Medieval manuscripts blog

Bringing our medieval manuscripts to life

Introduction

What do Magna Carta, Beowulf and the world's oldest Bibles have in common? They are all cared for by the British Library's Medieval and Earlier Manuscripts Section. This blog publicises our digitisation projects and other activities. Follow us on Twitter: @blmedieval. Read more

14 February 2025

By your valentine, Margery Brews

In February 1477, at the village of Topcroft in Norfolk, Margery Brews dictated a letter to her suitor John Paston III, calling him her ‘right well-beloved valentine’ and expressing the depth of her love. While John’s reply to Margery does not survive, her words form the oldest known Valentine’s letter in English. The letter (Add MS 43490, f. 23r) is currently on display in our major exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, which runs till 2 March 2025. 

The earliest Valentine's letter in English, dictated by Margery Brews.

The earliest Valentine’s letter, by Margery Brews to John Paston III; February, 1477: Add MS 43490, f. 23r

Margery’s letter expresses great affection for John at a turbulent time for the couple, when it was by no means guaranteed their marriage would proceed. She asks after his welfare and prays to God to keep him safe. She confesses that she is not in good health ‘of body, nor of heart’ and nor will she be until she hears from him. She begs John not to leave her and promises in turn that she will not forsake him. Fascinatingly, Margery also asks him to keep the letter private, and not to show it to ‘any other earthly creature’, perhaps wary of the influence of other members of his family.

The letter includes several lines of Middle English poetry composed by Margery to express her commitment to him:

And yf ye commande me to keep me true where-ever I go,
Iwyse I wil do all my might yowe to love and neur no mo.
And yf my freendys say that I do amys,
Their schal not me let so for to do,
My herte me byddys euer more to love yowe
Truly ouer all erthley thing.
And yf thei be neuer so wroth,
I tryst it schall be bettur in tyme commyng.

And if you command me to keep me true wherever I go,
Of course, I will use all my might to love you and never no more.
And if my friends say that I do amiss,
They shall not let me so for to do,
My heart bids me ever more to love you,
Truly over all earthly things,
And if they be never so wroth,
I trust it shall be better in time coming.

At the root of Margery’s anxiety was a complex set of marital negotiations between their families. The Paston family, up-and-coming members of the Norfolk aristocracy, felt that Margery’s dowry was too small, while her father, Sir Thomas Brews, a landowner in his own right, was not inclined to increase the payment and evidently felt that there were better matches for his daughter. In a letter sent later the same month (Add MS 43490, f. 24r), Margery suggests that negotiations were breaking down completely, stating plainly to John that she has done all she can in the matter and that her father ‘will no more money parte with all in that behalfe but an hundred and fifty marke, whech is ryght far fro the accomplyshment of yowr desyre'. John was asking for at least 400 marks and a loan of £120 from Margery's father. 

Add_ms_43490_f024r

A subsequent letter sent by Margery to John Paston the same month; Add MS 43490, f. 24r

If not for the efforts of Margery’s mother, Elizabeth Brews, the marriage may never have happened. Elizabeth seems to have actively encouraged the relationship and acted as a go-between for the families. According to Margery, Elizabeth ‘laboured the matter to my father full diligently’, and eventually suggested in a letter of her own to John that he stay with the family on St Valentine’s Day to thrash out the details in person, reminding him that the feast day was a propitious time for lovers. Her strategy was successful. The families reached an agreement and the pair were married two months later.

Add_ms_43490_f024r_detail

Margery signing off her second letter to John Paston III, 'By your valentine': Add MS 43490, f. 24r

To learn more about the Paston Family and see the earliest Valentine's letter in person, visit our exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can purchase your tickets online now. 

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation. 

Calum Cockburn

05 February 2025

The first sultana of Egypt and Syria

In the mid-13th century, one woman rose from enslavement to become the Mamluk sultana and the female ruler to reign across Egypt and Syria. Her name was Shajar al-Durr (d. 1257) and her story features in our major exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, which runs till 2 March 2025. While Shajar al-Durr’s reign was only a short one, it was particularly consequential, both for her and the dynasty she left behind. We are delighted to have on loan from the British Museum one of only three known gold dinars (coins) minted for Shajar al-Durr during her reign. The coin is on display in the exhibition alongside a later historical account of her reign by the historian ibn Waṣīf (Add MS 25731).

The golden dinar of Shajar al-Durr alongside an Arabic account of her life.

The golden dinar of Shajar al-Durr on display in the exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words

Very little is known about Shajar al-Durr’s early life. Even the details of her original name are lost to us (Shajar al-Durr is in fact an epithet or nickname that means ‘tree of pearls’ in Arabic). Most likely of Turkic or Armenian origins, she was sold as a slave as a child to Al-Mustaʿṣim (b. 1213, d. 1258), the last caliph of the Abbasid dynasty, who ruled a vast territory from his capital in Baghdad. By 1239, she had been purchased by Salih Najm al-din Ayyub (b. 1205, d. 1249), the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, as a concubine and travelled to Egypt with him. There she quickly became of one of his most trusted wives, giving birth to their son Khalil in 1240.  

Shajar al-Durr’s dramatic ascendancy to the throne came in 1249/50. Sultan Salih died, just as an army under Louis IX of France had invaded Egypt as part of the Seventh Crusade. While the crusaders marched on Cairo, Shajar al-Durr acted as regent in her husband’s place. She took steps to hide the news of her husband’s death from her forces and transported his body away in secret. Unaware of their sultan’s demise, the Ayyubid army were able to defeat the French invaders in a decisive battle at Mansurah. Louis IX was later captured and had to be ransomed back to the French and the Seventh Crusade itself was derailed and came to an end soon after. It was then that Shajar al-Durr became the first Muslim woman to take on the role of sultan, using her status as the mother of Salih’s son and heir, Khalil, who was still too young to ascend the throne and would later die in infancy.  Her rule marked the beginning of the Mamluk dynasty, which would control the region for centuries.

Shajar al-Durr’s story is one of those featured in our new animation, Tales of Medieval Women

Shajar al-Durr’s reign only lasted three months, from May to July 1250, but she was still able to assert her status through the minting of gold and silver dinars from her capital Cairo. Very few of these coins now survive. The golden dinar on display in the exhibition is tiny (measuring only 22mm in diameter). The obverse (or front face) of the coin features an inscription that dates it to the year 1250, enclosing a central panel with lines referring to the Abbasid caliph Musta’sim, Shajar al-Durr’s former owner and a key figure whose recognition she needed if she was to remain on the throne. The reverse meanwhile features Shajar al-Durr’s titles, referring to her as the former slave of al-Mustaʿsim and Salih, the mother to Salih's heir Khalil and glorifying her in uniquely female terms as 'queen of the Muslims' (malikat al-muslimīn).

The front and back faces of a golden dinar minted for Shajar al-Durr.

The front and back face faces of a golden dinar minted for Shajar al-Durr; Cairo, 1250: The British Museum, 1849,1121.294

Despite her efforts to placate Musta’sim, Shajar al-Durr’s rule was not accepted by the Ayyubid caliph and she was soon forced to abdicate, having first married her successor as sultan, Izz al-Din Aybak (d. 1257). Nonetheless, she remained an influential advisor to her new husband, positioned at the very centre of court life and politics, until her assassination by a rival in 1257. In that time, Shajar al-Durr decided to commission two mausoleums, one for herself and another for her former husband, built in the very heart of Cairo. The design of the tomb, which survives to this day, features an elaborate mosaic in the form of a tree of pearls, an allusion to the Arabic epithet that became synonymous with her and subsumed her very name in the annals of history.

An animated re-imagining of the tomb and mosaic of Shajar al-Durr, forming a tree of pearls.

The tomb of Shajar al-Durr, as imagined in the animation Tales of Medieval Women

To see Shajar al-Durr’s coin in person, visit our exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can purchase your tickets online now. 

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation. 

Calum Cockburn

21 January 2025

Black Agnes and the siege of Dunbar

Overlooking the harbour town of Dunbar in East Lothian, Scotland, stands a ruin. The corner of a tower, a broken courtyard, and the walls of a blockhouse: these stone fragments and the barest of foundations are all that remain of one of the most important fortresses in medieval Scotland. Dunbar Castle’s location and prominence against the surrounding coastal landscape meant that it was often the target of enemy lords and across the centuries, it sustained many sieges. One particular siege would take on an almost legendary status in Scottish history thanks to the actions of a single woman. In 1338, Agnes Randolph (b. c. 1312, d. 1369), commonly known as ‘Black Agnes’ either because of her dark complexion or her fierce character, led a heroic five-month defence of its fortifications against an invading English army. An account of the siege and Agnes’ bravery is detailed in the Orygynale Cronykil by the 15th-century writer Andrew Wyntoun, currently on display in our exhibition, Medieval Women: In Their Own Words.

The ruins of Dunbar Castle overlooking the harbour.

Dunbar Castle Ruins by Jennifer Petrie: CC BY-SA 2.0

Agnes was the daughter of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, and later Countess of Dunbar through her marriage to Patrick Dunbar, a prominent Scottish lord during the reigns of Robert the Bruce and David II. In January 1338, Patrick Dunbar was away on an expedition, leaving Agnes to hold the castle. It was then that an invading English army led by William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury, took the opportunity to cross the Scottish border, the latest in a series of military campaigns ordered by Edward III to seize Scotland. They surrounded the fortress and laid siege to it. The defenders were made up of Agnes, her household and only a handful of soldiers, but despite the odds against her, Agnes refused to give up the castle.

A 15th-century map of Scotland, including depictions of various cities and castles.

A representation of Dunbar Castle from a map of Scotland.

A 15th-century map of Scotland, including a depiction of Dunbar Castle (bottom left), from John Hardyng's Chronicle: Lansdowne MS 204, ff. 226v-227r

During the siege, Montagu made various attempts to assault Dunbar Castle. He began by using catapults to fire huge rocks at the walls, but they did little to damage the strong fortifications. According to Wyntoun, Agnes poured salt on the wound of Montagu’s failed bombardment by sending out her ladies-in-waiting to dust the ramparts with pieces of cloth:

Thai warpyt at the wall gret stanys
Bathe hard and hewy for the nanys
Bot that nane merryng to thame made.
And alswa qwhen thai castyne hade,
Wyth a towalle a damyselle
Arayid jolyly and welle
Wipyt the wall, that thai mycht se,
To gere thaim mare anoyid be.

They threw great stones at the wall
Both hard and heavy for that purpose
But they did no damage.
And also, when they had the thrown them,
A damsel with a cloth,
Dressed prettily and well,
Wiped the wall, so that the English could see,
To make them even more annoyed.

Knights besiege a castle, defended by women.

The siege of a medieval castle, defended by women, from the Luttrell Psalter: Add MS 42130, f. 75v

When the catapult barrage failed, Montagu then tried to blackmail Agnes into submission, by threatening to execute her brother, John Randolph, 3rd Earl of Moray, who had recently been captured. Agnes responded by pointing out that there was no incentive for her to save her brother, as his death would leave her the inheritor of the earldom.  At the same time, another effort by the English to reach the walls with a special siege engine, called a 'cat’ or a ‘sow’, ended badly when Agnes ordered a giant boulder to be dropped on it, re-purposing one of the very stones Montagu had fired at the castle earlier in the siege.

An English attempt at bribing one of Agnes’s men to sneak them through the castle gates similarly led to disaster for the besieging army. The guard received the money, but promptly told the countess, who used it as an opportunity to set a trap for Montagu and his men. When a portion of the English army was already through the gates, she suddenly closed the portcullis behind them with no way for them to leave. While the English earl was able to escape in time, many of his men were killed in the chaos that ensued.

A marginal illustration of a woman defending a castle from assault.

A woman defends a castle from assault, from the Smithfield Decretals: Royal MS 10 E IV, f. 18v

Eventually, on 10 June 1338, five months after the English had first arrived at Dunbar Castle, with supplies dwindling and having spent some £6000 in the attempt (the equivalent of over £4.5 million in modern currency), Montagu decided to raise the siege completely. Wyntoun’s chronicle quotes a song the English are believed to have sung as they abandoned the castle, its words a testament to the strength of Agnes’ resilience and the impression she left on them over those five months:  

I wowe to God, scho maid gret stere
The Scottish wenche ploddere.
Come I are, come I late,
I fand Annot at the yhate.

I vow to God, she makes a great leader
That Scottish woman fighter.
Come I early, come I late
I found Agnes at the gate.

An opening from a manuscript of Andrew Wyntoun's Orygynale Chronykile, showing his account of the Siege of Dunbar.

Andrew Wyntoun’s verse account of the Siege of Dunbar in his Orygynale Cronykil; Scotland, 15th century: Royal MS 17 D XX, ff. 238v-239r

To learn more about Agnes Randolph and see the account of the Siege of Dunbar in person, visit our exhibition Medieval Women: In Their Own Words, on show at the British Library from 25 October 2024 to 2 March 2025. You can purchase your tickets online now. 

This exhibition is made possible with support from Joanna and Graham Barker, Unwin Charitable Trust, and Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at the London Community Foundation. 

Calum Cockburn