A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



of the sees of both Canterbury and Win- 

 chester. The abbess stated that the statutory 

 number of nuns was forty, that they did not 

 take their meals in the frater but in certain 

 rooms assigned them by the abbess, that there 

 were no debts and no valuables pledged, that 

 there was a secular chaplain in the monastery 

 according to their statutes. Isabel Maryuleyn, 

 prioress, testified to the due observance of the 

 night and day offices; that the abbess was 

 very remiss in correcting the delinquencies of 

 the sisters. Cecily Reed, sub-prioress, had 

 but little to say. Joan Skelyng stated that 

 the abbess was wont to pay certain salaries to 

 the nuns of IOJ. or 6s. 8d.; that a great 

 scandal had arisen concerning the abbess and 

 Master Bryce super mala et suspecta conversa- 

 tion ; that lately, at the instigation of Master 

 Bryce, the abbess had been negligent in cor- 

 recting the sisters. Joan Paten, precentor, 

 said that tenements in the town of Romsey 

 belonging to the monastery were in decay 

 through the fault of the abbess; that since 

 the coming of Master Bryce the abbess had 

 conducted herself badly towards the sisters, 

 and that she would accept no one's advice 

 but his ; that since his coming she had not 

 taken her meals with the nuns, and that there 

 were rumours of incontinence. Thomasine 

 Ashley, almoner, stated that the bread had 

 diminished in quantity; that one Gilbert de 

 Wilshire had certain letters pertaining to the 

 convent under the common seal without the 

 consent of the chapter ; that the abbess and 

 her accomplices had broken open the chest in 

 which the common seal was enclosed, and 

 that Joyce Rowse, who had the custody of 

 one key by the mandate of the late Bishop of 

 Winchester, could testify to this. Edith 

 Holloway, cellarer, said that Mary Tystede 

 and Agnes Harvey wore their hair long. 

 Anne Rowse, sacrist, said that the abbess was 

 somewhat remiss in correction, and made 

 further charges of a pecuniary character 

 against Master Bryce. Joyce Rowse agreed 

 with Thomasine Ashley as to the custody of 

 the common seal and the dismissal of the 

 holders of the keys ; she further said that 

 the abbess under the influence of Master 

 Bryce behaved cruelly towards her sisters and 

 that there was a great scandal about them ; 

 that the roof of the chancel was defective 

 through the fault of the abbess, and she gave 

 particulars asto various defalcations in the priory 

 accounts. Maria Fystede, cantatrix, referred 

 to the condition of the accounts in the time 

 of the late abbess Joan Brygges, and said that 

 rents which were then only 90 marks under 

 the present abbess had grown to 300 marks ; 

 but that the bread and cheese in the convent 



had lessened in measure through the interven- 

 tion of Master Bryce; that Bryce was sus- 

 pected of being the father of a girl in Wilt- 

 shire ; that houses in the town as well as the 

 dorter and the chancel were in decay through 

 the fault of the abbess, and that Master 

 Bryce kept two or three horses at the expense 

 of the monastery; that he had obtained a 

 large salary under the common seal as chap- 

 lain of the farmery, and that he sat at table 

 with the abbess and that there was common 

 scandal about them. Ellen Tawke, third 

 cantatrix, testified that the dorter and chancel 

 were defective in their roofs ; that the abbess 

 had been in that office for thirty years, but 

 what gain she had brought the monastery she 

 was ignorant, but rather believed that the 

 annual rents had increased to 1 1 1 marks from 

 50 ; that the houses of the monastery were in 

 decay through the fault of Master Bryce, 

 whose advice was followed by the abbess, and 

 that scandal had arisen about them. Christine 

 More, fourth cantatrix, said that the house 

 was not in debt more than twenty marks, and 

 that as for the rest it was omnia bene. Avice 

 Haynow said that the chancel and the dorter 

 were in decay, so that if it happened to rain 

 the nuns were unable to remain either in 

 quire, in the time of the divine service, or in 

 their beds, and that the funds that the abbess 

 ought to have expended on these matters were 

 being squandered on Master Bryce, and that 

 there was a grave scandal about these two. 

 Agnes Harvey, sub-sacrist, made similar state- 

 ments as to the roofs of thg quire and dorter, 

 and that the actual fabric of the monastery in 

 the stone walls was going to decay through the 

 fault of the abbess, and gave further particu- 

 lars of the expenses incurred through Master 

 Bryce. She also asserted that Emma Powes 

 was guilty of incontinence with the vicar of 

 the parish church. Emma Powes, who had 

 been professed in a certain priory near Derby, 

 and from that place had been removed to 

 another priory in Hereford diocese, where she 

 had been prioress, and thence had come to 

 this house, said that silence was not observed 

 in the dorter, and that the roof of the quire 

 and the lady chapel were in decay. Alice 

 Whytingstale, mistress of the school, said that 

 the abbess at various times had prohibited her 

 from receiving the Eucharist and from making 

 her usual confession, and that since the arrival 

 of Master Bryce the abbess had not conducted 

 herself amicably towards her sisters. She also 

 gave evidence as to the faulty roofs, and that 

 a corrody had been granted to Master Bryce 

 of the annual value of 20, and that he had 

 caused a great scandal. The testimony of 

 six other nuns were also set forth of a brief 



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