RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



In the year 1150, Dean Hilary (who had 

 been consecrated Bishop of Chichester in 

 1142), in conjunction with the Bishop of 

 Winchester, petitioned Richard de Redvers 

 to turn the house into a priory of canons 

 regular of St. Austin. With the sanction of 

 Baldwin, Earl of Devon, Richard's father, 

 this was accomplished. 1 Reginald was placed 

 at its head as the first prior, and the house 

 was termed Christchurch. It was arranged 

 that the secular canons should receive their 

 prebends for life, subject to good conduct and 

 obedience to the prior. Those in charge of 

 churches or chapels pertaining to the priory 

 were not to be disturbed in their benefices ; 

 on their death no hereditary claim of parents 

 or others was to be admitted, but the canons 

 were to provide for the due service of the 

 churches. On their establishment as a priory 

 further charters were granted both by Baldwin 

 and Richard de Redvers.* 



Reginald ruled as first prior of Christchurch 

 for thirty-six years. Ralph, second prior, 

 was elected in 1186 ; he died in 1195, and 

 was buried in the chapter-house. 



The date of the consecration of the high 

 altar and the altar of St. Stephen gives the 

 time of the completion of the quire of the 

 great church. On 29 December, 1195, the 

 altar of the Saviour, the high altar of the 

 canons, was dedicated by Rainald, Bishop of 

 Ross, 3 in which altar there were deposited 

 the following relics : fragments from the 

 place in which our Lord was born, from the 

 manger in which He was placed and of His 

 cradle, from the place where His feet stood, 

 from Gethsemane and from the place of 

 lamentation ; also parts of the cloth in 

 which the cross of Christ was wrapped, and 

 parts of His sepulchre. 



On the same day and year the same bishop 

 dedicated the altar of St. Stephen. The re- 

 lics that were placed in this altar were 

 bones of Saints Stephen, Lawrence, Victor, 

 Blasius, Hypolytus, and part of the hair shirt, 

 of the sandals and the cowl of St. Thomas 

 of Canterbury. 4 



It would appear, from the date of altar 

 dedications, that the building of the nave of 

 the great church was not finished until about 

 1234- 



1 Cott. MS. Tib. D. vi. pt. i. f. 1 3b. 



2 There are two lists of the twenty-six priors 

 of this house given in the chartulary, pt. ii. ff. 

 3b, I34b. Dugdale's Monasticon, vi. 302, only 

 gives eight. 



3 Rainald or Reginald, Bishop of Ross, was con- 

 secrated 119; and died 1215. 



4 Cott. MS. Tib. D. vi. pt. ii. f. 149^ 



On 12 November, 1214, the altar of the 

 Holy Trinity, which was the parochial altar 

 in the nave, was dedicated by Walter, Bishop 

 of Whitherne (120925). The relics placed 

 in the altar included parts of the manger, the 

 sepulchre and the table of our Lord. On the 

 same day the same bishop also dedicated the 

 altar of the apostles Peter and Paul. The 

 relics included bones of both those saints, and 

 of St. Bartholomew and the Holy Innocents. 

 At the same time a third altar was dedicated 

 to the honour of St. Augustine. The relics 

 enclosed were some of the hair of St. Bernard, 

 some of the bones of St. Columba, part of 

 the girdle of St. Peter, part of the wood of 

 St. Martial, and part of the girdle of 

 St. Malachy. On 7 December of the same 

 year an altar was dedicated by the same 

 bishop to the honour of St. John Baptist. 

 The relics placed therein were exceedingly 

 numerous, and included parts of the vesture 

 and robe of our Lord ; part of the vestments 

 of the blessed Virgin ; bones of St. John 

 Baptist and of Sts. Peter and Paul ; some of 

 the blood of St. Stephen ; bones of Sts. 

 Lawrence, Blasius, Victor, Vincent, Alban, 

 Hippolytus, Polycarp, Urban, Chrysogonus, 

 and Holy Innocents ; bones of the martyrs 

 and confessors, Martin, Julian, Simplicius, 

 and Joseph of Arimathea ; some of the oil 

 of St. Nicholas, monk of Rome ; and bones 

 of the virgin saints, Agnes, Alice, Lucy, 

 Julianna, Perpetua, Margaret, Agatha, Barbara, 

 Beatrice and Martha. On the same day and 

 year the same bishop dedicated a third altar 

 to the honour of St. Edmund, placing therein 

 some bones of Sts. Peter, Lawrence, Blasius, 

 Hippolytus and King Oswald. 5 



In 1221, Nicholas, Bishop of the Isles, 6 

 dedicated an altar to the honour of St. Michael 

 the Archangel. The relics were remarkably 

 numerous, and included portions of the manger 

 and cradle of our Lord, and of the stone upon 

 which our Lord stood when speaking in the 

 Temple ; fragments from Gethsemane, from 

 the Sepulchre and from Mount Sion ; part of 

 the vesture of the blessed Virgin ; some of 

 the bones of St. Columba; parts of the chasuble 

 and altar-pall of St. Remigius, and part of 

 the shroud in which he rested 400 years; and 

 a piece of the sepulchre of St. Anne, the 

 mother of the Virgin. 



At the same time Bishop Nicholas dedi- 



5 Ibid. vi. f. I49b. 



6 ' Episcopo Insu/ari.' Possibly this was Nicholas 

 of Meaux, Abbot of Furness, Bishop of the Isle of 

 Man ; see Stubbs' Rfgistrum Sacrum Anglicanum, 

 pp. 210-1 (2nd edit.). 



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