XXIV Edward II and the revenues of Ireland in 1311-12

J.F. Lydon

doi:10.1017/S0021121400020083

^{page no 39 note 1} Clause 3.

^{page no 39 note 2} P.R.O.I., Memoranda roll 5 Edward II, m. 22d. (Record Commission’s calendar, vi. 155–6). See also the king’s letter of 16 March from York, ibid., m. 31 (pp. 202–3).

^{page no 39 note 3} Ibid., m. 22d (pp. 155-6). This refers to clause 11 of the Ordinances.

^{page no 41 note 4} For an account of the use made by English kings of the resources of their Irish lordship see my unpublished Ph.D. thesis, ‘Ireland and the military enterprises of English kings in the thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries’ (University of London, 1955).

^{page no 41 note 5} See the list of sums sent to the king in England, which is printed below pp. 53–76.

^{page no 41 note 6} Between November 1312 and November 1314 he received £1,202 5–. from the’issues de la terre Dirlaunde’ and £866 13s. 4d. from the ecclesiasistical tenth which was current in Ireland during the same period (P.R.O., E. 159/88, m. 136 -K.R. Mem. roll 8 Edward II). Walter of Istelep, the Irish treasurer, records on his audited account for the period 8–14 Edward II that between 23 February and 29 September 1314, £256 was paid ‘per breve Regis’ to 6 Antonio de Passaigne de Janua, mercatori Regis, in parte solucionis quarumdam pecunie summarum in quibus Rex eidem Antonio tenetur de diversis causis’ (P.R.O., E. 372/166, m. 26 – Pipe roll 14 Edward II). The Genoese had previously undertaken to supply’ homines ad arma et alios bellatores’ for the king’s service in Ireland, and had contracted with Jordan de Insula, on payment of £500, for 200 men at arms and 2,000 foot for this service (P.R.O., E. 159/93, m. 76 — K.R. Mem. roll 13 Edward II).

^{page no 42 note 7} It can be seen from the table on pp. 53–7 below that the periods of greatest receipt from Ireland coincided with war years in England.

^{page no 42 note 8} These figures, which are taken from the final audited accounts of the Irish treasurers, are not fully comprehensive since they do not include all local expenditure by sheriffs and other officers of the Grown.

^{page no 42 note 9} P.R.O., E. 372/153, m. 35 (Pipe roll 1 Edward II).

^{page no 42 note 10} P.R.O., E. 372/171, mm. 31–32d (Pipe roll 19 Edward II).

^{page no 42 note 11} Lydon, J.F., ‘An Irish army in Scotland, 1296’, in The Irish Sword, 5, no. 20, p. 188 (summer 1962).Google Scholar The total recorded receipt of the Irish exchequer in this year was £6,400 (Cal. doc. Ire., 1293–1301, no. 346).

^{page no 43 note 12} H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles, in ‘Irish revenue, 1278–1384’, in R.I.A. Proc, sect. G, lxii. 93fr. (1962), draw attention to a decline in revenues in the fourteenth century. But it is not quite clear from the figures they present that the decline begins in the first year of Edward IPs reign. Between 1278 and 1299 tne annual average was about £6,300 (p. 93). In the last year of Edward I (rather less than a year, 30 September 1306-29 July 1307) the total receipt was just over £5,700 (P.R.O., E. 101/234/16 -Irish receipt roll). In 1 Edward II it fell to less than £3,000 (P.R.O., E. xoi/235/??-Irish receipt roll). In 2 Edward II it was just short of £3,500 (P.R.O., E. 101/235/18 — Irish receipt roll). A summary of receipts while Biknor was treasurer shows that the fall continued : 3 Edward II — £2,900; 4 Edward II – £3,000; 5 Edward II — £2,800 (P.R.O., E. 101/235/14).

^{page no 44 note 13} The O’Connors, for example, owed £ 15,600 arrears of the farm of three cantreds in Connaught (P.R.I. rep. O.K. 39, p. 27 — Pipe roll 3 Edward II).

^{page no 44 note 14} Ibid., 32.

^{page no 44 note 15} See Mem. rolls 3–6 Edward II, passim.

^{page no 44 note 16} P.R.O.L, Mem. roll 4 Edward II, m. 13d (Rec. comm. cal., v 279–80).

^{page no 44 note 17} Ibid., m. 16d. (pp. 328–9).

^{page no 44 note 18} Ibid., m. 31 (pp. 482-3). The matter was so urgent that the money was to be sent direct to the English exchequer and not to Dublin as would normally have been the practice.

^{page no 45 note 19} See below p. 50.

^{page no 45 note 20} On 29 October 1311 for example, Andrew Gerard, ‘custos’ of the customs in Ireland, paid into the exchequer 40 marks of issues of the customs of Galway for the previous year and explained that it was much less than usual for that port ‘because of the war recently developed between Richard de Burgh and Richard de Glare in the parts of Thomond’ — P.R.O.I., Mem. roll 5 Edward II, m. 8d (Rec. comm. cal., vi. 57–8).

^{page no 45 note 21} P.R.O., E. 101/374/6, fol. 2 (Wardrobe Book — ‘Liber recepte thesauri de anno quinto’).

^{page no 45 note 22} Ibid., fol. 12.

^{page no 1 note 23} P.R.O.I., Mem. roll 5 Edward II, m. 2 (Rec. comm. cal., vi. 14–15).

^{page no 46 note 24} Ibid., m. 22 (p. 154).

^{page no 46 note 25} See below, Document I, for the ordinance and appointment of agents.

^{page no 46 note 26} The return for county Tipperary is printed below, Document II. Other returns will be found in P.R.O.I., Mem. roll 5 Edward II, nie id (Rec. comm. cal., vi. 5–9).

^{page no 47 note 27} P.R.O., E. 101/235/22, 25; 236/1, 4 (Receipt rolls for 3, 4, 5, 6 Edward II).

^{page no 47 note 28} Steel, A., The receipt of the exchequer, p. 34.Google Scholar

^{page no 47 note 29} P.R.O.L, Mem. roll 5 Edward II, mm. 8, 10 (Rec. comm. cal, vi. 59–60, 73, 82).

^{page no 47 note 30} Ibid., m. 9 (pp. 64-5). He asked for a special receiver to be appointed to levy old debts, but the new man in turn reported that they were difficult to levy because of the war with the Irish (ibid pp. 67–8).

^{page no 47 note 31} Ibid., m. 49 (pp. 288–90).

^{page no 48 note 1} See his letters of 6 August 1312, addressed to the sheriffs, seneschals and mayors of Ireland, which begin : ‘Quia tarn pro conservatone pacis Hibernie quam pro expedicione guerre nostre Scocie … diversis pecunie summis ad presentem nos indigemus’ — P.R.O.I., Mem. roll 5 Edward II, m. 54d (Rec. comm. cal., vi. 317).

^{page no 48 note 33} P.R.O.L, Mem. roll 7 Edward II, (Rec. comm. cal. ix. 460–61); Rotuli Scocie, i. 124.

^{page no 48 note 34} See Edward’s letter of 20 October 1313 to Andrew Gerard, ‘custos et receptor custumarum’ in Ireland, in which he says that he has assigned’ omnes exitus de terra nostra predicta’ (i.e. Ireland) to Passaigne and orders him to hand over all the issues of the customs to Passaigne’s clerk, John de Mougell — P.R.O.I., Mem. roll 7 Edward II, m. 8d (Rec. comm. cal., ix. 57-8). For Passaigne’s receipts from Ireland see above p. 41.

^{page no 48 note 35} Cat. close roll, 130J–13, pp. 412–3; Hist. & mun. doc. Ire., pp. 320–21.

^{page no 49 note 36} See especially P.R.O., E. 101/238/24 — a summary account of purveyance in Ireland during Alexander Biknor’s tenure of the treasureship.

^{page no 49 note 37} See, for example, Tout, T.F. and Broome, D.M., A. national balance for 1362–3’, in E.H.R., 39 (1924), pp. 413–4, 416, 419,Google Scholar Kirby, J.L., ‘The issues of the Lancastrian exchequer and Lord Cromwell’s estimates of 1433’, in Inst. Hist. Research Bull., 24 (1951), pp. 132–5, 144.CrossRef Google Scholar

^{page no 49 note 38} The extracts printed here are all taken from the Record Commissioners’ calendar of the memoranda rolls in P.R.O.I. All abbreviations have been silently extended and I have substituted arabic for Roman numerals. I have also corrected the more obvious errors in the calendar, but otherwise I have printed die transcripts as they stand. They are printed by permission of the deputy of the PuWic records in Ireland. I am grateful to Miss Otway-Ruthven of Trinity College, Dublin, who read through the documents and suggested some useful corrections, and to Mr Hugh Shields, also of Trinity College, who was particularly helpful with the French text.

^{page no 49 note 39} MS ‘a leer’.

^{page no 50 note 40} MS 4 ‘et’

^{page no 50 note 41} MS ‘one’

^{page no 50 note 42} MS ‘affoerers’

^{page no 50 note 43} MS ‘fate’

^{page no 50 note 44} MS ‘soloubt’.

^{page no 50 note 45} MS ‘luyre’.

^{page no 50 note 46} MS ‘Reis’

^{page no 50 note 47} MS ‘loiarement’

^{page no 50 note 48} MS ‘nome’

^{page no 50 note 49} MS ‘tart’

^{page no 50 note 50} MS ‘eusi’

^{page no 50 note 51} MS sic.

^{page no 51 note 52} MS ‘eu’.

^{page no 51 note 52} MS ‘le’.

^{page no 51 note 52} P.R.O.I. Mem. roll 4 Edward II, m. 57 d. (Rec. Comm. cal, vi. 700–1¾) Although no date is given for the commission, we learn from the memorandum at the end that it was issued on 7 August 1311. For the appointment of other agents see ibid., m 57d (p. 714); Mem.roll 5 EdWard II m. 9 (Rec. Comm cal vi 64–5, 67–8); m. 15 (p. 108); m. 25 (p. 170); m. 44 (pp. 223–4).

^{page no 52 note 55} Ibid., m. Id (pp. 4–5).

^{page no 53 note 56} The Monday after Low Sunday or the Octave of Easter. If the letter is assigned to 1312, then this day would be 3 April 1312.

^{page no 53 note 57} P.R.O.I, Mem. roll 5 Edward II, m. 26 (Rec. Comm. cal, vi. 187–9). Similar letters were sent to the sheriffs of Kerry, Limerick, Waterford, Tipperary, Carlow, Kildare, Dublin, Meath, Uriel, Connaught and Roscommon; the seneschals of Kilkenny and Trim; the mayors and bailiffs of Dublin, Cork, both Droghedas, Waterford and Limerick. The letter is not dated, but it was enrolled under the caption ‘Brevia pro rege’ in Hilary Term. It was probably issued, therefore, from the Irish exchequer early in 1312. The original letter from the king has not survived — at least a thorough search of the English and Irish Records has failed to supply it. But it can be assigned to the second half of 1311. Nor have the letters patent to Wogan and Biknor, mentioned in the text, survived.

^{page no 1 note 1} Another entry on the same roll equates 15 marks of silver with 15 ozs. of gold (Rot. liberate, p. 71), while on another roll 20 ozs. of gold are equated with 198 marks 6s. 9d. (Rot. oblatis, p. 66). On the basis of these figures the two turns listed under 16 October 1203 would amount to very nearly 6,000 marks.

^{page no 53 note 59} Approximately 3,700 marks.

^{page no 54 note 60} Approximately 3,700 marks.

^{page no 54 note 61} In the account of the keeper of the wardrobe for 1244–9, £2,658 19s. 4d. is the receipt recorded from Ireland — P.R.O., E. 372/95, m. 7 (Pipe roll 35 Henry III).

^{page no 55 note 62} William de Luda, keeper of the wardrobe, accounted for £7,005 16s. 8d. of the issues of Ireland, £666 13s. 4d. of a subsidy for the war, £233 6s. 8d. from the issues of the vacant archbishopric of Dublin, and £73 6s. 8d. fine by Alexander de Luka, which he received from Ireland between November 1283 and November 1284 — P.R.O, E. 372/130, m. 5 (Pipe roll 13 Edward I).

^{page no 56 note 63} There is an additional sum of £8,395 16s. 6d. paid ‘ad opus Regis’ (probably for Wales) to the merchants of the Ricardi company of Lucca which is allowed to Nicholas of Clare, the Irish treasurer, on this audited account.

^{page no 56 note 64} On 10 July, £3,026 6s. 2ed. received in the exchequer was transferred to the wardrobe — P.R.O. E. 401/141 (Receipt roll).

^{page no 57 note 65} On his audited account for 1299-1300 the Irish treasurer, William of Estdene, is allowed £1,184 os. 6¿d. which he paid to the Friscobaldi merchants as part payment of the king’s debts — P.R.O, E. 352/93, m. 36 (Chancellor’s roll 28 Edward I).

^{page no 57 note 66} This large sum was not received all at once, but is the amount of one single tally struck to cover receipts 1303-5. See P.R.O, E. 101/365/6, fols, 19v, 2IV, 32V (Recepta garderobe), where full details of the receipts are to be found. In his audited account for 1300-5 the Irish treasurer, Richard of Bereford, is allowed £2,802 7s. o½d. which he paid to the Friscobaldi on behalf of the king — P.R.O, E. 372/150, m. 4od (Pipe roll 33 Edward I).

^{page no 57 note 67} There are the payments made to the Genoese merchant, Anthony de Passaigne, which might be noted here — see above p. 41. But apart from a few examples which I have noted above, no attempt has been made to include in these lists sums of money which were paid out by the Irish treasurer, or other Irish officials, in repayment of the king’s debts outside Ireland. These sums were often substantial—1,000 marks to the citizens of Bordeaux in 1250 (B.M, Royal MSS, 18 C, XIV, fol. 234), 1,470 marks to the same by the Irish escheator (Cal. pat. rolls, 1266–72, p. 288), £393 to Chester (Cal. doc. Ire., 1252–84, no. 891). Nor are receipts from such taxes as papal tenths included. These, if they could be ascertained fully, would have substantially increased the sums listed — for example the receipt from the tenth in 1258 amounted to 3055 marks (Close rolls, 1254–9, pp. 465–6). What I have tried to list is the amount of money from the Irish exchequer derived for the most part from the ordinary revenues, which was received in the exchequer and wardrobe, or by Edward while he was lord of Ireland. But the accounts are so fragmentary for the period before Edward I’s reign that it is impossible to attempt a comprehensive table,

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XXIV Edward II and the revenues of Ireland in 1311-12

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