RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



nominee. This led to an inquisition and visita- 

 tion of the hospital by the king in October 1308. 

 The jurors made return that Archbishop Cor- 

 bridge had conferred the hospital on Patrick de 

 Brafferton, who was to hold office during the 

 archbishop's life, and that on the death of the 

 archbishop the late King Edward might have 

 conferred the hospital on one of his clerks sede 

 vacante. William de Greenfield, the then arch- 

 bishop, had dispossessed Patrick de Brafferton as 

 he was not entitled to hold office after the death 

 of Corbridge, the appointment not having been 

 confirmed by the chapter of York, and he had 

 conferred the hospital on Nicholas de Bondegate. 

 The jurors added that the hospital was worth 20 

 marks a year.'° Nicholas de Bondegate was 

 probably succeeded by Nicholas de Molendinis, 

 appointed 5 March 1311.'' His rule led to an 

 inquiry in 13 17 held at Ribstone by the king's es- 

 cheator citra Trentam^ when the jurors stated that 

 there ought to be two chaplains celebrating daily 

 in the hospital chapel, but that all the time that 

 Nicholas de Molyns (as he is there called) had 

 been custos, the chantry of one of the chaplains 

 had been abstracted by the master. That 

 hospitality was neglected, so that whereas any 

 pilgrims, or mendicant clerks, or other indigent 

 persons who passed by the hospital, ought to 

 have shelter, food, and a bed, they received 

 nothing, and were sent away empty handed. On 

 St. Mary Magdalene's Day every poor person 

 who came ought to have a halfpenny loaf and a 

 herring, but instead Nicholas de Molyns gave 

 the poor who came on St. Mary Magdalene's 

 Day a saucer of beans or flour, but most of the 

 poor got nothing, and other charitable works, 

 which were usual in such a hospital, were not 

 performed owing to the master's frequent ab- 

 sence. 



In 1320 ^' Archbishop Melton had to inter- 

 vene on behalf of William de Ripon, a poor 

 blind chaplain who had been admitted to the 

 hospital by direction of Archbishop Greenfield, 

 but had been deprived of the benefits he ought 

 to receive, and was obliged to beg for his living. 



In 1329 William de Poppleton was appointed 

 master, '*' and on that occasion and also on his 

 resignation in 1335 '^ inventories of the property 

 of the hospital were compiled. On the latter 

 occasion the phial with the relics of the patron 

 saint is again mentioned, as a little shrine of the 

 blessed Mary Magdalene, on which was inscribed 

 'De ossibus Beate Marie Magdalene et de 

 sudario ejusdem.' A full account of the chapel 

 stuff and the farm stock is given. 



** Mem. of Ripon (Surt. Soc), ii, 60-2. 

 "York Archiepis. Reg. Greenfield, ii, fol. 36. 

 ^Mem. of Ripon (Surt. Soc), i, 211 ; Dugdale, 

 Mon. Angl. vi, 752. 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Melton, fol. 406^. 

 " Ibid. fol. 97^. 

 "Ibid. fol. 4373. 



The royal commissioners in 1342 ^ had a 

 very unusual matter to deal with. A certain 

 John le Smale, by falsely representing to the 

 king that the master, John de Bridelington, was 

 dead, had obtained from Edward III a grant 

 {ude vacante on Melton's death) of the master- 

 ship, dated 10 July 1342. The case was inves- 

 tigated at length, the result being that a mandate 

 was issued on 15 July 1345°' for the prosecu- 

 tion of the offender, and on 7 November 1 346 

 the king confirmed John de Bridelington in the 

 mastership. 



At the royal visitation on 19 November 

 1352°* John de Bridelington was still master, 

 and declared on oath that he had been appointed 

 by Archbishop Melton, whom he called 

 'founder and patron' of the hospital. He 

 stated that he had never seen any foundation 

 writing of the hospital, but had heard from many 

 of his seniors that it had been founded for poor 

 brothers and sisters, of whom there were none 

 then. By another ordinance there should be 

 two priests in the hospital, of whom the cuitos^ 

 if a chaplain, might be one. Further, there 

 ought to be three chaplains for the rents of 

 Studley, lately acquired, each having 5 marks 

 yearly and a fit abode in the hospital. There 

 were then only four chaplains, including the 

 custoi, owing to the slender revenue of Studley, 

 which brought in only 6 marks. The manor of 

 Studley was in a ruinous state, and the general 

 income of the hospital would not support more 

 than four chaplains. He had demolished a very 

 dilapidated building near the hospital towards the 

 River Ure, intended for the housing of lepers, none 

 of whom had used it for a long time, and with 

 the timber from it he had constructed a chamber 

 inside the hospital. From the evidence on oath 

 of the chaplains it appeared that there was no 

 foundation deed, but the chaplains had heard 

 that of old it was said there should be brothers 

 and sisters in the hospital. There should be 

 three priests celebrating for property in Ripon, 

 Mulwith, and Ilketon respectively, and three 

 other chaplains for lands in Studley Roger, but 

 there were only three chaplains, the cuitos making 

 a fourth, but he did not celebrate, and was com- 

 monly absent for the greater part of the year. 



In 1354 Archbishop Thoresby in a letter to 

 Mr. John de Crakehall, whom he had recently 

 appointed custos,^'^ allowed two priests only 

 to be maintained in the hospital until the 

 revenues were increased. ;^io ought to have 

 been derived from Studley Roger, whereas it 

 only brought in 6 marks. In a further letter '° 

 the archbishop sanctioned the removal from 

 Studley of materials from the buildings there, for 

 the reparation of those of the hospital. 



" Mem. of Ripon (Surt. Soc), i, 226. 

 "Ibid. 233. "Ibid. 235. 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Thoresby, fol. 29, 29*. 

 »=Ibid. fol. 35. 



325 



