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The Charter Rolls

The Charter Rolls (Rotuli Chartarum) recorded the most solemn, permanent grants a medieval king could give. These documents usually guaranteed lands, titles, tax exemptions, and market rights, and they were always signed in front of the kingdom’s top bishops, earls, and barons acting as formal witnesses.   These Rolls rarely used the back of the parchment, because charters were elite, formal title deeds, and were written almost exclusively on the front faces of the parchment membranes to ensure they looked immaculate and authoritative.

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1. The Early Royal Domain and Monastic Ties (1199-1244)

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In the 12th and early 13th centuries, English kings used the Charter Rolls to solidify borders, control royal hunting forests, and patronize the powerful Augustinian Priory founded right next to the castle.

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  • 1199 (1 John, m. 4): A major confirmation charter issued by King John confirming the ancient boundaries of the Chace (hunting grounds) of Kenilworth Castle and validating original 12th-century land grants made to the neighbouring Kenilworth Priory.

  • 1227 (11 Henry III, pt. 1, m. 18): Charter granting the wood of "The Hay of Kenilworth" (the heavily timbered parkland surrounding the fortress) strict protection under Forest Law, confirming the royal castellan's absolute right to prosecute anyone cutting down trees or poaching deer.

 

2. The Fall of the Montforts and the Rise of Lancaster (1266-1292)

 

This section contains the most historically significant Charter entries for Kenilworth.   Following the Siege of Kenilworth in 1266, King Henry III stripped the rebel Montfort family of the castle forever and used permanent royal charters to establish the House of Lancaster.

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  • 1266 (51 Henry III, m. 9): The Founding Lancaster Charter in which King Henry III officially grants Kenilworth Castle, the manor, the advowson [the right to appoint priests] of the priory, and all its vast surrounding forests to his younger son, Edmund Crouchback (Earl of Lancaster), and the heirs of his body.

  • 1267 (51 Henry III, m. 4): A follow-up charter granting Earl Edmund the right to hold a regular weekly market on Tuesdays at his manor of Kenilworth, as well as an annual three-day fair centred around the Feast of St. Matthew, designed to inject trade money back into the war-torn town.

  • 1292 (20 Edward I, m. 7): A charter of Free Warren granted to Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, inside the estate of Kenilworth Castle.   This legally prohibited any local noble or commoner from hunting small game (such as hares, rabbits, and partridges) on the castle grounds without the Earl's explicit permission, under penalty of a £10 fine.

 

3. The 14th-Century Lancaster Consolidation (1318-1399)

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During the 14th century, the Earls and Dukes of Lancaster used Charter confirmations to ensure that if their fortunes rose or fell in civil wars, their permanent, hereditary legal rights to Kenilworth stood firm.

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  • 1318 (12 Edward II, m. 11): A sweeping Inspeximus [confirmation charter] where King Edward II officially reviews and re-validates the original 1266 and 1267 charters of Kenilworth to Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, proving the family still held absolute hereditary ownership.   (Ironically, Edward II would be imprisoned in this very castle eight years later).

  • 1353 (27 Edward III, m. 4): Charter issued to Henry of Grosmont (the first Duke of Lancaster), officially granting the castle and lordship of Kenilworth complete exemption from certain royal taxations and local toll-paying duties throughout the realm.

 

4. The Annexation to the Crown (1399)

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John of Gaunt’s son, Henry Bolingbroke, overthrew Richard II and became King Henry IV.   Because the Duke of Lancaster was now the King of England, the castle's legal status changed permanently.

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  • 1399 (1 Henry IV, pt. 1, m. 15): The Great Charter of the Duchy of Lancaster. King Henry IV decrees that the vast inheritance of the House of Lancaster, expressly naming Kenilworth Castle and Manor, shall not merge into the general property of the Crown.   Instead, it was chartered to remain a separate, private royal inheritance managed directly by the King and his personal heirs, creating the corporate entity of the Duchy of Lancaster that still exists today.

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