A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



a bull from Martin V enabling him to do so, and 

 also to compensate the former possessors, and had 

 actually offered this compensation, and ' even 

 now, if they made humble application to the 

 king, they might receive it.' Needless to say 

 they did not apply and did not get it. But the 

 bulk of the property did revert to ' pious uses,' 

 and Eton and King's represents a large slice of 

 it. In 1437 Bekynton acted as king's secretary, 

 and in 1439 was formally appointed to that 

 office. In that year he accompanied Cardinal 

 Beaufort on an embassy to France. Immediately 

 after his return the foundation of Eton began. 

 The first step was the purchase of the rectory of 

 Eton in September 1440. Next month came, 

 as we saw, the formal foundation charter and the 

 conversion of the parish, into a collegiate, church. 

 So exact was the imitation of Wykeham's foun- 

 dation that as he had made a fellow of Merton, 

 then by far the greatest college in the university, 

 the first warden of his college at Winchester, so 

 resort was had to a fellow of the same college 

 for the first provost of Eton. This was Henry 

 Sever, fellow in 1419, and proctor of the univer- 

 sity in 1427. Eton writers have been somewhat 

 unkind to his memory, speaking of him as a 

 person of no importance. But he was one of 

 the great men of the day. A king's clerk, prob- 

 ably in Chancery, he already held a canonry in 

 Bridgnorth collegiate church from 1435, the 

 wardenship of Trinity College, or collegiate 

 church of Stratford on Avon from 1436, and a 

 canonry in the collegiate church of St. Stephen's, 

 Westminster, from 1438. Like Wolsey after- 

 wards, he was king's almoner. When he left 

 the provostship in 1442 it was to become Chan- 

 cellor of Oxford University, and in 1449 he was 

 Chancellor of St. Paul's and Dean of Bridgnorth. 

 In 1453 he became Warden of Merton, in which 

 capacity his benefactions were so extensive that 

 he was hailed as second founder. He died 6 July 

 1471 in possession of all these offices. 



Sir Edward Creasy has been severely rebuked 

 for calling him, in his Memorials of Eminent 

 Etonians, ' Dean of Westminster,' when West- 

 minster had an abbot, and no dean till a century 

 later. But it was not uncommon to speak of 

 the canons of the royal chapel or collegiate 

 church of St. Stephen, which afterwards became 

 the House of Commons, as canons of West- 

 minster, and the term Dean of Westminster 

 was therefore correct, if Sever had been dean, but 

 the list of deans does not seem to include his 

 name. 



There seems to be no possibility of ascertaining 

 when exactly the school itself began, and as only 

 two scholars are named in the first charter of 

 October 1440, it does not seem likely that the 

 school was then opened ; indeed, there were no 

 endowments then given to support it, nor any 

 buildings in which to hold it. The bull, in 

 exact imitation of a similar one given to Win- 



chester College, enabling the college to let its 

 lands to laymen, was given before there were 

 any lands to let. A large number of the papal 

 bulls obtained by Wykeham for Winchester 

 College related to the right of services in the 

 college chapel, burial in its cloisters, a belfry and 

 bells and retaining burial fees, &c., and were 

 unnecessary for Eton, which, inheriting the rights 

 of a parish church, numbered these among them. 

 Winchester had the usual building bull ; a bull 

 in the same form which afterwards so exercised 

 Luther, except that it granted only 100 days' 

 relaxation of penance and an indulgence of 40 

 years,not perpetual indulgence, to those who visited 

 the place and contributed to the buildings. On 

 28 May 1441 a similar bull was granted for 

 those visiting Eton and contributing to Eton on 

 the same terms as were given to those who on 

 the day of St. Peter ad Vincula, 1 August, visited 

 the church of St. Peter ad Vincula in Rome. It 

 is a disadvantage of this legislation by reference 

 that we do not know what those terms were. 

 We soon find Bekynton writing to press for 

 greater advantages, and on 9 May 1442 a 'plenary 

 indulgence ' was granted to those visiting Eton 

 on the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August) 

 and contributing. The contributions were, 

 however, to be divided between papal and royal 

 objects, viz. three-fourths for a crusade against 

 the Turks, one-fourth only to the king's college. 

 Moreover it was limited to the king's life. So 

 once again Bekynton had to ask for more, and 

 on 1 1 May 1444 the bull was made perpetual. 

 But the king's ideas continually enlarging, three 

 years later a further bull, 25 January 1446-7, 

 was obtained, giving seven years' and seven 

 Lents' indulgence to those who visited Eton on 

 any of the Virgin's feast days, and on St. Nicholas' 

 Day (6 December) or the Translation of Edward 

 the Confessor. 



As soon as the king had got his bull for found- 

 ing Eton, he founded his other college at Cam- 

 bridge, of a rector and 12 scholars, by patent of 

 12 February 14401, incorporating them as ' the 

 rector and scholars of the King's College of 

 St. Nicholas of Cambridge,' with William Mil- 

 lington as first rector, and John Kyrkeby and 

 William Haytclyffe, who seem to have been all 

 Yorkshiremen, as the first scholars or probationary 

 fellows. There was at first no organic connexion 

 between the two colleges, as there was between 

 Winchester and New College ; and if, as seems 

 likely, the influence of Chicheley was at first the 

 predominant influence in the foundation, it is 

 possible that none was intended. While in both 

 patents power was reserved to increase the num- 

 bers, no power was reserved to alter the founda- 

 tion. Moreover, it is probable that at this time the 

 prudence of his council prevailed, and Henry's 

 advisers had no intention of letting him emulate 

 the stupendous size of Wykeham's foundations 

 with their 70 scholars each, but made him con- 



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