IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): COL/RG
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: RECOGNIZANCES
Date(s): 1285-1685
Level of description: sub-fonds
Extent: 1.5 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Corporation of London
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
A recognizance was a bond or obligation, entered into and recorded before a court or magistrate, by which a person engaged himself to perform some act or observe some condition (for example, to appear when called on, to pay a debt, or to keep the peace). It can also refer to a sum of money pledged as a surety for such performance and rendered forfeit by neglect of it.
These recognizances were created under the terms of the statute of Acton Burnel and the Statute of Merchants (1283-1285), which regulated and improved the legal processes of debt collection. The recognizances were duly authenticated and enrolled before the local "Keeper of the Merchant's Seal" (in the case of London, the Mayor and a clerk specially designated by the King), and thus were documents of legal record, accepted by the judicial authorities as the final and incontrovertible proof of the authenticity of a debt. They were therefore of great benefit to creditors and provided the warrant for immediate and drastic action against defaulters, including imprisonment and seizure of property.
Some of the entries include recognizances by non-Londoners, lists of witnesses to the recognizance and the cause of the entry (e.g. the purchase of wool). Later rolls include dating by day of the month rather than feast day and include more English phrases. Their character is mainly mercantile.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Recognizances of debts, 1285, 1291-1296, 1298-1299, 1309-1311, 1313-1317, 1345-1346, 1363-1364, 1377-1393.
Recognizances of freemen and sureties, [1436-1497]
Miscellaneous recognizances on bonds, [1612-1685].
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: Latin, Old English
System of arrangement:
In sections according to catalogue.
Conditions governing access:
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright City of London.
Physical characteristics:
Generally fit, some may be fragile.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Corporation of London Records Office.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Date(s) of descriptions: February 2009