RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



for all comers. In this and in other respects 

 the monks of the cathedral priory of the 

 diocese maintained on the whole an excellent 

 character. The ideal number of monks at 

 which all the large Benedictine houses was 

 supposed to aim was seventy ; but this was 

 seldom attained. In 1325, as has been stated, 

 the roll reached to sixty-four ; but the priory 

 never recovered from the staggering blow of 

 the Black Death. The numbers, even under 

 the stirring episcopate of Bishop Wykeham, 

 did not exceed forty-six, and at his death 

 were only forty-two. Only once did they 

 subsequently rise, and that by a single figure, 

 the total in 1533 being forty-three. The 

 Obedientary Rolls show that the lowest 

 level was in 14956, when the numbers were 

 only twenty-nine. 



Dean Kitchin, in his introduction to the 

 Obedientary Rolls, makes a helpful division 

 of the monastic officials of St. Swithun's into 

 four groups, a division which applies broadly 

 speaking not only to other Benedictine houses, 

 but to most of the other religious orders: 



(a) Round the Prior (the most dignified per- 

 sonage, the bishop acting as abbot) were grouped 

 the Subprior, the third Prior, and the fourth 

 Prior, who all had definite claustral duties to fulfil. 

 This group was responsible for the general order 

 of the house. With these may be associated the 

 land Steward, who was not a monk, and who is 

 usually described as the prior's steward. 



(6) The second group was attached to the 

 church, and included the Sacrist and Subsacrist 

 who had charge of all material things pertaining 

 to the services ; the Chanter and Subchanter, who 

 were responsible for the actual conduct of divine 

 worship ; the Anniversarian, who had charge of 

 the obit days of benefactors ; and the Warden of 

 the Works, who looked after all repairs of the 

 church and other buildings. 



(c) The internal officers of the house were the 

 Receiver, to whom were paid the rents of the 

 several estates ; the Hordarian, who had charge of 

 the material resources of the convent supplying 

 the frater, etc., and also having charge of estates 

 and income specially assigned for such purposes ; 

 the Refectorian who received all the eatables, pass- 

 ing them on to the Kitchener ; the Chamberlain, 

 who had charge of the furniture ; the Cellarer who 

 looked after the beer and wine and took charge of 

 all the outbuildings and stables ; the Almoner 

 who distributed to the poor in kind and money ; 

 and the infirmarer, or physician monk in charge of 

 the farmery. 



(if) The fourth was a little group of officers 

 dealing with external affairs, as the Outer and 

 Inner Porters, and the Guestmaster. 



The extant Obedientary Rolls of St. 

 Swithun's are most numerous in connection 

 with the office of hordarian, of which there 

 are fifteen, and of the almoner, of which 



ii I 



there are thirty-two. The Diet Roll for 1492 

 describes precisely how the Winchester monks 

 fed at their two meals, apart from beer and 

 vegetables, which are not entered. On an 

 ordinary day, such as the Monday before 

 Christmas, they had on the table a dish of 

 marrow and grated bread, eggs, venison, beef, 

 mutton and calves' feet. On Christmas Day 

 they had in addition onion broth, the total 

 cost being IQJ. gd. against 8;. \d. of the 

 previous Monday. On a day of strict fast, 

 such as Friday in Passion week, they had salt 

 fish, figs and raisins, and rice. Another 

 interesting item is that the monk gardener of 

 St. Swithun's was bound to provide flowers to 

 deck the church at certain festivals, as well as 

 to find the apples for Advent and Lent con- 

 sumption. 



Bishop Fox visited St. Swithun's on 26 

 August, 1521, and subsequently (i February, 

 1521-2) issued a variety of injunctions that 

 tell of some disorder. The injunctions open 

 with blaming the chanter and subchanter for 

 lack of quire books, and that those in use were 

 torn (rupta) and out of repair. The most 

 interesting rebuke to the monks was that they 

 neglected to choose scholars to send to the 

 University of Oxford in accordance with the 

 Benedictine constitutions. 1 



The election of Henry Brook as prior in 

 the time of Bishop Fox is set forth with great 

 circumstance in his registers. Application for 

 licence to elect was made in December, 1524, 

 but the new prior was not installed until 7 

 March, I524~5. 2 



Dr. Hede, commissary of the prior of 

 Canterbury, during the vacancy of the sees of 

 both Canterbury and Winchester, visited St. 

 Swithun's on 27 February, 1500. 



In addition to Thomas Silkstede, the prior, 

 the following office holders were examined at 

 the visitation : Thomas Manhouse, sub-prior ; 

 John Dorsett, third prior ; John Pury, gar- 

 dener; Richard Aunstell, sacrist; Philip 

 Yong, almoner ; Thomas Cyan, hordarian ; 

 John Stonkton, master of the works ; Walter 

 Hyll, firmarius ; John Beste, hostilar ; John 

 Cerne, depositarius ; John Wodesun, warden of 

 Our Lady ; Peter Marlow, chanter ; Arnold 

 Gylbert, chamberlain ; John Westbury, cur- 

 tarian ; Henry Broke, fourth prior ; and Tym- 

 pany Alt, depositarius. Twelve others were 

 also examined, giving a total of twenty-nine 

 who appeared before the visitor. Of these three 

 were deacons, one a sub-deacon, and one an 

 acolyte. Two are simply entered as professed 

 of the order of St. Benedict, and were novices: 



1 Winton, Epis. Reg., Fox, iv. ff. 67, 

 1 Ibid. Fox, v. ff. 74-83. 



