovich Dubrovsky originated from the nobility of Kiev Governorate and was educated in the Kiev-Mohyla Academy10, becoming a copy clerk in the Synod. He managed to get abroad and to continue his education in Europe through his service in the Russian embassy church in Paris. In a recommendation given for Dubrovsky, the Russian ambassador in Paris, Prince I. S. Baratinskij, noted his exceptional abilities in languages. He was also employed on diplomatic commissions in Spain, Austria and the principalities of the Holy Roman Empire. When the Russian embassy had to be evacuated from Paris in 1792 in the wake of the French Revolution, Dubrovsky’s efforts saved its archive through a difficult and circuitous route across Europe11. He also brought to Russia a valuable collection amounting to over 500 manuscripts and about 8,000 autographs. In 1805 his collection was purchased by the government and he was appointed a curator of the Manuscripts Depot of the Public Library (now the NLR), where his manuscripts became one of the founding collections (F. 971)12.

  • 13 A. D. Ljublinskaja, Bastil’skij arhiv v Leningrade: annotirovannyj katalog [The Bastille Archive in (...)
  • 14 T. P. Voronova, “P. P. Dubrovsky i Sen-Zhermenskie rukopisi”, in Knigi, arhivy, avtografy [“P. P. D (...)
  • 15 S. O. Shmidt, “K jubileju P. P. Dubrovskogo…”, pp. 289, 291-292.
  • 16 For a case when the acquisition details could be traced see A. Charon, “Un amateur russe à la vente (...)

4The French Revolution was one of the key factors which had enabled Dubrovsky to obtain some of his most valuable manuscripts, such as part of the Bastille Archive13 and the manuscripts from the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés14. Another factor, in addition to his erudition and language abilities, were his wide contacts among aristocrats and intellectuals both in Russia and Europe. As an agent of several important Russian collectors, Dubrovsky had access to greater financial resources than might be expected given his rather modest wages15. In the late 18th century, however, the practice of composing sale catalogues was only emerging, and therefore it is often difficult to find out when and where the manuscripts were purchased16. Dubrovsky did much to annotate and catalogue the documents of his collection. The autographs were put together into volumes, whilst other documents formed the Sobraniye [Pergamennyh] Gramot Dubrovskogo (SGD) [Dubrovsky’s collection of (Parchment) Charters].

  • 17 The spelling of the surname henceforward is following its Russian pronounciation. On this collectio (...)

5The collection of Count Pjotr Kornilievich Suhtelen (born Jan Pieter Suchtelen) (1751-1836) is the NLR’s second largest collection of western manuscripts17. The collector, a Dutch nobleman from a family of Swedish origin, entered the Russian imperial service in 1783 and made a career as an engineer officer. At the accession of Emperor Alexander I in 1801 Suhtelen became the Quartermaster General of the Russian army and is considered one of the founders of the General Staff. He participated in the war with Sweden of 1807-1809. After the peace was signed he was sent to Stockholm with a diplomatic commission. He played an important part in the formation of the alliance between Russia and Sweden and in coordinating allied efforts in the wars of 1813-1814. From 1815 to his death Suhtelen remained the Russian emperor’s private representative at Stockholm. His library had already been of renown in Saint Petersburg by the early 1800s and during his years in Sweden he was able to extend it significantly. On his death his library of about 70,000 volumes and various collections were purchased by the crown and distributed between several institutions, with the western manuscripts, documents and autographs sent into the Imperial Public Library (now NLR, F. 993). This included over 1,800 documents related to the history of France from the 14th to the early 19th centuries. Among its 21 15th-century documents, a quittance by Louis de Luxembourg, Lancastrian chancellor of France, deserves particular mention (Appendix I, no. 10).

  • 18 Most of the available evidence on the prince’s life appears to originate from a biographic article (...)
  • 19 A. Labanoff de Rostov (Prince), Recueil de pièces historiques sur la reine Anne ou Agnès épouse de (...)
  • 20 Lettres, instructions et mémoires de Marie Stuart, reine d’Écosse, publiés sur les originaux et les (...)
  • 21 Otchjot Imperatorskoj Publichnoj Biblioteki za 1851 god [The Imperial Public Library Report for Yea (...)

6Another of the NLR documents (no. 3) comes from the collection of Prince Alexander Jakovlevich Lobanov-Rostovsky (1788-1866)18. He began his service in the Foreign Affairs College and served in the Moscow Foreign Affairs Archives. However in 1806 he entered military service and participated in the Napoleonic wars of 1806-1807 and 1813-1814. Apart for a short break in 1816-1817 the prince remained in military service till 1828 when he retired with the rank of major general. This did not prevent him from living in Paris for several years during the 1820s (considered as being on leave). This is probably when his interest in history and collecting arose, and after leaving military service, the prince could indulge fully in this passion, publishing several volumes of sources on Anna of Kiev, queen of France19, and Mary, queen of Scots20. An Honorary Member of the Imperial Public Library, Lobanov-Rostovsky donated to it one manuscript volume and 56 separate documents in 185021. The 48 western charters, dating from the 12th to the 18th century, now form a separate fonds (NLR, F. 981).

  • 22 The autographs acquired separately or in minor collections were similarly united in 1948 into the F (...)
  • 23 Previously Aut. 373 nos. 4-5, nos. 2-3 being letters patent by Charles VII to the seneschal of Sain (...)
  • 24 The two Dauphinist documents mentioned in the previous note are similarly marked as nos. 5061 and 5 (...)

7The two remaining NLR documents (Appendix I, nos. 4, 5, sewn together) come from the Fonds 992 Sobranie inostrannyh aktov i gramot [Collection of foreign acts and letters]. This fonds was established in 1956 in order to put together non-autograph pieces which had entered the Library from the 19th century onwards but which were not part of major collections or personal fonds22. What can be discovered about their acquisition is that they came as part of an assemblage of 13 documents from the 14th to 18th centuries which used to be designated as Aut. 37323. The two documents also bear what seems to be an 18th-century inscription with nos. 5170 and 5171, but it has not been possible to discover to which precise collection they belonged24. It appears, however, by comparing the hand and placement of marginal notes that the only Lancastrian document from the Lobanov-Rostovsky collection (Appendix I, no. 3) had once belonged to the same unknown collection as no. 5002.

  • 25 N. P. Likhatchev, Boumaga i drevnejchije boumajnyje melnitzy v Moskovskom gosoudarstve: istoriko-ar (...)
  • 26 N. P. Likhatchev, Istoricheskoe znachenije italo-grecheskoj jivopisi [Historical Significance of It (...)
  • 27 For a complete list of N. P. Likhatchev’s works see L. N. Prostovolosova, N. P. Likhatchev: sud’ba (...)
  • 28 For N. P. Likhatchev’s biography see L. G. Klimanov, “Outchenyj i kollectzioner, ‘izvestnyj vsej Ro (...)
  • 29 L. G. Klimanov, “N. P. Likhatchev ‘v poiskah gelannyh zven’ev diplomaticheskoj vystavki’” [“N. P. L (...)

8The documents now in the Saint Petersburg Institute of History all originate from a single collection, that of academic N. P. Likhatchev (1862-1936). Likhatchev is known for his works on Russian history, the history of paper25 and of icon-painting26 which earned him a reputation as the founder of diplomatic and sphragistics (sigillography) in Russian historiography27. Coming from an aristocratic family, he began his studies in the University of Kazan, and continued his researches in the libraries and archives of Saint Petersburg and Moscow28. At the same time, he was acquiring materials for a collection which he saw as a valuable research tool. His intention was to create an exhibition illustrating the development of writing from its origins to his own days29. As he became a professor in the Institute of Archaeology, the collection was used as a teaching aid for students, providing further inspiration for his collecting activities.

  • 30 E. N. Mesherskaja and E. K. Piotrovskaja, “Muzej paleografii N. P. Likhatcheva i ego soud’ba” [“The (...)
  • 31 The Academics’ case (Platonov-Tarle case) was aimed against the members of the Academy of Sciences (...)

9After the Revolution of 1917, anxious to maintain his collection intact, Likhatchev donated it to the Institute of Archaeology where it became a basis for the Cabinet of Palaeography. In 1925 the Cabinet of Palaeography became a part of the USSR Academy of Sciences as the Museum of Palaeography while Likhatchev became the director of the museum30. In 1930 he was arrested among many other scholars during the Academics’ case (the Platonov-Tarle case)31, condemned and exiled to Astrakhan for five years. He was later granted amnesty due to his age and allowed to return to Leningrad, where he died in 1936. Likhatchev was rehabilitated posthumously in 1967. In the 1930s his collection was divided between several museums and research institutions in Leningrad. The western materials are now in the Saint Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences.

10Likhatchev’s collection was assembled at the salerooms, hence it encompassed materials of different types and languages: books, charters, coins, epigraphic inscriptions, icons, seals and seal casts, wax tablets and bindings of Russian, European or Oriental origin. As the collector lacked time to catalogue his collection properly, the documents purchased were stored as received from the sellers: in covers with catalogue extracts sometimes also bearing the sale details (seller’s name, catalogue number etc.) in the new owner’s hand. Likhatchev’s private archive contains financial documents related to the purchases and therefore it may be possible to trace the origins of the documents.

  • 32 For N. P. Likhatchev’s other contacts see L. G. Klimanov, “N. P. Likhatchev-kollektzioner i ego svj (...)
  • 33 P. David, Inventaire de la sous-série AB XXXVIII des Archives nationales: collection des catalogues (...)

11The main source of the French documents for Likhatchev were the two Charavay auction houses32. One, founded in 1830 in Lyon, and in Paris from 1843, was owned by Jacques Charavay. In 1869 it passed to his son Étienne, an École des chartes graduate and a great expert in palaeography and diplomatic, and then to his younger brother Noël. The second auction house was owned by Jacques’ brother, Gabriel Charavay, who bought it in 1865 from Auguste Laverdet. This company passed to Gabriel’s son Eugène and after his death it was managed between 1892 and 1918 by Gabriel’s widow33.

  • 34 Lettres autographes et documents historiques. 1911. N 418. P. 22. N 70430.
  • 35 Later one of the assessors in the trial of Joan of Arc, archbishop of Rouen from 1444 to his death (...)
  • 36 Technically a department of the Russian Academy of Sciences Library.

12An inscription in N. P. Likhatchev’s hand on the cover of Henry de Lisle’s muster roll of 1429 (listed in the Appendix I as no. 8) reveals that this piece was purchased from Noël Charavay in 1911 or thereabouts. A catalogue extract glued to the cover refers to lot 70430 from N. Charavay’s bulletin 41834. The quittance by Raoul Roussel35 (appendix I, no. 6) was purchased through the Widow Charavay’s auction house, as revealed by a distinctive grey-blue cover and a catalogue extract listing the document under no. 196, unfortunately without the catalogue number being given. The catalogues which belonged to N. P. Likhatchev are now in the Institute of History Library36, although some of them appear to be missing as it was not possible to find this document under no. 196. Instead it appears under no. 265 in the Widow Charavay’s Catalogue no. 277 (1903). Apparently the document remained unsold and was subsequently purchased by Likhatchev when put again into the auction under no. 196.

  • 37 Http://cths.fr/an/prosopo.php?id=119647 [accessed 1 June 2018].
  • 38 Http://cths.fr/an/prosopo.php?id=119646 [accessed 1 June 2018].
  • 39 P. David, Inventaire de la sous-série AB XXXVIII…, p. 58.
  • 40 Ibid., p. 57.

13The Saffroy brothers’ auction house was another important source of documents for Likhatchev’s collection. The company was founded by Henri Auguste Saffroy (1876-1943)37, later being joined by his brother Georges Armand (1874-1945)38. It appears that the company was subsequently managed by Henri’s two brothers Georges and Émile Saffroy39. According to an extract attached to the document listed in the Appendix I as no. 2, this document was purchased from Catalogue no. 41, lot 32661. This cannot be the 1933 catalogue deposited in the Archives nationales de France40, however, as by that year Likhatchev had been deprived of any opportunities for scientific research and purchase of documents. A transcription from the sale catalogue in N. P. Likhatchev’s hand mentions that this piece was sold together with a supplique (petition). Likhatchev, however, continues: “The supplique not genuine? An extract? L[ikhatchev].” Unfortunately, it was not possible to find this supplique in the Archives of the Saint Petersburg Institute of History and its current location is unknown.

  • 41 It appears that the two pieces were purchased as a single lot since the catalogue extract applied t (...)
  • 42 Http://www.stargardt.de/de/firmengeschichte/ [accessed 1 June 2018].
  • 43 A. V. Chirkova, “Frantsuzskije akty XI-XIII vv. iz sobranuja N. P. Likhatcheva: k voprosu o formiro (...)
  • 44 L. G. Klimanov, “N. P. Likhatchev-kollektzioner i ego svjazi…”, p. 571.
  • 45 Die Autographen-Sammlung Alexander Meyer Cohn’s, Berlin, A. Stargardt, 1905, 2 vols.

14The documents listed in the Appendix I as nos. 7 and 11 were purchased through the Stargardt auction house41, founded in Berlin in 1830 by Carl Klage (1785-1850). It changed hands several times before being bought by Joseph A. Stargardt (1822-1885). By the time of Likhatchev’s activity the business belonged to Eugen Mecklenburg d.J. (1859-1925), who had bought it from Stargardt’s widow in 188542. N. P. Likhatchev purchased a significant number of French documents from Stargardt43, especially from a famous collection of Alexandre Meyer-Cohn44 who appears to have had a particular interest in French history. It does not seem, however, that the two documents under consideration here originated from that collection45.

  • 46 SPbIH, Collection 9 Cart. 343. N 20.
  • 47 Bearing no. 13693 and a date 17/2/[18]93.
  • 48 There is a reference to the “Blue star of the Archives du Collège Héraldique” in Census of Medieval (...)

15Finally, for the documents listed as nos. 15 and 16 it can be suggested that they may have belonged to Ernest Dumont, a supposition based on comparing the hand on their covers with that on the cover of a letter by Salembras de Sanassac, seneschal of Toulouse, to the captain and consuls of Châteauneuf (1 August 1461)46. There is little information about this seller apart for the fact that his shop was located in Paris. The same hand is found on one of the covers accompanying piece no. 14, the quittance of William Forstede, master of the ordnance for the English, apparently also bought from Dumont47. The other cover for this piece has a catalogue extract with a lot no. 366, the origin of which still has to be discovered. The quittance also bears a blue five-ended-star-shaped stamp, which may relate to the Collège Héraldique48.

16The following table displays the origins and final location of the seventeen documents relating to Lancastrian Normandy in the National Library of Russia and the Saint Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (table 1).

Table 1 – The origin and dispersal of documents of Lancastrian France in Saint Petersburg.

Fonds and / or collection Original private collection Number of documents
National Library of Russia (NLR)
F. 971, SGD P. P. Dubrovsky 4
F. 971, Autographs P. P. Dubrovsky 1
F. 992 2
F. 981 A. Y. Lobanov-Rostovsky 1
F. 993 P. K. (J. P. van) Suhtelen 1
Saint Petersburg Institute of History, Russian Academy of Sciences (SPbIH)
Collection 8 (France) N. P. Likhatchev 2
Collection 9 (France) 1
Collection 18 (England) 5
Total 17
  • 49 On this practice see E. C. Williams, My Lord of Bedford, 1389-1435, London, Longmans, Green, 1963, (...)

17Taken together these documents reveal various aspects of Lancastrian Normandy and France. Some of them relate to regular matters of administration such as the payment of officers’ wages (Appendix I, no. 6), decisions on the market days (Appendix I, no. 17), fines and rents from the royal bailliages (Appendix I, no. 1) and from the great fiefs granted to English lords, such as the counties of Harcourt and Mortain (Appendix I, nos. 12, 13). Two pieces deal with delays in giving homage linked to land grants (Appendix I, nos. 2, 3). Taking into account the insecurity and warfare in Normandy during the period of English domination it is hardly surprising that a significant group of documents deals with various expenses and financial arrangements caused by the war. The military activities involved vary from the appointment of the garrison captains and arrangements for their wages (Appendix I, nos. 11, 15-16), the expenses of the master of ordnance (Appendix I, no. 14), and the travel and escort expenses of Louis de Luxembourg (Appendix I, no. 10). One of the pieces (Appendix I, no. 7) provides new evidence on the known practice of employing women as messengers49.

  • 50 The career of this secretary has given ground for a separate study, see P. Contamine, “Maître Jean (...)
  • 51 The surviving account is that for 1429 which is BNF, ms. fr. 4488.
  • 52 Bedford’s letters of the same date to his financial officers concerning this appointment (ibid., ms (...)
  • 53 The conditions were agreed at the meeting of the bailliage representatives held at St Lô on 11 Marc (...)
  • 54 They actually remained in service at least till July 1429, but the period from 1 October 1428 onwar (...)
  • 55 For the full transcription of this piece see Appendix II.

18Some of these documents may deserve to be discussed in more detail for the complexity of their content and the possibility of further contextualisation. Of the NLR documents probably of most interest is NLR, F. 971, Aut. 34/1 no. 7 (Appendix I, no. 9), which, though found in one of the volumes of the Autograph collection, is but a document issued in the name of Henry VI by his regent of France, John duke of Bedford (a common practice for Lancastrian France as the king was a minor and resident in England save for his presence in France in April 1430-January 1432), and bearing no other signature than that of Jean de Rinel, one of the king’s French secretaries50. The piece is addressed to the officials commissioned to check the accounts of Pierre Surreau, receveur général of Normandy, for the four years from Michaelmas 1427 to Michaelmas 143151, and was apparently issued in response to the receveur général’s petition. An extensive preamble of the document outlines the story: on 14 February 1428 Sir John Harpelay, bailli of Cotentin, was ordered to maintain 20 men-at-arms and 100 archers in a bastide at Genêts or Saint-Léonard against Mont Saint-Michel52. It was then decided that 2 men-at-arms and 48 archers should be detailed to defend the roads against brigands, their wages being paid by the king, and the wages of the remainder were to be paid to a total of 3,970 l.t. out of a taille levied in the bailliage as outlined in letters of 20 March 142853. The soldiers remained in service in the bastide erected at Genêts from 24 March to 23 October 1428 and were duly paid both from the recette générale and the taille collected54. What Surreau appears to have requested is that if (as a result of change in how the soldiers were to be financed) it was discovered that the payments for the soldiers who had been detailed to the defence of the roads were not found in the account, that such expenses be included in the account, and his petition granted55. What makes this document of special interest is that the financial dimension of the war is revealed not through a direct action such as in a commission for payments or a quittance but as a part of commonly less visible process of the audit of accounts. It is also noteworthy that the accounts for the years 1429-1431, which had recorded Lancastrian setbacks before the activities of the French forces in 1429 inspired by La Pucelle, and a desperate attempt to turn the tide of the war in 1430-1431, were all being considered together and that the process was still underway by the end of 1432. This may possibly reflect Bedford’s attempts to put the finances in order on being reinstated as regent of France when Henry VI returned to England in early 1432.

19Another document deserving fuller investigation is the muster of the retinue of Henry de Lisle taken on 18 October 1429 (Appendix I, no. 8). The contents of over 2,000 documents of this kind dating between 1415 and 1450 were put together within “The Soldier in Later Medieval” database56. The availability of nominal data makes it possible to discuss the personal careers of the soldiers in the retinue.

  • 57 Sir Lancelot is mentioned as “de Hampshire” by William Worcester: Itineraries of William Worcestre, (...)
  • 58 Lancelot de Lisle was even left 20 marks sterling in the earl’s will, The Register of Henry Chichel (...)
  • 59 BL, Add. Ch. 94.
  • 60 Journal du siège d’Orléans, 1428-1429, P. Charpentier and C. Cuissard (eds.), Orléans, H. Herluison (...)
  • 61 BNF, ms. fr. 4488, p. 349; published in L. Jarry, “Le Compte de l’armée anglaise au siège d’Orléans (...)

20Henry de Lisle was a younger brother of Sir Lancelot de Lisle, possibly originating from the de Lisle family of the Isle of Wight57. The elder brother was a close associate of Thomas Montagu, earl of Salisbury, one of the best English commanders in France during the 1420s58. Henry de Lisle may have been serving together with Sir Lancelot at the siege of La Ferté-Bernard laid by Salisbury in early 142659. He again served under his elder brother, then marshal of Salisbury’s army, in the offensive towards the Loire in 1428 leading to the siege of Orléans where the earl was mortally wounded by a cannon shot. Sir Lancelot also fell to a cannonball at the same siege on 29 January 142960 and the command of his retinue passed to his younger brother61.

  • 62 BNF, ms. fr. 4488, pp. 542, 547 (July), 566 (September).
  • 63 Paris, Arch. nat., K 63/7/22; BNF, ms. fr. 4488, p. 566. The musters were taken by the same Richard (...)

21After the siege of Orléans had been raised by the Dauphinists, Henry de Lisle commanded a retinue in the army of John, duke of Bedford, during the latter’s attempts to resist Charles VII’s march through Champagne in July and to defend Paris in September62. According to the receiver-general’s account, on 6 September Henry de Lisle passed musters at Rouen with 9 other men-at-arms and 37 archers who were paid for a month of service in his company. However, on coming to Paris he retained another 5 men-at-arms and 12 archers mustered on 17 September; their muster roll has survived in the Archives nationales de France63. Based on all the soldiers’ names from the latter roll as transcribed into the database and subject to spelling variations possible, all the soldiers may be identified with those listed in the SPbHI roll which therefore appears to be a continuation. As de Lisle himself is not listed in these two rolls, it appears that his original company, which had been mustered at Rouen, may still have been under his immediate command. It appears that although Charles VII had disbanded his army in mid-September 1429, after his failure before Paris, the English contingents summoned to resist him remained in service well into October.

  • 64 BL, Add. Ch. 7947.
  • 65 BNF, NAF 8602, no. 11.
  • 66 John Derham, TNA E 101/46/24 m. 4; John Deram, TNA E 101/45/4 m. 11; John of Derham, TNA E 101/45/4 (...)

22Two of the soldiers whose name appear in the muster rolls of this additional retinue in September and October, John Bold, man-at-arms, and John of Deram (or Derain), archer, also are found in Sir Lancelot’s retinue in July 142864. John Bold, man-at-arms, was then with Henry de Lisle before Orléans in the following February65. Soldiers of these names and rank are also found during the Agincourt campaign of 141566, but the gap of over ten years may be too long for any definite identification as the same men.

  • 67 Given as a possible starting date for his captaincy in A. Curry, Military Organisation in Lancastri (...)
  • 68 “Calendar of French Rolls…”, pp. 310, 324.
  • 69 A Davy Howell, esquire from Pembroke, served on the invasions of France in 1415 and 1417, TNA, E 10 (...)

23The documents discussed here can hardly be expected to change significantly the general perception of the Hundred Years’ War and the Lancastrian kingdom of France. None the less, they serve to supplement our knowledge of particular episodes of the war and the details of particular soldiers’ careers. For instance, they show that Thomas Monde was already captain of Saint Katherine at Rouen by Michaelmas 143967 as a mention of a previous indenture expiring on this date is given (no. 11), and that Davy Howell, knight, apparently the same man who had received letters of protection to cross to France in 1436 and 143868 and possibly a veteran of the Agincourt campaign69, still remained in France in 1441 (no. 13). The primary reason for calendaring these pieces, however, is that the fact that they have found their way to Saint Petersburg has kept them out of historians’ consideration for decades. It can only be wondered how many more documents remain scattered throughout little known public and private collections, worldwide, often only traceable through sellers’ catalogues, and also how many useful details could be revealed if these documents could be discovered and brought together into a single searchable interface.

Annexes

Appendix I: Calendar of Documents of Lancastrian Normandy and France in the Collections of Saint Petersburg

Abbreviations:

  • Arch. RAS SPbIH: Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg Institute of History (the reference is composed by the numbers of the collection, carton and piece);

  • NLR: National Library of Russia;

  • Bertrand: BNF, NAF 3295;

  • La Ferrière (BSAN): H. de Laferrière-Percy (Count), “La Normandie à l’étranger”, pp. 210-233.

Note that the summaries in these two sources are almost identical. Both share the same errors, for instance, in naming Sir Gilbert Halsall as Guillaume in document no. 1 and reporting in document no. 9 the size of the contingent as 100 men-at-arms and 100 archers instead of 20 men-at-arms and 100 archers.

No. 1

1 November 1418-25 May 1419.

NLR, F. 971, SGD, no. 134. Parchment.

Summarised: Bertrand, p. 54; La Ferrière (BSAN), p. 217.

Roll of the amends et exploits écheus en l’extraordinaire in the bailliage of Évreux for the term between All Saints [1 November] 1418 and Ascension [25 May] 1419, assessed by Gilles Lemettoien, lieutenant-general of Gilbert Halsall, knight, bailli of Évreux, and delivered to Colart Anquetin, vicomte of Évreux, to be included in his accounts.

No. 2

7 July 1423, Caen.

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 8/333/14. Parchment.

Mandement of the gens des Comptes at Rouen to the baillis of Caen and Cotentin and the vicomtes of these bailliages in response to a supplication by Guillaume Allecot, allowing him a delay until Christmas in giving the oath (aveu et dénombrement) and homage for his possessions in Normandy.

Signed: Lebec.

No. 3

9 July 1425, Paris.

NLR, F. 981, no. 7. Parchment.

Order to the gens des Comptes, treasurers and governors-general of the finances in France and Normandy, the bailli of Rouen and the vicomtes of Rouen and Pont-de-l’Arche or their lieutenants, informing them that Jean Cathalloe, previously a minor in the king’s ward, having succeeded to the sergenteries fieffees of Pont-Saint-Pierre70 and Freneuse71, is allowed a delay until Candlemas in giving his oath (foy) and homage.

Signed: Chembault.

No. 4

October 1426, Paris (attached to the letters of 16 November 1426, no. 5).

NLR, F. 992, no. 96. Parchment.

Mandement to the gens des Comptes at Paris, treasurers and governors-general of the finances of France and Normandy, in response to a supplication of the dean and canons of Saint Candre le Vieil de Rouen72, referring to their right to receive every year at Easter from the porcheries73 et pasnages74 of the forest of Romare75 60 s.t. in the years of plain pasnage and 30 s.t. in the years of half-pasnage, which sums were to be received from the receipt and domaine of the vicomte of Rouen, but had not been paid for eight or nine years due to the war, asking that these were repaid; ordering to repay the arrears and make annual payments by the vicomte of Rouen or from the ordinary receipts of Rouen.

No. 5

16 November 1426, Paris (attached to the letters of October 1426, no. 4).

NLR, F. 992, no. 97. Parchment.

Mandement of the gens des Comptes at Paris, treasurers and governors-general of all the king’s finances to the vicomte of Rouen or his lieutenant, reporting that chancery letters (not signed or sealed) had been presented by the dean and canons of Saint Candre le Vieil of Rouen together with a paper request under their [i.e. the Chambre des comptes] seal, relating to the arrears of the pasnages due to be received by them at Easter from the porcheries and pasnages of the forest of Romare near Rouen and mentioning that these sums are due since the invasion of Normandy by Henry V [1417] at 60 s.t. in the years of full (plain) pasnage and 30 s.t. in the years of half-pasnage, ordering the payments of 60 s.t. for 1424 and 30 s.t. for 1425 and 1426 and thenceforward the payments to be made in an accustomed manner.

Signed: Conflans.

No. 6

23 August 1427.

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 9/343/16. Parchment.

Quittance by Raoul Roussel, councillor and maitre des requêtes, of the king’s hôtel, to Pierre Surreau, receveur général of Normandy, for a sum of 100 l.t. being a part of his annual wages of 300 l.t. for the service of 4 months from 21 April till 20 August 1427.

Signed: R[aoul] Roussel.

No. 7

27 November 1428.

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 18/381/8. Parchment.

Certification by Jean le Moine, lieutenant of Richard Waller, esquire, bailli of Évreux, of a payment of 7 s. 6 d.t. made by Jean Gourdel, vicomte of Évreux, to Raoline la Selle for going to Beaumont-le-Roger (where there is a garrison of 7 lances) with letters to the vicomte of Beaumont ordering him to send 12 carts (charrettes) to Évreux in order to deliver (with other carts assembled at Évreux) wheat and oats to the army of John of Bedford, Regent of France, and for the provision of his hôtel; absent for 2 days and 2 nights.

Signed: Clemelle.

No. 8

18 October 1429.

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 8/350/5. Parchment.

Muster, received by Richard Cordon, king’s councillor, and Raoul Parker, king’s secretary, of 7 mounted lances and 15 archers of the retinue of Henry de Lisle, esquire (himself not listed), assembled to serve the king against his enemies, according to a mandement issued 12 October 1429.

Signed: Richart Cordon, Parker.

No. 9

15 December 1432, Mantes.

NLR, F. 971, Aut. 34/1 no. 7. Parchment.

Summarised: Bertrand, pp. 55-56; La Ferrière (BSAN), pp. 217-21876.

Letters in the name of Henry VI à la relation of John, duke of Bedford, governor and regent of France, to the councillors commissioned to check the accounts of Pierre Surreau, receveur général of Normandy, for the four years (1 October 1427 to 30 September 1431), in response to his request envisaging a possible accounting error, ordering them to include into expenses section all the payments for the wages 20 men-at-arms and 100 archers, all mounted, serving with Sir John Harpelay, bailli of Cotentin, from 24 March till 23 October 1428 at the bastide at Genêts and on the defence of roads.

Signed: Je[an de] Rinel.

No. 10

3 January 1434.

NLR, F. 993, no. 500. Parchment.

Quittance by Louis de Luxembourg, bishop of Thérouanne, chancellor of France, to Pierre Surreau, receveur général of Normandy, accounting for a sum of 47 l.t. paid for the 2 boats (fonsses) which brought by him from Paris to Rouen, and for the crossbowmen and archers accompanying him from Paris to Rouen and thence to Caen on a certain great necessity for the good of Normandy.

Signed: Luxe[m]bo[ur]gh.

No. 11

15 April 1440, Rouen.

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 18/381/9. Parchment.

Order to the treasurers and governors-general of the king’s finances in France and Normandy and to Pierre Baille, receveur général of these finances, ordering them, according to the royal letters enclosed, to make payment to Thomas Monde, esquire, captain of the fortress of St Katherine-les-Rouen, of the wages and regards for one quarter beginning at Michaelmas 1439 and ending at the end of December 1439 for the number of men-at-arms and hommes de trait prescribed by his indenture which had expired at the said Michaelmas77.

No. 12

Michaelmas term 1440-Michaelmas term 1441.

NLR, F. 971, SGD, no. 135. Parchment.

Summarised: Bertrand, pp. 56-57; La Ferrière (BSAN), p. 218.

Roll of rents, due to the count of Harcourt [Edmund Beaufort78] from Martin de Bézu, vicomte and receveur of Elbeuf for the count, for the inheritances taken into the count’s hands due to the owners’ death or absence, covering the period from the Michaelmas term 1440 to the same term in 1441.

No. 13

18 April 1441.

NLR, F. 971, SGD, no. 136. Parchment.

Summarised: Bertrand, p. 57; La Ferrière (BSAN), p. 218.

Roll of the fines (amendes) due in the bailliage of Mortain, for the Easter term 1441, assessed by Jean de Lannoy, lieutenant of Pierre Poolin, esquire, bailli of Mortain, in the presence of Jacques Domsuel, lieutenant of Richard de Beaumont, vicomte of Mortain, Olivier de Signey, procureur of the count of Mortain [Edmund Beaufort], delivered to the said lieutenant of the vicomte to receive and to account for.

NB: Among the persons mentioned in the list is Davy Howell, knight.

No. 14

15 July 1441.

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 18/381/10. Parchment.

Quittance by William Forstede, esquire, master of king’s ordnance in Normandy and pays de conquête, to Pierre Baille, receveur général of Normandy, for 19 l.t. to be employed for the expenses of his service and a payment to the canoneers, masons and carpenters ordered to serve in the army now assembled under the duke of York for the relief of Pontoise, besieged by the king’s enemies.

Signed: fforsted.

No. 15

26 September 1441, Rouen (attached to the letters of 3 October 1441, no. 16).

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 18/381/11[b]. Parchment.

Letters in the name of Henry VI at the relation (à la relation) of the duke of York, lieutenant général and governor of France and Normandy, to the treasurers and governors-general of the finances in France and Normandy, reporting that Thomas Scales, king’s councillor, has been left in the office of captain of the town and fortress of Vire from 29 September 1440 till 28 September 1441 with the same number of men-at-arms and gens de trait as before 29 September 1440 and ordering the payments to be made to him for this year.

Signed: Gombart.

No. 16

3 October 1441, Rouen (attached to the letters of 26 September 1441, no. 15).

Arch. RAS SPbIH, 18/381/11[a]. Parchment.

Order of the governors-general of the king’s finances in France and Normandy, to Pierre Baille, receiver-general, ordering the execution of the attached letters [those of 26 September 1441] and make payment as prescribed to Thomas Scales, captain of Vire, of the wages and rewards of the men-at-arms and gens de trait serving under him for the defence of Vire.

Signed: Burdin.

No. 17

16 April / 5 May 1442.

NLR, F. 971, SGD no. 137. Parchment. 4 folios.

Summarised: Bertrand, p. 58; La Ferrière (BSAN), pp. 216-21779.

An investigation in the parish of Saint-Eny80 concerning the transfer of the market from Sunday to Wednesday. The depositions had been taken in March 1442. Signed: Lemor.

Supplemented with a note that the report was seen by the gens des Comptes and the letters transferring the market from Sunday to Wednesday were issued and sent to the dame de La Haye on 5 May 1442. Signed: Lorin.

Appendix II: NLR, F. 971, Aut 34/1 no. 7.

Henri Par la grace de dieu Roy de france et dangleterre A Noz amez et feaulx Conseilliers Les commissaires ordonnez ala visitacion et closure de quatre comptes Renduz par Pierre Surreau Notre Receveur general de normandie pour quatre annees commencans le premier Jour doctobre mil CCCC vint sept et finies le derrenier Jour de Septembre mil CCCC trente ung salut et dilection. Notredit Receveur general Nous a expose que comme par noz lettres donnes le XIIIIe Jour de fevrier mil CCCC vint sept [1428 n.s.] Nous eussions baillie en charge et Retenue A notre ame et feal Jehan harpelay chevalier bailli de constantin le nombre de vint hommes darmes et cent archiers tous acheval pour Iceulx tenir a genetz ou saint lienart pour Restraindre et contraindre de vivres les ennemis estans ou mont saint michiel et faire tous autres explois de guerre Au prouffit et seurte de noz subgiez estans esdictes marches par lespace de huit moys commencant le Jour de leurs premieres moustres a noz gaiges acoustumez en angleterre

Et de puis les habitans de bailliage de constantin et basses marches de normandie firent dire et Remonstrer a notre treschier et tresame oncle Jehan Regent notre Royaume de france duc de bedford par levesque de coutances maistre enguerrant de champront et bernart le cointe81 quilz envoyerent par devers notredit oncle plusieurs grans maulx partes dommages et extorcions que soustenoit notre povre people desdits pays par noz ennemis tenans ladicte place du mont saint michiel Requerans que sur ce pleust a notredit oncle pourveoir et ordonner certain nombre de gens darmes et de trait pour Resister ausdictes entreprises lequel notre oncle ordonna ledit nombre de vint hommes darmes et Cent archiers acheval duquel nombre seroient deux lances et XLVIII archiers acheval qui avoient este ordonnez et advises estre mis pour la garde des Chemins dudit pays de la basse marche de Normandie Et le demourant Cestassavoir XVIII lances et LII archiers acheval seroient paiez des deniers diceulx habitans ou cas que de ce Ilz seroient de consentement ou dacord lequel advis fut Rapporte ausdiz habitans lesquelx furent dacord que sur eulx feust levee la somme de trois mil neuf cens soixante dix livres tournois Pour convertir ou paiement des gaiges et soldees desdiz dix huit hommes darmes acheval et LII archiers a deux paiemens comme ces choses sont plusaplain co[n]tenues et declairees en noz lettres surce faictes donnes le XXe Jour de mars oudit an CCCC XXVII par vertu desquelles lettres somme de IIIMIXCLXX l.t. a este cueillie et levee sur Iceulx habitans avec autre plusgrant somme pour les causes contenues en Icelles

En ensuivant laquelle ordonnance et par vertu dicelles lettres ledit chevalier mist sus ledit nombre de vint hommes darmes et Cent archiers acheval et les a tenuz continuelment en notre service en certaine bastide qui lors fut faicte et edifiee audit lieu de genetz par sept moys commencant le XXIIIIe Jour dudit moys de mars mil CCCC XXVII et finiez le XXIIIe Jour doctobre mil CCCC vint huit ensuivant durant lequel temps et de moys en moys ledit chevalier a fait monstres et Reveues et en a este paie pour tout ledit nombre de vint hommes darmes et Cent archiers tant des deniers de ladicte somme de IIIMIXCLXX l.t. levee sur ledit pays comme des deniers de notre Recepte generale de normandie par vertu dicelles noz lettres Et des monstres et Reveues faictes par Icellui chevalier

Et se doubte ledit Receveur que pource que par faulte de declaracion dudit premier mandement donne le XIIIIe Jour de fevrier ouquel nest point faicte de la declaracion que les deux lances et XLVIII archiers qui estoient advisez et ordonnez pour la garde des Chemins de ladicte marche lesquelx a la verite estoient ordonnez estre paiez de loctroy general pour le conduit de la guerre dicelle annee devoient estre dudit nombre et payez diceulx deniers de la Recepte generalle Et seulement ya que lesdictes XX lances et C archiers seroient paiez des deniers que avoient octroyez lesdiz habitansVous ne faictes difficulte ne ne vueillies alouer ne passer en sesdits comptes que ladicte somme de IIIMIXCLXX l.t. qui a este cueillie sur ledit pays laquelle chose seroit en son tresgrant prejudice et dommaige et comme sa des[er]c[i]on totalle se par nous ne lui estoit sur ce de notre grace et Remede pourveu en nous humblem[en]t Requerant IceulxPourquoy nous ces choses considerees qui ne voulons la desercion de notredit Receveur general considerans les bons et agreables services quil nous a faiz et esperans que face ou temps avenir Par ladvis et deliberacion de notredit oncle voulons vous mandons et expressement emoingons que sil vous appert desdictes lettres donnes ou moys de mars par lesquelles on dit apparoir que les deux lances et XLVIII archiers qui estoient ordonnez pour la garde des chemins de la basse marche sont declaires en Icelles estre et devoir estre dudit nombre de vint hommes darmes et Cent archiers acheval et que ledit Receveur ne les prengne point ailleurs en despense vous passez alouez et mectez en la despense des comptes de notredit Receveur general tout ce qui paie a este par Icellui Receveur general pour les gaiges et Regars diceulx vint hommes darmes et Cent archiers acheval pareillement que se en Icelles lettres feust fait mencion que ledit Receveur les payast tant des deniers de sa Recepte comme de ladicte somme de IIIMIXCLXX l.t. octroyee par lesdiz habitans. Car ainsi nous plaist Il et voulons quil soit fait.

Donne en notre ville de mante le XVe Jour de decembre lan de Grace mil CCCC et trente deux Et de le XIme de notre Regne. Par le Roy a la Relacion de monseigneur le gouvernant et Regent de france duc de Bedford

[SIGNED] Je Rinel

Notes

1 The authors would like to express their gratitude to N. A. Elagina, head of the Western Manuscript Fonds sector in the National Library of Russia, for her valuable support and help in accessing the documents and in tracing the details of their presence in the Library.

2 BNF, NAF 3295, described as “Analyse de quelques chartes et documents, du XIIe au XVe siècle, relatifs à l’histoire de France, conservés à la Bibliothèque impériale de Saint-Pétersbourg”, in Catalogue général des manuscrits français. Nouvelles acquisitions françaises, H. Omont (ed.), Paris, E. Leroux, 1899, t. I, p. 36.

3 H. de La Ferrière (Count), Deux années de mission à Saint-Pétersbourg: manuscrits, lettres et documents historiques sortis de France en 1789, Paris, Imprimerie impériale, 1867; H. de Laferrière-Percy (Count), “La Normandie à l’étranger”, Bulletin de la Société des antiquaires de Normandie, t. VII, 1875, pp. 210-233.

4 M. Nortier, “Le sort des archives dispersées de la Chambre des Comptes de Paris”, Bibliothèque de l’École des chartes, t. CXXIII, 1965, pp. 519-520.

5 This also refers to the Katalog pisem gosudarstvennyh i politicheskih dejatelej Francii XV v. iz sobranija P. P. Dubrovskogo [The Catalogue of Letters by State and Political Persons of the 15th-Century France from the P. P. Dubrovsky’s Collection], J. P. Malinin (ed.), Saint Petersburg, State National Library, 1993. For edited collections using the documents from Saint Petersburg see, for example, Lettres de Louis XI, J. Vaesen and É. Charavay (eds.), Paris, Renouard, 1883-1909, 11 vols; Lettres et négociations de Philippe de Commynes, J. B. M. C. Kervyn de Lettenhove (ed.), Brussels, V. Devaux, 1867-1874, 2 vols; J. Blanchard, Commynes et les Italiens, lettres inédites du mémorialiste, Paris, Klincksieck, 1993; Philippe de Commynes. Lettres, J. Blanchard (ed.), Geneva, Droz, 2001.

6 Only some of the 14th-century documents appear to have been described in any detail but they are little related to the war itself. See T. P. Voronova, “Normandskie finansovye dokumenty XIV v. iz kollekcii P. P. Dubrovskogo v Gosudarstvennoj Publichnoj Biblioteke im. M. E. Saltykova-Schedrina”, in Problemy paleografii i kodikologii v SSSR [“The 14th-Century Norman Financial Documents from the P. P. Dubrovsky’s Collection in the M. E. Saltykov-Schedrin State Public Library”, in The Problems of Palaeography and Codicology in the USSR], Moscow, Nauka, 1974, pp. 319-336; Gramoty abbatstva Sent-Antuan XIII-XVIII vv. Katalog [Charters of St Antony’s Abbey, 13th-18th Centuries. Catalogue], E. V. Bernadskaja and V. I. Mazhuga (eds.), Leningrad, State Public Library, 1979.

7 G. Bertrand’s summaries take only one volume (BNF, NAF 3295) to describe the 12th- to 15th-century documents as compared to 33 volumes of copies and extracts from the autograph documents from the reigns of Louis XI to Henry III (ibid., NAF 1231-1250, 6001-6013) and a further three volumes of an inventory of these same volumes (ibid., NAF 4074-4076), see Catalogue général…, t. I, pp. 172-173, and t. II, pp. 36, 122. La Ferrière in both his reports outlines only very briefly the documents of the 14th-early 15th centuries, while those from the 1480s onwards are discussed in more detail and often published in full H. de La Ferrière (Count), Deux années…, pp. 3-5; H. de Laferrière-Percy (Count), “La Normandie à l’étranger”, pp. 210-218. For more detail on the publication of the 16th-century materials see V. Chichkine, “Les autographes français du temps des guerres de Religion (1559-1598) conservés à la Bibliothèque nationale de Russie à Saint-Pétersbourg”, Proslogion: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Social History and Culture, t. I, no. 13, 2016, pp. 29-43.

8 E.g. an indenture of Sir John Salvain as captain of Château-Gaillard for a year from 29 June 1444, Bloomsbury Auctions, London, Continental, English & Middle Eastern Books and Manuscripts. Thursday 19th March 2015, 2 pm. Sale no. 36165, London, 2015, lot no. 93: http://www.dreweatts.com/cms/pages/lot/36165/93 [accessed 2 December 2016].

9 It was not possible to find any documents originating from Lancastrian France in the manuscript collections of other institutions in Saint Petersburg such as the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences or the State Hermitage Museum.

10 “Posluzhnoj spisok P. P. Dubrovskogo”, in Arheograficheskij ezhegodnik za 2004 g. [“The Service Record of P. P. Duvrovskij”, in Archaeographic Annual for the Year 2004], M. G. Logutova (ed.), Moscow, Nauka, 2005, p. 389.

11 S. O. Shmidt, “K jubileju P. P. Dubrovskogo: diplomat-kollekcioner v kontekste razvitija otechestvennoj kul’tury i obshhestvennoj mysli vtoroj poloviny XVII – nachala XIX veka”, in Arheograficheskij ezhegodnik za 2004 g. [“To the Jubilee of P. P. Dubrovsky: a Diplomat-Collector in the Context of Native Culture and Social Thought Development in the Second Half of the 18th-Early 19th Centuries”, in Archaeographic Annual for the Year 2004], pp. 280-281.

12 “Posluzhnoj spisok…”, pp. 389-390.

13 A. D. Ljublinskaja, Bastil’skij arhiv v Leningrade: annotirovannyj katalog [The Bastille Archive in Leningrad: an Annotated Catalogue], T. P. Voronova (ed.), Leningrad, State Public Library, 1988.

14 T. P. Voronova, “P. P. Dubrovsky i Sen-Zhermenskie rukopisi”, in Knigi, arhivy, avtografy [“P. P. Dubrovsky and the Saint Germain Manuscripts”, in Books, Archives, Autographs], Moscow, Kniga, 1973, pp. 101-114.

15 S. O. Shmidt, “K jubileju P. P. Dubrovskogo…”, pp. 289, 291-292.

16 For a case when the acquisition details could be traced see A. Charon, “Un amateur russe à la vente Loménie de Brienne (1790-1792) Doubrovski”, in Vek Prosveshhenija. Vyp. I. Prostranstvo evropejskoj kul’tury v jepohu Ekateriny II [The Age of Enlightenment. Issue 1. The European Cultural Space in the Time of Catherine II], Moscow, Nauka, 2006, pp. 213-231; A. Parent-Charon, “Les acquisitions de manuscrits de Doubrovski à la vente Loménie de Brienne (1790-1792)”, in Zapadnie rukopisi i tradizii ih izuchenia [Occidentlia: Manuscripts and Collections], Saint Petersburg, National Library of Russia, 2009, pp. 15-19.

17 The spelling of the surname henceforward is following its Russian pronounciation. On this collection see A. I. Sapozhnikov, “Biblioteka i kollekcii grafa P. K. Suhtelena”, Kniga: Issledovanija i materialy [“The Library and Collections of Count P. K. Suhtelen”, The Book: Research and Materials], t. LXXVIII, 2001, pp. 280-300.

18 Most of the available evidence on the prince’s life appears to originate from a biographic article in Russkij biograficheskij slovar’ [Russian Biographic Dictionary], Saint Petersburg, Russian Imperial Historical Society, 1914, t. X, pp. 519-520.

19 A. Labanoff de Rostov (Prince), Recueil de pièces historiques sur la reine Anne ou Agnès épouse de Henri Ier, roi de France, et fille de Iaroslaf Ier grand duc de Russie, Paris, Firmin Didot, 1825.

20 Lettres, instructions et mémoires de Marie Stuart, reine d’Écosse, publiés sur les originaux et les manuscrits du State Paper Office de Londres et des principales archives et bibliothèques de l’Europe, A. Labanoff (ed.), Londres, C. Dolman, 1844-1845, 7 vols; A. Labanoff, Notice sur la collection des portraits de Marie Stuart appartenant au prince Alexandre Labanoff, précédée d’un résumé chronologique, new ed., Saint Petersburg, É. Pratz, 1860.

21 Otchjot Imperatorskoj Publichnoj Biblioteki za 1851 god [The Imperial Public Library Report for Year 1851], Saint Petersburg, K. Vingeber, 1852, Appendix V, pp. 10-11.

22 The autographs acquired separately or in minor collections were similarly united in 1948 into the Fonds 991 Obshhee sobranie inostrannyh avtografov [The General Collection of the Foreign Autographs]. This fonds proved of little use for the present study as its earliest document is dated 1483.

23 Previously Aut. 373 nos. 4-5, nos. 2-3 being letters patent by Charles VII to the seneschal of Saintonge and the governor of La Rochelle, concerning the homage of Jeanne Ardillone, with an attached order of the gens des Comptes (NLR, F. 992, nos. 94-95).

24 The two Dauphinist documents mentioned in the previous note are similarly marked as nos. 5061 and 5062.

25 N. P. Likhatchev, Boumaga i drevnejchije boumajnyje melnitzy v Moskovskom gosoudarstve: istoriko-arheografitcheskij otcherk [The Paper and the Most Ancient Paper Mills in the Muscovite State: a Historical-Archaeographic Essay], Saint Petersburg, Typography of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1891; N. P. Likhatchev, Paleografitcheskoe znatchenije boumajnyh vodjanyh znakov, Saint Petersburg, Society of Amateurs of Ancient Writing, 1899, 3 vols. Published in English as Likhachev’s Watermarks: an English-Language Version, J. S. C. Simmons (ed.), Amsterdam, Paper Publications Society, 1994, 2 vols.

26 N. P. Likhatchev, Istoricheskoe znachenije italo-grecheskoj jivopisi [Historical Significance of Italian-Greek Painting], Saint Petersburg, Russian Imperial Society of Archaeology, 1911.

27 For a complete list of N. P. Likhatchev’s works see L. N. Prostovolosova, N. P. Likhatchev: sud’ba i knigi bibliografichesij ukazatel’ [N. P. Likhatchev: Destiny and Books: a Bibliographical Index], Saint Petersburg, The State Hermitage Publishers, 1992.

28 For N. P. Likhatchev’s biography see L. G. Klimanov, “Outchenyj i kollectzioner, ‘izvestnyj vsej Rossii, eche bolee Evrope’”, in Repressirovannaja nauka [“Scholar and Collector, ‘Known throughout Russia and even more in Europe’”, in Science Repressed], M. G. Jarochevski (ed.), Leningrad, Nauka, 1991, pp. 424-453; E. V. Stepanova, “On byl outchenym ‘s golovy do nog’ i nikem drougim byt’ ne gelal i ne byl”, in “Zvuchat lish pis’mena”: K 150-letiju so dnja rogdenija akademika Nicolaja Petrovitcha Likhatcheva [“He Was a Scholar ‘from Head to Toe’ and never Wished to Be nor Was Anyone Else”, in “In Written Words Alone”: on the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Academician Nikolay Petrovich Likhatchev], Saint Petersburg, The State Hermitage Publishers, 2012, pp. 12-35. See also E. I. Nosova, “La collection des moulages de sceaux médiévaux de l’historien russe Nicolai Likhatchev (1862-1936): la provenance et l’usage”, in Le sceau dans les Pays-Bas méridionaux, Xe-XVIe siècles. Entre contrainte sociale et affirmation de soi, M. Libert and J.-F. Nieus (eds.), Brussels, Archives et bibliothèques de Belgique, 2017, pp. 65-72.

29 L. G. Klimanov, “N. P. Likhatchev ‘v poiskah gelannyh zven’ev diplomaticheskoj vystavki’” [“N. P. Likhatchev ‘Searching for Desired Links for the Diplomatic Exhibition’”], in “Zvuchat lish pis’mena”…, p. 36.

30 E. N. Mesherskaja and E. K. Piotrovskaja, “Muzej paleografii N. P. Likhatcheva i ego soud’ba” [“The N. P. Likhatchev’s Museum of Palaeography and its Destiny”], in “Zvuchat lish pis’mena”…, p. 52.

31 The Academics’ case (Platonov-Tarle case) was aimed against the members of the Academy of Sciences who had been seen by the Soviet government as a counter-revolutionary element. See Akademicheskoe delo 1929-1931 gg: Dokumenty i materialy sledstvennogo dela, sfabrikovannogo OGPU [The Academic Case, 1929-1931: Documents and Materials of the OGPU Frame-Up], Saint Petersburg, Library of Russian Academy of Sciences, 1993-2015, Issues 1-9.

32 For N. P. Likhatchev’s other contacts see L. G. Klimanov, “N. P. Likhatchev-kollektzioner i ego svjazi: antikvary, kollectzionery, outchenyje” [“The Collector N. P. Likhatchev and his Contacts: Antique Dealers, Collectors, Scholars”], in “Zvuchat lish pis’mena”…, pp. 565-593.

33 P. David, Inventaire de la sous-série AB XXXVIII des Archives nationales: collection des catalogues de vente d’autographes et livres anciens imprimés des libraires et des salles des ventes, Paris, Centre historique des Archives nationales, 2003-2005, pp. 22-23.

34 Lettres autographes et documents historiques. 1911. N 418. P. 22. N 70430.

35 Later one of the assessors in the trial of Joan of Arc, archbishop of Rouen from 1444 to his death in 1452: P. Contamine, O. Bouzy and X. Hélary, Jeanne d’Arc: histoire et dictionnaire, Paris, Robert Laffont, 2012, pp. 959-960.

36 Technically a department of the Russian Academy of Sciences Library.

37 Http://cths.fr/an/prosopo.php?id=119647 [accessed 1 June 2018].

38 Http://cths.fr/an/prosopo.php?id=119646 [accessed 1 June 2018].

39 P. David, Inventaire de la sous-série AB XXXVIII…, p. 58.

40 Ibid., p. 57.

41 It appears that the two pieces were purchased as a single lot since the catalogue extract applied to no. 11 refers to the two documents of the reign of Henry VI, one dated 1428, the other Rouen, 1440 (lot 427). It was not possible to find the catalogue in N. P. Likhatchev’s archive.

42 Http://www.stargardt.de/de/firmengeschichte/ [accessed 1 June 2018].

43 A. V. Chirkova, “Frantsuzskije akty XI-XIII vv. iz sobranuja N. P. Likhatcheva: k voprosu o formirovanii kollectzii”, Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitaga [“The French Acts of 11th-13th Centuries from N. P. Likhatchev’s Collection: towards the Problem of Collection Formation”, Transactions of the State Hermitage Museum], t. LXXI, 2014, pp. 122-134. E. I. Nosova, “Neizvestnij avtograf Karla Smelogo iz Arhiva Sankt-Peterbourgskogo Instituta istorii RAN”, Vspomogatelnye istoricheskie diszipliny [“The Unknown Autograph of Charles the Bold from the Archives of Saint Petersburg Institute of History”, Auxiliary Historical Disciplines], t. XXXII, 2013, pp. 218-225.

44 L. G. Klimanov, “N. P. Likhatchev-kollektzioner i ego svjazi…”, p. 571.

45 Die Autographen-Sammlung Alexander Meyer Cohn’s, Berlin, A. Stargardt, 1905, 2 vols.

46 SPbIH, Collection 9 Cart. 343. N 20.

47 Bearing no. 13693 and a date 17/2/[18]93.

48 There is a reference to the “Blue star of the Archives du Collège Héraldique” in Census of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the United States and Canada, S. de Ricci and W. J. Wilson (eds.), New York, The H. W. Wilson Company, 1935-1940, 3 vols, here vol. I, p. 612. Unfortunately the document is not found in the catalogues of the college sales. The same is true for other documents with an identical stamp such as BL, Egerton Ch. 150, or the letters of Valentina Visconti, duchess of Orléans, Ader Normann, Femmes: lettres & manuscrits autographes. Collection Claude de Flers; Paris, 18.11.2014; lot no. 2: http://www.bibliorare.com/wp-content/uploads/ader-femmes-lettres-manuscrits-autographes-mardi-18-novembre-2014-14-heures-salle-des-ventes-favart-paris-/2.jpg [accessed 2 November 2016]. BL, Add. Ch. 25842, bearing a similar stamp, can be identified with piece no. 1819 from Catalogue analytique des chartes, documents historiques, titres nobiliaires etc. composant les Archives du Collège Héraldique et Historique de France. Deuxième partie. Normandie, Paris, Librairie J. Léon Techener fils, 1866, p. 189.

49 On this practice see E. C. Williams, My Lord of Bedford, 1389-1435, London, Longmans, Green, 1963, p. 218.

50 The career of this secretary has given ground for a separate study, see P. Contamine, “Maître Jean de Rinel (vers 1380-1449), notaire et secrétaire de Charles VI puis de Henry [VI] pour son royaume de France, l’une des ‘plumes’ de l’‘union des deux couronnes’”, in De part et d’autre de la Normandie médiévale. Recueil d’études en hommage à François Neveux, P. Bouet et al. (eds.), Caen, Annales de Normandie (Cahier des Annales de Normandie ; 35), 2009, pp. 115-134.

51 The surviving account is that for 1429 which is BNF, ms. fr. 4488.

52 Bedford’s letters of the same date to his financial officers concerning this appointment (ibid., ms. fr. 26050, no. 838) are published by S. Luce in Chronique du Mont Saint-Michel (1343-1468), Paris, Firmin Didot, 1879-1883, 2 vols, here vol. I, pp. 264-266.

53 The conditions were agreed at the meeting of the bailliage representatives held at St Lô on 11 March, the report on these decisions (BNF, ms. fr. 26050, no. 853) being published in Chronique du Mont Saint-Michel…, vol. I, pp. 266-269.

54 They actually remained in service at least till July 1429, but the period from 1 October 1428 onwards was covered by another account; BNF, ms. fr. 4488, pp. 25, 241-244; Chronique du Mont Saint-Michel…, vol. I, p. 265, n. 1.

55 For the full transcription of this piece see Appendix II.

56 Http://www.medievalsoldier.org/dbsearch/ [accessed 1 June 2018]. The nominal information from the muster rolls in this paper was accessed through the database.

57 Sir Lancelot is mentioned as “de Hampshire” by William Worcester: Itineraries of William Worcestre, J. H. Harvey (ed.), Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1969, pp. 3-4. One of the offspring of the de Lisle family in the 16th century was named Lancelot: A History of the County of Hampshire, t. 5, W. H. Page (ed.), London, Constable, 1912, p. 205.

58 Lancelot de Lisle was even left 20 marks sterling in the earl’s will, The Register of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1414-1443, E. F. Jacob (ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press (Canterbury and York Society; 42, 45, 46, 47), 1937-1947, 4 vols, here vol. II, p. 393.

59 BL, Add. Ch. 94.

60 Journal du siège d’Orléans, 1428-1429, P. Charpentier and C. Cuissard (eds.), Orléans, H. Herluison, 1896, pp. 31-32.

61 BNF, ms. fr. 4488, p. 349; published in L. Jarry, “Le Compte de l’armée anglaise au siège d’Orléans, 1428-1429”, Mémoires de la Société archéologique et historique de l’Orléanais, t. XXIII, 1892, pp. 523-524. His continual presence at the siege as retinue leader is also revealed by the musters of his company of 1 February (BNF, NAF 8602, no. 11) and 8 March 1429 (BL, Add. Ch. 11617).

62 BNF, ms. fr. 4488, pp. 542, 547 (July), 566 (September).

63 Paris, Arch. nat., K 63/7/22; BNF, ms. fr. 4488, p. 566. The musters were taken by the same Richard Cordon and Raoul Parker who took the muster in the SPbHI roll. These two commissioners were appointed by the duke of Bedford’s letters of 27 August 1429 to receive, instead of the baillis who would normally receive such musters but had other commissions, the musters of those summoned to serve in arms: Report on Rymer’s Foedera: Appendices, A-E, C. P. Cooper (ed.), [London], Public Record Office, 1869, 3 vols, here vol. II, app. D, E, p. 383. Richard Cordon, clerk, was issued letters of protection on 12 February 1427 for going to France in the company of John, duke of Bedford: “Calendar of French Rolls: Henry VI”, Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, t. XLVIII, 1887, p. 248.

64 BL, Add. Ch. 7947.

65 BNF, NAF 8602, no. 11.

66 John Derham, TNA E 101/46/24 m. 4; John Deram, TNA E 101/45/4 m. 11; John of Derham, TNA E 101/45/4 m. 9; John Bold, TNA, E 101/47/13.

67 Given as a possible starting date for his captaincy in A. Curry, Military Organisation in Lancastrian Normandy, 1422-1450, unpublished PhD thesis, CNAA, Teesside Polytechnic, 1985, 2 vols, here vol. II, p. CXXXI.

68 “Calendar of French Rolls…”, pp. 310, 324.

69 A Davy Howell, esquire from Pembroke, served on the invasions of France in 1415 and 1417, TNA, E 101/46/24 m. 3; E 101/51/2 m. 2. His service was rewarded with a grant of lands in the bailliage of Cotentin on 12 October 1419: “Calendar of Norman Rolls: Henry V”, Annual Report of the Deputy Keeper of the Public Records, t. XLI, 1880, p. 803, printed in L. Puiseux, “Rôles normands et français et autres pièces tirées des archives de Londres par Bréquigny en 1764, 1765 et 1766”, Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de Normandie, t. XXIII, 1858, no. 677. On Howell see also A. D. Carr, “Welshmen and the Hundred Years War”, Welsh History Review, t. IV, no. 1, 1968, pp. 36, 46; T. B. Pugh, Henry V and the Southampton Plot of 1415, Southampton Records Series, t. XXX, 1988, pp. 101, 125 and notes.

70 Pont-Saint-Pierre, Eure, cant. Romilly-sur-Andelle.

71 Freneuse, Seine-Maritime, cant. Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf.

72 Apparently the church of Saint-Candé-le-Vieux at Rouen, near the Place du Gaillardbois. A. Barabé, Recherches sur le tabellionage royal en France, et principalement en Normandie, Rouen, A. Péron, 1850, p. 51, n. 2; http://vafl-s-applirecherche.unilim.fr/collegiales/index.php?i=fiche&j=152 [accessed 4 December 2016].

73 Tax on the pigs, http://www.atilf.fr/dmf/ [accessed 2 November 2016].

74 Right to let the pigs be pastured in the forest at certain periods of time, http://www.atilf.fr/dmf/ [accessed 2 November 2016].

75 Possibly Roumare, Seine-Maritime, cant. Notre-Dame-de-Bondeville.

76 The following summary in the former appears with only a few variations in the latter (both summaries erroneously refer to 100 men-at-arms instead of 20): “Lettres du Henri, se disant par la grâce de Dieu roi de France et d’Angleterre, aux commissaires des comptes de Normandie. Jehan Harpelay, chevalier, bailli de Constantin, avait sous ses ordres cent hommes d’armes et cent archers à cheval ‘pour iceulx tenir à Genets, pour restreindre et contraindre de vivres les ennemis estans au mont St Michel’. Nonobstant cette force chargée de pourvoir [La Ferrière: Cette force ne pouvant suffire] à la sûreté de pays, les habitans du Costentin, par l’intermediaire de l’Evêque de Coutances, demandérent au duc de Bedfort, régent du royaume de France, un supplement de troupes, pour empêcher les grands maux que leur faisoient endurer ceux qui occupaient la place du mont s[ain]t Michel. Le Duc leur octroya [La Ferrière: donna] cent hommes darmes et cent archers à cheval pour garder les chemins, à la condition que trois mille neuf cent soixante et dix huit livres tournois [3,978 l.t.] seraient levés pour le payement des nouvelles troupes. / La lettre n’a trait qu’au réglement de cette imposition et [La Ferrière: et au] payment des hommes d’armes. / Charte originale donnée a Mantes à la dite date. [this line absent in La Ferrière]”.

77 His quittance for the wages of the first quarter of this year dated 17 April 1440 is BNF, Clairambault 180, no. 69.

78 The county of Harcourt, held under English rule by Thomas Beaufort, duke of Exeter (d. 1426), and John, duke of Bedford (d. 1435), was granted on 23 December 1435 to Edmund Beaufort (1406-1455) already the count of Mortain from 22 April 1427, future earl of Dorset (1438) and duke of Somerset (1444): M. K. Jones, The Beaufort Family and the War in France, 1421-1450, Doctoral thesis, University of Bristol, 1982 (dactyl.), pp. 281-282, 287.

79 La Ferrière considered the piece to date from the 14th century. In his report the note on the document is accompanied by a “citation” from one of the depositions which on comparison with the manuscript appears to be very inaccurate. However, La Ferrière’s dating is clearly incorrect as the writing throughout the document is distinctively early-15th-century and its closing article and a resolution contain the dates of 16 April 1442 and 5 May 1442 respectively.

80 Sainteny, Manche, cant. Carentan.

81 The bishop of Coutances was Philibert de Montjeu; the other delegates are mentioned as Angueran de Campront, chanoine du dit lieu de Coutances, et Benard le Cointe, escuier, in the letters of 11 March 1428 (BNF, ms. fr. 26050, no. 853), published in Chronique du Mont Saint-Michel…, vol. I, pp. 266-269.

Author(s)

Southampton University

Aleksandr Lobanov est visiting fellow à l’université de Southampton. Il a commencé ses études à l’université d’État de Saint-Pétersbourg. En 2015, il a soutenu à l’université de Southampton sa thèse de doctorat sur les relations anglo-bourguignonnes pendant la guerre de Cent Ans. En 2016, il a participé au projet de la rénovation de la base de données The Soldier in Later Medieval England.

Saint Petersburg Institute of History

Ekaterina Nosova a fait ses études à l’université d’État de Saint-Pétersbourg, au collège universitaire français de Saint-Pétersbourg, puis à l’université Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne. Sa thèse de candidat (équivalent de PhD en Russie) soutenue en 2011 porte sur la cour des ducs de Bourgogne au XVe siècle. Depuis 2013, elle est responsable de la section des manuscrits occidentaux des archives de l’Institut d’histoire de Saint-Pétersbourg. En 2016, elle enseignait à l’École des hautes études en sciences économiques (campus de Saint-Pétersbourg).

The text and other elements (illustrations, imported files) may be used under OpenEdition Books License, unless otherwise stated.

Search OpenEdition Search

You will be redirected to OpenEdition Search