Examples of writing from our charters

 "Trust in Writing"

As literacy rates increased in medieval Scotland, a transition from a trust in oral traditions to a "trust in writing" occurred, and by the 1300s, the written word made its way from the monasteries to the royal courts. Charters played an important role in this shift. Prior to this transition, land transfers were ceremonial events in which nobles gifted physical symbols (such as a clod of earth) to commemorate their transactions. The writing and signing of charters eventually came to be incorporated as documentary evidence of the ceremonial transfer and became an integral part of this tradition. Over time, the production and use of parchment and wax seals was extended and became important in the Scottish educational systems, government, and marketplaces.

XS1 MS A313

Charter of Duncan, Earl of Fife, Granting Land in Whiteleys to Lord Robert de Erskine (XS1 MS A313)

This charter records a transfer of land from Duncan, Earl of Fife, to Robert de Erskine, a knight in this service. Prior to the prominence of written records, a symbolic act was performed to validate the exchange of land. If the former owner gave a bit of soil from the piece of land to the new owner, that action provided visual proof of the changing ownership and authorized the agreement. A few years after this charter’s creation, the Black Death reached Scotland in 1349, killing up to one-third of the population. As the plague took its toll, the balance of power shifted in favour of the peasant over the landowner. There were fewer people to farm the land, so landowners like the newly propertied Robert Erskine had to pay peasant workers higher wages to retain their labour, leading simultaneously to the impoverishment of noble households and socioeconomic advancement of the peasantry.

XS5 MS 001 15-4

Royal charter from King James II of Scotland to John Menzies (XS5 MS 001 15-4)

This royal charter records a land transfer from David Menzies to his son, John Menzies. Several of the lands indicated in this charter—namely Wemyss and the lands within the thanage of Crannach—also appear in two earlier Menzies family charters from the fourteenth century (MS-1 and MS-2 in this exhibition). Studying several charters from the same family reveals how the Menzies retained these lands, and thus, their privileged position within Scottish society, over the course of a century.

The grantor, David Menzies, first resigned his lands to James II so the king could then grant them anew to David’s son, John. Resigning lands to the king was a common practice in the conveyance of land during the Middle Ages. It affirmed the king’s supreme authority over the lands within his dominion, which was particularly significant in a decentralized kingdom like medieval Scotland wherein the influence of regional lords could challenge the Crown’s power. Royal sanction of landownership, however, was also important to individual lords because it legitimized claims to landed status and the accompanying social prestige.