Shrewsbury was given a grant of murage dated 20/6/1392.
This was in the form of:-
Wording
Grant to the bailiffs and burgesses of Shrewsbury, in consideration of that town being near to Wales and in need of better fortification, of murage for four years from Midsummer next.
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Rich. II. Warrant, in French, to the Archbishop of York, as Chancellor, to prepare letters under the great seal granting to the burgesses the tolls on persons bringing merchandise, for the term of four years, to repair the walls, gates, and bridges, the latter being greatly injured and almost destroyed by floods of the Severn; a previous grant for three years being now determined. Rokyngham Castle, 4 June, an. 15
Granted by Richard II. (Regnal year 15). Granted at Nottingham.
Primary Sources
Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1905,
Calendar of Patent Rolls Richard II (1392-96) Vol. 5 p. 74
online copyHistorical Manuscripts Commission, 1899, 'The corporation of Shrewsbury: Royal charters'
The Manuscripts of Shrewsbury and Coventry Corporations (etc): Fourth report, Appendix: Part X, p. 2-6
online copy
Secondary Sources
Coulson, Charles, 2009, Murage Grants (Handwritten list and notes)
Comments
I suspect that the calendarists have translated the grant with a certain bias ('fortification' rather than 'defences') although it may be the Chancery clerks also had a bias. Certainly the sense of the original warrant, the need to repair flood damaged bridges, is quite lost in the Calendar entry. Indeed the original roll really needs to be checked to see how accurate the Calendar translation is here.
Record created by Philip Davis. This record created 18/01/2009. Last updated on 03/05/2012. First published online 5/01/2013.
