ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



the archbishop, coming through the Bishop of London as dean of the 

 province ; and thirdly, the bishop had power to enjoin such prayers 

 ipso motu on his own clergy. 



The first instance in Wykeham's episcopate was the issuing of his 

 own mandate on 20 September, 1368, for prayer for the soul of Blanche, 

 Duchess of Lancaster. The mandate begins with a phrase from the 

 Apocrypha that ' it was an holy and good thought to pray for the 

 dead.' 1 In December of the same year a privy seal was issued for 

 prayers for the soul of Lionel, Duke of Clarence. Queen Philippa died 

 at Windsor on 15 August, 1369, and Wykeham (without waiting for 

 any orders) issued on the following day his mandate to the two arch- 

 deacons and to the prior of Winchester for solemn masses for her soul 

 on the day of her burial and on the following day. The mandate is 

 couched in terms of the greatest grief at her loss and of the most tender 

 affection for his queen, of whom he writes with profound esteem, parti- 

 cularly for her humility and her personal devotion to the poor. In 

 February, 1393, Wykeham, at the request of Archbishop Courtenay, 

 ordered prayers for the soul of the Countess of Devon, the archbishop's 

 mother. On 22 June, 1394, the bishop ordered prayers for the soul of 

 Queen Anne of Bohemia, reciting the privy seal of 1 3 June to that effect, 

 but giving utterance to no opinion of his own with regard to the first 

 wife of Richard II. 



The defeat and disaster which the English experienced between 1370 

 and 1375 in the French wars caused the issue of many commands for 

 masses, litanies and other devout prayers for peace, and in favour of 

 particular expeditions of the king and his sons. Six of these were 

 issued in Winchester diocese. The most noteworthy was that sent forth 

 by Wykeham on 30 May, 1375, ' at a time of shame and suffering such 

 as England had never known.' 2 The bishop recited the king's writ, but 

 went at length into the matter, making special reference to the defeat off 

 Rochelle, and to the nation's need of a spirit of humility and devotion. 

 Solemn processions were ordered for Wednesdays and Fridays. 



In connection with the accession of Richard II. special prayers 

 were asked for his guidance and protection by writ of i July, 1 377, and 

 the Bishop of Winchester's mandate for the same was dated 6 July. 

 On 12 April, 1380, prayers were ordered on Wednesdays and Fridays in 

 connection with the king's expedition to France. When Richard II. 's 

 queen came from Bohemia in January, 1382, no sooner had she set foot 

 on our shores than a fearful storm arose, and her ship, with many others, 

 was dashed to pieces in the harbour. 



From that time onward for some months the weather was most 

 tempestuous, and the plague broke out. On 30 May the archbishop 

 enjoined prayers on the whole province for fair weather, peace and 

 preservation from pestilence. Three special collects were issued for use 

 at mass, which are transcribed in Wykeham's register. When the king 



1 2 Maccabees xii. 45. * Green's History of the EngKsh People, v. 2. 



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