Early Charters of the Augustinian Canons of Waltham Abbey, Essex, 1062-1230

Five cartularies from what was probably the most important Augustinian house in England.

Waltham Abbey is generally considered to have been the most important Augustinian house in England. Five cartularies have survived and there are original documents in six different manuscript collections. They concern the canons,churches and land in nine counties and the City of London. Over 350 local place and field names appear and there is much material relating to the development of surnames and evidence of flourishing use of the English language.

`Dr Ransford provides 638 documents drawn from all the Waltham cartularies in a most successful attempt to get as complete as possible a picture of the history before 1230 of the abbey set up by Henry II in 1177 as part of his public regret for Becket's martyrdom...the critical apparatus is admirable and the indices in particular are very full indeed.' History 245, 10/90 An important addition to the growing corpus of published monastic charters and should be consulted by all those concerned with monasticism in post-Conquest England. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW a great asset to all historians working on the period, who now have easy access to an important and interesting archive.' RICHARD MORTIMER Albion Vol.23, no 1; spring 1991 the sort of painstaking editorial work on which all historians depend, but which few are equipped to do, and both the editor and the press deserve congratulations for producing such a fine edition.' Robert C. Stacey SPECULUM Oct 1991