RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



his own table. The vicars were also entitled to 

 three pence a week from the common fund and 

 two white loaves and one * cob ' loaf every day, 

 provided they were present at mattins before the 

 end of the last psalm. 39 Accordingly, when the 

 dean and chapter leased the ' communa ' in 

 1481, they stipulated 40 that the lessee should 

 provide daily 



sixty white loaves so leavened, cooked and well bolted 

 with the bolting-sieve called a ' coket ' as they have 

 been of old, and of clean, dry, pure wheat without 

 admixture of other grain, of which each loaf when 

 baked should be of at least the weight of 5 5 shillings, 

 and also thirty loaves called ' cobbes." 



The vicars choral were incorporated by charter 

 of 30 December, 1465,^ by which they were 

 given power to elect a principal and to possess a 

 common seal, and also to hold lands, further 

 licence to acquire lands to the value of 40 marks 

 being granted in I468. 42 By the statutes of 

 Bishop Sherborn, drawn up in 1534, the princi- 

 pal was ordered to preside in hall, and to see that 

 the vicars observed the statutes, reporting offenders 

 to the dean and chapter ; regulations of the usual 

 type for the maintenance of the decency and 

 dignity of the life of the cathedral community 

 were issued at the same time. 43 After the Reforma- 

 tion the vicars-choral were reduced to six or 

 seven, and since 1660 there have been only four, 

 each representing seven canons, and receiving 

 annually 2 165. 8^. 44 



Although the vicars were chosen largely for 

 their musical abilities, and formed the bulk of the 

 choir, there were also from an early period ten 

 boy choristers, and in 1481 there were twelve 

 such boys, of whom eight were to have high, 

 clear voices, the other four being bigger boys, 

 whose duty it was to carry the censers. 45 Eight 

 was apparently still their number in 1523, when 

 Bishop Sherborn made arrangements that on his 

 anniversary the chapter should provide the chor- 

 ister boys with eight glass cups filled with egg 

 and milk, coloured with saffron and sweetened 

 with sugar, with which in one hand and a little 

 loaf and a silver spoon in the other, they were to 

 go to his tomb, and having finished their savoury 

 mess, to say, ' May the soul of Bishop Robert, our 

 benefactor, and the souls of all the faithful dead, 

 by the mercy of God, rest in peace.' ** Worthy 

 Bishop Sherborn further augmented the musical 

 staff of the cathedral by founding four lay clerk- 

 ships, the holders of which were to have good 

 voices, and at least one to be a bass. 47 Mention 

 of organists is found in various accounts of the 



33 Arch, xlv, 179-89. 40 Swainson, No. 1 8 8. 



41 Pat. $ Edw. IV, pt. i, m. 24. 



41 Pat. 8 Edw. IV, pt. ii, m. 21. 



" Stephens, Mem. 333-6. 



' 4 Add. MSS. 30266, fol. 66. 



45 Arch, xlv, 183. " Stephens, Mem. 192. 



47 Ibid. 195. 



sixteenth century, and ' the grete organs ' are 

 mentioned at least as early as 1 479.^ In 1611 

 the rather remarkable injunction was given that 

 the organist should remain in the choir until the 

 last psalm be sung, and then go up to the organs, 

 and having done his duty return into the choir 

 again ; 49 and in 1685 the stipend of one of the 

 Sherborn clerks was attached to the office of 

 organist. 60 



In addition to the regular staff of the cathedral 

 there were a number of chaplains serving chan- 

 tries at the various altars ; at the time of the 

 suppression of the chantries these numbered 

 fifteen, 61 but some were no doubt also vicars of 

 the cathedral. 



Like several other cathedrals Chichester had its 

 own ' use ' or form of service, and St. Richard in 

 1250 ordered that this use was to be followed 

 throughout the diocese, 62 but ArchbishopChicheley, 

 who was appointed in 1414, abolished the local 

 use in favour of that of Sarum. 63 No specimen 

 of the Chichester use is known to have survived, 64 

 nor are any of its features known, except possibly 

 the custom of censing the host at the moment 

 of elevation, which was done by two acolytes 

 specially maintained by the abbey of Roberts- 

 bridge. There was also a curious local custom 

 observed at the Epiphany, by which two vicars 

 used to pass round the choir carrying the symbol 

 of the Holy Spirit and offering it to the dean 

 and then to the canons in turn until some one 

 accepted it, the recipient being bound to present 

 some ornament to the church during the follow- 

 ing year. 55 



The life of the cathedral centred mainly upon 

 the shrine of its canonized bishop St. Richard. 

 He was enrolled among the saints, as has already 

 been noticed, in the spring of 1262, and at the 

 same time permission was given to the chapter 

 of Chichester to translate his body to a worthy 

 shrine. Probably owing to the heavy expenses 

 incurred in connexion with his canonization, 

 and to the disturbed state of the realm, culminat- 

 ing soon afterwards in the civil war (in which 

 Bishop Stephen took a prominent part on the 

 side of the barons), no use was made of this per- 

 mission until 1276, when on 16 June the body 

 was removed from its humble grave by the 

 archbishop, in the presence of the king and a 

 great concourse of nobles and clergy, to the shrine 

 prepared for it. 56 The head of the saint appears 

 at this time to have been separated from the rest 

 of his body and made an especial object of 

 veneration, as gifts and bequests to ' the head of 



48 Will of W. Jacob ; P.C.C. Logge, 93. 



49 Add. MSS. 30266, fol. 66. w Ibid. 

 " Chant. Cert. No. 50. 



"Swainson, No. 70. "Ibid. No. 153. 



54 At the visitation in 1403 it was stated that the 

 uses of the cathedral were not committed to writing. 

 "Swainson, No. 178. 

 56 Gervaie of Canterbury (Rolls Ser.), ii, 285. 



49 7 



