Elizabeth Mould and Charles Empson

Elizabeth Mould sued Charles Empson over sexual and witchcraft slander. Two women reported repeated insults. Empson challenged York jurisdiction by invoking Booth’s Howden peculiar. A York sentence found Mould’s case proved and ordered correction and costs; later citations and royal appellate process survive without establishing compliance or the final appeal outcome.

Scope

Seven paired documentary units from eighteen saved images; substantial unread Latin and marginal text explicitly retained as gaps.

Editorial conventions

English precedes the original Latin or mixed-language text. Source spelling is retained. Square brackets mark expansions, uncertainty, cancellations and unread writing; gap descriptions are not manuscript wording. English readings are partial where the underlying clauses remain unread. Image positions are not folios. Allegations, denials and reported testimony remain distinct from findings.

Notes on the edition

Comparison of sources: Coverage and qualified outcome

Eighteen saved images represent nine catalogued pieces. Seven paired units cover the libel and answers, jurisdiction objection, citations and returns, two depositions, sentence, publication certificate and royal appellate writ with dockets. Substantial Latin preliminaries, prayer and dispositive clauses, damaged words and the writ’s long marginal certificate remain unread; English readings are partial at those gaps. Catalogue records plaintiff victory, supported by the surviving sentence at that stage; later process is not proof of final appellate disposition, correction performed or costs paid.

The libel pleads Elizabeth Mould's marriage to John, good reputation and Charles Empson's repeated use of 'whore', 'witch' and 'cuckoldy whore'. It gives February–March 1689 and March–April 1690 dating alternatives [exact application unresolved]. It pleads acknowledgment, injury, Booth residence/York jurisdiction and public fame and seeks correction, retraction and costs. [Substantial Latin gaps prevent a full translation.] 30 July 1690: Empson admits article 1, refuses articles 2–4 as criminal positions, and says Booth is within Howden parish and outside York diocese. He otherwise refers to law and denies the fifth position; to article 6 he believes what is believed and denies what is denied. Rob. Medley and Charles Empson subscribe. This is a jurisdiction objection and procedural answer, not an admission of the insults.

CP.H.4221 manuscript, Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691., Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York CP.H.4221, CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right

Article 1 says Empson lived at Booth when the original citation issued and had done so for over ten years. Article 2 says Booth has immemorially belonged to the peculiar jurisdiction of Howden and Howdenshire under Durham's dean and chapter, outside York diocese. Article 3 says the peculiar's judge alone has jurisdiction over ecclesiastical causes, especially defamation arising from residents' speech, excluding concurrent jurisdiction of another ecclesiastical judge [Latin closing clause unresolved]. Article 4 invokes a statute of Henry VIII's twenty-third regnal year restricting citation outside a person's diocese or peculiar, subject to exceptions which the pleading says do not apply. The statute is pleaded and quoted here; its exact identification and application have not been independently verified. Article 5 invokes ecclesiastical canons and constitutions against original citation of outsiders by an archbishop's consistory official, referring to a written '37 year' of James I [reading/date unresolved]. Article 6 alleges Mould obtained a York citation without remission, knowledge or consent from the peculiar's commissary. Article 7 argues that proceedings before an incompetent court are void for want of jurisdiction and that parties cannot cure this by consent; it adds that nullity can be pleaded even late in the suit, after promises not to object or several consistent sentences. [Several altered phrases and full Latin prayer unresolved.] These are Empson's arguments, not a modern determination that every proposition was legally correct.

The June 1690 citation directs an appearance before Watkinson [full text and dates unresolved]. Its return records service [details unread]. The later citation is dated 11 March 1690 as written, directing appearance on Thursday 19 March to hear sentence. Peter Hawkins certifies that on 18 March 1690 he diligently sought Empson at his Booth dwelling but could not find him. The return does not prove Empson received personal service or deliberately evaded it.

8 October 1690: Frances Johnson of Carleton, county corrected from York to Lincoln in the heading, spinster, aged 22, knows Elizabeth about ten months and Empson about three years. Around 17 or 18 May last, as nearly as she remembers, Empson came to Stephen Margreave’s house [surname partly obscured; interlineation provisionally reads this deponent’s master, not a secure father reference]. Mould sat by the fire. Asked who she was and told Mrs Mould, he called her a whore, a witch and a cuckoldy whore, repeating the words in the presence of Margaret Margreave, the witness's mistress, Sarah Wilson and the witness. She knows nothing to article 4 and is not further examined [full contracted ending unresolved]. She makes her mark. Sara Wilson of [Readnes?], Whitgift parish, about 18, knows Mould nine months and Empson six months. Near the latter end of May last, as she remembers, Mrs Mould was at Stephen Margreave's house in Carleton, where Sara's then master lived. Mould sat by the fire. Empson asked who she was and, on being told, repeatedly called her whore, witch and cuckoldy whore, in Margaret Margreave's, Frances Johnson's and her own presence. She believes these words much injured Mould's reputation. She is not further examined and makes her mark. [Household wording and the partly obscured insertion remain qualified; no father–daughter relationship is established.]

The sentence finds Mould's pleaded case sufficiently proved and the defence insufficient to defeat it, orders correction/punishment and costs, reserving assessment. It is dated 19 February 1690 as written. [The complete recital and several dispositive/final clauses remain unread and untranslated.] A 1690/1 expansion needs to be kept distinct from the literal manuscript date, supported by surrounding proceedings rather than silently replacing it. Docket: Mould against Empson.

The Howden citation dated 23 March 1690 explicitly says English style. Its verso certifies publication in Howden parish church on 29 March 1691, signed Wm: Willington [William provisionally expanded]. The main text's appearance day and the margin's different appearance date must be checked against each other before a procedural chronology is finalised. The certificate proves publication of that citation, not a retraction by Empson.

The William-and-Mary writ concerns the appeal and orders transmission of the record and instruments/processes to the appropriate royal appellate jurisdiction [precise scope, date, some delegate qualifications and the English marginal certificate remain unread]. Calling it a completed prohibition or treating it as a reversal would go beyond the present reading. It is distinct from the two Howden citations. [Addressees provisionally read Henry Newton and Stephen Waller, doctors of laws and judges; complete qualifications remain unread.] Verso docket: Mould against Empson.

Image Title: CP.H.4221 Court: Consistory Case: Defamation (sexual slander / witchcraft) Details: 9 Pieces; Has deposition; Has libel; Has sentence Outcome: plaintiff won Date: 18/6/1690 — 28/4/1691 Parties Mentioned: Elizabeth Mould [Mould; Moulde], plaintiff, female; wife of John Mould Charles Empson [Empson], defendant, male Other individuals: Robert Squire [Squire], prosecution proctor, male Thomas Lea [Lee], defence proctor, male Witnesses: Frances Johnson [Johnson], witness, female; 22; spinster Sarah Wilson [Wilson], witness, female; 18; spinster Places: Crowle (Crowle (YorkshireWestRiding)) - ecclesiastical parish Howdenshire (Yorkshire, East Riding) - liberty

CP.H.4221 catalogue, n.d., University of York, saved IIIF manifest CP.H.4221: Consistory, nine pieces, libel, depositions and sentence;18June1690–28April1691; outcome plaintiff won., CP.H.4221; saved manifest metadata · context

In dei nomine Amen. Coram vobis [contracted style] Henrico Watkinson legum doctore [approximately eleven preliminary lines naming spiritual jurisdiction, proctor for Elizabeth wife of John Mould against Charles Empson of Booth, partly unread]. [Margin:] R Squire. 1. Imprimis ponit et articulat quod dicta Eliza Mould fuit et est mulier nupta et conjugata ac uxor [contracted] Johannis Mould ac bonae honestae bonae famae vitaeque et conversationis integrae mulieris [approximately five remaining lines of reputation clause partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et articulat quod dictus Carolus Empson [unread words] [unread clause] mensibus Februarij et Martij Anno Domini 1689 et mensibus Martij et Aprilis Anno Domini 1690 [contracted month alternatives/place clause] [approximately four lines of Latin defamation clause partly unread] [English:] the [said] Charles Empson speaking to and of the said Elizabeth Mould said and reported [unread parenthetic phrase] that the said Elizabeth Mould was a whore a witch and a Cuckoldy whore [contracted clause] he the said Charles Empson [unread clause] repeated and reported divers and sundry times or [unread words] [continuing Latin proof formula partly unread]. 3. Item ponit et articulat quod post praemissa [approximately five lines across images 2–3, alleging acknowledgment before trustworthy witnesses, partly unread]. 4. Item ponit et articulat quod per [contracted] prolationem [unread] verborum scandalosorum et diffamatorum status bona fama et opinio ipsius Elizae Mould apud bonos et graves [remaining injury clause partly unread]. 5. Item ponit et articulat quod dictus Carolus Empson fuit et est de Booth Ebor diocesis [jurisdiction clause partly unread]. 6. Item quod de et super praemissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in locis [contracted words] alijsque locis vicinis [unread ending]. Unde facta fide de praemissis quantum de jure sufficit [prayer approximately nineteen lines, correction, retraction and costs sought; partly unread]. Salvo jure [contracted ending]. Et protestamur [contracted ending]. 30mo Julij 1690. Recognit[a] coram Hen: Watkinson. Responsiones personales Caroli Empson factae positionibus et Articulis Libelli ex parte et per partem Elizabethae Mould contra eum dati et exhibiti. Ad primam positionem [contracted] Credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam tertiam et quartam positiones respondet dicit quod [deleted word] de jure non tenetur respondere eis quia sunt positiones Criminales. Ad quintam positionem [contracted] dicit That this [deleted word] [contracted] was and is of Booth within the parish of Howden which is not of the Dioces of Yorke Et aliter refert se ad jus nec Credit eandem esse veram in aliquo. Ad sextam positionem [contracted] Credit Creditis et negat Negata. Rob. Medley. / Charles Empson.

[Image 5 opening Latin, approximately seven lines, proctor for Charles Empson reserving legal exceptions and articulating as follows; several contracted words unresolved. Margin Rob: Medley.] 1. Imprimis ponit et all[egat] that at the time of the awarding and giving out of the Original Citation in this pretended cause of diffamacion and for the space of ten years last past and more the said Charles Empson did dwell & Inhabit at Booth mentioned in the Libell & personal answers of him the said Charles in this cause Exhibited [insertion:] and not else where Et ponit de tali et tanto tempore loco modo et forma [remaining Latin proof formula partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et allegat that for the space of 10.20.30.40.50 & 60 years [insertion:] last past & more and for and during the time whereof mans memory doth not extend to the Contrary the place called Booth aforesaid hath been and still is notoriously Scite & Scituate within the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire [deleted phrase] belonging to the Dean & Chapter of Durham & not [insertion:] of or within the diocess of York and for all the time aforesaid hath commonly Notoriously and publiquely been reputed and taken to be of and within the said peculiar Jurisdiction & not of or within the diocess of York aforesaid Et ponit ut Supra. 3. Item ponit et all[egat] that for all the time in the next precedent Article mentioned the hearing & determining of all causes of Ecclesiastical Cognizance ariseing within the said peculiar Jurisdiction and especially the hearing & determining of all causes of diffamacion ariseing from words spoken by any person dwelling & inhabiting within the said peculiar hath & still doth of right belong unto the Judge Commissary or tutor of the said peculiar Jurisdiction [deleted words] & without the Concurrent Jurisdiction of any [image 6 left:] any other Ecclesiastical Judge whatsoever Hocque fuit est [contracted] [remaining Latin clause partly unread] Et ponit ut Supra. 4. Item ponit et all[egat] that by an Act of Parliament made in the 23 yeare of the Reigne of our late Sovereigne [contracted] King Henry the 8th of famous memory it was (amongst other things) Enacted as followeth viz be it enacted by the King our Sovereigne [contracted] with the Assent of the [contracted] Spirituall & temporal and the Comons in this present parliament Assembled and by Authority of the same that no manner of person shalbe from henceforth cited or sumoned or otherwise called to appeare by himself or her self or by any proctour before any Ordinary Arch Deacon Commissary Official or any other Judge Spirituall out of the Diocess or peculiar Jurisdiction where the person which shalbe so cited Sumoned or otherwise called shall be inhabiting or dwelling at the time of awarding or going forth of the same citation or Summons Except in the Cases [where?] [unread word] are remitted from any Inferiour to a Superiour Court & in some other causes (whereof the cause in controversy is not one) particularly mentioned in the said Act as by the same reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit de tali modo et forma [contracted proof ending]. 5. Item ponit et all[egat] that by the Canons & Constitutions Ecclesiastical made in the 37 yeare of the Reigne of King James the 1st of famous memory it was Ordained & provided that no Official of any Archbishops Consistory shall either ex officio or at the Instance of any party Originally cite Sumon or any way compell & procure to be cited Sumoned or compelled any person which dwelleth not within the particular diocess or peculiar of the said Archbishop to appear before him for any cause or matter whatsoever belonging to Ecclesiastical Cognizance [image 6 right:] contrary to the Tenor & forme of the late Statutum in the next precedent Article mentioned as by the said Canon and Constitution reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 6. Item ponit et all[egat] that the premises notwithstanding the said Elizabeth Mould without any remission from the Commissary of the said peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire or without his privity or consent did de facto when further she could not cause an original Citation to be issued out of this Court ag[ains]t the said Charles Empson & by vertue thereof caused him to be cited & Sumoned to appear in the Consistory Court upon a certain day lapsed then and there to Answer her in this pretended cause of diffamacion & so cited & Sumoned him the said Charles Empson out of the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire aforesaid where he then dwelt & inhabited as aforesaid as by the said Original Citation & Act of this Court reference being thereunto had fully & at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 7. Item ponit et all[egat] that by reason of the premises this [unread words] proceeding himself contrary to the said aforesaid Original Citation being taken out of an Incompetent Court & the proceedings thereon being coram non Judice were & are null & void for want of lawfull Authority & Jurisdiction in that behalfe and that tis not in the power of any parties or their proctours either by consent or combination prejudicially to divest any Ecclesiastical Court of their lawfull Jurisdiction and [unread words] by [altered words] Cognizance of such causes as properly belong thereto [altered concluding phrase] [unread words] the said Court of Judicature reference [unread words] Et ponit ut Supra. [Image 7 left:] Item ponit et all[egat] that an Exception to a nullity arising from the want or defect of Jurisdiction may at any time be propounded as well after as before contestation of Suit Although the parties have both covenanted and sworne not to propound the same and tho' the same should be propounded after three Conformable Sentences [unread word] had [contracted words] Et ponit ut Supra. Quae omnia [remaining Latin prayer for dismissal from this incompetent forum and costs, approximately seven lines, partly unread]. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Henricus Watkinson legum doctor [remaining heading and first lines obscured by seal attachment] [approximately sixteen partly obscured/contracted Latin lines citing Charles Empson of Booth to York; date and hearing date require further reading] Datis [contracted words] [date:] octavo die mensis Junij [contracted] Domini 1690. Tho: [surname uncertain] Notarius Publicus. [Image 8 return:] June [day unclear] 1690 This [citation?] was [unread] served on [unread words] Charles Empson [unread words] [unread ending] by [name unread]. Gulielmus Savile [contracted] legum baccalaureus Officialis sive Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden et Howdenshire [remaining addressee and jurisdiction clauses partly unread] [approximately thirteen Latin lines directing appearance before Henry Watkinson in York on Thursday 19 March next, to hear definitive sentence; wording and some parties' names partly unread] [date:] undecimo die mensis Martij Anno Domini 1690. [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday the 19th of March 1690. [Bottom return:] March the 18th 1690. The above named Charles Empson was diligently sought for att his dwelling house in Booth but could not be found Wittness my hand Peter Hawkins. R: Squire [subscription, left].

8o Octobris 1690. Frances Johnson de Carleton in Com[itatu] [deleted: Ebor; inserted:] Lincoln aetatis 22 annorum Spinster testis super positionibus et Articulis Libelli ex parte Elizabethae uxoris Johannis Mould contra Carolum Empson dati et exhibiti [contracted] [jurata?] et primo [contracted] Elizabetham Mould per 10 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per tres annos aut inde novit. Super secundo et tertio Articulis [contracted] dicit That about the 17th or 18th day of May last past as near as this Deponent can remember the articulate Charles Empson came to the house of one Stephen [Margreave?; partly obscured] [insertion:] this deponents [master?] within the [Southward?] parish of Carleton articulate and the articulate mrs Mould was then sett by the fire in this Deponents said [unread word] house and the said Charles Empson then asked who itt was that was sett by the ffire and being told that itt was mrs Mould he thereupon called the said mrs Mould a Whore a Witch and a Cuckoldy whore, which wordes he repeated severall times over in the presence of this Deponents Mistress (Margt Margreave) her contest Sarah Wilson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit quod nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted credibility ending partly unread]. Signum Frances [mark] Johnson. Sara Wilson de [Readnes?] parochiae de Whitgift in Com[itatu] Ebor aetatis 18 annorum aut circiter testis ut supra dicit et deponit quod dictam Elizabetham Mould per 9 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per 6 menses novit. Super secundo articulo [contracted] dicit That in May last and about the latter end thereof as she now remembreth the articulate mrs Mould was att one Stephen Margreaves house [image 11 left:] house (this deponents then master) situate in Carleton articulate and being sett by the fire the articulate Charles Empson came into the Roome and asked who itt was and being told that itt was mrs Mould he the said Charles Empson called her the said mrs Mould whore Witch and Cuckoldy whore and these wordes he repeated over and over in the presence of Margt Margreave (this deponents then mistress) her precontest Frances Johnson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit That in this Deponents beliefe and opinion the articulate mrs Moulds reputation is much injured by reason of speaking the wordes praedeposed Et aliter nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted ending]. Signum Sara [mark] Wilson.

In dei nomine Amen. Auditis visis et intellectis ac plenarie et mature discussis per Nos Henricum Watkinson Legum Doctorem [contracted office] [approximately twenty-four lines of recital: merits of cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson; proctors and hearing; partly unread] [operative proof clause:] comperimus luculenter et invenimus dictam partem agentem petitionem sive inten- tionem suam in dicto suo libello deductam et propositam sufficienter fundasse pariter et probasse nihilque effectuale ex adverso per partem [contracted] partis defendentis in hac Causa exceptum dictum allegatum propositum et probatum fuisse aut esse quod intentionem dictae partis agentis elideret seu quomodolibet enervaret Idcirco Nos Henricus Watkinson Legum doctor Judex antedictus praefatum Carolum Empson pro tanto temeritatis suae excessu [image 13 left:] [unread opening word] praemissis et ea concernentibus debite corrigendum et puniendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus nec non in expensis [contracted] ex parte et per partem dictae Elizabethae Mould in hac Causa [contracted] factis et fiendis Condemnamus Condemnatumque ad debitam solutionem earundem parti dictae Elizae Mould legitime cogendum et compellendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus [remaining final-decree/reserved-taxation clauses, approximately eight lines, partly unread]. R Squire. Februarij 19mo 1690 lecta et lata per nos Hen: Watkinson. Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus Savile legum Baccalaureus Commissarius aut Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden Howdenshire et Hemingbrough [remaining addressees and first seven lines partly unread] [clause citing Charles Empson, if personally possible, otherwise by public citation in Howden parish church] [appearance direction refers to the Howden court on:] Veneris decimo septimo Aprilis [contracted] [approximately six remaining Latin lines concerning a definitive-sentence cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson, and a purported sentence by Henry Watkinson; operative purpose not fully resolved] Datum [contracted words] vigesimo tertio die Martij Anno Domini 1690 (Stilo Angliae). [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday ye 2d of Aprill 1691 [reading and relation to main-text Friday appearance require checking]. [Image 16 verso:] This Citacion was published in ye Parish Church of Howden ye 29th day of March 1691 By me Wm: Willington. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus et Maria Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex et Regina fidei [contracted] [remaining royal style] [addressees provisionally read:] Henricum Newton et Stephanum Waller legum doctores Judices [contracted continuation] [approximately twelve lines describing the York appeal between Charles Empson of Booth and Elizabeth Mould, wife of John Mould, and transfer of the appeal; partly unread] [operative instruction includes:] ... Henricum Watkinson legum doctorem [contracted] ... [approximately sixteen further lines ordering transmission of records/instruments/processes to the royal judges/delegates, partly unread] [dating:] 20o [month reading uncertain, appears Apr[ilis]] [regnal/dating formula unread]. [Left vertical margin: long English certificate concerning receipt/execution, partly unread; not transcribed in full.] Mould contra Empson.

Context: Jurisdiction argument and institutional context

Empson invokes Booth’s asserted position in Durham’s Howden peculiar, a HenryVIII statute and ecclesiastical canons. The institutional guide supports the existence of the peculiar; it does not establish the validity of every plea or that later royal process reversed the York sentence. Apparent 37-year reference and exact statutory identification/application remain open.

Article 1 says Empson lived at Booth when the original citation issued and had done so for over ten years. Article 2 says Booth has immemorially belonged to the peculiar jurisdiction of Howden and Howdenshire under Durham's dean and chapter, outside York diocese. Article 3 says the peculiar's judge alone has jurisdiction over ecclesiastical causes, especially defamation arising from residents' speech, excluding concurrent jurisdiction of another ecclesiastical judge [Latin closing clause unresolved]. Article 4 invokes a statute of Henry VIII's twenty-third regnal year restricting citation outside a person's diocese or peculiar, subject to exceptions which the pleading says do not apply. The statute is pleaded and quoted here; its exact identification and application have not been independently verified. Article 5 invokes ecclesiastical canons and constitutions against original citation of outsiders by an archbishop's consistory official, referring to a written '37 year' of James I [reading/date unresolved]. Article 6 alleges Mould obtained a York citation without remission, knowledge or consent from the peculiar's commissary. Article 7 argues that proceedings before an incompetent court are void for want of jurisdiction and that parties cannot cure this by consent; it adds that nullity can be pleaded even late in the suit, after promises not to object or several consistent sentences. [Several altered phrases and full Latin prayer unresolved.] These are Empson's arguments, not a modern determination that every proposition was legally correct.

The William-and-Mary writ concerns the appeal and orders transmission of the record and instruments/processes to the appropriate royal appellate jurisdiction [precise scope, date, some delegate qualifications and the English marginal certificate remain unread]. Calling it a completed prohibition or treating it as a reversal would go beyond the present reading. It is distinct from the two Howden citations. [Addressees provisionally read Henry Newton and Stephen Waller, doctors of laws and judges; complete qualifications remain unread.] Verso docket: Mould against Empson.

Editorial paraphrase: the guide describes Howdenshire and Hemingbrough as a peculiar jurisdiction of Durham’s prior and convent, later dean and chapter. It explains the York custody of some records through the deputy registrar’s residence and practice there. This contextualises the jurisdiction argument without proving it legally decisive.

Borthwick archive guide, p.136, n.d., Borthwick Institute, A Guide to the Archive Collections, p.136, Records of Peculiar Jurisdictions, E. Other Peculiar Jurisdictions,1.Howden and Howdenshire. Indexed PDF section retrieved27October2026; institutional archival context, not an adjudication of this case., Borthwick archive guide, p.136; Howden and Howdenshire · context

[Image 5 opening Latin, approximately seven lines, proctor for Charles Empson reserving legal exceptions and articulating as follows; several contracted words unresolved. Margin Rob: Medley.] 1. Imprimis ponit et all[egat] that at the time of the awarding and giving out of the Original Citation in this pretended cause of diffamacion and for the space of ten years last past and more the said Charles Empson did dwell & Inhabit at Booth mentioned in the Libell & personal answers of him the said Charles in this cause Exhibited [insertion:] and not else where Et ponit de tali et tanto tempore loco modo et forma [remaining Latin proof formula partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et allegat that for the space of 10.20.30.40.50 & 60 years [insertion:] last past & more and for and during the time whereof mans memory doth not extend to the Contrary the place called Booth aforesaid hath been and still is notoriously Scite & Scituate within the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire [deleted phrase] belonging to the Dean & Chapter of Durham & not [insertion:] of or within the diocess of York and for all the time aforesaid hath commonly Notoriously and publiquely been reputed and taken to be of and within the said peculiar Jurisdiction & not of or within the diocess of York aforesaid Et ponit ut Supra. 3. Item ponit et all[egat] that for all the time in the next precedent Article mentioned the hearing & determining of all causes of Ecclesiastical Cognizance ariseing within the said peculiar Jurisdiction and especially the hearing & determining of all causes of diffamacion ariseing from words spoken by any person dwelling & inhabiting within the said peculiar hath & still doth of right belong unto the Judge Commissary or tutor of the said peculiar Jurisdiction [deleted words] & without the Concurrent Jurisdiction of any [image 6 left:] any other Ecclesiastical Judge whatsoever Hocque fuit est [contracted] [remaining Latin clause partly unread] Et ponit ut Supra. 4. Item ponit et all[egat] that by an Act of Parliament made in the 23 yeare of the Reigne of our late Sovereigne [contracted] King Henry the 8th of famous memory it was (amongst other things) Enacted as followeth viz be it enacted by the King our Sovereigne [contracted] with the Assent of the [contracted] Spirituall & temporal and the Comons in this present parliament Assembled and by Authority of the same that no manner of person shalbe from henceforth cited or sumoned or otherwise called to appeare by himself or her self or by any proctour before any Ordinary Arch Deacon Commissary Official or any other Judge Spirituall out of the Diocess or peculiar Jurisdiction where the person which shalbe so cited Sumoned or otherwise called shall be inhabiting or dwelling at the time of awarding or going forth of the same citation or Summons Except in the Cases [where?] [unread word] are remitted from any Inferiour to a Superiour Court & in some other causes (whereof the cause in controversy is not one) particularly mentioned in the said Act as by the same reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit de tali modo et forma [contracted proof ending]. 5. Item ponit et all[egat] that by the Canons & Constitutions Ecclesiastical made in the 37 yeare of the Reigne of King James the 1st of famous memory it was Ordained & provided that no Official of any Archbishops Consistory shall either ex officio or at the Instance of any party Originally cite Sumon or any way compell & procure to be cited Sumoned or compelled any person which dwelleth not within the particular diocess or peculiar of the said Archbishop to appear before him for any cause or matter whatsoever belonging to Ecclesiastical Cognizance [image 6 right:] contrary to the Tenor & forme of the late Statutum in the next precedent Article mentioned as by the said Canon and Constitution reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 6. Item ponit et all[egat] that the premises notwithstanding the said Elizabeth Mould without any remission from the Commissary of the said peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire or without his privity or consent did de facto when further she could not cause an original Citation to be issued out of this Court ag[ains]t the said Charles Empson & by vertue thereof caused him to be cited & Sumoned to appear in the Consistory Court upon a certain day lapsed then and there to Answer her in this pretended cause of diffamacion & so cited & Sumoned him the said Charles Empson out of the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire aforesaid where he then dwelt & inhabited as aforesaid as by the said Original Citation & Act of this Court reference being thereunto had fully & at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 7. Item ponit et all[egat] that by reason of the premises this [unread words] proceeding himself contrary to the said aforesaid Original Citation being taken out of an Incompetent Court & the proceedings thereon being coram non Judice were & are null & void for want of lawfull Authority & Jurisdiction in that behalfe and that tis not in the power of any parties or their proctours either by consent or combination prejudicially to divest any Ecclesiastical Court of their lawfull Jurisdiction and [unread words] by [altered words] Cognizance of such causes as properly belong thereto [altered concluding phrase] [unread words] the said Court of Judicature reference [unread words] Et ponit ut Supra. [Image 7 left:] Item ponit et all[egat] that an Exception to a nullity arising from the want or defect of Jurisdiction may at any time be propounded as well after as before contestation of Suit Although the parties have both covenanted and sworne not to propound the same and tho' the same should be propounded after three Conformable Sentences [unread word] had [contracted words] Et ponit ut Supra. Quae omnia [remaining Latin prayer for dismissal from this incompetent forum and costs, approximately seven lines, partly unread]. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus et Maria Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex et Regina fidei [contracted] [remaining royal style] [addressees provisionally read:] Henricum Newton et Stephanum Waller legum doctores Judices [contracted continuation] [approximately twelve lines describing the York appeal between Charles Empson of Booth and Elizabeth Mould, wife of John Mould, and transfer of the appeal; partly unread] [operative instruction includes:] ... Henricum Watkinson legum doctorem [contracted] ... [approximately sixteen further lines ordering transmission of records/instruments/processes to the royal judges/delegates, partly unread] [dating:] 20o [month reading uncertain, appears Apr[ilis]] [regnal/dating formula unread]. [Left vertical margin: long English certificate concerning receipt/execution, partly unread; not transcribed in full.] Mould contra Empson.

Comparison of sources: Literal dates and subsequent process

Sentence 19 February 1690, March citations/returns and English-style 23 March 1690 must not be collapsed into one modern-year sequence without explicit explanation. Publication 29 March 1691 is explicit; catalogue range 18 June 1690–28 April 1691 is attributed. Later appellate disposition remains unknown.

The June 1690 citation directs an appearance before Watkinson [full text and dates unresolved]. Its return records service [details unread]. The later citation is dated 11 March 1690 as written, directing appearance on Thursday 19 March to hear sentence. Peter Hawkins certifies that on 18 March 1690 he diligently sought Empson at his Booth dwelling but could not find him. The return does not prove Empson received personal service or deliberately evaded it.

The sentence finds Mould's pleaded case sufficiently proved and the defence insufficient to defeat it, orders correction/punishment and costs, reserving assessment. It is dated 19 February 1690 as written. [The complete recital and several dispositive/final clauses remain unread and untranslated.] A 1690/1 expansion needs to be kept distinct from the literal manuscript date, supported by surrounding proceedings rather than silently replacing it. Docket: Mould against Empson.

The Howden citation dated 23 March 1690 explicitly says English style. Its verso certifies publication in Howden parish church on 29 March 1691, signed Wm: Willington [William provisionally expanded]. The main text's appearance day and the margin's different appearance date must be checked against each other before a procedural chronology is finalised. The certificate proves publication of that citation, not a retraction by Empson.

The William-and-Mary writ concerns the appeal and orders transmission of the record and instruments/processes to the appropriate royal appellate jurisdiction [precise scope, date, some delegate qualifications and the English marginal certificate remain unread]. Calling it a completed prohibition or treating it as a reversal would go beyond the present reading. It is distinct from the two Howden citations. [Addressees provisionally read Henry Newton and Stephen Waller, doctors of laws and judges; complete qualifications remain unread.] Verso docket: Mould against Empson.

Image Title: CP.H.4221 Court: Consistory Case: Defamation (sexual slander / witchcraft) Details: 9 Pieces; Has deposition; Has libel; Has sentence Outcome: plaintiff won Date: 18/6/1690 — 28/4/1691 Parties Mentioned: Elizabeth Mould [Mould; Moulde], plaintiff, female; wife of John Mould Charles Empson [Empson], defendant, male Other individuals: Robert Squire [Squire], prosecution proctor, male Thomas Lea [Lee], defence proctor, male Witnesses: Frances Johnson [Johnson], witness, female; 22; spinster Sarah Wilson [Wilson], witness, female; 18; spinster Places: Crowle (Crowle (YorkshireWestRiding)) - ecclesiastical parish Howdenshire (Yorkshire, East Riding) - liberty

Henricus Watkinson legum doctor [remaining heading and first lines obscured by seal attachment] [approximately sixteen partly obscured/contracted Latin lines citing Charles Empson of Booth to York; date and hearing date require further reading] Datis [contracted words] [date:] octavo die mensis Junij [contracted] Domini 1690. Tho: [surname uncertain] Notarius Publicus. [Image 8 return:] June [day unclear] 1690 This [citation?] was [unread] served on [unread words] Charles Empson [unread words] [unread ending] by [name unread]. Gulielmus Savile [contracted] legum baccalaureus Officialis sive Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden et Howdenshire [remaining addressee and jurisdiction clauses partly unread] [approximately thirteen Latin lines directing appearance before Henry Watkinson in York on Thursday 19 March next, to hear definitive sentence; wording and some parties' names partly unread] [date:] undecimo die mensis Martij Anno Domini 1690. [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday the 19th of March 1690. [Bottom return:] March the 18th 1690. The above named Charles Empson was diligently sought for att his dwelling house in Booth but could not be found Wittness my hand Peter Hawkins. R: Squire [subscription, left].

In dei nomine Amen. Auditis visis et intellectis ac plenarie et mature discussis per Nos Henricum Watkinson Legum Doctorem [contracted office] [approximately twenty-four lines of recital: merits of cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson; proctors and hearing; partly unread] [operative proof clause:] comperimus luculenter et invenimus dictam partem agentem petitionem sive inten- tionem suam in dicto suo libello deductam et propositam sufficienter fundasse pariter et probasse nihilque effectuale ex adverso per partem [contracted] partis defendentis in hac Causa exceptum dictum allegatum propositum et probatum fuisse aut esse quod intentionem dictae partis agentis elideret seu quomodolibet enervaret Idcirco Nos Henricus Watkinson Legum doctor Judex antedictus praefatum Carolum Empson pro tanto temeritatis suae excessu [image 13 left:] [unread opening word] praemissis et ea concernentibus debite corrigendum et puniendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus nec non in expensis [contracted] ex parte et per partem dictae Elizabethae Mould in hac Causa [contracted] factis et fiendis Condemnamus Condemnatumque ad debitam solutionem earundem parti dictae Elizae Mould legitime cogendum et compellendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus [remaining final-decree/reserved-taxation clauses, approximately eight lines, partly unread]. R Squire. Februarij 19mo 1690 lecta et lata per nos Hen: Watkinson. Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus Savile legum Baccalaureus Commissarius aut Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden Howdenshire et Hemingbrough [remaining addressees and first seven lines partly unread] [clause citing Charles Empson, if personally possible, otherwise by public citation in Howden parish church] [appearance direction refers to the Howden court on:] Veneris decimo septimo Aprilis [contracted] [approximately six remaining Latin lines concerning a definitive-sentence cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson, and a purported sentence by Henry Watkinson; operative purpose not fully resolved] Datum [contracted words] vigesimo tertio die Martij Anno Domini 1690 (Stilo Angliae). [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday ye 2d of Aprill 1691 [reading and relation to main-text Friday appearance require checking]. [Image 16 verso:] This Citacion was published in ye Parish Church of Howden ye 29th day of March 1691 By me Wm: Willington. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus et Maria Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex et Regina fidei [contracted] [remaining royal style] [addressees provisionally read:] Henricum Newton et Stephanum Waller legum doctores Judices [contracted continuation] [approximately twelve lines describing the York appeal between Charles Empson of Booth and Elizabeth Mould, wife of John Mould, and transfer of the appeal; partly unread] [operative instruction includes:] ... Henricum Watkinson legum doctorem [contracted] ... [approximately sixteen further lines ordering transmission of records/instruments/processes to the royal judges/delegates, partly unread] [dating:] 20o [month reading uncertain, appears Apr[ilis]] [regnal/dating formula unread]. [Left vertical margin: long English certificate concerning receipt/execution, partly unread; not transcribed in full.] Mould contra Empson.

Comparison of sources: Household and testimony differences

Frances’s interlineated relation is provisionally read master, not a secure father reference; Sara names Stephen Margreave as master. County correction, place reading and differing remembered May dates remain explicit. Margaret’s role as mistress does not prove marriage to Stephen.

8 October 1690: Frances Johnson of Carleton, county corrected from York to Lincoln in the heading, spinster, aged 22, knows Elizabeth about ten months and Empson about three years. Around 17 or 18 May last, as nearly as she remembers, Empson came to Stephen Margreave’s house [surname partly obscured; interlineation provisionally reads this deponent’s master, not a secure father reference]. Mould sat by the fire. Asked who she was and told Mrs Mould, he called her a whore, a witch and a cuckoldy whore, repeating the words in the presence of Margaret Margreave, the witness's mistress, Sarah Wilson and the witness. She knows nothing to article 4 and is not further examined [full contracted ending unresolved]. She makes her mark. Sara Wilson of [Readnes?], Whitgift parish, about 18, knows Mould nine months and Empson six months. Near the latter end of May last, as she remembers, Mrs Mould was at Stephen Margreave's house in Carleton, where Sara's then master lived. Mould sat by the fire. Empson asked who she was and, on being told, repeatedly called her whore, witch and cuckoldy whore, in Margaret Margreave's, Frances Johnson's and her own presence. She believes these words much injured Mould's reputation. She is not further examined and makes her mark. [Household wording and the partly obscured insertion remain qualified; no father–daughter relationship is established.]

8o Octobris 1690. Frances Johnson de Carleton in Com[itatu] [deleted: Ebor; inserted:] Lincoln aetatis 22 annorum Spinster testis super positionibus et Articulis Libelli ex parte Elizabethae uxoris Johannis Mould contra Carolum Empson dati et exhibiti [contracted] [jurata?] et primo [contracted] Elizabetham Mould per 10 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per tres annos aut inde novit. Super secundo et tertio Articulis [contracted] dicit That about the 17th or 18th day of May last past as near as this Deponent can remember the articulate Charles Empson came to the house of one Stephen [Margreave?; partly obscured] [insertion:] this deponents [master?] within the [Southward?] parish of Carleton articulate and the articulate mrs Mould was then sett by the fire in this Deponents said [unread word] house and the said Charles Empson then asked who itt was that was sett by the ffire and being told that itt was mrs Mould he thereupon called the said mrs Mould a Whore a Witch and a Cuckoldy whore, which wordes he repeated severall times over in the presence of this Deponents Mistress (Margt Margreave) her contest Sarah Wilson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit quod nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted credibility ending partly unread]. Signum Frances [mark] Johnson. Sara Wilson de [Readnes?] parochiae de Whitgift in Com[itatu] Ebor aetatis 18 annorum aut circiter testis ut supra dicit et deponit quod dictam Elizabetham Mould per 9 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per 6 menses novit. Super secundo articulo [contracted] dicit That in May last and about the latter end thereof as she now remembreth the articulate mrs Mould was att one Stephen Margreaves house [image 11 left:] house (this deponents then master) situate in Carleton articulate and being sett by the fire the articulate Charles Empson came into the Roome and asked who itt was and being told that itt was mrs Mould he the said Charles Empson called her the said mrs Mould whore Witch and Cuckoldy whore and these wordes he repeated over and over in the presence of Margt Margreave (this deponents then mistress) her precontest Frances Johnson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit That in this Deponents beliefe and opinion the articulate mrs Moulds reputation is much injured by reason of speaking the wordes praedeposed Et aliter nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted ending]. Signum Sara [mark] Wilson.

Context: Process is not performance

A return recording unsuccessful search does not prove evasion, and church publication of a citation does not prove retraction. Sentence, compliance and ultimate appellate decision are separate evidential questions.

The June 1690 citation directs an appearance before Watkinson [full text and dates unresolved]. Its return records service [details unread]. The later citation is dated 11 March 1690 as written, directing appearance on Thursday 19 March to hear sentence. Peter Hawkins certifies that on 18 March 1690 he diligently sought Empson at his Booth dwelling but could not find him. The return does not prove Empson received personal service or deliberately evaded it.

The sentence finds Mould's pleaded case sufficiently proved and the defence insufficient to defeat it, orders correction/punishment and costs, reserving assessment. It is dated 19 February 1690 as written. [The complete recital and several dispositive/final clauses remain unread and untranslated.] A 1690/1 expansion needs to be kept distinct from the literal manuscript date, supported by surrounding proceedings rather than silently replacing it. Docket: Mould against Empson.

The Howden citation dated 23 March 1690 explicitly says English style. Its verso certifies publication in Howden parish church on 29 March 1691, signed Wm: Willington [William provisionally expanded]. The main text's appearance day and the margin's different appearance date must be checked against each other before a procedural chronology is finalised. The certificate proves publication of that citation, not a retraction by Empson.

The William-and-Mary writ concerns the appeal and orders transmission of the record and instruments/processes to the appropriate royal appellate jurisdiction [precise scope, date, some delegate qualifications and the English marginal certificate remain unread]. Calling it a completed prohibition or treating it as a reversal would go beyond the present reading. It is distinct from the two Howden citations. [Addressees provisionally read Henry Newton and Stephen Waller, doctors of laws and judges; complete qualifications remain unread.] Verso docket: Mould against Empson.

Editorial paraphrase: cause papers preserve pleadings, procedural answers, testimony and sentences as distinct documentary stages. A sentence is distinguished from later proof that its requirements were performed.

What are the cause papers, University of York, n.d., Borthwick Institute for Archives, What are the cause papers?, sections Admission by the defendant and The Sentence; search-accessed guide text 25 October 2026; direct page returned 403., Borthwick guide; Admission, Depositions and Sentence · context

Henricus Watkinson legum doctor [remaining heading and first lines obscured by seal attachment] [approximately sixteen partly obscured/contracted Latin lines citing Charles Empson of Booth to York; date and hearing date require further reading] Datis [contracted words] [date:] octavo die mensis Junij [contracted] Domini 1690. Tho: [surname uncertain] Notarius Publicus. [Image 8 return:] June [day unclear] 1690 This [citation?] was [unread] served on [unread words] Charles Empson [unread words] [unread ending] by [name unread]. Gulielmus Savile [contracted] legum baccalaureus Officialis sive Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden et Howdenshire [remaining addressee and jurisdiction clauses partly unread] [approximately thirteen Latin lines directing appearance before Henry Watkinson in York on Thursday 19 March next, to hear definitive sentence; wording and some parties' names partly unread] [date:] undecimo die mensis Martij Anno Domini 1690. [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday the 19th of March 1690. [Bottom return:] March the 18th 1690. The above named Charles Empson was diligently sought for att his dwelling house in Booth but could not be found Wittness my hand Peter Hawkins. R: Squire [subscription, left].

In dei nomine Amen. Auditis visis et intellectis ac plenarie et mature discussis per Nos Henricum Watkinson Legum Doctorem [contracted office] [approximately twenty-four lines of recital: merits of cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson; proctors and hearing; partly unread] [operative proof clause:] comperimus luculenter et invenimus dictam partem agentem petitionem sive inten- tionem suam in dicto suo libello deductam et propositam sufficienter fundasse pariter et probasse nihilque effectuale ex adverso per partem [contracted] partis defendentis in hac Causa exceptum dictum allegatum propositum et probatum fuisse aut esse quod intentionem dictae partis agentis elideret seu quomodolibet enervaret Idcirco Nos Henricus Watkinson Legum doctor Judex antedictus praefatum Carolum Empson pro tanto temeritatis suae excessu [image 13 left:] [unread opening word] praemissis et ea concernentibus debite corrigendum et puniendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus nec non in expensis [contracted] ex parte et per partem dictae Elizabethae Mould in hac Causa [contracted] factis et fiendis Condemnamus Condemnatumque ad debitam solutionem earundem parti dictae Elizae Mould legitime cogendum et compellendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus [remaining final-decree/reserved-taxation clauses, approximately eight lines, partly unread]. R Squire. Februarij 19mo 1690 lecta et lata per nos Hen: Watkinson. Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus Savile legum Baccalaureus Commissarius aut Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden Howdenshire et Hemingbrough [remaining addressees and first seven lines partly unread] [clause citing Charles Empson, if personally possible, otherwise by public citation in Howden parish church] [appearance direction refers to the Howden court on:] Veneris decimo septimo Aprilis [contracted] [approximately six remaining Latin lines concerning a definitive-sentence cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson, and a purported sentence by Henry Watkinson; operative purpose not fully resolved] Datum [contracted words] vigesimo tertio die Martij Anno Domini 1690 (Stilo Angliae). [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday ye 2d of Aprill 1691 [reading and relation to main-text Friday appearance require checking]. [Image 16 verso:] This Citacion was published in ye Parish Church of Howden ye 29th day of March 1691 By me Wm: Willington. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus et Maria Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex et Regina fidei [contracted] [remaining royal style] [addressees provisionally read:] Henricum Newton et Stephanum Waller legum doctores Judices [contracted continuation] [approximately twelve lines describing the York appeal between Charles Empson of Booth and Elizabeth Mould, wife of John Mould, and transfer of the appeal; partly unread] [operative instruction includes:] ... Henricum Watkinson legum doctorem [contracted] ... [approximately sixteen further lines ordering transmission of records/instruments/processes to the royal judges/delegates, partly unread] [dating:] 20o [month reading uncertain, appears Apr[ilis]] [regnal/dating formula unread]. [Left vertical margin: long English certificate concerning receipt/execution, partly unread; not transcribed in full.] Mould contra Empson.

Comparison of sources: About this case and its sources

Reference: CP.H.4221

Repository: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York

Court: Consistory, with Howden peculiar and royal appellate process represented

Case: Defamation: sexual slander and witchcraft; contested jurisdiction

Record dates: Catalogue 18 June 1690–28 April 1691. Literal old-style dates retained in transcriptions; some modern-year expansions unresolved.

Surviving material: Nine catalogued pieces; eighteen saved images. Libel, answers, jurisdiction articles, citations/returns, two depositions, sentence, publication certificate and royal writ with dockets.

Languages: Latin and English

Parties: Elizabeth Mould, wife of John Mould, plaintiff; Charles Empson, defendant. John named as husband, not separate plaintiff in catalogue.

Witnesses: Frances Johnson,22, spinster; Sara Wilson [catalogue Sarah],18, spinster

Other people: Henry Watkinson, judge; R/Robert Squire and Rob Medley subscriptions; Thomas Lea/Lee, defence proctor in catalogue; William Savile, Howden official; Peter Hawkins and Wm Willington, returns; Stephen and Margaret Margreave, reported household connections; Thomas [surname unread], notary; William and Mary, royal authority; Henry Newton and Stephen Waller, provisional addressees; HenryVIII and JamesI, cited authorities

Outcome: Catalogue plaintiff won; sentence supports success at that stage. Later appeal result and compliance unknown.

Coverage: Eighteen saved images represent nine catalogued pieces. Seven paired units cover the libel and answers, jurisdiction objection, citations and returns, two depositions, sentence, publication certificate and royal appellate writ with dockets. Substantial Latin preliminaries, prayer and dispositive clauses, damaged words and the writ’s long marginal certificate remain unread; English readings are partial at those gaps. Catalogue records plaintiff victory, supported by the surviving sentence at that stage; later process is not proof of final appellate disposition, correction performed or costs paid.

Edition: 27 October 2026, version 1.0; available-source edition for review

Reading conventions: English precedes the original Latin or mixed-language text. Source spelling is retained. Square brackets mark expansions, uncertainty, cancellations and unread writing; gap descriptions are not manuscript wording. English readings are partial where the underlying clauses remain unread. Image positions are not folios. Allegations, denials and reported testimony remain distinct from findings.

Suggested citation: Elizabeth Mould against Charles Empson, CP.H.4221, reading edition version 1.0,27 October 2026; Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York.

The libel pleads Elizabeth Mould's marriage to John, good reputation and Charles Empson's repeated use of 'whore', 'witch' and 'cuckoldy whore'. It gives February–March 1689 and March–April 1690 dating alternatives [exact application unresolved]. It pleads acknowledgment, injury, Booth residence/York jurisdiction and public fame and seeks correction, retraction and costs. [Substantial Latin gaps prevent a full translation.] 30 July 1690: Empson admits article 1, refuses articles 2–4 as criminal positions, and says Booth is within Howden parish and outside York diocese. He otherwise refers to law and denies the fifth position; to article 6 he believes what is believed and denies what is denied. Rob. Medley and Charles Empson subscribe. This is a jurisdiction objection and procedural answer, not an admission of the insults.

Article 1 says Empson lived at Booth when the original citation issued and had done so for over ten years. Article 2 says Booth has immemorially belonged to the peculiar jurisdiction of Howden and Howdenshire under Durham's dean and chapter, outside York diocese. Article 3 says the peculiar's judge alone has jurisdiction over ecclesiastical causes, especially defamation arising from residents' speech, excluding concurrent jurisdiction of another ecclesiastical judge [Latin closing clause unresolved]. Article 4 invokes a statute of Henry VIII's twenty-third regnal year restricting citation outside a person's diocese or peculiar, subject to exceptions which the pleading says do not apply. The statute is pleaded and quoted here; its exact identification and application have not been independently verified. Article 5 invokes ecclesiastical canons and constitutions against original citation of outsiders by an archbishop's consistory official, referring to a written '37 year' of James I [reading/date unresolved]. Article 6 alleges Mould obtained a York citation without remission, knowledge or consent from the peculiar's commissary. Article 7 argues that proceedings before an incompetent court are void for want of jurisdiction and that parties cannot cure this by consent; it adds that nullity can be pleaded even late in the suit, after promises not to object or several consistent sentences. [Several altered phrases and full Latin prayer unresolved.] These are Empson's arguments, not a modern determination that every proposition was legally correct.

The June 1690 citation directs an appearance before Watkinson [full text and dates unresolved]. Its return records service [details unread]. The later citation is dated 11 March 1690 as written, directing appearance on Thursday 19 March to hear sentence. Peter Hawkins certifies that on 18 March 1690 he diligently sought Empson at his Booth dwelling but could not find him. The return does not prove Empson received personal service or deliberately evaded it.

8 October 1690: Frances Johnson of Carleton, county corrected from York to Lincoln in the heading, spinster, aged 22, knows Elizabeth about ten months and Empson about three years. Around 17 or 18 May last, as nearly as she remembers, Empson came to Stephen Margreave’s house [surname partly obscured; interlineation provisionally reads this deponent’s master, not a secure father reference]. Mould sat by the fire. Asked who she was and told Mrs Mould, he called her a whore, a witch and a cuckoldy whore, repeating the words in the presence of Margaret Margreave, the witness's mistress, Sarah Wilson and the witness. She knows nothing to article 4 and is not further examined [full contracted ending unresolved]. She makes her mark. Sara Wilson of [Readnes?], Whitgift parish, about 18, knows Mould nine months and Empson six months. Near the latter end of May last, as she remembers, Mrs Mould was at Stephen Margreave's house in Carleton, where Sara's then master lived. Mould sat by the fire. Empson asked who she was and, on being told, repeatedly called her whore, witch and cuckoldy whore, in Margaret Margreave's, Frances Johnson's and her own presence. She believes these words much injured Mould's reputation. She is not further examined and makes her mark. [Household wording and the partly obscured insertion remain qualified; no father–daughter relationship is established.]

The sentence finds Mould's pleaded case sufficiently proved and the defence insufficient to defeat it, orders correction/punishment and costs, reserving assessment. It is dated 19 February 1690 as written. [The complete recital and several dispositive/final clauses remain unread and untranslated.] A 1690/1 expansion needs to be kept distinct from the literal manuscript date, supported by surrounding proceedings rather than silently replacing it. Docket: Mould against Empson.

The Howden citation dated 23 March 1690 explicitly says English style. Its verso certifies publication in Howden parish church on 29 March 1691, signed Wm: Willington [William provisionally expanded]. The main text's appearance day and the margin's different appearance date must be checked against each other before a procedural chronology is finalised. The certificate proves publication of that citation, not a retraction by Empson.

The William-and-Mary writ concerns the appeal and orders transmission of the record and instruments/processes to the appropriate royal appellate jurisdiction [precise scope, date, some delegate qualifications and the English marginal certificate remain unread]. Calling it a completed prohibition or treating it as a reversal would go beyond the present reading. It is distinct from the two Howden citations. [Addressees provisionally read Henry Newton and Stephen Waller, doctors of laws and judges; complete qualifications remain unread.] Verso docket: Mould against Empson.

Image Title: CP.H.4221 Court: Consistory Case: Defamation (sexual slander / witchcraft) Details: 9 Pieces; Has deposition; Has libel; Has sentence Outcome: plaintiff won Date: 18/6/1690 — 28/4/1691 Parties Mentioned: Elizabeth Mould [Mould; Moulde], plaintiff, female; wife of John Mould Charles Empson [Empson], defendant, male Other individuals: Robert Squire [Squire], prosecution proctor, male Thomas Lea [Lee], defence proctor, male Witnesses: Frances Johnson [Johnson], witness, female; 22; spinster Sarah Wilson [Wilson], witness, female; 18; spinster Places: Crowle (Crowle (YorkshireWestRiding)) - ecclesiastical parish Howdenshire (Yorkshire, East Riding) - liberty

In dei nomine Amen. Coram vobis [contracted style] Henrico Watkinson legum doctore [approximately eleven preliminary lines naming spiritual jurisdiction, proctor for Elizabeth wife of John Mould against Charles Empson of Booth, partly unread]. [Margin:] R Squire. 1. Imprimis ponit et articulat quod dicta Eliza Mould fuit et est mulier nupta et conjugata ac uxor [contracted] Johannis Mould ac bonae honestae bonae famae vitaeque et conversationis integrae mulieris [approximately five remaining lines of reputation clause partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et articulat quod dictus Carolus Empson [unread words] [unread clause] mensibus Februarij et Martij Anno Domini 1689 et mensibus Martij et Aprilis Anno Domini 1690 [contracted month alternatives/place clause] [approximately four lines of Latin defamation clause partly unread] [English:] the [said] Charles Empson speaking to and of the said Elizabeth Mould said and reported [unread parenthetic phrase] that the said Elizabeth Mould was a whore a witch and a Cuckoldy whore [contracted clause] he the said Charles Empson [unread clause] repeated and reported divers and sundry times or [unread words] [continuing Latin proof formula partly unread]. 3. Item ponit et articulat quod post praemissa [approximately five lines across images 2–3, alleging acknowledgment before trustworthy witnesses, partly unread]. 4. Item ponit et articulat quod per [contracted] prolationem [unread] verborum scandalosorum et diffamatorum status bona fama et opinio ipsius Elizae Mould apud bonos et graves [remaining injury clause partly unread]. 5. Item ponit et articulat quod dictus Carolus Empson fuit et est de Booth Ebor diocesis [jurisdiction clause partly unread]. 6. Item quod de et super praemissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in locis [contracted words] alijsque locis vicinis [unread ending]. Unde facta fide de praemissis quantum de jure sufficit [prayer approximately nineteen lines, correction, retraction and costs sought; partly unread]. Salvo jure [contracted ending]. Et protestamur [contracted ending]. 30mo Julij 1690. Recognit[a] coram Hen: Watkinson. Responsiones personales Caroli Empson factae positionibus et Articulis Libelli ex parte et per partem Elizabethae Mould contra eum dati et exhibiti. Ad primam positionem [contracted] Credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam tertiam et quartam positiones respondet dicit quod [deleted word] de jure non tenetur respondere eis quia sunt positiones Criminales. Ad quintam positionem [contracted] dicit That this [deleted word] [contracted] was and is of Booth within the parish of Howden which is not of the Dioces of Yorke Et aliter refert se ad jus nec Credit eandem esse veram in aliquo. Ad sextam positionem [contracted] Credit Creditis et negat Negata. Rob. Medley. / Charles Empson.

[Image 5 opening Latin, approximately seven lines, proctor for Charles Empson reserving legal exceptions and articulating as follows; several contracted words unresolved. Margin Rob: Medley.] 1. Imprimis ponit et all[egat] that at the time of the awarding and giving out of the Original Citation in this pretended cause of diffamacion and for the space of ten years last past and more the said Charles Empson did dwell & Inhabit at Booth mentioned in the Libell & personal answers of him the said Charles in this cause Exhibited [insertion:] and not else where Et ponit de tali et tanto tempore loco modo et forma [remaining Latin proof formula partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et allegat that for the space of 10.20.30.40.50 & 60 years [insertion:] last past & more and for and during the time whereof mans memory doth not extend to the Contrary the place called Booth aforesaid hath been and still is notoriously Scite & Scituate within the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire [deleted phrase] belonging to the Dean & Chapter of Durham & not [insertion:] of or within the diocess of York and for all the time aforesaid hath commonly Notoriously and publiquely been reputed and taken to be of and within the said peculiar Jurisdiction & not of or within the diocess of York aforesaid Et ponit ut Supra. 3. Item ponit et all[egat] that for all the time in the next precedent Article mentioned the hearing & determining of all causes of Ecclesiastical Cognizance ariseing within the said peculiar Jurisdiction and especially the hearing & determining of all causes of diffamacion ariseing from words spoken by any person dwelling & inhabiting within the said peculiar hath & still doth of right belong unto the Judge Commissary or tutor of the said peculiar Jurisdiction [deleted words] & without the Concurrent Jurisdiction of any [image 6 left:] any other Ecclesiastical Judge whatsoever Hocque fuit est [contracted] [remaining Latin clause partly unread] Et ponit ut Supra. 4. Item ponit et all[egat] that by an Act of Parliament made in the 23 yeare of the Reigne of our late Sovereigne [contracted] King Henry the 8th of famous memory it was (amongst other things) Enacted as followeth viz be it enacted by the King our Sovereigne [contracted] with the Assent of the [contracted] Spirituall & temporal and the Comons in this present parliament Assembled and by Authority of the same that no manner of person shalbe from henceforth cited or sumoned or otherwise called to appeare by himself or her self or by any proctour before any Ordinary Arch Deacon Commissary Official or any other Judge Spirituall out of the Diocess or peculiar Jurisdiction where the person which shalbe so cited Sumoned or otherwise called shall be inhabiting or dwelling at the time of awarding or going forth of the same citation or Summons Except in the Cases [where?] [unread word] are remitted from any Inferiour to a Superiour Court & in some other causes (whereof the cause in controversy is not one) particularly mentioned in the said Act as by the same reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit de tali modo et forma [contracted proof ending]. 5. Item ponit et all[egat] that by the Canons & Constitutions Ecclesiastical made in the 37 yeare of the Reigne of King James the 1st of famous memory it was Ordained & provided that no Official of any Archbishops Consistory shall either ex officio or at the Instance of any party Originally cite Sumon or any way compell & procure to be cited Sumoned or compelled any person which dwelleth not within the particular diocess or peculiar of the said Archbishop to appear before him for any cause or matter whatsoever belonging to Ecclesiastical Cognizance [image 6 right:] contrary to the Tenor & forme of the late Statutum in the next precedent Article mentioned as by the said Canon and Constitution reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 6. Item ponit et all[egat] that the premises notwithstanding the said Elizabeth Mould without any remission from the Commissary of the said peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire or without his privity or consent did de facto when further she could not cause an original Citation to be issued out of this Court ag[ains]t the said Charles Empson & by vertue thereof caused him to be cited & Sumoned to appear in the Consistory Court upon a certain day lapsed then and there to Answer her in this pretended cause of diffamacion & so cited & Sumoned him the said Charles Empson out of the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire aforesaid where he then dwelt & inhabited as aforesaid as by the said Original Citation & Act of this Court reference being thereunto had fully & at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 7. Item ponit et all[egat] that by reason of the premises this [unread words] proceeding himself contrary to the said aforesaid Original Citation being taken out of an Incompetent Court & the proceedings thereon being coram non Judice were & are null & void for want of lawfull Authority & Jurisdiction in that behalfe and that tis not in the power of any parties or their proctours either by consent or combination prejudicially to divest any Ecclesiastical Court of their lawfull Jurisdiction and [unread words] by [altered words] Cognizance of such causes as properly belong thereto [altered concluding phrase] [unread words] the said Court of Judicature reference [unread words] Et ponit ut Supra. [Image 7 left:] Item ponit et all[egat] that an Exception to a nullity arising from the want or defect of Jurisdiction may at any time be propounded as well after as before contestation of Suit Although the parties have both covenanted and sworne not to propound the same and tho' the same should be propounded after three Conformable Sentences [unread word] had [contracted words] Et ponit ut Supra. Quae omnia [remaining Latin prayer for dismissal from this incompetent forum and costs, approximately seven lines, partly unread]. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Henricus Watkinson legum doctor [remaining heading and first lines obscured by seal attachment] [approximately sixteen partly obscured/contracted Latin lines citing Charles Empson of Booth to York; date and hearing date require further reading] Datis [contracted words] [date:] octavo die mensis Junij [contracted] Domini 1690. Tho: [surname uncertain] Notarius Publicus. [Image 8 return:] June [day unclear] 1690 This [citation?] was [unread] served on [unread words] Charles Empson [unread words] [unread ending] by [name unread]. Gulielmus Savile [contracted] legum baccalaureus Officialis sive Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden et Howdenshire [remaining addressee and jurisdiction clauses partly unread] [approximately thirteen Latin lines directing appearance before Henry Watkinson in York on Thursday 19 March next, to hear definitive sentence; wording and some parties' names partly unread] [date:] undecimo die mensis Martij Anno Domini 1690. [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday the 19th of March 1690. [Bottom return:] March the 18th 1690. The above named Charles Empson was diligently sought for att his dwelling house in Booth but could not be found Wittness my hand Peter Hawkins. R: Squire [subscription, left].

8o Octobris 1690. Frances Johnson de Carleton in Com[itatu] [deleted: Ebor; inserted:] Lincoln aetatis 22 annorum Spinster testis super positionibus et Articulis Libelli ex parte Elizabethae uxoris Johannis Mould contra Carolum Empson dati et exhibiti [contracted] [jurata?] et primo [contracted] Elizabetham Mould per 10 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per tres annos aut inde novit. Super secundo et tertio Articulis [contracted] dicit That about the 17th or 18th day of May last past as near as this Deponent can remember the articulate Charles Empson came to the house of one Stephen [Margreave?; partly obscured] [insertion:] this deponents [master?] within the [Southward?] parish of Carleton articulate and the articulate mrs Mould was then sett by the fire in this Deponents said [unread word] house and the said Charles Empson then asked who itt was that was sett by the ffire and being told that itt was mrs Mould he thereupon called the said mrs Mould a Whore a Witch and a Cuckoldy whore, which wordes he repeated severall times over in the presence of this Deponents Mistress (Margt Margreave) her contest Sarah Wilson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit quod nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted credibility ending partly unread]. Signum Frances [mark] Johnson. Sara Wilson de [Readnes?] parochiae de Whitgift in Com[itatu] Ebor aetatis 18 annorum aut circiter testis ut supra dicit et deponit quod dictam Elizabetham Mould per 9 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per 6 menses novit. Super secundo articulo [contracted] dicit That in May last and about the latter end thereof as she now remembreth the articulate mrs Mould was att one Stephen Margreaves house [image 11 left:] house (this deponents then master) situate in Carleton articulate and being sett by the fire the articulate Charles Empson came into the Roome and asked who itt was and being told that itt was mrs Mould he the said Charles Empson called her the said mrs Mould whore Witch and Cuckoldy whore and these wordes he repeated over and over in the presence of Margt Margreave (this deponents then mistress) her precontest Frances Johnson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit That in this Deponents beliefe and opinion the articulate mrs Moulds reputation is much injured by reason of speaking the wordes praedeposed Et aliter nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted ending]. Signum Sara [mark] Wilson.

In dei nomine Amen. Auditis visis et intellectis ac plenarie et mature discussis per Nos Henricum Watkinson Legum Doctorem [contracted office] [approximately twenty-four lines of recital: merits of cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson; proctors and hearing; partly unread] [operative proof clause:] comperimus luculenter et invenimus dictam partem agentem petitionem sive inten- tionem suam in dicto suo libello deductam et propositam sufficienter fundasse pariter et probasse nihilque effectuale ex adverso per partem [contracted] partis defendentis in hac Causa exceptum dictum allegatum propositum et probatum fuisse aut esse quod intentionem dictae partis agentis elideret seu quomodolibet enervaret Idcirco Nos Henricus Watkinson Legum doctor Judex antedictus praefatum Carolum Empson pro tanto temeritatis suae excessu [image 13 left:] [unread opening word] praemissis et ea concernentibus debite corrigendum et puniendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus nec non in expensis [contracted] ex parte et per partem dictae Elizabethae Mould in hac Causa [contracted] factis et fiendis Condemnamus Condemnatumque ad debitam solutionem earundem parti dictae Elizae Mould legitime cogendum et compellendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus [remaining final-decree/reserved-taxation clauses, approximately eight lines, partly unread]. R Squire. Februarij 19mo 1690 lecta et lata per nos Hen: Watkinson. Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus Savile legum Baccalaureus Commissarius aut Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden Howdenshire et Hemingbrough [remaining addressees and first seven lines partly unread] [clause citing Charles Empson, if personally possible, otherwise by public citation in Howden parish church] [appearance direction refers to the Howden court on:] Veneris decimo septimo Aprilis [contracted] [approximately six remaining Latin lines concerning a definitive-sentence cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson, and a purported sentence by Henry Watkinson; operative purpose not fully resolved] Datum [contracted words] vigesimo tertio die Martij Anno Domini 1690 (Stilo Angliae). [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday ye 2d of Aprill 1691 [reading and relation to main-text Friday appearance require checking]. [Image 16 verso:] This Citacion was published in ye Parish Church of Howden ye 29th day of March 1691 By me Wm: Willington. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus et Maria Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex et Regina fidei [contracted] [remaining royal style] [addressees provisionally read:] Henricum Newton et Stephanum Waller legum doctores Judices [contracted continuation] [approximately twelve lines describing the York appeal between Charles Empson of Booth and Elizabeth Mould, wife of John Mould, and transfer of the appeal; partly unread] [operative instruction includes:] ... Henricum Watkinson legum doctorem [contracted] ... [approximately sixteen further lines ordering transmission of records/instruments/processes to the royal judges/delegates, partly unread] [dating:] 20o [month reading uncertain, appears Apr[ilis]] [regnal/dating formula unread]. [Left vertical margin: long English certificate concerning receipt/execution, partly unread; not transcribed in full.] Mould contra Empson.

Comparison of sources: Edition references and source inventory

Findings and surviving sources

Primary source edition

Secondary discussion and source comparison

People and documentary events

Uncertainty and limits

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Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right

Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221; images 5–7 left

Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9

Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221; images 10–11 left

Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14

Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221; images 15–16

Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221; images 17–18

Coverage and qualified outcome: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 5–7 left | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 10–11 left | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 15–16 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 17–18 | University of York, saved IIIF manifest CP.H.4221: Consistory, nine pieces, libel, depositions and sentence;18June1690–28April1691; outcome plaintiff won.; CP.H.4221; saved manifest metadata

Jurisdiction argument and institutional context: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 5–7 left | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 17–18 | Borthwick Institute, A Guide to the Archive Collections, p.136, Records of Peculiar Jurisdictions, E. Other Peculiar Jurisdictions,1.Howden and Howdenshire. Indexed PDF section retrieved27October2026; institutional archival context, not an adjudication of this case.; Borthwick archive guide, p.136; Howden and Howdenshire

Literal dates and subsequent process: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 15–16 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 17–18 | University of York, saved IIIF manifest CP.H.4221: Consistory, nine pieces, libel, depositions and sentence;18June1690–28April1691; outcome plaintiff won.; CP.H.4221; saved manifest metadata

Household and testimony differences: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 10–11 left

Process is not performance: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 15–16 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 17–18 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, What are the cause papers?, sections Admission by the defendant, Production of Witnesses and Depositions, and Interrogatories. Indexed page text retrieved 27 October 2026; direct fetch returned 403.; Borthwick guide; Admission, Depositions and Sentence

About this case and its sources: University of York, saved IIIF manifest CP.H.4221: Consistory, nine pieces, libel, depositions and sentence;18June1690–28April1691; outcome plaintiff won.; CP.H.4221; saved manifest metadata | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 5–7 left | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 10–11 left | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 15–16 | Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.; CP.H.4221; images 17–18

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right, CP.H.4221; images 10–11 left, CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14, CP.H.4221; images 17–18

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right, CP.H.4221; images 5–7 left, CP.H.4221; images 10–11 left, CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14, CP.H.4221; images 17–18

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right, CP.H.4221; images 17–18

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 10–11 left

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right, CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9, CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14, CP.H.4221; images 17–18

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right, CP.H.4221; images 12 right–14, CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 2–4 right, CP.H.4221; images 5–7 left

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9, CP.H.4221; images 15–16

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 15–16

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 7 right–9

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 17–18

Evidence: CP.H.4221; images 5–7 left

Evidence: CP.H.4221; saved manifest metadata

Mould against Empson cause papers CP.H.4221
Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691.
https://discover.york.ac.uk/collections/york-cause-papers/?manifest=CP_H_4221&canvas=CP_H_4221_0001

York Cause Papers catalogue CP.H.4221
University of York, saved IIIF manifest CP.H.4221: Consistory, nine pieces, libel, depositions and sentence;18June1690–28April1691; outcome plaintiff won.
https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_H_4221/presentation/3/manifest

What are the cause papers?
Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, What are the cause papers?, sections Admission by the defendant, Production of Witnesses and Depositions, and Interrogatories. Indexed page text retrieved 27 October 2026; direct fetch returned 403.
https://www.york.ac.uk/borthwick/holdings/research-guides/what-are-causepapers/

A Guide to the Archive Collections in the Borthwick Institute of Historical Research
Borthwick Institute, A Guide to the Archive Collections, p.136, Records of Peculiar Jurisdictions, E. Other Peculiar Jurisdictions,1.Howden and Howdenshire. Indexed PDF section retrieved27October2026; institutional archival context, not an adjudication of this case.
https://www.york.ac.uk/media/borthwick/documents/holdings/A%20Guide%20to%20the%20Archive%20Collections%20in%20the%20Borthwick%20Institute%20of%20Historical%20Research.pdf

The libel pleads Elizabeth Mould's marriage to John, good reputation and Charles Empson's repeated use of 'whore', 'witch' and 'cuckoldy whore'. It gives February–March 1689 and March–April 1690 dating alternatives [exact application unresolved]. It pleads acknowledgment, injury, Booth residence/York jurisdiction and public fame and seeks correction, retraction and costs. [Substantial Latin gaps prevent a full translation.] 30 July 1690: Empson admits article 1, refuses articles 2–4 as criminal positions, and says Booth is within Howden parish and outside York diocese. He otherwise refers to law and denies the fifth position; to article 6 he believes what is believed and denies what is denied. Rob. Medley and Charles Empson subscribe. This is a jurisdiction objection and procedural answer, not an admission of the insults.

Article 1 says Empson lived at Booth when the original citation issued and had done so for over ten years. Article 2 says Booth has immemorially belonged to the peculiar jurisdiction of Howden and Howdenshire under Durham's dean and chapter, outside York diocese. Article 3 says the peculiar's judge alone has jurisdiction over ecclesiastical causes, especially defamation arising from residents' speech, excluding concurrent jurisdiction of another ecclesiastical judge [Latin closing clause unresolved]. Article 4 invokes a statute of Henry VIII's twenty-third regnal year restricting citation outside a person's diocese or peculiar, subject to exceptions which the pleading says do not apply. The statute is pleaded and quoted here; its exact identification and application have not been independently verified. Article 5 invokes ecclesiastical canons and constitutions against original citation of outsiders by an archbishop's consistory official, referring to a written '37 year' of James I [reading/date unresolved]. Article 6 alleges Mould obtained a York citation without remission, knowledge or consent from the peculiar's commissary. Article 7 argues that proceedings before an incompetent court are void for want of jurisdiction and that parties cannot cure this by consent; it adds that nullity can be pleaded even late in the suit, after promises not to object or several consistent sentences. [Several altered phrases and full Latin prayer unresolved.] These are Empson's arguments, not a modern determination that every proposition was legally correct.

The June 1690 citation directs an appearance before Watkinson [full text and dates unresolved]. Its return records service [details unread]. The later citation is dated 11 March 1690 as written, directing appearance on Thursday 19 March to hear sentence. Peter Hawkins certifies that on 18 March 1690 he diligently sought Empson at his Booth dwelling but could not find him. The return does not prove Empson received personal service or deliberately evaded it.

8 October 1690: Frances Johnson of Carleton, county corrected from York to Lincoln in the heading, spinster, aged 22, knows Elizabeth about ten months and Empson about three years. Around 17 or 18 May last, as nearly as she remembers, Empson came to Stephen Margreave’s house [surname partly obscured; interlineation provisionally reads this deponent’s master, not a secure father reference]. Mould sat by the fire. Asked who she was and told Mrs Mould, he called her a whore, a witch and a cuckoldy whore, repeating the words in the presence of Margaret Margreave, the witness's mistress, Sarah Wilson and the witness. She knows nothing to article 4 and is not further examined [full contracted ending unresolved]. She makes her mark. Sara Wilson of [Readnes?], Whitgift parish, about 18, knows Mould nine months and Empson six months. Near the latter end of May last, as she remembers, Mrs Mould was at Stephen Margreave's house in Carleton, where Sara's then master lived. Mould sat by the fire. Empson asked who she was and, on being told, repeatedly called her whore, witch and cuckoldy whore, in Margaret Margreave's, Frances Johnson's and her own presence. She believes these words much injured Mould's reputation. She is not further examined and makes her mark. [Household wording and the partly obscured insertion remain qualified; no father–daughter relationship is established.]

The sentence finds Mould's pleaded case sufficiently proved and the defence insufficient to defeat it, orders correction/punishment and costs, reserving assessment. It is dated 19 February 1690 as written. [The complete recital and several dispositive/final clauses remain unread and untranslated.] A 1690/1 expansion needs to be kept distinct from the literal manuscript date, supported by surrounding proceedings rather than silently replacing it. Docket: Mould against Empson.

The Howden citation dated 23 March 1690 explicitly says English style. Its verso certifies publication in Howden parish church on 29 March 1691, signed Wm: Willington [William provisionally expanded]. The main text's appearance day and the margin's different appearance date must be checked against each other before a procedural chronology is finalised. The certificate proves publication of that citation, not a retraction by Empson.

The William-and-Mary writ concerns the appeal and orders transmission of the record and instruments/processes to the appropriate royal appellate jurisdiction [precise scope, date, some delegate qualifications and the English marginal certificate remain unread]. Calling it a completed prohibition or treating it as a reversal would go beyond the present reading. It is distinct from the two Howden citations. [Addressees provisionally read Henry Newton and Stephen Waller, doctors of laws and judges; complete qualifications remain unread.] Verso docket: Mould against Empson.

Image Title: CP.H.4221 Court: Consistory Case: Defamation (sexual slander / witchcraft) Details: 9 Pieces; Has deposition; Has libel; Has sentence Outcome: plaintiff won Date: 18/6/1690 — 28/4/1691 Parties Mentioned: Elizabeth Mould [Mould; Moulde], plaintiff, female; wife of John Mould Charles Empson [Empson], defendant, male Other individuals: Robert Squire [Squire], prosecution proctor, male Thomas Lea [Lee], defence proctor, male Witnesses: Frances Johnson [Johnson], witness, female; 22; spinster Sarah Wilson [Wilson], witness, female; 18; spinster Places: Crowle (Crowle (YorkshireWestRiding)) - ecclesiastical parish Howdenshire (Yorkshire, East Riding) - liberty

In dei nomine Amen. Coram vobis [contracted style] Henrico Watkinson legum doctore [approximately eleven preliminary lines naming spiritual jurisdiction, proctor for Elizabeth wife of John Mould against Charles Empson of Booth, partly unread]. [Margin:] R Squire. 1. Imprimis ponit et articulat quod dicta Eliza Mould fuit et est mulier nupta et conjugata ac uxor [contracted] Johannis Mould ac bonae honestae bonae famae vitaeque et conversationis integrae mulieris [approximately five remaining lines of reputation clause partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et articulat quod dictus Carolus Empson [unread words] [unread clause] mensibus Februarij et Martij Anno Domini 1689 et mensibus Martij et Aprilis Anno Domini 1690 [contracted month alternatives/place clause] [approximately four lines of Latin defamation clause partly unread] [English:] the [said] Charles Empson speaking to and of the said Elizabeth Mould said and reported [unread parenthetic phrase] that the said Elizabeth Mould was a whore a witch and a Cuckoldy whore [contracted clause] he the said Charles Empson [unread clause] repeated and reported divers and sundry times or [unread words] [continuing Latin proof formula partly unread]. 3. Item ponit et articulat quod post praemissa [approximately five lines across images 2–3, alleging acknowledgment before trustworthy witnesses, partly unread]. 4. Item ponit et articulat quod per [contracted] prolationem [unread] verborum scandalosorum et diffamatorum status bona fama et opinio ipsius Elizae Mould apud bonos et graves [remaining injury clause partly unread]. 5. Item ponit et articulat quod dictus Carolus Empson fuit et est de Booth Ebor diocesis [jurisdiction clause partly unread]. 6. Item quod de et super praemissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in locis [contracted words] alijsque locis vicinis [unread ending]. Unde facta fide de praemissis quantum de jure sufficit [prayer approximately nineteen lines, correction, retraction and costs sought; partly unread]. Salvo jure [contracted ending]. Et protestamur [contracted ending]. 30mo Julij 1690. Recognit[a] coram Hen: Watkinson. Responsiones personales Caroli Empson factae positionibus et Articulis Libelli ex parte et per partem Elizabethae Mould contra eum dati et exhibiti. Ad primam positionem [contracted] Credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam tertiam et quartam positiones respondet dicit quod [deleted word] de jure non tenetur respondere eis quia sunt positiones Criminales. Ad quintam positionem [contracted] dicit That this [deleted word] [contracted] was and is of Booth within the parish of Howden which is not of the Dioces of Yorke Et aliter refert se ad jus nec Credit eandem esse veram in aliquo. Ad sextam positionem [contracted] Credit Creditis et negat Negata. Rob. Medley. / Charles Empson.

[Image 5 opening Latin, approximately seven lines, proctor for Charles Empson reserving legal exceptions and articulating as follows; several contracted words unresolved. Margin Rob: Medley.] 1. Imprimis ponit et all[egat] that at the time of the awarding and giving out of the Original Citation in this pretended cause of diffamacion and for the space of ten years last past and more the said Charles Empson did dwell & Inhabit at Booth mentioned in the Libell & personal answers of him the said Charles in this cause Exhibited [insertion:] and not else where Et ponit de tali et tanto tempore loco modo et forma [remaining Latin proof formula partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et allegat that for the space of 10.20.30.40.50 & 60 years [insertion:] last past & more and for and during the time whereof mans memory doth not extend to the Contrary the place called Booth aforesaid hath been and still is notoriously Scite & Scituate within the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire [deleted phrase] belonging to the Dean & Chapter of Durham & not [insertion:] of or within the diocess of York and for all the time aforesaid hath commonly Notoriously and publiquely been reputed and taken to be of and within the said peculiar Jurisdiction & not of or within the diocess of York aforesaid Et ponit ut Supra. 3. Item ponit et all[egat] that for all the time in the next precedent Article mentioned the hearing & determining of all causes of Ecclesiastical Cognizance ariseing within the said peculiar Jurisdiction and especially the hearing & determining of all causes of diffamacion ariseing from words spoken by any person dwelling & inhabiting within the said peculiar hath & still doth of right belong unto the Judge Commissary or tutor of the said peculiar Jurisdiction [deleted words] & without the Concurrent Jurisdiction of any [image 6 left:] any other Ecclesiastical Judge whatsoever Hocque fuit est [contracted] [remaining Latin clause partly unread] Et ponit ut Supra. 4. Item ponit et all[egat] that by an Act of Parliament made in the 23 yeare of the Reigne of our late Sovereigne [contracted] King Henry the 8th of famous memory it was (amongst other things) Enacted as followeth viz be it enacted by the King our Sovereigne [contracted] with the Assent of the [contracted] Spirituall & temporal and the Comons in this present parliament Assembled and by Authority of the same that no manner of person shalbe from henceforth cited or sumoned or otherwise called to appeare by himself or her self or by any proctour before any Ordinary Arch Deacon Commissary Official or any other Judge Spirituall out of the Diocess or peculiar Jurisdiction where the person which shalbe so cited Sumoned or otherwise called shall be inhabiting or dwelling at the time of awarding or going forth of the same citation or Summons Except in the Cases [where?] [unread word] are remitted from any Inferiour to a Superiour Court & in some other causes (whereof the cause in controversy is not one) particularly mentioned in the said Act as by the same reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit de tali modo et forma [contracted proof ending]. 5. Item ponit et all[egat] that by the Canons & Constitutions Ecclesiastical made in the 37 yeare of the Reigne of King James the 1st of famous memory it was Ordained & provided that no Official of any Archbishops Consistory shall either ex officio or at the Instance of any party Originally cite Sumon or any way compell & procure to be cited Sumoned or compelled any person which dwelleth not within the particular diocess or peculiar of the said Archbishop to appear before him for any cause or matter whatsoever belonging to Ecclesiastical Cognizance [image 6 right:] contrary to the Tenor & forme of the late Statutum in the next precedent Article mentioned as by the said Canon and Constitution reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 6. Item ponit et all[egat] that the premises notwithstanding the said Elizabeth Mould without any remission from the Commissary of the said peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire or without his privity or consent did de facto when further she could not cause an original Citation to be issued out of this Court ag[ains]t the said Charles Empson & by vertue thereof caused him to be cited & Sumoned to appear in the Consistory Court upon a certain day lapsed then and there to Answer her in this pretended cause of diffamacion & so cited & Sumoned him the said Charles Empson out of the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire aforesaid where he then dwelt & inhabited as aforesaid as by the said Original Citation & Act of this Court reference being thereunto had fully & at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 7. Item ponit et all[egat] that by reason of the premises this [unread words] proceeding himself contrary to the said aforesaid Original Citation being taken out of an Incompetent Court & the proceedings thereon being coram non Judice were & are null & void for want of lawfull Authority & Jurisdiction in that behalfe and that tis not in the power of any parties or their proctours either by consent or combination prejudicially to divest any Ecclesiastical Court of their lawfull Jurisdiction and [unread words] by [altered words] Cognizance of such causes as properly belong thereto [altered concluding phrase] [unread words] the said Court of Judicature reference [unread words] Et ponit ut Supra. [Image 7 left:] Item ponit et all[egat] that an Exception to a nullity arising from the want or defect of Jurisdiction may at any time be propounded as well after as before contestation of Suit Although the parties have both covenanted and sworne not to propound the same and tho' the same should be propounded after three Conformable Sentences [unread word] had [contracted words] Et ponit ut Supra. Quae omnia [remaining Latin prayer for dismissal from this incompetent forum and costs, approximately seven lines, partly unread]. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Henricus Watkinson legum doctor [remaining heading and first lines obscured by seal attachment] [approximately sixteen partly obscured/contracted Latin lines citing Charles Empson of Booth to York; date and hearing date require further reading] Datis [contracted words] [date:] octavo die mensis Junij [contracted] Domini 1690. Tho: [surname uncertain] Notarius Publicus. [Image 8 return:] June [day unclear] 1690 This [citation?] was [unread] served on [unread words] Charles Empson [unread words] [unread ending] by [name unread]. Gulielmus Savile [contracted] legum baccalaureus Officialis sive Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden et Howdenshire [remaining addressee and jurisdiction clauses partly unread] [approximately thirteen Latin lines directing appearance before Henry Watkinson in York on Thursday 19 March next, to hear definitive sentence; wording and some parties' names partly unread] [date:] undecimo die mensis Martij Anno Domini 1690. [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday the 19th of March 1690. [Bottom return:] March the 18th 1690. The above named Charles Empson was diligently sought for att his dwelling house in Booth but could not be found Wittness my hand Peter Hawkins. R: Squire [subscription, left].

8o Octobris 1690. Frances Johnson de Carleton in Com[itatu] [deleted: Ebor; inserted:] Lincoln aetatis 22 annorum Spinster testis super positionibus et Articulis Libelli ex parte Elizabethae uxoris Johannis Mould contra Carolum Empson dati et exhibiti [contracted] [jurata?] et primo [contracted] Elizabetham Mould per 10 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per tres annos aut inde novit. Super secundo et tertio Articulis [contracted] dicit That about the 17th or 18th day of May last past as near as this Deponent can remember the articulate Charles Empson came to the house of one Stephen [Margreave?; partly obscured] [insertion:] this deponents [master?] within the [Southward?] parish of Carleton articulate and the articulate mrs Mould was then sett by the fire in this Deponents said [unread word] house and the said Charles Empson then asked who itt was that was sett by the ffire and being told that itt was mrs Mould he thereupon called the said mrs Mould a Whore a Witch and a Cuckoldy whore, which wordes he repeated severall times over in the presence of this Deponents Mistress (Margt Margreave) her contest Sarah Wilson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit quod nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted credibility ending partly unread]. Signum Frances [mark] Johnson. Sara Wilson de [Readnes?] parochiae de Whitgift in Com[itatu] Ebor aetatis 18 annorum aut circiter testis ut supra dicit et deponit quod dictam Elizabetham Mould per 9 menses [contracted] Carolum Empson per 6 menses novit. Super secundo articulo [contracted] dicit That in May last and about the latter end thereof as she now remembreth the articulate mrs Mould was att one Stephen Margreaves house [image 11 left:] house (this deponents then master) situate in Carleton articulate and being sett by the fire the articulate Charles Empson came into the Roome and asked who itt was and being told that itt was mrs Mould he the said Charles Empson called her the said mrs Mould whore Witch and Cuckoldy whore and these wordes he repeated over and over in the presence of Margt Margreave (this deponents then mistress) her precontest Frances Johnson and this Deponent Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto Articulo [contracted] dicit That in this Deponents beliefe and opinion the articulate mrs Moulds reputation is much injured by reason of speaking the wordes praedeposed Et aliter nescit deponere. Super reliquis non examinata [contracted ending]. Signum Sara [mark] Wilson.

In dei nomine Amen. Auditis visis et intellectis ac plenarie et mature discussis per Nos Henricum Watkinson Legum Doctorem [contracted office] [approximately twenty-four lines of recital: merits of cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson; proctors and hearing; partly unread] [operative proof clause:] comperimus luculenter et invenimus dictam partem agentem petitionem sive inten- tionem suam in dicto suo libello deductam et propositam sufficienter fundasse pariter et probasse nihilque effectuale ex adverso per partem [contracted] partis defendentis in hac Causa exceptum dictum allegatum propositum et probatum fuisse aut esse quod intentionem dictae partis agentis elideret seu quomodolibet enervaret Idcirco Nos Henricus Watkinson Legum doctor Judex antedictus praefatum Carolum Empson pro tanto temeritatis suae excessu [image 13 left:] [unread opening word] praemissis et ea concernentibus debite corrigendum et puniendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus nec non in expensis [contracted] ex parte et per partem dictae Elizabethae Mould in hac Causa [contracted] factis et fiendis Condemnamus Condemnatumque ad debitam solutionem earundem parti dictae Elizae Mould legitime cogendum et compellendum fore pronuntiamus decernimus et declaramus [remaining final-decree/reserved-taxation clauses, approximately eight lines, partly unread]. R Squire. Februarij 19mo 1690 lecta et lata per nos Hen: Watkinson. Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus Savile legum Baccalaureus Commissarius aut Custos generalis Juris peculiaris et specialis de Howden Howdenshire et Hemingbrough [remaining addressees and first seven lines partly unread] [clause citing Charles Empson, if personally possible, otherwise by public citation in Howden parish church] [appearance direction refers to the Howden court on:] Veneris decimo septimo Aprilis [contracted] [approximately six remaining Latin lines concerning a definitive-sentence cause between Elizabeth wife of John Mould and Charles Empson, and a purported sentence by Henry Watkinson; operative purpose not fully resolved] Datum [contracted words] vigesimo tertio die Martij Anno Domini 1690 (Stilo Angliae). [Subscription:] [unread] Notarius Publicus. [Margin:] To appeare on Thursday ye 2d of Aprill 1691 [reading and relation to main-text Friday appearance require checking]. [Image 16 verso:] This Citacion was published in ye Parish Church of Howden ye 29th day of March 1691 By me Wm: Willington. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Gulielmus et Maria Dei gratia Angliae Scotiae Franciae et Hiberniae Rex et Regina fidei [contracted] [remaining royal style] [addressees provisionally read:] Henricum Newton et Stephanum Waller legum doctores Judices [contracted continuation] [approximately twelve lines describing the York appeal between Charles Empson of Booth and Elizabeth Mould, wife of John Mould, and transfer of the appeal; partly unread] [operative instruction includes:] ... Henricum Watkinson legum doctorem [contracted] ... [approximately sixteen further lines ordering transmission of records/instruments/processes to the royal judges/delegates, partly unread] [dating:] 20o [month reading uncertain, appears Apr[ilis]] [regnal/dating formula unread]. [Left vertical margin: long English certificate concerning receipt/execution, partly unread; not transcribed in full.] Mould contra Empson.

Editorial note: Source supported locations

Location projection revision: The supplied note itself describes residence in a jurisdiction pleading, not an incident. Existing source texts and English renderings are unchanged. Geographic association is not proof of physical attendance, a magic location or statutory jurisdiction.

Article 1 says Empson lived at Booth when the original citation issued and had done so for over ten years. Article 2 says Booth has immemorially belonged to the peculiar jurisdiction of Howden and Howdenshire under Durham's dean and chapter, outside York diocese. Article 3 says the peculiar's judge alone has jurisdiction over ecclesiastical causes, especially defamation arising from residents' speech, excluding concurrent jurisdiction of another ecclesiastical judge [Latin closing clause unresolved]. Article 4 invokes a statute of Henry VIII's twenty-third regnal year restricting citation outside a person's diocese or peculiar, subject to exceptions which the pleading says do not apply. The statute is pleaded and quoted here; its exact identification and application have not been independently verified. Article 5 invokes ecclesiastical canons and constitutions against original citation of outsiders by an archbishop's consistory official, referring to a written '37 year' of James I [reading/date unresolved]. Article 6 alleges Mould obtained a York citation without remission, knowledge or consent from the peculiar's commissary. Article 7 argues that proceedings before an incompetent court are void for want of jurisdiction and that parties cannot cure this by consent; it adds that nullity can be pleaded even late in the suit, after promises not to object or several consistent sentences. [Several altered phrases and full Latin prayer unresolved.] These are Empson's arguments, not a modern determination that every proposition was legally correct.

[Image 5 opening Latin, approximately seven lines, proctor for Charles Empson reserving legal exceptions and articulating as follows; several contracted words unresolved. Margin Rob: Medley.] 1. Imprimis ponit et all[egat] that at the time of the awarding and giving out of the Original Citation in this pretended cause of diffamacion and for the space of ten years last past and more the said Charles Empson did dwell & Inhabit at Booth mentioned in the Libell & personal answers of him the said Charles in this cause Exhibited [insertion:] and not else where Et ponit de tali et tanto tempore loco modo et forma [remaining Latin proof formula partly unread]. 2. Item ponit et allegat that for the space of 10.20.30.40.50 & 60 years [insertion:] last past & more and for and during the time whereof mans memory doth not extend to the Contrary the place called Booth aforesaid hath been and still is notoriously Scite & Scituate within the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire [deleted phrase] belonging to the Dean & Chapter of Durham & not [insertion:] of or within the diocess of York and for all the time aforesaid hath commonly Notoriously and publiquely been reputed and taken to be of and within the said peculiar Jurisdiction & not of or within the diocess of York aforesaid Et ponit ut Supra. 3. Item ponit et all[egat] that for all the time in the next precedent Article mentioned the hearing & determining of all causes of Ecclesiastical Cognizance ariseing within the said peculiar Jurisdiction and especially the hearing & determining of all causes of diffamacion ariseing from words spoken by any person dwelling & inhabiting within the said peculiar hath & still doth of right belong unto the Judge Commissary or tutor of the said peculiar Jurisdiction [deleted words] & without the Concurrent Jurisdiction of any [image 6 left:] any other Ecclesiastical Judge whatsoever Hocque fuit est [contracted] [remaining Latin clause partly unread] Et ponit ut Supra. 4. Item ponit et all[egat] that by an Act of Parliament made in the 23 yeare of the Reigne of our late Sovereigne [contracted] King Henry the 8th of famous memory it was (amongst other things) Enacted as followeth viz be it enacted by the King our Sovereigne [contracted] with the Assent of the [contracted] Spirituall & temporal and the Comons in this present parliament Assembled and by Authority of the same that no manner of person shalbe from henceforth cited or sumoned or otherwise called to appeare by himself or her self or by any proctour before any Ordinary Arch Deacon Commissary Official or any other Judge Spirituall out of the Diocess or peculiar Jurisdiction where the person which shalbe so cited Sumoned or otherwise called shall be inhabiting or dwelling at the time of awarding or going forth of the same citation or Summons Except in the Cases [where?] [unread word] are remitted from any Inferiour to a Superiour Court & in some other causes (whereof the cause in controversy is not one) particularly mentioned in the said Act as by the same reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit de tali modo et forma [contracted proof ending]. 5. Item ponit et all[egat] that by the Canons & Constitutions Ecclesiastical made in the 37 yeare of the Reigne of King James the 1st of famous memory it was Ordained & provided that no Official of any Archbishops Consistory shall either ex officio or at the Instance of any party Originally cite Sumon or any way compell & procure to be cited Sumoned or compelled any person which dwelleth not within the particular diocess or peculiar of the said Archbishop to appear before him for any cause or matter whatsoever belonging to Ecclesiastical Cognizance [image 6 right:] contrary to the Tenor & forme of the late Statutum in the next precedent Article mentioned as by the said Canon and Constitution reference being thereunto had more fully and at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 6. Item ponit et all[egat] that the premises notwithstanding the said Elizabeth Mould without any remission from the Commissary of the said peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire or without his privity or consent did de facto when further she could not cause an original Citation to be issued out of this Court ag[ains]t the said Charles Empson & by vertue thereof caused him to be cited & Sumoned to appear in the Consistory Court upon a certain day lapsed then and there to Answer her in this pretended cause of diffamacion & so cited & Sumoned him the said Charles Empson out of the peculiar Jurisdiction of Howden & Howdenshire aforesaid where he then dwelt & inhabited as aforesaid as by the said Original Citation & Act of this Court reference being thereunto had fully & at large appeares Et ponit ut Supra. 7. Item ponit et all[egat] that by reason of the premises this [unread words] proceeding himself contrary to the said aforesaid Original Citation being taken out of an Incompetent Court & the proceedings thereon being coram non Judice were & are null & void for want of lawfull Authority & Jurisdiction in that behalfe and that tis not in the power of any parties or their proctours either by consent or combination prejudicially to divest any Ecclesiastical Court of their lawfull Jurisdiction and [unread words] by [altered words] Cognizance of such causes as properly belong thereto [altered concluding phrase] [unread words] the said Court of Judicature reference [unread words] Et ponit ut Supra. [Image 7 left:] Item ponit et all[egat] that an Exception to a nullity arising from the want or defect of Jurisdiction may at any time be propounded as well after as before contestation of Suit Although the parties have both covenanted and sworne not to propound the same and tho' the same should be propounded after three Conformable Sentences [unread word] had [contracted words] Et ponit ut Supra. Quae omnia [remaining Latin prayer for dismissal from this incompetent forum and costs, approximately seven lines, partly unread]. [Docket:] Mould contra Empson.

Reading register: Full reading edition held on the source record

The full English-first reading-edition body is supplied in the linked edition source’s full_text field. Original texts, English renderings, citations, uncertainty and source-layer distinctions are retained. This source is the project reading edition, not a newly recovered primary manuscript. Database storage does not by itself certify publication.

Mould–Empson · reading edition, Witching reading edition; prepared 2026-10-27; edition version 1.0; reading identifier mould_empson-reading-v1. · context

People

Charles Empson: Defendant of Booth.
Elizabeth Mould: Plaintiff, identified as John Mould’s wife.
Frances Johnson: Carleton spinster about 22, examined 8 October 1690, knows Mould ten months and Empson three years.
Henry Newton: Name provisionally read among the royal writ’s addressees as doctor of laws and judge.
Henry VIII: Named in Empson’s pleading as the king of the regnal-year statute invoked against extraterritorial citation.
Henry Watkinson: Doctor of Laws addressed in the libel and named in the procedural endorsement beside the personal answers dated 30 May 1678.
James I: Named in the pleading’s reference to ecclesiastical canons; apparent 37 regnal-year wording remains unresolved and is not silently normalised.
John Mould: Named husband of Elizabeth; not a separately established speaker or eyewitness.
Margaret Margreave: Named mistress and person present in reported testimony.
Mary: Mary named with William in the royal writ’s authority; no physical attendance inferred.
Notary subscribing earlier citation: Tho followed by an unresolved surname subscribes as notary public.
Peter Hawkins: Signs return reporting a diligent but unsuccessful search at Empson’s Booth dwelling on 18 March 1690 as written.
Robert Medley: Rob Medley subscription on answers and jurisdiction allegation.
Robert Squire: R Squire subscriptions; catalogue identifies prosecution proctor Robert Squire.
Sara Wilson: Deponent about 18 of a place provisionally read Readnes in Whitgift parish.
Stephen Margreave: Householder/master in Sara’s account.
Stephen Waller: Name provisionally read among the royal writ’s addressees as doctor of laws and judge.
Thomas Lea: Catalogue identifies the defence proctor.
William: William named with Mary in the royal writ’s authority; no physical attendance or personal examination inferred.
William Savile: Gulielmus Savile, bachelor of laws and official/commissary of Howden peculiar, issues later citations.
William Willington: Wm Willington certifies publication in Howden parish church on 29 March 1691.

Events

Earlier citation/return and a later March citation are distinct. Hawkins’s return says Empson could not be found; no evasion or personal service inferred. Literal 1690 dates retained.
Sentence dated 19 February 1690 as written orders correction/punishment and costs with taxation reserved. The 1690/1 interpretation is qualified; no compliance or ultimate appellate result proved. (a documentary entry)
William-and-Mary writ concerns Empson’s appeal and transmission of record/process. Date, full operative scope and marginal certificate remain partly unread. No completed prohibition or reversal inferred.
1690: Mould alleges repeated insults; Empson refuses criminal positions and pleads Booth’s separate Howden jurisdiction. His jurisdiction arguments are not a modern legal finding.
1690-10-08: Johnson and Wilson give testimony on 8 October 1690 about an earlier May household encounter. Their remembered May dates differ; no contradiction is silently harmonised.
1691-03-29: Later citation explicitly dated 23 March 1690 English style and certificate of parish publication 29 March 1691. Main-text and marginal appearance directions remain discrepant; publication is not a retraction.

Sources

What are the cause papers, University of York, n.d., Borthwick Institute for Archives, What are the cause papers?, sections Admission by the defendant and The Sentence; search-accessed guide text 25 October 2026; direct page returned 403. (scholarship) (later scholarship)
CP.H.4221 manuscript, Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, CP.H.4221, collected papers 1690–1691., Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York CP.H.4221 (court record)
CP.H.4221 catalogue, n.d., University of York, saved IIIF manifest CP.H.4221: Consistory, nine pieces, libel, depositions and sentence;18June1690–28April1691; outcome plaintiff won. (catalogue) (later scholarship)
Borthwick archive guide, p.136, n.d., Borthwick Institute, A Guide to the Archive Collections, p.136, Records of Peculiar Jurisdictions, E. Other Peculiar Jurisdictions,1.Howden and Howdenshire. Indexed PDF section retrieved27October2026; institutional archival context, not an adjudication of this case. (scholarship) (later scholarship)
Mould–Empson · reading edition, Witching reading edition; prepared 2026-10-27; edition version 1.0; reading identifier mould_empson-reading-v1. (edition)

Credit

Witches in Early Modern England research edition. Human editorial and review credits await confirmation.