Key Information
Register:
NationalYear of Inscription:
2024Type of Heritage:
DocumentNominating Institution:
Norfolk Record OfficeLink to Website:
www.archives.norfolk.gov.uk
The Red Register of King’s Lynn, 14th century paper register
The Red Register of King’s Lynn, c. 1300-1395, is an exceptionally early paper book, reputedly the earliest archival paper book in England. It contains the core record of the borough’s government for almost the whole of the fourteenth century.
The Red Register contains not only memoranda of the numerous different matters which came before the mayor and community in the Guildhall between 1346 and 1395, but also copies of wills of local and foreign merchants with property and interests in King’s Lynn between 1307 and 1379, together with copies of deeds relating to the town.
This makes the Register an outstanding source for studying life and society in the fourteenth century, a period when Lynn was the country’s third most important port in England, acting as a hub for international trade with France, the low countries, Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Hanse in Germany. As an archival document, the Red Register is unique and irreplaceable.
The Red Register of King's Lynn
