A 17th-century will that sparked a legal tussle over William Shakespeare’s home in Stratford-upon-Avon has turned up in an unmarked box at the U.K.’s National Archives.

The artifact was discovered by Dan Gosling, the principal legal records specialist at the archives, in a box of other chancery documents that date to the 17th century and earlier. An original version of the will has not been seen in more than a century.

Thomas Nash’s will. Photo: The National Archives

“This is a really exciting discovery,” Gosling said in a statement, “showing how the execution of Shakespeare’s will wasn’t entirely smooth sailing.”

The document was created on August 25, 1642, by Thomas Nash, who was married to Shakespeare’s granddaughter Elizabeth, and centered on the Shakespeare family home in Stratford, known as New Place. Purchased by the bard in 1597, the three-story, brick and timber residence held some 20 rooms, 10 hearths, a large hall, and a courtyard; it was reportedly the second largest home in the area. The playwright lived there with his family until his death in 1616.

New Place, William Shakespeare’s final home in Stratford-upon-Avon. Photo: David Jones / PA Images via Getty Images.

Nash’s will bequeathed the property to his cousin Edward, though he had no right to do so as the home had been left by Shakespeare to his eldest daughter, Susanna, mother to Elizabeth. What’s more, Susanna was alive and living in New Place with the couple when the will was made.

“It is possible Thomas Nash was making this will in the expectation that he would outlive Susanna and Elizabeth,” Gosling told the Guardian.

Nash, however, died young in 1647 during Susanna and Elizabeth’s lifetime, and his will caused no end of confusion. Mother and daughter were compelled to obtain a legal document verifying their right to Shakespeare’s estate. Edward, in turn, sued Elizabeth, insisting she honor Nash’s will.

Detail of Thomas Nash’s will where he leaves New Place to his cousin Edward Nash. Photo: The National Archives.

During court proceedings, Nash’s original will—the one that just resurfaced—was produced: “Elizabeth had to bring her husband’s will into court and explain why she hadn’t honored the terms of it,” Gosling noted. The document then wound up in the chancery archives.

While it’s unclear how the proceedings went, New Place remained with Elizabeth. When she died in 1670, her will granted Edward the right to acquire the property, with the words “‘according to my promise formally made to him,’ which suggests some spoken procedures were made,” Gosling explained to the Guardian.

The exterior of Thomas Nash’s will. Photo: The National Archives

The home, though, was returned to the Clopton family, whose patriarch Hugh Clopton had built the property in 1483. The original New Place was demolished and rebuilt in 1702. The site is now owned and overseen by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Nash’s will, meanwhile, was last seen by a Shakespeare scholar in the 19th century in the chancery repository known as Rolls chapel. But since it was not otherwise documented or listed, it was forgotten for some 150 years. Its rediscovery at the National Archives is set to change that.