have at least thirty charters in which Oswald grants leases for three lives, with a reversion to the church of Worcester. After 969 there is a strange gap[1] until the year 977, when the series recommences. On the one side of the gap the list of the 'familia' attesting is headed by 'Wulfric presbiter'; on the other side of the gap 'Wynsige presbiter' takes the first place, and 'Wulfric presbiter' stands next beneath him.
Next we note that for the year 969 alone we have eleven charters, in ten of which 'Wulfric presbiter' stands, as we have said, in the first place, and Wynsige does not appear at all. The eleventh is the exceptional charter which is said to have been attested by 'Wynsige monk and all the monks at Worcester'.
Oswald's charters follow various types, which recur with only the necessary modification of the name of the person who receives the grant and the description of the land granted. The type to which our charter belongs is seen in its purity in B. C. S. 1238. First comes the date A.D. Then the body of the grant, beginning 'Ego Oswald, superni rectoris fultus iuvamine presul', and ending 'restituatur immunis'. Then the bounds, introduced by the superfluous sentence, 'His metis pref atum rus hinc inde giratur', and beginning 'Ðis synd þa land gemære .…' Lastly, the attestations of Oswald and the 'familia', some eighteen or twenty in number.
Frequently, however, we find Saxon notes inserted at various points, before or after the bounds, or at the end of the signatures. These give supplementary grants, or the names of the heirs to whom the property came. In the latter case it is obvious that they are later insertions which the copyist of the charters has embodied. Now the charter in which we are interested is constructed as follows:
(1) The date, followed by 'Ego Osƿald superni rectoris fultus iuvamine praesul … restituatur immunis'.
(2) A Saxon note saying that 'This was done with the witness of Wynsige monk and all the monks at Worcester'.
(3) 'His metis prefatum rus hinc inde giratur.
(4) Þis syndon þa land gemæru …'
Here there are two divergences from the type: a Saxon note is inserted before the bounds; and the attestations of Oswald and the members of the 'familia' are missing. As we have not the original charter, but only the copy in Heming's chartulary, we can
- ↑ Of the two charters dated 973 and 974 we shall speak later: neither contains the list of the 'familia'.
