| Description | The cartulary of St Bartholomew's Hospital, sometimes known as 'Cok's Cartulary' was begun by Brother John Cok, renter, in c1418 and was continued in various hands until 1505/6. The contents of the Cartulary includes: copies of charters, letters patent and royal pardons, 1133-1464; papal bulls, c1175-1453; episcopal letters and acta, c1170-1420; deeds and other records of title, 1137-1505/6; and a rental of properties in London, 1456.
The Cartulary, originally one large volume, was rebound in two parts in c1956, and again 1997-1998. Volume I comprises ff 1-426 of the original single volume. It is unknown why the separation of the two halves was made at f426, since the natural break would have been at f440, at the end of the section of copies of deeds of London properties. The manuscript has several foliation sequences, but the foliation used here, and in the calendar to the cartulary published by NJM Kerling in 1973, is the 20th century pencil foliation, which is written in the top right-hand corner of each folio.
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ff7-38: London rental, 1456, including some details of previous tenants, perhaps taken from earlier rentals now lost (Kerling, pp153-174; see also Norman Moore's 'History of St Bartholomew's Hospital, Volume II, pp45-105)
ff43-93: copies of charters, papal bulls, and documents concerning the foundation and site of St Bartholomew's Hospital. (Kerling, pp17-20)
ff68-69: list of Masters of the Hospital, 1123-1466; compiled in the 15th century. (Kerling, pp 175-177)
ff94-440: copies of deeds of London properties (Kerling, pp20-110) [NB Volume I ends at f426, and so this section continues in Volume II]
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f94 has an illuminated border and initials, depicting a man in a scarlet robe kneeling before a T-shaped cross carried by three angels, attributed to William Abell (Kerling p13; also article at SBHREF/257) The coat of arms under the initial bears arms sable a chevron argent bearing three cocks argent two and one, identifying the man in the image as going by the name of Cok. It is therefore generally accepted that the man is John Cok.
Above the scene is the coat of arms of John Wakeryng, Master of the Hospital, and later used by the hospital itself.
f78 has a coloured initial. ff7-38, 95-326, 403-405 and 410 are rubricated. ff45-48 have initials decorated with pen-drawn grotesques. |
| Administrative history | The cartulary of St Bartholomew's Hospital, sometimes known as Cok's Cartulary, since it was begun by Brother John Cok, was composed according to practice of the time to compile copies of documents relating to properties and rights of an institution in a single ledger. It is thought that one reason for this was for ease of consultation in the increasing number of lawsuits in which religious houses were involved over the medieval period. Cartularies also provided a copy of key documents in case of loss of the original records through negligence or fire, and when the names of donors and tenants mentioned in the rental of properties, 1456 (ff.7-38) are compared with those in the Cartulary, it is clear that many of the original deeds and leases had already been lost by the fifteenth century.
The possession of a cartulary was also also a matter of prestige, and when John Wakeryng was elected Master of the Hospital in 1423, it is likely that he commissioned the cartulary to demonstrate the independence of the hospital from St Bartholomew's Priory following the final settlement between the two institutions made on 31 October 1420. However, work to transcribe the deeds of the hospital appears to have started earlier - the earliest date a deed was copied out is given by John Cok as 1418, so the transcription of deeds may have started under the mastership of John Bury [1415-17] or of John White [1418-23]. |