RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



of Henry I., the founder of the priory, and 

 Maud his queen, for the souls of themselves 

 and their successors : by ordination of William 

 Strickland, Bishop of Carlisle, for the celebra- 

 tion of a solemn obit for himself annually and 

 for priests celebrating for his soul : by ordi- 

 nation of Bishop Marmaduke Lumley, for a 

 wax candle to be continually burning before 

 the most venerable sacrament of the Eucharist 

 in their church for ever : by ordination of 

 Bishop Gilbert Welton for a solemn obit 

 celebrated for him and for priests celebrating 

 annually : by ordination of Edward IV. given 

 to three bedells annually : by ordination of 

 the same king to priests celebrating for the 

 souls of himself, Elizabeth his consort, and 

 all his successors 1 : and by ordination of Sir 

 Gilbert Ogle, lord of Ogle, 3 for an annual 

 obit. Of the monastic houses in the county, 

 the priory of Carlisle ranked after the abbey 

 of Holmcultram in point of revenues. These 

 two houses, having incomes of more than 

 200 a year, were reckoned among the greater 

 monasteries, and thus escaped the first dissolu- 

 tion. 



After the canons had obtained the privilege 

 of electing their own superiors, they usually 

 made choice of one of their body to fill the 

 office. Almost all the priors of Carlisle were 

 north-country men ; several of them, like 

 Adam de Warthwyk, William de Dalston, 

 Thomas de Hoton, Simon Senhouse, and 

 Lancelot Salkeld, are known to have belonged 

 to families of distinction in Cumberland. As 

 the election of the bishop was vested in the 

 chapter, the way was open for a canon of 

 Carlisle to obtain the highest ecclesiastical 

 position. Perhaps it is to this consideration 

 that we owe the social status of the families 

 from which the priors of Carlisle were re- 



of the soul of King John and W., father of the 

 bishop, he gave to the priory all his holding in 

 ' Old Salkhil,' in free alms, for the support of two 

 regular canons, one to celebrate mass for the soul 

 of Henry III. and the other to do likewise for the 

 said bishop and his successors (Chart. R. 14 Hen. 

 III. pt. ii. m. 7). 



1 The revenues of the hospital of St. Nicholas 

 by Carlisle were granted to the priory and convent 

 in 1477 by Edward IV., on the condition that 

 they should find a canon priest, to be called the 

 king's chaplain, to celebrate masses and other 

 divine services in the monastery for the good 

 estate of the king, and his consort Elizabeth, and 

 their children, and for their souls after death (Pat. 

 17 Edw. IV. pt. i. m. 1 6). 



' Sir Robert Ogle and Isabel his wife gave land 

 in Thursby with the advowson and patronage of 

 the church to the prior and canons regular of 

 Carlisle in 1468 (Pat. 8 Edw. IV. pt. i. m. 23). 



cruited. In the neighbouring priory of Laner- 

 cost, a house of the same religious order, no 

 such family distinction is observable. It is 

 scarcely necessary to suggest that some of the 

 bishops, like Halton, Kirkby and Appleby, 

 had been previously members of the cathedral 

 chapter. Had the choice of the canons been 

 always unfettered and had their elections been 

 uncontrolled by the political necessities of the 

 Crown or the growing arrogance of the papacy, 

 the number of bishops of Carlisle trained in 

 their own house would have been much 

 greater. It amounted almost to a scandal 

 that Prior John de Horncastle, who had been 

 elected bishop by the chapter in 1352 and 

 confirmed by the king, should have been 

 ousted from the bishopric by a papal intrigue 

 before his consecration. In other ways also 

 preferment was open to the canons. In 

 1273 Geoffrey de Stok, canon of Carlisle, was 

 appointed abbot of St. Patrick's, Saul, on the 

 nomination of the Bishop of Down, with the 

 counsel and consent of the king's lieutenant 

 in Ireland. 8 



The priors of Carlisle were frequently em- 

 ployed in secular affairs as the occasions of 

 state demanded. In the great controversy 

 about the hereditary claims of the royal line 

 of Scotland over the northern counties, the 

 prior was appointed one of the king's assessors 

 in 1242, for the purpose of assigning 60 

 librates of land in Cumberland to King Alex- 

 ander towards a settlement, with instructions 

 to return the ' extent ' in writing under his 

 seal that the king might know of what the 

 allotments consisted.* It is not necessary to 

 pass in review the various posts of trust they 

 were called upon to fulfil from time to time 

 in the civil administration of the district. 

 The prior of Carlisle was found a convenient 

 coadjutor or substitute for the sheriff, either 

 as paymaster or overseer of the various re- 

 pairs and alterations required in maintaining 

 the fortifications of an important frontier 

 town. 5 In 1524 a commission was issued 

 to Thomas Lord Dacre, the prior of Carlisle, 

 Sir Christopher Moresby and Richard Salkeld 

 to settle disputes which had arisen between the 

 subjects of the two kingdoms relative to the 

 fishgarths of the river Esk. 8 Up to the very 

 last the priors of Carlisle were found useful 

 agents in forwarding the civil and philanthropic 

 interests of the community. 



Pat. i Edw. I. m. 4. 



Ibid. 26 Hen. III. m. 7d. 



* Close, 10 Edw. II. m. 25 ; 7 Edw. III. 

 pt. i. m. II ; 12 Edw. III. pt. ii. m. 19 ; Pat. 

 2 Ric. II. pt. ii. m. 8 ; 4 Ric. II. pt. i. m. 26. 



B.M. Cott. MS. Caligula, B. v. 69. 



141 



