Every now and again unexpected treasures which have accumulated over the years surprise and mesmerize staff and readers alike. I recently came across a single intricately embroidered leather gauntlet enclosed in an oval wooden case. A plaque in the box records that this item was ‘presented by King Charles I to Speaker Lenthall on the morning of his execution with the following inscription: ‘”To my friend, Speaker Lenthall, for Amitie’s Sake” Charles R.’
The glove presented by Charles I
William Lenthall (1591-1662) was chosen as Speaker of the House of Commons by Charles I in 1640. During the turbulent years of civil war and protectorate he sided with the parliamentarians and although he campaigned for the restoration of the monarchy it seems he was not favoured by Charles II. He lived through great changes and uncertainty: a former Master of the Rolls and a Commissioner of the Great Seal, his modest gravestone is simply inscribed Vermis sum (I am a worm).
A pardon from Charles II
The gauntlet was acquired by the Library in the late 1960s from a descendant of William Lenthall, and is accompanied by a miniature portrait of him by Samuel Cooper, and letters patent of Charles II, dated 8 September 1660, granting a pardon to William Lenthall of Burford, co. Oxford, esq. It is a well travelled piece as its previous owner lived in Canada.
William Lenthall by Samuel Cooper
Speaker Lenthall died 350 years ago, and it is 370 years since the beginning of the Civil War and the first pitched battle fought at Edgehill. A single item such as this gauntlet provides an immediate and tangible link with this period of conflict in our history. Interestingly, an exhibition held earlier this year at the Lambeth Palace Library, ‘Royal Devotion. Monarchy and the Book of Common Prayer’, included a pair of gloves reputedly worn by Charles I at his execution.
How many similar items are dispersed among collections across the world?
Siân Bowyer
Speaker Leinthall is descended from the same Herefordshire family as Sir Rowland Leinthall who built Hampton Court, Leominster, Herefordshire from c1436. What a beautiful artefact for the collection.
Thank you for this additional information. The castle and gardens at Hampton Court look very impressive. A William Carpenter of Hampton Court, Herefordshire, is listed as one of the parties in a deed, dated 1735, held among the Harpton Court estate records at NLW (ref. 950)