Lot 157
Richard II, King of England (1367-1400)
Carlisle Castle
£2,750
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 17 June 2020 at 11:00 BST
Description
Appointment of the Constable of Carlisle Castle. Extremely scarce and highly important historic document issued by the boy King at the age of 12, dated Westminster November 22nd 1379, being the appointment of William de Stapleton as Constable of Carlisle Castle, written in medieval French on a single leaf of vellum in a fine chancery hand, 12 x 35cms., two seal tags, lacking seals, but in otherwise remarkably good condition, supplied with full translation and research information
Footnote
Note: A royal document from the period of the minority of King Richard II is extremely rare.
The appointment of a strong Constable for Carlisle Castle was crucial to the defence of the English realm. The country was still locked in the 100 Years' War with France, and the death of Richard's father, the Black Prince, had meant that he would succeed his grandfather Edward III at the age of just 10 in 1377. Though he was later to prove just as despotic and strong willed as any of the Plantagenet dynasty (particularly with his suppression of the Peasants' Revolt just two years after this document), at this time he was heavily under the control of his mother Joan ('the Fair Maid of Kent'), John of Gaunt and Bollingbroke (who was later to oust him to become Henry IV). Such a power struggle was the perfect formula for outside invasion, particularly from Scotland. It was vital therefore that a strong and able Constable be appointed to the strategic stronghold in Carlisle. Few medieval records relating to Carlisle have survived its violent past but it is recorded that a William de Stapleton was a sheriff of Cumberland in 1348/9 and also in Henry V's reign in 1414/15. Stapleton is not however recorded in Curwen's list of Constables of Carlisle Castle, and therefore this unique and previously unknown document provides new information on the City and its medieval past.
