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King John’s Testament and the Last Days of his Reign

King John is brought to Winchester for burial
King John is brought to Winchester for burial
King John is brought to Winchester for burial

King John’s Testament and the Last Days of his Reign

Stephen D. Church

English Historical Review, Vol. 125 No. 514 (2010)

Abstract

King John’s testament is the first royal testament or will to survive in its original form in an English context. The purpose of this article is to make the original text (together with a translation) of the testament generally known for the first time and also to offer some thoughts about its meaning and significance both in terms of the diplomatic of will-making in the twelfth and early thirteenth century and in terms of the events that took place during the last days of King John’s reign.

Introduction: The text of King John’s last testament survives as a single-sheet original in the archives of Worcester Cathedral. Its survival in the Cathedral muniments is remarkable indeed. Presumably left with the monastic community when John’s body was deposited in its sepulchre before the altar of St Wulfstan in October 1216 (around the 23rd of the month), John’s testament is the first to survive in its original form into modern times. The wills of King Alfred (d. 899), and of King Eadred (d. 955) survive only in later copies. The text of Henry II’s testament, made in 1182, is preserved in a large number of known copies, though not in the original. Richard, it seems, made a divisio, according to Roger of Howden, but a written form, if it were ever made, has not survived. On 22 July 1202, Eleanor of Aquitaine was given licence ‘to make a reasonable testament’ disposing ‘of the income she was to receive at Michaelmas [29 September] 1202’, yet no text has come to light. King John’s testament is, therefore, the earliest English royal single-sheet original testament or will surviving to modern times.

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