‡ Document of the Raad van Vlaanderen, reissuing a long grant of Andries Velle, bailiff, and other officials and men of the villages of Voormezele for estates there and in nearby Dikkebus and Vlamertinge, in favour of Roegier Stutin and others, in Flemish, manuscript on parchment [Flanders (probably Gravensteen in Ghent), dated 8 May 1460]

Large single-sheet document, in 78 long lines of a small Flemish secretarial hand, opening words in enlarged calligraphic letters, endorsed on turn up on behalf of the council, slits for seal tag, but no seal tags or seal present, endosements of various dates on reverse, damage to head of document repaired with paper on reverse, folds and slight discolouration overall, else in good condition, 513+98 by 645mm.

The 'council of Flanders' emerged gradually as a ruling institution over the region, with Duke Philip II the Bold (1342-1404) attempting to found a permanent court at Lille, but Ghent, Bruges, Ypres and the Brugse Vrije refused to recognise its authority. By 1407 it had consolidated its hold over most of Flanders and was relocated to Ghent and its formal statutes were issued in 1409. It then continued as the highest legal authority in Flanders until 1795, when the Austrian Netherlands were annexed by the First French Republic. Few of its surviving records date from as early as the present document, and the grant here and its reissue are not to be found in J. Butinx, Inventaris van het archief van de Raad van Vlaanderen, 1964-79, but Vormezele is noted in a document of 1497-98 (ibid., no. 27799)

‡: A double dagger (‡) indicates that the lot is being sold whilst subject to temporary importation and that VAT is due at the reduced rate (5%) if the lot remains in the UK.