Bkrnard — Richard Talbot, ArcJihishop and Chancellor. 225 



membered is the establishment of minor canons and choiisters in St. Patrick's 

 Cathedral. The circumstances are worth recording in detail. The prebend 

 of Swords was tlie most richly endowed of all the Cathedral prebends, and 

 for this reason it was eagerly coveted. For half a century, at any rate, before 

 Archbishop Talbot's time, it had been held by important people, some of 

 \vhoni were never in Ireland, and few, if any, of whom perfonned any canonical 

 duty in the Cathedral. The famous William of Wykeham, bishop of 

 Winchester ; Peter de Lacy, who was rector of Northtleet in Kent ; 

 Pvobert Crull, who became Lord Treasurer of Ireland ; Eichard Prcntys,' 

 " the King's clerk " ; Thomas Polton, who held the prebend along with the 

 see of Hereford- ; and, finally, Branda de Castiglione, bishop of Piacenza, who 

 was cardinal-priest of St. Clement's, were all canons of Swords in this period, 

 and drew the revenues of " the golden prebend," as it was called. It may be 

 suspected that the Archbishop thought it was time to put an end to this 

 custom, and that the appointment by the Crown of an Italian cardinal to the 

 richest canonry in Dublin was specially open to criticism. At any rate, he 

 took steps to divide the revenues of the prebend of Swords into two parts, 

 as soon as the cardinal ceased to hold it. One part was reserved as amply 

 sufficient for future prebendaries. It is interesting to find that the pre- 

 bendaries under this system were no longer great officials, but ordinary 

 clergymen ; and that the name of the first of them, Cruise, who must have 

 been a party to the new arrangement, is that of a family resident and well- 

 known at Finglas, where the arch'oishops had a manor and a country house.' 

 It is probable that the complaisant prebendary, William Cruise, was a 

 Finglas man and under the influence of the Archbishop. 



However, that may be, the other part of the prebend of Swords was 

 devoted to the endowment of six minor canons and six choristers, or children 

 of the choir, in St. Patrick's Cathedral. The scheme was a good one; it was 

 agreed to by the Chapters of St. Patrick's and of Christ Church (both of 

 whom were consulted), by the Crown — the royal sanction was easy for 

 the powerful Chancellor to obtain — and also by tlie Pope, whose formal 

 confirmation is on record.'' 



The original charter is dated ith February, l-i32,= and it is interesting to 



> Pat. Rolls, 2Ist July, Hl:3 ; 8th November, U14. 



2 Gal. of Papal RegisUrs, 21 July, 1420. 



^ Dr. F. E. Ball tolls me that Archbishop Talbot's sister-in law, tlie wife of the 

 viceroy, occupied Finglas Court for some time (see Wylie, Heiijn of Henr>j V, p. 67) ; 

 and it is from the proof-sheets of liis furtlicoming history of that part of the Co. Dublin 

 that I learn that Cruise was a Fiuglas uame. 



* Dignitas Decani, p. 72. 



^ It is printed in Mason's St. Patrick's Cathedral, Appendi.x, p. xxxiv. 



B.I. A. PROC, VOL. XXXV, SECT. C. [31] 



