ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



the effect that their sequestration must be committed to the Archdeacon of 

 Sudbury. 1 Ralph de Fernham, at that time holding this archdeaconry, was 

 a friend of Peckham's, and acted on several occasions on the archbishop's 

 behalf. 2 



In addition to the extraordinary ecclesiastical rule over the greater part 

 of the hundreds of Suffolk, eight and a half of which were in the liberty of 

 St. Edmund, and five and a half in the liberty of St. Etheldreda or Ely 

 Priory, the number of manors or townships held by the church throughout 

 the county was remarkably large. In 1316 a return was made by order of 

 the Parliament at Lincoln, in connexion with the raising of military levies, 

 of all the rural townships throughout the kingdom, giving in each case the 

 name of the lord. The return for Suffolk shows that upwards of a hundred 

 of these townships, out of a total of 453, or about a fourth of the whole, 

 were in the hands of the church. 3 



The Black Death of 1349 laid grievous hold on Suffolk. The diocesan 

 institution book of this period tells the story of this awful visitation with grim 

 brevity. During the five years previous to the outbreak, the annual average 

 of the institutions to all kinds of benefices throughout the diocese was eighty- 

 one. In a single year these institutions increased by more than tenfold. 

 From 25 March, 1349, to the same date, 1350, the recorded institutions 

 amounted to 831. The terrible death-rate among the clergy, both religious 

 and secular, goes far to prove that the accounts of the devastation as given by 

 the old chroniclers are not one whit exaggerated. 



No notice is of course taken of the general deaths in monasteries in the 

 institution books, but the vacancies among the superiors of these houses 

 under diocesan visitation are recorded. Those religious houses of Suffolk 

 whose superiors required episcopal institution numbered fifteen, and of these 

 eight died in the fateful year, namely the heads of the priories of Alnesbourne, 

 Bungay, Chipley, Flitcham, Redlingfield, Snape, Thetford (St. Sepulchre's), 

 and Woodbridge. In one instance, that of Snape, the office of prior was 

 twice vacant during the twelvemonth. 4 



The action of William Bateman, bishop of Norwich (1344—58), during 

 this grievous strain, is in every way to his credit ; he proved himself to be a 

 true shepherd of his flock. When the outbreak began in the spring of 1349 

 the bishop was beyond the seas, conducting negotiations for the conclusion of 

 peace between France and England. He returned early in June to find his 

 brother, Sir Bartholomew Bateman of Gillingham, dead of the plague, and 



1 Reg. Epis. Peckham (Rolls Ser.), i, 381. 'Ibid. 8, 63, 186. 



3 The following were the proportions of the Suffolk townships held by religious and secular ecclesiastics: — 

 Abbot of St. Edmunds, fifty-two ; prior of Ely, ten ; bishop of Ely, six ; bishop of Norwich, prior of 

 Thetford, and prior of Butley, three each ; prior of Norwich, prior of Canterbury, prior of Leigh, abbot of 

 Colchester, prior of Snapes, and abbot of St. Osyth, two each ; abbot of Ramsey, prior of Royston, bishop 

 of Chester, bishop of Rochester, prioress of Redlingfield, prior of St. Peter's, Ipswich, prior of Creeting, 

 prior of Wilmington, abbess of Mailings, abbot of Leiston, prior of Eye, prior of Bromholme, prior of St. 

 John of Jerusalem, prior of Stokes, abbot of ' Becherlewyne ' and abbot of 'Abcmarsia' one each. There are 

 various copies of this return, which was so important for the calling out of a military array. It has been twice 

 printed, namely in Parliamentary IVrits, ii, 34, 301, and in Feudal Aids, i, No. 241. But these are defective 

 in places, and so far as Suffolk is concerned omit the liberty of St. Etheldreda, that is the hundreds of 

 Carlseford, Colncis, Loes, Plomcsgate, Thredling, and Wilford. These hundreds, however, fortunately appear 

 in an old copy of the return in possession of Sir VV. R. Gowers, F.R.S., which has been recently printed 

 by theSa^ Arch. Inst, xi, 173-99. 



4 None. Epis. Reg. iv, 91-123. 



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