Name Index

To

The earliest portion of the "Testa Nevil"

Trans. Devon Assoc., vol. XXXVIII, (1906), pp. 313-317.

by

 J.H. Round, LL.D.

Prepared by Michael Steer

The paper was presented at the Association’s July 1906 Lynton meeting. The Testa de Nevill or Book of Fees is a listing of feudal landholdings or "fees/fiefs", compiled in about 1302 for use of the Exchequer. It is a collection of about 500 written brief notes made between 1198 and 1292 concerning fiefs held “in capite” or in-chief, i.e. directly from the Crown. From an early date, the book has been known informally as the Testa de Nevill (meaning 'Head of Nevill'), supposedly after an image on the cover of the volume of one of its major source collections. Mr Round asserts the Testa’s great value and importance for the study of the local and family history of the feudal period. However, he concludes, its evidence needs to be employed with great discrimination, and the dates of its various returns require to be carefully determined. The article, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.