Inquisitions Miscellaneous
(Chancery)
Investigations into civic
disruptions, crown property disputes, and administrative issues
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Miscellaneous Inquisitions (Chancery)
The
Calendar of Inquisitions Miscellaneous (Chancery) is an eight-volume set of
English abstracts documenting non-routine administrative and legal inquiries
held by the Court of Chancery between 1219 and 1485. It provides insights into
medieval public disorders, infrastructure decay, and Crown rights, serving as a
primary source for understanding social and political conditions during that
era.
Unlike
Inquisitions Post
Mortem, which deal strictly with land ownership and inheritance
upon a tenant's death, the Miscellaneous series acts as a catch-all for local
investigations into civic disruptions, crown property disputes, and
administrative issues.
The
documents summarise local jury verdicts concerning an exceptionally broad range
of medieval public complaints, crimes, and government operations including accusations
of treason, murder, robbery, lawlessness at all social tiers, and piracy; detailed
inquisitions resulting from civil unrest, such as uprisings against the Crown,
particularly during the reign of Henry IV; enquiries into the physical decay of
towns, buildings, bridges, highways, and waterways; Inquests into crown manors,
serjeanties, purprestures (illegal
encroachments on public land), forest waste, local customs, and escheats; and Incidents
of ecclesiastical negligence and formal assessments to determine a person's
level of sanity or mental competency.
Index of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (Chancery)
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 1,
Henry III and Edward I.
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 2,
Edward I to Edward II.
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 3,
Edward III.
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 4, 1377 to 1388.
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 5, 1387 to 1393.
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 6, 1392 to 1399.
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 7, 1399 to 1422.
Calendar
of Miscellaneous Inquisitions (chancery), Volume 8, 1422 to 1485,
limited search only.