Will of Saladin
(1193)
Interesting to record is the last will and testament of the celebrated Saladin, born in 1136; he died in 1193, after filling the two continents of Europe and Asia with his fame.
Sultan of Egypt, he conquered Syria, Arabia, Persia, Mesopotamia, and took possession of Jerusalem in 1187. His conquests suffice to enable us to judge of the extent of his power and wealth; at his death, however, he showed that no one was more intimately convinced of the utter hollowness of the riches and greatness of the world and the vanity of its disputes.
He ordered, by his will, first, that considerable sums should be distributed to Mussulmans, Jews, and Christians, in order that the priests of the three religions might implore the mercy of God for him; next he commanded that the shirt or tunic he should be wearing at the time of his death should be carried on the end of a spear throughout the whole camp, and at the head of his army, and that the soldier who bore it should pause at intervals and say aloud, “Behold all that remains of the Emperor Saladin! Of all the states he had conquered; of all the provinces he had subdued; of the boundless treasures he had amassed; of the countless wealth he possessed, he retained in dying, nothing but this shroud!” To this we may add:
“ ... Behold his origin and end!
Milk and a swathe at first, his whole demand;
His whole domain, at last, a turf or stone,
To whom, between, a world had seemed too small.”
Will of William de Beauchamp
(1268)
“Will of William de Beauchamp, dated at Wauberge, upon the morrow after the Epiphany, anno 1268, 53 Henry III. My body to be buried in the Church of the Friars-Minors at Worcester. I Will that a horse, completely harnessed with all military caparisons, precede my corpse; to a priest to sing mass daily in my Chapel without the city of Worcester, near unto that house of Friars which I gave for the health of my soul, and for the souls of Isabel my wife, Isabel de Mortimer, and all the faithful deceased, all my rent of the fee of Richard Bruli, in Wiche and Winchester, with supply of what should be too short out of my own proper goods; to Walter, my son, signed with the cross, for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land on my behalf and of Isabel, his mother, two hundred marks; to Joane, my daughter, a canopy, some time belonging to St. Wolstan, and a book of Lancelot, which I have lent them; to Isabel, my daughter, a silver cup; to Sibill, my daughter, all the money due to me from my son William, towards her marriage, and XL marks more, with the land which I bought in Britlamton, to enjoy it until she be married, and no longer; to Sarah, my daughter, one hundred marks for her marriage; to William, my eldest son, the cup and horns of St. Hugh; to my daughter the Countess, his wife, a ring with a ruby in it; to Sir Roger de Mortimer and Sir Bartholomew de Suley a ring each; to the Friars-Minors of Worcester forty shillings; to the Friars-Minors of Gloucester one mark; to the Friars-Carmelites there one mark; to the Hospital of St. Wolstan at Worcester one mark; to the Hospital of St. Oswald there ten shillings; to the Canons of Doddeford one mark; to the Church and Nuns of Cokehill x marks; to Isabel, my wife, ten marks; to the Church and Nuns of Westwood one mark; to the Church and Nuns without Worcester one mark; to every Anchorite in Worcester and the parts adjacent four shillings; to the Church of Salewarp, a house and garden near the parsonage, to find a lamp to burn continually therein to the honor of God, the Blessed Virgin, St. Katherine, and Saint Margaret; and I appoint my eldest son William Earl of Warwick, Sir Roger Mortimer, Sir Bartholomew de Sudley, and the Abbots of Evesham and of Great Malverne, my executors.”
Will of William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick
(1296)
“Will of William De Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, dated Holy Rood Day, 1296, 25 Edward I. being in perfect health. My body to be buried in the quire of the Friars-Minors, commonly called the Gray-friars at Worcester, if I die within the compass of the four English Seas; otherwise, then in the house of the Friars-Minors nearest to the place in which I may happen to die, and my heart to be buried wheresoever the Countess, my dear consort, may herself resolve to be interred; to the place where I may be buried two great horses, viz., those to the which shall carry my armour at my funeral, for the solemnizing of which I bequeath two hundred pounds; to the maintenance of two soldiers in the Holy Land, one hundred pounds; to Maud my wife, all my silver vessels, with the cross, wherein is contained part of the wood of the very cross whereon our Saviour died; likewise the vestments of my Chapel, to make use of during her life; but afterwards the best suit to belong to Guy, my eldest son; the second best to my Chapel of Hanslape; and the third best to my Chapel at Hanley; to Guy, my son, a gold ring with a ruby in it, together with my blesing; to my said wife a cup, which the Bishop of Worcester gave me, and all my other cups, with my lesser sort of jewels and rings, to distribute for the health of my soul, where she may think best; to my two daughters, nuns at Shouldham, fifty marks.”
Will of Edward I
(1307)