Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid Commission Oct. 26, 1303

Summary: The Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid commission Oct. 26, 1303, asked about goldsmith Roger of Winchester's low-cost gold for King's Lynn counterparts.

King Edward I's fourth Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid commission considered Westminster goldsmith Roger le Orfevere's sale of raided gold coins, known as florins, at low prices to goldsmiths in King's Lynn, Norfolk; etching of King's Lynn late medieval old town wall and white tower, by W. Taylor from a drawing by the Rev. Edwards; William Taylor's Antiquities of King's Lynn (1844), opposite page 155: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

The commission Oct. 26, 1303, achieved less attention than the commissions June 6, Aug. 14, Oct. 10 and Nov. 10/14, 1303, into the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid April 30-May 3, 1303.

The fourth raid-related commission, by King Edward I's (June 17, 1239-July 7, 1307) writ Oct. 26, 1303, bore upon criminal carry-outs of precious coins called florins. It communicated concerns over gold coins that came from the Chapter House Crypt on the Westminster side of the Thames River and that circulated outside London. It demanded three royally designated justices even though, along with the king's investigator, four judges dominated the first commission and five the second, third and fifth.

The fourth commission earmarked King's Lynn in Norfolk even though the others emphasized London, and initially Westminster, just under and over 100 miles (160.93 kilometers) away.

John de Drokensford (1260-May 9, 1329), Edward's appointed investigator and Keeper of the King's Wardrobe, found many ferreted royal treasures in London, Middlesex, Suffolk and Surrey.

Drokensford got back much of the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid coins, gems, icons, jewelry and tableware by generating a proclamation July 16, 1303, in London. Everyone in possession or in the know had to hand Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid stolen treasures in at the London Guildhall by June 23, 1303. Information sources indicated the influx of gold coins, from recesses behind the Chapter House Crypt central column's removable red bricks, into King's Lynn by August 1303.

The goldsmith Roger of Westminster joined, in prison by August 1303, broker Walter/William Russell, judged jail-worthy for selling Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid florins and jewels.

Drokensford's information sources summer 1303 knew that Russell kept company with the Westminster Abbey community of Benedictine monks and their accessories, auxiliaries, retainers, servants and valets.

And yet goldsmiths July 5, 1303, in London and jurors July 4-6, 1303, in London and Aug. 6, 1303, in Westminster never listed Roger of Westminster. Confessions by William Palmer, deputy Keeper of Westminster Palace and Keeper of Fleet Prison, June 17 and July 6, 1303, likewise never mentioned Roger of Westminster. Confessions by Richard de Puddlicott (died Nov. 28, 1304) and John de Rippinghale (died March 5, 1303?) Dec. 3, 1303, never named Roger of Westminster either.

Edward's writ Oct. 10, 1303, occurred after Abbot Walter de Wenlok's (died Dec. 25, 1307) petition against the 81-member Abbey community "falsely indicted" into the Tower.

The petition presented among 32 Westminster-based accessories, auxiliaries, retainers, servants and valets Roger le Orfevere ("the goldsmith"), who promptly parted on bail sometime in November 1303.

The Westminster goldsmith queued up quizzical ties with John de Elmham and Walter de Tylneye, King's Lynn goldsmiths who never questioned out-of-town gold at low prices. The Westminster goldsmith's two Norfolk counterparts retained "a hundred florins of gold from that [Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid] treasure" at "much less of their value." They sabotaged investigations by secreting their source "so that he could not be arrested by the bailiffs of that town [King's Lynn] and take his trial."

Roger of Westminster never turned up among 10 goldsmiths indicted Jan. 9 and 13-14, 1304, or among five hangings March 5 and one Nov. 28, 1304.

King Edward I issued his fourth Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid writ from Kinloss (top center; inserted green arrow), Moray, northeastern Scotland; map of Edward I's itinerary in Scotland 1303-1304; Henry Gough's Itinerary of King Edward the First (1900), Plate VII, page 286: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

King Edward I's fourth Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid commission considered Westminster goldsmith Roger le Orfevere's sale of raided gold coins, known as florins, at low prices to goldsmiths in King's Lynn, Norfolk; etching of King's Lynn's late medieval old town wall and white tower, by W. Taylor from a drawing by the Rev. Edwards; William Taylor's Antiquities of King's Lynn (1844), opposite page 155: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/antiquitiesofkin00tayluoft#page/210/mode/1up

King Edward I issued his fourth Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury raid writ from Kinloss (top center; inserted green arrow), Moray, northeastern Scotland; map of Edward I's itinerary in Scotland 1303-1304; Henry Gough's Itinerary of King Edward the First (1900), Plate VII, page 286: Not in copyright, via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/itineraryofkinge02gouguoft#page/n311/mode/2up

For further information:

Doherty, Paul. 2005. The Great Crown Jewels Robbery of 1303. New York NY: Carroll & Graf Publisher.

Gough, Henry. 1900. Itinerary of King Edward the First Throughout His Reign, A.D. 1272-1307, Exhibiting His Movements From Time to Time, So Far as They Are Recorded. Vol. II: 1286-1307. Paisley, Scotland: Alexander Gardner.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/itineraryofkinge02gouguoft

Harvey, Barbara F., ed. 1965. Documents Illustrating the Rule of Walter de Wenlok, Abbot of Westminster 1283-1307. Vol. II. Camden Fourth Series. London, England: Offices of the Royal Historical Society.

Keay, Anna. 2011. The Crown Jewels. London UK: Thames & Hudson Ltd.

Marriner, Derdriu. 20 April 2018. "Richard Puddlicott and the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/04/richard-puddlicott-and-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 4 May 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid in April and May 1303 in England." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 11 May 2018. "Mysteries of the April-May 1303 Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/05/mysteries-of-april-may-1303-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 1 June 2018. "King Edward I's Letter on the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/king-edward-is-letter-on-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 8 June 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Royal Proclamation June 16, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid_8.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 15 June 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Palmer Confession June 17, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 22 June 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Arrests June 18-19, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid_22.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 29 June 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Indenture June 22, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/06/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid_29.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 6 July 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Palmer Confession July 6, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 13 July 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Goldsmiths Talk July 4, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid_13.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 27 July 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Aldermen Interviews July 29, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/07/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid_27.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 3 August 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: Westminster Jurors Aug. 6, 1303." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 10 August 2018. "Edward I's Second Letter on the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/08/edward-is-second-letter-on-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 28 September 2018. "Westminster Abbey Refectory Raid and London Sheriff Hugh Pourte." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/09/westminster-abbey-refectory-raid-and.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 5 October 2018. "Edward I's Third Letter on the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/edward-is-third-letter-on-westminster.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 12 October 2018. "Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid: "Falsely Indicted" Monks?" Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/westminster-abbey-royal-treasury-raid.html

Marriner, Derdriu. 19 October 2018. "Appellants Not Involved in the Westminster Abbey Royal Treasury Raid." Earth and Space News. Friday.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/appellants-not-involved-in-westminster.html

Palgrave, Sir Francis, ed. 1836. "Appendix: Records Relating to the Robbery at the Treasury, 31 Edw. I." The Antient Kalendars and Inventories of His Majesty's Exchequer Together with Other Documents Illustrating the History of That Repository. Vol. I: 251-299. London England: Commissioners of the Public Records of The Kingdom.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/antientkalendars01grea_0#page/251/mode/1up

Rothwell, Harry, ed. 1957. The Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. Previously Edited as the Chronicle of Walter of Hemingford or Hemingburgh. Camden Series Volume LXXXIX. London, England: Royal Historical Society.

Taylor, William. 1844. The Antiquities of King's Lynn, Norfolk. Lynn, England: J. Thew; London, England: Simpkin and Marshall.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/details/antiquitiesofkin00tayluoft