S 14

c. A.D. 690. Oswine, king of Kent, to Æbba, abbess (of Minster-in-Thanet); grant of 18 hides (manentes) in the Isle of Thanet, Kent. Latin.

Archive: Canterbury, St Augustine's (ex Minster-in-Thanet)

MSS: 1. Cambridge, Trinity Hall, 1, 48rv (s. xv)
2. BL Cotton Jul. D. ii, 102rv (s. xiii)
3. PRO E 164/27, 78rv (s. xiii)

Printed: Lewis 1736, pp. 55-6, ex MS 1; K 10 ex MS 1 etc.; Hardwick, Elmham, p. 230, ex MS 1; B 40 ex MS 1* etc.; Pierquin, Recueil, pt 1, no. 10; Kelly, St Augustine's, no. 43, ex MSS 1, 2, 3.

Translated: Ward 1938, p. 61.

Comments: Turner 1915, pp. xxxiv, xxxviii-ix, authentic; Stenton 1918, p. 437 nn. 19, 22, some grounds for confidence (= Stenton 1970, p. 51 n. 5, 52 n. 3); Wallenberg, KPN, p. 9; John 1960, pp. 4, 49, 50; Whitelock 1976, p. 143, on date; Scharer 1982, pp. 75-7, authenticity uncertain, perhaps altered in transmission; Wormald 1985, p. 25, broadly trustworthy; Kelly, St Augustine's, pp. 152-3, probably authentic.

In nomine Domini nostri Iesu Christi. Ego Osuuinus rex Cantuariorum gratias refero miserenti Deo omnipotenti qui confirmauit me in regno patrum meorum et dedit mihi domum cognationis mee. Quamobrem placuit mihi ne ingratus beneficiis Domini uiderer, et terram que sita est in insula Tenet, .xviii. manentes continentem, quam aliquando Irminredus possidebat, (et aliqua pars ipsius archiepiscopi erat, ipso tamen consentiente et aliam a nobis accipiente) monasteriali seruituti subieci; nuncque in presentia adiuuante Domino perpetraui sub manus Christicolarum, gubernatrici Æbbe perpetuali donatione redegi, ut teneat, possideat ipsa semper, successoresque eius incommutabili decreto defendant; atque ad confirmationem istius cartule cespitem terre supradicte sacro altari superposui, ut omnis quicumque ausus fuerit aliquid ex ea temerare aut minuere uel etiam transmutare sine uoluntate possidentium, sciat se alienum a participatione regni ecclesiis effici et a cetu fidelium segregatum, nisi regulariter emendauerit.

+ Signum sancte crucis propria manu expressi.
+ Signum manus Oswyni regis.
+ Ego Suebhardus consensi et subscripsi.
+ Signum manus Acce.