A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



The ecclesiastical tenants included the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops 

 of Chichester, Exeter, and London, and thirty-six monastic establishments, of 

 which seventeen were situated outside the county. 



Exclusive of the archbishop's peculiars there were in the county 236 

 churches, the value of which ranged from i at Hardham to 53 6j. 8</., 

 which sum was attained by the rectories of Goring, East Grinstead, and 

 Rotherfield, those of Broadwater and Petworth reaching 46 1 3-f- 4^-, while 

 few others passed the limit of 20. The vicarages varied from 4 6s. Sd. 

 up to fi6 12 s - 4^-5 but the greater number were not above 6 13^. 4</. 

 In the archbishop's churches the range was still greater, the vicarage of Cliffe 

 being only 2 1 3*. 4^/., and the rectory of Mayfield 60, that of Tarring 

 66 13^. 4*/., and that of Pagham as much as 110. 



So rich a benefice as Pagham was almost inevitably destined to fall into 

 the hands of court favourites or members of the hierarchy ; accordingly it is 

 no surprise to find that in 1294 it was granted to Theobald brother of Henry, 

 count of Bar, 95 while later rectors were Gaucelin cardinal of St. Marcellinus 

 in 1318" and the cardinal bishop of Albano in 1337." At this latter date 

 the cardinal bishop of Tusculum held the living of East Grinstead with the 

 prebend of Fittleworth, and the cardinal of St. Lucy in Silice was precentor 

 of Chichester,' 8 which post he still held twenty years later," when West 

 Tarring was also in the hands of an alien, one John de Flisco. It was in 

 connexion with this church of Tarring that one of the most flagrant instances 

 of papal interference occurred. Tedisius de Camilla, a relative of the late Pope 

 Adrian and of the cardinal legate, Ottobon, was presented by the pope, in or 

 previous to 1275, to the churches ofWingham in Kent and Tarring, and was 

 at the same time dispensed from residence. 100 In 1281 Archbishop Peckham 

 being contumeliously refused admission to the collegiate church of Wolver- 

 hampton, of which Camilla was dean, deprived him of his deanery and 

 benefices ; the archbishop notes indignantly that although Camilla had held 

 the church of Tarring for seven years he did not know in what diocese it 

 was. After prolonged dispute the papal court decided, as might be expected, 

 in favour of its own protegee, and Camilla was confirmed in the possession of 

 his benefices ofWingham and Tarring in I286. 101 



Other instances of the bestowal of rich livings in Sussex upon aliens, 

 cardinals, and courtiers could easily be cited, and the prebends of the collegiate 

 churches of Chichester, South Mailing, Bosham, and Hastings appear to have 

 been regarded by the pope as existing solely for the augmentation of the 

 income of the Italian clergy. Benefices so held were, of course, put under 

 the management of a proctor or rector, upon whom the ill-feeling of the 

 parishioners appears to have been occasionally wreaked. Thus in 1283 the 

 farmer of Rotherfield church, under that notorious pluralist, Bogo de Clare, 

 was unable to render his accounts fully, as he had been assaulted by certain men 

 who had robbed him and destroyed his tallies ; los and in 1299 the proctor of 

 Theobald de Bar, rector of Pagham, complained that certain persons were 

 besieging the church and rectory buildings ' with banners displayed,' and would 

 not permit him, or his men, to have access thereto. 104 



" Pat. 27 Edw. I, m. 8 d. " Pat. 1 1 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 1 1 . 



"Close, n Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 24. "Ibid. "Chanc. Misc. bdle. 1 8, No. 3. 



l "Reg. Efts. Peckham (Rolls Ser.), i, 387. "" Cal. Pap. Let. i, 489. 



'" Mins. Accts. bdle. 1028, No. 7. 103 Pat. 27 Edw. I, m. 8 d. 



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