Appendix 2

PUBLISHED CALENDARS

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, historians and archivists spent much of their time in the calendaring and publication of documents, mostly from the medieval and early modern period. These are not complete transcriptions, but are summaries of the salient points contained within the documents, with names, places and actions. Published documents are easier to read and also to copy and negate the need to see the original documents, often held at TNA. Even if the transcription is not a translation, it will still be easier to deal with, being readable and easy to photocopy. Furthermore, they are almost always well indexed by place and name.

Act Books, 1078–1228

The English Episcopal Acta project has resulted in the publication of two volumes of charters issued by the bishops of the diocese. These have been transcribed in Latin, but there is a synopsis in English for each and there is a useful index to people, places and things.

Calendar of Assizes Records (1973–95)

Sixteen volumes covering the assize records of the Home Circuit from 1558–1625.

Calendar of Various Chancery Rolls, Supplementary Close Rolls … Preserved in the Public Record Office, AD. 1277–1326 (1912)

These are letters of instruction from the Crown and letters relating to military service.

Calendar of Chancery Warrants preserved in the Public Record Office, 1244–1326 (1927).

These are warrants under the Great Seal.

Calendar of the Charter Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office (1903–27)

This six-volume series covers 1226–1516 and is in English.

Calendars of Charters and Rolls Preserved in the Bodleian Library

Guide to the pre-twentieth-century manuscript holdings at said library.

Calendar of the Fine Rolls (1911–62)

This twenty-two-volume series, indexed and written in English, covers 1272–1509. Fine rolls for John’s reign, 1199–1216, albeit in Latin, are in Rotuli de Oblatis et Finibus … Tempore Regis Johannis (1835). Those for his successor, Henry III, are also in Latin, in Excerpta et Rotuli Finium in Turri Londinensi Asservatis (1835–6).

Calendars of Inquisition Post Mortem, 1235–1660

This is a twenty-two-volume series covering inquisitions, with some gaps, though it is an ongoing project, having begun in 1904. It has been written in English and indexed by person and place, but excludes names of jurors.

Calendars of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery) Preserved in the Public Record Office, 1218–1485 (1916–2003)

An eight-volume series covering the fate of the lands of those suspected of treason or who rebelled against the King. In English.

Inquistitions and Assessments relating to Feudal Aids, 1284–1431 (1899–1920)

This six-volume series contains a number of medieval Exchequer Books used for the assessment of taxes and subsidies. In Latin, but indexed. It is organized geographically.

Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII (1862–1932)

This twenty-three-volume series is indexed and contains many references to individuals who had dealings with Henry’s government in various capacities.

Calendar of the Liberate Rolls (1916–64)

This six-volume set covers most of the years of Henry III’s reign, 1226–72, and concern payments to royal officials. Indexed and in English.

Memoranda Rolls

These records concern finance and property and a number have been calendared from 1199 to 1327, some by the Pipe Roll Society and some by HMSO.

Calendar of the Patent Rolls (1906–2002)

These volumes provide English summaries of the rolls from 1232–1582 and are indexed.

Calendar of Patent Rolls of the Reign of Henry III (1901–3)

Calendars of the Proceedings in Chancery in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth (1827–32)

Three-volume series.

Calendar of Signet Letters of Henry IV and Henry V (1978)

Letters written by the two monarchs, father and son, who reigned 1399–1413 and 1413–22.

Calendars of State Papers Domestic, 1509–1704

State Papers are documents either created by government or received by them. They include references to clergymen, gentry, soldiers, criminals, traitors and many others. They were transcribed and indexed and form a large series of large, weighty volumes, and can be located on the open shelves of TNA.

Calendars of Treasury Papers and Books, 1557–1745

These numerous volumes list payments to individuals for services on the monarch’s or the government’s business. Indexed and available on open access on TNA’s shelves.

Nonarum Inquistiones in Curia Saccari (1807)

Transcriptions of the wool tax returns for 1340 for twenty-seven counties.

Pipe Rolls

Most from 1156–1221 have been calendared by the Pipe Roll Society, but others have been published by county record societies, too. They list payments to the Exchequer and the officials concerned with its administration.

The Poll Taxes of 1377, 1379 and 1381

Two volumes of transcribed tax returns (Bedfordshire to Leicestershire, then Lincolnshire to Westmorland) and a third volume as index to the first two.

Privy Council of England, Proceedings and Ordinances, 1386–1542 (1834–7) and The Acts of the Privy Council of England, 1542–1631 (1890–1964)

The Privy Council was made up of the monarch’s senior advisers and ministers and dealt with many different matters, including justice and land transactions. They also dealt with petitions to the monarch.

Rolls Series

This is a 255-volume series of documents, translated and transcribed, which are relevant to British history from the time of the Romans to that of Henry VIII. It was commissioned in 1857 and work has now been completed. They should be available in larger libraries and university libraries.

Selden Society volumes

Begun in 1887 and ongoing, these annual volumes cover judicial and legal papers from the late twelfth century to the mid-sixteenth. They are indexed by name and, though originally the text was in Latin only, English translations appear in the later volumes.

Calendars produced by record societies

Most English counties have a record society which produces an annual volume of records relevant to the county’s history. These could be parish registers, lists of militiamen, diaries letters, memoirs, accounts and taxation rolls and are often indexed by name. These have been in production since the nineteenth century and continue to this day. There are other record societies not limited by county, such as the Catholic Record Society, which produce similar volumes of edited records. They can be found on the shelves of TNA’s library and also in county record offices and large libraries for the relevant county record series.