RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



were to celebrate daily in the said chapel of 

 St. Mary and in the chapel of St. Anne, in 

 the church of St. Peter, Sibthorpe, on behalf 

 of the Sibthorpe family.''* 



In November 1336 certain small parcels of 

 land were exchanged in Sibthorpe, to permit of 

 the enlargement of the dwelling-house of John 

 Cosyn, the warden.^' The endowment of this 

 collegiate chantry rapidly increased, for in De- 

 cember of the same year the founder gave fifteen 

 messuages, a toft, 3 oxgangs, and 170 acres 

 of land, 50 acres of meadow, and 30^. of rent in 

 Sibthorpe and five adjoining parishes, together 

 with the reversion of another parcel, for the 

 sustenance of the warden and two other chaplains 

 celebrating divine service daily in the chapel of 

 St. Mary in the church of St. Peter, Sibthorpe, 

 and in the chapel of St. Anne, St. Katherine, 

 St. Margaret, and St. Mary Magdalene, of two 

 clerks to serve them in the celebration and at 

 other times, as well as for the finding thirty wax 

 lights in the church and chapels and a lamp 

 before the Rood there at certain times."* 



In 1339 John son of Reginald de Aslacton 

 and Joan his wife assigned certain rents to the 

 value of 20s. a year towards the provision of the 

 thirty wax lights in this chapel and church.^^ 

 In the same year Thomas de Sibthorpe the 

 founder, who was then rector of Kingham, Oxon, 

 transferred certain lands and rents in Beckingham 

 and other Lincolnshire parishes to John Cosj'n as 

 warden of the chapel at Sibthorpe.^" 



A yet further extension of this collegiate 

 chantry occurred in 1340, when Thomas the 

 founder obtained licence to alienate bs. "jd. of 

 rents in Sibthorpe and Sutton, together with the 

 advowson and appropriation of the church of 

 Sibthorpe, to maintain a warden and four chap- 

 lains in that church to say daily mass for the soul 

 of Edward II, for the good estate of the present 

 king, for his soul after death, for the souls of the 

 heirs of Edward III, for the said Thomas the 

 founder and certain others, and also for the dis- 

 tribution of weekly alms.^^ The advowson of 

 Sibthorpe had belonged to the Knights Tem- 

 plars, and was transferred on their suppression to 

 the Knights Hospitallers. In order to secure the 

 advowson and rectory and certain other appur- 

 tenances, Thomas de Sibthorpe transferred to the 

 Hospitallers valuable lands at Woolhampton and 

 Midgham, Berkshire. From the entry of Jan- 

 uary 1 34 1 recording this exchange on the Patent 

 Rolls, we find it clearly stated that this appropria- 

 tion was carried out in order to sustain a warden 

 and four chaplains in the church, in addition to 

 the three chaplains and two clerks already ap- 



'^ Pat. 9 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 13. 

 " Pat. 10 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 15. 

 " Ibid. m. 1 1 ; 12 'Edw. Ill, pt. i, 

 '^ Pat. 13 Edvir. Ill, pt. i, m. 33. 

 '° Ibid. pt. ii, m. 31. 

 " Pat. 14 Edvf. Ill, pt. ii, m. 10. 



m. 24. 



pointed ; so that the college then consisted of 

 eight priests and two clerks. It was further 

 provided that seven wheaten loaves, each of the 

 weight of 50;., were to be distributed every 

 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to the poor of 

 the parish.^'' 



In this same year, before the justices of the 

 bench at the pleas at Westminster, judgement 

 was given in a variety of actions brought against 

 Warden John Cosyn to recover certain of the 

 lands wherewith the college had been endowed ; 

 but in every case the decision was in favour of the 

 college. '' Again in 1342 legal attempts were 

 made to deprive John Cosyn, the warden, of the 

 advowson and appropriation of the church of 

 Sibthorpe, but they all failed. In the course of 

 these pleas John the warden, in his evidence, 

 mentioned that all the chaplains and clerks as- 

 sembled in the chapel of St. Anne yearly on the 

 vigil of the Annunciation, celebrating an anni- 

 versary for the souls of Simon de Sibthorpe and 

 others and their heirs, ancestors, and relations, as 

 for a corpse present, with bell tolling ; and also 

 in the chapel of St. Mary a like anniversary for 

 the souls of Thomas de Sibthorpe the founder, 

 William and Maud his parents, &c., and for all 

 benefactors, and for the parishioners of the 

 church ; and that on the Annunciation, directly 

 after mass, the warden distributed in the church- 

 yard, among the poorer parishioners who had 

 attended the mass, 60 farthings or the equiva- 

 lent in bread, and gave yearly on the same 

 day to each of the chaplains 2d., and to each 

 clerk id.^* 



Another advance was made in 1343, when 

 the reversion of the manor of Sibthorpe, valued 

 at £(> $s. a year, was given to the college, and 

 two other chaplains were added to the seven 

 then existing, to pray daily for the souls of the 

 king's father and the king and his heir, and for 

 William and Isabel Durent, and for John son of 

 Reginald de Aslacton, kt., and Joan his wife.'* 



In 1345 the endowments were increased by 

 the gift of parcels of land by Reginald son of 

 Simon de Sibthorpe, which permitted of the 

 enlargement of the rectory manse, where the 

 warden and chaplains lived, and also of the en- 

 largement of the cemetery.^' A reiteration of a 

 previous licence to the founder on the Patent 

 Rolls, inasmuch as it had originally only been 

 sealed by the privy seal, brings out the fact that 

 the endowments were also used for the support 

 of a poor man who kept the gates of the chap- 

 lain's dwelling, and for the finding of a poor 



'' Ibid. pt. iii, m. 3. 



'' Set forth at great length on the Patent Rolls, 1 5 

 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 43-39. 



" Pat. 16 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 25-19. 



'' Pat. 17 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 24. This manor 

 came into the possession of the college in 1 346 ; Pat. 20 

 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 19. 



'«Pat. 18 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, ra. i. 



151 



