60 PAPERS, ETC. 
important published documents, which, without such an 
accompaniment, would be useless to many of the Society’s 
members. 
The Harleian MS. 433, among many other choice and 
precious papers, includes contemporary transcripts of 
several letters addressed by K. Richard III. to the Houses 
of the Cistertian Order in England and Wales; with re- 
gard among other matters to the foundation of Barnard’s, 
or S. Bernard’s, College, Oxford. Three of them furnish 
conclusive evidence of the rank of the Abbey, and of its 
being considered one of the chief Houses of the Cister- 
tians in this country ; for the king expressly mentions the 
Abbot of Clyff as one of those specially entrusted with 
the visitation of the Houses and the conservation of the 
rules of the Order. These hitherto unpublished docu- 
ments, I may add, are equally interesting to the Oxford as 
to the Somersetshire Archeologist. I have carefully copied 
them from the MS., and scrupulously preserved their 
orthography. And I scarcely need draw my reader's 
attention to their importance and value, not only for the 
reasons stated above, but for the noble aspect which they 
exhibit of our language during the interesting period of 
the fifteenth century. 
The matter of S. Bernard’s College is thus intro- 
duced :— 
(A.) “ Thabbot of Stretford. 
“Richard, &c. To o’ trusty and welbeloued in God, 
Thabbotes* of 0" Monast’yes of Bukfast, Beaulieu, Hayles, 
Rewlegh, and to all other of y* religion wtin this 0" Roy”®, 
Whome vnto thise o' I’res shalbe shewed, greting. Forse- 
moche as We vnderstande that o' right trusty & welbe- 
* See note, page 56. 
