In this section nos. 707–748C are given in the order in which they appear in B and C. Those occurring in B ff 146–55 are in the section of the cartulary devoted to the almoner's charters.

704 Last will and testament of Aumary son of Ralph, including gifts to Reading Abbey of lands in Burghfield and Car swell [in Buckland]

[prob. 1185 × 86]

A f 38r–v; (in part) B f 59v; C ff 26v–27r

In nomine patris et filii et spiritus sancti. Hoc est testamentum Amalrici filii Rad(ulfi) in quo extreme voluntatis sue conscribi voluit testimonium. Hec ergo sunt que libera voluntate pro salute anime sue donavit. Radingensi monasterio dedit terram lacob de Berchefeld cum pertinentiis suis, et in villa de Carsewelle terram quam carta sua confirmavit. Gileberto fratri suo [f38v] donavit unam marcam.’ Pueris suis ex concubina susceptis .x. marcas argenti delegavit. Hec sunt que fide interposita debuit et solvi precepit. Bevero .vii. marcas, Waldero .x. solidos, Agnete .x. marcas, Ricardo stabulario .viii. solidos et .vii. denarios, Edwardo Gentil .xx. et .i. denarios, Radulfo de Oxoneford .xx. et .i. denarios, Willelmo vinitori .iii. solidos et .ii. denarios et obolum, Willelmo de Waltham .xviii. solidos, Gileberto de Wicumbia .l. et .ix. solidos, Aluredo de Oxoneford .xx. solidos, Roberto Huchet .xx. solidos, Willelmo Ruffo dimidiam marcam, Ade unam marcam, Ricardo de Abbedonia .ix. solidos et .vi. denarios, Emme .viii. solidos, Rogero de Belesoure .xiiii. solidos. Hiis testibus: Anselmo suppriore Rading(ie), Radulfo phisico, Philippo de Sae, Helia de Catmere, Willemo capellano Sancte Marie, Roberto capellano Sancti Laurentii, Willelmo de Ticheham, Iohanne de Hida, Oeno filio Restwoldi, Ricardo le Franceis, Willelmo de Bosevilla, Ricardo aurifabro, Ricardo stabulario, et aliis multis. Horum ergo

• Introduction 137

• Text 145

In libro magistri Gauteri Mahap de Nugis Curialium distinctio prima; assimulatio curiœ regis ad infernum. Cap. primum.

In tempore sum et de tempore loquor, ait Augustinus,* et adjecit, nescio quid sit tempus. Ego simili possum admiratione dicere quod in curia sum, et de curia loquor, et nescio, Deus seit, quid sit curia. Scio tarnen quod curia non est tempus; temporalis quidem est, mutabilis, et varia, localis et erratica, nunquam in eodum statu permanens; in recessu meo totam agnosco, in redditu nihil aut modicum invenio quod dereliquerim, extraneam video factus alienus. Eadem est curia, sed mutata sunt membra. Si descripsero curiara, ut Porphyrius diffinit genus,† forte non mentiar, ut dicam earn multitudinem quodammodo se habentem ad unum principium. Multitude certe sumus infinita, uni soli piacere contendens; et hodie sumus una multitudo, cras erimus alia; curia vero non mutatur, eadem semper est; centimanus gigas * est, qui totus mutilatus totus est idem, et centimanus hydra multorum capitum, qui labores Herculis cassat et contemnit, invictissimi manum athletæ non sentit, et Antæo felicior matrem habet terram,† pontum, et aera, non allidere ad pectus Herculis, totus ei vires multiplicat orbis. Cum ille h … nus Hercules voluerit, fiat voluntas.

The history of the Bishopricfc of the province of Somerset, the seat of which was originally at Wells, transferred from thence to Bath, where for a short time it remained, and then carried back to Wells, from the time of Bishop Godwin, downwards, has been chiefly derived from three original sources.

• Prefatory Note iii

• Introduction vii

• Journal of Events During the Gladstone Ministry i

• Index 4

Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, was one of the Secretaries of State in Queen Anne's Tory administration of 1710–14 which sought to bring an end to the increasingly burdensome War of the Spanish Succession. Employing somewhat dubious means, he and his ministerial colleagues eventually made peace with France by the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713; a treaty which paid more attention to the interests of Great Britain than to those of her allies, the Dutch and Austrians. In seeking peace at almost any price Bolingbroke and his colleagues faced a particular problem with the former Spanish territory of the Southern Netherlands (or Flanders). The Dutch were particularly interested in this territory because they hoped to secure possession of strong fortresses there which would provide them with a secure barrier against a sudden attack by the French. The Austrians, for their part, hoped to gain this territory as part of the Emperor's inheritance of former Spanish possessions. Britain herself was concerned to serve her allies in this territory at least. She also had commercial interests in Flanders and had long sought an effective barrier to French efforts to expand into the Low Countries. These concerns were reflected in Bolingbroke's correspondence with Charles, Earl of Orrery, one of his Tory friends, who was appointed in 1711 as the Queen's envoy-extraordinary to the States General in The Hague and to the Council of Flanders in Brussels. Orrery served in this capacity for most of 1711. In late 1712 he returned to these duties and served there for a further year

‘Leicester house’, those politicians associated with the Prince of Wales' court in Leicester Square Fields, played an important part in the development of the concept of ‘Opposition’ during the eighteenth century, and particularly between 1717 and 1760. There were several periods when this faction was particularly active, and these activities have acquired peculiar importance for many historians in view of the supposed intentions of George III of putting into effect precepts urged either at his own court as Prince of Wales or at that of his father, Frederick. As a result, considerable attention has been paid to the activities of Leicester House, and particularly to Frederick and his colleagues. Although Frederick was active, politically, between 1737 and 1751, it was after 1746 that he was virtually head of the Opposition, and it is in this period that he becomes most interesting, perhaps because it is for these years that there exists a body of documents illustrating his activities in such detail that it is possible to ascertain the nature of his plans. None of Frederick's own papers survive, and the documents in the Royal Archives at Windsor are derived from the records of his earlier associates. His principal associate after 1749 was John Perceval, second Earl of Egmont, whose father's diaries were published by the Historical Manuscripts Commission some forty years ago. Egmont was a Lord of the Bedchamber to the Prince and was the last in a series of favourites intended as future Prime Ministers, so that the papers drawn up in consultation between the two undoubtedly represent the intentions and plans of the Prince in these years and especially in the spring of 1750, to which period many can be dated from internal evidence.