DURING THE FIFTEENTH AND SIXTEENTH CENTURIES. 125 



or the chief magistrates of cities and towns, under a penalty 

 of ^lo 1 . The property possessed by these institutions was 

 considerable enough to stimulate the rapacity of Henry the 

 Eighth, who in the last year of his reign procured a statute, 

 the width of which included every foundation in the kingdom, 

 from the Universities and Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge to 

 the poorest charity which gave occupation to a priest and bread 

 to a broken-down artisan. He died before this last act of rapine 

 could be perpetrated, and the guild lands were devoured by 

 Edward's guardians. The Universities and Colleges and a 

 few of the schools escaped, but the benefit funds of the guilds 

 were appropriated, except in the city of London, which the 

 Court it seems dared not touch, for history proved that it was 

 dangerous to drive the city to extremities. 



New College, Oxford, possessed a considerable amount of 

 house property in this city. I have printed one among the 

 many accounts of the Oxford estate, as an illustration of the 

 value which such property was to the possessor, and of the 

 charges on it. It will be seen that the rents of assize 

 amount to 58 is. \d.> and that the sum paid by the tenant 

 was liable to increase, in case money were expended on 

 the building and any person were willing to pay an enhanced 

 rent. 



These gross receipts are subject to heavy deductions. The 

 College is liable to payments amounting to 1 2 us. 7<^., these 

 being probably fixed or fee farm rents issuing out of the free- 

 holds which the College had purchased. It will be seen that 

 most of these are payable to the heads of monastic establish- 

 ments ; as the prior of Merton, the abbot of Osney, the abbot 

 of Eynsham, the prioress of Studley, and the prior of St. 

 Frideswide in Oxford. One payment made to Sir John 



1 In Heath's account of the Grocers' Company, mention is made of a fine of 10 

 levied on two of the 'fellowship' for a breach of the following ordinance: 'It is 

 ordained by the common assent of this fraternity that no man of the fraternity take his 

 neighbour's house that is of the same fraternity, or enhance the rent against the will of 

 the said neighbour. Who that is found in the default shall pay at the time 10, that 

 is to weten 5 to the fraternity, and 5 to him that is thus p :t out of his house/ 



