RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



64. THE PRIORY OF MALTON 



The priory of St. Mary at Malton was 

 founded in 1150 by Eustace Fitz John, and en- 

 dowed by him with the churches of Malton, 

 Wintringham, and Brompton, and the vill of 

 Linton ; his son William confirmed the gift. 

 The canons had charge of three hospital houses 

 for feeding the poor, one in Wheelgate, another 

 at Broughton, and a third on an island in the 

 Derwent, on the Norton side of the river, the 

 gift of William Flamville. William de Vesci 

 gave the canons the church of Ancaster and the 

 chapel of Sowerby. Burga, his widow, added 

 the church of Norton, and Hugh, Bishop of 

 Lincoln, confirmed the gift of Walter Nevill of 

 the church of Walden in Hertfordshire.^ Walter 

 Fitz Alan endowed the Gilbertines with land at 

 Newton-upon-Ayr in Scotland, but the Master 

 of Sempringham declined to build there, and 

 leased the land to the Abbot and convent of 

 Paisley for 40 maik; a year, to be paid to the 

 Priors of Malton and St. Andrew's at York.' 

 The possessions of Malton were confirmed in 

 1 178 by a bull of Alexander III, declaring it 

 to be unlawful to disturb the church of the 

 Blessed Mary at Malton, to take away its 

 possessions, and to harass the canons by any 

 vexations 'now or in the future,' and King 

 John also issued a confirmatory charter. A bull 

 of Innocent III settled a dispute about the tithes 

 of Sowerby belonging to the church of Win- 

 tringham, and Sir William Lascelles, kt., gave 

 2 bovates of land and swore to keep the terms 

 of the agreement ^ ; another bull of Innocent IV 

 to the Prior of Malton asserted that apostolic 

 indulgence was not limited to the house of 

 Sempringham as some affirmed.* 



Archbishop Walter Gray presented to the 

 vicarage of Brompton in 1237 'so that at other 

 times no prejudice shall arise against the Prior 

 and convent of Malton, who hold the patron- 

 age' ; in 1245 an inquisition on the matter was 

 held, and it was found that the right of presen- 

 tation belonged to the Prior and convent of 

 Malton. The living of Langton was also in 

 the gift of the prior.' The accounts of Malton 

 are extant from the years 1244 to 1257.' At 

 this time the canons held land in forty-nine 

 parishes, and had 250 tenants paying rent 

 amounting to ^60 ; they had a mill at Swinton 

 let for I 6j. and another at Rillington let for 1 5^. 

 In 1253, for instance, the receipts of Mal- 

 ton were £(>gi i6s. ^d., the expenditure 

 ^^687 Of. lod. The papal subsidy and tallage 



' Dugdale, Mon. Angl. vi, 970-2 ; cf. Cott. MS. 

 Claud. D. xi, Chartulary of Malton. 



' Graham, St. Gilbert of Sempringham and the 

 Gilbertines, i^i- 



' Dugdale, op. cit. vi, 973. 



* Graham, op. cit. 99. * Ibid. 1 09. 



' Ibid. 126, 127 ; Chartul. fol. 266-76. 



in that year was £1^0 13J. 4d. About two- 

 thirds of the revenue was derived from wool, 

 and in a good year this might amount to ;^400 ; 

 most of the land was therefore devoted to 

 pasture, and considerable sums were spent in 

 buying corn — in 1254 as muchaSj^i38 13J. 415^. 

 During the years for which the accounts 

 remain, ^^47 8 i\s. ^d. was spent in purchasing 

 lands, and £i<)'J ijs. in hiring meadows. Yet 

 in spite of this apparent prosperity Malton 

 Priory had many debts ; these amounted in 

 1255 tOj^25i 135. 41^. and were possibly the 

 result of direct borrowing from the Jews. The 

 Prior of Malton frequently paid the debts of 

 benefactors to the priory; thus, in 1244, 

 William of Richborough gave to the house 

 7 bovates in Welham, and 36^ marks of silver 

 were paid to the Jews on his behalf, besides 

 3 marks, the dower of his mother, Albreda. 

 William Redburn's debts to the Jews were also 

 settled, and Ralph Bolbeck's gift of 60 quar- 

 terns of salt and common lands and meadows 

 were rewarded by a settlement of his debts and 

 provision for two men and two horses whenever 

 he came to Malton.' 



Besides the transactions with the Jews, the 

 assizes of the forest added considerably to the 

 expenditure of the convent; ;^i6 was paid for 

 pleas in 1249, ^'^^ between the years 1243 ^""^ 

 1257 ;f 94 I4^' 3^' were given as bribes to the 

 sherifis and bailifife of the forest of Pickering.* 

 Malton also suffered, as did Watton, from Agnes 

 de Vescy and her ministers who, in 1283, assaulted 

 two of the brethren, drove away cattle, and 

 denied them food, and yet would not let them 

 be replevied. The townsmen of Malton also 

 made distraints on the prior contrary to his 

 charters, and purveyors seized corn from the 

 convent for the Scotch wars. In 1405 the 

 prior and convent joined Scrope and Mowbray 

 in the rebellion against Henry IV.' Although 

 in 1535 the revenue was under ;^200, Robert 

 Holgate's influence prevented the dissolution of 

 the priory, which survived for four years longer. 

 The prior was accused of taking part in the 

 Pilgrimage of Grace and arrested, but his fate 

 is unknown ; in 1538 the commissioners in the 

 North wrote to Cromwell that Malton would 

 surrender if there were any commissioners to 

 receive it, and in December 1539 the prior 

 and nine canons gave up the last Gilbertine 

 house. The prior received a pension of ;^40, 

 and eight canons £^ each.^" 



Priors of Malton 



Gilbert, occurs 1169 " 

 Roger, occurs 1178^^ 

 Ralph, occurs 119S " 



' Graham, op. cit. 123, 124. ' Ibid. 79-81. 



'Ibid. 153. "Ibid, 197. 



" Chartul. fol. 7. " Ibid. " Ibid. fol. 218 d. 



253 



