A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



At the inquisition of 1342 '* the jurors made 

 return that the brothers and sisters of the hospital 

 were to receive all priests, when blind, who had 

 been born within the liberty of Ripon, and main- 

 tain them in the hospital, a special chamber 

 being set apart for them, and each was to receive 

 "jd. weekly for his maintenance. They were 

 also to have a certain building for all lepers born 

 in the liberty, each of whom was to receive 

 \ bushel of corn, id. for drink each week, and 

 soup from the hospital daily. 



Lepers from other parts, coming for a night, 

 were to have fuel and a bed. One William 

 ' Homell ' had endowed a second chaplaincy, and 

 afterwards a certain archbishop had changed the 

 constitution, deposing the brothers and sisters, 

 appointing a warden and chaplain in their place. 

 They were to celebrate daily, and the warden was 

 yearly to distribute, on St. Mary Magdalene's 

 day, to all poor persons who came to the hospital, 

 a loaf of bread and a herring. He was also to 

 maintain the other alms of the old foundation ; 

 but they reported that there was only one chap- 

 lain, and the warden was not resident. The blind 

 priests received their alms, but the leper house 

 had been taken away for a long period, and no 

 alms were given to lepers. 



It will be convenient here to go back and pick 

 up the threads of the earlier history of the hospital. 



On 24 May 1294" Archbishop Romanus 

 accepted the resignation of Roger de Malton, 

 who had been master of the hospital. The 

 archbishop acknowledged having received certain 

 sums of money from him on that occasion, viz : 

 20 marks for goods belonging to the hospital 

 when he became master, which he had sold ; 

 LZ9 15^- 2|^., the balance of ^ 1 00, which it 

 appears Archbishop Wickwane'' had given 

 towards the endowment of the hospital ; and also 

 a bond of Nicholas del Dale for £-^2 14J. <)\d., of 

 which £1"] i4i. 9^^. remained to be paid. Of 

 the ;^ioo, £\2 loj. had been spent in the con- 

 struction of a new dwelling for the hospital 

 priests, and in investments for its behoof. 



On 2 June following," the archbishop con- 

 ferred the hospital on James de Cimiterio, priest, 

 declaring that he purposed to order differently 

 in the hospital, and with the money which 

 Roger de Malton had handed over to purchase 

 the advowson of some church to be appropriated 

 in perpetuity to the hospital, and that the master 

 for the time being should be a canon residentiary 

 in the church of Ripon. 



On 29 August 1300 Archbishop Corbridge 

 ordered John de Hubard of Ripon, to whom 

 Giles de Garderobe, one of the canons, had leased 

 his prebend, to restore to the master of the 



"Mm. of Ripon (Surt. Soc.), i, 228. 

 " York Arcliiepis Reg. Romanus, fbl. 98. 

 "This suggests Wickwane as the archbishop who 

 changed the constitution. 



■' York Archiepis. Reg. Romanus, fol. 98. 



hospital certain tithes which he had wrongly 

 taken as lessee of the prebend, and which belonged 

 to the hospital.'* The following year {1301) 

 the same archbishop conferred the custody of the 

 hospital on a certain Patrick de Braffcrton." 

 This appointment led to much trouble, and on 

 27 September 1306 Archbishop Greenfield 

 directed Roger de Swayn, canon of Ripon, to 

 inquire into the condition of the hospital when 

 Patrick de Brafferton received it and its state when 

 he resigned ; ^ and next day ^ the archbishop 

 directed the Dean (rural) of R.ipon to sequestrate 

 the property of the hospital, and not to permit 

 Brafferton to meddle with it. The investigation 

 proved Patrick de Brafferton to have been a bad 

 and wasteful master, of immoral life, and under 

 sentence of the greater excommunication for two 

 years. The archbishop removed him from oflSce, 

 and on 16 October appointed Nicholas de Bonde- 

 gate, chaplain, warden in his stead.'* Much more 

 is recorded as to Patrick de Brafferton, which 

 includes an account of the state of the hospital 

 by J. de Cimiterio as it was when he was suddenly 

 ejected (as he stated) by Archbishop Corbridge five 

 or six years before.*' Besides an account of the 

 grain, &c., which he left to his successor, the 

 buildings were, according to his account, in a 

 good state of repair. The stuff in the chapel 

 included a fine crystal phial with relics of the 

 blessed Mary Magdalene, besides missal, legend, 

 grail, and other books and vestments. He also 

 left a quantity of household linen, but there 

 had been no indenture made between him and 

 Brafferton. No mention is made of any brothers 

 or sisters as at this period forming part of the 

 foundation. 



Two years later, Edward II appointed Richard 

 de Doncastre** to the hospitai sede vacante, 

 which called from the archbishop a reply *' that 

 he had appointed Nicholas de Bondegate as suc- 

 cessor to Patrick de Brafferton, after he had 

 received restitution of the temporalities of the see 

 from Edward I. It is remarkable, however, 

 that the archbishop speaks of Patrick de Braffer- 

 ton having resigned of his own free will. On 

 account of Nicholas de Bondegate being master, 

 the archbishop refused admission to the king's 



" Ibid. Corbridge, fol. 66. 



"Ibid. fol. 91^. On 16 June 1294 the archbishop 

 received 50 marks from Robert de Percy for the use 

 of the hospital, and appointed that Robert de Percy 

 was to be maintained in the hospital. On 10 Mar. 

 1294-5 the archbishop granted Hugh de Rossedale, 

 for his long and faithful service to the archbishop and ' 

 his church, food and clothing in the hospital. This 

 was confirmed by the Dean and Chapter of York 

 {Mem. of Ripon [Surt. Soc], ii, 20). 



"^ York Archiepis. Reg. Greenfield, i, fol. ■54 d. 



"Ibid. fol. 33 d. »Ibid. 



°Ibid. (on a slip of parchment between foL 33 

 and 34). 



''Pat. 2 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 16. 



"Mot. of Ripon (Surt. Soc.), ii, 60-2. 



324 



