A link to Abingdon's long lost past is on show for the first time at the National Archives in London.
The document, written in Latin by the then Abbot of Abingdon, is the country's oldest surviving document created by William Caxton on the country's first printing press, in December 1476.
The document is known as an indulgence, which were written by priests to absolve recipients of their sins in return for supporting church causes. It was written by John Sant, Abbot of Abingdon, to Katherine and Henry Langley for their work in giving financial support to the fleet that was raise to attack the Turks who had captured Constantinople, now Istanbul.
How the abbot knew the Langleys is unclear, although at the time the abbot had a house in London near Westminster Abbey, where there is a street called Abingdon Road.
Caxton, born in Kent in 1421, printed more than 100 books including Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
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