RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



It appeared that substance of his maintenance, 

 amounting to 200 marks yearly, had been so 

 wasted by the rebel Welsh that he had but j 

 a year to keep up his estate. The king there- 

 fore granted that he might obtain from the pope 

 a provision and collation to a dignity and a pre- 

 bend in the cathedral church of York and also 

 like appointments in the three collegiate churches 

 of Beverley, Southwell, and Ripon, all of the 

 advowson of the Archbishop of York. 94 



All the canonries of Southwell, as well as of 

 York, Beverley, and Ripon, were in the gift of 

 the archbishops, and it was by no means infre- 

 quent for these prelates to bestow three or even 

 more of such prebends on their favourites. 

 Archbishop Nevill in 1474 collated and per- 

 sonally inducted Edmund Chaterton into the 

 Southwell prebend of South Muskham ; Chaterton 

 also held prebends of Beverley, Ripon, Lincoln, 

 St. Paul's, St. Stephen's Westminster, and 

 i Salisbury, and was also warden of Sibthorpe 

 College, rector of Calverton, Dean of Barking, and 

 Archdeacon of Chester, Salisbury, and Totnes. 



Henry Carnbull, collated by Archbishop 

 Rotherham in 1499 to the Southwell prebend of 

 Norwell Overhall, was also canon of York, 

 Beverley, and Lincoln, and fellow of the arch- 

 bishop's own foundation at Rotherham. 



William Clarburgh, collated by Archbishop 

 Wolsey in 1527 to the Southwell prebend of 

 Rampton, already held four other canonries, three 

 of them in this diocese, namely those of York, 

 Lincoln, Howden, and Hemingbrough. 



The work of this great collegiate establishment 

 had, however, to be in some sort fulfilled, both in 

 temporalities and spiritualities. As to the former 

 a somewhat unusual system of churchwardens, 

 beginning about the middle of the I3th century, 

 was gradually developed. They are spoken of in 

 1295 as 'wardens of the communia of the canons 

 and of the fabric of the church.' In 1302 it was 

 provided that no one bound to choir service was 

 to absent himself without leave from a canon 

 residentiary, or from the wardens of the chapter 

 if no canon was present. There is a provision 

 in an ordinance of 1329 that these two wardens 

 were to be elected annually at the audit next 

 after the feast of Trinity. The references to 

 these wardens of the commons are constant at 

 a later period. 95 



As to spiritualities, the Chantry Commissioners 

 stated that this collegiate church was ' atte the 

 firste cheffely founded for maintenaunce of Gods 

 worde and mynstringe of the most blessed sacra- 

 mentes and for to have all dyvine service there 

 dayleye songe and sayde.' It remained therefore 

 for the vicars choral to discharge these duties of 

 perpetual divine service, beginning in the early 

 hours of the morning, for which the canons were 

 originally appointed. 



94 Pat. 6 Hen. IV, pt. ii, m. 31. 

 15 Mim. liii-lv. 



The statutes, or ' Acts of Convocation of all 

 the brethren and canons of Southwell,' drawn up 

 in 1248, laid down many injunctions as to the 

 vicars. They were not to quarrel ; to have a 

 warden of their commons, elected by themselves, 

 who was to divide legacies and payments for 

 masses or obits among them ; incontinence was to 

 be canonically punished ; bad language or insults 

 in the church to be punished by two disciplines 

 (floggings) in chapter, or fine of 2*. ; like offences 

 outside the church, one flogging or u. or wearing 

 in the Sunday procession the old bulgewarium round 

 the neck ; fora third offence, expulsion ; to attend 

 all the hours, especially mattins, with is. fine for 

 absence ; readers in quire to read over lessons 

 beforehand, ridiculous reading to be punished by 

 discipline in chapter ; tavern and play haunters to 

 be suspended ; and fines for missing hours to be 

 handed to the commons warden for division 

 among the other vicars. 96 



In 1379 a part of the eastern side of the 

 churchyard was assigned as the site of the vicars' 

 hall and common mansion, the site of the present 

 vicars' court, in succession to a predecessor at some 

 little distance, which was much out of repair. 

 Canon Richard de Chesterfield, who built this 

 house, was also a benefactor to the vicars in 1392 

 by a grant of property. 97 



In March 1439 Henry VI granted to South- 

 well chapter the alien priory of Ravendale, 

 Lincolnshire, of the clear yearly value of 14, 

 with all its advowsons and profits. The reason 

 alleged for this grant was that the Archbishop of 

 York had shown to the king that the revenues 

 of the collegiate church had decreased ; so 

 that of the canons, vicars, chaplains, chanters, 

 deacons, sub-deacons, choristers and other minis- 

 ters there to the number of 60 persons, only 

 a few of the chaplains could live on the portions 

 assigned them, and that the residue to the number 

 of about forty persons of the lower grades of the 

 ministry were about to leave the church for lack 

 of sustenance. 98 



The chantry priests of this church formed 

 another important body, whose special function 

 here as elsewhere was to pray for the souls of 

 their founder or founders and their relations and 

 benefactors. Several, however, of their number 

 also served chantries and acted as assistant chap- 

 lains to the prebendal churches and their chapels 

 of ease round Southwell. One of their number 

 was also usher of the grammar school. Eight of 

 these chantries were founded in the collegiate 

 church of Southwell in the 1 3th century; the 

 number was eventually increased to thirteen. By 

 the statutes of 1248 they were brought under 

 the same discipline as the vicars choral. When 

 Canon Thomas Haxey founded a chantry in 



96 These statutes are set forth at length in Mem. 

 205-9. 



97 Liber Albus, 443. 



93 Pat. 17 Hen. VI, pt. i, m. 2. 



159 



