RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



and St. Nicholas in 1235, 1298, 1314, 1349, 

 i3 6l > J 356, 1376, 1393, etc. 1 



On 2 November, 1214, King John granted 

 a charter of confirmation to the hospital just 

 recently built at Portsmouth in honour of the 

 Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin, the Holy 

 Cross, the Blessed Michael, and All Saints, for 

 the maintenance of Christ's poor. The gifts 

 confirmed were eleven messuages from different 

 donors in the town of Portsmouth, land at 

 Westwood in Portsmouth, the gift of the bur- 

 gesses ; and 1 5 shillings in rents. 3 



In 1224 and again in 1236 there were 

 further grants to this house under the title of 

 the hospital of St. Nicholas. 3 In 1229 pro- 

 vision was made that the privileges of God's 

 House should not interfere with those of the 

 parish church, and the former was bound to pay 

 5*. quarterly as a pension to the mother church. 4 

 In the reign of Henry III. and subsequently, 

 the head of this hospital was occasionally styled 

 prior, but more usually master or warden. 



In June, 1284, a quitclaim was granted to 

 the Bishop of Winchester of the hospital of 

 St. John Baptist, Portsmouth, whereof the king 

 had recently impleaded him. B 



The master and brethren of God's House 

 were accustomed to receive i$s. rent charge 

 from the tenants of the manor of Wymering 

 by the gift of the Earl of Albemarle. In 1285 

 John le Botillier exchanged his manor of Ring- 

 wood for that of Wymering, and no mention 

 was made of this charge to which he objected. 

 Whereupon the king, desiring that the gift 

 should be confirmed to God's House, granted 

 John le Botillier 15*. yearly at the exchequer 

 until he was provided with land to that yearly 

 value. 8 



Before this hospital ' for Christ's poor ' had 

 been in existence for a century, the usual gross 

 abuse of its funds, namely the providing largely 

 from its small income for an absentee head, 

 began to operate. In January, 1305, Pope 

 Clement V. granted dispensation to Robert de 

 Hartwedon, at the request of Hugh le Des- 

 pencer, whose clerk he was, to hold the recto- 

 ries of Dinton and Thingdon, as well as 

 another benefice, conjointly with the Ports- 

 mouth hospital of Domus Dei. 7 



1 Wright's Domus Del of Portsmouth (1873). 

 This is in the main an account of the garrison 

 chapel ; but it has a good historical introduction. 



3 Charter Roll, 16 John, pt. I, m. 6. 



3 Pat. 20 Hen. III. m. 120. 



4 Woodward's Hist, of Hants, iii. 334. 



5 Pat. 12 Edw. I. m. n. 



6 Ibid. 13 Edw. I. m. 14. John le Botillier 

 received this 151. from the exchequer until 1293, 

 when land in lieu was found for him ; Pat. 2 1 

 Edw. I. m. 5. T Cal. of Papal Letters, ii. 10. 



In 1306 the right of free warren over the 

 manors of Portsmouth, Fodrington and Fel- 

 dershey was granted to the hospital. 8 The 

 advowson of this hospital was granted to the 

 Bishops of Winchester in 1 3 1 6. 9 



In 1319 Ralph de Camoys obtained judg- 

 ment against Robert, the warden of the house 

 of St. Nicholas, Portsmouth, with respect to 

 the moiety of the manor of Lafham, which 

 had been assigned to the hospital in I299. 10 



A chantry was founded here in 1325, with 

 the assent of William de Harewedon, warden 

 of the house of St. Nicholas and the convent 

 of the same, and with the bishop's confirmation. 

 The founder was Joan, daughter and heir of 

 Alan Plokenet, and widow of Sir Henry de 

 Bohun. The chaplain was to be presented by 

 Joan and her heirs, and he was to say daily 

 mass for the founder, for Robert de Harewedon, 

 the late warden, and for William the present 

 one, and for their parents and friends. 11 In 

 1340 Thomas de Hatfield, the king's clerk, 

 obtained a grant for life from the Crown of the 

 hospital of St. John, Portsmouth. 12 



In 1342 Edmund Arundel, described as 

 brother of the Earl of Arundel and kinsman of 

 the king, petitioned the pope for reservation of 

 a canonry and prebend of Salisbury, notwith- 

 standing that he already held a prebend of York 

 and the wardenship of Portsmouth hospital. 

 The petition was at once granted. 13 On a 

 vacancy occurring in 1348, through Arundel's 

 death, the Bishop of Winchester, instead of 

 hastening to secure the advowson for some 

 resident administrator, at once petitioned the 

 pope for a dispensation to allow his nephew 

 John Edingdon, who, though a B.A., was 

 only in his eighteenth year, to hold the war- 

 denship of St. Nicholas, Portsmouth, in con- 

 junction with a prebend of Lincoln and the 

 rectory of Burghclere. The pope complied. 14 

 The pluralities that Bishop Edingdon so dis- 

 gracefully secured for his young nephew are 

 specially illustrated in this appointment. A 

 protest was raised at Portsmouth on the appoint- 

 ment to the hospital of John Edingdon, as 

 it was not considered, from the wording of the 



8 Charter Roll, 35 Edw. I. n. 8. 



9 Ibid. 10 Edw. II. n. 5. 



10 Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.) p. 334. 



11 Winton. Epis. Reg., Stratford, f. 14. The 

 Patent Rolls of a later date ( 1 3 3 1 ) show that William 

 de Harewedon was not only collated by the bishop 

 to this wardenship, but also to the church of Cron- 

 dale. 



12 Pat. 14 Edw. III. pt. i, m. 28. 



13 Cal. of Papal Petitions, i. 8 ; Cal. of Papal 

 Letters, iii. 8 1. 



14 Cal. of Papal Petitions, i. 144, 153 ; Cal. of 

 Papal Letters, iii. 274. 



207 



