UNRECORDED DEANS OF WIMBORNE MINSTER. 39 



(pontificii gradum ascendero), or otherwise parts with (dimi- 

 sero) that church, he will restore it to the brethren as theirs." 3 

 Peter, although in holy orders, was a married man. Perhaps 

 it was this which hindered him from being raised to the 

 episcopate : 



Pierre 6tait engage dang les ordres ; ce qui ne I'empecha pas de 

 pren dre f e name . ** 



He died in the year 1203, and on the 28th of May in the 

 same year King John appointed his successor (whose name 

 we know not) in the Deanery of Wimborne. 



Un chronique du temps fixe sa mort a Pannee 1203, et c'etait a la 

 date du 28 Mai de la meme annee que Jean sans Terre lui donnait un 

 successeur au doyenne de Wimborne. 34 



The patronage soon reverted from the hands of the alien 

 Priory to those of the King. 35 



After an interval of 21 years we meet with the name of the 

 earliest hitherto recorded Dean, Martin de Patshull, who was 

 appointed by the King to the office on the 6th of December, 

 1224. Hutchins also gives the names of his two successors, 

 Ralf Brito (1229) and John Mansell (1247). But they were 

 followed by 



William de Edessa, in 1265, whose name does not appear 

 in any of the lists of Deans. 



1265, Feb. 12 (49 Henry III.) Grant to W. of Edessa (Edissaro), 

 archbishop of Rhages (Ragen') of the deanery of Wymburn, void by 

 the death of John Mansell, for his maintenance until he can return to 

 his province or obtain another dignity whereby he may be maintained, 

 or be provided for in an equivalent maintenance ; saving to the king 

 the collation to the prebends and churches of the deanery. 36 



Six months later (August 18th, 1265) a royal mandate 

 was issued to " the Archbishop of Rhages, dean of Wimborne, 



33. Ibid. p. 86. 



34. Histoire de la Ville de Pont Audemer, Par A. Camel Vol. I., p. 58 

 (quoted in Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries, IV., 323). 



35. Testa de Neville. 

 36. Patent Rolls 49 Hen. III. (1266, Feb. 12). 



