A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



petent to read and sing. Mattins, and the other 

 hours up to vespers, in addition to masses, were 

 to be solemnly sung daily in the chancel at the 

 accustomed times after the use of Sarum, and 

 that distinctly and fitly with good psalmody. 

 The hebdomadarian was to be careful, when 

 singing the daily hours, before each prayer to 

 pronounce slowly the ' Hail, Mary.' The mass 

 of Our Lady was to be sung daily, as well as a 

 mass de Angelis for Queen Isabella whilst living, 

 and a mass de defunctis after her death ; 

 the chaplains were then to return to the choir 

 and sing another mass, with deacon and sub- 

 deacon in dalmatic and tunicle as laid down in 

 the use of Sarum. The mass Salus populi was 

 also to be daily celebrated. Every Sunday there 

 was to be mass of the Trinity ; on Monday, of 

 the blessed Andrew ; on Tuesday, of St. Thomas 

 of Canterbury ; on Wednesday, of St. John 

 Baptist ; on Thursday, of Corpus Christi ; on 

 Friday, of the Holy Cross ; and on Saturday, of 

 St. Martin. 



There was also to be sung daily another mass 

 for the dead, or of some special saint, according 

 to the rota laid down by the provost. Each 

 chaplain celebrating mass should remember the 

 founder and other benefactors, the kings and 

 queens of England and their progenitors and 

 children, the father, mother, and relations of the 

 founder, Henry, bishop of Lincoln, and the 

 canons of the cathedral church ; William de 

 Kyrkeby, Christina his wife, John de Honby, 

 John Knyvet, Joan his wife, Richard Knyvet, 

 Joan his wife, and Walter de Honby, their heirs 

 and children. The anniversaries of Queen 

 Isabella, and of the founder and his parents, were 

 to be specially observed after the use of Sarum. 

 The provost and chaplains were to be clad in 

 black or russet colour, without red, and when in 

 church at the divine offices they were to wear 

 black tippets with black fur or lining and surplices 

 or rochets, after the manner of the vicars of the 

 church of Lincoln. But from Easter Eve to 

 the festival of the Exaltation of the Cross it 

 was permitted to lay aside the copes, and to wear 

 only the surplices. They were to have large 

 definite and uniform crowns to their tonsures, 

 suitable for canons. The provost and chaplains 

 were to live in common, and not to have more 

 than two kinds of fish or flesh. On Sundays 

 and festivals their meals were to be neither too 

 slender nor too excessive. All their meals were 

 to be in the hall or frater, when there was to be 

 silence, one of their number reading from the 

 Bible [de bihlia) or the lives of the saints. Their 

 goods were to be in common, neither provost nor 

 chaplains selling anything or appropriating it to 

 his sole use. The provost was to have yearly 

 40J. for his necessary purposes and for the honour 

 of the chantry, and to give a strict account of its 

 expenditure. The chaplains were all to sleep in 

 a common dormitory, without any division, but 

 the provost, with his various occupations, might 



have a separate chamber. The infirm were to 

 occupy another room, and to have suitable food. 

 The provost and brethren were yearly to choose 

 one of their number who was to be called the 

 college warden {cuitoi colUg'ti), who should rule 

 in the absence of the provost. Another was to 

 be appointed sacrist, and have charge of the 

 books, ornaments, and lights of the church, and 

 of all valuables, books, vestments, and silver of 

 the college, and specially of two silver cups, one 

 of which he should retain and the other be kept 

 with the muniments. The warden should be 

 responsible for the administration during the 

 vacancy of the provostship. No chaplain should 

 play at tables either out of doors or in houses 

 or elsewhere, nor visit anywhere save for some 

 special reason, and with the leave of the provost 

 or warden. Nevertheless he might once a year 

 visit his friends by leave of the provost. A 

 small bell was to be rung for dinner and supper. 

 The common seal was to be kept under four 

 different keys in the respective custody of the 

 provost and three chaplains selected by the rest j 

 the seal only to be used by common consent, or 

 at the will of the majority. The founder re- 

 served to himself, during his life, with the con- 

 sent of the ordinary, full power of interpreting, 

 correcting, adding to, diminishing, and altering 

 the statutes of the college.^ 



The possessions of the college were in- 

 creased in 1343 by certain tithes in Horshaw 

 and Calonheye,^ in 1345 by Thomas Wake, 

 of Blisworth, who gave them two hundred 

 and fifty acres of land in the forests of Rock- 

 ingham and Whittlebury ; * and in 1357 by 

 several messuages and ninety-six acres of land 

 in Cotterstock, Glapthorn, and Southwick, from 

 Richard de Spalding, chaplain, and three other 

 donors.* 



A difficulty speedily arose with respect to the 

 royal gift of the tithes of the wastes and assarts 

 (forest clearings) of Horshaw and Calonheye, 

 which were within Rockingham Forest. The 

 gift exempted such wastes and assarts as were 

 within a parish that had a parish church, and 

 the parson of KingsclifTe wrongfully received 

 them, for Horshaw and Calonheye were extra- 

 parochial. The provost and brethren of Cotter- 

 stock took action against the KingsclifFe parson, 

 but when the matter came into the ecclesiastical 

 courts no cognizance could be taken of the suit, 

 for these courts knew nothing of such terms as 

 'wastes' or 'assarts'! Thereupon, in 1347, 

 the college of Cotterstock petitioned for a more 

 explicit definition of the king's grant, and the 

 crown entered on the Patent Rolls that they were 



1 Pat. 14 Edw. III. pt. I, m. 3 and 4. 



2 Close, 17 Edw. III. m. 5. 



3 Rot. Fin. 19 Edw. III. m. 28. This gift was 

 confirmed by the bishop in the same year. Line. 

 Epis. Reg. Memo, of Beck, f. 52. 



* Inq. p.m. 31 Edw. III. No. 23. 



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