Note 107.1 — THE PASTON LETTERS Henry VI (continued 2)
Reading edition
[From Fenn, i. 24.] This letter is assigned by Fenn to the year 1449, but the true date is 1456, as will be seen by the footnotes.
107.2 See p. 84, Note 5.
107.3 Wager of law was an ancient process by which a defendant cleared himself in an action of debt. He gave sureties that on a certain day he would ‘make his law,’ then took oath that he did not owe the plaintiff anything, as alleged, and called eleven compurgators to swear they believed him.
108.1 Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, afterwards Cardinal.
108.2 William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester, was appointed Chancellor in Archbishop Bourchier’s place on the 11th October 1456.
108.3 John Talbot, second Earl. He was appointed Treasurer on 5th October 1456.—Patent Roll, 35 Hen. VI., p. 1, m. 16.
108.4 John Brown.—See William Wyrcestre’s Annals under the year 1468.
108.5 Afterwards Bishop of Durham, and finally Archbishop of York.
108.6 Richard, Duke of York.
108.7 Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham.
108.8 The two Bourchiers, viz. Thomas Bourchier, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Henry, Viscount Bourchier, the former of whom had been Lord Chancellor and the latter Lord Treasurer (see Notes 1, 2, and 3 above), were the Duke of Buckingham’s half-brothers by the mother’s side.
109.1 The Court had been staying at Coventry.