[2] An ancient document which has exercised much debate over its antiquity and authorship, the Modus is no longer seen as a later forgery, despite the doubts of earlier antiquaries, such as John Selden (1584–1654) and William Prynne (1600–1669).
Thomas Duffus Hardy (1804–78) was a prominent historian and archivist, whose final position was senior assistant keeper of the Public Record Office.
[4] Writing in 1934, William A Morris reviewed the conflicting views on the date of the Modus that were first offered in the seventeenth century and concluded that it must have been written during the reign of Edward II (1307-27), probably 1321.
[12] In a major political crisis in Ireland in 1418–19, the veteran statesman Christopher Preston, 2nd Baron Gormanston, was accused of treason, largely on account of his ownership of a copy of the document.
He was quickly released and restored to favour, apparently after explaining that he had simply found it among his father's papers and thought it worth keeping.