Document with initial letter portrait, letters patent granting the manor of Smewyns alias White Waltham,...

MARY I (1516-1558), Queen of England and Ireland, and PHILIP II of Spain (1527-1598) as King of England and Ireland. Document with initial letter portrait, letters patent granting the manor of Smewyns alias White Waltham, Berkshire, to John Norreys, Richmond, 1 August 1558. In Latin. On vellum, 47 lines on one membrane, 475 x 687mm, initial letter portrait in pen and ink depicting the king and queen enthroned, the first line in majuscule with penwork decorations and heraldic and foliate border (backed onto board). Fragment of great seal in brown wax pendant on green and white cords. A grant of a Berkshire manor, with an initial letter portrait. For the sum of £173 13s 4d, Philip and Mary grant to John Norreys of Braye the domain and manor of Smewyns alias White Waltham, Berkshire, previously belonging to George Throckmorton. The recipient of the grant is presumably the John Norreys of Fifield House (c.1577) who also held the manor of Heywood in White Waltham.