A HISTORY OF NOTTINGHAMSHIRE 



compline if not hindered of necessity ; (3) regu- 

 larly to obey the warden or master ; (4) the 

 warden, if he has anything of his own, to con- 

 vert it to the benefit of the house ; (5) all to 

 wear the like habit, and to take their meals to- 

 gether in silence, or speaking low if forced to 

 speak, and only to eat meat on Sundays, Tues- 

 days, and Thursdays, save by licence of the 

 warden ; (6) to occupy one dormitory, clothed in 

 breeches and shirts, or in the garment used in- 

 stead of a shirt, and to observe silence in the 

 dormitory until after the first Cantate ; (7) to be 

 chaste and sober, not to drink in borough or 

 suburbs, and faithfully to employ the goods of the 

 house and alms given to the necessities of the 

 poor and infirm ; (8) to wear a regular habit of 

 russet or black cloth, and to assemble in the 

 chapter-house at least once a week ; (9) all ex- 

 cesses to be regulated by the warden ; (10) no 

 brethren nor sisters admitted but such as are 

 necessary to serve the infirm and keep the goods 

 of the house; (n) no brother to go into the 

 town or elsewhere, save by leave of the warden ; 

 (12) the sisters to observe the same things ap- 

 pointed for the brethren ; (13) the lay brethren 

 and sisters at the beginning of mattins to say 

 the Creed and Our Father, so that twenty-five 

 Our Fathers be said, and seven at prime, terce, 

 sext and nones and compline, but fifteen at 

 evensong, and after the compline another Our 

 Father and Creed 5(14) one hundred other Our 

 Fathers to be said every week, for the brethren 

 and sisters dead and living, and also for the bene- 

 factors of the house. 110 



A considerable variety of minor grants to the 

 hospital made about the middle of the 1 3th 

 century, chiefly in Nottingham or its immediate 

 vicinity, are cited in the Records, as well as two 

 more substantial grants of lands at Kirkby in 

 Ashfield. 111 



Archbishop Wickwane issued his mandate at 

 the close of 1279 to h e Dean of Nottingham to 

 compel the vicar of St. Mary's to replace the 

 goods of this hospital, which he had, as it was 

 alleged, transferred from thence, and to make 

 restitution without any delay ; provided that the 

 hospital is in as good or better state as it used to 

 be, and that it is capable of having custody of 

 them. 112 



In the following March the care and custody 

 of the hospital of St. John was committed by 

 the archbishop to Robert, vicar of Retford. 113 



In 1286 Edward I granted the wardenship of 



110 These statutes appear in York Epis. Reg. Green- 

 field, fol. 171, and they are transcribed in Dugdale, 

 Mm. vi, 679-70. They are also set forth in full in 

 the Bar. Rec. (i, 29-33), where they are followed 

 by an office for the admission of the brethren, which 

 is beautifully worded in solemn terms. 



111 Nott. Bar. Rec. i, 36-46. 



111 York Epis. Reg. Wickwane, fol. 13 d. 

 "'Ibid. fol. 121. 



this hospital for life to Alan de Salopia, king's 

 clerk, the king claiming the presentation on 

 account of the voidance of the see of York. 114 



On 29 September 1289 Archbishop Romayne 

 appointed Thomas de Cancia, his priest, master 

 of St. John's Hospital, Nottingham, with all its 

 burdens and rights both temporal and spiritual, 

 in full confidence that he would deal faithfully 

 with the poor and with the goods of the house. 

 He was to have power to dispose of goods 

 acquired within three years. But afterwards, if 

 it should happen that he resigned or left, he must 

 leave seed for the hospital lands and oxen for the 

 ploughs. 115 



A commission was issued by the archbishop in 

 January 1289-90 to the Dean of Nottingham 

 and to the diocesan sequestrator, on behalf of 

 Thomas de Cancia, master of St. John's Hos- 

 pital, about goods taken from that house. John 

 le Palmer, executor of the will of Lord Hugh 

 de Stapleford, deceased, deposed that Hugh when 

 living had deprived the hospital of certain houses 

 and inflicted other damages ; and Thomas de 

 Rempeston owned to having wronged the hos- 

 pital of meadow hay during two years, and made 

 submission. Restitution was ordered to be 

 made. 116 



In 1304 Edward I granted the life warden- 

 ship of his hospital to Robert de Sutton, king's 

 clerk, owing to the voidance of the see of York. 117 



In 1310 Archbishop Greenfield wrote to 

 Robert de Elton, master of the hospital, to make 

 provision for Nicholas de Danelby, who enjoyed 

 a place in that hospital, having been commended 

 to Thomas de Cancia, the late master, by Arch- 

 bishop Corbridge. 118 



There was a great decline in the life and work 

 of this hospital about the beginning of the 1 4th 

 century, a condition of things from which it 

 never recovered, chiefly owing to the laxity and 

 non-residence of the masters or wardens. 



In 1325 Archbishop William de Melton 

 issued a severe mandate to Matthew de Halifax, 

 rebuking him for living alone in the hospital, and 

 ordering him to take one or two fit brethren, as 

 the means of the hospital permitted, to live with 

 him, all wearing a decent habit, such as used to 

 be worn in times past ; rendering prayers to the 

 Highest daily and nightly, and devoting the 

 whole of their lives to the Saviour of all. A 

 commission of inquiry then instituted reported 

 that the master or warden was originally appointed 

 by the community, or burgesses, of Nottingham ; 

 but that Archbishop Giffard happening to be at 

 the castle of Nottingham 118a during a voidance, 

 when there was great dissension between the 



"'Pat. 14 Edw. I, m. 19. 

 114 York Epis. Reg. Romanus, fol. 75. 

 116 Ibid. fol. 75 d. m Pat. 32 Edw. I, m. 2. 



18 Harl. MS. 6970, fol. 236. 



1181 The archbishop's register shows that he was at 

 Nottingham on several occasions in the winter of 1 270. 



170 



