The Saint Petersburg Oliver Bible: Concerning the Ownership and Use of an Early Family Bible (1478) in Kent in 1479–1529

Abstract

A COPY OF ONE OF THE KOBERGER BIBLES, printed in 1478, and stored at the Russian Academy of Science Library (Biblioteka Akademii Nauk [BAN]), in Saint Petersburg, Russia, has a remarkable history.¹ According to the handwritten inscriptions and other owners’ marks on its pages, this copy of Koberger’s Bible was shipped to England almost immediately after leaving the press, in 1479. This Latin Bible produced in Nuremberg became for several generations a family bible of the Olivers, of Kentish gentry.² The handwritten notes scattered through the first pages of the volume give a brief account of the family history of the Oliver-Lorncourt clan.

The book block of the BAN Oliver Bible measures 372 × 263 × 102 mm. The block is comprised of fifty-one quires of six, five, four, and three leaves; there are no signature marks on the pages. The title page is absent. The collation is different from the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke standard, as the final quire (cc6 according to the GW formula) is sewn at the opening of the block. Such a collation is original (and not the result of later rebinding and restoration of the book), because this quire contains the earliest Oliver marginalia and the coats of arms, usually placed at the very start of the book. The block and the binding have undergone various restorations. A 1699 note by Stephen Oliver mentions the rebinding of the volume made in that year. The present binding is in vellum, with two ornate metal corners on the front cover, and three metal corners of a different design on the back cover. The back cover also has two metal slats nailed to the board close to the spine of the book. The spine bears a title ‘BIBLIA LATINA’ stamped in gold. The front cover also has a faintly drawn coat of arms, which we shall discuss further. The back of the cover is nineteenth-century paper with an ornamental print.

Fig. 1.

Biblia latina, with additions by Menardus Monachus (Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 10 November 1478). GW 4234; ISTC ib00559000; Biblioteka Akademii Nauk (BAN), Koberger Bible 725 inc. Front cover. Authors’ photograph.

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The inscriptions in the Oliver Bible are predominantly in English. The opening note was dated 18 September 1479. It reads, ‘This Holye Booke was gyven to me by my most Reuered Unkell and ffather in God John Oliuer Clerke on ye anniuersarie of my ffiftyeth Byrthdaie’ (see Appendix: fol. 463r). The author of the inscription, John Oliver, was perhaps the first English owner of the bible and a faithful chronicler of his family. A much later handwritten commentary on this initial note, left by Stephen Oliver in 1699, claims that this initial inscription was ‘[c]orrectly copied’ by him ‘from the Old Cover before rebinding this 31d daye of December 1699’. Thus, the initial inscription from 18 September 1479 by John Oliver is actually a facsimile, produced more than two centuries later, with an accurate rendering not only of the archaic orthography, but also of the personal hand of the long-dead forefather.

Fig. 2.

Initials with the coats of arms of Oliver Lorncourts and Olivier de Leuvilles; a facsimile note (Stephen Oliver, 1699) of the first inscription by John Oliver made 18 September 1479. Authors’ photograph.

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The first pages of the bible contain various information about the Olivers from 1479 to 1529. The BAN copy of this Koberger Bible is unique in regard of the context of early English book ownership. As indicated by ‘Early Bookowners in Britain: Provenances from 1450 to 1550’ (EBOB) database, eleven copies of Koberger Bibles were acquired by British book owners.³ The 1478 November edition is not found among them, though there is one copy of the 1478 April edition stored in Gloucester Cathedral Library.⁴ Most Koberger Bibles were owned by college fellows and clerics, and the marginalia left by their readers could reveal homiletical and scholarly pursuits, as the notes by Thomas Swalwell (d. 1539), a monk preacher of Durham.⁵ The Oliver Bible stands out among other Koberger Bible copies in England as an early family bible used as an archive of the history and genealogy of a landowner clan.

Fig. 3.

John Oliver’s hand in the marginalia. Authors’ photograph.

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Fig. 4.

John Oliver’s son’s hand in the marginalia. Authors’ photograph.

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The Olivers were first mentioned in the mid-eleventh century before the Norman conquest. Later, an Englishman John Oliver married Clementine de Lorancourt, the daughter of one of William the Conqueror’s companions. For centuries, Oliver de Lorncourts served English kings and the earls of Surrey as courtiers and officers, residing in Surrey and Suffolk, where they became landowners by the fourteenth century. In the late fourteenth century, William Oliver was nominated the governor of manors in Cranham and Croydon by Henry IV. William and his wife Alice d’Acre are considered the founders of the two branches of the dynasty. The more prominent line of the English Olivers was connected to Devon.⁶

Less is known, however, of the Kentish line of the English Olivers. The first author of the marginalia in the bible was John Oliver, later in 1512 superseded by his son, whose name is unknown. John was apparently son to Willian Oliver of Kingsbridge.⁷ A well-known figure is John Oliver (1601–1661), tutor to Edward Hyde, 1st earl of Clarendon, president of Magdalen College, Oxford, one of the chaplains to Archbishop William Laud, and at the end of his career dean of Worcester.⁸ Being born in Kent, he was related to the vast clan of Kentish Olivers. Much later, in the nineteenth century, another descendant of the English Olivers, William Redivivus Oliver de Lorncourt, marquis de Leuville, was a scandalous Victorian poet with ties among English and European nobility (including even Russian Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, the poet K. R.).⁹ The French branch of Olivier de Leuville rose to social and political prominence throughout their history from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century, and will be examined here only for the sake of learning about the English owners of the bible now stored in BAN.

The bible was possessed by John Oliver very soon after it had left the printing shop. Less than a year passed between the date of issue mentioned in the colophon (IV Id. Nov., that is 10 November 1478) and the day when he received it as a present (18 September 1479). Probably the first English owner of the bible was John Oliver Clerke, John Oliver’s uncle and godfather who gave the book as a gift to his nephew. The manuscript initials illuminated with coats of arms indicate that the bible was miniatured by the Olivers. A number of German and Latin inscriptions left in the margins are perplexing. They are scattered throughout the biblical text and are mostly notes on its contents, glosses to certain words (‘zu kalck’ to ‘p[ro] ceme[n]to’, Gen. 11:3; ‘snur’ to ‘nurum’, Gen. 11:31, etc.) or nota bene signs. They might have been left by the first owners in Germany (before 18 September 1479), which would imply that the book was bought second-hand in England.

Fig 5.

Stephen Oliver’s note dated 31 December 1699. Authors’ photograph.

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In the twentieth century the Oliver Bible, kept in an English private collection for centuries, was sold at a 1913 auction in London to the distinguished Russian academic and book collector Nikolai Petrovich Likhachev (1862– 1936).¹⁰ There is a cutting from a 1913 bookseller’s catalogue pasted to the back of the upper cover in which the text on the tag runs as follows:

10 Henry Sotheran and Co., 140, Strand, W. C., and 43, Piccadilly, W. Editions and Books of the Holy Bible: Bibles (complete Versions): 257 Biblia Latina Vulgatae Editionis, cum Prologis S. Hieronymi; gothic type, printed in double columns, 51 lines to a page, with numerous painted initials (some containing arms), thick roy. folio, old vellum, with embossed metal corners and fine clasp piece, and arms of Oliver Lorncourt Marquis de Leuville faintly painted on front cover (some ll. stained, and a few ll. damaged and defective, but AN EXTREMELY INTERESTING VOLUME), £15. Nurnburgii, Ant. Coburger, 1478. The very interesting Family Bible of the Olivers. At the head of the first page is the following inscription [the transcript of the opening note]. On the blank page of the first 16 ll. of the bible proper, records of the family from 1492 to 1529’.

Fig 6.

A metal clasp of the binding. Authors’ photograph.

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The handwritten reference ‘Catalogue № 710, London, 1913, str. [P.] 10’ attests that the cutting was pasted to the volume by N. P. Likhachev’s correspondent in London after the book was purchased.¹¹

N. P. Likhachev was justly called ‘a collector of fabulous appetite’, and though incunabula were not his favourite type of books, this early book con noisseur ‘could recognize rarities and acquired a few really valuable copies’.¹² The Oliver Bible is undoubtably one of these. In 1938, the bible made its way into BAN, together with other old manuscripts and old prints which had belonged to Likhachev.¹³ In 2012, the Oliver Bible was exhibited at the State Hermitage in Saint Petersburg as part of the exposition celebrating the 150th anniversary of N. P. Likhachev’s birth.

The bible was described in the catalogue of the exposition, but the marginalia could not be represented there in extenso.

Some of the notes in the Oliver Bible are made from memory. The earliest inscriptions are dated earlier than the Koberger 1478 Bible itself. John Oliver writes about his parents’ lives, his wedding and the birth of his children, all of which he dated 1460s–70s (fol. 9r); he gives a rather detailed account of where his wife came from and her inheritance of a ‘holdinge & tenement’ from her father, the ‘Old Master’ Thomas Hull of Dursley, Gloucestershire, where he was laid to rest; and he also mentions his mother’s death, which happened when the bible was already in the family (fol. 463r).

Two generations of the family, father and son, continued writing this chronicle. The text of all dated genealogical notes, from 1479 to 1529, enables one to reconstruct the various kinship ties of the Olivers and sometimes their economic status and occupation. Related families often occur in the text (Culpepers, Hulls, Quintons, etc.). A tragic event is recorded in passing, which could be related to a feud: ‘John Oliver ye eldeste sonne to widdowe Marion Oliver of Goddene dyed unmarryed 22 november 1517, he beinge killed by a Quintyne’ (fol. 20r). As we learn from different notes, the widow Marion of Godden was married to William Quinton and died two years later than her eldest son (fol. 20v).

The notes show that the Olivers belonged to a wealthy and successful social stratum as provincial squires. However, the Kentish line of the Oliver Lorncourts was far less socially prominent and poorer than their French relatives, Olivier de Leuvilles and other English Oliver lines from other counties (Suffolk, Devon, and Gloucester). It is interesting that the surname ‘Lorncourt’ is mentioned in the marginalia only three times (in the forms ‘Lorencourt’ and ‘Lorincourt’), when writing about an Englishman outside the Oliver clan, bearing the homonymous surname. This man was named Philibert Lorncourt and he married Herminie Olivier. The Lorncourts lived in France and gave birth to a daughter, Philiberte, who was married to Thomas Oliver of Upcote (according to his own tale, recorded by John Oliver’s son between 1513 and 1516, fols. 17v–19v).

The John Oliver who was owner of the bible, who had been presented with it by his godfather and uncle when he turned fifty, that is, in 1479, lived from 1429 to 1512. His death is commemorated by his son in the notes (fol. 17r). Some of the Olivers lived long lives, as John’s mother or another relative, Thomas Oliver of Kingsbridge, who died at ninety-three years old, as is attested by John (fol. 15r). The characteristic ‘oulde squire’, applied to Thomas is also indicative of a high social status in county society: ‘1504 Roger Oliuer ye seconde sonne to ye oulde squire Thomas Oliuer of Kyngesbridge hee dyed ye 20 aprille 1504’ (fol. 14v). This status implied a considerable land holding, which was the prerequisite for obtaining a post of local leadership. Thomas Oliver of Kingsbridge was indeed twice high sheriff, in 1494 and again in 1501, and his son Roger was an ambassador to the French king Charles VIII in 1493.¹⁴ Some of John Oliver’s relatives left Kent for various reasons, including marital bonds or occupation. The notes tell of John’s brother Thomas who moved to London (fol. 9r). The inscriptions mention, among others, the following places inhabited by the Olivers, besides Kent: Burporte (i.e. Bridport, Dorset), Gloucestershire, Devonshire, Kingsbridge (in Devon), London, Nottinghamshire, and Exeter.

Generally, the notes are brief and tell of the most important events in the life of the vast Oliver clan, such as births, deaths, and marriages. They seldom mention the occupations of the Olivers or their social status. Very few notes represent personal attitudes of the author to the events described: ‘In St Maries Churche in St Edmunds Durie yesterdaie 14 Sept: 1521 was celebrated ye marriage of my daughter Margarett to Pierre Auboure a ffrencheman ffryende of Nicholas Oliver of Nevers in ffrance he that came visiteinge here ye yeere laste paste & shee is nowe gone to Poictiers in ffraunce where hyr husbandes ffamilie is settled[.] The peace of the Lorde bee unto them’ (fol. 21v).

The last genealogical note for the sixteenth century tells of Thomas Oliver of Selling: (fol. 25v): ‘Agnes a daut: to Thomas Oliver of Sellinge was borne there 17 octobre 1529 & dyed 19 octobre too daies after and hys wyfe Alice dyed ye nexte daie after which was ye 20. Alice Huke [?] dyed 23 nouvember 1529’.

The Oliver Bible is a valuable source on the history of the French Olivers (Oliviers), who by the second half of the fifteenth century were ennobled and even promoted to the court at Paris. John Oliver’s son writes about a visit paid him by his French relative who brought news of a wedding of an Olivier woman to George Heroust, royal secretary (fol. 24v):

27 decembre 1528. ffrancois Olivier that is here visiteing sayeth that hys couzine Madeleine ye daut: of hys unkell Jean Olivier ye Lord of Mancy & Morangis was marryed ye 5 maie laste to George Heroust a Secretarie to ye kinge of ffraunce, and that hys unkell Claude Olivier the Lord of Dalainvilliers dyed att Paris ye 29 september laste. 9 Januarie 1528. My kinman ffrancois Olivier hath left us this morning to returne to ffraunce.

It was the French line of the Oliver / Olivier family that reached the highest ranks of the nobility, which the English Oliver de Lorncourts never attained. The founder of the line was Jacques Olivier (James Oliver), son of William Oliver of Croydon.¹⁵ James married a certain Jane Hayday (he ‘miswent’ with, fol. 9r) against his father’s will. John Oliver, the author of the marginalia, narrates that William (of Croydon), ‘hys futhyr… they saye would not hear hys name pronouncyd euirons [ever once]’. James emigrated to France, where their only son Jacques Olivier was born. Jacques was made Procureur au Parliament. Later this office passed to the male descendants of the line. In 1466, Jacques Olivier was granted with a seigneurie Leuville, a village to the south of Paris. Leuville became the family seat of the French Olivers, though Olivier de Leuvilles accepted a long chain of offices and titles together with land estates in Ile-de-France and beyond. Jacques Olivier de Leuville had nine children, and after his death in 1488,¹⁶ his widow Janette was entrusted with managing her late husband’s property.¹⁷ Two of Jacques’ sons became abbots, and one, named Jean, a Royal Secretary. Abbot Etienne Olivier wrote about Jean’s marriage with Perette Lopin (‘1492 … octauo die mensis Julij solempnisatum matrimonium inter Johannes Oliuier & ju[nior] & Peretta Lopin’, fol. 10r) to John Oliver, the author of the marginalia. Later, John Oliver regularly noted the children born to the couple—Olivier (fol. 10v), Nicolas (fol. 11r), Gaston (fol. 12r), Jeanne (fol. 12v), Pierette (fol. 13r), Nicolle (fol. 14r), and Madeleine (fol. 15r). Jacques Olivier de Leuville, son of the first Olivier de Leuville, occupied offices in the Parliament of Paris, being a Chancellor under Louis XII and first president of the Parliament of Paris under François I.¹⁸ His marriage to Madeleine Luilliers (Lhulliers) is recorded in the marginalia under the year 1494 (fol. 11r), as well as his daughter’s birth (fol. 12v) and his wife’s death in 1519 (fol. 20r).¹⁹

François Olivier de Leuville (1495–1560) was a notable statesman under Henry II of France occupying the post of Chancellor of France (in 1545–51 and 1559–60), keeper of the state seal and president of the Parliament of Paris. His uncle Jean Olivier, seigneur de Leuville and de Coudrai, seigneur de Mancy and de Morangis, was Royal Secretary. He married Peretta Lopin. Madeleine Olivier, Heroust by first marriage, afterwards in 1539 married Socin Vitel, seigneur de Lavau, and later became lady de Mancy, d’Olisy and de Banjacourt.²⁰ It is notable that François Olivier de Leuville (highly praised by Michel Montaigne),²¹ according to the marginalia, was born in 1495, while the year of his birth is usually placed in a range between 1487 and 1497.

There are four illuminated hand-drawn initials on fol. 3r of the bible bearing the coats of arms of the Oliver Lorncourts and Olivier de Leuvilles. These are the initials ‘U’ (‘Uenerabili uiro Domino Jacobo de ÿsenaco’, the coat of arms of Olivier de Leuville), ‘Q’ (‘Quoniam sicut ait uenerabilis …’, the coat of arms of Oliver Lorncourt), ‘H’ (‘Hanc igitur scientiam docet scriptura …’, part of the coat of arms of the Olivier de Leuvilles), and ‘H’ (‘Hic est ille diuinitus et preciosus liber …’; unidentified). These lavish initials were evidently drawn at the same time as other manuscript initials in the book, which may indicate the French Oliviers, relatives of the Kentish Olivers, to have been the first owners of this bible.

Olivier de Leuvilles became Barons de la Rivière in the second half of the sixteenth century, and in 1650 the seigneury de Leuville was granted the status of marquisate. The Olivier de Leuvilles continued their service to the French king until 1742, the year of the death of Louis Thomas du Bois de Fiennes, Marquis Olivier de Leuville, who served as General Lieutenant in the War of Austrian Succession.²² He happened to be the last representative of the once numerous elder branch of the French Olivier/Oliver de Lorncourts.

Stephen Oliver, who left his autograph in 1699 on the flyleaf of the bible, is apparently the one who, after the French line of Olivier de Leuvilles had ceased, went to France in 1745 claiming his rights to the dynasty’s titles and property. Stephen died in 1750 having secured the title (but not the property),²³ thus making the English Oliver Lorncourts marquises de Leuville. The sloppy handwritten note ‘Olivier de Leuville’ on the last page of the bible was probably made after the title was adopted by the English clan. It is also noteworthy that Stephen Oliver mentioned his rebinding of the bible in 1699, for it is then that it acquired its present cover and parchment binding. The richly ornamented metal corners and the luxurious clasp on the upper board also date from the late seventeenth century or later; but on the lower board there are two less exquisite metal corners and two metal slats which might have belonged to the original cover. Both boards have nail holes from now lost embellishments, which evidently included Olivers’ metal coat of arms—what is left is its vague outline drawn by hand after the decoration had been lost, which nevertheless shows recognizable elements of the family blazon. The coats of arms we find in the Oliver Bible initials are different from those found in the ‘Nobiliaire universe de France’ published in 1877: in the coat of arms of Olivier de Leuvilles in the chief argent lion sable, rampant, not issuing; in the arms of Oliver Lorncourts instead of a lion gules there is lion léopardé gules. This could have resulted both from the evolution of the blazon or a mistake of the miniaturist. The coat of arms of the present-day commune Leuville-sur-Orge (Esonne department) differs in its tinctures from the coat of arms of the Marquis de Leuville: lion sable gave way to leopard or, bezants or became argent and in second and third the field changed from or to sable. The coat of arms of Oliver Lorncourt de Leuvilles is quarterly,²⁴ the arms of the elder Olivier de Leuville line (branche ainee) and a younger branch (branche cadette) of the English Oliver Lorncourts. From the mid-eighteenth century, due to the efforts of Stephen Oliver, the coat of arms belonged to the English line.

The marginalia on the first sixteen leaves of the Oliver family bible thus represent short biographical notes of several generations of the Kentish Olivers, with occasional data on the French Oliviers and English Olivers from other counties. The elder Olivers were socially prominent and their squiredom enabled them to occupy important posts in local administration, such as that of sheriff. The French Oliviers, who had already risen high up the ladder of honours at the French court by the start of the sixteenth century, are mentioned by the Kentish Olivers as ‘cousins’, friends, and relatives, with considerable respect to their high nobility and their successful careers.

The Oliver Bible marginalia are a valuable historical source which helps reconstruct the biography and genealogy of the English and French branches of a family prominent for its participation in local and central administration on both sides of the English Channel. The BAN copy is remarkable as an early example of a family bible, which helped keep the record of the life of an extended Oliver-Olivier clan for about half a century in the late fifteenth and the early sixteenth century. It remained in England as a family heirloom in the eighteenth century, before it was abandoned by the Oliver Lorncourts and eventually sold to a Russian historian at an auction in the early twentieth century. The Oliver Bible is peculiar because, unlike other recorded Koberger Bibles possessed by English owners of the late fifteenth to early sixteenth century, it was owned not by monks or a college but by a family of gentry, who used it to commemorate their history.

Footnotes

APPENDIX

The Oliver Bible marginalia

Biblia Latina, with additions by Menardus Monachus (Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 10 November 1478). GW 4234; ISTC ib00559000; Biblioteka Akademii Nauk (BAN), Koberger Bible 725 inc.

(Marginalia—2 hands; John Oliver—italic; his son—secretary cursive)

Foliation by hand (fol.) and typographical (fol.). The final quire (without signature, fols. 463–468) sewn at the opening of the book.

Opens with a copy of John Oliver’s note of 18 September 1479.

fol. 463r

‘This Holye Booke was gyven to me by my most Reuered Unkell and ffather in God John Oliuer Clerke on ye anniuersarie of my ffiftyeth Byrthdaie, 18 Sept: 1479. J. O.’

On the front flyleaf this note is repeated in a different hand (cursive), in the same gold ink, with an addition:

‘This Holye Booke was gyven to me by my most reverred Unkell and ffather in God John Olyver Clerke on ye anniverssarie of my ffiftyeth Byrthdaie September 18. 1479.

Signed John Olyver.

Correctly copied by me from the Old Cover before rebinding this 31d daye of December 1699. Stephen Oliver, of Sudbury’.

(Followed by original notes in John Oliver’s hand.)

fol. 463r

‘11 Julio 1480. My deare oulde mother dyed this last nigh aged 80 she was a dochter of oulde Walter Culepeper yt [that] dyed about a score yeeres gone [?] […] of S. John Colepeper of Goudhurst in ye countie of Kent’.

fol. 9r

‘My mother Johane the widowe of William Oliuer dyed ye 10 of Julie 1480–—my Father hee dyed at Upchurch in Kent ye 17 of June 1471.

Wee were marryed ye fyerste of maie 1461 att St Marten in Nybley & my wyfes mayden name was Hull shee beinge a dochter of oulde master Thomas Hull of

Dursley where hee lyes buryed and wee heired his holdinge & tenement att Whor end in Nybley in ye Countie of Glocestr.

Our chylderen William hee was bourne 24 June 1463.

Henrie hee was bourne 16 septembr 1464

Johane shee was bourne in decembr 1465

Thomas hee was bourne 15 aprill 1467

John hee was bourne 17 June 1471 ye same daie our dear Father dyed.

My brother Thomas hee was bourne in 1431 & he marryed Alice Taylor the dochter of William Taylor of Gyllingham ye 27 marche 1470 & hee is nowe dwelling in London.

Theyr Chyldren William hee was bourne ye 22 Aprill 1472

Alice shee was bourne ye 26 nouembr 1474 & John hee was bourne ye 30 oct. 1477

My Brother Henrie hee was bourne ye daie of ye feaste of ye Assumption 1439 & hee is nowe liueinge att Upchurche in ye countie of Kent

My other brother [illegible] Oliuer dyed about 8 yeeres gone att Upchurche not marryed’.

[several lines of handwritten text wiped out]

‘1482 Oct. 27. This daie came from Garlieston Tydynges of ye deathe of cozene Elizabeth Wynke att ye age of 58 yeeres.

1482 nou. 5. The Widowe of cozen John Oliuer yt [that] lyued att Seele in Kent is a dochter of Robert Pope of High Hulden sayeth hyr hysband dyed just a score of yeeres gone aged 33 yt hee was ye eldest sonne of John Oliuer ye 4 sonne of William of Croydon & yt hee had a brothyr Richard & a dochter Kathrin all nowe dead & yt they were marryd in 1449 & yt hyr chylderen by hym yt are nowe liueinge are Johan Hardell bourne 29 Julie 1451—John yt is liueinge att Kettells in Seele bourne 31 maie 1453—William of Cowdam alsoe in Seele bourne 28 marche 1455—& Richard ye youngest sonne bourne 17 Januarie 1455—Hyr twoe fyrste sonnes marryd John to Alice ye dochter of Richard Barton William to Marion ye dochter of John St Nicholas of Ashe in Kent. Shee alsoe sayeth yt all those Oliuers […]

John Oliuer of K[…] sonnes George bourne 2 nou. 1479 & William bourne 13 decembr. 1481

William Oliuer of Cowdam hath one sonne John bourne 19 Oct: 1480 & one dochter Jone bourne 25 Janu [?] 1482

Althoughe ye widow Oliuer is ye most wittiest [?] member of ye familie liueinge shee hath not anye knowledge of Walter Oliuer ye 5^th sonne of William Oliuer of Croydon nor of hys sonne John Oliuer & I have not once beene able to imagine what went of them.

1484. ye fyrste daie of Nouembr

Wee arriued here yesternight from Seele renderynge ye uisitt yt was promised cozene Anne Oliuer twoe yeares past & wee were euer so much more pleased that wee had for some time ye companie of our cozenes James (hee is callyd Jacques Oliuier in ffrenche) & hys ladie, yt beinge ye fyrste tyme yt they came synce that hys fathyr James Oliuer t’Eldest sonne of William Oliuer of Croydon miswent with Jane Hayday whyche hee marryd contrarie to ye wishes of hys familie especiallie hys futhyr who they saye would not hear hys name pronouncyd euirons [ever once]. Bye hys Ladie Jeunetta de Noueant cozen James hee has a large familie of nyne chylderen & theyr names bee James—William—Stephen—John—John—Claude—John— Nicolle & Johane—Why 3 sonnes of ye same name John cozen James hee sayde yt they had 3 different fat[her]s in God of ye same name & hee promised yt some daie hee would geeue mee ye dates of thyr byrthes for neither hee n[either hys] Ladie could tell all then [?].

Cozen John Oliuer of Ketylls hath another sonne Thomas bourne 24 Julie 1483.

Cozen William Oliuer of Godden hee hath alsoe another sonne bourne ye last of septembr past & callyd William’.

fol. 9v

‘1487 Oct: ye 11

My brother Henrie hys sonne Thomas hee was bourne ye 9 of Julie 1483

Hys dochter Affabell shee was bourne ye 12 aprill 1485

Thys is oute of a peece of Perchmint [parchment] in ye Keepynge of deare cozene Anne Oliuer

John Oliuer that went to France hee dyed in 1438

Jane Hayday hys wife dyed 3 decembr 1451.

James Oliuer thyr onlie chylde hee yt came to Seele he was bourne att a place called Bonrymuß ye 14 aprill 1429 & hee marryd at Paris ye 15 maie 1459.

Thyr chylderen yt hee James bourne 31 marche 1460

Stephen bourne 15 Julie 1461

Nicolle bourne 14 Nouembr 1462

Jeanne bourne 31 maie 1464

William bourne 6 august 1466

John bourne 17 decembr 1468

John agayne bourne 24 maie 1470.

Claude bourne 13 Octobr 1471.

John agayne bourne 29 marche 1473’.

[A considerable part is written at the bottom of the page over traces of erased handwritten text]

fol. Ir (fol. 10r)

‘1492 October ye 24 my brothyr Thomas hys widowe gaue me ye followinge which was brought hyr by Abbie Stephen Oliuier from ouir France

1488 Tertio die me[n]sis maij sepultus fuit Jacobus Oliuier pater nost[er]

1491Nouo die Junij solempnisatu[m] fuit matrimoniu[m] i[n]t[er] Jacobu[m] Oliuier frat[er] nost[er] & Guineura Tuelen

1492 decimo die Aprilis sepulta fuit Guineura Oliuier ux. Jacobi Oliuier.

Eodem an: octauo die mensis Julij solempnisatu[m] matrimoniu[m] i[n]t[er]

Johannes Oliuier & ju[nior] & Peretta Lopin

Eodem an: tertio die me[n]sis Augusti sepulta fuit Jeanetta Oliuier mat[er] nost[ra]’

fol. Iv (fol. 10v)

‘1493 Alice ye wyffe of Thomas Oliuer of Kingesbridge dyed 4 Octobr 1493 67 yeeres oulde.

1494 My dochter Alice shee marryd George Leeds of Croytone in ye countie of Cambridge ye 12 aug[us]t. 1494

Alice ye widowe of Thomas Oluer of London dyed 17 august 1494

Alice a dochter to William Oliuer of Burporte was bourne 3 June 1494

1493 Pierre Oliuier a sonne to Jean Oliuier & hys wife Peretta was bourne 3 decembr 1493

1494 My dochter mistres Leeds dyed ye 17 […]’

fol. IIr (fol. 11r)

‘1495 My dochter Johane was marryd to Edmund Gray of little Barningham in Norfolk 17 nouuembre 1495

1494 Tydyngs came thys daie 8 of decembre 1495 of ye marrydge of Jacques Oliuier with Madelene ye dochter of Giles Lhuillier & Jeanne Chanteprime hys wyffe ye 25 decembre 1494

Alsoe of ye byrthe of Nicholas ye sonne of Jean Oliuier & hys wyffe Peretta who was bourne ye 30 Julie 1495’.

fol. IIv (fol. 11v)

‘1496 My sonne Henry hee marryd this daye 15 maie to Margarett ye dochter of John Stunshawe my oulde friend o’er ye roade.

Francois Oliuier ye sonne of Jacques Oliuier & hys wyffe Madelene hee was bourne ye 31 October 1495.

Jean Oliuier ye youngest sonne of Jacques Oliuier hee marryd att Neuers in France ye firste daye of maie 1496 with Catherine ye widdowe of Phillippe Clement a tabellion there.

1497 John a sonne to my sonne Henrie hee was bourne 11 june 1497

William Oliuer uicar of Croydon hee dyed […] Julie 1497’.

fol. IIIr (fol. 12r)

‘1496 Guillaume ye second sonne of Jacques Oliuier hee dyed att Paris ye 31 Octobre 1496.

1497 Gaston a sonne to Jean Oliuier & hys wyffe Perette Lopin hee was bourne 8 june 1497.

Antoine a sonne to Jacques & Madelene Oliuer hee was bourne 8 june 1497.

Guilliaume a sonne to Jean Oliuier hee was bourne att Neuers 27 june 1497

Richard Oliuer ye youngest sonne to cozen Anne Oliuer of Seele hee dyed ye 12 januarie 1497’.

fol. IIIv (fol. 12v)

‘1498 William my sonne hee marryed Margarett ye dochter of William Whitmore of Thurcaston 15 aprill 1498

Johan Hardell ye dochter of cozen Anne Oliuer dyed 14 october 1498 when shee was burnyd to deathe.

Jeanne a dochter to Jean (John) Oliuier & hys wyffe Perette was bourne ye 19 augoust laste accordinge to my sonne William who is hyr fathyr in God

Roger a sonne to my sonne Henrie hee was bourne 22 decembre 1498’

fol. IIIIr (fol. 13r)

‘1498 Robert ye sonne of my sonne William was bourne 2 januarie 1498

1499 Alice ye dochter of Alice ye widdowe of Thomas Oliuer of London shee marryd ye 25 maie 1499 to John Huke of Ramham in Kent.

1500 Margarett my granddochter ye dochter to my sonne Henrie shee was bourne ye 28 Marche 1500

11 Aprille 1500 thys daie news came of ye byrthe of Nicholas a sonne to Jean Oliuier hee was bourne att Neuers ye 14 maie 1499—alsoe yt of a dochter to Jacques Oliuier & hys wyffe Magdalene Lhuillier shee was ye 17 octobre 1499—& alsoe Pierette ye dochter of Jean Oliuier & Perette hys wyffe shee was bourne 28 decembre 1499’

fol. IIIIv (fol. 13v)

‘1500 A sonne to my sonne William callyd John hee was bourne 13 maie 1500.

1501 Wiliam Oliuer of the p[ar]ish of St George in Southwarke hee marryed 5 Aprill

1501 withe Cicely ye dochter of Geoffrey Lawrence of St Peter le poere in London

1500 Jean a sonne to Jacques & Magdalene Oliuier was bourne 18 decembre 1500

1501 Jane ye wyffe of William Olliuer of Burporte shee dyed 11 Aprille

1501—& thys yeere Thomas Oliuer hys Fathyr hee was for ye 2^nd tyme sheriff of Ytee [?].

William sonne to my sonne Henrie hee was bourne 16 augouste 1501’.

fol. Vr (fol. 14r)

‘1501. 27 decembre. Tydynges arryued thys daye that a dochter to Jean Oliuier was bourne att Neuers ye 7 julie laste & yt hyr mothyr Catherine whose name shee beare dyed 3 daies after hyr byrthe ye 10 of ye same monthe—alsoe yt Claude Oliuier was marryed to a ladie callyd Marie Maigne ye 15 auguste 1501—& alsoe yt Nicolle anothyr dochter of Jean & Perette Oliuier was bourne ye 4 nouembre laste and yt shee dyed y[e] same daie.

1502 Margarett a dochter to my sonne William was bourne 19 aprille 1502.

1503 Cicely ye wyffe of William Oliuer of Southwarke dyed 14 julie 1503’

fol. Vv (fol. 14v)

‘1503 William Oliuer Quintyne of Goddene Jone hys dochter marryed George Woode 4 julie 1503

William a sonne to my sonne William hee was bourne 8 decembre 1503

1504 Roger Oliuer ye seconde sonne to ye oulde squire Thomas Oliuer of Kyngesbridge hee dyed ye 20 aprille 1504.

William ye 2^nde sonne to John Oliuer Quyntyne of Kettells dyed unmarrydd 18 decembre 1504’

fol. VIr (fol. 15r)

‘1505 Margerye a dochter to William Oliuer Quyntyne of Goddene was marrydd to John Crymmell 9 nouembre 1505

1503 Madelene a dochter to Jacques Oliuier & hys wyffe Madelene shee was bourne att Melun in France ye 29 auguste 1503

1504 Herminie a dochter to Claude Oliuier a sonne to ye late Jacques Oliuier & hys wyffe Marie shee was bourne att Ballaunuilliers 29 septembre 1504—Newes of ye laste 2 byrthes came ys daie 7 marche 1504

1505 Madeleine a dochter to Jean Oliuier & Perette hys wyffe was bourne att Seele 2 aprylle 1505’.

fol. VIv (fol. 15v)

‘1506 William Oliuer Quyntyne of Falke ye Eldeste sonne to ye widdowe Marrion Oliuer marrydd Elyanore ye dochter to Edwarde Knatchebulle of Hythe in Kente 12 june 1506

1507 Thomas Oliuer ye youngeste sonne to John Oliuer hee marryd Agnes dochter to Peter Burrell of Cuckfeeilde in Essex 30 maie 1507—They are alsoe callyd Quyntyne.

1507 Thomas Oliuer of Kyngesbrydge hee dyed laste septembre att ye greate age of 93 after hee had beene a seconde tyme ye high sheriff of Exeter’.

fol. vii^r (fol. 16r) (hand changes, script shifts to secretary cursive)

‘John Oliver sone to Thomas & Agnes Oliver of Ffalke & Leybourn was borne 12 december 1508 & ye sayde Agnes his mother dyed ye 17 of ye same monethe

(Followed by the same hand and script as before.)

1509 Elizabeth Oliuer ye dochter of William Oliuer of Burporte shee marryd John Weste of yorkshire 1 maie 1509.

Katharin ye dochter of William Oliuer Quyntyne & Elyanore Knatchebull shee was bourne 18 Septembre 1509’

fol. VIIv (fol. 16v)

‘1510 Thomas Oliuer ye youngeste sonne to John Oliuer Quyntyne hee dyed 7 nouembre 1510.

1512 John Oliuer Quyntyne of Kettylses in Seele dyed 29 Julie 1512—hys widdowe Alice is a dochter of oulde Richard Bartone who now leive withe hyr’.

fol. viii^r (fol. 17r) (the hand changes)

‘John Oliver my ffather dydd ii januarye 1512 att ye godald [sic] age of 83

Thomas ye sonne to William Oliver Quynton & Elyanore hys wyfe was borne 13 ffebruarye 1512

Walter Gill of Hertfourdshire mar: Alice Oliver of Durporte in Devonsh: 3 June 1513 & her ffather William Oliver he dyed ye 18 auguste followinge’

fol. viii^v (fol. 17v)

‘Thomas Oliver of Upcote in Devonshire sayeth that hys familie is decended from John Oliver ye fryende & companion to Sir John Hawkswood & yt he is ye sonne to Roger Oliver yt was borne in 1451 & was marryed ye 12 oct: 1473 [?] to Anne Dutler a da. to John Dutler a mann from Ireland yt seated himself att Dabsworth in Nottinghamshire & yt hys ffather yt dyed in 1504 was ye 2d sonne to Thomas Oliver of Kingesbridge in ye countie of Devon, that ye sayde Thomas hys grandfather was ye high sheriff of Exeter & yt he dyed 6 yeeres gone he haveinge married Alice Dallescombe ye onnlie +’

fol. IXr (fol. 18r)

‘+ chylde to John Dallescombe of Durporte, that ye sayde Thomas was ye eldeste sonne to William Oliver of Kingesbridge by Margarett ye da: to Sir John Carenkut [??], who had alsoe by her two other sonnes William he yt was ye vicare of Croydone & Ralphe ye principall secretarie of ye gallic Tongue, alsoe yt ye sayde William was ye onnlie chylde to William Oliver of Kingesbridge, whose wife was Phillippa ye onnlie da: & heire: to John Helion of Dumsted, Helion, & yt this William Oliver he was ye sonne to William Oliver that ffirste seated himself in Devonshire, that thys William hys wyffe is nott knowne, butt that he was ye 2d sonne to John’ [circled cross]

fol. IXv (fol. 18v)

[circled cross] ‘Oliver by Elizabeth Dedon of Putnye in Surrye, ye sayde John beinge ye onnlie chylde to John Oliver of Hadingham Sible by Jane de Vere, that alsoe ye sayde John Oliver by Elizabeth Dedon he had two other chylderen sonnes, yt is Robarte ye oldeste who marryed Elizabeth ye da: of Josephe Maddox of Hertfordshire by whom he had no chyldrene & John ye youngeste whose lyffe is nott knowne, & alsoe one daut: Elizabeth, and alsoe that ye sayde John Oliver of Hadingham was ye 5 sonne of Walter Oliver of Richmond in Surrye which Walter Oliv. was lineallie decended from Nigel Oliv. ye common ancestor of #’

fol. Xr (fol. 19r)

‘# of owre familie. Thomas Oliver farthermore sayeth that he was borne ye 4^th aprill 1477 & yt he marryed ye 15 novembre 1499 to Phlibertha ye onnlie chylde to Philibert de Lovencourt by Herminia Oliver ye onnlie chylde to Claude Oliver yt lyved in ffrance and who alsoe is decended from our same common ancestors. He alsoe sayeth that hys chyldrene all are borne in mannere followinge: Thomas ye 30 marche 1501. William ye 19 Julie 1502. Elizabeth ye 21 September 1503. Catharine ye 3 aprill 1505. John ye 16 September 1506. Eustace ye 9 Julie 1508. Jeoffrey ye 11 Decembre 1509. & Christopher ye 21 maye 1511. Alsoe that hys mother’

fol. Xv (fol. 19v)

[circle and two lines] ‘she dyed ye 27 maye 1511. and hys wyfe she alsoe dyed ye 7 June 1511.

John Oliver of Rainham in Kent. and a brother to William Oliver of Southwarke in Surrye he marryed Annes a da: to Giles Carey

William Oliver of Goddene in Seele he dyed 7 aprille 1516’

fol. XIr (fol. 20r)

‘My mother Elizabeth Oliver shee dyed att Nybleye in Glocestershire ye 30 Septembre 1517.

Annes a da: to John Oliver of Rainham shee was borne 18 Oct: 1517.

The widdowe Alice Oliver of Kettells in Seele dyed ye 30 Oct: 1517.

John Oliver ye eldeste sonne to widdowe Marion Oliver of Goddene dyed unmarryed 22 november 1517, he beinge killed by a Quintyne’.

fol. XIv (fol. 20v)

‘The oulde widdowe Anne Oliver of Seele dyed 13 september 1518 aged 89

Marion ye widdowe of William Oliver alias Quintyne dyed 18 august 1519

Shee was a da: of John St Nicholas of Ashe in ye countie of Kent by his wyfe Margarett ye da: & coheir: to Simon Champaine of Champaine in Kent

Madeleine Oliver (Lhuillier) dyed 7 june 1519

Jacques Oliver dyed 20 december 1519, hee was buryed in ye church of St Germain l’Auxerrois in Paris when there was a most grande funerall in his honoure. hee haveing beene ye famous Chauncelleur’.

fol. XIIr (fol. 21r)

‘Elizabeth a da: to John Oliver of Rainham was bourne 4 aprille 1520.

A greate marriage was celebrated in ye churche of Seele in Kent beteene [sic]

Thomas Oliver of Sellinge & Alice a da: to Richard Sydney of Sennoke in Kent 11 aprille 1521’.

fol. XIIv (fol. 21v)

‘In St Maries Churche in St Edmunds Durie yesterdaie 14 Sept: 1521 was celebrated ye marriage of my daughter Margarett to Pierre Auboure a ffrencheman ffryende of Nicholas Oliver of Nevers in ffrance he that came visiteinge here ye yeere laste paste & shee is nowe gone to Poictiers in ffraunce where hyr husbandes ffamilie is settled The peace of the Lorde bee unto them’.

fol. XIIIr (fol. 22r)

‘Arture ye sone of John Oliver of Rainham was bourne 18 Julie 1522

Alice a da: to Thomas Oliver of Sellinge by Alice Sydney was bourne 29 auguste 1522. Shee dyed 3 marche 1522 [sic].

Affabella ye wyfe to Henrye Oliver of Upchurche dyed 13 maie 1523.

William Oliver a sonne to Thomas Oliver of Sellinge was borne 27 november 1523’

fol. XIIIv (fol. 22v)

‘Henrie Oliver of Upchurche in Kent dyed 27 marche 1524.

John Oliver sonne to Thomas & Alice Oliver of Sellinge borne 31 marche 1525.

12 aprille 1525 wee heared yesterdaie that a ffrenchemann called Philibert de Lorincourt he that marryed ye daut: to Claude Olivier ye 29 of laste Sptember came latelie & seated themselves att Dabworthe in ye co: of Nottingham.

Thomas Oliver ye sonne to Henrie Oliver of Upchurche marryed ye 29 maie laste 1525 to Joan da: to John Cowper of Doughton under ye Dleane in Kent’.

fol. XIIIIr (fol. 23r)

‘Thomas sonne to John Oliver of Rainham was borne ye 28 Julie 1525.

Thomas Oliver of Sellinge hee has had by hys wyfe Alice a sonne borne 6 september 1526.

Philiberte a daut: to Herminie de Lorencourt ye young widdowe of Dabworth was borne 2 Januarie 1526, ye ffather beinge dead laste nouvember when hys bodie was carried over to ffraunce’.

fol. XIIIIv (fol. 23v)

‘21 Januarie 1526 William Oliver alias Quyntyne of ffalke in Seele dyed ye 7 of this moneth.

George Oliver ye eldest sonne to widdowe Alice Oliver of Kettells hee dyed 2 June 1527.

Thomas a sonne to Thomas Oliver by hys wyfe Joane Cowper was borne att Upchurche 14 Octobre 1527’

fol. XVr (fol. 24r)

‘Thomas Oliver of Sellinge in Kent has had a sonne called Isaake borne 13 aprille 1528

Affabell ye sister to Thomas Oliver of Upchurche dyed 3 maie 1528’

fol. XVv (fol. 24v)

‘27 decembre 1528. ffrancois Olivier that is here visiteing sayeth that hys couzine Madeleine ye daut: of hys unkell Jean Olivier ye Lord of Mancy & Morangis was marryed ye 5 maie laste to George Heroust a Secretarie to ye kinge of ffraunce, and that hys unkell Claude Olivier the Lord of Dalainvilliers dyed att Paris ye 29 september laste.

9 Januarie 1528. My kinman ffrancois Olivier hath left us this morning to returne to ffraunce’

fol. XVIr (fol. 25r)

‘Henrie a sonne to Thomas & Joane Oliver of Upchurche was borne there 3 Julie 1529.

My nevew Roger ye sonne to my dearelie beloved brother Henerie [sic] Oliver of Nybley marryed Sarah ye daut: of Stepson Phesant of Tottenham in Middlesex 1 august 1529’.

fol. XVIv (fol. 25v)

‘Agnes a daut: to Thomas Oliver of Sellinge was borne there 17 octobre 1529 & dyed 19 octobre too daies after and hys wyfe Alice dyed ye nexte daie after which was ye 20.

Alice Huke [?] dyed 23 nouvember 1529’.

[Notes in different hands, mostly referring to the Biblical text:]

fol. VIr (‘…von gesetzt das man die Morde… seun sholl’; ‘Matth 26’); VI verso (‘Noah alter 950 jar’); VII (‘shan—?’ [gloss to ‘bitumen[n]’]; ‘zu kalck’ [gloss to ‘p[ro] ceme[n]to’]; ‘Confusio linguaru[m]’; ‘(Babel) auf deusch…oder verwirrung—?’; ‘snur’ [gloss to ‘nurum’]; ‘le[c]toris Ebre:’); XXXI verso; XLIX (‘Benedict[us-?] NB’); LIII (‘sebnhunder vnd fofftih’—gloss to ‘ducentiquinq[ua]ginta’); CI verso (‘…panem’); CXXVII verso—CXXVIII—underlined (4 Reg. cap II); CCII (‘Nota… hec verba’); CCXLI (NB); CCLXXII verso (‘sit intelligi…bene…fuerunt passio…’); CCLXXV (‘Vogt. Catal. P. 116’—gloss to Isa. 37:29); CCLXXVI (‘recte limus non lignu[m]’—gloss to Isa. 42:3); CCLXXVIII (signum manus ‘Nota huius’—gloss to Isa. 49:15—16); CCLXXXII verso (‘…affertus’); CCCXXIIII (‘potuit somnia ex[planare] a[tqu]e q[uo]d illa significant’); CCCXXVIII verso (‘intelligens…ab aliis dicta…intelligit…idone[us]…ad affectu[m] et studio[m]…’—gloss to Dan. 8:23– 27); CCCXXXVII (‘bei dem fluch’); CCCLXXVI verso (‘ita est aduentus filij hominis’); CCCCVI verso (gloss to John 10:23–24); CCCCXXIX verso (‘(alias) omnes uel omnia’); CCCCXXX (signum manus, ‘nota’);

CCCCLXI: ‘Oliuier de Leuville’

CCCCLXIv—‘1478’