ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



1280 by Sir Nicholas Hastyng, knt. ;^ a free chapel dedicated to the honour 

 of the Virgin was founded at Roydon in 1282 by Sir Matthew de Morley, 

 knt.;^ and a free chapel and chantry dedicated to the honour of St. Mary 

 the Virgin and All Saints was founded by Sir John de Thorp, knt., at 

 Ashwellthorpe, in 1311.^ These are among the earliest foundations, but 

 later many more were founded, until, in the year 1535, the number of 

 chantries and free chapels in existence in Norfolk,* distinct from those in 

 parish churches, was 138 ; while the annuities granted to retired chantry 

 priests and incumbents of free chapels and chantries in Norfolk in 1553 

 amounted to jCs^^ oj-. i \d} 



The Calendar of Papal Petitions^ for 1355 records the grant of a licence 

 to Thomas, bishop- elect of Norwich, sub-deacon, to be ordained deacon and 

 priest, and to be consecrated by any Catholic bishop. This was Thomas 

 Percy, brother of Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, and then only twenty- 

 two years of age, preferred to the bishopric by the pope in deference to the 

 wishes of Henry, duke of Lancaster, though the monks could not be persuaded 

 to elect him.^ When first appointed he was not in England, so the adminis- 

 tration of his diocese fell to his suffragan, Thomas, titular bishop of Nazareth.' 

 Thomas Percy was consecrated 3 January, 1356, and died at his manor of Bloheld 

 8 August, 1369, when little more than thirty-five. Contrary to what might 

 have been expected, the young bishop seems not to have frequented the 

 court, and to have seldom left his diocese. As he was a graduate of Oxford 

 he can have been no unlettered ecclesiastic, and probably his kinsman's 

 anxiety to obtain the bishopric for him shows that he considered him 

 unfitted for the life of a layman. In 1361, the year of the second great 

 pestilence, which, however, seems to have affected Norfolk but slightly, a 

 hurricane blew down the cathedral tower,' and the bishop contributed largely 

 to its restoration. For the year before his death a record is in existence of 

 very remarkable value for the account it gives of the churches in the arch- 

 deaconry of Norwich. It is a visitation^" and registry of church ornaments in 

 the archdeaconry, and it gives the value of every benefice, with a list of the 

 ornaments and books of the church, and in many cases the names of the 

 donors. Fifteen churches are included in the deanery of Thetford, and its 

 list of churches in Norwich mentions some which were already ruinous or 

 united to other churches." But its interest lies less in its enumeration of 

 benefices in each deanery and their values, than in the picture it affords of 

 church ritual and adornment at the time. It has been shown that if the 

 character of the Norfolk clergy sometimes reflected that of the rough and 

 violent times in which they lived, they were often men of education and 

 standing, and this register makes it clear with what generosity Norfolk people 

 contributed to the decoration of their many beautiful churches, and how 

 sumptuous was the ceremonial maintained in them. 



^ Tiylor, Ini/(x Monastkus, 67. 'Ibid. Mbid. * Ibid. App. 127. 



» Ibid. ' i, 276- 



' Goulburn, Hist, of Norwich Cathedral, 439. ' Stubbs, Reg. Sacr. Anglic. 



' Cal. Papal Petitions, i, 418. This calendar also contains many grants of indulgences to those who helped 

 to restore other Norfolk churches at this time. 



'° Excheq. Misc. Bis. K. R. xxx, P.R.O. ; Norf. Arch, v, 89. 



" This work mentions 19 churches in the deanery of Taverham ; 36 in that of Blofeld ; 2; in Flegg ; 

 40 in Ingworth ; 3 I in Sparham ; 31 in Holt ; 20 in Walsingham ; 11 in Toftcs ; 36 in Brisley ; 56 in 

 Lynn ; 1 6 in Breccias ; and I 5 in Thetford. 



243 



