226 



Bishops of Old Sarum. 



Poore was Dean lie did much for the cathedral body of which he 

 was the head. Thus as early as 1218 we have records of several 

 statutes passed for its benefit, as, for example, respecting the residence 

 of the Canons, their dress and demeanour in choir, and especially 

 one entitled a " Constitution respecting* the Vicars/' 1 At what 

 precise period separate prebends were annexed to the several canon- 

 ries we are not informed, but ifc was probably during his time. For 

 in 1214 a statute was passed entitled " De visitatione prsebendarum," 

 to which there were no less than thirty-eight assenting Canons, and 

 by which he secured to himself and his successors in the office of 

 Dean the right from time to time of visiting the various prebendal 

 estates, and remedying any abuses that might be found in them. 



On every side there was rejoicing when Richard Pooee was trans- 

 lated by the Pope to the see of Sarum. The Church itself was 

 especially glad because he had long been known there as an earnest 

 and painstaking Dean, and withal a man of learning and holy con- 

 versation. 2 The people at large moreover rejoiced because they 

 remembered his loyalty to the crown and nation in days of difficulty, 

 and how he was the true and open opposer of Louis, son of the 

 French King, to whom the disaffected of the Barons would fain 

 have handed over the kingdom and government. The Legate of 

 the Holy See, moreover, anxiously promoted his translation because 

 in him he had already found a most trusty adviser in " treating of 

 the ecclesiastical affairs of the kingdom.'" Hence it was a cordial 



1 In the year 1213 statutes were passed : " De majori sigillo custodiendo," — 

 " De residenciaCanonicorum," — " De fructibus percipiendis," — " De habitu Oanon- 

 icorum," — " De silentio et gestu in choro,"— and, " De conditione Vicariorum." 

 In the following year (1214) one was passed : " De visitatione prsebendarum per 

 Decanum." 



2 William de Wanda waxes quite eloquent, when he speaks of the translation 

 of his friend and patron, Richard Poore, to the bishopric of Sarum : " In ipsius 

 translatione specialiter cestuabat ecclesia Sarum. Ad idem etiam totum 

 regnum acclamabat, eo quod ipsum invenerat contra Ludovicum, filium Regis 

 Francise et suos Francigenas, qui tunc temporis regnum ipsum occupare venerant, 

 pugilem fidelem et eximium. Dictus etiam Legatus translationem studiose 

 procurabat, quia ipsum habuerat in tractandis regni negotiis socium fidelissimum. 

 A Domino factum est illud, ut et omnes optarent quod Deus providerat, et quod 

 Dominus tandem effecerat quod universalitas postulabat." — Reg. Osmund. 



