A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



gence and the bumptiousness (elacionem) of 

 Robert de Warthwyk his steward, the house 

 had an evil reputation in the neighbourhood ; 

 want of sympathy with his sick brethren ; 

 and making known the proceedings of the 

 daily chapter when the secrets of the order 

 were discussed, and scoffing at them in his 

 own chamber in the presence of the laity. 

 Unless these charges were forthwith remedied 

 and a reformation made without delay, the 

 bishop informed the prior that he should be 

 obliged to proceed against him according to 

 the insistance of the canons and to decree 

 against him what was just. 1 



A scandal of great magnitude convulsed 

 the diocese in 1385 when the patience of 

 Bishop Appleby was exhausted by the refusal 

 of Prior William de Dalston to accept his 

 judicial decision in some matters of debate 

 between the canons or to give him canonical 

 obedience. At last the bishop brought matters 

 to a crisis by excommunicating the prior and 

 ordering the parish priests of St. Mary's and St. 

 Cuthbert's to publish the sentence at the cele- 

 bration of mass. The city of Carlisle was 

 in an uproar. Many of its leading citizens 

 and clergy, espousing the cause of the prior, 

 entered the cathedral as well as the parish 

 churches at the head of an armed mob, and 

 snatching the bishop's letters from the hands 

 of the officiating priests carried them forcibly 

 away. The bishop threatened to put the 

 whole of the city under an interdict with the 

 exception of the castle and its chapel. 

 Charges of adultery against the prior were 

 raised in the controversy. The majority 

 of the canons implored the bishop to visit the 

 house ; the archbishop cited the prior and his 

 abettors for their disobedience ; the king 

 wrote deploring the scandal and asking for 

 particulars. The upshot of the unpleasant 

 business was that Prior Dalston was induced 

 to give obedience to the bishop's judgment 

 and to resign his office. 1 Perhaps no period 

 of equal length in the whole history of the 

 priory of Carlisle witnessed more exciting 

 scenes than the months of August and Sep- 

 tember 1385, while Bishop Appleby stood up 

 so resolutely for the maintenance of disci- 

 pline and order in his cathedral chapter in 

 spite of the threats and opposition of the 

 rulers and the mob of his cathedral city. 3 



i Carl. Epis. Reg., Halton, f. 43. 



Ibid. Appleby, ff. 34 8 -54> 357- 



* The declaration of obedience made by Prior 

 Dalston a fortnight before his resignation was as 

 follows : ' In Dei nomine amen. Ego, frater 

 Willelmus de Dalston, prior prioratus Karlioli, 

 ordinis sancti Augustini, ero fidelis et obedient 

 vobis, venerabili in Christo patri et domino meo, 



Though we have notice of the resignation 

 of several of the priors of Carlisle, only in 

 one instance have we found particulars of a 

 pension allotted to any of them out of the 

 revenues of the church. The exception occurs 

 i n the case of Adam de Warthwyk, who showed 

 such incompetence in administering the affairs 

 of the house. In 1304, three years after the 

 bishop's onslaught on his mismanagement, 

 the prior resigned of his own free will. The 

 reasons he alleged for taking this step do him 

 credit. He confessed that, broken with old 

 age and weakened in bodily senses, he was 

 quite unable to rule the priory any longer. 

 Bishop Halton, on his part, in assigning him 

 a pension, was not backward in complimen- 

 tary appreciation of the prior's long service to 

 the church. For forty years he had lived as 

 a canon regular under the rule (doctrina) of 

 St. Augustine in the venerable assembly of 

 the convent of his cathedral church, and for 

 twenty-one years and more he filled the 

 laborious office of prior in times of war and 

 troubles, and now, as he had stated, he was so 

 burdened with cares and stricken with age 

 that he was no longer able to remain. In 

 these circumstances the bishop determined, 

 with the unanimous vote of the chapter, to 

 make suitable provision for his comfort as 

 long as he lived. Among the particulars of 

 his pension may be mentioned the new 

 chamber which the prior had built for himself 

 and those who ministered to him daily ; 

 rations equal to three times those of an ordin- 

 ary canon according to the custom of the 

 priory ; the tithe sheaves of Langwathby 

 towards the expenses of his household, for as 

 he was the scion of a noble family in the 

 diocese, a provision in proportion to his 

 station and the hospitalities expected of him 

 should be made ; an allowance of twenty 

 marks yearly for his clothing ; one servant 

 and a boy to wait upon him ; and when he 

 went outside the precincts of the monastery 

 for a change of air (ob arts intemperiem), or for 

 recreation, or to visit the granges or manors 

 of the priory, or any of his friends within the 

 diocese, or for any lawful reason, the prior 

 and convent for the time being, under their 

 debt of obedience, were obliged to provide him 

 and his household with suitable means of 

 travelling.* 



The traditional relationship of the cathe- 

 dral as the chief temple of the diocese to the 



domino Thome, Dei gracia, Karliolensi episcopo, 

 et successoribus vestris canonice intrantibus, offici- 

 alibus et ministris, in canonicis et licitis mandatis. 

 Sic Deus me adiuvet et hec sancta Evangelia ' 

 (ibid. f. 353). 



Carl. Epis. Reg., Halton, f. 80. 



134 



