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The structure, or diplomatic, of this charter is very standard. This is probably why it could be so heavily abbreviated. Everyone knew what it was supposed to say, and so long as the correct names and places and minor details were inserted, all was well. There is a very long list of witnesses, but there is no dating clause.
Charter of the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds, early 13th century (British Library, Egerton Charter 2180). All images by permission of the British Library.

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Medieval Writing
Script sample for this example
Index of Exercises
Index of Scripts

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