A Petition Written by Ricardus Franciscus

This article identifies Ricardus Franciscus as the scribe of Kew, The National Archives, C 49/30/19, a petition seeking the exoneration of the late Duke Humphrey of Gloucester. (d. 1447). The authors provide a palaeographical analysis of the "flamboyant, spiky script" of the well-known scribe Franciscus in this document, which support the identification, as well as the linguistic features. The authors situate the petition within what is known about this scribe's life, patrons, and his written output. The article sheds more light on the scribes of medieval petitions which had hitherto been lacking