Angevin Acta archive now held at Special Collections Service

Sir Frank Stenton, the first Professor of History at the University of Reading, was one of the greatest historians of Anglo-Saxon and Norman England. He put together a magnificent collection of antiquarian books on the subject, together with a collection of coins and a small number of early charters.

It was perhaps this that inspired one of Stenton’s successors as Professor of Medieval History at Reading, Sir James Holt, to launch a major project to collect and publish all the acts of the Angevin Kings of England - Henry II, Richard the Lion-Heart and King John. Lady Stenton, Sir Frank’s widow, and herself a distinguished and innovative historian (her collections of childrens’ literature and books on women's history are among the most important of the University’s collections of rare books), was an enthusiastic supporter of the project.

The project was launched in October 1971, and the work was initially funded jointly by the University of Reading and the British Academy, then, after 1980, by the British Academy, with occasional contributions from the Marc Fitch Fund. Over the past thirty-eight years, Sir James and his research assistants, and in more recent years Professor Nicholas Vincent, the current Research Director of the project, have unearthed a rich haul of previously unknown documents. The Acts of Henry II are almost ready for publication, though we will all have to wait a few more years for those of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Richard and John.

In 1978, Sir James left Reading to become Professor of Medieval History at Cambridge. The archive of the Angevin Acta, the images and transcripts of the original acts, followed Sir James when he went to Cambridge, and they were housed there until 2007. But Sir James had always intended that this hugely important resource should be housed, where it had been conceived, here at Reading, in effect as part of the Stenton Collection of books, papers, archives and coins. We are delighted to announce that the archive of the Acts of Henry II is now re-established in its original home, and that the archive of the acts of Eleanor, Richard and John will follow in due course. The archive is now housed at the Special Collections Service where it is available for consultation.

The image at the top of this page shows an original charter of Henry II for the abbey of St Sauveur- le- Vicomte in Normandy, given at Westminster, between 1154 and 1158, (University of Reading MS 1488), and was purchased with funding from the Stenton Bequest in 1975. This charter will be no.1512 in the forthcoming new edition of the Angevin Acta. The charter is Henry’s confirmation of the gift of mills at Westbourne in West Sussex to the Abbey of St Sauveur-le-Vicomte, by Queen Adela, the second wife of Henry I and her second husband, William earl of Chichester. William’s family had lands in Normandy close to St Sauveur- le- Vicomte, so this gift probably reflects his patronage. Adela herself was a great patron of Reading Abbey, the burial house of her first husband, Henry I. This charter is one of a number of early manuscripts held at the Special Collections Service, and is available for consultation by readers.

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