UNRECORDED DEANS OF WlMBORNE MINSTER. 37 



on a scale which rendered it ultimately the vastest of all the 

 Cathedrals of England. He proved himself to be a great 

 bishop and an efficient ruler, although his moral character 

 was not faultless. He died in the year 1108. 27 



Who were his immediate successors in the Deanery of 

 Wimborne we do not know. The first whose name has been 

 found is 



Peter de Mellent, who lived nearly a century later. 

 King John was the favourite son of his father, King Henry I., 

 and was the recipient of many gifts. This, perhaps, accounts 

 for Wimborne having been in his hands before he became king. 



[Cartulary in the Archives of the Calvados, 1189-1199. Cart. 

 I. No. 30.] 28 



Charter of John, count of Mortain (Moreton) and (earl) of 

 Gloucester, notifying that for the weal of his soul and (those) of king 

 Henry his father and of his predecessors, he has given to St. Stephen's, 

 Plessis, the church of Winburne with the office of dean (decanatu) 

 and all appurtenances, reserving only to himself the first presentation 

 after the departure (destitutionem) of Peter de Mellent. 



His testibus : Rogero de Amundeville ; Rogero de Montebegon ; 

 Godefrido Esturmi ; magistro Benedict ; Huberto de Burgo ; Johanne 

 de Gray, et multis aliis. Apud Iverandum. 



The Priory of St. Stephen, Plessis-Grimould, in the diocese 

 of Bayeux, was a House of Austin Canons. 



In the same collection of charters is one from Isabel, 

 Countess of Gloucester, similarly giving the church of 

 Wimborne for the soul of her father, William, Earl of Glouces- 

 ter, and attested by the same witnesses with the addition 

 of Bartholomew, the chaplain, and John, the clerk. 29 



The name of Mellent, or de Meulan, will be familiar to 

 students of the history of our country in the time of the 



27. Ibid., pp. 22, 23. 



28, Calendar of Documents preserved in France, illustrative of the 

 history of Great Britain and Ireland, by J. H. Round. 1899, Vol. I., 

 p. 196. 



29. Ibid, Vol 1 p. 196 note 3. 



