ELIZABETH I (1533-1603). Queen of England and Ireland.
Fine early Document Signed, 1 page oblong folio on vellum (some soiling especially on the reverse, lacking the original seal), Given at Greenwich, 7 September 1562. Ordering John Mason, Treasurer of the Chamber, to deliver £15 2s 6d to Martyn Almayne, Marshal of the Royal Stable, for 'dressing and curing of divers of o[u]r horses'.

'...[We] will and comaunde you that of suche o[u]r treasure as remaynithe in your handes you do deliv[er] or cause to be deliv[er]id to o[u]r servaunt Martyne Almayne marshall of o[u]r Stable the somme of fyftene pounds two shillinges sixe pence for dressing and curing of divers of o[u]r horses and for necessaries by him provided for that purpose. That is to say from the feaste of the nativitie of o[u]r Lord god in the seconde yere of o[u]r reign until the feaste of Easter in the thirde yere of o[u]r reign ...'

The date span so succinctly described above would have been 25 December 1559 to 6 April 1561. Queen Elizabeth's regnal year ran from 17 to 16 November and commenced in 1558. In the third year of her reign Easter Sunday fell on 6 April. The payment for the royal vetinerary surgeon (for such Almayne must effectively have been) was therefore rather in arrears. Almayne's receipt is on the reverse of the document.
[No: 23840]