The Chartulary of St John of Pontefract : From the Original Document in the Possession of Godfrey Wentworth, Esq., of Woolley Park

This detailed two-volume chartulary of the Cluniac priory of St John of Pontefract, is a valuable resource for Yorkshire history in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Compiled in the mid-thirteenth century, and published 1899–1902, it contains 556 Latin charters arranged by type, with comprehensive notes and English summaries throughout.

The prosperous Cluniac priory of St John the Evangelist, Pontefract, was founded around 1090 by Robert de Lacy, remaining subject to its mother-house of La Charité-sur-Loire until the fourteenth century. The charters in this two-volume work have been arranged by type: seigniorial charters; episcopal and papal charters; royal charters; and those relating to priory property, arranged geographically according to proximity to Pontefract. The chartulary is particularly valuable for topographical studies and local and family history - in many cases the names of all witnesses have been transcribed. The manuscript was originally compiled in the first half of the thirteenth century, with additions made on blank leaves over the following centuries (not included by the editor). Volume 2, published in 1902, contains charters 234–556, on local property holdings and leases, and an index to the whole work. Each Latin charter is preceded by a brief English summary.