Ludlow petitioned for a grant of murage in {? 1294-? 1317}.
Wording
Nature of request: The people request that they are granted murage for the term of 5 years so that they are able to rebuild the walls as the people of the country around come to the town to save their bodies and their goods and chattels when the Welsh levy war, but the walls are in decay so that the people cannot shelter there.
Endorsement: {None}.
Endorsement
{None}
Details of the murage grant which resulted from this petition can be seen
at this link. 
Primary Sources
National Archive SC 8/327/E859
Comments
The petition is dated to? 1294-? 1317 as murage was granted to the town on three occasions between those dates, 1294, 1299 and 1304 (CPR 1292-1301, pp. 75, 415; CPR 1301-7, p. 230). The wording of the petition suggests a date close to the Welsh wars so that perhaps the earlier date is most likely as Rees believed (Petitions Relating to Wales, p.524), though the hand does not seem quite that early. There were subsequent grants of murage in 1312 and 1317, and these cannot be ruled out (CPR 1307-13, p. 518; CPR 1313-17, p.672). (National Archive note)
The grants before 1312 were given via a named intermediary, or to the lord of the town. One would expect the names of these individuals to appear in the petition and, on this bases, it is unlikely that this petition refers to grants earlier than 1312 when the grant is given to 'the good men of the town of Ludelawe', without mention of a named individual.
Record created by Philip Davis. This record created . Last updated on 22/03/2012. First published online 6/01/2013.
