A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



which after their entrance and departure was to 

 be shut, but the conversi were to pass through 

 the cloister, and enter the church by a door near 

 the altar of the Holy Cross, and so go to their 

 stalls. There was to be no brawling or noise or 

 murmuring at table. If a brother was sick, and 

 could not attend the quire office, he was to have 

 a special camera assigned him in the dormitory. 

 The same camera was to be assigned for bleeding 

 and shaving, but those bled were to dine with 

 the brethren in the refectory. All ought to be 

 shaved by a barber at one time, fortnightly. If 

 anyone was guilty of incontinence, or was dis- 

 obedient, or possessed private property [proprie- 

 tarius), no one but the master could absolve him, 

 except in danger of death, and if anyone was 

 found at death to be a proprietarius he was to 

 be refused ecclesiastical burial. 



All charters and muniments were to be kept 

 in the treasury under two or three keys by the 

 custos and clerk of the exchequer, at the sight, 

 and with the consent of the dean of the cathedral 

 church. No brother was to wander about into 

 the kitchen, brewery, bakehouse, &c. Nor were 

 any to go out of the door of the nave of the 

 church, except in processions. 



An honest place at the lower end of the 

 church was to be set apart, from one side to the 

 other, where the sisters could meet and sit. 

 They were to go out and come in together, and 

 neither they nor the brothers were to wander 

 through the hospital court. 



With the accession of Edward II in 1307 a 

 turbulent period in English history began. 

 Walter de Langton, while conveying the body 

 of the deceased king towards Westminster, was 

 arrested and brought as a prisoner to York, and 

 all the public moneys which he held, as well as 

 his private means, were seized.^ 



Walter Reynolds, Bishop of Worcester, was 

 appointed master in the beginning of 1 308-9 in 

 his place.^' Reynolds was translated to Canter- 

 bury in 1314," and Walter de Langton appears 

 to have been re-appointed,*^ but there must have 

 been some hitch in the matter, for on 12 March 

 13 '5 John de Hotham was appointed for 

 life by the king, with writ de intendendo 

 for him as keeper directed to the brothers 

 and sisters of the hospital.^' However, on 

 7 August I3i6,'<' the king granted restitution to 

 Walter de Langton of the hospital of St. Leonard, 



" See Raine, Tcrk, in 'Historic Towns' series 



«Pat. 2 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 17. 



"-' Le Neve, Fasti (ed. Hardy), i, 16. 



" Ca/. Pat. 1313-17, p. 80. 



"Ibid. 260. Jolin de Hotham became Bishop 01 

 iily in 1 31 6, and next year gave to the hospital a 

 coffer or feretory of silver and gold 'adorned with 

 precious stones and cunning work, wrought with mar- 

 veUous skill,' which the master and brethren agreed 



°'» V°/li'°"' ' *^°"- MS. Nero, D. iii, fol. 6,. 

 Cal.Pai. 1 3 13-17, p. 526. 



338 



which the late king had granted to him for life. 

 He cannot have held it long again, for on 

 16 March 131 8-1 9 Robert de Clipston" occurs 

 as master. 



In 1339 disputes between the master, John 

 Gifiard, and inmates of the hospital rendered the 

 appointment of a royal commission necessary. 

 Gifiard complained that the brethren were dis- 

 obedient and would not allow him to dispose of 

 the revenues, nor would they render accounts ; 

 on all these points the brethren acknowledged 

 that they had been in the wrong. They, on 

 their side, complained that whereas there ought 

 to be thirteen chaplain-brethren there were now 

 only nine ; to this it was answered that the original 

 foundation of William II fixed no number of 

 chaplains, but a former master, Geofirey de 

 Aspale, without the king's authority fixed the 

 number at thirteen, which was considered too 

 large for the present revenues. To the com- 

 plaint that the lay brethren in charge of the 

 manors and farms had been replaced by secular 

 servants, the master replied by promising to make 

 more lay brethren when suitable persons were 

 found. The claim of the brethren to elect 

 their cellarer and receiver was rejected on the 

 ground that the master was held responsible for 

 the property of the hospital and ought therefore 

 to appoint these officers.''^ 



During the latter half of the century serious 

 irregularities led to regal visitations by the chan- 

 cellor or royal commissioners, and some very 

 elaborate returns are preserved concerning them.'' 

 In 1364 Simon Langham, Bishop of Ely and 

 chancellor, held such a visitation. 



His injunctions begin with an exhortation to 

 unity and obedience. There were to be thirteen 

 chaplain-brothers ' in talari habitu nunc usitato, 

 non nimis precioso, neque lascivio, nee notabiliter 

 abjecto,' having ' sub capa, capucia cum appen- 

 dices longis, ante et retro, que vulgariter dicuntur 

 scapularia,' of either black or grey colour, after 

 the manner of the friars preachers, and they were 

 to observe the rule of the Austin canons.** 



To a considerable extent these injunctions 

 deal with the religious or quasi-monastic char- 

 acter of the hospital, and the services in the 

 church, as to the masses which the chaplains 

 were to say daily and other oflSces, the ebdomarii 

 being directed to act as in collegiate churches. On 

 a vacancy occurring among the chaplain-brothers 

 the master was to choose, after examination, 

 another fit person, with the assent of the brothers, 

 and after a year's probation he was to make pro- 

 fession of obedience, chastity, and renunciation 

 of property. The conversi were to make like pro- 

 fession, and that they would serve God, Blessed 



" York Archiepis. Reg. Melton, fol. 1253. 

 " Cal. Pat. 1338-40, pp. 266-8. 

 " Chan. Misc. bdle. 21, no. 4. 



'Viventes communiter et regulariter ad insUr 

 canonicorum regularum ordinis sancti Augustini.' 



