“Oh, young Hew of Lincoln slain also
With cursed Jews, as it is notable,
For it n’is but a little while ago.”
P.
Omnibus ad quos præsens scriptum pervenerit, Jacobus filius Magistri Mosey, Judæi London. et Henna [Anna] uxor ejus salutem. Sciatis nos ad instantiam discreti viri Domini Walteri de Merton, illustris Domini H. Regis quondam Cancellarii, et pro triginta marcis quas nobis dedit præ manibus, dedisse, concessisse, et hac carta nostra confirmasse, scholaribus, et fratribus domus scholarium de Merton, quam idem Dominus Walterus fundavit, apud Meaudon [Maldon] in comitatu Surr. ad perpetuam sustentationem scholarium in scholis degentium, domos nostras, cum pertinentiis, in parochia S. Johannis Baptistæ, Oxon. infra muros; quæ quondam fuerunt Johannis Halegood, inter terram Prioris S. Frecheswide, quæ quondam fuit Alwredi Hereprud, versus occidentem, et terram quæ fuit Rogeri Orlewyne, versus orientem. Habendas, et tenendas eisdem scholaribus et fratribus dictæ domus, cum omnibus ad domos prædictas spectantibus, in perpetuum. Reddendo inde capitalibus Domino feodi quatuor denarios, per annum, pro omni servitio, consuetudine, et demanda. Et nos, et hæredes nostri, warantizabimus, acquietabimus, et defendemus, prædictis scholaribus, et fratribus, domos prædictas, cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, contra omnes homines, tam Christianos quam Judæos, per prædictum servitium quatuor denariorum per annum in perpetuum. Et sciendum quod demisimus nos in plena curia villæ Oxon. ad opus scholarium, et fratrum prædictorum, de prædictis domibus, et omni potestate, et jure, quod nobis ullo tempore competere potuit dictas domos habendi, vel petendi, aut eas cuiquam dandi, vel concedendi. Ita quod si nos, vel hæredes nostri, contra prædictam donationem nostram, dictis scholaribus et fratribus factam, aliquo tempore venire præsumamus, per quod ipsi dampnum, vel impedimentum, sustinuerint, nos eis pecuniam supradictam duplicatam, una cum dampnis prædictis, refundemus; et nihilominus salvum erit eis jus suum dictas domos retinendi, seu petendi, si opus fuerit. Et prædicti scholares, et fratres, ad nostram instantiam concesserunt, quod Domini Antonius Beker et Thomas frater ejus, dictas domos tenere possint, et inhabitare, usque a festo S. Michaelis, proximo futuro, in tres annos completos, pro centum solidis, quos custodi scholarium, et fratrum prædictorum, solvimus in curia prædicta, pro prædictis Dominis Antonio et Thoma, nomine Locagii domorum prædictarum. Et ad perpetuam rei hujus memoriam et securitatem præsenti scripto sigilla nostra fecimus apponi. Hiis testibus Domino Adam Fetteplace, tunc Majore Oxon. Johanne de Coleshulle, Philippo de Hou, Waltero Aurifabro, Adam subtus Murum, Gawfrido Aurifabro, Radulpho Aurifabro, Alexandro Knyht, Jacobo le Especer, Willelmo le Especer, Hugone de Burgo, Christianis; Manassero de Enveyse, Mosey Parnat, Jacobo de Exonia, Lombardo de Krikelade, Judæis, et aliis. Dat. in curia Oxon. die lunæ, proxima post festum S. Matthiæ Apostoli, anno Regni Regis Henrici, filii Regis Johannis, quinquagesimo primo.”
Dr. Tovey copied the above from a deed existing in the college treasury. The doctor was certainly more gifted in copying Latin or French than in copying Hebrew. There is a Hebrew postscript to the above deed—as was generally the case in those olden times, when a deed was drawn up between a Christian and a Jew—but our antiquary copied it so badly, that it was rendered difficult to make any sense of the writing. Dr. Jost, however, very likely restored it to its proper reading, which is the following:—
אני יעקב בן רב משה דלונדרש מודה שכל הכתוב למעלח בלשין לטין בלי מחק והדרה [or וחזרה] הודיתי בעבורי ובעבור יורשי שיחיח שריר וקים וטב ובעבור אשתי הודיתי שיהיה שריר וקים ׃ הזה שהודיתי כתבתי וחתמתי בעבורי ובעבור אשתי חנה יעקב בן רב משה דלונדרש׃
Anglia Judaica, p. 182. Geschichte der Israeliten, vol. vii., p. 407.
There are two seals attached to that charter, bearing an impression of some unknown four-footed beast.