THE MONKS OF MARMOUTIElv. 61 
Let me now return to the point at which we had arrived : 
that in the west oi the city of York was a richly-endowed 
House of Canons called Christ’s Church ; and that it had 
given its name not only to the Parish, but to a district lying 
to the west of York, and including such places as BilbroJ 
Hessay, Monkton, Knapton, and Bishopthorpe. 
Now later on the district was known by this name, Christ’s 
Church, under another form. The Rural Deanery was called 
the “ Deanery of Christianity.” When I mentioned this some 
time ago to an ecclesiastical lawyer in York, he smiled and 
enquired concerning the time of day or night I imagined I had 
seen such a statement, and I rather fancy he thought the 
conjecture due to an overdose of intoxicants; but when I 
assured him that I was a teetotaller, and that I had positively 
seen the Deanery so called, though at the time I could not 
remember where, he said he would believe it when I showed 
it to him. Well, since then I have come across abundant 
proof. In the Surtees’ Society’s publication on the Yorkshire 
Chantry Survey there are about 60 pages headed “ the Deanery 
of Christianity,” and I have at home an extract from the 
Patent Rolls dated June ist, 1337 , respecting the foundation 
of a Chantry in the Church of S. Michael, Spurriergate, bear¬ 
ing on this matter. The witnesses include Thomas de Askham, 
John de Coupmanthorpe, Henry de Bolton, and the Dean of 
Christianity, all of whom attached their seals to the document. 
The names should be noticed: Thomas de Askham, John de 
Copmantliovpe, and Henry de Bolton ,—Askham, Copmanthorpe, 
and Bolton Percy being now in the Deanery of Ainsty. My 
lawyer friend need not have imagined me dreaming in speaking 
of the Deanery of Christianity for another reason. It was, 
and is still, a well-known name for rural deaneries. Lincoln 
City is now in a “ Deanery of Christianity,” Leicester also is in 
a deanery of the same name, and the R. Deanery of Exeter is 
also called the Deanery of Christianity. 
Now, to sum up : In Domesday the district lying to the 
west of York w r as called Christ’s Church ; later on it was 
known as Christianity ; now it is called the Ainsty. When 
was the Deanery first called the Ainsty ? -Nobody knows. 
