LS in Old English, boldly signed in the upper left corner, one page, 10 x 8.75, March 17, 1512. Letter to Sir Randolph Brereton, Chamberlain of the County Palatine of Chester, commanding that William Vernon of Middlewich, “reputed of good and honest conversacion,” should be appointed a burgess of the town “for thentertaynyng of good rule and advancement of Justice within the same,” upon payment of the usual fine to the exchequer in Chester. Address on reverse reads, “under our Signet at our Palays of Westminster.” In very good condition, with several intersecting folds and scattered moderate overall creasing, a few scattered spots of soiling, mild rubbing, an old erased pencil notation, and a few small dings to edges.
Sir Randolph Brereton, a close associate of Norfolk, held a significant position in Henry's court, serving as the king's knight of the body and alter knight-banneret, a reward for his conduct at the siege of Terouenne and Tournay given by Henry. His son, William, a Groom of the Privy Chamber and Chamberlain of Chester, was suspected of having an affair with Henry's second wife, Ann Boleyn, and was beheaded on May 17, 1536.
There were two things Henry feared, the plague and the wrath of God. In 1517, he faced both. That year a plague swept over London and Henry retired to the country to protect his health, leaving Cardinal Wolsey, ill with "sweating sickness,” to run the state. Then while he was away on a hunting trip, the "Evil May" riots erupted in London in which rioters protesting the presence of immigrants temporarily took over the city. Henry sent Norfolk to put down the riots. The king continued to flee from residence to residence as the plague drew closer, and when members of his own court died he went into seclusion with a skeleton staff. He began to believe that God was angry with him for his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow, because of her inability to have a male heir. As misgivings festered, Ann Boleyn arrived at court in 1522, setting into movement a chain of events that would change the course of the Tudor dynasty and opening the way for the English Reformation. A rare, highly desirable document dating from a time of impending change, and actions that changed the course of English history. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.
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