\^ :^-^ ^ ^^ ^:^' ^^H^^^ '-^ 4^^gffS^S^ 9[^i w^^^ mwl IklfH^Li i i; !p\w >^>kx / ,'^ i»^i4f : Sce^c\^ 11^) .kI THE HISTORY OP ST. PETER'S WESTMINSTER. VOL. I. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Research Library, The Getty Research Institute http://www.archive.org/details/historyofabbeych01comb Iijrayed bv HmyMiys' C/iu/Mi ^:jj..- ;.;... 1/ .■ /. '<-V^,v '• <■ '"• ■ -» :. / J'} '///c/'/V^ J-V^/^oO/oC, JL^- J^ THE HISTORY OF THE ^iibt^ Ct)ttrt|) '*■?*»*■ -^-"fj •?—••-••-»- •■!^"r."rv?-'^7**^ ^--T^tt^f^' m OF ST, PETER S WESTMINSTER, Jts ANTIQUITIES AND MONUMENTS. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON PRINTED FOR R. ACKERMANN, 101, STRAND, BY t. HAIIBISON AND J. C. LEIGH, 373, STRAND. M.DCCC.XII. TO THE VERY REVEREND WILLIAM VINCENT, D.D. DEAN OF THE ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. PETERS WESTMINSTER, Cljisi ?|isitor?. Encouraged by his Favour, and honoured by his Patronage, Is dedicated By His most obUged, humble Servant, R. ACKERMANN. LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCE REGENT. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF SUSSEX. N. B. Tlie names of those Suhscrihers ichich do not appear under the general alphabetical arrangement, may be found following the names of their respective Booksellers, agreeable to the lists delivered to the Publisher. A. Abingdon, Earl of Arundel, Lord Al)el, Mr. Norlliampton Accum, F. Esq. London Adams, John, Esq. ditto Agar, John, Esq. ditto Alexander, Mr. Yarmoutli Allen, Mr. Hereford Allen, A. I'.sq. London Altrop, J. H. Esq. Leek Andrew, Mr. London Andrew, INIr. Dnrliam Arnndale, Mr. London Ashby, — , Esq. ditto, 2 copies Aspern, James, ditto Cossart, Mr. ditto Farrant, Cieorgc, Esq. ditto Savage, Mr. ditto Astley, — , jnn. Esq. ditto Astley, F. 1). Esq. Manchester Astley, F. D. Esq. Duckenfield Lodge Atkins, T. Esq. Maidstone Atkinson, John, Esq. Dublin Atkinson, — Esq. Manchester Avison, Thos. Esq. Liverpool Aylevvay, William, Esq. Ha- verford West, Pembrokeshire B. Buckingham, Marquis of Harrington, Sir Jonah Barrington, Sir John Bacon, Mrs. Bilham House Bagshaw, Mr. London Baily, Mr. ditto Baldwin, Mr. ditto, .3 copies Balstom, AVilliaui, Esq. Maid- stone Barber, R. IL Esq. London Barker, Mrs. ditto Barlee, Rev. Mr. Yarmouth Barlow, — , Esq. London Barnard, Fred. Esq. ditto Barnett, — , Esq. Manchester Barratt, Mr. Bath Scott, Sir Joseph, Bart. ditto Barnard, C. Esq. ditto Enys, John, Esq. ditto Jones, Daniel, Esq. Co- nock House, Wells Leman, T. Rev. Mr. Bath West, Admiral, Burt, ditto Wilmott, Mrs. ditto Barrow, John, Esq. London Fiarr}', Mr. Bristol Morgan, Miss, Clifton Bascoyne, G. Esq. Egham b2 Bateman, Wm. Esq. Liverpool Bathurst, Mrs. Loudon Bayfield, Mrs. ditto Bayley, — , Esq. Hertfordshire Baylv, Philip Edward, Esq. Dublin Beart, — , Mr. Yarmouth Beckett, William, Esq. Leeds Bell, J. R. Esq. London Bell, Mr. Worcester Bell, Messrs. Colchester Beilonell, J. Esq. Dalston Bennett, F. Esq. Carlisle Bent, Mr. London Benyon, ]Mrs. Leeds Biggs, — , Esq. London Bingham, Rev. Mr. Gosport Bird, Thomas, Esq. Hereford Birkett, Mr. London Birt, R. Esq. Egham Bisse, Rev. Mr. ditto Black & Parry, Messrs. London Dommicus, Capt. ditto Bland, Michael, Esq. ditto Bland, Nathaniel, Esq. ditto Blayds, John, Esq. Leeds Blomberg, F. W. Rev. Mr. London Bluck, C. Esq. ditto Bonner, Charles, Esq. Spalding Vlll LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Booker, Mr. London Boughton, Jos. Esq. Gloucester Bo wen, H. W. Esq. Camrose, Pembrokeshire Bowman, Mr. Uichmond Bowtell, Mr. Cambridge, 2 copies Boydell, Messrs. London Whitby, — , Esq. Cockburn, J. Esq. Braham, P. Esq. London Bramvvell, James, Esq. ditto Bridges, Henry, Esq. Epsom Britton, John, Esq. F.S.A. ditto Brooke, Mr. Lincoln, 2 copies Brooke, — , Esq. London Brough, Mrs. llolston, near Hull Brown, — , Esq. London Brown, Colonel, ditto Brown, J. Esq. Birmingham Buck, Adam, Esq. London Buckworth, Colonel, ditto BuckoU, Captain, Gosport Bulgin, William, Mr. Bristol, 9 copies Ethcridge, Sal. Mr. New- port, Monmouthshire, 2 copies Gifford, Nathaniel, jun. Esq. Wells Spiring, Wm. Esq. Bristol Burgh, Charles, Esq. London Burt, Mrs. Isleworth Burton, Hen. Esq. Yorkshire Burton, Launcelot, Esq. Lon- don Bush, — , Esq. ditto Byrom, William, Esq. Liver- pool, 2 copies Byrne, Hugh, Esq. Dublin C. Chichester, the Bishop of Com p ton. Lord Chambers, Sir Samuel Capel, Hon. Mr. Capel, Honourable Colonel Curzon, Hon. Penn Crowe, Sir If. Caculhers, Edw. Esq. Stroud, Gloucestershire Cam, Rev. J. Hereford Camroux, Mr. London Cardon, Anthony, Esq. ditto Carenove, J. Esq. ditto Carleton, — , Esq. Richmond Carline, John, Jan. Esq.Shrevvs- bury Cartwright, — , Esq. London Causton, Rev. Thos. Preben- dary of Westminster Abbey Chace, — , Esq. Mi.lca Christopher & Jennett,Messrs. Stockton Peacock, Jno. Esq. Norton Wilkinson, Robert, Esq. Stockton Church, John, Esq. London Clark, — , Esq. Dublin Clarke, Thos. Esq. London Clarke, L P. Esq. nr. Daventry Clayton, Rev. Mr Oxford Clement, Thos. Esq. London Cockburn, Captain, Norwich Cocking, Rd. Mr. London Cole, — , Esq. ditto Coles, Henry, Esq. ditto Colnaghi, Messrs. ditto, 2 co- pies Combe, Wm. Esq. ditto Condor, — , Esq. Ipswich Cook, Joseph, Mr. London, 3 copies Cooke, — , Esq. Manchester Cooke, William, Esq. London Cooke, Henry, Esq. ditto Cooper, Charles, Esq. ditto Copland, Alex. Esq. ditto Corbet, Mrs. Sundon, near Shrewsbury Cory, R. jun. Esq. Yarmouth Cradock & Joy, Messrs. Lon- don Cragg, John, Esq. Liverpool Crawford, Dr. Bath Cresy, Edward, Esq. London Cripps, Mr. ditto Croft, Thomas, Esq. ditto Croft, — , Esq. ditto Crosby, Messrs. ditto, 2 copies Erampton, — , Esq. Roach, Captain Crowlie, — , Esq. London D. Dvsart, Earl of Dakins, Rev. W. W. D.D. Pre- cen tor of West m i nster Abbey Dalrymple, Mrs. London Danby, Wm. Esq. ditto Daniels, Mr. ditto, 6 copies Davidson, Alex. Esq. ditto Dawson, John Thomas, Esq. Bedford Day, John, Esq. Maidstone Deacon, James, Esq. London Dennis, A. Esq. ditto Devaynes, Mrs. ditto Dickinson, E. A. Esq. ditto Diggens, Mrs. ditto Dittmer, L F. Esq. ditto Dixon, Thos. Esq. Eversham Dixon, Col. Gledow, nr. Leeds Dodd, Rev. J. W. London Doughty, — , Esq. ditto Dowdeswell, General, ditto Downing, G. W. Esq. ditto Downing, Mr. ditto D re wry, Mr. Derby Dubuisson, Miss, London Duncombe, John, Esq. North- church, Herts Dunning, W. A. Esq. Maid- stone LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. IX Diiyer, Rev. F. London Dyce, Rev. Mr. ditto Dyer and Son, Messrs. Exeter, 2 copies E. Essex, Earl of Essex, Countess of Eghani, Right Hon. Lord Englefield, Sir Henry Earle, .lohn, Esq. Hull Ednieads, M'illiam, Esq. Maid- stone Edmund, G. Esq. London Edwards, Mr. Halifax Eiliston, C. Esq. London Englehearr, N. B. Esq. ditto Espin, Thos. Esq. Louth Espinasse, Isaac, Esq. London Evans, J. Esq. Pembridge, He- refordshire Evans, Sam, Esq. Eton College Evory and Odell, Messrs. Cork 2 copies Roberts, Lady, Cork Allman, James, Esq. ditto Brenan, Denis, Esq. ditto Deane, Thos. Esq. ditto Hall, Robert, Esq. ditto Hargrave, Abraham, Esq. ditto Hewitt, Hen. Esq. ditto Hutchinson, Wm. Esq. do. Lane, Abm. Esq. ditto M'Mahon, J. Esq. ditto F. Farmer, Miss, London Fenn, Mr. ditto Fereday, Wm. Esq. Dudley Ferraby, John, Mr. Hull Hentig, H. W. Esq. ditto Ferrier, — , Esq. Dublin Fisher, James, Esq. London Flashman, Thos. Esq. ditto Fleming, J. Esq. Manchester Fogg, Mr. Reading Forsyth, — , Esq. Greenock Fox, John, Esq. Pontefract Fox, — , Esq. Dublin Frampton, Mr. Dorchester Oakley, Escj. ditto Stickland, G. Capt. ditto Freeman, Mr. London Freeman, J. and W. Messrs. Norwich Proctor, SirThomas Beau- champ, Bart, ditto Bachelor, Horatio, Esq. ditto Burroughs, INIrs. ditto Cole, John Hamond, Esq. ditto Cooper, Charles, Esq. ditto Cushing, Joshua, Esq. ditto De Carle, R. Esq. ditto Dewing, Mrs. Norwich Finch, E.R Esq. ditto Gurney, Mrs. ditto Hill, J. Esq. ditto Ives, Rev. Jer. ditto Ives. Jeremiah, Esq. ditto Johnson, — , Esq. ditto Scott, P.N. Esq. ditto Stannard, Rev. Mr. ditto Stevenson, William, Esq. ditto Stone, Francis, Esq. ditto Tompson, Timothy, Esq. ditto Friedman, — , Esq. London Fripp, James, Esq. Bristol Fry, Edmund, M. D. London Fuller, J. & S. Messrs. ditto, 3 copies G. Grenville, Lord Gale and Curtis, Messrs: Lon- don, 12 copies Gales, Misses, Sheffield Garner, Mr. Margate Garratt, Wm. Esq. Ilavant, Hants Ghrimes, W. jun. Esq. London Gibbons, Js. jun. Esq. Dublin Gilbert, F. and S. Messrs. Spalding, 2 copies Gill, Mrs. London Glanville, Mr. ditto Goble, Mrs. Chichester GoUins, Miss, Stafford Goodford, John, Esq. Yeovil, Somersetshire Goodford, Mrs. ditto Gore, Wm. Esq. Provost Mar- shal, New South Wales Goss, — , Esq. London Goss, — , Esq. ditto Gowing, George, Mr. Ilolborn Grace, — , sen. Esq. London Graham, Thomas, Esq. London Granville and Sons, Plymouth Dock Grapel, Wm. Mr. Liverpool Dovey, Wm. Esq. ditto ^Morgan, Thos. Esq. ditto Stewart, Dan. Esq. ditto Gray, James, Esq. ditto Gregory, J. Esq. Chelsea Greeve, Joseph, Esq. Dublin Griffin, Edward, Esq. London Grosvenor, Chater, and Co. Messrs. ditto Grundy, Mr. ditto Gubbins, Mrs. Epsom Gunston, Wm. Esq. London Guthrie, Harie, Esq. Edin- burgh Gyfford, Samuel, Mr. London H. Hardwicke, Earl of Heathcote, Lady Haddock, — , Esq. Warrington Hamble, Mr. London LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Hamilton, Mrs. London Hamilton, A. Esq. ditto Hamilton, James, Esq. Dublin Hainpstead, Captain, Stroud, Cilouccstcrshire Haubury, Mrs. London Harman, Edward, Esq. ditto Harries, .1. H. Esq. Priskilly, Pembrokeshire Hawkins, Captain, Calrutta Hawks, B. W.Esq. Dudley Hawkswortli, — , Esq. Minoh- inhampton, (ilouccstershire Hawthorn, Edw. Esq. London Hayter, Geo. Esq. ditto Heath, — , Esq. ditto Hci^eland, Mr. Exeter, 3 cop. ilelil, S. Esq. London HenviUe, Rev. C. 13. I'orts- moutli Herring, Charles, Mr. Loudon 1 le.skitt, Mr. London Hetherset, Miss, Larlingibrd, Norfolk Jlibl)ert, (Jeorge, l's(}. London Hill, Samuel, Mr. ditto Hind, ^L Esq. Leeds HotTmau, Mr. l>ondon Hoft'manu, — , Esq. ditto Hogard, — , Esq. ditto Holtbrd, — , Es(|. ditto Jlollaud, Wm. Mr. ditto Rogers, .Jonathan, Esq. Dublin HoUingsworth, Finch, Esq. Thornham Hollocombe, — , Mr. London Homan, Wm. jun. Es(|. ditto Hope, Thos. Esq. ditto Hope, H. r. Es({. ditto Horton, Miss, liath Horton, Miss, Hereford Howard, Colonel, Duldin Hui)bal, .)ohn, I'lsq. StalToid Hughes, — , Esq. London Huish, J. Esq. London HuUat, Robert, Esq. Wapping Humphries, — , Esq. London Hunt, R. Esq. Shropshire Hunter, Ben.j. Mr. Loudon Hutchon, Thos. Esq. ditto I— J. Ibbolson, — , Esq. London Ikiu, Thos. Esq. Leeds Iselin, — ,Esq.Walworth,2cop. .Fackson, D. Miss, Chester ■lackson, Mr. Louth ■lames, Major, London James, H. Esq. Newcaslle-on- Tyne Jennings, Geo. Esq. Spalding John F. Esq. London JohnsoHj H. Esq. ditto Johnson, Jno. Esq. Conglcton Johnson, E. Esq. INIanchester Joinot, Mr. London Jones, Robert, Esq. Oldford, Middksex Jones, Mr. Bishop Stortford Jones, Mrs. Oxford Jones, — , Esq. F.R.S. Cardiff K. Kirkwall, Lord Viscount King, Abraham Bradley, Right Hon. Lord Mayor of Dublin Keele, — , Esq. Southampton Kelly, Miss, Loudon Kemp, — , Esq. Proctor, Exeter Kershaw, H. Esq. London Kent, Samuel, Esq. ditto Kent. Samuel, Mr. ditto Key, W. C. Esq. ditto King, — , Es(i. PlyuKHith Kinnaird, Wm. Es(|. London Kipps, Mr. Oxford Kirkham, Miss, Liverpool Kuapps, Mr. London L. Lincoln, Bishop of Lackington & Co. Mess. Lend. Lacy, Mrs. Maidstone Langton, Gower, Mrs. London Larken, Edmund, Esq. ditto Latouche, P. D. Esq. Dublin Latouche, John, Esq. ditto Latrobe, Rev. Chas. F. Lond. Laventhorpe,Thos. Esq. ditto Law, Charles, Esq. Laycock, T. Esq. Leader, William, Esq. London Le Danois, Rev. Mr. ditto Leicester, Hugh, F,sq. London Leigh, Roger Holt, Esq. Leeds Le Patourel, P. INIr. Guernsey Lukis, F. F"sq. ditto Watson, D. Esq. ditto Liptrap, J. Esq. F.R.S. A.S. Bethnal Green Lloyd, L O. Esq. ILiwkshead, Lancashire Lockwood, Jos. jun. Doncaster Lofthouse, — , Esq. Manchester Tjongman, Messrs. London, 12 copies Baker, — , Esq. Batteley, — , Esq. Booth, — , Esq. Buchams, — , Esq. Elliott, — , Esq. ]"'itzwilliam, — , Esq. Fowler, — , Esq. Gower and .Smart, Messrs. 2 copies Hanson, Mrs. Heath, — , Esq. Lancashire, — , Esq. Medgeley, Mrs. Nattali, C. Esq. Loten, John. Esq. Leigh, Essex Lowe, T. Esq. Northumberland Lvford, William, Esq. London M. Mountjoy, Lord Mackenzie, — , Esq. London Mackenzie, Mr. F. ditto LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. X] Madox, Erasmus, Esq. London Madox, John, Esq. ditto Magrath, — , Esq. ditto Manning, Thos. Esq. Dublin Marsh, Mr. London Marsh, ,T. INIr. Sidmouth Wrighte, Miss, ditto Marton, — , Esq. London Maude, J. Esq. ditto Maude, Eras. Esq. Wakefield INI'Pherson, — , Esq. London Mears, Rev. Thomas, South- ampton Meigh, Charles, Esq. Hanley Mendez, M. Florez, Esq. Lond. Merridew, Mr. Coventry Meyer, — , Esq. London Middleton, N. Esq. ditto Mikel, Fert6, Mr. ditto Miller, J. PL E«q. ditto Miller, Mr. ditto Miller, Mr. Newcastle, 3 copies Minasi, Esq. London Minnett, — , Esq. ditto Mintorn, Mr. Bristol Mitan, Mr. London Mitchell, Wm. Esq. ditto Molteno, Mr. ditto Moor, Major, Bealings, Wood- bridge, Suffolk Moore, — , Esq. London Moore, Thos. Esq. ditto Morgan, — , Esq. ditto Morgan, — , Esq. ditto Morris, — , Esq. ditto Morrowe, H. Esq. ditto Moxon, jun. Esq. ditto Munn, Mr. ditto, 3 copies Scott, — , Esq. Murrow, Thos. Esq. Liverpool N. Nassau, Hon. Mr. London Nassau, George, Esq. ditto Nelson, J, W. Esq. ditto Nelson, J. Esq. ditto Nettleton, Wm. Mr. Plymouth Budgeman, — , Esq. ditto Chadwicke, Captain, ditto Curgenoen, — , Esq. ditto Gataire, — , Colonel, ditto Halloran, — , Esq. ditto Harris, James, Esq. ditto Holmden, — , Esq. ditto Kynaston, Captain, ditto Oldrey, — , Esq. ditto Williams, — , Es(|. ditto Newbury, — , Esq. Gibraltar Newman, Jas. Esq. London Newman, Robert, Esq. ditto Nichols, Mr. Wakefield Nicol, Mrs. London Nightingale, Rev. Jos. ditto Nolte, — , Esq. ditto Norris, — , Esq. ditto Norris, Henry, Esq. Liverpool Norris, Robert, Esq. ditto Norton, Mrs. London Norton & Sons, Messrs. Bristol, 2 copies Shute, Miss, ditto Tustin, — , Esq. ditto Winpenny, Jno. Esq. ditto O. Oldham, Thos. Esq. Louth O'Rielly, Matt. Esq. Dublin Orme, Mr. London, 12 copies Owen, Geo. Esq. ditto,4 copies P. Packarness, jNIrs. London Padbury, Mrs. Cirencester Page, Mrs. London Paget, S. Esq. Yarmouth Parkes, D. Esq. Shrewsbury Parkins, Mrs. Shirsgill Parris, R. N. Esq. Cardiff Parry, Francis Charles, Esq. Parsons, — , Esq. Alderman, Oxford Parson, John, Esq. ditto Pauncefort, Mrs. London Paynter, John, Rsq. London Peach, S. Esq. ditto Peacocke, — , Esq. Dublin Pearson, J. R. Esq. London Redder, Edward, Esq. Preston Peirce, Edward, JNIr. London Perkins, H. Esq. ditto Perry, — , Esq. ditto Phillip, Leigh, Esq. Manchestei Phipps, Warner, Esq. London Picard, Rev. (;. Warmwell, Dorset Pickering, J. N. Esq. London Pirie, — , Esq. ditto Piatt, — , Esq. ditto Pope, John Thos. Esq. London Porter, Mr. ditto Potter, John, Esq. Dublin Potter, — , Esq. London Powell, Dr. ditto Powlet, Colonel, Southampton Poyse, Esq. London Praed, Mr. Serjeant, ditto Preston, — , Esq. Dublin Prichard, James, Esq. London Prince, — , Esq. ditto Pugin, A. Mr. ditto, 5 copies Purves, Richd. John, Esq. ditto Rutland, — , Esq. Dublin Pyne, John, Esq. Beddington Pvne, H. W. Esq. London Q. Quantock, Jno. Esq. Exmouth Quinau, Thomas, Esq. Dublin R. Railton, — , Esq. London Ramsay, General, Woolwich Randall, J. T. Esq. Milford, Pembrokeshire Ranney, J. F. Yarmouth Ratcliffe, — , Esq. Manchester Raymond, S. Esq. London Raynor, Joseph, Esq. Leeds Rees and Curtis, Messrs. Ply- mouth, 13 copies Xll LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. Rcpton, George, Esq. London Rhodes, — , Esq. ditto Riboiiliau, Captain, ditto Rico, — , Esq. ditto Richards, .)ohn, Esq. ditto Ridge, S. & 1. Messrs. Newark ]>iCTo-e, — , Esq. London liisce, Mr. ditto Rintoul, Mr. Chelsea Rivett, Rev. Thos. Everton Rivett, Mrs. Wycombe, Suffolk Rivinoton, Messrs. London Roberts, Edward, Esq. Ealing Roberts, — , Esq. Essex Robertson, Mr. London Robins, Jos. Mr. ditto, 2 cop. Armstrong, Charles, Esq. London Ruckland, Thomas, Esq. London Holding, Wm. Esq. ditto Maltby, Thos. Esq. ditto Robinson, Juhn, Esq. ditto Robinson, C. jiin. Mr. Hull Rodford, Mr. Hull Bancroft, Miss, ditto Ellison, Henry, Esq. Be- verley Maisters, Colonel, Hull Rodwell, Mr. London Rogers, .lohn, Esq. ditto Rooe, Mr. Staintbrd Fryer, Henry, Esq. ditto Rooke,' Rev. George, North- ampton Rouse, Kirby, and Lawrence, Messrs. Canterbury Rowe & Waller, Mess. London Collengridge, Thos- l-sti- ditto Moore, Abel, Esq. ditto Ro\vlandso\i, Thos- Esq. ditto 4 copies Ruff, Mr. Cheltenham Rule, W. N. Esq. London Rush and Co. Messrs. London 2 copies Russel, C. T, Esq. Maidstone, 3 copies S. Stanhope, Earl Spencer, Earl Sunderlin, Lord Smith, Sir Drm. ditto Saffery, Mr. Canterbury Samuel, — , Esq. London Sandford, Mr. Plymouth Jackson, John, Esq. ditto SauniarezjRichd. Esq. London Savage, Rev. George, ditto Scott, Rev. J.R. D.D. Farnham Setchel, Henry, and Son, Mess. London, 2 copies. Whitaker, Mr. Loughton Hall, Essex i Seymour, Mrs- Milbrook I House, Dorset Shalders, J. Mr. Yarmouth Penrice, Thos. Esq. ditto Shard, Mrs. London Sliaw, Richard, Esq. ditto Sliopherd, J. Esq. Faversham Shepherd, W. Mr. Bristol, 4cop. Brooke, Rev. Mr- Moorend Cole, Thos. Esq. Clifton Harford, Samuel Lloyd, Esq. ditto Lewis, Colonel, Chepstow M iiler,—, Es< |. near Bristol Peach, W S. Esq. Tock- ington Tottenham, Ponsonby, Esq- Clifton Windey, N. Esq. Lower Green Sherriff, — , Esq. Birmingham Shrrwood, Neely, and Jones, Messrs. London, C copies Sibthorpe, Colonel, ditto Smart, Mr. ditto Smedley, Rev. Edwd. London Sipith, J. Esq. ditto Smith, G. B. Esq. Saffron Wal- den Smith, J. Esq. Ludlow, Salop Smith & Son, Messrs. Glasgow, 2 copies Smithery, H. Esq. Newport Soulby, Mr. Ulverstone Benson, A. Esq. Reading Sunderland, T. Esq- Ul- verstone Spence, Mr. York Splidt, P. Esq. London Stanley, Mrs. Aston Clinton Stedman, — , Esq. Godalming Steele, Isaac, Esq. London Steer, Mrs. ditto Stevens, Mr. ditto Steward, W. Esq. Yarmouth Stockdale, Mr. London Stone, Rev. Mr. Stonehurst, Lancashire Street, Thomas, Esq. London Strietfield,Rev.T. Long Ditton Stringer, — , Esq. London Stuart, R- Esq. Alderstone, near Haddington Tempest, Sir H. Bart. Toler, Hon. MissLetitia, Dub- lin Turner, Sir G. P. Bart. London Tardrew, Wm. Esq. Bideford Tara, J. Mr. Louth Taylor, Liberty, Esq. Maid- stone Taylor, Edward, Esq, London Taylor, H. Esq. ditto Taylor, Edward, Esq. Canter- bury Thomas, Edward, Esq. Burton- upon-Trent Thomas, Mrs. Epsom LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS. XI 1 J Thomas, Mr. Bury Thomas and Hunsle}', Don- caster Thomson & Whrigtson, Messrs. Birmingham Heeley, — •, Esq. Walsall Spurrier, J. Esq. ditto Thornton, Robert, Esq. M. P. London Tims, H. Esq. Littlebury Tinkler, Luke, Esq. Dublin Tripp, James, Esq. Bristol Todd, Robert, Esq. Hull Todd, Mr. York Meynel, Thomas, Esq. Yarm Tomlinson, John. Esq. New- castle Trickett, Mr. London Turmeau, J. JNIr. Liverpool, 2 copies Eden, — , Esq. ditto Massey, — , Esq. ditto Smith, J. Rev. ditto Turner, D. Esq. F. R. S. and L. S. Yarmouth Turner, Charles, Esq. London Turner, Wm. Esq. Dublin Turner, Thos. Esq. Gloucester U— V. Vincent, Dr. Dean of West- minster Upham, Mr. Exeter, 16 copies Uvvins, TKomas, Esq. London Vacher and Davis, Messrs. do. Vandeleur, Colonel, Worcester Vaughan, Thos. Esq. London Villiers, Huett, Esq. ditto Von Hartin, Geo- Esq. ditto w. White, Sir Thomas Woolaston, Bart. Warburton, Lady Walede, Colonel, Sibthorp Walker, Rd. Esq. Liverpool Walker, — , Esq. Egham Walker, Thomas, Esq. Leeds Wallis, J. Mr. Saffron Walden Wallis, — , Esq. Walsh, — , Esq. London Warren, Mr. Kevv Wastie, — , Esq. London Watkins, Mr. Hereford, 2 cop. Webb, Rev. Richard, London Webster, Wm. Esq. London, 2 copies Webster, — . Esq. London Westley and Parish, Messrs. London, 4 copies Pickering, G. C. Esq. Starkie, — , Esq. Weston, Rev. Mr. London Wetton, C. C. Mr. Egham White, W. IL Esq. London White, Esq. — , ditto White, Rev. Richard Walton, Isle of Wight White, Rev. Mr. London White, — , Esq. Wisbeach Whitstone, Js. Esq. Dublin Wightman, W. Esq. London Wild, John, Esq. ditto Wilkinson, Rev. Jos. Thetford Williams, C. W. Esq. London Williams, Thomas, Esq. ditto Williams, Mr. ditto Williamson, Joshua, Esq. Li- verpool Williamson, Mr. London Willmot, — , Esq. ditto Willson, Mr. ditto Wilson, Thomas, Esq. ditto AVilson, Mr. Macclesfield, 2 copies Browne, David, Esq. ditto Daintry, J. S. Esq. ditto Dewhurst, — , Esq. ditto Johnson, John, Esq. Con- gleton Nicholson, John, Esq. INIacclesfield Pearson, N. Esq. ditto Winchester, Messrs. London AYindle, Thomas, Esq. ditto Wise, Stacy, Esq. ^Maidstone Wise, Geo- IMr. Tunbridge Wolstenholme, Mr. York Wood, Rev. Wm. Wakefield Woodcock, W. Esq. Preston Woodward, T. J. Esq. Diss, Norfolk Wormald, Henry, Esq. Leeds Wright, Mr. Bristol, 4 copies AVright and Co. Messrs. Liver- pool, 5 copies Wyatt, P. W. Esq. London AVykham, Miss, Oxfordshire Y- Yarmouth, Lord Yates, — 5 Esq. London Yates, Wm. Esq- Manchester Yorke, P. W. Esq. London Youngman, Mr. Witham Z. Zanetti, Vittore, Mr. Man- chester Vol. I. ARRANGEMENT OF THE PLATES. VOL. I. The Portrait of William Vincent, D. D. Dean of | Plan of Westminster Abbi-y . to face the title Westminster , . ce, Earl of Pembroke half-title 3. North-east View of Westminster Abbey page I 4. Henry the Seventh's Chapel, shewing reno- vated Pinnacles 12. Fragments and Parts of the Exterior of dido 5. Interior View of Westminster Abbey from the West Gate 6. Interior View of ditto looking towards the West Entrance C. AVest Window ditto 7. The Choir ditto A. Mosaic Pavement D. North Window 16. West Entrance, turning to the right 11. Fragments and Arches in Westminster Abbey 15. Ditto of Ceilings, &c. 14. Ditto of Parts of Windows, Pillars, &c. 13. Ditto of Windows, Doors, &c. 17. Second and third W'indows, South Aisle 18. Fourth and fifth Windows, ditto 19. Sixth and seventh Windows, ditto c Entrance to the Choir > 1 20 -i i West Entrance j 21. Eighth and ninth Windows 22. Tenth Window and Entrance to Cloister 23. South Aisle 24. AVest Side of Poets' Corner 25. Ditto ditto 26. Entrance into Poets' Corner F. Poets' Corner 6 ib. 9 14 ib. 15 18 24 28 ib. ib. ib. ib. 33 37 40 45 50 58 63 66 74 89 98 Plate To face page 27. South View of Poets' Corner . . 103 9. NortI) View across the Transept from Poets Corner 28. Chapel of S(. Henedict 29. East View of St. Edmund's Chapel 30. West View of ditto 31. St Nicholas's Chapel 32. AVest View of dillo 33. South-east Area B. Interior of King Sebert's Monument Q. Porch of Henry the Seventh's Chapel 8. Henry the Seventh's Cliapel 10. Fragments of ditto 35. Henry the Seventh's Monument H. Interior of ditto 36. Lewis Stuart, Duke of Richmond R. Henry the Seventh's Chapel 37. George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham 38. East End of North Aisle 39. Queen Elizabeth — Mary Queen of Scols 40. North Aisle of Henry the Seventh's Chap 41. West Side of the Chapel of St. Paul 40. East Side of the Chapel of St. Paul 43."^\'^est Side of St. Erasmus's Chapel 44. East Side of ditto U. Islip's Chapel P. The Screen of ditto, and the Entrance t Erasmus's Chapel 45. Chapel of St. Andrew— Chapel of St. Joh the Evangelist 108 109 112 116 119 121 124 12^ 134 ib. ib. 136 138 152 153 155 157 159 163 170 172 176 ^ 179 y 183 ib. 187 ARRANGEMENT OF THE PLATES VOL. II. riate 46. Chapel of St. John the Evangelist 47. North Area N. Norlli-easl area 49. North Aisle 60. Part of the Screen of Edward the Confessor — Edmund Croiichback 51. Queen Philippa — Queen Eleanor L. Edward the Confessor's Cliapel 34. Richard JI.— Edward III. 53. Tlie Screen of Edward tlie Confessor ) M. Edward the Confessor's Monument S 52. Henry the Fifth's Chapel O. Screen over (lie Chantry of Henry V. E. East Windows G. Aveline, first AV'ife of Edmund Crouch back « To face page 193 194 19G 198 200 201 202 ♦20i 207 208 210 211 213 Plate To face page 54. North Cross . . . . 218 55. North Entrance of Westminster Abbey . 220 I. Lord Chatliam . . .221 56. Duke of Ariryle — Lord Mansfield . 225 .57. North Transept . . , 226 58. William Croft— John Blow, Sec. . 237 59. North Aisle . . - 241 60. Fourth and fifth Windows of the North Aisle 245 61. Sixth, seventh, and eighth Windows of ditto 247 62. Ninth, tenth, and eleventh W^indows of ditto 254 63. Captain Montague — Addison . . 256 T. South-east end of the Cloister . . 260 S. Monuments in the Cloister . . 263 N. B. The Monuments of Richard If. and Edward III. plate 34, are described in pages 204* and 205*, between 204 and 205, ^s 1 i '^ >> 1 H 1 e 1 \ a: .§ s Q ^• 1 M fe, s f I ■ •^ S53 ■*, F^ t fj © 4.** 5 4 sJ -g fe. ^ < 'A ♦ hi INTRODUCTION. The Collegiate Church of Westminster may, without, fear of contradiction, be considered as one of the most interesting edi- fices in the British empire. Its remote anti(niity, its edificial beauty, the character and variety of its architecture, as well as the ornament it affords to the metropolis, give it a superior distinction. But when the eye is turned from its general form and features, and the mind contemplates all that it contains; when it is regarded as the Mausoleum of our Kings ; as the Sepulchre of Princes and Nobles ; as guai'ding the dust of so many men who have, by their courage and virtue, their learning and eloquence, their science and piety, adorned the times in which they lived, and have left examples for imitation to succeeding ages : when it is also consi- dered as the scene of that august, constitutional ceremony which places the crown on the heads, and delivers the sceptre to the hands, of the British Sovereigns ; such a combination of character- istic circumstances cannot fail to excite those emotions which are most honourable and improving to the nature of man. Of what materials must his character be composed, who does not feel his best sensibilities awakened, his piety animated, his thoughts digni- VOL. I. 4 ^ ■-■=* xvi INTRODUCTION. fied, his sense of public duty enlarged, and his moral tendencies strengthened, by reflecting on those objects which this structure presents to his contemplation ? To give a history of this vast and beautiful fabric, this scene of human grandeur, and last repository of glory, in all its parts, and with all its accessory circumstances, from its earliest notices to the present moment, is the object for which this work has been compiled and written. The first historians of this church, and the character of their respective writings, will be found in the early pages of the first volume. They contain all that is known to have been recorded or conjectured of the more ancient periods of its establishment ; with which much of the fablings of superstition, as well as of doubt- ful tradition, is blended ; till the time arrives, when History can speak with confidence, and proceeding in a regular, authentic series of events and circumstances, establishes the credibility of its nar- ration*. * That this church was no regular monastery, and had no abbot, till the Bene- dictines were established here by Edgar and DumUm, is clearly proved in the History of Ingulphtcs, Abbot of Cropland; where it appears, that Wit/a/ was the founder of Cro!^. land, in the reign of Egbert, who died in the year 837 ; and the charter granted by that prince is signed by several abbots, but by no abbot of Westndnster. Crot^land was after- wards burned by the Danes ; but restored by Turketal, Chancellor to Athelslan, and his son Edmund or Edred. Turkelal gave a tenth of his possessions to the monastery, con- INTRODUCTION. xviL In the middle of the last century, Dart published his splendid History of this Church, whose typographical beauty, and the num- ber of eugravings, gave it a reputation, to which the historical department has little claim : for a work more remarkable for neg- ligence at least, has seldom proceeded from the press. He appears to have possessed all the means of doing justice to his subject ; of which, from a want of historical capacity, an incurious and indo- lent disposition, or a defect of scholarship, he did not, or could not, avail himself. TVidmore, however, who was librarian of the college, and to whose accurate diligence the following pages are most materially indebted, supphed his deficiencies; enabling the compiler of this History to proceed with confidence, as well as to conclude it with the hope of fulfilling the promises ^hich accom- panied its commencement. Nor must the acknowledgment be omitted, that the Very Reverend Dr. Vi?icent, with his liberal spirit sisting of six manors out of sixty; and after resigning the remainder to the king, retired from the world, and became abbot of his own foundation ; the charter for which is signed by the king and several abbots, but by no abbot of Westminster, although it was executed at London. But when a new charter is given by Edgar, it is signed by Wu/fius or Wulsius, the very abbot who, according to Widmore, in his History of the Abbey, was appointed by Edgar and Dunstan over the Benedictines introduced at Westminster. The proof, therefore, is little short of demonstration, that there was no abbot of Westminster before Wui/ius*. * Scriptores Anglici, art. Ingulphiis, p. 872. 882. XVlll INTRODUCTION. of comiuunicat.on, granted the use of his copy of Wldmore^s History of the Abbey, whose value is so much enhanced by his marginal observations. It must be allowed, that all the existing means of historical information have been obtained that the subject of these volumes might require; and every local information has been most readily given by those who, from their respective offices, are best qualified to afford it. It remains, therefore, to indulge the hope, that these aids and assistances have not been granted in vain. This History, with its graphic illustrations, and it is mentioned with every becoming acknowledgment, has, from the commence- ment of its periodical pubhcation, been progressively encouraged by an increasing patronage; and the conclusion, it is hoped, will confirm the favourable opinion. r Bluet: Jtiilp' of WcsUnniiit er Abbev. P1ihliih'.f.huih.l8ll.i~orKArkmMn}iJ VTrjm: .lhhr\: atmStrarulXfiulcH HISTORY OF THE ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. PETER'S, WESTMINSTER. CHAPTER THE FIRST. THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH. The history of those monasteries which were founded at periods subsequent to the Conquest, may, in general, be readily traced from the existing charters t)f their respective founders, or the authentic accounts of contemporary writers: but the origin of such as were established in earlier times, is involved in great obscurity ; and is not only subject to the varying conjectures of inge- nious and fanciful men, but to the idle dreams of credulous superstition. Several of the more ancient monastic institutions have their histories, such as they are ; and the charters of others, which are said to have survived the long lapse of time and the accidents of the world, are produced to establish their remote antiquity. But as these histories appear to have been written at Vol. I. B c HISTORY OF so late a period, as to possess, at best, but a dubious authority, and to rest more upon traditionary collection, than historical deduction, they must be considered as of very uncertain reliance : while the charters appear to be of still less dependance ; several of them having been discovered to be actual for- geries as in the case of Crowland Abbey, in the county of Lincoln, and many others*. The origin of Westminster Abbey is so involved in legend and fable, that it is in vain to search for any satisfactory or authentic data, whereon to establish it with any plausible degree of historical certainty. The fictions which have been employed by the superstitious zeal, or the selfish interests, of its monks, to heighten the sanctity of their church, or attract endowments to it, are many of them so ridiculous and incredible, that, in this enlightened age, they would be thought unworthy of the slightest attention, if they did not, in their very errors and objects, form a part of its history. A slight attention, however, is all that this work will afford them. That the apostle St. Peter founded an oratory on the spot where the • church now stands, is the first of those legendary tales by which its antiquity and sacred character have been supported. This circumstance, however, claims no better authority than that of Wulfin, or Wulfinus, an abbot of the church, an old man of great sanctity and simplicity of manners, in the time of Ed- ward the Confessor, who dreamed that his church was thus indebted to an apostolic origin, and persuaded the credulous monarch to believe that his noc- turnal fancy was a celestial communication. This visionary occurrence, however, might have died away and been forgotten, if it had not found a strong support in the ambitious views of the papal power, which drew an argument from * HicKEs's Disserlatio Epistolaris, p. 66. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 3 St. Peter's supposed visit to this island, in favour of the rightful dominion over it being thus vested in those who assumed the character of that apostle's imme- diate successors. This oratory, however, is said to have continued till the persecution of Christianity in Britain, which is a bloody feature of the reign of Dioclesian; and was the scourge of this island during two years. Amidst its sanguinary horrors, it committed the most abominable violations on every thing that bore the character of religion. It not only dilapidated the sacred buildings, but ran- sacked the graves of those who had been renowned for their sanctity, and treated their remains with the most sacrilegious ignominy ; so that all appearance of religious worship was not merely deformed, but annihilated*. In the general destruction of that period, the oratory shared the common fate ; and a temple to Apollo was erected on the spot by the pagans, which some of the legendary writers represent as having been afterwards destroyed by an earthquake, and not without a concomitant notion of preternatural interference. Others assert, that it was removed by King Lucius, who having lately embraced the Christian religion, erected a church on its site, and bestowed on it large endowments and immunities. That, about this time, such a person as Lucius possessed dominion in some part of Britain, there is no reason to doubt. Archbishop Usher and Stilling- fleet maintain that opmion ; and the former confirms it by certain coins, which he mentions as bearing his name, and accompanied with the insignia of royalty: but that he was the first founder of this church, would probably have never been siiggested, most certainly not on historical evidence, if he had not been a prince, and one of the earliest converts to Christianity ; and therefore a suitable • Gildas.— Bede's Eccl. Ilisi. lib. i. B2 4 HISTORY OF instrument in the hands of the monks, to assist them in the fabrication of their legendary narratives. Sulcardus, a monk of Westminster Abbey, and its earUest historian, wrote in the year 1080, and dedicated his book to Vitalis, then abbot : but he makes no mention of Lucius, who was probably brought forward to give authority to a posterior fabrication : on the contrary, he relates, that Sebert, nephew of Ethelbert, King of Kent and of the East Saxons, having received Christian bap- tism, at the persuasion and from the hands of Mellitus, Bishop of London, dila- pidated a pagan temple at a place called Thorney, from its being overgrown with thorns, about two miles distant from London, and founded a church on the spot in honour of St. Peter. John Flete. who was also a monk of Westminster, in the reign of Henry VL and died prior of the Monastery, is another authority in support of the opinion, that Sebert was the founder of this church. He wrote on the state of paganism ,n Britain during the time of the Saxons, and mentions, that " Religion and " justice, being in a very declining state among the Britons, there arrived, at " different times, in various parts of the island, great numbers of infidel Saxons " and Angles, who, having obtained possession of the whole, according to « the custom of their country, erected temples, in all parts of it, to their " divinities. At the same time, they threw down the churches of the " Christians, drove them from their altars, and introduced the pagan worship " throughout the land. Thus the old abominations were every where re-esta- " blished, the Britons driven from their homes, and while Diana was worshipped " at London, incense was offered to Apollo in the suburbs of Thorney. 7m- " molat Diana Londonia, thurificat Apolimi suburbana Thornciar He then pro- ceeds to state, that " Sebert, King of the East Saxons, and nephew to Ethel- - bert, having received baptism, dilapidated the temple of Apollo, situated in WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 5 « Thorney Island, near London ; and there, with great devotion, erected and " founded a church in honour of St. Peter, the chief of the apostles." An ancient chronicle, entitled the Liber Regius, also relates, that *' King " Sebert, having been baptised by St. Austin, in the western part of London, " called Thorney, erected a church there to the honour of God and St. Peter, " and requested Mellitus, Bishop of London, to assist at the dedication of it." But the earliest document in support of this opinion, is the charter of King Edgar, in which it is recorded, that " the Church of St. Peter was said to be built, " on the suggestion of King Ethelbert, by his nephew, Sebert, to whose government " London was then entrusted, in a certain terrible, uncultivated place, by the " inhabitants called Thorney. In loco tcrribili qui ab incolis Thorneya mmcupatur." The following is another variety in the accounts given of the foundation of this church.— Ethelbert, who was King of Kent, and chief monarch of the Sax- ons, is said to have possessed a superior command in Essex. Hence it is supposed that he extended his privileges to the seat of Sebert's power, by building a church in London, at that time a town of great comparative wealth and commerce, on the foundations of an old temple of Diana. This church, now the cathedral of London, was dedicated to St. Paul, and Mellitus was consecrated its first bishop. Sebert is represented as being soon after converted to Christianity, and following the example of his royal uncle, erected another church, where a temple of Apollo had once stood, in the Island of Thorney, now St. Peter's. Westminster. Sebert died in the year 6l6, having reigned about seventeen years, and was interred, with his Queen Ethelgold, in this church. They were both, according to Sulcardus, inclosed in leaden coffins, &c. " plumbcis sarcophagis," and after- wards removed into the church of Edward the Confessor. Walsingham states, that they followed the improvements of the church, and were accordingly trans- lated into that which was erected by Henry III. (5 HISTORY OF These relations, however, such as they are, appear to terminate in a general belief, that Sebert, in consequence of his conversion to Christianity, and influ- enced by his uncle Ethelbert's example, built this church in Thorney Island ; where he either pulled down, or found the ruins of) a pagan temple ; and that he commanded Mellitus, then Bishop of London, to consecrate the holy structure to the honour of St. Peter. A miracle, however, is related by all the historians which have hitherto been consulted, as the extraordinary attendant on this pious transaction. The account of it which follows is extracted from Dugdale, who professedly borrows from them all. Mellitus, having made every necessary preparation for obeying the commands of Sebert, was prevented by a most extraordinary occurrence, which was no less than the intervention of the apostle St. Peter, in his own person; who is repre- sented, on a stormy night, when the Thames was overflowing from the great quantity of rain which had fallen, to have engaged a fisherman, of the name of Edricus, with the promise of a reward, to carry him over to Thorney. This the poor man accordingly performed ; when he saw St, Peter enter the church, from whence a light appeared immediately to issue, of such transcendent brightness, as to convert the darkness of the night into meridian splendour. A company of the heavenly host was also seen to attend the apostle in his holy work, while a chorus of celestial voices, and the most fragrant odours, assisted the wonders of the scene. Angels were also beheld ascending and descending, in the same manner as in Jacob's vision, recorded in the Scriptures. This awful and miraculous appear- ance had such an effect on the astonished fisherman, as to deprive him of his senses. In this state he remained, till the apostle, on his return, delivered him from his stupefaction, and unfolded his sacred character ; commanding him, at the same time, to make known to the Bishop Mellitus all that he had seen and WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 7 heard, and to bid him refrain from a second consecration. The fisherman, however, did not forget his promised reward, and on demanding it, St. Peter, continues the historian, told him to let down his nets into the water. " Laxa nunc inquid rclia in captiiram." When the nets could scarce sustain the vast draught of salmon which they had inclosed. St. Peter then assured him, that neither he, nor his brethren, should at any time want that kind of fish, on the condition that they made an otfering of the tenth part of what they might catch to the Church of Westminster*. The apostle then disappeared. Mellitus having been informed of this miraculous ceremonial, hastened to the church, where he found the chrism, the drops of the wax tapers, and all the convincing signs of a real consecration. He, therefore, desisted from proceed- ing in his meditated office ; and, in remembrance of the miracle, ordered the name of the place to be changed from Thorney to Westminster. Such are the grounds of the opinion which has generally prevailed, and been incuriously adopted by subsequent historians, of the foundation of the Church of Westminster ; but in a work which is specially and exclusively ap- propriated to its history, it will be expected, that all these circumstances should be examined and sifted with the most accurate and impartial attention; so as to *This custom of offering salmon appears to have been of long continuance. An ancient manuscript in the Cottonian Library, confirms this custom, by the traditional testimony of several monks, living about the tenth century, who had seen salmon offered on the altar of tlie church ; as well as respect- ing a dispute between the parson of Rotheriiithe, on the Thames side, with the abbot and his monks, respecting this privilege. Pennant, whose accuracy there is no reason to doubt, though he does not mention his authority, states, that this custom was observed till the year 1382, He adds, also, that the fisherman, on the day of presentation, had a right to sit at the same table with the prior, and might demand of the cellarer, ale and bread ; and the cellarer, again, might take of the fish's tail as much as he could hold with four fingers and Lis thumb erect. 8 HISTORY OF "give as much certainty to its origin as the lapse of ages, the varying opinions of writers, and the perplexities in which the subject has been involved, will allow. To that enquiry the pages which immediately follow, will be anxiously devoted. It does not appear, that any charter of its founder has ever been produced, to support the claims of the Church of Westminster to the remote antiquity which has always formed a feature of its early history. John Flete*, who wrote a history of this place about the year 1443, appears to credit the opi- nion, which he quotes from an anonymous writer in the Saxon tongue, that this church is indebted for its original foundation to King Lucius, about the year of our Lord 184; and, as it has been already mentioned, that this structure was afterwards, during the persecution which took place in the reign of Dioclesian, taken from the service of Christian worship, and converted into a temple for the administration of religious rites to the pagan Apollo.— In the history ascribed to John Brompton, the same opinion appears to be adoptedf . For the weakness and wonders of superstition it is seldom very difficult to account : indeed, such a groundless and idle invention as that which has been mentioned, can be attributed alone to its influence on the historians who have recorded it. That a British prince should at that time reign in this part of our island ; that a Christian church should be publicly erected in the midst of a • John Flelc became a monk of Westminster about the jear 1421, and died prior of the Monas- tery in 1464. He wrote his history at the request of some of his monastic brethren, and proposed to .bring it down to the year 1443 : it goes, however, no farther than 1386. As he possessed more ma- terials, his history is a larger work tlian that of Sulcardus ; and (he subsequent writers have borrowed very largely from him. He appears, indeed, to have been contented with such authorities as presented themselves to him ; without attempting, or perhaps being particularly qualified, to discriminate truth from forgery. + See the Decern Scriptores. Londini, 1682. Col. 725. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Roman, and consequently of an heathen, province ; and that a monastery should be raised before there were monks to inhabit it, form such a succession of ab- surdities as have been seldom brought together to establish an historical fact. The monkish authorities are indeed unanimous in asserting, that Lucius was King of Britain; but the assertion is equally groundless and ridiculous. It is probable that he governed some part of it, but not in that division which has been so generally assigned to him : for the Romans were not such weak politicians as to suffer any dependant of theirs, if vested with regal power, openly to profess and encourage a religion different from their own. Nei- ther Antoninus the Philosopher, nor his son Commodus, possessed characters so indulgent to Christianity. Venerable Bede, on whose sole authority the accounts of King Lucius are supported, has borrowed all his information respecting him from the Liber Pontificalis^, whose author knew nothing of the state of Britain; and whose work is emphatically described by Lloyd, Bishop of Worcester, in the preface to his historical account o^ Church Government, as " a mixen of ill-contrived forgeries." The more general opinion will now be considered respecting the antiquity of this church, which determines its foundation to have taken place in the reign of King Sebert, when Mellitus was Bishop of London, and in one of the following years:— 004, according to Dugdale ; in 605, as stated by Stow and Camden ; or in 610, as supposed by Newport and Willis, in the Repertorhun of the one, and the account of Mitred Parliamentarij Abbots of the other. Sulcardusf , a monk of Westminster, appears to be the most ancient produ- * Bisliop Pearson's Opera Posthuma, p. 117. t His treatise is very short, and a very large proportion of it is engrossed by (be fabulous account of tlie consecration of the church by St. Peter. He seems to have done little more than copy a Codex Memorialis of the church, in better language than that in which the original was conveyed. Vol. I. C 10 HISTORY OF cible authority in favour of the opinion, that this church uas founded in the reign of Sebert. The work of this writer, which is in the Cottonian Library, could not have been composed at a later period than the concluding part of the reign of William the Conqueror ; it being dedicated to Vitalis, the abbot of the church, who died some time previous to the demise of that prince. There are, how- ever, certain charters in the names of King Edgar, Archbishop Dunstan, and Edward the Confessor, published from the Cottonian, Lord Hatton's, and Sir Henry Spelman's libraries, and the archives of the Church of Westminster, which either mention, or imply, that Edgar was the founder of it. The charter of King Edgar, however, is evidently spurious, from the Norman style and phrases, which were introduced into the language of Britain at the Conquest*. The same objection may be made to that of St. Dunstan, with the addition of its numerous chronological errorsf. Those of the Confessor, also, are rendered more than doubtful, from the Norman phrases and idioms which they contain; from the manner of affixing the seals^, and by comparing them with a char- ter in the possession of the Church of Westminster, whose genuine character has been established. There is, likewise, in a book now belonging to the church, a transcript, made about the time of Queen Mary, of a charter of the Confessor, that men- tions the consecration of the church by the Apostle Peter, in which the appear- ances of fraud are not so obvious ; though the allusion to the miracle must create u justifiable suspicion, that it is not a genuine instrument^. * liicK-Es's Dissertatio Epistolaris, p. G6. + Wharton dc Episcop. London, p. 79. X HiCKEs's preface to Lileratura Septenlrionalis, p. 37. « S The passage is as follows:-" Hanc largitatem ideo benigno ani.no renovamus ct conccdimus » Sancto Petro, principi apostolorum, cui locus pra^dictus dedicatus ac consecratus mirabilitcr ab WESTMINSTER ABBEY. U The church is also in the possession of a Latin histor\% which Dugdale, in his MoJiasticon*, attributes to Richard Sporleyf ; but, by Archbishop Usher, and on better authority, is ascribed to Flete ; in which a chapter is quoted from an anony- mous Saxon author: but as the original is not known, no decisive opinion, or even probable conjecture, can be formed of its authenticity, either from the age when, or the language in which, it was written. This extract, however, mentions the story of a church being built here by King Lucius, and afterwards converted into an heathen temple dedicated to Apollo : but as this circumstance is not mentioned by Sulcardus, it may be justly supposed, that whoever he was, he lived posterior to that writer ; it having been the practice of the monkish historians, to gratify their own self-importance, or augment that of the institution to which they be- longed, by adding new circumstances, in their pious zeal, to those which have been related by the authors who preceded them. It appears, therefore, that Sulcardus, who probably wrote his history about the year 1080, is the oldest of those authors now remaining, who contend that this abbey was founded in the reign of the Saxon king, Sebert. This historian, how- ever, does not name the founder ; but generally styles him, Quidam civiuyn urbis non infimus et pradives christicola. •' antiquis temporibus Dei provklentia ab ipso clavigcro confirmaius," &c. — It is a singular coin- cidence, tbat Ibese words sbould be precisely (lie same witb the clause foisted into King Edward's charter; a circumstance which certainly strengthens the suspicion of its being a forgery. At all events, it must be a very old one, as it gives a very good historical account of the possessions of the church. * Vol I. p. 55. + He was a monk of Westminster from about 1430 to 1490. The history which Dugdale attri- butes to him, is the work of John Flete, with an omission of the Procemium, and a more enlarged account of the abbots before Wulsinus. C 2 12 HISTORY OF William of Malmsbury, very soon after the time of Sulcardiis, mentions this monastery as having been founded by Mellitiis, Bishop of London* : and, within forty years after him, Ailred, Abbot of Rievalle, ascribes its foundation to King Sebertf . From that time, the different writers who have considered the subject, have very generally agreed, that Westminster Abbey is indebted for its origin to that monarch. Bishop Stillingfleet, an acknowledged scholar among our modern antiquaries, gives an air of plausibility to the opinion, by very ingeniously suggesting, that this monastery, as well as all others which were founded at that period, was intended, by Pope Gregory the Great, to be a seminary for persons brought up in the way of devotion and learning, and to become a nursery for the East Saxon church:}:. It appears that institutions were then formed for such purposes, under the protec- tion of monastic foundations, by the express injunctions of the popes ; but the semi- narial character cannot be considered as applicable to the foundations themselves. Nevertheless, that this, as well as the other accounts given of the foundation of this church, is very questionable, will appear from this circumstance, that venerable Bede is altogether silent on the subject. He mentions, in his Ecclesiastical History, the foundation of the Cathedral of St. Paul by King Ethelbert ; but not a word escapes him respecting that of Westminster. It is not only improbable, but it is not even credible, that Bede, who was himself a monk, and entertained so high an opinion of the monastic character, considering it, to use his own words, as the highest perfection of the Christian state, should have been silent on such a sub- ject. He mentions, in the preface to his curious work, that he was very much * De Gestis Pontijiciim, lib. iii. + Inler decern Sciiplores, col. 10. X Stillingfleet on the True Antiquitj/ of London. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 13 indebted to Albinus, Abbot of St. Austin's, in Canterbury', and Nothelmus', afterwards archbisbop of that see, but at that time a presbyter in London, for furnishing him with such material information in the progress of it. He also particularly exemplifies the princes and persons by whom, and in whose reigns, Christianity was planted in the East Saxon and other kingdoms : nor does he pay less attention to the establishment of several of our monasteries ; and among the rest, those of Chertsey and Barking, by Erkenwald, Bishop of London. In short, is it probable, nay, is it possible, that Bede, considering his character, the nature of his enquiries, and the means of information which he possessed, should not know of such a monastic establishment as the Church of Westminster, had it then existed ; and knowing it, that he should have passed it over in silence? This objection is also considerably strengthened, if additional argument were necessary, by two old charters still remaining in the archives of this church. One of King Offa, in the year 785, and the other of King Edgar, about the year 960, which are altogether silent as to the foundation of the church by King Sebert, or in his time; which would not have been the case had it been known, or even ge- nerally believed, to be true. That King Sebert, therefore, or any other person in his reign, was the founder of this church, though a received, appears to be an erroneous, opinion. The most rational conjecture on the subject, for we must be content without any deci- sive proof, is this: — that the foundation of the Church of Westminster took place about the time of venerable Bede's death, or between the years 730 and 740, about one hundred and twenty, or one hundred and thirty, years sub- sequent to the period which has been generally received, and is but a small intru- sion on the antiquity of this monastic establishment. Such an opinion seems to receive a reasonable confirmation from the date of Offa's charter, in the year 785, in which the Monastery of Westminster is 14 HISTORY OF mentioned as well known at that time, and states Ordbrihtus to be the name of the existing abbot. Nor does conjecture exercise an unreasonable power in as- signing a space of fifty previous years to its establishment*. This age is also re- markable for the number of monasteries erected in the kingdom during the course of it; the devotion of those times running very much into similar foundations. * Mathcw Paris, who lived in the thirteenth century, in his book of the Lhes of the Abbots of St. Albans, makes great complaint against certain abbots of Westminster, as if, under pretence of becoming tenants, they had obtained possession, and then defrauded the Abbey of St. Alban's, of the manor of Aldenliam, to which it of right belonged. It must be acknowledged, therefore, if this ac- count is considered as relating an authentic transaction, that it will consequently affect the credit of the charter of King Offa, and weaken the argument which has been deduced from it, respecting the ear- liest foundation of the Church of Westminster. It may, however, be confidently observed, tliat there was a lawsuit between these two monasteries concerning the estate at Aldenham ; and Mathew Paris himself, who was a monk of St. Alban's, does not deny, that his abbey lost the cause. It may also be contended, that this charter is beautifully written, on a scrip of parchment, in the hand of those times, and bears no discoverable marks of forgery. Besides, it may be added, that, according to the Domes- day Suney, this manor did, at that time, and some time before it, belong to the Church of Westminster. Indeed, it appears, by the Confessor's charter, that Aldenham was among the possessions of the church previous to his own grants. Nevertheless, doubts have been entertained respecting the authenticity of the charter ; which, however, seem to be chiefly supported by the suspicion attendant on the period from the abbacy of Ordbright to Wulsinus ; that is, from 760 to 9G0, on account of the great dearth of iiistory during that time. The charter of Edgar has a suspicious circumstance connected with if, as it is dated in the year 951, and historians seem to agree, that Edgar did not come to the kingdom, or any part of it, before the year 957. Fietc, however, has copied it, and as the phrase and handwriting are evidently of that time, and nothing in the substance or matter of it which can be fairly objected to, it is scarce stretch- ing a point to suppose, that the anachronism is a negligence of the scribe. But, supposing it even to be spurious, it answers the purpose for which it has been produced ; there being nothing in the ori- ginal that bears allusion to the early foundation, or miraculous consecration, of the church. A clause to the latter effect, and which has been already mentioned, was artfully inserted in the copy. \ WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 15 But whoever the founder might be, there is no sufficient reason to induce a behef, that this rehgious institution is indebted for its foundation to any sovereign, or person of high rank or distinguished consideration. Sulcardus, when he speaks of the founder as some weaUhy and Christian citizen, mentions also, that it was originally but a small church, " ecclesia non adeo viagiia." It may also be observed^ that when St. Dunstan, after it had been despoiled by the Danes, restored and re- plenished it with monks, he introduced into its re-cstablishment no more than twelve persons of that character ; and it is not to be supposed, from the ardent zeal which actuated him in favour of monastic institutions, and the uncontrouled power which he enjoyed at that time, that he would not have restored its monastic character in a manner equal at least to that which it possessed at its original foundation*. Hickes, in his Dissertatio Episiolans-f, mentions a treatise, in the Saxon lan- guage, written about the time of the Norman conquest, which gives a particular account of the saints who were buried in different parts of England ; nor is there a monastery of any note at that time, which is not said to have possessed one or more of the bodies of those holy men. None of them, however, are assigned to the Church of Westminster, which, if it had been of such antiquity as some have attributed, or been founded b}' such a distinguished person as King Sebert, would not have been so neglected as to be without its portion of their sacred dust. It is a natural conjecture, that the monks of Westminster, with that spirit which has influenced historians of all denominations, by whom remote antiquity has very generally been considered as an honourable circumstance, first ascribed the foundation of this religious house to King Sebert, or some person in his time. They found, in the history of venerable Bede, the names of Ethelbert, Sebert, and Mellitus mentioned as the first planters of Christianity in this island among * William of Malrasbury, p. ML + Page 117. 10 HISTORY OF the East Saxons. The rest, it will not be uncharitable to suppose, they, by a pious fraud, supplied from their own invention; to add, as they thought, and they knew how it would weigh in the general estimation of those times, to the security, honour, and characteristic sacredness of the place. When these inventions were first propagated cannot now be ascertained ; nor would it be of any real importance, if it were possible to trace them to their pre- cise origin : but it may gratify curiosity to state three periods which have been considered as the most probable for their fabrication : the reign of King Edgar; that of Edward the Confessor; or the time immediately subsequent to the Norman conquest. The former of these eras, however, does not seem altogether to justify the opinion. It is true, that, in the reign of Edgar, St. Dunstan bore a supreme sway in every thing that was subject, or could be subjected, to ecclesiastical juris- diction. If it were not by his own original and immediate direction that this monastery was repaired, he at least influenced that monarch to command the pious work, and attended himself to the execution of it. But though he was educated in monachism, and, with an ardent as well as unremitting zeal, not only supported, but extended that system to the absolute persecution of the secular clergy; there is no existing authority to justify the opinion, that the forgery of histories or miracles was a prevailing practice, in which he hved and ruled. His power was too predominant to stand in need of such auxiliary contrivances. Edward the Confessor, to whom this church is indebted for its first display of grandeur and magnificence, possessed, with moderate parts, a very powerful ima- gination. He seems to have been peculiarly calculated to become the tool of de- signing priests, and the ladder of ambitious statesmen. The stories, therefore, might have been artfully invented, relative to the great antiquity and sacred con- secration of this church, in order to quicken and enlarge his munificent disposi- tions towards it. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 17 The Normans, when they had become masters of England, did not manifest the least scruple in seizing the possessions and invading the privileges of the Saxon monasteries : but though William, who was crowned here, had always professed the highest regard and gratitude to the memory of the Confessor, who may be said to have been its late founder, and had bestowed in exchange several estates upon this church ; it is not considered, by those who have compared their respective value, that he is entitled to the eulogiuni with which William of Malmsbury accompanies his account of the transaction*. That monarch, indeed, never ap- pears to have been troubled with scruples about the means to be employed in attaining his objects, whatever they might be: nevertheless, it was not altogether an irrational hope for the monks to entertain in those times, that a general belief in the remoteness and miraculous sanctity which they attached to the origin of the church, might serve to check his violent and arbitrary spirit from doing injury-- to their monastery, if it did not excite in him a desire to do them good. At both these periods there was, it maj'- be presumed, sufficient cause for the monks to adopt a practice so general in that age : nor was it more difficult for them in those times, respectively, to invent histories, and contrive accounts of miracles, than it was, at no distant period, to forge new charters ; se^-eral of wliich are in the archives of this church: or, at least, to make transcripts of the old ones, or translations of them into the Latin tongue, with such invented additions as might serve to defend their possessions against the rapacity of the Norman princesf , • Extulit locum magnis reddilibus prffidiorura, f. 134. + Such was the rapacious spirit of the Conqueror, that, taking advantage of the simple method of conveying property among the Saxons, which was sometimes done by the conveying of a horn, a belt, or some similar article of little value, he put many abbols and ollicrs under the difficulty of proving their property by some express deed, or instrument in writing, decisive of their (ille. Several of the abbots and monks, therefore, in order to secure their respective properties, felt tliemselves justified in forging charters, for their protection against such an arbitrary and tyrannical proceeding. Vol. I. D 18 HISTORY OF At all events, whatever might be the real cause of these fictions, the inventors of them have involved the early history of England, at least in ecclesiastical mat- ters, in great uncertainty; and left those who came after them no other means, but that of conjectural ingenuity, to discover truth from falsehood. The account, therefore, that Westminster Abbey was first founded by King Sebert, or any other person during his reign, finds no support in any allowable authorities. Besides, the writers who first propagated the story lived, at least, four hundred and fifty years after the death of that prince; a circumstance which at once destroys their competence as authentic historians of such an event: they are! also at variance among themselves in their respective relations of it. To which may be superadded the acknowledged practice of those times, and the interest which the monks of Westminster felt, in assigning the earliest period which they could devise, by any appropriate invention, for the foundation of their house: an example which is well known to have been followed by their successors, who afterwards forged charters, in order to support claims to certain privileges, and to obtain exemption fiom episcopal jurisdiction. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 19 CHAPTER THE SECOND. FROM THE FIRST FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH TO ITS RESTORATION IN THE TIME OF KING EDGAR. In the preceding chapter it has been attempted to authenticate, or at least support, the opinion, by a succession of admissible probabiUties, that the Church of West- minster was not erected, to^vards the latter end of the second century, by a King Lucius, as some authors have maintained; nor by Sebert, King of the East Saxons, in the seventh, as the generality of writers on the subject have asserted; but most probably towards the middle of the eighth, by some person whose name has not been transmitted to our times. It derived its name from its situation being west of London, or the episcopal Church of St. Paul; and, on its first erection, was a small building. The place on which it stands, though now a part of the main land, is generally supposed to have been an island at that earl}^ period. Such a circumstance will not appear improbable to any one who will, under this notion, attend to the situation of the church. A\"here the canal in St. James's Park now is, there might have been a branch of the Thames, or a large ditch, which, especially at high water, might have given the spot an insular character. There were also ditches near the church, ^\ hich inclosed the monastery, with some streets and lanes on the north side of it, and were supplied Avith water by the tide : but they were artificial, and made at a period long after the first erection of a monastic edifice; most probably for the purposes D 2 20 HISTORY OF of drainage and the division of property. Pennant gives this island a more exten- sive boundary; and conjectures, plausibly enough, that the stream which now supplies the Chelsea water-works, helped to form the insulation. Tliat this island bore the name of Thorney is affirmed by Sulcardus, the oldest liistorian of this church, " Insula Thorneie dicta ab urbe duobus miliaribus;' as well as by every other writer who has had occasion to notice or observe on the early his- tory of the church which has given so much importance to the spot. There is, however, a far more ancient authority for it in the charter of King Offa, bearing date the year 785*. Venerable Bede gives also the etymology of the place, in which he has been followed by every subsequent historian, and derives the title from its being overgrown with thorns, which, it is not improbable, might have been its natural condition. Hence it was called Thorney Island; unless the earliest Saxon possessors gave it the name of some place which it might resemble, or whereto they had some local attachment, in their own country; no uncommon origin of local denomination-]-. Of the first religious edifice in this place, or in its renovated state during the time of St. Dunstan, no remains appear at any time to have been discovered; nor is there any account which will justify a reliance on any circumstances respecting the first period of this church, except that King Offa was a benefactor to it; that a monk of the name of Ordbright was the abbot in the year 785; and that, during a very long period, it was deserted by the monks, and remained in a very * Ego Offa, (livina dispensante pietalc, monarcbia Merciensis regni muni(us, pro amore oranipo- tenlis Dei iu memoria JEterna, dcdi Sanclo Pelro, et plebi domini dcgenti in Torneia, in loco terribili, quod dicitur .-et Westminster quandain partem terrac, &c. + There were other places of the same name in different parts of England. Thornej/ Jbbey was a considerable monastery situated on an island in Cambridgeshire. The same denomination belonged to a place which formed a part of the possessions of Muchelney Abbey, in Somersetshire. . WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 21 ruinous state. Various reasons have been assigned for its desolated condition^. Sulcardus attributes it to tlie want of benefactors after the death of OfFa; but it is surely a more rational opinion, that it was dilapidated by the Danes, whose hostility to religious edifices, and particularly those of the monastic character, is a fact full}' established b)' historical records. Besides, this circumstance is confirmed by the Sa.vo7i ChroJiicle, which mentions, that the Danish forces were either besieg- ing or in possession of London in the several years of 839, 851, 872, and 879. Flete, who wrote in the reign of Henry VI. has, in his history of this place*,, collected the names of several persons who are said to have presided here during this dubious period; but with what titles, or under what character, whether as priors, provosts, or abbots, for Avhat number of years they respectively or collectively enjoj-^ed their situations, or in the reign of what kings, he not only acknowledges he cannot ascertain, but adds also, that he knew of no histories which could afford him anj" information on the subject. Sporley-f-, however, who wrote at a subsequent, but no distant, period, gives a very particular account of the several persons who at this time presided over the monastery. He not only supphes a complete succession of tiiem, but distinguishes their individual characters as priors, provosts, or abbots, vrith the precise time when they enjoyed their office, as well as in what year, and even on what day of the month many of them died|. Though this writer produces no authority whatever for this extraordinary ac- count, and no common suspicion must attend the circumstances in Avhich it is in- vohed ; as other historians have thought proper to copy it with a ver}^ minute at- tention, it would be considered as an unjustifiable omission, if these pages were to reject the insertion. It is given, therefore, with the addition of such notices, refer- * MS. ia Ihe library of (lie dean and chapter. + Cotlon Library, Claudius, A. 8. X Dart's Wesimoiiasleriunif vol. II. n HISTORY OF ences, and authorities from the Cotton manuscripts, &c. which Dart has introduced in the account of the Lives of the Abbots of Westminster, with wliich Sporley has furnished liim. ORTHBRIGHT.— 604. This person, who is said to have been named abbot by Sebert, presided in that character for the space of twelve years; when he died, on the 13th day of January, 616, and was buried in his monastery. After his death, the church was go- verned by priors, till the time of Orthbright II. This circumstance is stated to have arisen from the apostasy of the sons of Ethelbert and Sebert, who, on embracing paganism, drove Mellitus, Bishop of London, from his see: so that the Christian church in those parts remained for a long time in a state of degradation and dis- couragement*. GERMANUS.-616. After the death of Orthbright, the government of the church, in its humiliated state, devolved on Germanus, who had enjoyed the office of prior under him. All that is known of this person is, that he retained the title of prior of the church several years, and Avas buried in it. ALDRED Was his successor ; but at what time is equally doubtfiil with the death of the former, as well as the number of years during which he possessed his situation ; which, however, are said to be many. He died in the year of our Lord 675, which was the last of the reign of Cadwaller, the last British king; and in the reign of Sebba and Sighere, Kings of the East Saxons, as well as in the prelacy of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury. He was interred in this monastery. It was in his time that Segebert and liis brother were converted to Christianity, by • Bede's Ecd. Hist. lib. ii. cap. 5. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 23 the persuasions of Oswin, King of Northumbria*. Soon after, Cedda, Bishop of the East Angles, was sent to convert this province, and built Tilbury on the Thames side, in Essex, making it his episcopal seat. It may, therefore, be inferred, that Germanus and Aldred were only titular priors of this church, having left it when Mellitus fled from London, and returned to it under the protection of Cedda's mission, when Christianity was restored. SYWARD.— 675. He was prior near ten j-ears; and lived in the times of the Popes Donus, Agatho, and Leo, as well as Ecfrid, King of Northumbria. The reign of that monarch is remarkable for a dissension between him and Wilfred, Archbishop of York, as well as the memorable council at Straenshall and Hatfield. He died in 684, the year previous to the consecration of St. Cuthbert, Bishop of Landisfarn, and the death of Sighere, King of the East Saxons; and two years before the consecration of John Beverly to the church of Hagustald. He was buried in this monaste^v^ OSMUND.— 684. To him succeeded Osmund, in whose time, Cadwell, King of the East Saxons, Archbishop Theodore, and Benedict the Abbot, died at Rome. The latter founded Cyrvvy and W^eremouth, the first abbies of the Benedictine order in England. A preference of the monastic life much prevailed at this period ; indeed, to so great a degree, that Ethelred, of Mercia, was shorn a monk at Bardney Abbey, and was aftenvards abbot there. Offa, King of the East Saxons, and Kenred, King of Mercia, also underAvent the ceremony of the tonsure at Rome. Osmund died in the year 705, and was interred in the church, which he had go- verned twenty-one years. * Bede's Eccl. Hist. lib. iii. cap. 22. 24 HISTORY OF SELRED.-726. Here is supposed to be a confusion in the dates, or that some one filled up the interval between the last prior and Selred. whose name is lost. The latter lived in the time of Cuthbert, King of the West Saxons, Ethelwald, King of Mercia. and Ceolulph, King of Northumbria; of venerable Bede, the historian, and Neothelm, Archbishop of Canterbury. He died in the year 744. after presiding over this church near eighteen years, where his remains added to the interments in it. It appears, therefore, that his succession was twenty-one years after the death of Osmund. ORGAR.— 744. This prior was contemporary with Offa, the King of Mercia, who is represented as a prince of a very munificent character, and a great benefactor to monasteries. That of St. Alban was a particular and highly favoured object of his bounty. Orgar died in the year 765, after having administered the affairs of his monastery for nearly twenty-two years, when it became his sepulchre. BRITHSTAN.-^765. Of this person there is no other notice than that he governed his church for the space of twenty years, in the time of Offa; and added to the number of its dead, in the year 785. ORTHBRIGHT II.— 785. On the death of Brithstan, Orbrith, or Ordbright, succeeded; in whose time Offa manifested great regard to this church, being the only prince since Sebert, the founder, who had shewn it any favour in the long succession of nearly two hundred years. He likewise built cells for the monks, and, as some writers mention, not only deposited the regalia here, but also founded a free-school. The WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 25 latter was a necessary institution, as the papal injunctions required, that every conventual church should have a school adjoining, and under its particular care and direction. This church heing thus improved and dignified, the prior re- assumed the title of abbot. How long he enjoyed his conventual advancement, is not ascertained; but, according to a MS. of this church, he Avas removed to the bishopric of Sealsey, in Devonshire, being the fifth bishop of that see, where he died, in the year 794, the last of Otfa's reign. If, however, a superior credit is to be given to the catalogues of bishops in that see, Osa, or Bosa, pos- sessed the prelacy in 790; and Orthbright, between Siggaand him; that is, in the interval of the years 783 and 790. ALFWIUS.— 796. This abbot succeeded Orthbright, but after some intermediate vacancy or un- known predecessor, unless there is a mistake in the subsequent dates. He is said to have governed this church with honour for twenty-four years; when he was removed from it, to be consecrated Bishop of Fountain, where he died, on the 10th day of February, 820: so that there is a deficiency of two years, which does not appear to be supplied. He is particularly mentioned in the old martyrology. ALFWIUS II. To him succeeded another of the same name, who is mentioned in a charter of King Edgar: he lived in the reign of Egbert, the King of the East Saxons, and in the times of Theologild and Coelnoth, Archbishops of Canterbury. After enjoying his abbacy seventeen years, he died the 5th of April, 837, and was buried in his abbey. ALGAR.— 846. In the time of this abbot the Danes made very destructive inroads, and over- run the kingdom of Mercia. In the fourth year of his advancement, those Vol. I. E 26 HISTORY OF invaders are said to have come to London with five ships, where they com- mitted hostihlies of every kind; destroying, or as some say, and with more probabiUty from such a small force, only pillaging the city. Mathew of West- minster increases their fleet to three hundred and fifty vessels; but mentions no- thing of their attempt on London. After some successes, he adds, they marched into Surrey. It is more than probable, however, that in such a progress, the places adjoining to London felt the hostile consequences of it, and among them this monastery. Edward the Confessor, indeed, mentions the incursions of the Danes, and the injuries his highly favoured church received from them: nor could less be expected, when, in the year 872, and in the twenty-sixth year of this abbot, they came to London and wintered there. Henry of Huntingdon also mentions the reparation of London by Alfred in the year 886, which had been ruined and dispeopled by the Danes; so that the inhabitants had deserted it, and did not return thither till the victorious arm of that monarch could aive them security. It may be presumed, therefore, that this abbot and the rest of his convent fled and were scattered abroad, except such as perished by the fury of the enemj^ when the church and monastery felt the effects of the infidel sacrilege of the invaders. At length, however, the sacred edifice being restored, the vene- rable Algar, after a perilous and troublesome government of forty -three years, closed his days there, in an advanced age, on the 14th of July, and in the year 889. Thus the monaster}^, which allowed him little or no repose during his life, at length afforded him a peaceful and uninvaded grave. It is, however, to be observed, that the inter\'al between the death of Alfwius II. and the time marked out for the advancement of Algar to tlie abbacy, occupied the space of nine years, accordmg to the computation of the monks of the house: so that either the danger apprehended from the Danes prevented the nomination of a successor all that tmie, or the calculation must have been erroneous : but the first seems to be the WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 27 most probable reason, because his death is said to be in the nineteenth year of the reign of Alfred, which was about 889 or 890. It appears, however, that this abbot contrived to recover the lands belonging to his church a short time before his death, and after Alfred had expelled the Danes. At least, it is mentioned, in a charter of King Edgar, that Algar held lands here in quiet possession. EADMERUS.— 889. During the time when he presided over the monastery, it is said to have flou- rished under the government of that wise and excellent prince, Alfred; who, it is added, enriched it with lands and gifts; " granting to Eadmerus and his abbey, as I suppose," says Dart, "lands at Wennington in Essex." This abbot governed his church, as it is said, forty-four years; when he died, in September, 922, and was interred in his church. Here, however, is another example of confusion in the dates. ALFNOD— 922. He lived in the reign of Edward the Elder and Athelstan; when the abbey is represented as enjoying a state of peace and tranquillity. Alfnod governed it for the space of seventeen years ; and dying, in the year 939, exchanged the uncertain tranquillity of the cloister for the assured quiet of the tomb. But, after all, the early state of this abbey is so involved in doubt, and, it might be added, in ob- scurity, as oarcely to justify any dependance upon the brief, scattered, and varj'ing accounts which have been given of it. The defect may be attributed to two causes : the deplorable ignorance of the times, and the invasion of the Danes. Hence it happens, also, that from tlie time of Erkinwald to that of St. Dunstan, who began to be known about this period, the affairs of the see of London are scarcely mentioned. A name or two of certain persons connected E 2 28 HISTORY OF with it, as cursorily stated by venerable Bede*. appear to be the only notice taken of it in the course of three centuries. ALFRIC.-939. On the death of Alfnod, Alfric succeeded to the government of this monastery, where he remained but for a short time ; not more than three or four years. The AVest Saxons having been long harassed with wars, the church had experienced its full proportion of suffering, and was no longer in a state of regular government. In consequence, therefore, of its forlorn situation, as it is stated by Mathew of Westminster, Reymund, Archbishop of Canterbury, called a council, in which a division of bishoprics was made, and one fixed at Crediton, now Hyrton, in Devonshire; to which Alfric was afterwards appointed. It is supposed, for the fact is involved in more than common confusion, that he enjoyed his prelacy about ten years, and died in the year 952-|-. The account of the priors and abbots of the monastery to this period, is given rather to gratify curiosity, than on the presumption of affording authentic inform- ation. Flete gives a mere list of their names, and acknowledges that to be the utmost extent of his acquisitions. Sporley enters into a remarkable state of par- ticulars respecting them. This has been already observed, as well as the ignorance of those authorities from whence he obtained his very doubtful information. It is apparent, however, that they are both mistaken in the three persons whom they represent as having been advanced from their situations in the Church of West- minster to bishoprics-Ordbright to Selsey, Oswy to Wells, and Alfi-ic to Cre- diton ; there being no person of those names in two of the sees, till two hundred years after the time which they assign for their respective elevations; and the third * Bede's Eccl. Jlist. + Godwin de P/aiu/.— Mat. West. p. 189, n. 39. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 29 was Abbot of Malmsbury, and not of Westminster, The observation also natu- rally suggests itself, that the succession of the abbots, and the duration of the term in which they held their offices, are recorded with an assumed degree of precision by Sporley, far better suited to peaceable and prosperous times, than the incursions of such ravaging and intidel enemies as the Danes; who are said to have destroyed the place, and left it in ruins : in which dilapidated state it is supposed to have remained for a long series of years. It is not, indeed, to be reconciled to the ordinary notions of historical veracity, that the times of those abbots should be made out with such pretensions to accuracy, when there is so much apparent obscurity and perplexity in the accounts of those who succeeded them. Dart has, in his JVcstmonasterium, taken Sporley for his groundwork, and made such additions as he could extract from subsequent writers, and the ancient records that came under his inspection : yet, when he arrives at this period of his list of abbots, he accounts for the deficiency of original materials in a manner Avhich appears to strike at the credibility of those which he has found and adopted.—" It " is to be observed," he says, " that the affairs of this abbey till this time are in- " volved in great darkness, for two reasons: the first, the ignorance of the times; " the second, the Danish disturbances : and it is, I suppose, for this reason too, that " from Erlcenwald till Dunstan, who began to rise in the time of Abbot Alfnod, " the affairs of the see of London are not once mentioned, save that venerable " Bede takes notice of one Waldhere in his time : so that, for near three hundred " years, there is only a bare succession of names, without even the times they " lived in : much less then is it to be expected, that this small convent, a part of, " and then in subjection to, that see, should be more remarked for its aflairs*." The royal benetiictions which are mentioned by Flete as having been made to * Vol. II. p. 5. 3Q HISTORY OF the church, previous to the time of King Edgar, by Offa, Kinwulph, Alfred, and Athelstan, .vith, perhaps, the exception of Offa, are, in a great measure, if not altogether, the offspring also of conjecture; and were most probably suggested by the pious and charitable character of those princes, and their being known to have been benefactors to other places. The notions may have been derived, like- wise, fi-om spurious or hiterpolated charters, or may have been true only to a certain extent: as Alfred and Athelstan, having received some relics fiom abroad, which Edward the Confessor after^vards gave to this church, might be involved in the honour of the gift. Sulcardus positively denies, that any bene- factions were bestowed on this church in the interval of the reigns of Edgar and Offa. Nullus pradicto profuit loco*. • * Offa reigned Ibirfy-nine years, from 757 to 796. Edgar's reign commenced 959, and that of Edward the Confessor in 1041. It appears from Matbew Paris, that Offa was a great benefactor to the Church of St. Alban, and munificent to the church in general. Nor is it improbable, that hisliberality might extend to Westminster; for though the gift of Aldenham was contested, the right which the Church of St. Alban claimed, failed of being established. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 31 CHAPTER THE THIRD. FROM THE RESTORATION OF THE MONASTERY IN THE TIME OF KING EDGAR, TO THE REBUILDING OF IT BY KING EDWARD THE CONFESSOR. It is universally agreed by all the writers who mention Dunstan, more generally called St. Dunstan, that he entertained a regard, which amounted almost to a passion, for monastic institutions; indeed, it is the principal feature of his character, and displayed, not merely a pious, but a most violent zeal in the support of them, which he was enabled to indulge from the predominant influence he had acquired in all ecclesiastical matters during the reign of King Edgar. When, therefore, he was appointed bishop, or rather administrator of the bishopric of London*, he easily engaged that peaceable and pious prince to order the Monastery of Westminster to be restored, and rendered fit for the reception of those inhabitants whom he had destined to the rehgious occupation of it. He also obtained from the king the restoration of some of the lands of which it had been despoiled, and purchased others. He then brought hither, most probably from Glastonbury, where he had himself been abbot, tAvelve monks, for the purpose of constituting it a small monas- tery of the Benedictine order-f-. • This circumslance has occasioned Dunstan having the credit given him, by some, at least, of his order, of rebuilding or renovating the church at his own cxpence, and thereby acquiring the title of one of its founders ; but it is not probable, nor Mas it necessary, when there was a prince whom he could so readily call to such a work. + William of Malmsbury, p. Ul, edit. 1596. 32 HISTORY OF It does not appear to be satisfactorily ascertained, whether Austin the Monk first brought the regulations of that order into England, on his making a convert of King Ethelbert; or if it was the act of Welfrid, Archbishop of York, about sevent}^ years after* ; or whether they are indebted for their introduction into the kingdom to Dunstan. This question is discussed at large by Reyner and Mabillon ; and curiosity may be amused, if the judgment is not satisfied, by consulting their works on the subjectf. The latter of them very seriously contends, that Austin was of this order himself, and brought over with him the rules by which it is ad- ministered. The case may, perhaps, be better represented by the Bishop of Derry:}:. " If St. Augustin," he says, " was himself of this order, and planted it at Canter- " bury, it is demonstrable, that the rules were soon forgotten, or laid aside, even " in the southern parts of the island." And immediately before — " for whatever " may be argued to the contrary, it is very plain, that our first Saxon monks knew *' notliing of St Bennet's rules; but lived under the discipline brought from Ire- " land, which was diiferent from what was afterwards introduced by St. Dunstan.' If, however, that powerful ecclesiastic did not first introduce the Benedictine order into England, he was undoubtedly the great restorer of it. For this pur- pose, Abo, a monk, was invited into England, from the Monastery of Fleury, in France; where it was supposed, that the Benedictine regulations were better understood and practised, to instruct the English religious in the nature and ob- servance of them. Having resided here as long as it was necessary to fulfil the object of his visit, he returned home, amply rewarded for the task which he had performed^. * Stillingfleet's Works, vol. V. p. 671. + De Apostolatu Benedictinorum in Anglia. — Analecla Vetera^ vol. II. p. 17S. X Nicholson's Historical Library, p. 173, edit. 1714. § Bibliotheca Floriacentis, p. 305. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 33 It is the opinion of Sulcardus, that Westminster first derived its monastic character from the protecting power of St. Dunstan; as, previous to his time, it consisted of nothing more than a church, with the ordinary estabhshment of such a reHgious edifice. Offa, he says, had formed the design to make it a convent, or a monastery; but was prevented in consequence of his under- taking a pilgrimage to Rome, where he died. Here is an evident confusion between Offa, King of the East Saxons, and Offa, King of Mercia*. In the charter of the latter mention is made not only of an abbot, but of monks also at this placef ; so that it must have been a conventual establishment previous to the time of that prince. The privileges which Dunstan is said to have granted to this church, or obtained from King Edgar, for its re-establishment, are not now discoverable in » Both these kings made journics (o Rome, though with very different views; and both appear to have manifested a strong attachment to the monastic institutions and character. Offa, King of the East Saxons, who succeeded Seafred in the year 705, married the daughter of Kenred, King of Mercia ; and, being smitlen with some violent disease, or, as it is also said, by the earnest persuasions of Jiis wife, proceeded to Rome in company with her, the king her father, and Edwin, Bishop of Winchester, where he professed himself a monk, and died in the habii in 707, after a short reign, if it may deserve that name, of two years. Offa, King of Mercia, who began his reign in 757, is among the more renowned princes of those times. His journey to Rome is represented by different historians, as having different objects. Some ascribe it to the remorse he suffered for his cruel and treacherous murder of Ethelbert, the unoffending King of the East Angles ; and the hope, that, by his submissions and liberalities to the pope, he might purchase his peace with Heaven. Others attribute his visit to Rome for the purpose of procuring front the pope a confirmation of some extraordinary privileges which he had granted, or proposed to gran*, to the highly favoured monastery of St. Alban's. Both these objects might have a combined influ- cnce on his journey to the capital of the papal world. t Plebi domiui dcgenti in Torneia. Vol. I. F 34 ■!• HISTORY OF any authentic document, as the charters which have been attributed to the one and the other are acknowledged forgeries. It is related by Sulcardus, and others after him, that St. Dunstan, when he had finished his tavourite work of restoring and re-establishing this abbey, entered himself on its government, and presided over it for many years. This, however, is not probable in any other way than by the influence which his high statioins, and benefactions to the place, must naturally give him. Besides, it is mentioned by William of Malmsbury*, that Avhen he had repaired and re- established this religious house, he appointed Wulfsige, or Wulsie, or according to his Latin name, Wulsinus, by which he appears to be more generally known, to be the abbot of Westminster. From the year 942, the time when Alfric, the preceding abbot, was removed to Kyrton, this church does not appear to have been under any regular aduiinistra- tion. The monks Avere scattered and dispersed abroad, and the building itself left to neglect and decay ; the probable consequence of the hatred which Edwy had conceived against the monks, whom he expelled, and whose places he supplied with secular clergy. But when Edgar gained half his kingdom, Dunstan was recalled, and a profusion of honours and preferments heaped upon him. He began the career of his renewed power, according to Matthew of Westminster, as might be naturally expected, by dismissing the secular clergy, and restoring the monks to the situations from which they had been expelledf ; and as bishop of London, or the administrator of the diocese, began instantly to reform this see, and to restore the Church of Westminster, which was a part of it. Accordingly, when he had put it into a state to receive its monastic community, he is said, by * Fol. 141. + M. Wcstm. p. 196. n. 31. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 35 the same writer, to have appointed Wulsinus, or, as he denominates him, St. WItius, to be the abbot*. To unravel the confusion, and reconcile the contradictions, that appear in the accounts of the historians of those times, would be an endless labour, as it would prove a fruitless attempt. According to Flete, in the first year of Dunstan's ad- vancement to the bishopric of London, Wulsinus received that prelate's benedic- tion as a monk of Westminster : and, on the same authority, he was appointed two years after, about the year 980, to the government of the church by de- putation, ad hujus loci regimen deputatiis : — but it was not till the succeeding reign of Ethelred, that he Avas elevated to the dignity of abbot, abbas hujus loci ordiiiatus est : so that he was first received as a monk by Dunstan, and afterAvards governed the monastery in the character of prior, as preparatory to a higher sta- tion. Flete and Ralph de Diceto, Dean of St. Paul's, differ, however, a few years as to the period of Dunstan's consecration to the see of London, and the admis- sion of Wulsinus to the monastery of Westminster. But amidst these confused and contradictory statements, some light appears to be thrown on the subject by The Constitutions for ordaining Monks in the Church of Shcrburn, written by Bishop Wulsinus, in the year 998, by order of King Ethelred; which document is now existing in the Cotton Libraryf. * With all his authority and love of power, Dunstan had too great a predilection for the monastic institution, to attempt an infringement of any of its privileges : and, therefore, when he is said to have appointed Wulsinus abbot of Westminster, it must be considered as an overstrained expression; meaning ao more than his influence with the monks in the election, or the confirming it, as bishop of the diocese in which the monastery stood : for, according to the constitutions of St. Benedict, and there were at that time no monks in England but of the Benedictine order, the power of electing an abbot was vested solely and exclusively in the cloistered fraternity. — Bbue in Hist. Abbatum, SfC. + Otho, 4 A. 18. F 2 3(j HISTORY OF In an ancient charter of King Ethelred to this monastery, is the following remarkable passage, which, it might be imagmed, .f these charters were not at best very suspicious evidences, would dispel every doubt on the subject. " Hoc " notum fore cupimus, quod beata. memori^ Dunstanus, cuidam fideli et probato " monacho Wlsio vocabulo. quam quasi hhum pura delect.one amavit. illud mo- " nasterium ad regendum regulariter commisit, et nos postea abbatem ilium con- " stituimus." At the same time, Ingulphus produces a charter, and likewise an excommunication on account of Medehamstead. where this monk signs by the name of Wulsinus, Abbas Sancti Petri extra Londhiensem, which, bearing the date of 966, must have been in the reign of Edgar, and consequently previous to that of Ethelred. At all events, whatever difference of opinion may have prevailed respecting the^ iucidental circumstances, there can be no doubt of his having been abbot of Westminster, and in this order of succession. WULSIE, OR WULSINUS. Flete represents this dignihed ecclesiastic as having been born in London, and brought up at Westminster; but it is more probable that he had been bred a monk under Dunstan, at Glastonbury, and removed from thence with the religious community that formed the establishment of this church. Dugdale, in \,^^ Monasikon, particularly names him as having belonged to that abbey*. Indeed, at this period, Westminster was in such a desolate condition as to dis- qualify' it from being a seminary for religious discipline: besides, it is recorded as an authentic circumstance, that, at the time of King Edgar's accession, there were no monks but in the abbies of Glastonbury and Abingdon. * Monasticon, p. Ul. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 57 Of the particulars of his abbacy, and in uhat manner lie discharged the duties of it, there is no satisfactory information. His conduct must have been such as to secure the friendship and patronage of Dunstan : for it appears, that, between the years 966 and 970, he was promoted, by the influence of that powerful prelate, to the bishopric of Sherburn ; where, after the example of his protector, as well as of Oswald and Ethelwold, the Bishops of Worcester and Winchester, he expelled the secular clergy from his cathedral, and filled their places with monks; by whom he was, together with those prelates, gratefully enrolled in the calendar of saints. There is a considerable difference of opinion among the ecclesiastical historians of this period, respecting his continuance in the abbacy of Westminster after his elevation to the bishopric of Sherburn. Flete asserts, that he actually held both*. Sporley also states, that after his election to the episcopal throne, he still continued to govern both monasteries; and watched over them with such tender care, that his whole time was passed in alternately visiting them : so that both these religious institutions seemed as one flock under one shepherd. On the contrary, William of Malmsbury asserts, with more probability, and, as it may be presumed, on better authority, that when the bishop proposed to appoint an abbot, not over the monks of Westminster, where he had no jurisdiction, but over those whom he had introduced at Sherburn, the cloistered brethren joined in a •request, that they might have no other governor but himself With their petition he did not hesitate to comply, and consequently retained that character to the end of his daysf . It may, therefore, be reasonably supposed, that these contradictory • Flete, fol. 23. t Malmsbury, p. 36. 38 HISTORY OF opinions must have arisen from the negligence or misapprehension "of the former writers. Indeed, what we tind related concerning this abbot is involved in more than the common perplexity which attends the accounts of those v^ho preceded and followed him. But what the historians of the times have said must be here related; and though the truth cannot be accurately developed, the historical circumstances which accompany the enquiry may afford an inferior gratification. This principle, it is hoped, will be allowed to apply to a considerable portion of the early history of this church. The monks represent Wulsinus as remarkable for the sanctity of his life; and describe, in the spirit of enthusiastic gratitude which the cloister never failed to demonstrate to its protectors, the celestial splendour that distinguished his dying hour. On the approach of death, it is said, that he suddenly ex- claimed, " I see the heavens open, and Jesus Christ standing on the right hand of God ;" when he instantly expired*, on the 6th day of January, in the year 1004, and in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Ethelred. He was bu- ried in the church of Sherburn, and not without those miraculous testimonies to his superior sanctity, which the monks knew how to invent, and never failed to record. There his remains reposed during twelve years; when they were removed and enshrined, as Sporley relates, with great singing and rejoicing. His shrine was on the right side of the high altar, where daily prayers were offered up for his intercessory mediation. William of Malmsbury mentions, that, in his time, the bishop's staff and vestments were preserved as tokens of his humility. His mira- cles are particularly recorded in Tinmouth, Capgrave, and other legendary writers. * Malrasburj de Gest. Pont. p. 248. WESTMINSTER ABBEY, 59 The same liistorian, also, relates, that a treaty was concluded at Rouen, in the year 991, between King Ethelred and Richard, Duke of Normandy, by an embassy sent from England : at the head of which, he says, was Ethelsinus, Bishop of Sherburn ; who could be no other than Wulsie, or Wulsinus, as he continued in the possession of that see several years posterior to the period of the Norman negociation ; and the transcriber might easily mistake the Saxon p, or W, for the ]>, or TH ; and so write Ethelsinus, instead of Wulsinus. This, it is presumed, is an allowable correction, and certainly comes in aid to reconcile, in some degree at least, what the historians have said of this abbot. If this criticism be admitted, Widmore rather quaintly observes, that the great cardinal of King Henry VIII. was not the only, or the first, churchman of his name, employed in the state affairs of England*. ALFWY, OR ALDSIUS. On the death of Wulsinus, the monks elected Aldsius to succeed him. In his time, the Danes made an incursion into England, and marked their progress, as they had ever done, with ravage and destruction. Alphege, Archbishop of Can- terbury, was among the victims of their barbarity ; while every monasterj^ which lay in their savage route, was plundered or destroyed. Canute also besieged London with a great force ; when it cannot be supposed, that Westminster Abbey, which was in the immediate vicinity of that city, would escape pillage : but it was fortunately saved from the entire destruction which threatened it, by the arrival of King Edmund, who raised the siege of the metropolis. Aldsius died in the year 1017, having been abbot fourteen j^ears. • Widmore's History of Westminster Abbey, p. 8. y 40 HISTORY OF WULNOTH. As the death of the last abbot took place at the time of Canute's usurpation, the monks did not think it advisable to proceed to the immediate election of a suc- cessor; but, in the hope of securing this foreign monarch's favour and protection, they, with great humility, submitted the nomination to his royal pleasure. The princely Dane, who possessed an understanding, as well as a liberality of character, not often seen in the sovereigns of his age or country ; and being influenced, perhaps, by his queen, Emma, who was the widow of Ethelred ; called many of the clergy to his council, and adopted the policy of attaching the ecclesiastics to his interest. Of these, says Matthew of Westminster, the Benedictines were se- lected as his favourites. At this time, a monk of the name of Wulnoth belonged to the Church of Westminster, who had distinguished himself by his great wis- dom and superior excellence ; and, having risen into great favour with the kmg, he was recommended, by his royal protector, to the monastery ; when the monks manifested a ready obedience to their sovereign's will, by immediately proceeding to the election of Wulnoth to be their abbot. The king delighted so much in his conversation, and so highly esteemed his virtues, that the royal visits were very frequent at the abbey, whither Canute went to consult him on his most important affairs. He also received him at his palace with the utmost familiarity, and al- lowed him an unreserved indulgence of that frank sincerity which was a principal feature in the abbot's character. It was from the great regard he bore him, that this king was induced to present to the Church of Westminster many sacred and precious relics*. • These pious gifts are represented as consisting of Ibe arm of St. Orias, and relics of St. Edward, king and martyr; a finger of St. Alpbage, and a similar member of St, Gregorj', with some of his bones. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 41 During the period of his abbacy, his royal friend and protector, as well as his son Harold, afterwards named Harefoot, from his swiftness in running, both died. The latter Avas buried in this abbey ; but, in the course of the same year, his body is said to have been torn, with the utmost indignity, from its grave; and, after suffering decapitation, to have been thrown into the Thames. . This abbot had not only obtained the favour of Canute, but appears to have been distinguished, also, by the regard of his two immediate successors, Harold Harefoot and Hardicanute, who possessed few or any of the virtues of his first patron, but an attachment to the church. Nor did he fail to employ his influence with these successive princes, to preserve his monastery in a state of protection and security ; which heightened the veneration paid to his character by all ranks of people. He lived to see the restoration of the Saxon line, in the person of King Ed- ward the Confessor ; from whom he obtained a grant of lands to his abbey, in Avhich he is specially entitled fidelisshnus noster, &c. He did not live, however, to witness the rebuilding of the church by that pious monarch ; as it appears that he died on the 19th of October, in the year 1049, when Edward began to carry into execution the magnificent design Avhich he had some time meditated, and was now determined to accomplish*. No other circumstance is mentioned respecting the Church of Westminster during this period, but that, in the year 1042, Harold Harefoot was buried there, and that its sanctity was violated by the impious removal of his remains. The benefactions to this monastery now appear to have become rather consi- derable ; and though the account of them may not be thought to justify an entire * Florence of Worcester, p. 226. Vol. I. G 42 HISTORY OF dependance, they are still sufficient to prove the pious favour with which the church had been regarded by different princes from its first institution. This will appear from the following statement of its possessions, previous to the reign of its great protector and, as he may with justice be styled, refounder, Edward the Confessor*. Three hides and a half of land about the monastery, which is confirmed by Edward the Confessor as one of the early grants of his predecessor. This and the three following properties have been conjecturally imagined to be the gift of King Sebert. Stanes, or, according to the Saxon name, Stana, in the county of Middlesex, is also supposed to have been granted by that prince to this church ; as King Edgar, in a subsequent grant of it, mentions its having formerly belonged to the Church at Westminster, though he states the immediate gift of it as proceeding from himself It was afterwards confirmed by King Edward the Confessor, and since by William the Conqueror. Edward II. also gave to the abbot and monks of Westminster the liberty of hunting in the land which that monastery possessed in Stanes. Tuddington, called also Toddington, and which is now known by the name of Tcddingtov, a small village on the banks of the Thames, near Hampton Court, in the county of Middlesex, is described as an appurtenant to Stanes in one of the charters of King Edgar, and in another is mentioned by itself It is thought also • This statement is principally taken from Dart's History/ of St. Peter's, Westminster. That writer certainly possessed the means of acquiring all the information no>y extant, respecting the church of which he is the historian ; but he does not appear to have been endued « ith the patience necessary to antiquarian enquiries, or the essential faculty, in pursuing them, of elucidating an obscure, and un- ravelling an intricate, subject ; or, which is equally necessary, of detecting a falsehood. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 43 to be one of the grants of King Sebert to the Church of Westminster. The en- dowment, however uncertain its origin, was confirmed by King Edgar, and after- wards by Edward the Confessor, Avho is said by some, though erroneously, to have been the original donor. It consisted only of a farm ; but was in itself a chapelry, and subject to the church of Stanes, which, as well as the manor, be- longed at that time to the abbot and monks of Westminster. Land at Halgefort, or Hahveford, and at Ecclesfort, or Ecclesford, appertaining likcAvise to Stanes ; and also land at Feltliam, close the account of the dubious gifts of the same king. He is likewise supposed to have made a grant of the church, which King Edgar, at the request of St. Dunstan, confirmed, with the places already mentioned as appurtenances. This gift was further confirmed by Edward the Confessor to the Church of Westminster. On the death of Sebert, his three sons, Sexred, Seward, and Segebert, openly professed the pagan religion, which they had nourished in secret during the life of their father. After their example, the East Saxons reverted to paganism; and, during an interval of several succeeding reigns, the church does not appear to have received any particular mark of royal regard. The next benefactor to this church is said to have been Ofta, King of Mercia; who, having acquired the renown of a conqueror by his victories, wished to super- add a character for piety by acts of religious munificence; or, perhaps, to atone by them for the crimes which he had committed. According to Sulcardus, this prince repaired and enlarged the Church of Westminster ; and, in the language of that historian, having a great reverence for St. Peter, he, as a mark of his devout regard to the structure which was dedicated to that apostle, deposited within it the coronation robes and regalia; and having, as a propitiation for his atrocious murder of Ethelbcrt, King of the East Angles, levied a tax upon the people of G 2 44 HISTORY OF England, called Romc-scot, more generally known by the name of Peters pence, he exempted the Church of Westminster from the payment of it*. Offa is said to have confirmed to this church the donations of Stanes, and to have added himself to its possessions, Blekingham, or Bleccingam, in the parish of Heandune, in the county of Middlesex, Avhich was first confirmed by King Edgar, and afterwards by Edward the Confessor, among other lands in Heandune. Tot- tenhall, in Berwick, consisting of three hides of land, received the confirmation of the latter pious monarch. Hame was confirmed by the charter of King Edgar, and afterwards by Edward the Confessor, when it is represented as containing two hides of land ; and was a second time confirmed, with certain privileges, by the same prince. Fentt/n also received the successive confirmations of Edgar and Edward the Confessor., There does not, however, appear to be any of • Ralph Higden mentions, in his Polj/chronicon, though without quoting any authority, that lua. King of the West Saxons, first established Rome-scot, or Peter's pence. The bigotry of that prince, and the closing his life in the obscurity of a cell, and in the habit of a monk, at Rome, may justify, at least, the probability of such a donation to the pope. This was a tax of a penny on every house or family possessed of thirty pence a year, payable to the holy see, for the maintenance, as we are told by some authors, of a college for English students at Rome ; which, Bale says, was built by Offa, King of the Mercians ; and, indeed, to that monarch the tax of Peter's pence is attributed by the best historians. That such a tax was once paid is without dispute ; but it is much more proba- ble, that it was obtained by the arts of the clergy, working on the weakness of their princes ; it being at first purely eleemosynary, till, from custom, they claimed it as a right ; it being the well-known craft of the papacy to convert alms into revenues. This opinion becomes the more probable from the silence observable in the most authentic collections of councils, and of the elder and contemporary authors. As churchmen had the penning of whatever was written in that and some succeeding ages, there is no doubt but they would have marked it with a very striking distinction, had this tax been regularly granted by the consent of the states of the kingdom ; especially when it is considered how many matters of inferior moment are so minutely handed down in those collections. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 45 the ordinary and assumed authorities for ascertaining the original donor of the two last estates. No grants or documents are known to be extant respecting them. But it is generally supposed, that they were given to the church by Offa, who, after the very short reign of Egfar, or Egfrid, succeeded to the crown of Mercia; or by Kenulph, another of the Mercian kings: as they are stated, in the charter of Edgar, to have been the gifts of former princes. About the time of this king, the manor of Aldenha7n, in the county of Hert- ford, is supposed to have been given to the Monastery of St. Peter. Who the actual donor was, cannot now be ascertained; but that it was a very ancient donation ap- pears by Edward the Confessor's confirmation of it, which states, that it should continue to be held by that monasterj'^ in the same manner as in the time of the second Orthbright, who became abbot of this church in the year 785. Weever, in his Funeral Monuments, mentions, but, as he acknowledges, from information only, that, in the south wall of Aldenham church, were the propor- tions of two women cut in stone; the effigies of two sisters buried there, who were builders of the church and coheiresses of the lordship, which, at their death, they gave to the abbot and convent of Westminster. But this account is altogether improbable, as the church bears not the marks of coeval antiquity, nor was it the practice to decorate tombs with that kind of sculpture in the age of OfFa. The original grant of Aldenham received also a latter confirmation from Wil- liam the Conqueror*. Kenulph, King of Mercia, is also named as a benefactor to this church. He is represented by the historians as of a pious disposition; and is honourably mentioned by them, for making restitution of certain rich possessions which had fallen into the hands of his predecessor, Offa, and had been dismembered from Christ Church, Canterbury. This prince is mentioned, in a charter of King Edgar, * See note, p. 30. 45 HISTORY OF as ha^nng granted many privileges to the Monastery of Westminster, and to have presented it with ornaments of various kinds. In an existing document, bearino- the character of a charter of Archbishop Dunstan, he is Hkewise said to have manifested his bounty by a grant of lands and in other gifts*. In the same charter, whatever its authority may be, Alfred is added to the beneficent princes who displayed their pious bounty to the Church of Westminster. It is there generally stated, that he presented it with gifts and lands; but the parti- culars of them are not known. It has, however, been supposed, that the lands at Wamington, or Winnington, in Essex, which were confirmed by King Edgar, and afterwards by Edward the Confessor, were the gift of that renowned monarch. Dunstan, then Bishop of London, is also named among the earliest benefac- tors to this church; which having shared the fate of many other religious structures from the devastations of the Danes, and being thus reduced to little more than a heap of ruins, that prelate employed the commanding influence which he had acquired over the mind of King Edgar, to induce that monarch to favour it with his pro- tecting support and beneiicence. It is said, also, that Dunstan himself had previ- ously become its benefactor; and that, having caused the priests to be ejected from their situations in the church, and called monks from Glastonbury to supply their places, according to his favourite principle of conventual government, he built several houses for their reception, and endowed the church with possessions for their maintenance. For this purpose, some of the monastic historians mention his having purchased of King Edward Loyerlege, or Loyersley; and also five houses in lileccenhain, a place which he had already given to the monastery. He is also said to have presented it with one hundred and tAventy mancuscs of goldf . * Curl. Dunstani. + A mancus, so CiiUcd from manu cusa, stamped or struck with the hand, is an ancient coin of the value of a mark, which, among the Saxons, contained thirty of their pence, in value six shillings. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 47 But Dunstan seems not to have trusted entirely to his own power over the royal mind, to incite it to acts of pious munificence, as it appears that he called in the aid of the papal authority, to give an added ardour to the king's beneficent disposition, by applying to the court of Rome to issue a bull for that purpose. Pope John XIII. accordingly, in compliance with the request of Dunstan, ad- dressed a letter to Edgar, dated at Ravenna, which begins thus : " Johannes, Epis- copus Roma, Edgarojiiio sua," &c. On the receipt of this bull, the king published a charter, by which, after reciting the history of the church, the princes who had been its benefactors, and the bull of Pope John, he confirms the former grants of Hame, Winnington, Fcntyn, Aldcnham, Blakenham, or Bleccenham, and Loi/erlege ; and then adds, as liis own royal gift to the monastery, the following estates*. At what time the mark was increased received also the confirmation of Edward the Confessor. That monarch is also said to have increased the value of Dunstan's gift, by certain privileges and exemptions. In a subsequent charter of King Stephen, it is called, with an added confirmation, the manor of Perham. Cowell and EivelL The latter received the Confessor's confirmation ; in which it is represented as containing two hides. It was favoured also with various exemp- tions and privileges from the same royal bounty. Sceperton, or Sheperton, in the county of Middlesex : a possession of eight hides of land, confirmed by a charter of Edward the Confessor, with a grant of extensive privileges. Henry I. favoured it also with an additional confirmation. It is mentioned in Dunstan's charter, that the Bishop of Winchester, of that period, gave ten houses. It is also stated, that Welroys, one of the king's knights, gave the sum of one hundred and eighty pounds, and three casatas, or houses, to this church. On the death of Edgar, his son Edward succeeded to the throne, for which he was in a great measure indebted to the courage and popular influence of Dun- stan. It is natural, therefore, to consider him as a probable benefactor to the Church of Westminster, which was such a distinguished object of that prelate's regard. Accordingly there appears, in a charter of the Confessor, a confirma- tion of grants made to it by the young king, though they are not particularly specified. The following places, however, are supposed to have been given by him, or his H 2 52 HISTORY OF successor, Ethelred, who was likewise a benefactor to this church, and is described as such in his son the Confessor's charter, though his grants are not specially named. Leosne, or Lesnes, in Kent; which King Edward the Confessor confirmed, by letters addressed to Leofwine, Earl of Kent, and others. It afterwards received the successive confirmations of William the Conqueror and Henry I. Sunbury, or Sundbury, in the county of Middlesex, containing seven hides of land, is confirmed by the Confessor. It also received several privileges and ex- emptions from Henry II. The manor of Sunbury, in which the land was situ- ated, belonged to the dean and chapter of St. Paul's. Fenton Parva, containing one hide of land. Littleton, or Littlyngton, in the county of Middlesex, containing two hides of land. Hanwrth, or Hanuarth, in the same county, containing four hides;— and Sypenham, in the parish of East Burnham, with the same quantity of land. These places were all of them confirmed by Edward the Confessor ; and the latter received an additional confu-mation from William the Conqueror, by which it is denominated Cliippenhnm. East Burenham, or East Burnham, in the county of Middlesex, with Rethenvick, contained four hides of land, and was reconfirmed by WilUam the Conqueror. Hampstead, in the county of Middlesex, was the gift of King Ethelred, and confirmed by his son, the Confessor. The church of this parish, which was for- merly a chapel to Hendon, was likewise in the gift of the abbot and convent of Westminster, as rectors of Hendon, which has been already mentioned: but, in the year 1478, they made it a curacy, separate from Hendon; and it continued in the gift of the chapter till its suppression, when it was settled by Henry VIII. on his bishopric of Westminster. Edward VI. however, afterwards granted it, with the manor, to Sir Thomas Wroth, of Durance. Grenfort, Greenford, Greenwood, or Greenford Magna, in the county of Middle- sex. It contained twelve hides of land and one rod ; and was confirmed by Edward WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 53 the Confessor, who granted it many privileges. This manor, with the advowson of the rectory, was seized hy Henry VIII, at the dissolution, and continued in the possession of the crown till Edward VI. granted the manor to the Bishop of of London and his successors for ever. The rectory had been previously granted by Henry VIII. to Sir Thomas Wroth. Five hides of land at Killeveden, in the county of Essex, Avere also confirmed by the Confessor's charter. Kingsbury, in the county of Middlesex, containing two hides and a half of land. This manor Edward the Confessor confirmed, as the gift of one of his predeces- sors. The name, indeed, imports, that it had been the demesne of some of the Saxon princes. Aseivell, or EsccxveU, or, as it is now called, Ashwell, in Herefordshire, is sup- posed to have been given to the Church of Westminster by Edgar, though it is not mentioned in his charter. It is certain, however, that it was a village, and in the possession of the Saxons; some of whom, previous to the reign of Edward the Confessor, gave both the manor and the village to the abbot and monks of this church, which gift that prince confirmed by his charter. In Domesday Booh, the abbot of Westminster is said to hold Eseivcll for six hides : and it is further mentioned, that Peter de Valonges, Vice-comes, held of the abbot half a hide there, and Goisfrid de Maundeville one rod and a mill. At the sup- pression of the abbey, Henry VIII. converted it into a deanery, continued the manor to it, and annexed it to the bishopric of Westminster. Edward VI. how- ever, on dissolving that see, granted it to Ridley, Bishop of London. After another change in that prelacy, by Queen Mary, her majesty obtained a licence from the pope, to settle it on the bishops of London for ever*. * Dart's History of St. Peter's, Westminster, vol. I. p. 7, &c. 54 HISTORY OF CHAPTER THE FOURTH. FROM THE TIME OF THE SECOND BUILDING OF THE CHURCH, BY KING EDWARD THE CONFESSOR, TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE PRESENT STRUCTURE. The earl 5'^ part of our ecclesiastical history is so interwoven with legendary tales and other monkish inventions, that it is impossible to proceed in it without paying an attention to them, which, to use the expression of Hooker, such frivolous and scandalous vanities cannot, in reality, be thought to deserve. The first accounts of Westminster Abbey are almost entirely of this nature ; and it seems, in com- mon with other religious institutions of a coeval period and a similar character, to have been, in some degree at least, indebted for the high sanctity of its establish- ment, its increasing possessions, and architectural improvements, to the pious im- pressions which originated in the sanctified artifices of the monks, and the super- stitious credulit}'^ of the age. It would, therefore, be considered as an omission, which could not admit of a reasonable excuse, if the first historians of this church were to be passed by without particular notice ; though their narratives may be formed to excite, in the enlightened mind, any sentiments rather than those of assent and reliance. Be- sides, as these records, however fallacious or even ridiculous they may be, appear to have had their full effect when they were written ; and with whatever surprise, or less favourable emotion, they may be now considered, it will be generally ex- WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 55 pected, that they should be found among the historical circumstances of the period when their authenticity, however ignorantly, was allowed : while the antiquary would, surely, consider the narrative as imperfect from which they were discarded. At all events, they may be regarded as worthy of attention as the grotesque sculp- tures which still remain, the monuments of a fanciful superstition, in several of our ancient monastic and cathedral structures. No small importance was added to this, as well as to other religious establishments, by the supposed, and, at the same time, credible, intervention of supernatural agents and circumstances; which have, therefore, already been, as they will ever, more or less, continue to be, noticed in history. The next epocha in the progressive advancement of this abbey church, is ac- companied with very dubious, as they are extraordinary, relations, which the his- torians of those times confidently relate, and to which general allusions have been already made. In the year 1016, Etheired concluded an unhappy and inglorious reign of thirty-five years. His successor, Edmund Ironside, possessed courage and abili- ties sufficient to have prevented his country from sinking into calamities, but not to raise it from the abyss of misery into which it had already fallen. He was no sooner seated on the throne, than he was compelled to draw his sword to defend it; and the church had its full share of suffering in the devastating wars that followed. On the death of Edmund, who did not long enjoy the tranquillity which he had at length obtained, Canute, his successor, is said to have rebuilt, or repaired, all the religious places which had been despoiled during his wars, and, among the rest, the Church of Westminster; as appears by a charter of Edward the Confessor to the Abbot Wulnoth, concerning the jurisdiction of the city of London. Such is the account given by Sporley, who continues to relate, that Canute, 56 HISTORY OF having taken Wulnoth into his favour and confidence, was influenced, by that ecclesiastic's recommendation, to give proofs of his favour to this church : hujus etiam amore predictus rex locum istuin crebius visitavit ct multas sanctorum reliquias cidcm condonuvit. These have been already mentioned. But though this abbey had found successive, and even royal, protectors, it did not attain to any high degree of monastic character, till the Confessor was induced to aggrandize it. This pious determination is said to have originated in a vow which Edward, while the throne on which he afterwards sat in peace and tranquil- lity for twenty-five years, was an object of uncertain attainment. It is related, that, during the Danish usurpation, and when he had sought the asylum of a foreign countrss he most solemnly declared, if it should please God to put an end to his troubles, that he would undertake a pilgrimage to Rome, and visit the body of St. Pet€r. Nor when he became king did he forget the sacred obligation which he had bound himself to perform. He accordingly assembled a council of prelates and nobles, and made known his intention to them in the following manner. He said that he had been reduced to the lowest condition, and forced to fl}-- from the Danish usurpation, to live an exile in Normandy, with very little proba- bility of ever returning home. Yet, in the midst of all his troubles, he relied on the divine goodness ; and had vowed, whenever the opportunity was offered him, to make a pilgrimage to Rome, in honour of the holy apostle St. Peter. That as it had now pleased God in his mercy to restore him to the throne of his ancestors, and place him there in peace and plenty, he thought it his bounden duty, to express hi* gratitude to Heaven by the immediate performance of an oath which he had most solemnly and devoutly taken. He accordingly requested them to propose some method of administering the affairs of the kingdom in his absence, WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 57 and nominate such persons as they thought were the best quahfied to represent him during his proposed visit to the holj^ father*. The nobihty and prelates, however, were so very apprehensive that the Danes would take advantage of Edward's absence, to distress the kingdom with fresh wars, that they represented his design as pregnant with disastrous consequences ; and while they expressed their alarms on the occasion, the common people are said to have employed tears to dissuade him from a journe}^ that not only threat- ened him with danger, but the kingdom with calamity. He was, therefore, most humbly and earnestly implored to send an embassy to Rome, to obtain a dispen- sation of the pope for the remission of his vow. To this proposition the king was, at length, though with great difficulty, pre- vailed upon to consent ; and accordingly Aldred, Bishop of Worcester, was appointed to this office, with an honourable retinue of eminent persons in church and state, suited to the important occasion. On the arrival of the episcopal ambassador at Rome, he represented to Pope Leo IX. the dangers which were apprehended from King Edward's per- formance of his vow; and, with all humilitj^ entreated his holiness to propose some way of quieting his majesty's conscience, without exposing himself and his people to such imminent hazard. The pope, it seems, gave his most willing consent to the object of the embassy; and accordingly addressed a letter to the king, in which his holiness informed him, that he had transmitted an absolution from his vow, with a pardon for all his faults and negligences. He then especially enjoined him, on his obedience, to bestow the proposed expences of his intended journey to Rome on the poor ; and either to repair some decayed monastery, or erect a new one to the honour • Alured Vilalis in Vita Ed. Confess, p. 379. Vol. I. I 58 HISTORY OF of St. Peter. To all the privileges and exemptions which the king should be pleased to grant on such an occasion, he gave also a previous confirmation. On the return of the embassy from its Italian expedition, Edward is said to have been so much delighted with the tidings it brought of grace and favour from the pope, that, in the first emotions of joy, he released his kingdom fi-om the tax of Dane-gelt*. In this state of mind, it may reasonably be imagined,, that the king was not only ready, but anxious, to perform the penance which had been commanded by the supreme head of the church. While, however, it was a matter of anxious consideration in the royal bosom what monastery or religious edifice he should prefer, in order to realize his solemn obligations, his liistorian proceeds to relate, that the monarch was relieved from any difficulty in the choice, by an event which is represented as a miraculous interposition. It is stated, that, most opportunely for the occasion, one Wulsine-j-, a monk of Westminster, who was remarkable for the simplicity of his manners, and had led a life of such pure holiness, that he was afterwards canonized, received, as he slept, a communication from St. Peter, that King Edward should repair and beautify the church to which the distin- guished ecclesiastic himself belonged. The apostle is said to have delivered his command in the following manner: — " I have a place on the western side of * The remission of this heavy imposition arose from very different motives than those to which, with their usual policy, it was attributed by the monks. Nor did this act of national relief take place till the middle of the Confessor's reign, when the banishment of that powerful, troublesome, and dangerous subject, the Earl Godwin, gave the king a fair prospect of peace and tranquillity, and there- by enlarged the means of gratifying himself in the indulgence of that beneficent disposition, which was a predominant feature in his character. + It seems as if Wulsine the monk was confounded with the abbot of the same name. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 59 " London, which I chose for myself, and wherein I dehght. I formerly conse- " crated it with my own hands, ennobled it with my presence, and rendered it " illustrious by divine miracles. The name of the place is Thorney, which, ■" having been, on account of the sins of the people, given up to the fury of " barbarians, from being rich, is become poor; from being stately, is become " low; and from being an object of veneration, is regarded with contempt. " This edifice let the king, by my command, repair, and make a house of " monks; adorn it with stately towers, and endow it with large revenues; when " it shall become the house of God, and the gater, of heaven." Such is the monkish account of the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey by Edward the Confessor; nor is it altogether at variance with the pious credulity and fervid imagination which, according to every liistorian of the period, marked his character. A superstitious man in a superstitious age may be, indeed, con- sidered as subject to any influence that appears to proceed from superior reve- lation, more especially when it tends to advance the prevailing desire of his heart*. Whether this history is altogether an invention, or that the supernatural part of it alone was artfully contrived to impose on the willing and submissive faith of the king; or whether a fanatic, melancholy monk, continually brooding over the dis- tressed and ruinous state of his cloister, had been actually visited by such a dream, is not a question that will justify any considerate reflection. The devout monarch, however, is said to have given his confirmation of it by a subsequent charter, * Among other examples of the superstitious character of this prince, it is related bj his historian, that the execrations of his subjects against the payment of Dane-gelt having heated his fancy, he assigned, as a reason for remitting it, his having seen the devil dancing in the treasury, on tlie very bags which contained the money collected for that tribute. I 2 00 HISTORY OF wherein he appears to ackno^vledge the dream, as an impelling motive to under- take the great and pious work which he then meditated. By this instrument he is made to declare, " St Peter has revealed his pleasure to a certain monk of a " holy character, named W^ulsine, that I should rebuild the place called West- " minster, founded in the time of St. Augustin, the first English bishop, and " honoured by the bounty of several kings in old time; and which, in conse- " quence of its antiquity, and the devastations it suffered in the wars, seems to " have been almost destroyed." But whatever might be the real cause in which his purpose originated, Edward t copy of the agreement which was afterwards entered into by them, is in the Cotton collection. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 77 ation of the manor of Pcrham and Mapleford, with the liberties of the manors of Paddington, Fenton, and Cleygatc. His 0\vn personal gifts will be now stated. In Westminster, one hide of land. In Hanivell, one rod. In Kilvedune, forty acres* By his charter, he discharges the Abbot of Westminster li-om the court of hustings and folkmotes, on account of any of his lands in London. By another charter, he acquits him of all service or attendaiKe Aipon the sheriff of Essex, for any of liis lands in that county. During the <^ivil commotions between this prince and the Empress Maud< the Church of Westminster had its portion of the public disasters. Robert, Eari of Gloucester, the brother of the empress, during his siege of Worcester and other places, laid waste, or seized into his hands, all the possessions this monastery held in the counties of Worcester, Gloucester, and Oxford. But, on application being n)a(le to Henry II. and the empress, when she came to visit him in England, •they were restored to the church. About this time, the daughters of a person of some consequence in those limes, as ap[)ears from the account of his lands in Domesday Book, whose name was Dorman, left, for prayers to be offered up for their souls, certain lands in the city of London; which were afterwards confirmed by charter from King Henry IL Herbert, the abbot, in the year 1130, granted in fee, to Heniy Fitzwilfred, ■the imnov oHVokyndon, for ten pounds per annum, and the church oi' St. Alphagc^ fbr twenty shillings. About the year 1140, the church of Winchendone appears to have been in the gift of the Abbey of Westminster, in consequence of a composition between William de Winchendone and Gervasius de Blois, Abbot ; which was made by Thomas, then Archbishop of Canterbury, as may be inferred from liis letter^. 78 HISTORY OF It was this Gervase who, under pretence of granting lands belonging to this monastery, in fee farm, conveyed away many of them to his friends and rela- tions, and particularly to his mother Dameta, whose spurious child he was, by King Stephen. He granted, by his assignment, the manor of Chelchithe to her and her heirs, to be held in fee, with the village and appurtenances, either land or water, paying for it the sum of four pounds per annum, at quarterly payments; — twenty shillings at Christmas, and similar sums at Easter, and the respective feasts of St. John the Baptist and St. Michael ; to hold it peaceably and honour- ably, with sacc and socc, &c. For Avhich grant, this woman gave to the convent the sum of forty shillings, and one pall worth a hundred shillings. Gervase also granted to one Algere, a clerk, the manor of Hamvie, in the county of Essex, for sixty shillings per annum. The manor of llcndon, to Gilbert, the son of Gunter, in fee, for forty pounds per annum. The manor of Uppcludford and Schepcrion, to Robert Cranker, Knight. Three hides of land in Tuddington and Siinhmy, to Hugo, the son of Guernerius, Three rods of land in Whethanstcde, to Robert, his marshal, for ten shillings per annum. The mdinov o{ Durhiirst, in Gloucestershire, to William Dernford, Knight, for thirty pounds per annum. To the church of St. Martin the Great, in London, and the chapter there, the church of Alderschegate, at seven shillings per annum. The manor of JVheateli/c, to Robert, the son of Swene, at sixty shillings per annum. The manor of Mulsham, at nine pounds per annum. The manor of Cyppenham and Vurnain, or rather Burnham, in which the former is a hamlet, to William de Buckland, for fiftv shillings per annum. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. -^9 These and many other ahenations of Uvings, tythes, and ornaments in the church were made, which so impoverished it, that the monks were compelled to make their complaints to the pope, in order to prevent the total ruin of their abhey. Innocent II. who then possessed the papal throne, paid an immediate attention to them, and sent over his bull to regulate and correct these disorders*. The Abbot Gervase was accordingly deposed. Henry II. is represented as manifesting particular reverence for the memory of St. Edward the Confessor ; and to that zeal historians have attributed his royal benefactions to the Church of Westminster. By his great charter, he confirms to it all its former grants and liberties; and, by particular charters, the grants of Egi/e, Feryng, Wokendune, and Duddington. His own personal gifts are as follows: — Land at CumberingtoJi, but the quantity is not expressed. The church of St. Bartholomew, in Suthbery, in the county of Suffolk; and to the monks of Suthbery, the tythe of Thorp, in Suffolk. The church of St. Mary de Billan. He added his confirmation of the church of Sabrichsworth, said by some to be given by Edward I. while others mention Edward II. as the donor of it; but they only confirmed this gift, which was originally that of Mandeville. By another charter, he gives it liberty of toll and theain. Sec. A grant of certain privileges to the manors of Perham and Mapleford. A grant, to the monks of Westminster, Winchester, and Gloucester, of aD ounce of gold at his coronation, by letters directed to his chamberlain. A grant, of the sum of ten shillings of his alms-money, to the Abbot of West- fuinster; and also money towards carrying on the new works at that abbey. * See the Appendix. msnoRY OF iifakesFcf WestaaiBSter reoored k Bot m/ataamed br aor «f the «rtke lad, as they fad bea fer the Moet pt i iibimi il by far, fly ^Cocat chortcB _ ^ _ ^i _ zi . .±js of thiis (JmnJi the of the peace to dv — uh Mi h dwdiD^ widua the iibestia of §C Peter's JUibey of WiiImmHii. A pover to the afahot of tryiag aU caaMs of aMnder vhefe be had bads. ia ^ plaoa aheie St. Peter had poMeauaiL la tbs kjag's reigB, Pope Alexaader IIL gnated to the abbots of this chradi the tee of the aiiticv nag. and ciaier. The i^w pope ibeave ^we kv ovder iar dte body of St Edwavd the Coa- ioaor to betiaadated. Ukbatd Ceem de liaa, who iwcffwded Hezuy IL by his aevccal charters, iiiirfiwii thr |Maa aiiwi of ^ bnls which bad been giaaled tQ the Cborefa of "' iiMMiri. with all thdr tktfx^a, aad adds bis royal protectaoo. la this kia^s ic%d. Waller the Abbot gnoted in ke, to ooe Martin^ the dopd of I>»>^»- in UnHriaghaawirr^j for sx pooods per aaaan ; the tytbes WESTMINs-lER ABBEY 81 of Bulbij, to Nkholas Clerk, in fee, for four ^hillmj^ per annum ; to Nonnan Blud, the grouud in Staning-Uine, for twelve stiillingi* per annum ; tfcie church of 5/. Albans, Wood-street, London, to tlie Hfj^itai of St James's, Wertminster, for thirteen shillings and four-pence per annum ; the gromxi in Friday-ttreet, to John Fitz- Roberts, in fee, fer twelve shillings per annum; which Gilhert de Qaic^ afterwards Earl of Gloucester, held for fifteen shillings per amium, with erouod next the church there, for twenty shillings per annum ; and to NidM^as Peckd- shan , the village of Pecielsham, and manor of Bcnfitte, for nine pounds per annum. \\'iliiam Postard, who iMCCbtded Walter as abbot of this church, di»- charged it of fifteen hundred pounds, for the payment of which the vaoasObaj was bound. He likewise performed many other acts of munificence. It appeal^ that, in his time, the churches of Ockham and Hamhkdmi were in the posesooa of this abbey. From the character of King John little is to be expected in &voar of the church. There is, however, one charter that marks his attention to the Abbey of Westminster. It grants certain liberties and immunities to hUp, in the county of Oxford ; which has been already noticed as the birth-place of King Edward the Confessor*. ^^'ulnoth, the last abbot, who died before the design of Edward the Confem to rebuild the Church of Westminster could be carried into execution, was succeeded by Eadwine, one of its monks, who, according to Sporlev, was elected at the partictilar request of the kin^ himself. EADWINE. This ecclesiastic is represented as being advanced in years, and unrversallv venerated for his learning and virtues. Such was his character for pietv, that • Darts History of 5t. Peter's, JTeitmuuter, toL II. p. 17, &c. Vol I. M 82 HISTORY OF he became a very distinguished favourite of Edward, who was used to send for him to enjoy the confidence of his private hours*. In his time, the church was rebuilt, solemnly consecrated, and enriched Avith ample revenues. His name tilso appears as a subscribing Avitness to its charter of confirmation. He is said to have entertained such a grateful sense of Edward's favour to him, that, after the death of his beloved sovereign and master, he was used to pay a daily visit to his tomb, and indulge his devotions there. He lived, through the short reign of Harold, to see the Norman conquest, and shared in the favour which William shewed to the Church of Westminster. It was during his abbacj% that the Conqueror exchanged lands in Essex for Wind- sor; which Matthew Paris, however, does not consider as favourable to the in- terests of the abbey. That writer alludes to Eadwine, when he says, " multa ei, " scilicet regi, conferens donativa ejus coronatione apud Westmonasterium cele- " brata ;" and thereby gaining the friendship of the king-}-. He also accuses the abbot of being too subservient a courtier to the new king. Cio-ialis nimis et aulicus 710V0 regi. Nay, he proceeds still farther, and charges him with employing his power to support injustice and oppression : which accusation he maintains by the following, not ye.v\ consistent, relation. " Some time before the Norman conquest, the Abbot of St. Alban's, at the " earnest request of the Abbot of Westminster, leased to him for twenty j'ears *' the manor of Aldenham, in Hertfordshire, a woody place, and infested Avith • Dart quotes an ancient manuscript, which describes the last moments of the Confessor, and contains the following passage: — " And then the king took himself to Almighty God; and also he " sent for the Abbot of Westminstre, and toke him the ringe in the honour of God and Seinte Marie, " and of Seinte John the Evangeliste; and the abbot underfongcd the king with moche reverence, and '* put it among the relikes at Westminstre, and tiiere it is unto this time, and evermore shall be." t Matthew Paris, Lives of the Abbots of St. Alban's, fol. 47. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 83 " robbers, upon condition that he should secure the road-ways to passengers, " and make good what losses they should sustain by thieves: for which he was " to pay a hundred shillings per annum and four oxen; and in case of neglect, " to forfeit his lease : but he, wishing to possess a wood near Aldenham, which " was remarkable for the pleasantness of its situation, moved suits against the " Abbot of St. Alban's, claiming it as his own, and would not resign it at the " end of the term of twenty years," &c. &c.* Eadwine died on the 12th day of June, 1068, in the second year of William the Conqueror's reign, and in the nineteenth year of his abbacy. He was buried in the cloisters, where his remains reposed, as is mentioned in a former page, till the rebuilding of the monastery by Henry HI. who was pleased to order them to be removed, with those of Queen Ethelgoda, Hugolin, Edward the Confessor's chamberlain, and Sulcardus, the monkish historian, to be re- interred on the south side of the entrance into the old chapter-house, w^hen a marble tomb was placed over them, with the following curious inscription, which is written in the genuine spirit of a cloistered musef : — Iste locellus habet bis bina cadavera clausa, Uxor Seberti, prima tamen minima. De fracto capitis testa claret Hugolinus, A claustro noviter hue translatus erat. Abbas Edwyniis et Sulcardus ccnobita. Sulcardus major est. Deus adsit cis. * It may be reasonably conjectured, that the law-suit between the Abbies of Westminster and St. Alban's was gained by the former, as it kept possession of the property in contention. Matthew Paris was a monk of the latter, and that circumstance may account for the severity with which Eadwine has been treated by him. + Flete and Sporley. M i2 ■ 84 HISTORY OF That King Edward, as it is related by Sulcardus, had resolved to undertake a pilgrimage to Rome, in order to return thanks to God and the apostle St. Peter for establishing him on the throne of his kingdom in peace and safety, is perfectly consistent with the known devotion of his character, as well as con- formable to the example of several Saxon kings, his predecessors: nor was the remonstrance of his nobles and prelates against the execution of his pious design, from the apprehension which they entertained of intestine commotions, in case he should die during his progress, a less probable circumstance. But that he should send a formal embassy in princely state to the papal throne, to obtain absolution from the vow he had made to present himself there; that the pope should enjoin him, by way of commutation, to lay out the money which he had set apart for the expences of his journey, in repairing or re-erecting some religious house, dedicated to St. Peter; and that he should be influenced, by the dream or enthusiastic fancies of a monk of Westminster, to obey the papal commands by the re-edification of that church, are parts of the narrative that do not appear to justify a similar claim to belief. Subsequent writers are indeed of opinion, that there is no better authority for this account of Edward's royal bounty to Westminster Abbey, than certain spurious charters, which still exist under the name of that monarch. It is conjectured by Widmore, who has given a very sedulous and inves- tigating attention to the subject, that the royal preference of the Monastery of Westminster, arose from the suggestion of Eadwine, the abbot, who possessed so large a portion of Edward's favour and confidence*. But whatever may have been the precise motive to this deed of piety, the king rebuilt the church in a very magnificent manner, and endowed it with ample possessions. * Widmore's History of Westminster Abbej/y p. 10. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 85 As to the structure itself, it is represented as being supported by pillars and arches. " Diversis fultum columnis ac multiplicibus volutum hinc et inde " arcubus*." It was also built in the form of a cross, which was a novel circumstance in- England, but afterwards became very generally adopted in the erection of churches throughout the kingdomf : and this general description is all Avhich is now known of this fabric. The remains under the present library, and in the first prebendal house in the dark cloisters, may possibly be the crypts of this building. It is said that the construction employed but a few years, as the king manifested a great anxiety for its completion ; and, as it is more than probable, spared no expence for that purpose^. The account of the funds, however, which were provided to carry on this celebrated undertaking, seems to be as destitute of probability as many other circumstances which are confidently mentioned by the historians of the church. That the king should command an estimate to be taken of all his estates real and personal, and the tenth of the whole to be set apart for the expence of his intended journey to Rome; and, when that design was relinquished, that the reserved sum should be converted to the expenditure of rebuilding and endowing the Abbey of Westminster, is not a probable mode of proceeding. Camden, indeed, quotes an author to this effect, who is said to have lived at the time; but as his name is not mentioned, the authority bears rather a doubtful character§. * Sulcardus. + Sepultus est Londini in ecclesia, quam ipse novo compositionis genere construxeral, a qua post multi ecclosias construentes exeraplum adept! opus illud emulabantur. — Matt. Paris, p. ?. % Festinatur ergo ex praeceplo regis caeptum opus et post paucos annos perfectum. — Sulcahdds. ^ Camden's Britannia. •f 86 HISTORY OF Whether the munilicence of Edward was confined to the church, or was extended to the adjoining buildings, cannot at this distant period be satisfactorily^ ascertained. In a yard on the east side of the httle cloisters there are still some remains of a very ancient appearance. They are evidently a part of St. Catherine's chapel, which is known to have stood in that situation, and whose door- way forms an entrance to the yard. It is probable that there were cloisters also in the same place in the time of the Confessor, as the famous Geoffry de Mandeville, who distinguished himself at the battle of Hastings, mentions his having buried his first wife, Athelais, in those cloisters, as well as his intention also to share that grave with her*. The side or front of a stone building in the sanctuary, towards the church, which, for upwards of two hundred years, had served as the cellar of a tavern, being exposed to view by the pulling down of some houses, about the middle of the last century, displayed the appearance of a very remote origin. Some antiquaries have imagined it to have been a chapel, and of a more ancient date than the present structure of the church. It is fu-st mentioned in a charter of Edward I. dated the 3d day of December, in the ninth year of that prince, or 1290. It was then called the Bdlfrey, and continued to be used as such till towers were added to the church by Islip, the abbot, in the reign of Henry VII. f The parish church of St. Margaret is said to have been erected in its present situation by Edward the Confessor, the place which had before served the inha- bitants for parochial worship being in the north part of the body of the abbey * Niger Quaternus, a register book of the abljey so called, fol. 5. + Belfries were usually separate from the church, of which there are some examples still remaining. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 87 church, and interfering with the design of the projected structure: but the earhest authority on which this circumstance rests, is not calculated to establish its credi- bility. A monk of the abbey, it seems, who was present at the coronation of Edward III. declared, that he had been informed by one of his monastic brethren, who took the habit in the reign of Henry III. that he had often heard, the elder brethren of the community assign the foregoing reason for the position of St. Margaret's church*. At all events, there was a parish church so situated previous to the year 1 140; as Abbot Herebert, who died in that year, granted for the service of the high altar at the abbey, sixty shillings of the profits of the church of St. Margaret, standing in the abbey church-yardf . The revenues bestowed by the king on this place were very considerable ; and the grants of several manors are still remaining, which were large estates. Several of his officers also, and other great men, were very liberal in their bene- factions at that time, after the example of their sovereign:}:. The honours and privileges which Edward conferred on this church do not appear to be distinguished from those which were usually granted to religious houses, in conformity to the nature of those institutions^ ; such as the royalty in their own lands, and an exemption from other temporal jurisdiction. The others are as follows: — * Niger Qitaternus, fol. 76. + Carta in Bihlioth. Harleiana. X The charter of (he Confessor, which is ackiiowleclged to be genuine, mentions what estates the church possessed before his time, and what he and his milites gave. Two of the estates previous to that period, Humme and Handon, are still in the church ; proving, undenial)ly, (hat there was a religious foundation before the Confessor, and probably by Edgar. The Confessor's grants of lands continue to this day the principal estates of the church, Deer/iursl, Pershore, Oktham, Slanesy TVkefhampstead, Sudbur?/, Islip, Launton, &c. &c. § Edward's charter of privileges already cited. 88 HISTORY OF 1 To be a church for the coronation of all succeeding kings, 2. To have the custody of the regalia. 3. To be the place of sepulture for himself and his successors. 4. To be a sanctuary, or place of personal security, for debtors or criminals, who should escape thither from the pursuit of the laws; and, Lastly, an entire exemption from episcopal power and jurisdiction. These, however, appear to have no better a foundation than certiiin charters, in the name of this king, whose assumed origin is very doubtful. Indeed, the buspicjun of antiquaries respecting their authenticity seems to be justified by the many Norman phrases which occur in them : a circumstance that goes very far towards proving them to have been fabricated at a period subsequent to the conquest. With respect to the solemn appointment of Westminster Abbey, by the Confessor, to be a place exclusively reserved for the coronation of all future kings, it must be observed, that a circumstance took place immediately on his death, which greatly weakens, if it does not altogether destroy, the authen- ticity of such a direction. This was no less than the coronation of his successor, which was solemnized in the cathedral of St. Paul*. For it may be fairly supposed, that if Edward had destined the abbey for such a sacred purpose, Harold would not, from a principle of policy, have manifested so w^anton a disregard to the ordinance of a prince, whose virtues had been so dear, and whose memory was so precious, to the people. It seems, indeed, to be a more reasonable opinion, that William the Con- queror preferred this church to be the scene of his coronation, for the sole purpose of expressing his veneration for a monarch of whose kindred to him he was * Apud Sanctum Paulum coronara arripuit.— Taylor's History of Gavelkind. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 89 accustomed to boast, and under whose grant he made his pretensions to the crown*. Nor is it improbable that WilHam acted on this occasion from a sugges- tion of the Abbot Eadwine, who might indulge a very natural hope, that his monastery would not only derive emolument, but security, a very important object in those days, from such a tutelary circumstance. This notion, indeed, appears to be sanctioned by William of Malmsbury, who mentions, that Eadwine made the king many presents at his coronation in the abbey ; which, if it had not, in some degree at least, originated in himself, he might rather liave expected to receive from his sovereign at a ceremonial of so much importance, in the early part of our histor)% to sovereignty itselff. As to an especial appointment of the place to be the exclusive receptacle for the regalia of the throne, that appears to have been altogether superfluous; as the local honour of the regulation, for such it was evidently intended, must have been necessarily attached, in those times, to the consecrated edifice where the act of crowning the kings was performed. That it was the earnest wish of the Confessor to be interred in this church, which had, from various natural causes, become endeared to him, may be readily believed. His piety had erected the noble structure; it seems to have been his fond and favourite work; and the last public act of his life was the consecration of it. There is, besides, sufficient historical evidence to prove the royal and devout design respecting the local consignment of his body to the dust, when the spirit should have returned to him who gave it:^. * Rex Willielraus ibi regni susccperit insignia. Consuetude igitur apud posteros evaluit, ut propter Edwardi ibi sepulti memoriam regiam regnaturi accipiaat coronam.— W. Malmsbdrt, fol. 134. + Multa ei conferens donativa in ejus coronatione apud Westmonasterium celebrata. — Matt. Pauis, Lives of the Abbots of St. Alban'sy fol. 47. X Ubi rex sepulturam sibi eligeret, et cum regina supremum diem expectaret.— Sulcardcs. Vol. I. N 90 HISTORY OF Not the least probability, however, appears to attach to the opinion, that Edward, as far as any act of his could determine it, intended to appropriate the abbey as a place of sepulture for all succeeding kings; as, had that been his known and accredited design, it is natural to suppose that it would have proved the mausoleum of some or other of his successors : whereas, not one king, except himself, was buried in the church which he had caused to be erected. Harold was interred at Waltham Abbey; William I. in the abbey which he had himself founded at Caen, in Normandy ; William Rufus at M^inchester ; Henry I. at Reading; Stephen at Feversham ; Henry U. and Richard I. at Font Everard; and John at Worcester. Indeed, the doctrine of purgatory, and the confidence which was placed, in those ages of Popery, in the prayers of the church for the souls of departed persons, occasioned princes to establish or rebuild religious houses for the purpose of being entombed in them, and securing the perpetual, and as it were exclusive, prayers of the monastic communities, to whose pious care their dust was respec- tively consigned*. Thus it may be observed of the monarchs whose names have been so lately recited, that those of them who enjoyed leisure, or were animated by devotion, had either founded or been benefactors to the monasteries where they were buried, Harold, William the Conqueror, Henry I. and Stephen, were the royal founders of the several places where their remains were deposited; and Henry II. had distingushed the abbey of Font Everard by his princely munificence. The privilege of sanctuary was most probably acquired by this church, from * Prayers continued at certain periods to be offered up for the soul of William the Conqueror, in the monastery which he founded, and where he was buried, called the Abbai/e aux Jlommes, at Caen, in Normandy ; till the French revolution drove not only Popery, but religion itself, out of that unhappy and violated country. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 91 the canonization of its founder, the veneration in which his memory was held by all ranks of people, and its being the scene of liis sepulchre. Such circumstances were peculiarly calculated to give an especial sanctity to it in the public opinion : nor will it be presumed, that the monks were deficient in zeal to maintain the advantages which might be derived to their monastery from a concurrence of such imposing incidents. It appears, therefore, that a better ground may be suggested for giving it the dignity of a sacred asylum than the possession of relics, which some of the chartei's mention as having been added by the Confessor to the treasures of his church*. Lastly, with respect to the exemption of the monastery from episcopal jurisdiction; that privilege, as appears from sufficient authority, was * Sanctuaries, which arose from the superstitious veneration paid to consecrated ground in the times of Popery, appear to have been established in England as far back as in the third year of the reign of Ina, King of the West Saxons. The privilege was granted to Croyland Abbey by WithlafT, King of Mercia, in the year 833, in return for special services rendered him by the abbot. By the laws of King Edmund, in the year 9i6, sanctuary seems to have been generally established by the following regulation : — That if a man fly to a church, and any one set upon him and do him harm, the relations of the fugitive may entertain a deadly feud against such person for the assault or injury. In the time of Canute, the privilege of sanctuary was carried to such a height, as to afford an asylum to all crimes, to defy all power, and to have been as notoriously abused as in the subsequent, and most profligate periods of Popery. The king's town, by which is understood the place wherein the king had a palace or an occa- sional residence, is also mentioned by the laws of Edmund) as afllbrding safeguard and protection; but not to that extent which was allowed to sacred edifices : a privilege which, in a more limited and partial degree, has been possessed by the royal palaces of modern times. The immunity of privileged places was very much abridged by the statutes of the 27tb Henry VIII. and the 32d of the same king. And in the 21st James I. ali privilege of sanctuary, and abjuration consequent thereupon, is utterly taken away and abolished. N 2 92 HISTORY OF not finally settled till the year 1222, in the very early part of the reign of Henry HI. : whereas the authorities of the Confessor and the pope, as expressed in the same charters, had they been genuine, must have determined it long before*. Thus are the weight and character of these charters, attributed to King Edward, greatly diminished, if not altogether destroyed. Widmore appears to be so entirely convinced of their being forgeries, that he thinks they ought no longer to be found in the collection of British and general councils; where, from an inconsiderate belief in their genuine character, they have been suffered so long to retain a place, and have consequently acquired an importance to which they are by no means entitled-j-. The abbacy of Eadwine was distinguished also by the burial of Edward the Confessor, and coronation of William the Conqueror, which took place in his church. Of the funeral of the former monarch no other account seems to have been given by the monastic historians, but that he was buried the day after his death before the high altar in Westminster Abbey. So very small was the space of time between the death of the king and his interment, that no opportunity was afforded for splendid preparation ; but it was attended with a higher distinction than the most magnificent obsequies could bestow, in the flowing tears and universal lamentations of his people. No tongue, says one of his eulogists, could express the fear and grief which then possessed all men, as esteeming their whole happiness and prosperity to be fled away with him. Of the tomb which * Wharton de Episcopis Londinensibui, p. 247. t Spelman, vol. I. p. 627.— Wilkins, vol. I. p. 316.— Labbe, vol. IX. col. J186.— Widmore's Jlistory of Westminster Abbej/, p. 15. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 93 he had commanded to be prepared for his remains, there is no description. Capgrave, in his hfe of this pious prince, mentions, with a long detail of mira- culous occurrences which accompanied the ceremony, that his body was removed in the very early part of the reign of Henry I. It ai)pears, however, on a more unexceptionable authority, to have been removed the 3d of October, 1163, to a tomb of superior structure, in the presence of Henry II.; and that on the rebuilding the church by Henry III. the royal corpse was once more transferred, on the same day of the same month, in the year 1269, to a monumental build- ing of a still more magnificent character, suited to the grandeur of the new church, and the sanctity of Edward's canonized virtues. King Henry himself, his brother, his two sons, and many of the principal nobility, attended the solemnity*. In the English Martyrology, the canonization of the Confessor is dated October the I3th, 1163, being the ninth year of Henry II.; while, in the Roman Catalogue of Saints, his admission into that communion is celebrated as having taking place on the 5th of January, 1066, which was the day of his death. Of the coronation of William the Conqueror, which took place, in West- minster, on the 26th day of December, 1066, some curious circumstances are recorded, which must not be passed by without particular notice. The ceremonial on this occasion clearly proves, whatever his subsequent conduct might have been, that William, so far from assuming the crown by right of conquest, thought it necessary to submit to the form of an election. Stigand, Archbishop of Canterburj^ was at this time regarded bj'^ the duke with a jealous eye ; not only from his having intruded himself into the see on the expulsion • Chron. Tho. W>kes, p. 88, SO.-^Annales de Waverhi/, p. 225. 94 HISTORY OF of Robert the Norman, but his possessing such an influence and authority over the Enghsh, as might prove dangerous to a new-established monarch. WiUiam, therefore, on the pretence that the primate liad obtained his pall in an irregular manner from Pope Benedict IX. who was himself an usurper, refused to be con- secrated by him, and conferred this honour on Aldred, Archbishop of York. Westminster Abbey was the place appointed for that magnificent ceremony by William, from the convenience of its situation, as Avell as from the great resjject he always professed for the memory of its founder, and the claim of succession which he pretended to have received from him. The most considerable of the nobility, both English and Normans, attended on the occasion, when Aldred, in a short speech, demanded of the former if they agreed to accept William as their king ; the Bishop of Coutance then put thq same question to the latter: and both the one and the other being answered with loud acclamations, Aldred administered to the duke the usual coronation oath, by which he bound himself to protect the church, to administer justice, and to repress violence. According to William of Malmsbury, he also promised to govern the English and Normans by the same tenor of equal justice. He was then anointed in due form, and the crown placed upon his head. Joy alone appeared in the countenance of the spectators; but, in that very moment, there burst forth no unequivocal symptoms of the jealousy and animosity subsisting between the two nations, and which continually increased during the reign of this prince. The Norman soldiers, who were placed without in order to guard the church, hearing the shouts within, imagined that the English were offering violence to their duke, and not only assaulted the populace, but proceeded to set fire to the neighbouring houses. The alarm was instantly conveyed to the nobility who surrounded the prince; and both English and Normans rushed forth WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 95 to secure themselves from the present danger; when it was with difficulty that William himself was able to appease the tumult*. The example of the Conqueror has been followed, in the choice of West- minster Abbey for the solemn rites of inauguration, by all his successors, except Henry III. who was crowned at Gloucester. The pope's legate, however, who officiated at the ceremony, acknowledged that it was not the proper place; and that the coronation was necessarily solemnized at Gloucester, from existing circumstances, Westminster being at that time in the hands of the king's enemies-f>. Indeed, that reason does not seem to have been considered as con- clusive for the celebration of the important ceremony in another place, as, in the year 1220, the coronation of Henry III. was repeated at Westminster, The number of monks in this abbej% according to William of Malmsbury, was enlarged by the Confessor, and his benefactions, it may be supposed, were fully sufficient to support an addition of monastic inhabitants:f. This supply seems to have been principally obtained from the monastery of Exeter, on its erection into a bishopric^. Godwin, in his History of the Bishops of Exeter^ gives the following account of this transaction : — " In the year 1049, King Edward and his Queen Editha went to Exeter, to " give a greater lustre to the church there, which, with their consent, was erected " by Leofric, then Bishop of Crediton, or Kirton, in that diocese, into an episcopal " see : and by the same authority he compelled the monks of Exeter to remove " to Westminster, to the end he might place canons in their room. As for the * Arch. Coronation Papers. \ Chron. Tbo. Wykes, p. 39. — Annates de Waverley, p. 185. j: Qui anipliori monachorura conventu ibidem adunato ecclesiam edificationis genere novo fecit. -~Malmsbdry, fol. 134:. ^ Leland's Collectanea, vol. I. p. 81. 96 HISTORY OF " monks from thence translated to Westminster, they were gainers by the cir- " cumstance, as the monastery there had been particularly chosen by King " Edward to pour forth his liberaUties upon, which he did in a most extraordi- " nary manner." The precise number to which the monks were increased does not any where appear. In the year 1256, their full number is said to have been eighty; but that is near two hundred years after this time, in which space the revenues of the abbey had received a considerable addition. Among others, the Abbot de Barking had caused an augmentation of them to the yearly value of three hundred marks*. GALFRIDUS, or GOIFFRIDUS. It is probable that this person succeeded Eadwine about the year 1072. He had been abbot of the monastery of St. Peter de Gymiges, in Normandy, and came over with William the Conquerorf . Little, however, is known of him, and that little is not much to his honour; as, in the fourth year of his government of this monastery, for some palpable misconduct at the time, though it is no where particularly described, he was severely admonished, both by his sovereign and Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury; but disregarding their admonitions, and continuing in his irregular courses, he was deprived of his dignity, and sent back with disgrace to Normandy, where he died. There was an abbot of the church of Gymiges named Godefridus, in the year 1045, who might, probably, be the same person; and if so, he must have been far advanced in years when he was appointed to Westminster ; and more likely, it may be thought, to be removed by death than misconductif. • Instrument of Abbot Crokeslj's Anniversary. + William of Malrasbury, p. 66. 1. 29. edit. 1396. i Newtria pia, p. 309. " • i WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 97 In the 5^ear 1075, which was in the time of this abbot, Queen Editha was buried in this church, on the north side of her royal husband, the Confessor, when the Conqueror commanded a costly tomb to be erected in honour of her*. VITALIS. On the dismission of Galfridus, the Conqueror recommended Vitalis to succeed him as Abbot of Westminster. There appears to be sufficient authority to determine the time of his accession to have been in the year 1076; and when WiUiam sent for him, he gravely represented him as peculiarly fitted for the situa- tion by his learning, wisdom, and useful quahficationsf . He had been Abbot of Bernay, in Normandy, and had attended so much to the improvement of that abbey, as to have raised it from an inferior place to a very considerable establishment. The letter of the king to the Abbot of Fiscamp, to which Bernay was subject, has been published by Mabillon. It is a curious document, and as it is imme- diately connected with the subject, and gives some idea of this monarch's manner of proceeding in ecclesiastical matters, at least where he had no particular bias to influence, or no very predominant views to govern, him, it may not be considered as a superfluous insertion. " WUlelmi Anglorimi Regis epistola ad JoJiannem Abbatem FiscamjieJisem. " W. Rex Anglorum Johanni Abbati salutem. — Diu mecum cogitavi, " mi dilecte, in cujus manu et custodia possem mittere et commendare abbatiam " Sancti Petri de Westmonasterio : quia in maxima veneratione et habeo et ex " debito habere debeo. Ibi enim jacet vir beatoe memoriae dominus meus Rex * Studio ejus prope conjugem locata habet tumbam, argenli aurique expcnsis operosam. — William of Malmsbury. + Annales de Waver lee y p. 132. Vol. I. O 98 HISTORY OF " Etliwardus; ibi etiam tumulata est Regina Etgith, uxor ejus inclita: ego etiam " ibidem, Dei dementia providente, sceptrum et coronam totius regni Anglici " suscepi. Tandem, consilio Lanfranni Archiepiscopi, meorumque procerum, " Vitalem Abbatem, quamvis invitum, ad hoc coegi ut illam assumeret. Cum " cnim abbatiam de Bernaco ex minimo multum, ut patet, sublimaverit ; " intellexi ilium dignum esse Abbatia de Westmonasterio, et utilitate et pru- " dentia. Quapropter liceat mihi istud fieri, quod de eo communi consilio " meorum providi procerum, licentia tua et bona voluntate et conventus fratrum. " Volo etiam tibi notum esse me eligisse Osbernum, fratrem scilicet Vitalis Abbatis, *' ut habeat abbatiam de Bernaco, et hoc tua licentia mihi fieri liceat. — Vale*." There is little or no account of the transactions of Abbot Vitalis respecting his church : yet it is evident, that he was by no means inattentive to its interests or its character, as he is known to have employed Sulcardus, one of his monks, and an able writer for his time, to compose the history of Westminster Abbey, in which work he most probably assisted him, and, thereby, to display its figure and con- sequence to the world. It may be concluded, also, that he gave it his peculiar sanction, by allowing it to be dedicated to him, as appears from the following introductory address :— " Venerabili viro et semper Dei servo, domino Abbati " Vitali monachorum minimus frater Sulcardus salutem cum devoto famulatu *' et obsequio," &c. &c — " I find him also," says Widmore, " defending the " title of the monastery to certain lands, and maintaining his pointsf ." After presiding over this abbey during the space of nine years, he died on the 19th of June, as appears from his anniversary being kept on that day, and in the year 1085. He was buried in the south walk of the great cloisters; and Flete * Analecta Vetera, vol. I. p. 219. + Widmore's Historj/ of Westminster Abbot/, p. 19. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 99 describes his gravestone as being a small one of white marble, at the feet of Gervasius; so that what has been marked for Laurentius must have belonged to this abbot. His epitaph was in the style of those times ; but, without possessing any claim to excellence, is superior, perhaps, to the inscriptive lines of some of his successors. A vita nomen qui traxit, luorte vocante, Abbas Vitalis transiit, bicque jacet. The anniversary of this abbot appears to have been one of the earliest of which there is any description. Flete states, that his gravestone on that occasion was used to be overlaid with a carpet, on which was spread a covering of silk wrought with gold, when two wax candles, of two pounds each, provided by the sacristan, were placed there from the hour of vespers till the final mass of the requiem on the following day; and the prior, or, in his absence, the sub-prior, celebrated mass on the occasion. GILBERT CRISPIN. On the death of Vitalis, Gilbert Crispin was elected by the monks of West- minster to succeed him. It appears, that he was not only favoured by the king, but particularly recommended by Archbishop Lanfranc and several of the Norman nobility*. He was himself a person of high descent: his family was among the most ancient in Normandy, and had produced very distinguished personages. His grandfather Gilbert, his father William, and his uncle Robert, were all of that character: his father, in particular, stood very high in the favour of his sovereignf . Gilbert had been educated at the abbey of Bee, in Normandy, under Lanfranc, * Sporley. + See notes on Nicephorus Bri/ennius, publisbed with Joannes C«««a»i«5— Paris, 1670, p. 206. O 2 100 HISTORY OF who was at that time a monk and prior of the house, where he taught logic, and, probably, the other liberal sciences, with great reputation. Under that able instructor he laid the foundation of the very eminent character which he after- wards attained. He also enlarged his erudition by visiting the universities of France, as well as Rome, and other parts of Europe. Archbishop Anselm was abbot of the monastery of Bee when Gilbert became a member of its cloister, where he soon acquired the affectionate regard of those great men who governed and taught in it : nor did he cease to retain their consi- deration, when they reached those elevated situations to which their superior qualities destined them. In the time of this abbot, William held a national council in the Monastery of Westminster, when Gilbert and his monastic brethren took an opportunity to petition the king for a charter of liberties, which, from the intercession of Archbishop Lanfranc, and the love he bore Gilbert, as expressed in the instru- ment, he most graciously granted. In the reign of the same prince, he appears also to have been a subscribing witness to a charter granted at Windsor to the abbey of Croyland. He was employed by King Henry I. in several embassies or messages. One of them is particularly mentioned as being undertaken to Theobald, Earl of Blois, in which he was accompanied by Geoffrey, Abbot of Croyland. On this occasion, Petrus Blefensis speaks of them both in the following manner : — " Direxit et ambos Franciae genitos et nutritos ambos in septem liberalibus " artibus insignes doctores, sensu celebres, senio reverendos praefato, domino " meo charissimos, et omnibus Belgiae, Franciae, notissimos et amatos*. In the year 1100, Gilbert appears, on the Wednesday after the festival oi • Eadmeras, p. 92. — Cont'umalion of Ingulphus, by Petrus Blefensis, p. 130. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 101 St. John the Baptist, to have been engaged in a visitation of the hospital of St. James, which is now the royal palace, and was then subject to the Monastery of Westminster*. Robert, a monk, and b)'^ some writers described as the prior of this churcbi was, in llOi, and consequently during the abbacy of Gilbert, elected abbot of St. Edmondsbury. In the same year also, as it has been already observed, Athelais, the first wife of Geoffry de Mandeville, and probably himself after- wards, was buried in the cloisters: in consideration of which privilege he gave to this monastery the manor of Eye, still called Eyhnry, between Westminster and Chelsea ; and also converted the priory of Hurley, in Berkshire, which he had founded, into a cell to this housef. The following circumstance has no claim to historical importance, at the same time, as it is mentioned among the contemporary occurrences, it may be thought not altogether unworthy of notice. On the 19th day of September, 1115, the Archbishop of Canterbury consecrated, in the church of this monaster}^ Bernard, Bishop of St. David's, for the purpose of gratifying the curiosity of Queen Matilda, who had expressed a wish to be present at the ceremonial of an episcopal consecration |. Abbot Gilbert died on the 6th of December, 1117, after having governed this church, in the language of Flete, Avith great sanctity, during the long period of thirty-two years, and was buried in the south part of the great cloisters. * Cotton Lib. Titus, A. 8. + This gift, as thus stated, was in the reign of the Conqueror — Magna Britannia, vol. I. p. 182; and yet Hurley is afterwards mentioned as part of the donation of Henry VIII. in lieu of what he took from the church. This contradiction can only be reconciled Ijy the not improbable conjecture, that Henry's gift was some addition to it. \ Eadmerus, p. 116. 102 HISTORY OF Widmore says his gravestone is no longer discoverable ; but as it is expressly mentioned, that his image was engraved on the marble, and as there are two images still remaining, one in stone and the other in black marble, the latter may, with good reason, be assigned to him. His epitaph, which gives some particulars of his character and qualities, consists of the following lines : — Hie pater insignis, genus altutn, virgo senexque, Gisleberte, jaces lux, via, duxque tuis. Mitis eras, Justus, prudens, fortis, moderatus, Doctus quadrivio, nee minus in trivio. Sic tamen ornatus, nece, sexta luce Decerabris, Spiramen cselo reddis, et ossa solo. The words triviuni and quadrivium, employed in the foregoing lines, are school terms in use at that time, which comprehended the seven liberal arts. Grammar, rhetoric, and logic formed the trivium, or the threefold way to eloquence ; while arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy composed the quadrivium, or fourfold way to knowledge*. Gilbert was an author of consideration in his day; and some af his works are still extant. Bale and Pits, after him, have given a catalogue of them. The following also are yet in being, though not mentioned by those writers-f : A dialogue de Processione Spiritus Sancti a Patre et Filio. The second part of A Dispute or Conference with a Jew. A disputation between a Christian and a Gentile, entitled, De Fide Christ i. Verses on several subjects: as, de Confessione ; de Corpore et Sanguine Domini ; de Crcatione sex Dierum ; and de Rege quarente Uxoi-eyn. * Du Fresne's Glossary. + Cottou Library, Vespasian, A. 14. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 103 He is likewise said to have written the Hfe of Ilerlewin, the first abbot of Bee*. Of his works, the first part of his dispute with a learned Jew, who had been educated at Mentz, has been printed. The language of it possesses the simpli- city and clearness which suit the nature and object of such a composition. Its merit is considerable, and its defects are those of the times, rather than of the MTiter-f-. During the abbacy of Gilbert, a monk of the name of Warner, the same it may be supposed who is mentioned in the History of ElyX, as one of the seniors of the house, in the year 1106, is said to have published a volume of Homilies, and also a collection of flowers from the Ancient Fathers; the latter of which was printed at Francfort in the year 1494§. In the intermediate time between the death of Gilbert and the appointment of his successor, Matilda, the wife of Henry I. distinguished by the name of the good queen, was buried in Westminster Abbey, on the right side of, and near, the tomb of the Confessor. She died on the 30th day of April, 1118; and her death was very much lamented by all ranks of people, to whom her amiable qualities had greatly endeared her. This princess had lived in uninterrupted harmony with her royal consort; and the peace of England, during his long absence from it, was, in a great measure, owing to her superior virtues and understanding!!. * W. Gemeticensis, de Ducihus Normannorum, 1. 7. c. 22. + With the works of Anselmus, Cologne, 1537 j Paris, 1678. X Anglia Sacra, vol. I. p. Q13. § Pits, de lUustribus AnglicB Scrlptoribus, p. 191. 11 A curious circumstance is connected with the burial of this queen. It appears by a roll, which was formerly mistaken for one of the 5th of King Stephen, but has been restored by Madox, in 404 HISTORY OF HEREBERT. This abbot is said to have been a Norman, as his predecessors had been ; though it is more probable that he was only of Norman extraction, as he was a monk and almoner of the monastery at the time of his appointment to preside over it, which was not till the year 1121. The only reason that can be readily assigned for the long vacancy on this occasion, as it sometimes happened in other places, may be found in the king's right of receiving the intermediate emoluments ; and the pressing wants which this monarch at different periods of his reign is known to have experienced, naturally required his application to all possible means of supplying them*. Herebert is said to have been made abbot by Henry I.f or rather by the royal recommendation, which the monks would not have been so imprudent as to refuse; nor is it probable that the king would deny them, at least, the name and form of an election, which they could claim by the regulations of their founder, and the statutes of their order. This ecclesiastic seems to have been held in high estimation, and considered with particular favour at court : as a proof of it, Henry granted to the lands belonging to the almoner's office, which he had possessed, several privileges and immunities; and King Stephen was afterwards pleased to confirm them. In the time of Gilbert, Bishop of London, who, from his great learning, was called the Universal, this abbot founded a small nunnery at Kiibourne, near Hampstead, which has been already mentioned ; and placed there, as the first his Collection, &c. to this year and reign, that the sheriffs of London had the care of her funeral : since, in passing their accounts, they charge the crown with fifteen shillings and two-pence half- penny for oil expended in burning upon her tomb, &c. ; with three shillings for cloth for covering the same. * Saxon Chronicle, anno 1118. + Anglia Sacra, vol. I. p. 298. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 105 nuns, three ladies, named Emma, Gunilda, and Christina, who are said to have been maids of honour to Matilda, the queen of Henry I. as Flete describes them, Tres domiccllas camera Malildis bona regina. He also appointed an ecclesiastic, named Godwin, who had lived in the character of a hermit at Kilbourne, to be the warden, chaplain, and confessor of these religious ladies, and of such as might be added to their conventual community. He likewise assigned them, for their support, some of the abbey lands, as well as certain corrodies and allowances of provision from the mona- stery, which they continued to receive till their dissolution by Henry VHI. The jurisdiction of this nunnery appears to have been the subject of several disputes between the bishops of London and the abbots of Westminster; which were at last adjusted in the year 1231, in the hfteenth year of Henry HI.; when it was af>-reed, that, while all due respect should be preserved to the bishop, the power of appointing and removing persons in the various offices of this minor establishment, as well as the correction of its abuses, should remain with the abb(jt*. It appears, likewise, that Herebert made a stipendiary grant out of the abbot's income to the use of the high altar; and that he manifested some marks of his regaid to the priories of Great Malvern and Hurley, two cells of the abbeyf . He died September the 3d, 1140, in the fifth year of King Stephen, after he had o-overned the Church of W^estminster nineteen years, and was buried in the south part of the great cloisters, towards tlie east end, as described by Flete. The stone which covered his remains was distinguished by the following epitaph:— Abbatis nostri corpus jacet Lie Hereberti; Vivat post obituin spirilus ante Dcum, * Archkes of the Church., Kilbourne. + An instrument in the Harleian Library. Vol. I. P 106 HISTORY OF G E R V A S E. On the death of Herebert, King Stephen influenced the monks of West- minster to elect, as their abbot, Gervase, surnamcd de Blois, an illegitimate son of that monarch, by a Norman woman, named Dameta. By Matthew Paris he is likewise called Gerum. Soon after his election, this abbot solicited at Rome the canonization of the Confessor, and sent Osbert de Clare, a learned monk of his cloister, on a mission for that purpose; but he did not altogether succeed. Innocent II. who was then pope, resisted the application, from a deficiency in the testimonials necessary to accomplish the desired object. He required a more particular account of the actions of Edward's reign, and the miracles which he had wrought ; an essential article in the composition of a Romish saint: and consequently refused to confer the solicited honour till that was produced. There appears to have been a contest between this abbot and the priory of Great Malvern, in Worcestershire, which was a cell to this monastery, before the pope's legate*, then resident in England. The particular subject of this dispute is not mentioned; but it seems to have related to the point of jurisdiction. The cause, however, was determined in favour of the abbot, and the monks of Malvern found it necessary to make their submissions. Gervase may be allowed the merit of attracting his father's bounty to the abbey ; but, at the same time, he seems to have made no scruple of impoverish- ing it by a lavish extravagance. He disposed of many of the abbey lands in fee farm to his mother, and others of his friends and favourites. It is true, that several of them were afterwards recovered by the good management of some of the succeeding abbots; but the greater part continued as he had distributed them, to the period of the dissolution^. * Job. Sarisburiensis Epist. 100. t Flete. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 107 He was also very profuse of the goods of the monastery, and even confiscated some of the ornaments and jewels of the church; so that the monks, and as it appears not without reason, entertained very serious apprehensions, that he would not scruple to take the same liberty even with the regalia, which were entrusted to their care. It is evident, from every thing related of him, that he was of an unprincipled, insolent, arbitrary character, presuming upon his birth, and conducting himself in a most oppressive manner to his monastic community. He also wasted the hospitalities of the abbey on strangers and military associates; preferring, on all occasions, the company of laymen, and slighting his own order. It appears, indeed, that these disgraceful practices took place immediately on his appointment to the abbacy, as the pope, to whom the complaint of them was made, did not survive the year 1143. It was to Innocent II, that the monks felt themselves obliged most seriously to represent his misconduct; when his holiness issued a bull, admonishing him to rectify his errors, and assume another and better mode of conduct. What effect the admonition of the holy father had upon him, is not on record. There is no reason, how^ever, to suppose that he paid a becoming attention to it; for though, during his father's reign, he was enabled, by the royal protection, to maintain his monastic supremacy, he was afterwards removed from it by Henry II. ; and his having squandered away the lands of the abbey, is assigned as the cause of his dismission*. Matthew Paris describes him as clarior generc quam moribus, and unreser\^edly charges him with wantonly dissipating the property of the monastery; for which reason he adds, quia res loci illius juvenilitcr dissipavii, he was deposed. As it is not • Decern Scrip, col. 281. P 2 108 HISTORY OF probable, bowever, that this disgrace ^vould have overtaken him for misconduct twelve years previous to his removal, it seems to mark an unremitted continuance of it. At all events, it is certain that his successor found the abbey in a state of actual impoverishment, and without even the necessary stores or furniture, on the taking possession of his monastic office*. Another misfortune likewise befel the estates of the monastery in the time of Gervase. Robert, Earl of Gloucester, the principal adviser of the Empress Matilda in her contentions with King Stephen, either seized or ravaged the abbey lands in the counties of Worcester, Gloucester, and Oxford, or at least encouraged his followers to do it. as an act of hostility against Stephen, from the consi- deration that those estates belonged to his son, as abbot of Westminster^ . In the year 1157, and previous, as may be presumed, to the removal of Gervase, Hugh, the Prior of Westminster, was elected abbot of St. Edmondsbury+. The exact time Avhen Gervase was deprived of his rank in the church does not appear to be any where mentioned. It was not, however, immediately on the death of Stephen, as his name appears in the character of abbot of West- minster in a charter of Henry II.; and yet it must have been in, or previous to, tKe year 1159, when Laurence is recorded as his successor^. His death is said to have taken place on the 25th day of August, 1160, in the sixth year of Henry II. and, probably, about twelve months after his com- pulsory abdication. The place of his interment is the south side of the great cloisters; but the very large stone, known by the name of Long Megg, belongs not to his grave. Flete says, and at the time when he wrote his historyU the • Matt. Paris, Lives of the Abbots of St. Allan's, p. 73. t Flete. X Mon. Angl. vol. I. p. 295. ^ Ibid. vol. I. p. 367. II About the year 1443. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 109 epitaph might remain, that he was buried under a small stone; and, according to his description, it was the middle one of the three there. It is more probable, that the large stone was laid over several monks*, twenty-six in number-j-, who were victims of the terrible plague which broke out in this country in the year 1349, and were all buried in one grave. The circumstance, at least, is con- formable to the generous spirit and benevolent character of Simon Langham, who was about that time elevated to the dignity of abbot of this churchy. The epitaph on the gravestone that covered the remains of Gervase, is among the worst of an age by no means remarkable for the elegance of inscriptive verse, and consists of the following distich : — De regum genere paler hie GervasLus ecce Monstrat Jefuiictus, mors rapit omne genus. In his time Osbert de Clare, who has already been mentioned as being sent to Rome on the mission to obtain the canonization of Edward the Confessor, was prior of the monasterj'. He possessed at that period the reputation of great learning, and was the author of several works, which are still extant; particularly an account of the life and miracles of the Confessor, which, probably, grew out of his embassy to the papal see§. There is also a collection of epistles from his * Fuller's Worthies. + Flele. X This dreadful plague broke otit in the northern parts of Asia, and from Greece passed tii rough Italy into France; and having sensibly depopulated every state which it infected, at length reached England, where it proved so destructive, that, according to Stow, fifty thousand persons died of it in London. It made some amends, however, for its pestilential ravages, by sheathing, for a time at least, the sword of war ; for it had increased to such a degree both in England and France, as to render it absolutely necessary for those rival and hostile nations to prolong the truce of Calais ; which, from their mutual incapacity to continue the war, was extended to the 3d of September, 1354:. k In the library of Bennet College, Cambridge. no HISTORY OF pen, some of which are addressed to Adelida, abbess of Barking, on the subject of chastity*. At the same time another of the monks of Westminster, Ralph Ahnsgiver, appears to have acquired some degree of Hterary distinction. He wrote and left behind him Homilies on (lie Gospels and the Epistles, and a discourse entitled The End of the Sinner. He died in the same year with Gervase. This abbot appears also to have been an arbitrator with others in a dispute between the Bishop of Rochester and the monks there, concerning the manors of Lambeth and Kendenham, which were finally adjudged to the latter. LAURENCE. He was tred a monk at Durham, and held in high estimation there. On the death of William de Sancta Barbara, bishop of that see, Laurence, who was then either the archdeacon or precentorf , and the prior, a person of the same name, being the two persons who possessed the greatest influence in the monastery, became rival candidates for the vacant bishopric; but, not being able to eft'ect their respective election, and unwilling to give way to each other, they joined their interests in favour of a third person; and Hugh Pudsay, nephew to King Stephen, succeeded to the contested mitre : for the choice of Avhom, however, they and others of the monks were excommunicated, and otherwise ill treated, by Henry Murdok, then Archbishop of York:}:. They, however, maintained their point, and made an appeal to the court of Rome, where the election of Hugh Pudsay was established. Some time after, Laurence, but for what reason has not been satisfactorily • Co((on Library, V'dellius, A. 17. + Anglia Sacra, vol. I. p. 719. i Ibid. vol. I. p. 787. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. HI ascertained, left Durham, and went to St. Alban's, from which place he was called by Henry II, in the language of Matthew Paris, ev grcmio Inijiis ecclcsia assumptus est, and, by the royal recommendation, elected Abbot of Westminster, on the removal of Gervase*. The precise date of his election to this dignity is not known, any more than that of the deprivation of Gervase ; though, as it has been already observed, it must have been in or before the year 1 159. At the time when Laurence entered on the government of this monastery, he found it in a most impoverished state, from the profuse conduct of his pre- decessor. In this necessitous condition he made application to Robert, the Abbot of St. Alban's, for pecuniary assistance, who lent him to the value of two hundred marks in money, horses, furniture, vestments, and other articles. Hence it is, that he is accused by Matthew Paris, in such severe terms, of injustice and ingratitude for wrongfully detaining lands from that abbey; a charge which ha§ already been represented to be of a disputable character. This abbot seems, also, to have engaged the king in his favour, on the prin- ciple, and no unreasonable one, that as Gervase, who was of the blood roval had sold the lands of the abbey for his own personal gratification, he had a claim upon his majesty's remunerative bountj^ to indemnify it in the way his generous spirit might dispose him, for the losses which it had thereby sustained. Laurence appears, indeed, to have been in great favour at court, by the manner in which he was preferred to the abbacy; by the several offices in which he was employed; by procuring from the king and the Empress Matilda the reparation of and covering with lead several of the out-offices of the abbey, which had been suffered to decay ; and by the restoration of those estates which had * Matt. Paris, Lives of the Abbots of St. Alban's, p. 73. 112 HISTORY OF been seized and ravaged by the Earl of Gloucester in the time of his predecessor. He had also acquired the favourable regard of Pope Alexander HI. as appears from the letter which he addressed to the sovereign pontiff in behalf of Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of London*. He M-as more successful, as he certainly deserved to be, than Gervase de Blois. in his application to the papal court for the canonization of Edward the Con- fessor. It seems, indeed, to have been granted to him with a very complying acquiescence-!-. There is still extant, and in print, a history of the life and miracles of that prince, written by Ealdred, Abbot of Rievaux, in the county of York, composed, by the direction of Laurence, as may be presumed, to satisfy the conscience of the pope. Tliis work was dedicated to Henry II. and presented to the king when the Confessor's body was removed and enshrined in the year 1163. It may appear rather extraordinary, that a prince, who had no claim to supe- rior understanding, who was neither a kind husband to his excellent queen, nor a respectful son to his mother, should be honoured, not only with a most willing concurrence, but an ardent zeal, among all orders of the people, to procure his cnrohnent in the calendar of saints. The surprise, however, will cease, when it is considered, that his memory was very dear to Iiis subjects, as being the last sovereign of the old Saxon race; that he was eminent for his devotion, and the rigid observance of every religious rite; that the Norman kings, as they pre- tended to ground their claim to the crown on his donation, were anxious to do everything that might add a lustre to his name: while the monastery was not without its views in the aggrandizement of its founder, which would be univer- sally considered as so honourable to its character, and prove, at the same time, • Epistolm Thomce Becket, Brussellis, 1682, p. 548. t Appendix, No. 3. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 113 the means of adding to its wealth, by attracting the presence and bounteous offerings of devout people. The church of Rome, indeed, never ceased to encourage a practice which helped to fill its coffers. The papal court, it is true, made it a matter of great apparent difficulty, and clothed its process with a succession of serious and solemn formalities : but, as Mr. Addison observes, there is good reason for believing that the interests of particular families or churches have had a great sway in canonization, especially if they could pay good prices for it. Pope Benedict XIV. when Archbishop of Bologna, published a very splendid work, in four volumes folio, on this important subject*. Tills abbot also obtained the use of the mitre, ring, and gloves, which had been generally esteemed an exclusive part of the episcopal habit; but were often, to the great displeasure of the bishops, grant€d by the pope to such abbots as Vere considerable for wealth and power, or would pay largely to obtain these exterior marks of dignitj'^-j-. He also procured the appropriation of the churches of Battersea and Wands- worth for the Abbey of Westminster^. This was the first example of a practice which has since made so great an inroad on the original and rightful maintenance of the English clergy §. The same uncertainty prevails respecting the time when Abbot Laurence died, as of the period of his promotion. The author, who assigns April 11,1 176, may be correct as to the day of the month; but he was assuredly dead, and succeeded by Walter, the Prior of Winchester, in the preceding year. * Bononiffi, 1731, 1735, 1737, 1738. + FleJe. X Ibid. tj History of Impropriations, by White Kennef, D.D. London, 1704. Vol, L Q 114 HISTORY OF He was buried with the other abbots in the south walk of the great cloister. His gravestone is not now discoverable ; and, according to Widmore, where his name is visible, that of Vitalis should have been inscribed. The following lines composed his epitaph : — Clauditur hoc tumulo vir quondam clams in orbe, Quo praeclarus erat hie locus, est, et erif. Pro meritis vilae dedit illi Laurea nomen. Detur ei vitae Laurea pro meritis. That he was a man of parts and learning appears from his having been delegated as a judge in several causes by the king, the pope, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as by his writings : and though it is not easy to distinguish his works from those of Laurence, Prior of Durham, with whom he is confounded by Leland, Bale, and Pits, on account of their bearing similar names, some excellent homilies on the festivals are generally believed to have proceeded from him. WALTER. It so happened that in the year 1175, Westminster and ten other abbies were vacant, and waited to be supplied with their respective abbots. King Henry II. accordingly commanded the attendance of the priors, and a consi- derable part of the monks of each monastery, at Woodstock ; and for the due maintenance of his royal authority, to use the expression of the historian who relates the circumstance, ordered the different cloisters to choose strangers from other religious houses, and, as is most probable, subject to his particular nomi- nation. Hence it followed, that Walter, the Prior of Winchester, succeeded Laurence as Abbot of Westminster*. * Decern Scriptores, col. 587. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Ho He was already acknowledged to be a man of learning, and had proved his possession of a persevering activity of mind, by the histories which he had written of two bishops of Winchester, William Gifford and Henry, brother to Kint» Stephen*. He was also one, and, as it appears, the chief, of the priors engaged in con- tending for the right of their class against the archdeacons, who, in the cathedrals with convents of monks attached to them, claimed the privilege which the deans possessed in other churches, to present the bishops elect to the metropolitans fot consecration. Walter, it seems, succeeded in this dispute in favour of the priors. He also procured from the pope, for the Abbots of Westminster, the use of the Dalmatic tunic and sandals to be added to the mitre, ring, and gloves; the grant of which his predecessor, Laurence, had obtained, but lived not to employe as they did not arrive till after his deathf . Abbot Walter, however, was not suffered to wear them ; for, the first time he appeared in these sacred decorations, the pope's nuncio, who considered himself as not having been received at this place with sufficient respect, interdicted their use, and also deprived the prior of the liberty of entering into the choir. It was at this time that the memorable quarrel about precedency took place between the archbishops, in the chapel called St. Catherine's, or the chapel of the infirmary in the little cloisters; when the Archbishop of York, in attempting to place himself on the right hand of the legate, had his robes torn off his back, besides being otherwise treated with a most degrading violence. There had been previous contentions for precedency between the two arch- bishoprics, but they had never before proceeded to that rude indecorum which * Anglia Sacra, vol. I. p. 324. + Flete. Q 2 n6 HISTORY OF appears to have disgraced them on the present occasion. Hugezun, tha pope's- legate, having, it seems, summoned a synod of all the bishops of England to meet at Westminster, the Archbishop of Canterbury seated himself on the right hand of the legate; upon which his brother of York, coming into the assembly with every mark of anger and disappointment, placed himself in his lap. This, it seems, exasperated the bishops who sat near him to so great a degree, that they plucked the Archbishop of York from his seat with indignation, and treated him so rudely both with their hands and their feet, nay, Avith sticks and staves, that had not the Archbishop of Canterbury interposed, and rescued him from their resentment, the consequences might have been fatal. At length, an end was put to the dispute, at least for some time ; as, by the intercession of Henry, it was agreed between tho two archbishops, that all their animosities should cease for five years, till the pleasure of the pope could be known. In the fourth year after, the affair seems to have been decided rather in favour of the see of York ; as Pope Alexander determined that neither metropolitan should claim precedency of the other, but from the seniority of his ordination*. Little is known of the transactions of Walter while he was Abbot of Westminster-j-. He appears, however, to have practised too ready a compliance in granting the estates of the church in fee-farm. The manor of Denham, in the county of Bucks; the tithes of Boleby, in Lincolnshire; the church of St. Alban, in Wood-street; what the abbey possessed in Staining-lane and Friday- street; and the manor of Paglesham, in Essex, were granted by him.. He appears to have felt a very great solicitude to perpetuate his memory by an anniversary festival, and accordingly ordered one of a more pompous character • Decern Scriptores, col. 588.— Hugo Petri Lconis.— 76jrfem, col. 582. + Flete. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 117 than had been performed for any of his predecessors : to provide for which he obtained an assignment of the profits issuing from the manor of Paddington*. Flete gives the following account of it : — " Tlie anniversary of the Abbot Walter was kept in the Church of West- " minster on the day of the Saints Cosma and Damian, in the following manner: " On the vigil of those saints the prior and convent were to sing placebo and a " dirge, with three lessons as usual, accompanied with ringing of bells and solemn " singings; while two torches were to be kept burning at his tomb from that " vigil to the end of mass next day ; which mass the prior, or somebody in his " absence, was to sing : the almoner was then to distribute two quarters of corn, " made into bread, at his tomb, according to the custom in those cases. For " these purposes tiie manor of Paddington had been assigned ; and if any " monies arising from the manor remained after the charges of the anniversary " were defrayed, the almoner was to apply it to good uses ; and find for the " convent, on the day of the aforesaid anniversary, symnells, wafers, &c. &c. " and to each of the brothers one gallon of wine; and to place good ale before " them all at every table, as is usual iu those anniversaries, in a great tankard, " of the same kind as the cellarer is used to find for strangers; and to prepare for " those who dined in the refectory bread, wine, and ale, and two dishes of meat ♦' from the kitchen." This expence, however, being afterwards thought too great, the entertainment was reduced to the loaves made of two quarters of wheat, which were on that day given to the poor by the almoner of the abbey. Abbot Walter died September 27, 1191, and not in March, as mentioned by * Flcte, and from him in (he Supplement (o Gunton's Jlistorf/ of Peterborough, p. 297. 118 HISTORY OF Matthew Paris*, and was buried in the south part of the great cloisters. His gravestone has long since disappeared; and the Avords " Abbas Walterus," cut in old letters on the wall, may be supposed to point out the part where he was interred. The following distich composed his epitaph :■— Hie tu qui pausas, dictus Walterius Abbas, Ex aliis fueras, ncc alienus eras. WILLIAM POSTARD. This person, who was prior of the monastery at the death of the last abbot, was unanimously elected to succeed him on the 9th day of October, 1 191 f. The election appears to have taken place before the lords justices of the kingdom, Richard I. being then absent on his romantic expedition to the Holy Land. The Bishop of London, who was also present, confirmed the election, and immediately installed the abbot with the usual ceremonies : on the following Sunday the new dio-nitary received, also, episcopal benediction from the same prelate before the high altar. It seems to have been thought necessary, that the government should be satisfied as to the person who might be elevated to the abbacy of this church, inasmuch as the crown was its last founder as well as most bountiful benefactor; and the abbot, from his high rank, Avealth, and power, being a person of so great consideration. Of the particular acts which characterized the conduct of Postard, no account remains. Flete mentions, in a general way, that his administration of the affairs of the abbey was very beneficial to it ; and that he relieved the house, by his economical management, from a debt of fifteen hundred marks, a great encum- * Page 162, 1. 25, Aprilis being misprinted for Octobris. + Decern Scriplores, col. 664. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Hg^ berance in that age, with which he found it charged. The occasion of its being contracted does not appear, but it probably arose from soliciting the court of Rome for the Dalmatic tunic and sandals, the alienation of the lands by the Abbot Walter, and the extravagance of his anniversary. Wilham Postard died on the 4th day of May, in the year 1200, and in the second year of the reign of King John. He Avas buried, as all the preceding abbots had been since the conquest, on the south side of the great cloisters. His epitaph has as little to boast, in the way of classical composition, as those of his predecessors. Postard Willelmus jacet in tellure sepultus, Hie pater et pastor qui fuit ante prior. RALPH DE ARUNDEL. Matthew of Westminster and Flete both mention him under this title, though his proper surname was Papylion. The assumed name may be supposed to have arisen from the place of his birth, a circumstance which was not unusual with the abbots his successors. Diceto, who was Archdeacon of London, represents him, however, to be a native of that city*. He was bred a monk of this abbej^ and became, at length, the almoner of the house. He had acquired, as he well deserved, a reputation for learning, and was ranked among the most eminent pulpit orators of the period in which he flourished. He was particularly favoured and patronized by Abbot Laurence, who, according to Leland, appointed him prior of Hurley; which place, as it has been already mentioned, was made a cell to Westminster Abbey by the * Decern Scriplores, col. 708. no HISTORY OF founder of it, Geoffrey de Mandeville, in the time of the Conqueror; and consequently the nomination of its priors was vested in the abbots of the mother church*. The chief monasteries held the cells attached to them in great dependance : for though the latter enjoyed their estates in separate possession, and had the exclusive management of them, they were, nevertheless, in other respects, in a state of acknowledged subjection. Tlie abbots of the greater houses frequently selected from them such of their young monks who manifested superior talents or promised professional eminence; and they sometimes sent thither, by way of banishment, such of their own monastic brethren as w^ere refractory, or had committed any offensive acts wdiich called for a public mark of displeasure. Nor is it improbable that these cells or priories were originally furnished with residents as colonies from the mother abbies. In matters of jurisdiction they were esteemed as a part only of their chief house : thus they sent no proxies to the triennial chapter of the Benedictines, as the mother house answered on that occasion for its cells. It also appears, that in the reign of Edward I. w^hen the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Worcester proposed to visit Great Malvern, another cell belonging to Westminster Abbey, the plea against such visitation was, that the priory depended on the Churcli of Westminster, and was subject alone to the visitation of the abbot of that place. Westminster had four of these cells. Hurley, Great Malvern, St. Bartho- lomew's at Sudbury, and the nunnery of Kilbourne. The abbey of St. Alban's had at least twice that number. * De Scriptis BritanniciSf p. 246. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 121 From the priory of Hurley, Arundel was elevated to the abbacy of West- minster. The circumstance of his elevation is thus related* :— King John having commanded the prior and monks of Westminster to attend him at Northampton, for the purpose of supplying the vacancy in their church, they objected to the nomination of a strangerf , or to elect any one in the way termed postidation % ; and accordingly chose Ralph Arundel on the 30th day of November, in the jrear 1200. The period of his government is not remarkable for any particular activity or exertion. Nothinsr more is related of it, than that he obtained the consent of the monks to celebrate with additional splendour the festivals of St. Vincent, St. Lawrence, St. Nicholas, and the translation of their patron St. Benedict. The term of it, however, appears to have been shortened by a misunderstanding which took place between him and the community. This interruption of the domestic harmony occasioned a visitation by the pope's legate, Nicolas, Bishop of Tusculum, who came to the monastery soon after Michaelmas, in the year 1213, where he passed eighteen days in a minute examination of the affairs and condition of the abbey§. This visitation concluded with the deposition of Arundel by the legate, who had lately been employed in deposing the abbots of Evesham and Bardeney. The sentence was executed on the 23d of January following by the Abbot of Waltham, who was especially deputed for that purpose. It is mentioned, that a part of the form of deprivation was the breaking the seal of the abbot publicly in the chapter-house. • Decern Scriptores, col. 708. + Noluerunt emendicatis uti suffragiis. — Had. de Decito inter decern Scriptores. X Poslulation, in the canon law, signifies (he chasing a person who cannot accept the offici without a dispensation or leave from his superior. % Matt. Westminster, p. 94. Vol. I. R 122 HISTORY OF The offences for which he was deprived of his dignity are said to have been dilapidation and incontinence* ; but if by the latter any single crime of that kind is to be understood, it is improbable that he should be liable to such a charge at the time of life which he had then attained. He must at this period have been an old man, thirty-nine years having passed away since the death of Abbot Laurence, with whom he was a great favourite, on account of his learning and eloquence; and who, having first appointed him to be almoner of Westminster, continued his patronage by afterwards nominating him prior of Hurley: to either of which offices, it is to be presumed, that he would not have been advanced without the necessary qualification of long monastic experience. It may, therefore, be concluded that he had openly entertained some person in the character of a wife or concubine, a licence from which all religious persons were, by their vow, most solemnly restrained-]-. He was not, however, left without a suitable maintenance, as the pope's legate assigned to him for that purpose the manors of Sunbury and Toddington; which assignment was afterwards confirmed by the succeeding abbot, reserving to the monastery the church of Sunbury. Arundel died in the year 1223, and, notwithstanding his deposition from the abbacy of Westminster, his remains were allowed to be interred in the nave of the church : he was, indeed, the first abbot who is known to have received a burial within it|. The muse of the cloister, it may be presumed, was forbidden to sing over the disgraced monk ; and it might proceed from a principle of charity, that no epitaph appears to prolong his name. * Malt. Paris, p. 246. + It is to be observed, that it was the notoriety of the act that rendered it criminal j for, by the 28lh canon of (he Synod at Oxford, held in 1222, clergymen are prohibited to keep concubines publicly in their houses, or to visit them elsewhere, so as to occasion scandal. % Chron. de Dunstajjlc, p. 139. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. \is He is said to have published a volume of sermons by the encourao-ement of his friend and patron the Abbot Laurence; as well as a volume of homilies, of which Leland gives a favourable character; but whether they are now in beino- does not appear to be known*. WILLIAM HUMEZ, or DE HUMETO. He was of a good family in Normandy, and the last abbot which the Church of Westminster received from that countryf . Richard de Humeto was constable of Normandy in the reign of Henry II. + and William de Humeto fdled the same office under Richard I.§ This ecclesiastic was bred in the monaster}^ of St. Stephen, at Caen, in Normandy \\ ; and was called from thence to be made Prior of Frampton, otherwise Frompton, in Dorsetshire, which was at that time a cell to Caen ; and continued such till, as a priory alien, it was suppressed by Henry V. Humez was recommended by King John, in the year 1207, to be elected Abbot of Ramsey, but on the refusal of the monks to receive the royal recommendation, the king kept the abbey vacant for seven years; till, in consequence of the deprivation of Arundel, Flumez was named by the pope's legate to be Abbot of Westminster**. Giraldus Cambrensis, a contemporary writer, allows the deposition of the Abbot Arundel to have been an act of justice; at the same time he condemns the » Leland, p. 246. + W. Stephan in VUcb Tho. Beckct, p. 63. X Decern Scriptorcs, col. 1105. h Ibid. col. 669. II Matt. Westminster. ** 'Willis's Milred Parliamentary Abbots, vol. I. p. 15i. R 2 124 HISTORY OF mode which was employed in substituting his successor. On this authority it may be presumed that the legate took the nomination upon himself, or by way of provision, and without any election or concurrence of the monastery*. The popes appear to have made a common practice of adopting these pro- visions. Indeed, they became so frequent as to be a subject of general complaint, and to call for the interference of the legislature, which thought it necessary to restrain them by successive acts of parliamentf . The power thus assumed by the pope was executed in the following manner :— When the court of Rome had, on an appeal, as in the case of a contested elec- tion, declared such election irregular and void; or when the person elected, on his applying for confirmation, as bishops and abbots exempted were obliged to do, ap- peared to be unqualified for the office; or, as in the present case, when the abbot, on a complaint, was found to have misconducted himself; cr when the person elected happened to die on his journey to Rome to obtain confirmation; the popes, without leaving the election to the proper patrons, or even consulting them, » Flete, nevertheless, stales a regular election. " In dominica inventionis sanctae crucis elcclus *' est in abbatem." + In the 25th, 27th, and 38th years of the reign of Edward III. strong penal laws were devised against provisors/ which enact severally, that the court of Rome shall present or collate to no bishopric or living in England; and, that whosoever disturbs any patron in the presentation to a living by virtue of a papal provision, such provisor shall pay fine and ransom to the king at his will, or suffer imprisonment, &c. But though that monarch passed the statute of provisors, he took little care of its execution, and the parliament made frequent complaints of liis negligence. In order, therefore, to check the subsequent attempts of the pope to lessen the operations of this statute, and even to obtain its repeal, an act was passed in the succeeding reign, in the 13th year of Richard II. which not only confirmed the statute of provisors, but guarded it wilii additional restrictions. These two reigns are particularly distinguished for the laws which were passed in them for depressing the civil power of the pope. WESTMINSTER ABBEV. 125 frequently appointed others in their places; and in this manner provided the vacant bishopric or monastery with a pastor by their own special authority. Thus Theodore was nominated Archbishop of Canterbury, by Pope Vitalianus, in the place of Wighard, who was sent over by Egbert, King of Kent, in the year 668, for confirmation, and died at Rome. The papal see afterwards extended this illegitimate authority* so far as to grant reversions of benefices, and name suc- cessors to the existing incumbents. In a sliort time after his promotion. Abbot Humez was appointed by King John one of his commissioners or plenipotentiaries to treat for a peace between him and the King of Francef . It was no uncommon act of piety in those times to add chapels to cathedrals, and particularly to monastic churches, in commemoration of some patron or tutelary saint: thus, in the abbacy of Humez, a chapel was begun at the east end of his church in honour of the Virgin Mary. King Henry III. is said to have laid the first stone of this structure on Whitsun eve, in the year 1220; and those who assign fifty years to the building of the church, date it from the foundation of this chapel, as the interval to the year 1269, when the church itself was finished for the performance of divine service, comprehends that period. This chapel of the Virgin Mary, though distinct in its offices, was not a separate building. It stood on the spot which is now occupied by Henry Vllth's chapel; and, to accommodate the erection of that structure, it was taken down. The body of this new abbey church was not begun till the j'^ear 1245, and it is most probable that this chapel had been completed some years before. Another remarkable occurrence took place during the time of this abbot. It was a warm and active contest between Eustachius de Fauconberg, Bishop of » Bede, Eccles. Hist, book iv. chap. 1. + Rymei's Foedera, torn I. p. 191. 126 HISTORY OF London, and the Monastery of Westminster, on the important and interesting subject of jurisdiction. The bishop, it appears, claimed a right to visit the abbey,. to be met on the occasion with solemn procession, to receive procurations, to consecrate chapels, to ordain the monks, and to exercise every other function connected with episcopal authority. The monastery pleaded an exemption; and, in support of the plea, produced the charters of several successive kings, the bulls of various popes, and a grant from St. Dunstan when he was Bishop of London*. Wharton, who has given a very satisfactory account of this transaction, has clearly proved, that the charters to which the monks of Westminster referred were of a very doubtful character; and that the grant of St. Dunstan, in parti- cular, was an absolute forgeryf. An appeal was at first made by both the contending parties to the pope; but it was afterwards agreed to refer the cause to the arbitration of Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops of Winchester and Salisbury, with Thomas, Prior of Merton, and Richard, Prior of Dunstaple. To their judgment, as persons presumed to be duly qualified to conclude the business with wisdom and justice, the matter in issue was finally submitted ; and they at length decided, that the Abbey of Westminster was wholly exempt from the juris- diction of the see of London, and immediately subject to the pope : a decision which appears to have been founded rather on the rules of the canon law than on the principles of constitutional justice. But, to give some satisfaction to the Bishop of London, they transferred the manor of Sunbury from the monastery to his see, and the church of that place to the chapter of St. Paul's. The point of jurisdiction had already been a frequent subject of contention ♦ Matf. Paris, Vitce Abhatum S. Albani. t WLarton de Episcopis Londinensibus, p. 79. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. U7 between the Bishops of London and this monastery, but the matter was now fully and finally adjusted, and the exemption of the latter from any claims of that nature completely established. In the time of this abbot a confederation took place between the monasteries of Westminster and St, Edmonsbury, which gave a mutual claim to civil reception and hospitable entertainment, when business led the members of their respective houses to the vicinity of each other. These accommodating agreements were not unusual between the monastic institutions*. Indeed, many of them •were obliged, by the law of their institution, to give a special reception to travellers : an essential convenience at a time when inns, or places of public entertainment, were no where to be found but in the cities and principal towns. No other circumstance is recorded of this abbot, than that he accompanied William de Trumpington, Abbot of St. Alban's, to the fourth Lateran council, held by Innocent III. in the year 1215; and that he, with the Bi>hop of Salisbury, the Abbot of Waltham, and the Prior of Trinity, London, were appointed arbitrators to determine some disputes between Hugh de Wells, Bishop of London, and the Abbot of St Alban's, in the year 1219f . Having presided in the monastery eight years, Humez departed this life on the 20th day of April, 1222, in the sixth year of the reign of Henry III. He was buried in the south Avalk of the cloisters. A mitred effigy decorated his ^avestone, which is said to have been placed at the head of Abbot Gervase; and if so, the stone now marked for Vitalis must belong to him+. This inscrip- tion was engraved around it, in Saxon characters: Ortus ab Humeto WHIelmus, Luic venerando Prasfult is(e loco, nunc lumulatus Immo. * Archives of the Church. + Matt. Paris, Vita Abbatum S, Albani, p. 116, 130. i Flete. 128 HISTORY OF RICHARD DE BERKING, Havin? been bred a monk of this church, was advanced to the office of prior, and afterwards elevated to the dignity of abbot. He availed himself of the liberty he enjoyed from the award of the arbitrators so lately mentioned; and preferred the inaiiguratory benediction of the Bishop of Winchester to that of the Bishop of London, which he received on the 18th of September, 1222*. In the same year, according to Matthew Parisf, though a contemporary author mentions the circumstance as having occurred in the year followingj, a furious quarrel took place between the citizens of London and the people of the abbey ; which, as it became a very serious affair, and is mentioned by all the historians, demands a particular attention. On St. James's day, it was usual for the citizens of London and the suburbians of Westminster to contend in wrestling and other sports of strength and activity. On this occasion, the Londoners having proved victorious in their several contests, the steward of the abbey, who was mortified at the event, and zealous for the honour of his neighbours, appointed another trial of skill on the 1st of August; when, having secretly armed his people, they employed the advantage which they possessed in ill-treating the citizens; who, not suspecting the design, were by no means prepared to contend against such a stratagem. Irritated at this unmanly treatment, the latter hurried back into the city, rang the alarum-bell, and having assembled a numerous body of the Londoners, began to deliberate in what manner they should revenge the affront which had been received. The mayor, whose name was Serle, manifested his prudence and discretion by advising them to apply to the abbot, who would inflict a punishment on the * Matt. Westminster. + P. 315. X Chronkon de Dunstaplt. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 129 offenders, which, in his opinion, should be considered as a sufficient satisfaction to the city for the outrage which had been committed against its inhabitants. But one Constantine Fitz-Arnulph, a rich and factious citizen, urged them to take into their own hands the means of revenge, and undertook to lead them on to pursue it. Thus inflamed, they proceeded to Westminster, where they pulled down the steward's house, and did considerable damage to the buildings about the abbey, employing at the same time, with great uproar, and in a treasonable manner, the name of Louis, the dauphin of France*. In consequence of this tumultuous conduct of the Londoners, the abbot hastened into the city to Philip Dawbenny, one of the king's council, to make complaint of the injuries which his abbey had sustained ; when the citizens, having received intelligence of his visit, and naturally suspecting the object of it, surrounded the house, took away twelve of his horses, and treated his servants in a most unmerciful manner. Dawbenny in vain endeavoured to pacify the enraged people ; and while he was thus employed, the abbot, alarmed at the danger which appeared to threaten him, passed through a back door of the house, made his way to the Thames, where he fortunately found a boat, in which he escaped; though not without being assailed by the mob, who pelted him violently with stones, till the rowers had taken him out of the reach of their fury. On being informed of this tumult, Hubert, who at that time held the office of justiciary of England, proceeded to the Tower, and sent for the mayor, in order to make enquiry into the authors of the disturbance. The result of this inquisition was fatal to Constantine Fitz-Arnulph, who, with two others of the ringleaders, was condemned to be hanged, and the sentence was speedily executed; though the • Louis, the dauphin of France, had invaded England but a few years before, and had been in possession of London, wiiere he had received very unequivocal proofs of attachment. Thig cir- cumstance accounts for the rebellious use made of his name on this occasion. Vol. I S 130 HISTORY OF former made an offer of fifteen thousand marks to avert it from himself. Several others of the offenders were dismembered of their hands and feet. This severe execution occasioned much ill-will in the city towards the mona- stery, from whose complaints it originated, as well as against the justiciary himself: nor did the court escape very vehement accusations of injustice and cruelty. From this time, the government appeared to entertain unfavourable suspicions of the citizens of London, and to regard them as actuated by a spirit of tumult and sedition. This consideration seems to have come in aid of the credit of Abbot de Berking and his successors at court, and is supposed to have influenced Henry HI. to grant, at various times, to the Abbey of Westminster certain charters of privileges, which the city as often represented to be infringements of its rights. Indeed, during the assumed power of Simon de Montfort, the abbey was compelled to surrender them ; but after that nobleman's defeat at the battle of Evesham, the king was pleased to order them to be restored. This abbot enjoyed, in a distinguished mannei', the favour and confidence of his sovereign; and was, moreover, a considerable person in the state, as appears from the high and important offices which he was called to fill. He was a privy counsellor, chief baron of the Exchequer, and at length lord treasurer. He was also appointed, in the year 1245, one of the lords justices of the kingdom, during Henry's absence on his hostile expedition into Wales. This appears from the excuse allowed by the pope, at the intercession of Henry, for de Berking's non-attendance at a general council then summoned; it being stated by the letters which passed on the occasion, that the Bishop of Carlisle and the Abbot of Westminster were the king's deputies or regents while he was absent from England*. He was likewise a witness to a confirmation of Magna Charta in this reign. * Matt. Paris, p. 657. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 131 He employed the interest which he had at court to obtain several charters for his abbey, particularly the charter of liberties and privileges, called the Great Charter, from its being of greater extent than any which had preceded it*. He acquired another also for eight bucks yearly out of Windsor forestf ; and a third relating to fines and returns of writs|. He also received the pope's permission to give the solemn benediction or blessing to the people, and the first tonsure to such of the monks as entered into holy orders; ceremonials which belonged of common right exclusively to the bishops. He presented to the abbey estates of the annual value of three hundred marks; the chief of which was the moiety of the manors of Morton-Folet, of Longdon, and of Chadesley, in Worcestershire, which he had purchased from some of the female heirs of the family of the Folets§. He made a composition with his monasterj'^ for the purpose of augmenting the allowance of the monks, and in other respects for the accommodation of his cloister. This new aiTangement proved so much to the satisfaction of his monastic brethren, that they applied to the court of Rome, and procured a con- firmation of it from Pope Gregory IX. || As an act of piety, he ordered the feast established in honour of the relics of his church, and especially that of the translation of Edward the Confessor, to be rclebrated with additional solemnity and magnificence**. " Matt. Paris, p. 605. + Anno Hen. III. 19. printed in the Jnnals of Burton, p. 285. t In the same year of Hen, III. § In the 27th year of Hen. III. fl Flete. '» Ibid. S 2 132 HISTORY OF In the year 1231, and during the administration of this abbot, a suit at law was commenced between the chapter of Westminster and the parson of Rother- hithe, in Surry, for the tithe of salmon caught in his parish. The monks pleaded a miracle as the ground of their claim: they asserted that St. Peter himself had consecrated their church, and at the time of his performing that sacred office had given them the tithe of all salmon at any time thereafter caught in the river Thames: and such was the credit given to this legendary story, that the parson found himself compelled to yield up the half of that tithe. The claim of the abbey on the Thames was co-extensive with the jurisdiction of the corporation of London, which is from Yenlade, near Gravesend, to Staines, in Middlesex; and the comparative scarcity of such fish which took place in after times is attributed to the ministers of the parishes on the banks of the river, who interposed to prevent the fishermen from taking their tithe of fish to the abbey*. In January 1223-4, the Bishop and Prior of Ely were commissioned by the pope to visit this monastery; but they did nothing more than frame some domiciliary statutes to regulate the conduct of the abbot in particular; of the monks in general; of such as were employed in the infirmary, and of the obcdientiarii, or those who were occupied in the subordinate offices of the esta- blishment-j~. -n. In the preceding year the pope had appointed certain abbots of the Cistercian and Premonstratensian orders to visit the exempted monasteries : but, as these visi- tors did not behave with a suitable discretion, and exercised besides an unnecessaiy rigour, the monks of Westminster, of St. Edmondsbury and St. Augustin at • Flcte, c. 13. + Cotton Library, Julius, D. 11. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 133 Canterbur3% appealed to the court of Rome, ^vhen others Avere appointed to fulfil that" ungracious office*. A dispute also arose between Abbot de Berkingund Robert Bishop of Lincoln, a prelate remarkable for the turbulence of his temper, concerning the jurisdiction of the church of Heswel ; the latter having forcibh' dispossessed the monk who was the rector, and denied the abbot's claim to the presentation. De Berking, how- ever, strenuously resisted this invasion of his right, and at length obtained the interposition of the king, who ordered the difference to be composed, by assign- ing the church to the abbot and the vicarage to the bishop-f-. This abbot, after a wise and exemplary administration of the affairs, both spiritual and temporal, of his monastery, during a period of twenty-four years, died on the 23d day of November, 1246, and was interred before the middle altar in St. Mary's chapel, then lately erected]:. His remains were protected by a tomb of marble decorated with appropriate embellishments; on the foot whereof two wax tapers of one pound and a half each were kept continually burning: for the maintenance of which ceremonial the abbot had assigned twenty-four shillings of land called Eagrave§. This tomb being removed in the abbacy of William de Colchester, but for what particular reason does not appear, a flat stone of marble was laid level with the pavement in its place by William Combe, one of the monks who then filled the office of sacrist]|. This monumental slab continued till Henry VH. caused the chapel of St. Mary to be pulled down, to give place to the beautiful structure which bears the » Malt. Paris, p. 382. + Ibid. p. 570. t Flete. § Annates de Waxerlce, an. 1246. Q Lib. Consuelud. Cot. Lib. 134 HISTORY OF name of its royal founder, when it was removed and placed in the area at the foot of the steps ascending to that chapel, Avhere it still continues. It appears to have been originally surrounded with a rim or ledge of brass, and still retains the indented space where the form of a mitred abbot in that metal had been inserted ; and which, with its other ornaments, is supposed to have been stolen. On the brazen rim this epitaph was inscribed : Ricardus Berking prior, ct post inclUus abbas, Henrici regis prudens fuit este minister: Hujus erat prima laus insula regis opima, Altera laus aquc Thorp census, Ochana decimasque, Tcrtia Mortonae castrum simili ratione, Et regis quarta de multis commoda carta. dementis festo mundo migravit ab isto, M Domini C bis XL sextoque sub anno. Cui detur vcnia per te, pia virgo, Maria. The general character of de Berking has already been mentioned; and if some of his predecessors, as Gilbert, Crispin and Laurence of Durham, were more profound in theological learning ; in the Avisdom of his conduct, and the experience necessary to his station, he greatly excelled them. In the government of his monastery, in affectionate regard to his brethren of the cloister, and in promoting the general prosperity of the establishment submitted to his administration, he had no superior among those who preceded or followed him; so that Flete appears to be fully justified when he recommends him as an example to all succeeding abbots. Nor should it be passed over as a proof of liis superior understanding and discernment, that he formed and introduced into the king's service several of his monks, who appear in history as men of high consi- deration ; such as Richard de Crokesley, who succeeded him in the great ecclesi- astical office of Abbot of Westminster, and will be mentioned hereafter, with WESTMINSTER ABBEY. I35 Le Grass and Theobald, who Avere both priors of HurleJ^ Le Grass was em- ployed abroad by the king on different occasions* : he was also, by royal recom- mendation, elected Abbot of Eveshamf , and afterwards promoted to the great seal:]:. He died in France while he was engaged in the king's service, and immediately after his nomination to the bishopric of Litchfield and Coventry. INIatthew Paris represents him as a man of excellent character and superior talents^. In the time of Abbot de Berking lived Roger Black, ti monk of this mona- stery, who was an eminent divine and a doctor in divinity of the university of Oxford. He is memorable for the sermons which he composed, and died in the year 1241. * Rjmer's Fcedera^ lorn I . p. 344. + Malt. Paris, p. 420. % Ibid. p. 434, 519, 597. § Ibid. p. 614. 136 HISTORY OF CHAPTER THE FIFTH. FROM THE REBUILDING OF THE CHURCH BY HENRY III. TO THE DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERY BY HENRY VIII. Henry HI. being impressed, according to some of the contemporary historians*, with a pious veneration for the memory of Edwcud the Confessor, began to build a chapel, which has been already mentioned, to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary, called the new work at Westminster, and laid himself the first stone on the Saturday immediately before his coronation, in the fifth year of his reign, I220f ; and twenty- five years after, in consequence of the decayed condition of the walls and steeple of the church itself, he caused the whole building to be pulled down, in order to rebuild it in a style of superior stateliness and magnificence. * Robert of Gloucester, &c. He was a monk in the abbey of Gloucester in this reign, and composed a rhyming chronicle of the kings of England, in which he adopted the fables of Geoffrey of Monmouth : nor would it justify any quotation but of (he events of his own time. His work was printed in two volumes at Oxford, in 1724. + Henry HI. was first crowned at Gloucester, on the death of his father, by the Bishops of Winchester and Bath, in the presence of the pope's legate : Westminster, whose abbey was con- sidered as the canonical place of the coronation of the kings of England, being, at that time, with the city of London, in the possession of Henry's enemies. But when peace was established, and the government of the kingdom settled, the king made his entry into London, and was crowned, a second time, in the year 1220, with all due pomp and solemnity, in Westminster Abbey, and with the same crown which had been worn on a similar occasion by Edward the Confessor. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 137 As this monarch was remarkable for the exterior sanctity of his conduct, and an unremitting attention to the offices of religion, it may be reasonably pre- sumed, that his pious disposition had a leading influence in promoting a design pecuHarly formed for the gratification of it : at the same time, when the dignified offices which Abbot de Berking possessed, the large portion of royal favour which he enjoyed, and the warm and unreserved impressions which the king was habitually prepared to receive from those whom he cherished with his regard, are taken into consideration, it may be readily believed, that the suggestions of this eminent ecclesiastic had their full share in determining his sovereign to engage in the pious and splendid work. Of this structure, the boast of that distant age when it was erected, and which continues to be the pride of the city that, in the course of many centuries, has arisen around it, some account may here be expected to be given; and when that has been done by the greatest architect this country has produced, who was pro- fessionally employed to examine and repair it, and whose genius, at length, advanced it so much nearer perfection by the western towers which he com- pleted, it would be an arrogant attempt to give any description but that which he has left, and in any other words but those which his scientific mind employed to convey it An historical and architectonical Account of the Collegiate Church of St. Peter, in Westminster, and of the Repairs; in a letter from Sir Christopher Wren, in the year 1713, to the Right Reverend Doctor Francis Attcrhury, Dean of' Westminster and Bishop of Rochester*, My Lord, When I had the honour to attend your lordship to congra- tulate you on your episcopal dignity, and to pay that respect which particularly concerned myself as one in your service, employed in the chief direction of the * Wren's Parentalia. Vol. I. T 138 HISTORY OF works and repairs of the collegiate church of St. Peter, in Westminster, you were pleased to give me this seasonable admonition : that I should consider my advanced age; and though I had already made fair steps in the repairs of that ancient and ruinous fabric, yet you thought it reasonable that I should leave a memorial of what I had done, and what my thoughts are for carrying on the works for the future. In order to give an account of what I have already done, it may be proper, in the first place, to describe the state of the fabric as I found it; which, being the work of near five hundred years, through so many ages, and the reigns of so many kings, it may be necessary to consider the modes of building in those several ages : such, at least, as I am able at present to collect, I shall beg leave to discourse a little upon. That, in the time of the Romans, there was a temple dedicated to Apollo, in Thorney Island (the place anciently so called where the church now stands), and ruined by an earthquake in the reign of Antoninus Pius, I can hardly assent to. The Romans did not use, though in their colonies, to build so slightly : the ruins of much more ancient times shew their works even at this age : the least fragment of cornice or capital would demonstrate their handy work. Earthquakes do not break stones to pieces, nor would the Picts be at the pains : but I suppose, that the monks of Westminster, finding that the Londoners made pretence to a temple of Diana, where now the cathedral of St. Paul stands (many stags' horns having been there found in the ruins), would not be behind hand with them in antiquity : yet I must assert, that when I began to build the new church of St, Paul, and on that occasion examined the old foundations, and rummaged all the ground thereabouts, I could not perceive any footsteps of such a temple, and therefore can give no more credit to Apollo than to Diana. To pass over the fabulous account, that King Lucius founded a little church here in the year of our Lord 170, out of the ruins of the temple of Apollo, it is WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 139 certainly with better authority, that Sebert, King of the East Saxons, built a monastery here, in the year 605, which, as it is said, being destroyed by the Danes, was, about three hundred and sixty years after, repaired by King Edgar, who died in the year 975. This, it is probable, was a good strong building, after the manner of the age, not much altered fi-om the Roman way. We have some forms of tliis ancient Saxon way, which was with piers or round pillars stronger than Tuscan or Doric, with round-headed arches and windows. Such was Winchester cathedral of old, and such, at this day, the royal chapel in the White Tower of London, the chapel of St. Cross, the chapel of Christ Church in Oxford, formerly an old monastery, and divers others which I need not name, built before the conquest; and such was St. Paul's built in the time of King Rufus. King Edward the Confessor repaired this abbey of King Edgar's* ; and a de- scription of it has been published from an ancient manuscript, the sense of which I translate into a language proper for builders, and as I can understand it. " The principal area or nave of the church being raised high, and vaulted with square and uniform ribs, is turned circular to the east. This, on each side, is strongly fortified with a double vaulting of the aisles in two stories, with their pillars and arches. The cross building was contrived to contain the choir in the middle, and, the better to support the lofty tower, rose with a plainer and lower vaulting; which tower, then spreading with artificial winding stairs, was con- tinued with plain walls to its timber roof, which Avas well covered with lead." These ancient structures are without buttresses, only with thicker walls. The windows were very narrow and lattised; and King Alfred is praised for inventing lanthorns to keep in the lamps in the churches. * According to all our historians, he rebuilt it. Sulcardus snys, " Monasterium est dirutum ut •' surgeret nobilius." William of Malmsburj, and Matthew Paris from him, " Ecclesiam jediticati- " oiiis genera novo fecit ;" and Matthew of Westminster, " a fundamentis construxerat." T 2 140 HISTORY OF In the time of King Henry HI. the custom prevailed of building chapels behind the altars to the blessed Virgin. What this chapel was is not now to be discovered. I suppose the foimdations of it are now under the steps of King Henry VHth's chapel; and this work, possibly semicircular (as afterwards four more were added Avithout side of the aisles), am also intended for his oivn (Henry 1 1 Id's) sepulture*; some of his own relations lying now just before these steps, and may be supposed to be within his chapel : and it must be of this he laid the first stone in the ijear 1220f; for it was in 1245, twenty-five years after, that he took down the greatest part of the church, as it is recorded, to rebuild it, (the old founda- * This appears to be a mistake; for Richard dc Berking, the abbot in whose time this chapel was finished, and who died in 1246, was buried before the altar, the chief. place in it, and had a raised marble tomb. + Matt. Paris states as follows, page 310. Ed. 1640:—" Sabbatho autem in vigilia Pentecostes, " inceptum est novum opus capellm bealfe Virginis apud Westmonasterium, rcge Henrico exisfcnte «« fundatore, ct primum lapidera operis in fundamenfo ponente." — Matthew of Westminster also appears to confirm the foregoing account, page 109, Ed. 1570 : " Rege Henrico Tertio existente ad " hoc persuasore, fundatore, et primi lapidis in fundamento operis positore." These authorities rather tend to the supposition, that the king was the sole founder; but both these historians must be understood with some allowance. Henry III. was then but a child, not thirteen years of age, as he was born the 1st of October, 1207 ; and could not, therefore, be the adviser, otherwise than as he was influenced by those about him; and as to his being the founder, that, in the sense of the word as it is now used, cannot be true. There are instruments still remaining in the archives of the abbey, in one of which the abbot and convent grant many spiritual benefits of their church to such as shall con- tribute towards the work ; and in others, rents and tenements are given by private persons to promote the building. The king conld not be more, therefore, than a principal benefactor, which there i&every reason to suppose that he was ; for on the very next day after he had laid the first stone of the chapel, being Whitsunday, his coronation was repeated in this church ; which, as it has been already observed, could not be performed at his accession in the year 1216, when the place was in the hands of bis enemies. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 141 tions remaining) according to the new mode, which came into fashion after the holy war*. We call this now the Gothic mode of building, as the Italians denominated what- ever was not after the Roman way, though the Goths were rather destroyers than builders. I think it should rather be called the Saracen way, for those people wanted neither arts nor learning : nor can it be denied, that after we in the west lost both, we borrowed again from them, out of their Arabic books, what they Avith great • Matthew Paris, wbo lived in that time, gives the following account. — " Eodera anno rex •' Ecclesiam Sancti Petri Westmonasteriensem jussit ampliari, et dirutis, cum turri, rauris partis " orientalis, praecepit novos, videlicet decentiores suis sumptibus construi, et residuo, videlicet *' occidentali parti, coaptari." What this writer says respecting the king's being at the sole expence of this latter work is of undoubted authority. It is confirmed by another old and contemporary historian, Thomas Wykes, who was a regular canon of the order of St. Augustin in Osney abbey, near Oxford, in page 661 of his History or Chronicle of England: — " Ecclesiam monasterii West- " monasteriensis, quam idem rex de propriis fisci regalis exitibus a fundamentis " consfruxcraf." It appears from Madox, in his History of the Exchequer, that there was a par- ticular office of receipt for the money to be employed in erecting this superb structure; and several large suras appear to be assigned in the king's accounts for that purpose. In 1246(a), he ordered to (his use two thousand five hundred and ninety-one pounds, due from the widow of one David of Oxford, a Jew. \n 1254(6), his treasurer and the barons of the Exchequer received the royal injunctions to apply three thousand marks yearly towards forwarding the work. la 1258(c), he reserved a thousand marks from the profits of the estates of the abbot of Westminster, during the vacancy after Abbot Crokeslcy's death : and in 1270, (rf) it is certified, tiiat there had been applied to the same work three thousand seven hundred and fifty-four pounds, paid by a lady, whose name was Alice Lacy, for eleven years custody of her son's estate. An account of the wliule expence is no ■where to be found ; but it appears from the archives of the church, that in the year 1261 the charges amounted to somewhat more than twenty-nine thousand six hundred pounds. {a) Madox, 5i9.— (6) Kob. Vaston, 38. Hen. III. M. 4.— (c) Cot. Lib. Faustina, A. 3.— (i) Kennet'j Farochial Arilitjuiiies. 142 HISTORY OF diligence had translated from the Greeks. They were zealots in their religion; and wherever they had conquered, which they did with amazing rapidity, they erected mosques and caravanseras in haste, which obliged them to adopt another way of building; for they built their mosques round, disliking the christian way of crosses : the old quarries, whence the ancients took the large marbles for whole columns and architraves, were neglected, and they thought both impertinent. Their carriages were by camels : their buildings therefore were fitted for small stones, and columns of their own fancy of many pieces; and their arches were pointed without key-stones, which they thought too heavy. The reasons were the same in our northern climates, abounding in freestone, but wanting mar- ble. The crusades gave us an idea of this form; after which King Henry built this church, not by a model well digested at first, for I think the chapels without the aisles Avere an after-thought ; the buttresses between the chapels remaining being useless, if they had been raised together with them; and the king having opened the east end for St. Marj^'s chapel, he thought to make more chapels for sepulture, which was acceptable to the monks after licence was obtained from Rome to bury in churches, a custom not in use before. The king's intention was certainly to make up the cross only to the westward, for thus far it is of a different manner than the rest more westward, built after his time, as the pillars and spandrils of the arches shew. / am apt to think that the king did not live to complete his intention*, nor to reach four intercolumns west of the tower : the walls of this part might possibly be carried up in his time; but the • " Ihfc Ilonricus rex inclioavit novam fabricam ecclesiae Westiiionasteriensis, sed non perfccit," are the words of William Rishanger, who succeeded Matthew Paris in the office of historiographer of the abbey of St. Alban's, and continued his history. The king died in the year 1272, and Fabian, fronj whom Fox and Stowe have obtained their information, reports, that in 1285 the new work of the Church of Westminster was fully finished and completed to the end of the choir. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 143 vaulting now covering the choir, though it he more tricked and gilded, is without due care in the masonry, and is the worst performed of all done before. It is said to have been fifty years in building*, which, if we reckon from 1220 to when he laid the first stone in St. Mary's chapel (now buried under that of King Henry VII.) ends two years before his death: but it was in 1245 he pulled down the old, which surely must be before he built the new work : then the stone vault was performed twenty-three years after his death, in the reign of King Edward I. But, alas ! it was now like to liave been all spoiled : the monks would have a cloister, but scrupled, I suppose, at moving some venerable bodies laid between the buttresses. Then comes a bold but ignorant architect, who undertakes to build the cloister, so that the buttresses should be without the cloister spanning over it, as may be seen in the section. This was a dangerous attempt, as it is by due consideration of the static principles, and the right poising of the weight of the hutments to the arches, that good architecture depends, and the butments ought to have equal gravity on both sides. Although this was done to flatter the humour of the monks, the architect should have considered, that new work carried veiy high would shrink : from hence the walls above the windows are forced out ten inches, and the ribs broken. I could not discern this failure to be so bad, till the scaffold over the choir was raised to give a close view of it, and then I was amazed to find it had not quite fallen. This is now amended with all care, and I dare promise it shall be much stronger and securer than ever the first builders left it. After what had been done by King Henry III. and his successor, it is said the zvork * It appears in the Chronicle of Thomas Wjkes, that on the 13th of October, 1269, the bodj of the Confessor was removed, with great ceremony, into (lie new shrine or tomb made for it; and that on the same day (he monks performed divine service, for the first time, in the new-built church. Jt may here be repeated, that the interval of 1220 and 1269 is precisely fifty years. 144 HISTORY OF was carried farther by the abbot and monks towards the xoest*. I perceive the con- tiguous cloister is continued after the manner it was begun by King Henry HI. with butments spanning over the cloisters, which they were necessitated to pro- ceed upon according as it had been begun, though by an error not then to be amended, till it was carried beyond the cloister : but then they proceeded with reo-ular butments answerable to the north side till thev came to tlie west front. This west vault was proceeded on with much better care and skill, and was a work of many years. During the reigns of the three succeeding Edivards and King Richard II. I suppose, there tvas a great intermission or dackncss of xvork till the Lancastrian line came in; for then in the very first bay of this icork I find in the vaulting and in the keystones the rose of Lancaster. In the tumultuous and bloody wars between the two houses of York and Lancaster little was done to the abbey, but by the zeal of the abbots, who drove the work en slowly to the xoest end, which xvas 7iever completely finishedf. • A short time previous to the termination of the reign of Edward III. Cardinal Simon Langham gave in two years six hundred marks, as appears from the archives of the church, and something was done about pulling down and altering in the western part : and he, dying in 1376, bequeathed a con- siderable sum to the fabric, which, though it was probably intended for the body of the church, Abbot Litlington applied for the service of the outbuildings. + About the twelfth year of Richard II. part of the old building was taken down, and the work prosecuted. The king, besides several sums of money, gave the revenues of two priories alien, Stoke Clare and Folkstone; and by his will, had it stood, left most of his jewels to the sameuse(rt). During the former part of Henry IVtli's reign the work proceeded very tardily, and in the latter part Avas, in a great measure, if not altogether, suspended. Henry V. renewed the architectural operations, and granted one thousand marks yearlj', five hundred out of the hanaper, and five hundred from the customsof wool ; and sometimes, also, contributed extra sums of money to forward the work (6). During the long reign of Henry VI. though some, but very little, progress was made ; and the only benefit this (position was accordingly made, when tlie articles chiefly objected to by the abbot were, by the direction of those church- men, altered or qualified in his favour. They were, the obligation to find flesh for the monks' dinners from Twelfth-day to Septuagesima Sunday*; and the being restrained from visiting the estates assigned to the convent's share, or removing the monks from any particular offices or charges which they enjoyed. The in- strument which settled this business was sealed, to give it the greater effect, not only with the seals of the abbot and the monks, but also with those of the two arbitrators ; and it was finally sanctioned by the great seal of the king. It might now be supposed that this long and vexatious dispute was finally settled ; but the subsequent conduct of de Crokesley wore such a doubtful and suspicious appearance, that the king continued to entertain a distrust of his future intentions. When, therefore, he sent him on a mission to Rome, in the year 1256, he thought it advisable to insist on his taking an oath, and signing an instrument, previous to his setting out on that journey, that he would not make the least attempt to do any thing at that court tending to prejudice the composi- tion which had been finally agreed upon between him and- his monksf . It does not appear that the abbot made any attempt to evade this obligation : at the same time, he contrived to obtain from the pope. Innocent IV. the appro- priation of the rectory of Feryng, in Essex+, to defray the expences of an anniversary for Henry III. the munificent refounder of the abbey. He also established one of a very sumptuous kind for himself, at the extravagant cost • Instrument in the Ardiivcs.— Matt. Paris, somewhat differently, p. 84L + Rymer's Feeder a, torn I. p. 598. X Flete. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 161 of fifty pounds*; but, as the estate assigned for that purpose was not sufficient to sustain the charge, the pope, about nine years after his death, ordered it to be reduced to ten marksf. He is also said to have added twelve hydes]: of land, or so many hundred acres, to the possessions of the abbey. But this was no more than buying in some leases of estates held of the monastery. This abbot is censured by Matthew Paris for an act of compliance with what he considers as an unjustifiable request of the king, and of which he gives the following account, Henry had received large sums of money from his subjects on several considerations, and particularly on a promise to renew Magna Cliarta; but he was altogether inattentive to the fulfilling the tenor of these engage- ments, which created so much dissatisfaction in his parliament, that he could not procure from that source the supplies necessarj'^ to discharge the debts he had incurred on account of the kingdom of Sicily, which the pope had taken upon himself to grant to Prince Edmund, his second son. The king, therefore, endeavoured to raise money, in the belief, that he should be able to persuade the great religious houses to become security for it: and de Crokesley was so inconsi- derate, or so much of the courtier, as to enter into an obligation for two thousand marks. But the other great abbots, particularly those of Waltham, St. Alban's, and Reading, resisting the application, the scheme failed of success, Matthew Paris was a monk of St, Alban's, and that circumstance may account for the severity with which he treats the Abbot of Westminster's indiscreet compliance with the royal wishes. In the same year, which was the last of de Crokesley's life, he was made a * Instrument in llic Archives. + Archives. X Matt. Paris, p. 965. Vol. I. Y 16^ HISTORY OF baron of the Exchequer* ; as also one of the twelve nominees on the side of the king, who, with an equal number appointed by the parliament held at Oxford, which, from the confusions that attended its measures, was afterAvards called the Mad Parliament, were named to settle regulations for the reformation of the kingdom. During the time of this abbot the building of the abbey proceeded without interruption. There is still remaining a computation of twenty-nine thousand six hundred pounds being laid out in fifteen years, during twelve of which he was at the head of this churchf. Such a sum, if the value of money at that period is considered, being five or six times more than at present, is equal to an hundred and fifty or an hundred and eighty thousand pounds of our day. He died July 18, 1258, at Winchester^: ; and his death is supposed to have been caused by poison. The Poicterins, whom the king had distinguished with such partial favour and lavish bounty, being compelled, by the clamours of the nation and the Oxford parliament, to quit the kingdom, are said to have gratified their revenge by poisoning several persons, M'hom they considered as their parti- cular enemies, at an entertainment at Winchester. It is certain that many of them fell sick after it, and several died, among whom was de Crokesley. One Walter de Scotteney, who was steward to the Earl of Gloucester, was tried for the crime, and being convicted, suffered the sentence of the law§. The remains of the abbot were removed from Winchester, and, according to Matthew Paris, very honourably buried in the abbey church of Westminster. Flete says, that the place of his interment was in the chapel which he had himself * Dugdale, Chronic. Juridicale, Annates Burton, p. 412. t Appendix, No. IV. X Ckron. Dunstaple, p. 337. S Matt. Westminster, p. 280. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 163 erected, near the north door; but the chapel being pulled down, his body was removed to that of St. Nicholas, and laid under a small plain stone before the middle altar. His epitaph consisted of the two following lines :— Jam VVintona polis dc Crokeslejc Ricardo Mortis amara dedif, et locus iste capit. He is represented by Matthew Paris, who was his contemporary, and seems to have known him well, as a man of winning manners and attractive qualifica- tions. On the same authorit}^ he possessed an insinuating eloquence, a rare skill in the civil and canon laws, and was remarkable for his ability in all matters of public business. He seems, however, to have been troubled with a love of power, which did not promote the happiness of his life. PHILIP LEWESHAM. On the 2 1 St of July, 1258, being four days after the death of de Crokesley, the king granted the custody of the Abbey of Westminster lo Adam de Easton* ; and two days after, being the 23d of the same month, he issued his royal licence to the monks to proceed to the election of an abbot, when they chose Philip de Lewesham, whose name was derived from a small village near Green- wich, in the county of Kent, where he was born, and which now gives the sub- ordinate title of viscount to the earldom of Dartmouth. Lewesham was at this time prior of the monastery, but being of a verv corpulent figure and gross habitf , he was apprehensive of the fatigue and danger attendant on the necessary journey to Rome for confirmation, and expressed an anxious wish to remain in the situation he then enjoyed in preference to * Newcourt's Repertoriim. t Matt. Paris, p. 97^. Y 2 164 HISTORY OF the honour and dignity which awaited him : nor could he be prevailed upon to accept the government of the abbej^ but on condition that the monks should send a deputation to Rome, in order to obtain a dispensation of the usual visit of a new-elected abbot to the papal court. To obtain this object some of the most distinguished monks made a journey to Italy, and the mission was crowned with success, though not without consider- able opposition from some of the cardinals, and a very heavy expence; which is said to have amounted to upwards of eight hundred marks*. The necessity of making such an application to the pope, with the concurrent expence and hazard of the journey, arose from the exemption which the mona- stery had obtained from the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, and, on that account, becoming immediately subject to the pope. By the twenty-sixth canon of the fourth Lateran council, the exempt abbots of Italy were to be confirmed by the pope himself; and, in the year 1257, which was the year before this election, that power was extended to the exempt abbots of other countries by a con- stitution of Pope Alexander IV. This reo-ulation proved a very great inconvenience, and w^as attended with much trouble and considerable expence to those who had subjected themselves to it. The grievance, however, originated in the pride of the principal monasteries, who considered it as adding greatly to their importance to be freed from episcopal jurisdiction; while the popes were ever ready to encourage any attempts to effect an object which served to enlarge their power, and consequently to lessen that * Flete says, that Lewesham went himself to Rome. " Transfretavit post mocltim ad Curiam Romanam, pro confirmatione sua obtincnda: ibidem diem clausit cxtremum." The fact rests upon the varying accounts of this writer and M. Paris ; but the superior authority of the latter seems to have decided in favour of Lewcsham's remaining and dying in England. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 165 ^ • of the bishops, which frequently interfered with their own, and to the abridgment whereof they never failed to give a most vigilant attention. It was not long before the monks experienced this change in their masters to be a source of oppression, and it consequently became the subject of frequent comj)laint; but it was not till the year 1478, in the reign of Edward IV. and after very persevering struggles, that the abbots were extricated from it* : for though the king frequently wrote in a most pressing manner to the pope and some of the cardinals for a remission of this irksome and costly duty, it could not be obtained without an obligation to pay the annual sum of a hundred florins to the pope's collector on that account. When the monks returned from Rome with the pope's indulgence, they had the mortification to find that their long journey and heavy expences had been fruitless; as Lewesham had died in the interval, and a successor had been already elected-^. The place of this abbot's burial is unknown. RICHARD DE WARE. The abbey, according to Flete, had continued vacant for two years from the 17th of Jul}", 1258, which was the time of de Crokesley's death; the possession of it bj'^ Lewesham being considered as merely titular, he never having received the papal confirmation. This appears by the presentation of Hubertus de Boreham, by the king, to the church of Stevenage, belonging to W^estminster, in August, 1259, the abbey being then considered as vacant; and, in the succeeding February, the king presented to the church of INIorden, which was also in the patronage of the monastery, for the same reason. * Archives of the Church. t Matt. Paris, p. 980. 166 HISTORY OF Richard de Ware was elected in the beginning of December, 1258, by what was then called compromission, which implies a choice committed to a few by the general agreement of the whole chapter*. This appears to have been a mode of election much in use at that time, and the two succeeding abbots were indebted to it for their elevation. In due time de Ware paid the accustomed visit to Rome for the purpose of obtaining confirmation, when the attendant expences were so large, that he was under the necessity of borrowing a thousand marks; which he did, it seems, on very hard conditions-f-. He returned to Rome in the year 1267; when, and not before, according to Widmore, he brought many curious stones, with workmen to inlay them. They were formed into a mosaic pavement before the high altar in the following year ; and it was then, as well as long after, an object of general admiration]:. Some part of it still remains. The design of the figures which adorned it was intended to represent the time the world was to last, or the primum mobile, according to the Ptolemaic system, and described in the following verses, which were formerly legible, in the pavement itself § : — Si lector posita prudenter cuncta revolvat, Hie flncm primi mobilis inveniet. Sepes, trina canes et cquos, hominesque subaddas, Cervos et corvos, ae^uilas, immania cele, Mundum ; qnodque sequens pereuntes triplicat annos. Spbiericus arclietjpum monstrat globus liic microcosmum * Flete. t Archives of the Church. t Historj/ of the Church of Westminster, p. 72. S Biblioth. Cotton, Claudius, A. 8. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 167 Cbrisli millcno, bis cenleno, duodcno Cum sexageno, subductis quatuor, anno, Tertius Henricus Rex, urbs, Odoricus et abbas Hos corapcgere porpliyreos lapides. Of these figures the following very curious explanation appears to have been given ; and which is, in some degree, necessary for the comprehension of them. The threefold hedge is put for three years, the time a dry hedge generally stood. A dog for three times that space, or nine years, it being for the time that creature usually lives, A horse, in like manner, for twent\^-seven. A man, eighty-one. A hart, two hundred and forty -three. A raven, seven hundred and twenty-nine. An eagle, two thousand one hundred and eighty-seven. A great whale, six thousand five hundred and sixty-one. The world, nineteen thousand six hundred and eighty-three. Each succeeding figure giving a term of years imagined to be the time of its continuance, being three times as much as that before it. The four last lines express the time which the work occupied, with the parties concerned in it. The poet seems to have had some difficulty in making his numbers give a clear account of his dates; but his compact muse more intelligibly explains, that the king paid the expence of the work, tl>at the stones were pur- chased at Rome, that one Odoric was the master workman, and that the abbot of Westminster, who procured the materials, had the care of the work. Abbot de Ware appears to have been very attentive to the domestic affairs of the monastery ; and for this purpose employed William Halseley, the sub-prior, to make a collection of the ancient customs and usages of the establishment : which laborious work he completed, in four volumes folio, in the year 1266*. * Fletc. 168 HISTORY OF The three first, according to Dart, are now lost; but he mentions the fourth, and most valuable part, as a fair manuscript on vellum in folio, and as being in the Cotton Library at the time when he was composing his History of Westminster. He represents it as a treatise on the duties of the abbots and other monastic offices; and that it appeared to have been preserved with greater care than the rest, on account of the superior estimation of its contents*. He also describes it as having the following note prefixed to it:—" Pars quarta et a tribus aliis partibus " idcirco separatur, et per se, igitur, in conclavi ponitur, quia secretiora nostri " ordinis in ipsa continentur." At the end of the volume were inscribed the following verses :— Hoc opus accepit in Caelis qui dominatur, Et nomen praestat auctori quod mereatur Secum regiiarc, post finem mortis amare. Vel sic : luter sanctorum turbas regnarc suorum, Finito Libro sit Laus ct Gloria Deo+. De Ware was employed on several foreign missions. By Henry HI. in the year 1271, to the King of France, respecting the county of Agen+ ; and by Edward I. in 1276, to the pope, with powers to lay the king under an obligation to go himself to the Holy Land§, or to send his brother in his stead, in the next proper season for a passage thithery. In 1278, he was sent to John, Duke of ♦ Widraore states, that this valuable volume was unfortunately consumed by the fire in the Cotton Library in October, 1731. t Dart's Westmonasterium, vol. II. p. 76. i Rymer's Foedera, tom I. p. 873. % Ibid, tom II. p. 72. Jl Ibid, torn II. p. 103. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. Igg, Brabant, to treat of a marriage between Margaret the king's daughter, and the son and heir of that duke ; and, in 1279, he was commissioned again about the same interesting business*. He obtained from King Henry the renewal of several Ghartersf, which the Londoners, taking advantage of the king's wars with the barons, and his being made a prisoner after the battle of Lewes, in the year 1264, when he was in the power of Montfort, Earl of Leicester, had compelled the monastery to give up to them. He also procured from King Edward the confirmation of those charters which had been granted by his father Henry|. In the year 1267§, the king, being very much distressed in his finances, ap- plied for a loan of money to the abbey, which had been under such great obli- gations to him, that the request could not be refused. The monks, accordingly, assigned to his use, jewels, precious stones, and several golden or gilded im^es that decorated the hearse of the Confessor. These he immediately pledged, but afterwards redeemed and restored them to the house. About the same time||, Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, seizing the op- portunity which was offered him by the king's absence, on an expedition against the Isle of Ely, took possession of the city of London, when a band of rapacious people from thence broke into the Monastery of Westminster, and carried away whatever had been deposited there for security ; but did no personal injury to any of the monks, nor took away any tiling that belonged to the house. In the year 1269, the body of the Confessor was removed, with great solemnity * Ryraer's Fcedera, torn. II, p. 131. t Anno Hen. III. 50. X Anno 9. h Matt. Westminster, p. 316.— Rymer's Foedera, torn. I. p. 841, II Malt. Westminster, p. 3W. Vol. I. Z: 170 HISTORY OF and funeral pomp, to the tomb or shrine which had been erected by the king's order and at the royal cost*, where it has ever since remained. He had ordered one to be formed in 1241 ; but whether it was not sufficiently sumptuous to satisfy Henry's pious zeal for the honour of his sainted predecessor, or that it was not suitably situated, or whatever other reason might cause it to be neglected, its con- struction is known only in the following verses :— Anno milleno Domini cum sexageno Et bis centeno, cum completo quasi deno, Hoc opus est factum, quod Petrus duxit in actum, Romanus civis : homo, causam noscere si vis. Rex fuit Henricus Sancti presentis amicus. The following inscription is supposed to have been written by Abbot Feck- nam : — Omnibus insignis laudum virtutibus heros Sanctus Edwardus Confessor, rex venerandus, Quinto die Jani moriens super aetbera scandit. Sursum corda. Moritur anno Domini 1063. King Henry HI. died November 16, 1272, and was buried on the 20th day of the same month, with as much solemnity as so short a space would allow. This prince, however deficient he might be in governing the state and nation, was a constant friend and munificent benefactor to the Abbey of Westminster. He rebuilt it, at his sole expence, with all the splendour and munificence of that age, and in the manner Ave now see it. His partial bounty was continually ex- tended to the favoured place: he added to the number and extent of its privileges; * Chron. Thomas Wykes. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 171 and, besides the great charter, as it is called, and some others mentioned in the life of Abbot de Berkyng, he granted it two fairs yearly, to be held in the sanc- tuary, of sixteen days each; one to begin on January 5, which was the day of the Confessor's death ; the other on the 13th of October, the day of the trans- lation of his body ; as also a market on Mondays at TouthuU or Tuthill, with another fair on the eve and the morrow of the festival of St. Mary Magdalen. • Other grants might be mentioned, as of amerciaments, and the right of impri- soning persons arrested within its liberties. When, however, the Londoners, availing themselves of the king's being made prisoner after the battle of Lewes, had compelled the monastery to renounce its privileges in Middlesex, he made it new grants, as well as others in the years 1269 and 1270, when he used a new seal, in which the title of Duke of Normandy was omitted. He also bestowed several relics, then held in profound veneration, costly images, and furniture of various sorts. He named his eldest son Edward, after the Confessor, who was the great restorer and canonized saint of the abbey; the festival of whose translation he ever caused to be celebrated with all possible solemnity and splendour. In October, 1273, the archbishop arriving hither to perform the burial service for Prince Henry, son of Edward I.* the abbot permitted him to officiate at the royal obsequies; but it was at the especial request of Prince Edmund, the king's brother, and on receiving the solemn protestation of the archbishop, that the indulgence should not prejudice the privileges of the abbey, or be drawn, at any time, into an example. It was on this occasion that historians have recorded the votive, but not very memorable expression of King Edward : — " That God would be pleased to send him more sons, but spare him another father." He cer- tainly did not lament the death of the one ; while he mourned with unfeigned sorrow the loss of the other. * Cotton Library, Faustina III. Z 2 172 HISTORY OF In 1274, this abbot attended the second council at Lyons, held there by Pope Gregory X.* In 1281, Archbishop Peckham having summoned a provincial council to be held at Lambethf, the exempted abbeys refused to obey the summons; and not only the Abbot of Westminster, but those of St. Alban's, St. Edmondsbury, and Waltham, in behalf of the rest, appealed from it to the pope, as an infringement of their exemption; but the archbishop maintained his authority on the occasion, and they were finally obliged to submit. At the close of his abbacy:^, de Ware was engaged in an active contest with the Bishop of Worcester, concerning the priory of Great Malvern in Worcester- shire, which had been a cell to Westminster from its first foundation. The prior of that religious house being, at this time, a dissolute and vicious person, the bishop deprived him of his office, and directed the monks there to proceed to a new election: but the person chosen under the episcopal ordinance, applying to the abbot for confirmation, the latter was so displeased that such a measure should be taken without his concurrence, that he committed the new-elected prior to prison. The bishop, indignant at this procedure, displayed his resentment, by issuing his excommunications without reserve, not only against the abbot, but all persons who had any concern in it. He likewise applied to the Arch- bishop of Canterburj', as well as the court of Rome, to sup|X)rt his ecclesias- tical dignity. But the abbot maintained his right with that firmness which dis- tinguished his character, till, at length, the difference between these adverse churchmen was composed by the friendly interposition of the king; when the right of the abbey over its cell was establislied, and the new election vacated. It • Prynn's History of Papal Usurpations, vol. III. p. 143. + Parker's Antiquities. % Antiquities of Great Makern. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 173 was thought necessary, however, to give some satisfaction to the bishop ; and he was contented that the priory should transfer a small portion of land to his see. Within the last three years of his life, de Ware was appointed treasurer to the king, and died in the possession of that office*. His death, which was sudden, took place in the beginning of December, 1283 f ; and it is said that he was not lamented by his cloister, on account of the austerity which he exercised in it|. At the same time he must be ranked among its benefactors, as he relieved it from a debt of six hundred marks; and procured for it the entire jurisdiction of the hospital of St. James. He was buried on the north side of the high altar, beneath his fme Mosaic pavement. His epitaph, which was afterwards removed, would have disgraced the meanest gravestone. Abbas Richardus de Wara, qui requiescit Hie, portat lapides, quos hue portavit ab urbe. The manor of Kildun was assigned to support the ceremonial of his anni- versary. WALTER DE WENLOCK. On the death of Richard de Ware, the king, having by his grant, dated De- cember 8, 1:283, and in the twelfth year of his reign, committed the custody of the barony of Westminster to Malcolm de Harlow, issued a licence for the monks to proceed to a new election ; who, accordingly, on the vigil of the Circumcision, elected Walter de Wenlock§ ; which choice the king confirmed in Januar)^ and restored the temporalities on the 10th of June following. This abbot was a monk * Dugdale's Origines Juridicialcs. + Madox's Hislori/ of the Exchequer , p. 571. \ Chron. de Dunstaple, p. 494. h Flefo. 174 HISTORY OF of the house, and elected, in the same manner as his predecessor, by compro- mission.— In the month of February immediately following his election, he pro- ceeded to Rome for confirmation, with a retinue of thirty persons*. He was not, as erroneously stated by Flete, treasurer to the king, but to the queen, and received the assistance of some of the monks in the execution of that office-f-. He recovered, but by purchase, the manors of Durhust and Hardvvick, in Gloucestershire^, which had been granted in fee farm by the Abbot Gervase de Blois ; and, also, reobtained the offices of serjeant of the vestry and the butlery, which had been granted out in the same manner and at the same time. On the 28th of November, 1290, died Queen Eleanor, the consort of Ed- ward I. and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Her tomb, which is inlaid, with her effigy on it, remains in good preservation. The king, who loved her well, as she well deserved, gave to the monastery several manors§, to the yearly value of two hundred pounds, for religious services, and an anniversary to be cele- brated in honour of her. About the same time there was a controversy between this monastery and the fiiars minors||, on account of one William Pershore, who, having first been a monk at Pershore, in Worcestershire, afterwards entered a community of friars; but, leaving the latter, was, contrary to the privileges granted to their order, entertained as a monk of Westminster. The friars, at this time, had great ■fi-iends: Peckham, then Archbishop of Canterbury, had been one of them, and * Prjnri's History of King John, p. 3iG. f + Archives of the Church, 14 Edw. I. X Flele. § Archixes of the Church. II Ibid. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 175 now stood forth the protector of their rights. To him the friars apph'ed on the present occasion, when he excommunicated the abbot and monks. The latter, in their turn, appealed to Pope Nicholas IV. who, having himself also been a friar, took the part of his original order; so that they were obliged to acknowledge the right of the friars to reclaim a fugitive : the abbot was likewise compelled to submit himself to the archbishop and pray absolution, while the monastery was obliged to deliver up Pershore, if he were in their power. The abbot and his monks, who were suspected of conniving at the escape of Per- shore, were called upon to purge themselves of the charge by oath ; and such as refused to comply with the injunction, were to be sent to the pope. The mona- stery was condemned to pay two hundred marks ; one half for costs of suit, and the other, if so much were requisite, for finding out and delivering up the de- serter. The costs were afterwards compromised for sixty marks, which were paid towards the support of two poor-houses of the friars at Winchelsea and Litchfield. The friars were, about the same time, very troublesome to the monks of Wor- cester*. The Benedictines were very much dissatisfied with the erection of new orders, as with that of the Gilbertines in the year 1117; but they had much greater cause to be dissatisfied with the mendicant orders, who were considered by the peo- ple at large as being more useful and beneficial to them than the monks. They were also in great favour at the court of Rome, whose interests and objects were better served by them, than by the monastic establishmentsf . On the 13th of December, 1291, the abbot went on a solemn mission to deli- ver the heart of Henry III.+ to the Abbess of Font-Everard, in Normandy, to whom that prince had promised it; and where his grandfather Henry II. and * Matt. Westminster, p. 3S2. t History of the Reformation, anno 1535. X Archives of the Church. 176 HISTORY OF his uncle Richard I. were buried. But he had by deed, as long before as the year 1245, when he began to rebuild the abbey, appointed its church to be the place where his body should be interred. In the year 1296, Edward I. brought from Scotland the regalia of that king- dom, and the stone fabulously reported to have been Jacob's pilloAv, which he caused to be deposited in this church ; where it still occupies a place beneath the coronation chair of the sovereign. A fire broke out in the king's palace in the year 1297, which communicating to some of the buildings belonging to the abbey, did them considerable injury. To assist the monastery in supporting the expences incident to the necessary re- parations, a licence was procured from the pope for the appropriation of the two churches of Kelveden and Sawbridgeworth, which were in its patronage*. In the year 1298, the abbot and monks gave their bond for two hundred and fifty pounds towards the ransom of a noble person, John de St. John, the king's governor or general in Aquitain ; who, in attempting to relieve a castle besieged by the French, had been taken prisoner ; and such an exorbitant sum was de- manded for his liberty, that he was himself incapable of raising it. For the mo- nastery to subject itself to a pecuniary obligation for such a purpose, is described in the instrument, as a lawful, praiseworthy, and charitable, as well as public- spirited act : nor does it, indeed, appear, that the great monasteries were in the habit of expending their wealth, from such a laudable motive as that of purchasing the liberty of a person in high command and a gallant soldier, who had lost it in the • The appropriation of a benefice gave to a spiritual corporation, wbich was the patron of it, the power of providing for its service, and, thereby, of receiving the beneficial fruits of it, as its actual incumbent. This was a contrivance which seems to have sprung from the policy of the monastic orders, who, indeed, never appear to have been deficient in subtle inventions, for the increase of their power and emoluments. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 177 valiant discharge of his mihtary duties. It was in consequence of the king's urgent rcconnnendation, addressed to ten of the most opulent monasteries, that Westminster Abbey engaged to contribute towards the ransom of this distin- guished nobleman. Its example was followed by those of Glastonbury, Peterbo- rough, Evesham, and St. Edmondsbury; but those of Ramsey, Abingdon, Walt- ham, St. Alban's, and Hyde, refused to adopt it. The conduct of the latter excited the royal displeasure; and the king issued an order that the monastic con- tributors should have all possible favour afforded them in tbe Court of Exchequer, while rigid justice alone should be exercised to the others. In the year 1303, the king's treasury, which at that time occupied a place in the abbey, was robbed of one hundred thousand pounds, Avhich had been ap- propriated to the service of the Scotch war ; whereupon the abbot and forty-eight of the monks were sent to the Tower, and some of them kept there for two years, with their limbs fettered for a considerable part of the time. The depositions against them were such as to justify a suspicion, at least, that they had some con- cern in the robbery; but the opinion is rather to be indulged, that so flagrant an act of ingratitude to such a bounteous benefactor was riot committed; and that the rigour with which they were treated, arose from the unreflecting distress and disappointment which the king suffered at the loss of such a sum at such a moment. The monks protested their innocence and implored a trial ; but it does not appear that they were ever tried ; and the king, at length, released them from their confinement. This surely may be a reasonable ground to suppose that the charge could not be established ; for Edward was no bigot, and would, probably, have brought them to trial, if sufficient cause had appeared to justify such a pro- ceedmg*. Indeed, all the historians who mention the circumstance, acquit these * Comp. Thesaurarii, anno 33 Edw. I. Vol. I. A A 178 HISTORY OF monks of the crime ; and some of them consider the whole of it as a pohtical pretext for employing irregular means in order to carrj-^ on the Scotch var*. In September, 1505, Avhen King Edward proposed that a pacification should take place with Scotland, which had lately been rendered subject to his arms, he appointed two English earls, with as many bishops and abbots, as well as several lay barons, to meet the Scottish commissioners at the New Temple, in order to settle the form of it. De ^^>nlock was named, as one of the English abbots, to I* assist in this interesting transaction. In 1307, Avhich was the last year of this abbot's life, a contention arose in the house on the following occasion. It has been already related that a composition had taken place between the abbot and monks in the time of Abbot Berkyngf ; and, after much domestic dispute, which Avas renewed by his successor De Crokes- lev, it had been confirmed by the pope as well as by the king. De Wenlock, however, having neglected to observe some of the conditions which he was bound to fulfil, the prior had frequently remonstrated to him on his neglect ; and finding himself altogether disregarded on the subject, he at length thought it his duty to ap- peal to the poi>e. The abbot felt, in a high degree, this indignity from an inferior officer in his monastery; and not only deprived the prior of his situation, but ex- communicated him, as well as a monk who had adhered to him in fonvarding the appeal : and, being determined to maintain his point against them, he gave two hundred pounds to Pierce Gaveston, the powerful and obnoxious favourite of the king, to secure the sovereign's interest in his favour. At the same time, to pre- • In the year 1303, tlie Exchequer was robbed of no less a sum than one hundred thousand pounds, as is pretended. Tlie abbot and monks of Westminster were indicted for this robbery, but acquitted. It does not appear that the king ever discovered the criminals with certainty ; though his indignation feU on the society of Lombard merchants, particularly the Frcscobaldi, very opulent Florentines. — Hume's HUt. + Archives of the Church. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. I79 serve the tranquillitj'^ of his cloister, he entered into a covenant with the monks to observe the composition as a favour from him, but not as a right to be claimed by them. This condescension, however, as the abbot wished to have it considered, did not calm the discontents which prevailed in the monastic confraternity. The pope, nevertheless, restored the prior and absolved the monk; but before peace was restored in the monastery the abbot died*. At the time of his death he was one of the presidents of the Benedictines, who, by a canon of the second Lateran council, were directed to hold triennial chapters, to form constitutions for the general regulation of the order, to appoint visitors, censure defaulters, and raise money. The most distinguished characters, being heads of monasteries, were chosen to preside at these chapters, which were usually held at Northampton; it being in a central part of the kin-gdom. This abbot died on Christmas-day, in the year 1307, at his manor of Purford, in Surry, and Mas buried in his abbey church, on the south side of the Mosaic pavement of the high altar, near the door of St. Edward's chapel. Flete gives no account of his tomb; but a gravestone was visible in the time of Weever, M hich was plated Avith brass, and the following lines distinguished it : — Abbas WaUerus jacet hie sub marmore tectus. Non fuit austerus, sed mitis, famine rectus. RICHARD DE KEDYNGTON, or DE SUDBURY. The next abbot was Richard, called de Kedyngton or de Sudbury f; but neither of these was his proper surname. It was not unusual, as it lias been * This covenant is in Flcte, whereby (he abbot agreed to give up (he manor of Durhurst to the convent, on the demise of the receiver; but the monks never obtained possession in his time, or from any of his successors. t Flete. A A 2 180 HISTORY OF already observed, to call the monks after the names of the places from whence they came. Kedyngtoti is a village near Sudbury, in Suffolk, where, it is proba- ble, he was born ; and, consequently, he derived his name from it. The additional title of Sudbury, it may be presumed, he received from his having been a monk in the priory of St. Bartholomew in that town, which was a cell to Westminster, and from thence called to the parent abbey. It may, indeed, be obser^'ed, by their names, that most of the monks came from parishes where either the mona- stery or its cells possessed estates. He was chosen, as his two immediate predecessors had been, by compromis- sion, January 26, 1307-8, being himself one of the seven to whom the elec- tion was committed; but, on his applying to the king for confirmation, he Avas twice refused on account of the immorality of his character, and the insufficiency of his abilities for performing the functions of his office*. The monks who ma- naged his election, are represented as equally vicious with himself; and having, by their adherence to the late Abbot de Wenlock, obtained his favour, and con- trived to possess themselves of his property when he died, were enabled to pur- chase the support of Pierce Gaveston, by the present of an hundred pounds; who not only influenced the king to approve their choice, which he had already rejected, but to write a letter in favour of it to the pope, as several of the mona- stic brethren had taken measures to oppose it at the papal court. There the matter was long kept in suspense, till, at length, De Sudbury, on his engaging to pay eight thousand florins, received the pope's confirmation. Our historians com- plain, with great justice, of the exactions of the Italian popes; but the papal court of Avignon proved no less extortionate than that of Rome. No small difficulty occurred in raising this money; but it was, nevertheless, rigorously exacted. The abbot had paid two thousand florins previous to liis • Archives of the Church. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 181 death, which took place in the year 1315, His successor, in the hope of evading the remaining payment, pleaded that Pope Clement V.* to whom the engagement was made, had ordered, that all monies due to him at his death, which happened in 1314, should be remitted. But this plea, though it had the powerful support of the king, was effectually resisted. At length, however, about the year 1320, when five thousand five hundred florins had been paid. Pope John XXII. was pleased to forego the remaining part of the original sum. While the business of the confirmation was depending, some irregular transac- tions, as might be expected, took place in the monastery : the king accordingly issued out a commission to five personsf , all or most of them judges, to visit the abbey, to investigate the causes of the prevailing discontents, and to punish the persons with whom they originated. De Sudbury is said to have followed the steps and consulted the honour of his predecessor De Wenlock in the whole of his conduct; which indeed might natu- rally be expected of him, as his election was carried by the friends and favourites of that person. The character of this abbot, and the great debt which he had contracted for his confirmation, as well as the disposition of the then reigning prince, Edward II. combine to check any expectation that this monastery would receive any pecu- liar advantage from his administration of it. Flete remarks, that he did not leave any fund for an anniversary service to commemorate him, and that he was almost the only abbot who did not make -a provision of this kind ; but as he owed more than he was able to pay, it may be presumed that it was owing rather to his po- verty than his humility, that he appears so inattentive to posthumous honours. He died April 9, 1315, having been abbot upwards of seven years, and was * Rymer's Feed. torn. Ill, p, 679. + Archhes ef the Church. 182 HISTORY OF buried before the high altar under the lower pavement. He was the first of his dignity whose epitaph was written in prose.— Hie jacet Ricardus de Sudbury, quondam Abbas hujus loci: cujus animse propitietur Deus. Amen. Pater Noster — Ave Maria*. • In the time of this abbot John Bevere is supposed to have died. He is also called Castor and Fiber ; but in the list of the monks, John de London, as having been born in that city. He appears to have been living in 1310, but not afterwards, and was then in a very infirm slate. He wrote a history from (he time of jEneas to the latter end of the reign of Edward I. ; but it was never printed. Mr. Hearne was preparing it for the press at the time of his death. Many expressions in it are to be found in Matthew of A\'estminster ; but which was the original writer cannot be determined till the time of the latter be ascertained. If that could be done with accuracy, some account of the author of Flares Historiarum\ would be appropriate to this place, as it is more probable, according to Wharton and Nicholson*, that he lived about this time, than seventy years later, which is the opinion of Bale and Pits. If he were a monk of Westminster, as is generally supposed, for in this monastery Adam Murimuth found his book, which he continued, his name could not have heenMatthexs}, for there is not one of that Christian name in all the various lists of monks yet remaining in the archives of the church. The first time he appears by the name of Matthew is in a manuscript* of his history^ which belonged to the stout Bishop of Norwich, and that is between theyears 1370 and 1406. In Bishop Tanner's Bibliothcca Brilannico-IIibernicall, one Reading, a monk of Westminster, is said to have been the author of the first part of the Flores, and Matthew Pariensis, a canon of St. Paul's, of the second. There was certainly a Robert Reading, a monk of Westminster, at this time ; but no such person as Matthew Paris appears to have been a canon of St. Paul's. The historian and monk of the ahbey of St. Alban's is the only ecclesiastic known to possess that name. Tlie author in question has transcribed very largely from Matthew Paris, and referred to the Additimenta as his own work; a cir- curastance which might, perhaps, occasion such as lived some time afterwards io quote him by the name of Matlhexo. * Archives. • t Anglia Sacra, vol. I. p. 32, 33. t Page 66, cdiu IT It. § Cotton Library, Claudius, E. 8. li Page 019. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 183 WILLIAM CURTLYNGTON. This monk succeeded Richard de Sudbury*. He had been confidentially employed in the affairs of the two last abbots ; by the former in the business of his household, and by the latter respecting the money to be raised for the payment of the pope. From the manner in which he was elected, there is every reason to presume that he was a man of approved character. He was chosen, April 24, 1315, as it was termed, per viiim Spiritiis Sancti; by which is to be understood, that when a person was named as a proper object of their choice, the assembled elec- tors should instantly and unanimously agree to it. As such a circumstance very rarely occurred, it was supposed to be occasioned by the special influence of the Holy Ghost, and consequently acquired this superlative denomination-f-. In the month of July in the same year:]:, he proceeded, with the attendance of two of his monks, Robert de Raby and John de Wanting, to Valence, in Dau- phiny, where the cardinals held their conclave during the vacancy of the papal see. To them he presented the attestation of a notary-public, that he came for his con- firmation within three months, the time limited by a constitution of Pope Ni- cholas HI. He must, however, have been induced to remain there through a considerable part of the following year, as it appears, that on May 16, 1316, the king presented to the vicarages of Laleham and Peclesham, wiiich were in the patronage of the monastery. He rebuilt the manor-house of Islip, as well as that in which Edward the Confessor was born, adjoining the church§. He did the same by that of Sutton, in Gloucestershire. These were two of the estates assigned to the abbot's portion. * Flete. t Archives of the Church. ^ t Ibid. k Flete. 184 HISTORY OF He visited the hospital of St. James in July, 1319, and again in October, 1320*. On these occasions he made certain regulations, as well as inflicted pu- nishments and penalties on the master and several of the brethren, for improper conduct. He died September 1 1, 1333, and was buried in the south part of the cross, before the altar of St. Benedict, near the tomb of Sir John Shorditch-f-. His image in brass in the pontifical habit was inserted in the gravestone ; but the me- tallic representation having disappeared, the particular stone cannot be distin- guished. His epitaph does not transcend those of his predecessors. Hasc est Abbatis Willelmi turaba, sciatis ; Quein mors amovit et Curtlyngtonia fovit. In mortis portu se Christi corpore pavit, Sic expiravit mundus confessus ab ortu. The prior and convent, on paying a fine of one hundred pounds, obtained from the king the keeping of the temporalities on the death of their abbot. Tea marks appear to have been assigned for the maintenance of his anniversary. THOMAS HENLEY. This monk, at the time of his election, which was in the latter part of Sep- tember, 1333, held the office of one of the treasurers of the monastery. He was confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury in the pope's name, and had the temporalities restored to him on the 29th of June in the same year;}:. • Archrcts of the Church. + Fletc. X Ibid. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. I8.5 Henley had a long contest with the king's treasurers*, concerning the right to visit the hospital of St. Jamesf , which originated in the following circumstance. Several abbots had officially visited this hospital ; but as some of them had been treasurers to the king, it was insisted that they had acted in their lay character, and not as conventual dignitaries. It was pleaded, on the contrary, by Henley, that several abbots of Westminster who had not been treasurers, and, in particular, his immediate predecessor, had not only visited there, but formed regulations, corrected abuses, and directed punishments for offenders. In June, 1342, the trial came on to a hearing, and the jury gave a verdict for the abbot, on the grounds that the hospital was within the parish of St. Mar- garet, where the abbots had the sole and an immemorial jurisdiction, confirmed to them by certain bulls of Pope Clement III.; and because the abbots had exclusively exercised every kind of visitatorial power in it. But this verdict was not conclusive ; for the treasurer contrived to prevent any judgment being given upon it, and prolonged the suit beyond the lives of the persons who commenced it. It has indeed been represented that the next treasurer, William de Edynden, taking advantage of the indolent disposition of the succeeding Abbot Byrcheston, deprived the abbey of the long contested claim+. It may be observed, that from this verdict, which is still on record§. Stow and other modern writers have taken the history of this hospital. From them wc learn, on this authority, that it was first founded, and endowed with two hides of land, by some citizens of London who held them of the abbots of Westmin- ster, for fourteen leprous maids ; but the names of the benefactors, and the time when they formed this charitable establishment, are no longer known. They also * Flete. + Appendix, No. V. t Biblioth. Cotton. Cleopatra, A. 16. % Niger Quaternus, fol. 137. Vol. I. J3 3 186 HISTORY OF relate, that afterwards certain inhabitants of London gave a yearly rent to the value of fifty-six pounds, and that eight brothers, consisting of six chaplains and two laymen, were added to perform divine and other service for those afflicted women. In the year 1535, Henley obtained a licence from the king to be absent from the monastery for seven years, in order to pursue his studies at Oxford ; but the particular reasons which induced him to apply for the licence, or the advantages which he derived from it, are no w4iere mentioned. In the year 1338, he was chosen one of the presidents of the Benedictines at their triennial chapter held at Northampton*. He remitted to the monastery nine dishes of meat, six conventual loaves, and three flaggons of beer, Avhich were used to be daily furnished for the abbot's table when he was at Westminster or the manor-house of Neyte ; as also thirty pieces of oak timber yearly from the wood at Hendon. He likewise gave a costly pas- toral staff, or crosier, to add to the ceremonial state of the abbot. He died at Oxford, October 29, 1344, and was brought from thence to the abbey, where he was buried on the fourth day of the succeeding month, under the lower part of the pavement, before the high altarf. The epitaph, such as it is, describes him as a man of many virtues. - Hie Abbas Thomas Ilenle jacet, aspicilo mors. Fetre, pater Roma?, memor esto tui, rogo, Tliomae. Fratrcs jure rcgcns, sacram vitam, scio, degens ; Verax sermone fuit, ct plenus ratione, Auxilians vcre genti, quam vidit egere. Quos sanclos scivit monaclios, hos semper adivit; Atquc sibi tales monaclios fecit speciales, Rex et magnates laudant ejus bonitates. • Reyner de Antiq. Benedictorum AngUm. + Flete. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 187 Nunc jacet orbatus Thomas sub marmore tectus, Sit, prccor, clectus, et cum Sanctis sociatus. Octobris fato decessit mense, grabato, Anno milleno, ter centeno, scio pleno Corde, quadragesimo quarto. Sepelifur in imo. SYMON DE BYRCHESTON. This person succeeded Henley November 10, 1334* ; but the manner of his election is not jDarticularl}^ described. He had been a monk, and served some of the annual offices of the monastery; but does not appear to have been the prior of it at the time of his electionf . In the following year the king granted him permission to absent himself from his cloister for three years, for the purpose of pursuing his studies in the university of Oxford. He assigned to the monastery, on the condition of establishing an anniversary ceremonial in honour of himself, at the annual charge of eight pounds, the profits arising from St. Edward's fair, which belonged to the abbot's portion, to be ap- plied to the work of the cloisters, and a parlour for the monks, then in a state of erection ; and when they were completed, to the repair and maintenance of the fabric of the church:{:. He enjoyed the abbacy but a few years ; and it was fortunate for the esta- blishment that it was of so short duration : for he was of a very extravagant dis- position, maintained dishonest people about him, and supported relations who were as wasteful as himself§. He was carried oif by the plague May 15, 1349, * Flete. + Arc/lives of the Church. % From the instrument in Flete. § Qui locum ilium ore alieno, propria superfluitate, fraude familiarium, atque parenfura vasta- lione, nimis oneraium reliquif. — Biblioth. Cotton. Cleopatra, A. 16. fol. 158. Bb 2 188 HISTORY OF with twenty-six of the monks ; who, as Fuller conjectures in his book of Wor- thies, were buried in one grave, and under the large stone in the cloisters called Long Meg. It has, indeed, been supposed by some to cover the remains of Ger- vaise de Blois ; but that error has been already exposed. Abbot Byrcheston was buried in the east cloister, near the door of the chap- ter-house. A small stone of black marble was distinguished by the following epitaph*: — De Byrchestona Simon venerabilis Abbas Praeminet ex nierito nomine perpetuo. Jam precibus fultus fratrura cum patribus almis, Felix istc pater floreat ante deum. The custody of the temporalities, previous to the confirmation of the abbot, was again committed to the prior and the monks. SIMON LANGHAM. This extraordinary man is supposed, from his name, and a legacy which he left to the church there, to have been born at Langham, in the county of Rut- landf . It does not appear that he was a monk of this church previous to the year \S35\. In 1346 he was proxy for the Abbot Byrcheston at the triennial chapter of the Benedictines held at Northampton^. In April, 1349, he became the prior; and the abbot dying in the following month, he, at the latter end of it, was elected to succeed him jj ; and, in a short time, proceeded to Avignon to ob- tain the confirmation of his holiness the pope. * Fletc. + See his Will, No. VI. Appendix. X Comp. Camer. anno Edw. III. 14. S Qualernus Nif^er. n Bibliolh. Cotton. Cleopatra, A. 16, fol. 188. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 189 He paid the debts of his two predecessors*, which had been contracted by the law charges of the one and the extravagance of the other. They amounted to two thousand two hundred marks, exclusive of two hundred for which the mona- stery itself stood engaged. These he also discharged. It is saidf that he accom- plished these payments on his taking possession of the abbey, and with the money which he saved while he was a monk, or during the time he filled the office of prior. But this opinion appears to be of a dubious character ; for the Benedic- tine monks, according to the regulations of their order, could not possess private property:}:; and though the surplus of the estates given for the anniversary of Queen Eleanor §, was, after defraying the charges of that service, divided among the monks; yet this circumstance could not furnish him with a sum, in any de- gree, adequate to such a purpose ; for he was a monk but a few years, and the prior only a few weeks. It is elsewhere stated, with greater probabiiitj^ that as the abbots had a considerable part of the estates of the monastery assigned for their individual use, Langham was, by an attentive economy, enabled to relieve his abbey from the debt with which he found it encumberedlj. The place of serjeant of the cellar had become an hereditary office, and this abbot purchased it for the advantage of the house**. He also gave from his own portion a garden somewhere in the close called the Bourgoigne ; but the reason of its name is no where explained. There were other places in Westminster with • Flele. t Antiquitat. Brilan, t Cap. 33. § Comp. Maner. Reginx Altonora:. U Qui locum ilium nimis indebilalum suis parccns in hrevi snpicnfer rcstituif. — Bihliolh. Collon. Cleopatra, A. 16. ** Flele. 190 HISTORY OF foreign denominations, as Petty France and Petty Calais* ; the former of which was so called because the French merchants who traded with the woolstaplers oc- cupied it ; and the latter derived its name from being the residence of the staple merchants of Calais-f-. He never accepted any gift or present from the monastery:}:, which Avas a usual practice with his predecessors. He ordered, also, that the Misericordia, which in our universities are called exceedings and gawdy days, should no longer be con- fined to a select number of monks as had been the custom, but be enjoyed by the whole community. He also reformed various other abuses, and introduced into the house such an excellent svstem of discipline, that, as Flete observes, had he done nothing more, he might be considered as equal to the founder. This service, indeed, was as use- ful as the undertaking was difficult ; for he had to influence men of such various tempers and dispositions, that it required no common exertion af patience and resolution to effect the salutary object§. In November, 1360, he was appointed lord treasurer, for which advancement he was indebted to the excellence of his character : nor did he fail, says Flete, in that station, to influence Edward III. to be more kind and liberal to the monastery than he had hitherto beeny. * A street in Westminster still retains the name of Petty France.. t H. Turner's manuscript Hislorr/ of Westminster. % Flete. § Quantaque industria quorundam insolenlias, abusiones, singularitafes, superfluitatcs, et malitias extirpavit. — Flete. 11 The only gifts, however, on record from this prince, consisted of two stags yearly from Wind- sor Forest, to be added to the eight bucks formerly given by Henry III. and certain relics for the ser- vice of the church, which are particularized in the catalogue of benefactions. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 191 In the year 1361, he was elected Bishop of London ; hut the see of Ely be- coming vacant about the same time, he preferred the latter, and was consecrated to it on the 20th of March, 1361-2. As the revenues of Ely were larger than those of London, his choice of the former has been attributed to a spirit of ava- rice; but such an opinion fmds no justification in his subsequent conduct. No man was ever more deserving of a large revenue than himself; for no one ever employed it to more benevolent purposes. On February 19, 1363-4, he was advanced from the office of lord treasurer to that of lord chancellor of England ; an elevation for which he was indebted to his superior and acknowledged qualifications. Nor was this all; for, on July 24, 1366, he was, not by papal provision, but at the special desire of the king, translated to the see of Canterbury. On this occasion, a sarcastic poet of the day, who was neither friendly to the prelate nor to truth, let loose the following lines : — Laetantur caeli, quia Simon transit ab Ely ; Cujus ad adventum in Kent flent millia centum*. In the Lives of the Bishops of Ely, published by Whartonf , Langham is men- tioned with a marked regard, and in terms of real veneration. The successors in that see are certainly indebted to him for procuring a grant from the king, that, on a vacancy, the officers of government should not seize the stock or implements of husbandry belonging to the bishopric, but only the profits or income of the estates. During the time he wore that mitre, he held a diocesan synod, in which he made several canons to rectify certain abuses, as well as to controul the beha- viour of his clergy^. * AngUa Sacra, vol. I. p. 47. t Ibid. p. 663. % Concilia Brilan.—WihKiys, vol. III. p. 59. 192 HISTORY OF He possessed the archbishopric but httle more than two years ; but, during that short period, he maintained the character which he had so well established, of unremitting attention to his duties. In a visitation of his province, he deter- mined a dispute between the clergy and inhabitants of London concerning tythes; when it w^as decreed that the payment should be after the rate of a farthing for every ten shillings rent of their houses, on each Sunday and festival of the year which had a vigil*. This was, indeed, no more than a confirmation of what the clergy had claimed as their due ; which had been allowed them before by Roger Niger, Bishop of London, and received, subsequent to the time of Langham, the confirmations of Archbishop Arundel in 1397, ot Pope In- nocent VII. in 1404, and of Pope Nicholas V. in 1453. In 1465, the city of London, in common council, made an order, that the bull of this last pope should be obeyed. It appears that the tythes were paid in this manner till the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII. when, by a decree of the Archbishop of Can- terbury, the lord chancellor, and other lords of the council, which was afterwards confirmed by parliament, the payment was settled at two shillings and nine pence per pound-f-. Pope Urban V. with a view to correct the prevailing excess of pluralities, published an order that the metropolitans should, in their respective provinces, collect the names of the clergy who held them, and of the benefices which com- posed them. This command from the papal court Archbishop Langham executed with his accustomed diligence and activity ; Avhen he found that some of the clergy possessed, to the dishonour of the church and of religion, upwards of twenty of these benefices with cure of souls+. * Wharton de Episcopis Londinensibus, p. 86. t Anno 1545. t Concilia Britaii. — Wilkins, vol. III. p. 62. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 193 The archbishop, however, does not seem to have acted with his usual rectitude and love of justice in respect to John de WickHffc, who afterwards became such a brilhant luminary of the Reformation*. Simon Ishp, who was the predecessor of Langham, had founded and endowed an establishment at Oxford, called Canter- bury'- Hall, now a part of Christ-Church, and had removed Wickhffe from the mastership of Baliol College, where he had been placed, on account of his learning and eminent talents, to be the head of it. Langham, nevertheless, wished to remove him in favour of a monk of Christ-Church in Canterbury, The motive assigned by the archbishop for his conduct did not arise from any supposed heresy in Wickliffe's religious opinions, for he had not yet divulged those which he after- wards so courageously, and with such superior ability, maintained; but because the most reverend prelate being determined to make this establishment a college for the exclusive education of monks, considered a secular priest as an improper person to be entrusted with the government of them. This new arrangement the members of the college resisted, when the archbishop manifested his dis- pleasure by sequestering a part of their revenues. They then appealed to Rome against this act of injustice; and repi-esented it as an invasion of the rights granted to them by their founder, whi<;h ought to be held inviolable and sacred : but Langham's interest prevailed at the papal court, and Wickliffe was removed, with several others. In September, 1368, Pope Urban V. elevated Langham to the dignity of a cardinalf. As it does not appear that he courted this promotion, it is probable that the pope was induced by his eminent character, or, perhaps, by his ready- execution of the papal constitution respecting pluralities, voluntarily to enroll him in the sacred college. Edward III. however, from his jealousy of papal encroach- * Antiquitates Oxon. p. 183. + Ciaconii VitVas, nevertheless, resolved, that he should always withdraw from the council when any matter in dispute between the crown and the court of Rome became a Subject of debate*. Whatever disappointment Langham might suffer at the loss of his arch- bishopric, he vraa too wise to engage in a contest for that which he well knew he should not obtain; he, therefore, quietly submitted to the king's pleasure. Soon after, in consequence of the royal permission, he retired to Otford, a house belong- ing to his late see, where he reduced his domestic establishment; and, after living for some time there in a state of privacy, proceeded to Montifiascone, in Italy, where the papal court was then held, when the title of St. Sextus was conferred upon himf . He aftenvards received from the pope and his successor the deanery of Lincoln, the archdeaconry and treasurership of Wells, the archdeaconry of York, and the prebend of Wistowe in that church, which, collectively, formed a revenue of a thousand pounds:]:. In the year 1371, Gregory II. fulfilling the intention of his predecessor, Pope Urban, appointed him and the French Cardinal Beauvois to mediate a peace between the kings of England and France ; but this legation was not attended with the success which had been expected from it§. In the beginning of the following year the cardinal returned to the pope at Avignon, and as he passed through Canterbury generously presented each of the monks of Christ-Church with a piece of gold. On his arrival, however, at the papal court, he was accused of having neglected to maintain the ceremonial of his high rank in the church, and of demeaning himself to the king of England * Anslis Jieg. of the Garter. + 'QaXMTAWS de Papis Avenionensibus, vol. I. col, 1024. X Archives of the Church. % Baluzius, vol.1, col. 427. — Fahiaa's Chronicle of England and France. C c 2 196 HISTORY OF From this charge, M'hich appeared to be founded in misrepresentation, he readily exculpated himself* ; and was, in the same year, nominated Cardinal Bishop of Praenestef. Whittlesey, Archbishop of Canterbury, dying in July, 1374, the monks of Christ-Church in that city, from a sense of gratitude for the cardinal's kind and generous conduct to them, made a postulation for his being restored to that see^; but this act of regard to their former archiepiscopal pastor and benefactor so dis- pleased the king* that it was- with some difficulty, as well as expence, Edward was turned aside from the resolution he had formed to banish them, for what he considered as an insolent proceeding. Nor would the pope and cardinals admit of the postulation, though from another motive ; for they wanted the services of «uch an able and highly qualified man, as they knew Langham to be, at Avignon. In the course of the next year England Avas visited by the plague, when Langham interested himself in the spiritual welfare of those, and they were very numerous, who were carried off by it. On this afflicting occasion he obtained from the pope two bulls, granting, to all who died penitentl}^ that full pardon of their sins which he alone was thought able to bestow§. By some letters in the archives of the church it appears, that about this time he had formed a design of founding some chauntries at Westminster and Kil- bourne, as well as of rebuilding the western part of the church. For the endow- ment of the former, he gave a thousand marks to purchase an estate of forty marks per annum ; towards the latter he contributed six hundred marks, and was very anxious that the work should proceed with all possible expedition. It may be • AngUa Sacra, vol. I. p. 794. + Baluzius, vol. I. col. 1025. X Anglia Sacra, vol. I. p. 794. % Jd. Murimuth Continuatioy p. 132» WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 197 collected, also, from the same letters, that, on a report of the pope's intention to remove from Avignon to Rome, Langham felt an unwillingness to go thither, and was anxious to receive an invitation from the king to pass the remainder of his days in England. He died at Avignon, July 22, 1376, two days after an attack of the palsy, as he sat at dinner. His body, according to the directions of his last will and testa- ment, was first deposited in a church of the Carthusians lately erected near that city. Three years afterwards it was brought over, and interred in St. Bennet's chapel, in Westminster Abbey, by the monks, with a respect and solemnity due to such a man and such a benefactor. An hundred pounds were expended on his funeral, besides the cost of his tomb, which, with his effigy upon it, and the arms of England, of Westminster Abbey, and the sees of Canterbury and Ely, still remains in a fair condition. The epitaph expresses his several preferments and the time of his death*. Simon de Langbam sub pelris hljs tumulatus, Istius ecclesiae monachus fuerat, prior, abbas. Sede vacante fuit electus Londoniensis, Praesul et Antistes Hely, sed postea primas Totius rcgni, magnus regisque minister, Nam Thesaurarius et Cancellarius ejus; Ac Cardinalis in Roma presbiter isle^ Poslque Prencsfrinus est factus cpiscopus, alque Nuncius ex parte papae transmittitur isthuc. Urbe dolente pater, quem nunc revocare nequimus Magdalenae festo, milleno septuagono Et tcr centeno sexto Christi rnit anno^ Hunc Deus absolvat de cunctis quae male gcssit, Et meritis raatris sLbi ca:1ica guadia donct. • Flcte. 198 HISTORY OF The inscription in prose on the verge of his tomb is still remaining: "Hie " jacet Dominus Simon de Langham, quondam abbas hujus loci, Thesaurarius *' Angliae, electus London. Ep. Ellen. Cancellar. Angliee, Archiep. Cantuar. " Presbyter Cardinalis, et postea Ep. Prenestrinus" The rest has disappeared. By his will*, he was very bounteous to the fabric of the abbey. The aggre- gate of his benefactions to this place, including the debts of his predecessors which he discharged, and what he gave during his life for his anniversary, to found chauntries, and towards the completion of the building, amounted, as it is re- corded in the following lines, to ten thousand eight hundred pounds. Res, CCS de Langham tua Simon sunt data quondam, Octingentena librarum millia dena. Flete represents this eminent ecclesiastic to have been a person of great ca- pacity, superior wisdom, and commanding eloquence. To which may be added a spirit and temper admirably qualified for the concerns of active life and pub- lic station, a generous nature, and a humane regard for all who were subject to him : nor should it be forgotten, among the other distinctions of his character, that he never ceased to remember, with the most grateful regard, the place where he had received his education, and within whose walls was laid the foundation of that greatness which he afterwards attained, adorned, and dignified-}-. • Appendix, No. VI. + Pits, in his work dc lUusiribus Aiiglice Scriploribits, mentions, tliat Langham wrote a book of customs and some sermons, of which nothing more appears to be known. Dart mentions also, that at this period flourished John Wilton, a monk of this house, who was eminent for his learning and pietj. His works bear the following curious titles: — The Clock of Wisdom, The Sting of Compassion, The Benefits of God, and some homilies. — Cotton Library, Cleopatra, A. 10. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. I99 NICOLAS LITLINGTON. This person was prior of the monastery when Abbot Langham was advanced to the bishopric of Ely, in April, 1362, whom he was named to succeed*. He was senior to his predecessor, and from his active disposition had rendered himself very useful to his cloisterf . He had obtained, in free gift, the custody of the temporalities of the abbey during three successive vacancies. The first by the favour of the queen, and the others immediately from the king. He also im- proved the estate of the convent at Hyde, now Hyde Park, and also at Bemflete, in Essex, without any charge to the house+. For these services an anniversary was allowed him while he was prior, a very marked and unusual distinction. In the month of January preceding his election, a high wind had made great havoc among the abbot's manor houses, all of which he rebuilt, in the course of three years, in a style far superior to their former condition§. Not one of the abbots, his predecessors or successors, was so attentive to the improvements of the build- ings of the abbey, or added so much to its splendour by presents of plate and other costly articles for its ceremonial and devotional service. He built the present college hall |! (the site of the old one having been on the south side of the great cloisters, the north wall of which is still remaining); the Jerusalem chamber; part of the abbot's house, now the deanery**; the houses of several of the officers, being those of the bailift", the cellarer, the infirmarer, and the sacrist; the great malt- house, formerly the dormitory of the king's scholars, and the tower adjoining, which * Archives of the Church. + Flete. % Archhes. k Ad. ]\[tirimuth Coniimtalio, p. 115, and Flcte. II It may, perhaps, have been (he abbot's hall, and not that of (he colles^e. If it were otherwise, he neglected a magnificent building to construct an ordinary one. The Avail now forms the division between two prebendal gardens aud the south cloister. ** In part only. 20a HISTORY OF was once the apartment of the second master; the stone wall of the infirmary garden, now the college garden; the water-mill, and a stone wall or faceing to the mill-dam, which has been filled up, or the ditch belonging to it. He like- wise completed the south and west sides of the great cloisters*. He gave to the great hall as much plate of different kinds as weighed one hun- dred and four pounds, and nearly an equal quantity for the use of the abbots his successors, besides silver utensils for the misericordia room, which weighed forty poundsf . For this sumptuous benefaction it was ordered, that at the grace after meals he should be specially prayed for, and by name. He also gave to the abbey an enriched mitre which cost one hundred marks, a pastoral staff of the value of fifteen pounds, a grand missal + and two gilt chalices to the high altar. He likewise presented new furniture of all sorts, as priests' vestments, and chalices; with a censer, bell, basin, and pix, all of silver gilt, to the abbot's chapel; besides service books both to that and the chapel of the infirmary§. * Ar dikes of the Church. t Fletc. X This missal is still preserved in great beauty, and was in the year IS06 cleaned and new bound. S Widmore says, that as he was enabled to do all this with the money left by his prepointed abbot. He took his name, after the monkish custom, from the place of his birth, Avhich was in or near Feckenham Forest, in the county of Worcester, his projjer surname being Howman. After pursuing his studies at Oxford, he became a monk of Evesham; and, on the surrender of that monastery, November 17, 15J9, he was appointed chaplain to Bell, Bishop of Worcester, on whose resignation, if not previous to it, he was received by Bonner, Bishop of London, in the same character; in which capacity he continued till his patron's deprivation in the year 1549. Ii ^ ^44 HISTORY OF In consequence of liis active opposition to the Reformation, and refusing to administer the sacraments according to the new hturgy, he was committed to the Tower*, where he remained till the accession of Queen Mary, who not only ordered that he should be released from his conlinement, but was pleased to appoint him one of her chaplains. He was in a short time after advanced to the deanery of St. Paul's, in which he succeeded Dr. Cox, and was removed from that preferment to the abbacy of Westminster. He brought with him, November 21, 1556, fourteen monks, four of whom had formerly belonged to Glastonbury-f. Feckenham no sooner entered upon his new office than he began to display the zeal of renovation. He repaired the shrine of the Confessor in the manner in which it now appears. He also jjrovided a paschal candle, which weighed three hundred pounds; the master and wardens of the wax-chandlers company being in attendance to direct the preparation of it. The privilege of sanctuary was rigidly maintained, and i)rocessions were frequent and sumptuous. On the 3 1st of May, 1557, Lord Went worth resigned the episcopal j)alace, which was the former residence of the abbots, and had been granted to his father by Edward VI. on the suppression of the bishopric of Westminster, • Rcyner's Apostolatus Benedict, tract. I. p. 233. + The monks of Glastoubury, in a polition to (he Lord Chaniberlain, in (lie reign of Queen Mary, ask only for (heir house and the site of it, trus(ing (hat their own labours and the disposition of the neighbouring country, would enable them to repair the monastery ; but for the residue of their lands, &c. they were willing to pay the accustomed rent: and they add, with as much boldness as truth, " If there had ever been any flagitious deed punished by God since the creation of the world, " in our opinion, the overthrow of Glastonbury may be compared to (he same; not surrendered as " others, but extorted, the abbot preposterously put to death, and two of his innocent and virtuous " monks with him." — Buhnex's Collection, p. 506. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. iJ45 for which he received in exchange from the queen the manor of Canonbury, in Middlesex*. Queen Mary died November 17, 1558, and the first parliament of Queen Elizabeth gave her all the religious houses which had been erected or restored by her royal sister, in their actual condition on the first day of the preceding October, with an express exception for the leases regularly made by the abbot and monks of Westminster after that date. In pursuance of this act of parliament, the abbot and monks were removed from Westminster July 12, 1559. The number of these monks does not appear to be any where recorded; but Widmore mentions that one of them, named Robert, or Sigebcrt, Buckley, had survived the second dissolution of the monastery fifty years, he being alive in the year 1609. Feckenham, though he had been chaplain to Bishop Bonner, and Avas firm in his religious principles, cannot be charged with the spirit of persecution; on the contrary, he seems to have acted on various occasions with a most laudable moderation. It was that amiable and truly christian spirit that urged him, as is generally admitted, to use his influence with Queen Mary in favour of the Prin- cess Elizabeth. It is even mentioned by some waiters, that he saved her life, by liis remonstrances with the roval bigot, when her death was meditated. But whatever his services Avere, Elizabeth was not forgetful of them, and would have rewarded him with a high rank in the church: it has been said, that she even oftered the archbishopric of Canterbury, if he would have conformed to the Protestant taith; which he firmly, and, as it appears, conscientiously, refused. In the first parliament of Queen Elizabeth he was the only abbot who took his seat ; when he gave a most decided opposition to all the measures brought forward • It has been doubted whelbcr it is the place now called Canbury or Cannonbnrj House near Islington, or Canons near Edgcware, the well-known estate of the Duke of Chandois.— NoaDEx'i Survej/ of Middlesex. 246 HISTORY OF in favour of the Reformation. He in particular made a very laboured speech ao;ainst the bill to establish the ecclesiastical supremacy of the crown*. This opposition caused his committal to the Tower, ^here he wrote against the oath of supremacy; and his tract on that subject is printed in Reyner. From that prison he was removed to the custody of the Bishop of Winchester, where he appears to have been treated with courtesy and kindness. It appears, however, that he was again sent to the Tower, and from thence to the Marshalsea, where he was indulged with a greater degree of liberty. After remaining for some time in the latter prison, he was released from confinement, and resided in Holbourn, where he is said to have built an aqueduct. In consequence, however, of some attempts being made, or imagined, on the queen's life, and the restless, unquiet spirit of many of the Papists, he was, with Dr. Oxenbridge, Dr. Young, atid several others, conhned a prisoner in Wisbich castle, in the count}'- of Cam- bridge. There he passed the time of his imprisonment in great piety and acts of devotion, and there he died in 1585, being twentv-six years after his abdication. He is supposed to have been buried in Wisbich church. Feckenham w^as held in high consideration during the reign of Queen Mary, and had been much employed in disputing with the Protestant divines, as well as in preaching on public occasions-j-. The Papists have loudly complained, and, as it appears, with too much truth, of the hard usage which he received from the Protestants, to whom, when he possessed the power, he had done many kind offices. Camden reports him to have been a learned and good man, that he lived a long time, was verj' charitable to the poor, and always solicited the minds of * This speech is published, from llie Ilarlciaii niaiiiiscripts, in Malcolm's ///i/ory o/ LowrfoKy llicie is also an extract of it in Burnet's History of the Reformation, vol. II. p. 393. + He disputed, in 1559, against Cranmcr, Ridley, and Latimer at Oxford. — Wood's Fast. O.ron. vol. 1. p. 714. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. ^247 his adversaries to good-Avill. Burnet also represents him as endued with genero- sity and benevolence*. An account of his writings may be seen in the Atlieme Oxonienses\. WESTMINSTER A COLLEGIATE CHURCH. On the resuppression of the monastery, Queen Elizabeth established a new foundation in the form of a collegiate church, which it still retains, and endowed it with all the lands which were possessed by the late abbot and monks. This foundation was in a great measure the same as that of Henry VIII.+ It consisted of a dean and the same number of prebendaries, with an upper and under master, and the same number of scholars. The choir alone seems to have undergone some alteration by a diminution of the members who had before com- posed it. The charter bears date the 21st of May, 1560; and, on the 21st of June, the commission was issued to the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and the Dean of St. Paul's, to give the dean and prebendaries possession. On the 50th of the same month they were installed. WILLIAM BILL Was appointed the first dean on the collegiate establishment. He was born at Ashweil, in the county of Hertford §, and had received his education at St. * Burnet's Ilhlorij of the Reformation, vol. 11. p. SOT. — His character is also given in the Magna Britannia, vol. VI. p. 263. + Vol. I. col. 221, edit. 1721. X Hejiyn, in his History of the Reformation, has asserted, that the queen, having selected the best of these estates for herself, conferred the rest upon the college : but (hat assertion is altogether without foundation, and can only have proceeded from some erroneous tradition, or an unreflocling conjecture, that because she had made certain reservations io herself out of the church lands, she had acted in the same manner with those of the Church of Westminster. ^ Ashweil had been one of the possessions of the Church of Westminster, and Bill was pro- 248 HISTORY OF John's College, in Cambridge, of which he was elected fellow in the year 1522-3. In 1542, he was appointed Greek professor in that university; in 1546, he was advanced to be the head of his college; and, in 1551, he was removed to the same dignity in Trinity College. On the accession of Queen Mary he was dis- missed from the latter situation, but restored to it when Elizabeth succeeded to the crown. He was also made principal almoner to her majesty, and, at short intervals. Provost of Eton and Dean of Westminster, both of which preferments he held, together with the mastership of Trinity College. He did not, however, long enjoy these eminent promotions, as he died July 15, 15G1; and consequently had little or no opportunity of rendering any im- portant service to his church. It must not, however, be unnoticed, that he drew up statutes for its regvdation, and by his will bequeathed some plate to the college, as well as furniture ibr the beds of the scholars. His character is displayed in the epitaph on his tomb in the chapel of St. Bennet. It is written with the feeling of friendship, and there is no reason to suppose that it does not contain the language of truth. Billiis et ipse bonus fuit et virlutis amator, Et coluit doctos, doctus et ipse fuit. Ofiicii cuslos eraf, atque magisler lionesti, Et bene perfecit multa, loquendo parum. Patria prudenlem, fidum rcglna miiiistrum Perdidif, ct palrcm pauper abcsse gcmif. Et (ria tale caput collegia maesta reliquit, Quale diu rursus non Iiabitura pue supposed to be famiUar with the subject*, that Dean Andrews paid an anxious attention to the improvement of the scholars; that he often supplied the place of the masters by ordering their exercises to be brought to him, and that he never went to Chiswick without taking two of the scholars with him. It is also added, that he frequently sent for the uppermost boys, and employed entire evenings in their instruction, which he conducted in a manner replete with mildness and encouragement. He was consecrated Bishop of Chichester November 3, 1605, translated to Ely November 6, 1609, and from that see to Winchester February 25, 1618- 19. He died September 21, 1626, and was buried in the church of St. Saviour, Southwark. He assisted in the present translation of the Bible; a volume of his sermons was printed after his death, and his private devotions and meditations in Greek were translated into English by Dr. Stanhope. His monument bears the following inscription; nor does its animated strain of praise transcend the virtues of the prelate whose memory it was written ta perpetuate. Lector, Si Christianus es, siste : Morae pretium erit Non nescire te, qui vir hie situs sit : Ejusdem tecum catholics ecclesis membrum, Sub cadem felicis resurrectionis spe, Eandcm D. Jesu praestolans Epiphaniam, Sacratissiraus antistes Lancelotus Andrews, Londjni oriundus, cducatus Cantabrigia?, Aulae Pembrochianae aluranorum sociorum, praefectorum. Unus, ct neraini secundus. • P. 45. 254 HISTORY OF Linffuarum, artium, scientiarum, Hiimanorum, divinorum, omnium Infinitus thesaurus, stupendum oraculum ; Orthodoxy Christi ecclesiae, Dictis, scriptis, precibus, exemplo, Iiicomparabilc propugnaculum. Reginae Elizabetba; a sacris, D. Pauli London. Rcsidentarius, D, Petri Westmonast. Decanus. Kpiscopus Cicestrensis, Eliensis, Wintoniensis, Regique Jacobo turn ab eleemosynis, Turn ab utriusque regni consiliis, Decanus denique sacelli regii. Idem ex Indefessa opera in studiis, Surama sapientid in rebus Assidua pietate in Deum, Profusa largitate in egenos, Rara ama^nitate in suos, Spectata probitate in omnes, yEternum admirandus. Annorum pariter et publicae famae satur, Sed bonorum passim omnium cum luctu denatus, Caclebs hinc ralgravit ad aulam c«les(em Anno Regis Caroli 2do, atatis suae LXXI- Christi MDCXXVI, Tanfum est (lector) quod te raasrcntes posferi Nunc volebant, atque ul ex voto tuo valeas, dicto Sit Deo gloria*. ♦ Waller, the poet, relates the following curious story of Andrews, which marks the readiness WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 255 RICHARD NEILE. On the promotion of Andrews to the bishopric of Chichester, Neile succeeded to the deanery of this church. He was born in Westminster in the beginning of March 1561-2; his father following the trade of a tallow-chandler in King-street. He was proceeding in his education at Westminster school when his father died, and his mother, being unable to bear the expence of completing it at the univer- sity, was about to bind him apprentice to a bookseller; but, on the recommen- dation of Dean Goodman, he was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge, and maintained there by Mildred Lady Burleigh. Of that college he was, in due time, chosen fellow, and became chaplain to the Cecil family, who bestowed on him the vicarage of Cheshunt, their magnificent seat of Theobalds being in that parish. In the year 1598, he was appointed treasurer of the church of Chichester, and, by the continuing favour of Cecil, about that time created Earl of Salisbury, he was, November 5, 1605, installed Dean of Westminster. He has left behind him an account, formally attested by seven of the pre- bendaries, under the several heads of buildings and repairs; of the increase in the revenue and furniture of the church; of improving the charters and register- books ; of works of charity and hospitalitj^, and the several transactions of the of his wit and the acuteiiess of his understanding. Waller, it seems, was one day at court while King James I. was at dinner, wlio was attended by Andrews, then Bishop of Winchester, and Neile, Bishop of Durham, when his majesty said lo the prelates, " My lords, cannot I take my subjects' " money when I want it without all this formality in parliament .'" — To which question Bishop Neile instantly replied, " God forbid, sir, but you should, for you are the breath of our nostrils." — On which the king said to the Bishop of Winchester, " And well, my lord, what say you ?" — " Sir," replied Andrews, " I have no skill to judge of parliamentary cases." — The king then said, " No " put-offs, my lord, but answer me presently." — " Then, sir," he replied, " it is, at all events, lawful " for you to take my brother Neile 's money, as he has himself given your majesty such an unreserved *' power to call for it whenever you shall be pleased so to do." 25<3 HISTORY OF college, during the five j^ears which formed the term of his government*. This brief history of the dean is also included in it. It contains, however, no historical circumstance, but that the tomb of Anne of Cleves, which had been neglected and left unfmished by the crown and her executors for fifty years, was covered with a black marble, arxl surrounded with a railing, at the expence of the church; and that Mr. Camden presented to the chapter a bason and ewer of silver weighing 105 ounces. On the 9th of October, 1608, he was promoted to the bishopric of Rochester, and was allowed to hold this deanery in comme/idajfi. December 6, 1610, he was translated to the see of Litchfield and Coventry, Avhen he vacated the deanery. After the several successive translations, to Lincoln in 1613-14, to Durham in 1617, and to Winchester 1627-28, he was at length advanced, March 19, 1631-32, to the archbishopric of York, where he died October 31, 1640. He was interred in his cathedral there, and not only unnoticed by any monumental inscription, but, according to Willis, in his Survey of Cathedrals, without even a stone to receive it-|-. He has never been represented as approaching his predecessor Andrews in extent of erudition:}:; but he was not Avithout a claim to consideration as a man of talents; nor was he less conspicuous, in his day, for a wise application of them. Heylyn, however, in his Life of Laud^, and it cannot be supposed that he was a stanger to his character, speaks of him in a way that would not be expected from the progress of his life. " A man," savs he, " of so stran'^e a * Archives of the Church. + P. 55. X Winwood's Letters. h P. 75. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 257 *< composition was Archbishop Neile, that whether he were of a larger or more ■" public soul, or of a more uncourtly conversation, it were hard to determine." GEORGE MONTAIGNE. When the deanery of Westminster was vacated by the translation of Neile to the see of Litchfield and Coventry, it was conferred on Montaigne, at that time one of the king's chaplains. Cawood Castle, in the county of York, was the place of his nativity ; and he had been fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, one of the Gresham professors, and master of the Savoy, previous to his being appointed the dean of this church. He is described as being endowed with an apt and ready wit^ and is said to have obtained the favour of James I. by the brilliance and pleasantry of his colloquial talents. No remarkable circumstance ap|iears to have occurred relative to this church, during the period of liis administration of it; wliich concluded December 14, 1617, on his advancement to tlie bisho|iric of Lincoln. He was translated to London July 2Q, 1621; in the (year 1627, to Durham; and, in October, 1628, he was finally promoted to the archbishopric of York, which he enjoyed but a short time after his installation, and was buried in Cawood church. His busto, in marble and in episcopal robes, is placed against the north wall of the chancel. His tomb displays this inscription*: Quatuor antisfes qui pricfuit iirbibus, arce Hac satiis est infans, hac satus arce senex. Nee mera provexit geminorum gratia reguin, Sed raeritum, suramis par ublcunque locis. * Willis's Survey of Cathedrals. Vol. I. L L 2o8 HISTORY OF Sic juvenis, sic pcne puer septem imbibit arfes, Granta ubi Castaliis praedominatur aquis. Moribus hand tetricis, nee pectore turpis avaro, Non etenim nimias pone reliquit opes. Hugo Hollandus^ctjiV. Georgio Montaigneo honestis hoc in oppido penatibus oriundo, Cantabrigia per cunctos disciplinarum gradus provecto, et academise procurator!, initio D. Jacobi, hospitio quod Sabaudiam vocant, et ecclesiae Westmonast. prcefecto ; ab eodem rege ad praesulatum Lincoln, ac inde post aliqua temporum spiramenta LiOndinensem promote: a Carolo divi F. ad Dunelmensem honestissimi senii et valetudinis secessum translate : moxque, h. e. infra spatium trimestre, ad archiepis- copat. Ebor. benigniter sublevato: viro venerabili, aspectu gravi, moribus non injucundis, ad beneficia non ingrato, injuriarum non ultori unquam, nee (quantum natura humana patitur) memori, amborum principum Dom. suoque eleemosy- nario*. Isaacus Motaigneus testamenti curator, frater. B. M. M. P. vixit annos 59. M.6-D.2. ROBERT TOUNSON Was installed dean of this church December 16, 1617, on the promotion of his predecessor to the bishopric of Lincoln. He was born at Cambridge, and had been, as well as Montaigne, a fellow of Queen's College in that university. It is not known that he possessed any ecclesiastical preferment previous to the at- tainment of the deanery ; nor does any particular occurrence respecting the Church of Westminster appear to have happened during the short space of two years and an half, which was the term of his retaining the principal office in it. He was advanced to the see of Salisbury July 9, 1620, and died some time • Tbis inscription is minutely copied from the monument. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 259 in the month of Maj^ 1621 ; leaving behind him, as is related by Camden, a widow and fifteen children, with very slender means of provision*. He was buried in the abbey, opposite to St. Edmund's chapel ; but without a stone to distinguish his grave. Hacket, in his Life of Archbishop Williufnsf, and he was qualified to speak from personal knowledge of Tounson, describes him as a man of singular piety, eloquence, and humility. By another writer he is said to possess a graceful pre- sence, and to be an excellent preacher:}:. JOHN WILLIAMS. On the 10th of July, 1620, which was the day after Tounson's consecration as Bishop of Salisbury, Williams was installed Dean of Westminster. He was born at Aber-Conway, in the county of Caernarvon, in North Wales§, in the year 1582, and was descended from a good family in that principality. His edu- -cation, which was begun at Ruthin, he completed at Cambridge, and became a fel- low of St. John's College, in that university. He was after^vards taken into the family of Lord Chancellor Egerton, on whose death he was appointed chaplain to James I. who, on the 10th of September, 1619, conferred on him the deanery of Salisbury; which, in about ten months, he quitted for that of Westminster. In the following year he was sworn into the office of privy counsellor, and advanced to be keeper of the great seal and Bishop of Lincoln; holding the deanery of Westminster, at the same time, in commcndam. * Camden. Annul. Jac, I. + P. 4i. X H. Turner's manuscript Survey/ of Westminster, S The history of this remarkable person was written by Dr. Hacket, afterwards Bishop of Litch- field and Coventry, who had been his chaplain, and which is referred to by all the historians of this period. L L 2 ^ 260 HISTORY OF Williams obtained his eminent situation in this church by the favour and protection of Villiers Duke of Buckingham ; and is said to have made Abbot Islip and Dean Andrews, two of his predecessors, the models of his conduct : the former, on account of his attention to the buildings of the church ; the latter, for his encouragement of the school and scholars, as well as his general zeal for the advancement of learning*. Soon after he had taken possession of his dignity, he expended four thousand five hundred pounds, of his own nionej'-, in repairing the north-west side of the church and the front of the chapels in the south-east, which were the most de- cayed parts of the building, as well as adding statues and other decorations. When, however, it was falsely and malignantly reported, that a provision had been made for this expence, by savings from the table allowance of the prebendaries, he pro- cured an attestation from them, to vindicate his character and acknowledge the benefaction-j-. Widmore states, that it was Dean Williams who converted a large empty room in the east part of the cloisters, which had been the monks' parlour while the place was a monastery, into a public library, the fitting up of which, and furnishing it with books, cost him two thousand pounds ; besides the benefactions which his commanding interest and the influence of his high station, had pro- cured from others+. But whatever advantages or additions the library might receive from his liberal spirit, the original application of the apartment to tliat purpose appears to have taken place during the time of Dean Goodman§. Islip was the last person who had concerned himself about the buildings of the abbey; and Hacket's testimony respecting the attention which Andrews paid to the instruction and improvement of the Westminster scholars, has been already mentioned. + Appendix, No. XII. t Widmore'8 Hist, of West. Abbei/, p. 151. ^ First Chapter Book, fol. 223. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 261 He did not delay to realise his design of promoting the interest of the school, as, in April, 1624, he settled a benefaction of twenty-seven pounds thirteen shil- lings and four-pence, to be paid annually, for four scholars, to be distinguished by purple gowns, and removed, in due course, to St. John's College, Cam- bridge, the place of his own education. This gift seems to have been in- tended as the forerunner of future scholarships, fellowships, and advowsons of livings*. Hacket also relates the following acts of this dean, respecting his church, which are very honourable to his disposition and character-|-. The prebendaries, who, at that time, took their meals at a common table, had so fiir exceeded their allowance, as to become involved in a debt of three hundred pounds. On this occasion, he took the whole upon himself, and relieved them from the very pressing incumbrance. He also, about the same time, gave no ordinary ex- ample of vigour and resolution, in defending the rights of his chapter. It seems that the lord steward of the king's household and the knight marshal attempted to encroach on the jurisdiction of the college, in the liberty of Westminster; when he steadily opposed them, maintained its rights, would admit of no com- position, and, by his determined conduct, rendered the design altogether in- efFectual|. The church and school had every reason to indulge the expectation of solid and lasting advantages from his munificent character; but, whatever they might have been, it is to be regretted, that he was prevented from granting or procuring them, by the scene of trouble in which he was shortly involved: for, on the death • Hacket's Life of Williams, p. 45. + Ibid. p. 47. X There is, in the Cabala, a letter from him to the Duke of Biickinsham, on this subject ; but it is misplaced and has a wrong date, as Williams was not the lord keeper in 1621 — p. 395, edit. 1691. 262 HISTORY OF of James 1.* he was not only dismissed from the office of lord keeper of the great seal, but suffered also a prosecution, by order of Charles I. in the Star Chamber, which was prolonged, in various shapes, for several years, and at length, in 1637, ended in suspension, imprisonment, and a fine of ten thousand pounds. In addition to these troubles, a royal visitation of this church was instituted against him by Heyliri, and several other prebendaries, to gratify the wishes of Archbishop Laud : and it is, surely, a deep stain on the memory of that eminent prelate, that he should, for such a length of time, with so much unwearied vio- lence, and such faint calls from justice, prosecute a man, to whose pressing re- commendation to the king, after the Duke of Buckingham, the great favourite of the day, had solicited for him in vain, he Avas indebted for promotion to his first bishopric. Some of the articles of this visitation may be seen in Hacketf , and the pur- port of the whole may be learned from the king's commission:f : the charge was not considerable, and but ill made out, nor did it produce the injurious effects proposed to be derived from it. During the time that Williams was confined in the Tower, two royal commis- sions, of the different dates of November 21, 1637, and February 16, 1638-9, were granted to the sub-dean and prebendaries, to hold chapters, and transact the necessary business of the college, when the dean was incapacitated by his im- prisonment. November 16, 1640, he was ordered to attend the House of Lords, when his * He attended James I. on his deathbed, and preached his funeral sermon ; but was prohibited from officiating as Dean of Westminster at tlie coronation of Charles I. which duty was performed by Laud, who was then a prebendary of the church. + Part II. p. 91. i Rymer's Feed, tom. XIX. p. 6S0. § Dec. 4, 1641. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 263 liberty was restored to him ; and, in the following month, the king gave di- rections that all judgments and orders, Avhich had been issued against him in any court or registrs^ should be erased. Thus his honour, at least, was repaired; and a tacit avowal was made, that he had been treated with unmerited severity. But to make him still further amends for his great expence and sufferings from the Star Chamber prosecution, he was promoted to the archbishopric of York, to which he was introduced, the king being there, with great pomp and ceremony: he was also allowed to hold the deanery of Westminster, in commcndam, for the space of three years. The public state of the kingdom was such at this time as to threaten the miseries which followed; and besides the insults and mistreatment which Williams received, in common with his right reverend brethren of the episcopal bench; this church was attacked. May 3, 1641, by an armed mob, led on by Cornelius Burgess, a Puritan doctor of divinity. They were, however, repelled ; but a Sir Richard Wiseman, being killed in the attempt, he was buried with a degree of respect, as if he had fallen in the cause of religion and his country ; a sum of money having been collected, as it is said, by the London apprentices, to defray the expences of his funeral. About midsummer, 1642, Archbishop Williams retired, or, rather, was driven, from his deanery, and went to reside in his archiepiscopal palace of York: but not being suffered to remain in peace there, he took refuge in the place of his nativity, in North Wales, where he passed the remainder of his life in study and devotion, and died March 25, 1650. He was buried in Llandegay church, near Radnor, in Caernarvonshire. A monument was erected to his memory, by his nephew and heir. Sir Griffith Williams, which bears this inscription: Hospes, lege, rclege, Quod in hoc sacello paucis noto, liaud expcclares. Hie situs est Johannes Wilhclmus, omnium praesulum celeberrimus. 264 HISTORY OF A paternis natalibus e familia Wilhelmorum de Coghwliillin Orfus; A ma Angelus. et nunc trlumphanlis, ^ ^Domini I6G5, Obiit Oxonii Novemb. 17, anno < ( aetatis suae 65. Voluitque in hoc, ubi olim floruerat, collegio, Ex iEde Christi hue in socium ascitus, Ver magnum, ut efflorescat, expectare. JOHN DOLBEN. He was installed dean of this church December 3, 1662, on his predecessor's promotion to the bishopric of Worcester. He was born at Staniwick, in the county of Northampton, of which place his father was the rector; was educated at the school of this college, and elected from it to Christ Church, Oxford, in the year 1640, when he was fifteen years of age. In the civil wars he bore arms 272 HISTORY OF for the king, and was dangerously wounded at the siege of York. His loyalty was a crime sufficient to produce the subsequent ejection from his studentship by the parliamentary visitors. He still, however, continued at Oxford ; and married a niece of Dr. Sheldon, afterwards Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canter- bury. When he entered into holy orders, he assisted Mr. Fell, afterwards Dean of Christ Church and Bishop of Oxford, in the offices of his domestic chapel in that cit3% during the usurpation. After the restoration, he was preferred to a ca- nonry of AVindsor, and appointed clerk of the closet to the king. He was after- wards removed to the deanery of Westminster. The day of his instalment was distinguished by a very wise, and indeed ne- cessary, resolution of the chapter, to make the fabric of the church an equal sharer with it in the dividends of fines. Where the buildings were so extensive, and without any estates appropriated by the foundation to answer the unavoid- able expences of reparation, and especially at this time when certain parts of the church were in a very threatening state, a measure of that kind was naturally suggested to his liberal mind : but it required the utmost exertion of his resolute spirit, to carry it into effect; as it met with a very determined opposition fi-om some of the members of his chapter. On this occasion, however, as M-ell as during the long period of twenty years, which composed the a>ra of his vigilant administration of this church, he steadily maintained his jurisdictive power and authority. November 25, 1666, Dean Dolben succeeded Dr. Warner in the bishopric of Rochester, and was allowed to hold his deanery in commcndam. He was after- wards appointed almoner to the king; and, in 1683, on the death of Archbishop Sterne, he was translated to the see of York ; and died at Bishops-Thorp, of the small-pox, April 11, 1686. He was buried in the cathedral of his diocese; and his monument bears this record of him : WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 273 Hie situs est JoiiANKEs DoLBEN, fillus GuUclmi, S. Til. Profcssoris; Ex antiqua fainilia in Cambria Septentrionali oriundus, Natus Sfanvici in ai^ro Norlliampton. Mart. 20, A.D. 1624. Anno aDtatis xii. rcgiam scliolam Westmonas* . aiispicato ingrcssus, Singulari istius loci genio picnus, xv. exivif, In nuineriim alumnorum vEdis Christi Oxon. elcctus. Exardenlebelio civil i Partes regias secntus est, in pugna Marstoniensi Vexillarius, In defcnsione Eboraci graviter vulneratus, Effuso sanguine consecravit locum, Olim niorti suae destinaf urn. A. D. 1656, a Rev. Episc. Cicestrensi sacris ordinibus initiatus, Instaurata monarchia factus est ^dis Christi canonicus, Deinde dccanus Wcstmonasteriensis, Mox Carole II. regi optimo ab oratorio cicricus, Episcopuspostea Roffensis, Et post novennium regis eleemosynarius: Anno denique 1683. Mefropol. Eboracens. bonore cumulatusest; Hanc provinciam ingenti animo et pari industriaadministravit, Gregiet pastoribus excmplo, Intra xxx circiter menses scculi laboribus exhaustus, CceIo tandem maturus, Letliargia et variolis per quatriduum lecto afExus, A.D. 1686, aef. 62, potenfis. princ. Jacobi II. altero Die dominico, Eodem die, quo, praeunte anno, sacras synaxes In eccles. sua cathed. septimanatim celcbrundas instifuerat, Coelo frucbatur. Micstissiraa conjux, magni Gilbcrti Cantuariensis Archiep. Vol. I. Nn 274 HISTORY OF Neptis, Ex qua liberos suscepit Gilbertum, Catliaiiii. et Johan. Monumcntum hoc posuit Disideratissimo raarito, In ^de Christi sub illius auspiciis partim extriicta, Bromleiensi palatio rcparato, Caenobio Wcstmonaster. conscrvato, In scnalu etecclesiis eloquentiae gloria, in dia;cesibus suis Episcopali diligentia, In omnium piorura animisjusta vencratione semper victuro. Some additional circumstances of his life may be found in Wood's Athena O.vonieiises*. Burnet, who was not free from a party spirit, while he censures him on one particular occasion, allows him to have been an excellent preacher, and that he fulfilled the duties of his high station in a manner very honourable to his characterf. Widmore says, that he had often heard the old inhabitants of West- minster, who lived in his time, speak of him with great esteem, and represent him as an excellent dean;}:. Some of his sermons, on public occasions, are in print. THOMAS SPRAT. He was the son of a clergyman, and born at Tallaton, in Devonshire, in the year 1636. He was educated, as he himself relates the circumstance, at a little school by the churchyard side. He afterwards went to Oxford, and was entered as a commoner of Wadham College, of which, in due time, he became a fellow. After the restoration, he entered into holy orders ; and, by the recommendation of • Vol. II. p. 793. t Burnet's Hist, of his own Time, p. 590. X Widmorc's Hist, of Westm. Abbci/, p. 161. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 275 Cowley, Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, appointed him his domestic chaplain*. He was likew ise chaplain to the king. In 1668, he was preferred to a prebendal stall in this church ; and, soon after, presented to the adjoining church of St. Mar- garet: — in 1680, a canonry of Windsor was added to his other preferments. In 1683, he was advanced to the dignity of Dean of Westminster; and, in the following year, Avas consecrated Bishop of Rochester, on the translation of Bishop Turner to the see of Ely, with the privilege of holding his deanery m commcndam. He was also clerk of the closet to the king; and, in 1685, was nominated Dean of the Chapel Royal. In the succeeding year, he received the last mark of his sove- reign's confidential regard, by being appointed one of the commissioners for ec- clesiastical affairs. During his time, in the latter end of the year 1694, the library of this church was consumed by fire, and one alone of all the manuscripts was saved from the flames. There were about two hundred and thirty, the far greater part, if not all, of which, were the gift of Archbishop Williams. They were considered as a very valuable collection, and some of them being no where else to be found, the loss was, in some measure, irreparable. In the year 1697, on the motion of the Right Honourable Mr. Charles Mon- tague, afterwards Earl of Halifax, who had been educated at this school, a por- tion of the duty on coals was granted by parliament for the repair of this chuich. The necessity of such an aid at that time, was clearly proved by the accurate and masterly statement of Sir Christopher Wren, who was employed to make the requisite repairs and carry into execution the projected additionsf. Nor should the attention of the dean to this beautiful structure be suffered to pass • It has been said, (hat he assisted his noble patron in the celebrated play of The Rehearsal. t See the accotint of Abbot Bcrkyng, p. 137. Nn2 276 HISTORY OF unnoticed, as it appears in the memorial which the great architect addressed to his successor. In 1706, the very beautiful marble altar-piece was placed in the choir. It had decorated a chapel in Whitehall, and was removed from thence to Hampton Court, where it lay in an useless state, till it was obtained by a grant from Queen Anne, on the petition of the dean and chapter, to adorn their church, at the suggestion of Sir Christopher Wren*. Bishop Sprat died May 20, 1713, after having enjoyed the deanery of this church near thirty years. He was interred in the chapel of St. Nicholas, where a monument was erected to perpetuate the remembrance of him: but, that it might be rendered more conspicuous, it has been removed into the body of the church, and placed against the south wall. The inscription proceeded from the elegant and classical pen of Dr. Freind-f-: — H. S. E. Thomas Sprat, S. T. P. In agro Durotrigum patre clerico natiis, CoUegiL Wallhamensis Oxon. socius, Varia egregiae indolis ac doctrinae specimina * This allar-piece is said to have been first erected in the time of James II. ; but, be that as it may, the elegance of the design will justify the conjecture, that it originally proceeded from the mind of Inigo Jones : it must, however, strike every judicious beholder as decidedly inappropriate in its character to the style of the structure in which it stands. But Sir Christopher Wren, and his great predecessor, have both been guilty of similar offences against genuine taste, by the introduction of the Grecian orders to decorate what has been properly styled the ecclesiastical architecture of the middle ages. — See Appendix, No. XIV. + He lived in strict intimacy with that learned man, elegant writer, and excellent physician; and it is supposed, that his brother, Dr. Robert Frcind, was indebted to the patronage of the dean for Lis appointment to the mastership of Westminster school. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 277 Poeta adhuc impubes edidit : Sed Musis, ulcunque amicis cito valediccns, Hanc Couleio suo gloriam relinquere, Et solulffi orationis venustatem sequi maluit. Hoc sese in studio excercens afque oblectans, Inter eos qui turn linguam Anglicanam perpolire caeperant Fere primus emicuit : Omnesque in serraonem patrium Graecae Romanaeque eloquentiae gratias transfudit : Merilo ilaque viris primoribus cum essetacceptissimus, Statim Georgio illustrissirao Buckinghamise Duci, Deinde Rcgi Carolo, Subtili illi elegantiarum arbitro, Commendatus est. Et in Ecclesia WestmonasteriL et Windsoriae Praebendam obtinuit : Mox hac in cede decanus ; Deinde Episcop. Roffensis constitutus : Ulramque provinciam sumraa cum dignitate administravit :. Turn in scriptis ejus, turn in quotidiano sermone Ilia enituit urbanitas, Quffi ilium cum magnis fuisse versatum baud obscure ostendit. Suaviter itaque cum omnibus vixit : Et tamen ea, quam sibi arrogare noinime videbatur, Maxime semper valuit authoritate. In dubiis pariterac secundls temporibus Consfanti in ecclesiam, et reges fideperstilit : Tantamque in se perditorum hominum invidiam conflavit, Ut falsis ipsorum criminibus In capitis discrimen adduceretur : Sed hisce angustiis fcliciter expedito jEquabili deinceps temperamcnto dcfluxit vita. 278 HISTORY OF Nee ipsi ncc amicis injucunda: Donee senectutis maturitatc sensim collapsus, Tranquillc, u(i vixerat, obiret, Maii xxmo. A.D. M.DCC.XIII. a. yEt. LXXVII. It may be said, with truth, of Bishop Sprat, that he was an ornament of the age in whicli he hved. Besides his poems, professedly composed in imitation of Cowley, he wrote the History of the Royal Society, of which, from his connection with Dr. Wilkins, he became one of the first fellows. " This is among the very " kw books," says Dr. Johnson, " which selection of sentiment and elegance of "diction have been able to preserve, though written upon a subject flux and transi- " tory." His subsequent works were the Life of his friend Cowley; Observations on Sorbierre's Voyage into England, in a Letter to Mr. Wren ; the History of the Rye-House Plot; a Relation of contrivances against himself, and several persons of high rank, by forgeing their respective signatures; and a volume of Sermons. It has been observed, by the distinguished writer of his life, and the ob- servation is perfectly just, that every book is of a different kind, and, nevertheless, each has its distinct and characteristic excellence. During the long period in which he presided over the affairs of this church, his humane disposition, mild vir- tues, and endearing conduct, were felt and acknowledged by all who were subject to his influence and government. FRANCIS ATTERBURY. This eminent man was born at Milton Heynes, near Newport Pagnel, in Buck- mghamshire, of which place his father was the rector. He was educated at West- mmster; from whence he was elected, in the year 1680, to Christ Church, Oxford. He came to London in 1691, when he was chosen lecturer of St. Bride's church, and preacher of Bridewell Hospital. In a very short time, he was appointed chaplain to King William and Queen Mary. In 1698, he was named by Sir WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 279 John Trevor to be preacher at the Rolls chapel, when he resigned his situation in that of Bridewell; and, in 1700, he was installed Archdeacon of Totness, on the promotion of Trelawney, Bishop of Exeter. On the accession of Queen Anne, in 1702, he was appointed one of her chaplains ; and, in 1704, was advanced to the deanery of Carlisle. In 1712, he succeeded Dr. Aldrich in the deanery of Christ Church; and, in the following year, on the death of Bishop Sprat, and by the recommendation of Lord Chancellor Harcourt, he was preferred to the deanery of Westminster, in commendam, with the bishopric of Rochester. During his time, the new dormitory was erected, a large and elegant building, for the scholars on the foundation. In 1708, Sir Edward Hannes, one of the physicians in ordinary to Queen Anne, as a mark of his gratitude for the educa- tion which he received at this school, had left by his will a thousand pounds for that useful purpose. It was first intended to raise this structure on the site of the ancient chamber, Avhich was built about the year 1380 for the purpose of a granary, when the place was a monastery; and had been erected on stone arches of sufficient strength to support any new edifice. Sir Edward Hannes' legacy, however, was not sufficient to meet the estimated expence ; and Bishop Sprat does not appear to have paid much attention to the business; but Atterbury revived the project, and entered, with his usual activity, into the execution of it. For this purpose, a memorial was presented by the chapter* to George I. who gave a thou- sand pounds ; to which the Prince of Wales added five hundred pounds; the par- liament also voted twelve hundred pounds; and William Maurice, Esq. gave five hundred pounds at the time he had leave from the church to dispose of his place of High Bailiff of Westminster. The west side of the college garden was at length chosen as a better situation for the new building, though not without a strong * Appendix, No. XV. 280 HISTORY OF opposition, as the prebendaries differed in equal numbers as to the fitness of the place, which was finally determined, according to Widmore, by the House of Lords*. The Earl of Burlington gave the design; and it is an example of that simple and chaste style of architecture which never fails to please. That noble- man also engaged to superintend the works; the expence of which amounted to about five thousand pounds. In the year 1722, Atterbury was committed to the Tower, and, in the fol- lowing year, was, by act of parliament, deprived of his preferments and banished the kingdom. He died at Paris in February 1731-2, when his body Avas brouo-ht to England, and interred. May 12 of the same year, in the abbey church, in a vault prepared, by his directions, in the year 1722f . His name wants no monu- mental memorial, and it has none]:. His Sermons are extant in four volumes octavo. Those contained in the two first were published by himself, and dedi- cated to his friend and patron. Sir Jonathan Trelawney, Bishop of Winchester: those in the two last were published, after his death, by Dr. Thomas Moore, his lordship's chaplain. Four admirable visitation sermons accompany his epistolary correspondence, published by Mr. Nichols in 1783. His controversial writings are well known, with the learning, ability, wit, and superior composition Avhich distinguish them. As to Bishop Atterbury's character, however the moral and political part of it may have been represented or misrepresented by opposing parties, the opinion • History of Westm. Ahhrij, p. 169. + In a letter to Mr. Pope, dated April C, 1722, he writes as follows:—" I am this moment " building a vault in the Abbey for me and mine. I am to be in the Abbey, because of my relation to " the place." \ This omission is said to have been occasioned by an injunction, that his title of Bishop of Rochester should not be inserted in the inscription ; to which his friends refused to submit. WESTMINSTER ABB1:Y. 0,31 will remain uncontradicted, that he was a man of great learning and superior talents, a fine writer and admirable preacher*. Dr. Richardson, master of Emanuel College, Cambridge, has given the fol- lowing character of this distinguished prelate-)- : — " Illi (Thonise Sprat) defuncto, mox sufficitur Franciscus Atterbury, Sacrje " Theologian Doctor, vir neque dicendus neque tacendus sine cautela; quern non •• omnino laudare tarn inhonestum foret, quam ultra modum laudare periculosum. ," Adolescens in ^Ede Christi Oxon. ingenii elegantis perinde ac acuti exeni- " plo multiplici se commendavit; in aciem reipublicae prodiit suo temporis con- " cionator disertissimus; et quod de eo profitebatur testis sane idoneus, vir fuit in " ?iiiUo literanun gencre hospes, in plerisque artibus et studiis diu et fdiciter exercitatus, " in jnaiimc perfcctis literanun disciplinis perj'eclissimiis\. Acri et irrequieto ingenio " magna semper et plerumque nova moliens, ita tamen ut publici potius quam " privati boni honesta species pr?etexeretur : verum in omnibus fere qua? attigerat " locis ambitione flagrans ingentem invidiam partium concitavit. Non necesse • In The Tatlar, No. LXVI. is the following descriplion of Attcrbury's pulpit eloquence: — " Ilis person is no small rccommendiition, but he is to be highly commended for not losing that ad- '< vantage; and adding to the propriety of speech, which might pass the citicisra of Longinus, an action, *' which would have been approved by Demosthenes. He has a peculiar force in his way, and has " many of his audience, who coukl not be intelligent hearers of his discourse, were there not explana- " tion as well as grace in his action. This art of his is used with the most exact and honest skill; he " never attempts your passions till lie has convinced your reason. All the objections which you can " form are laid open and dispersed before he uses the least vehemence in his sermon; but when he " thinks he has your head, he very soon wins your Iienit, and never pretends to shew the beauty of " holiness till lie has convinced you of (lie truth of i(." + In his edition of Godwin, de Piwsiilibus Aiiglia;, p. 541. X Bishop Smalridgc, in his inauguration speech, when he presented him as prolocutor (o the Upper House of Convocation. Vol. I. O o 282 . HISTORY OF " habeo controversias, quas quidem multiplices acerrime agitavit, enumerare; sat " erit adnotasse ilkim jam ingenii et eruditionis fama florentem post longum eccle- " siasticorum hoiiorum decursum, qiiinto Julii 1713, jam tum decanum ecclesiae " Westmonast. ad episcopatum RofFensem fuisse consecratum. August! vicesimo " secundo 1722, conj urationis sive princeps sive conscius in judicium publicum, " utpote loesae Majestatis reus, coram superioris Domus Parliamenti tribunali sisti- " tur; et cum legum jam latarum voce damnari non potuit; specialis lex ea ipsa " de causa ferretur, paenas illi arrogans, non extremas quidam sed exilium perpe- " tuum. Itaque ergo Lutetise Parisiorum exul obiit decimo quinto Februarii " 1732. In fano Westmonasteriensi corpus sepultum jacet." SAMUEL BRADFORD Succeeded to this deanery on the removal of his predecessor. He was at that time Bishop of Carlisle, and a prebendarj^ of this church. He was born in London, and educated at Bennet's College, Cambridge. On entering into holy orders, he became chaplain to Bishop Compton. He at this time obtained the rectory of St. INIary le Bow, and afterwards a prebendary of this church, and the mastership of Bennet College. In June, 1718, he was consecrated Bishop of Carlisle; from whence, in the year 1723, he was translated to the see of Rochester, and allowed to hold the deanery of this church in commendam with it. It was during the time of this right reverend dean, in the year 1725, that the ancient order of the Knights of the Bath was revived, in a manner very different from its ancient constitution. The last knights were made at the coronation of Charles II. in 1661 ; from which time, the order was neglected till the year 1725, when it was revived by command of George I. who ordered a book of statutes to be formed for its regulation. The king assigned the chapel of Henry VII. to be that of the order; where, in imitation of the Order of the Garter, each knight's banner, with plates of his arms and styles, is placed over his stall, as WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 283 in St. George's chapel, in the castle of Windsor, The several officers have their specific duties assigned them, and the Dean of Westminster, for the time being, is, in conformity to the statutes. Dean of the Order. This dean died May 17, 1731, and was buried in the north part of the cross in this church; and on his monument this epitaph is inscribed: Ex adversosepultus est Samuel Bradford, S. T. P. Sanctae Mariae de Arcubus diu Rector, Collegii Corporis Christi apud Cantabrigienses aliquando Custos, Episcopus postea Carleolensis deinde Roffensis, Hujusque Ecclesiae et Honoratissimi Ordinis de Balnco Decanus. Concionatorfuit, dum per valetudinera licuit, assiduus, Tam moribus, quam prreceptis Gravis, venerabilis, sanctus ; Cumque in cajteris \itse ofBciis, Turn in munere praeclpue pastorali Prudens, simplex, integer. Animi constantia tam ajquabili, tam feliciter temperata, Ut vix iratus, perturbatus hand unquara fuerit. Cliristianara cliaritatem et liberfatem civilem Ubique paratus asserere et promovere. Qua; pie, qiiJE benevole, quae misericord iter, In occulto fecerit, et fecit muUa, Praesul liumillimus, liumanissimus, Et vere evangelicus ; I He suo revelabit tempore Qui in occulto visa, palam rcmunerabitur. Ob. xvu die Maii, anno Dom. M.D.CC.XXXI. Suaequc a;tatis LXXIX. O o 2 284 HISTORY OF This prelate possessed that mild disposition, practised those affable manners, and displayed that christian benevolence, which his epitaph records. Some single sermons form the whole of his printed works. JOSEPH WILCOCKS. In a short time after the death of Dr. Bradford, he succeeded to the deanery of this church, with the liberty which had been granted to his four immediate pre- decessors, of holding it m commendam with the bishopric of Rochester. He was fellow of Magdalen College, in the university of Oxford; when he received the appointment of chaplain to the British factory at Lisbon. On his return to Eng- land, he became preceptor to the princesses, the royal daughters of the Prince of Wales, afterwards George II. In the beginning of March, 1720-1, he was pre- ferred to a prebendary in this church ; and, in the following December, was con- secrated Bishop of Gloucester. In that see he remained till the year 1731, when he was translated to the bishopric of Rochester, which was associated with the deanery of this church. These preferments he held till his death, which took place on the 9th of March, 1756, at the advanced age of eighty-three. His remains were interred in a vault in the Ecclesiastical Court. During the time in which he presided over the affairs of this church, its re- pairs and decorations, which had been designed and begun by Sir Christopher Wren, proceeded to completion, and the two western towers were finished, which add so much to the beauty and magnificence of this splendid structure. ZACHARY PEARCE. This eminent divine and renowned scholar was the son of a distiller in Hiirh Holbourn, London, and born in the year 1690. He was educated at Westmin- ster school, and elected from thence to Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1717, WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 285 he entered into holj'' orders, and Ijecame domestic chaplain to Lord Chancellor Parker, In 1719, he was Rector of Stapleford Abbots, Essex; in 1720, of St. Bartholomew, behind the Royal Exchange ; and, in \7i3. Vicar of St. Martin's in the Fields. In 1724, the degree of doctor in divinity was conferred on him by Archbishop Wake. On the impeachment and disgrace of his friend and patron, the Earl of Macclesfield, his attachment to that nobleman, of whose in- nocence he always maintained a perfect conviction, appears to have delayed for many years his further advancement, tliough lie enjoyed the favour of many per- sons of high rank and distinction ; among whom were, Mr. Pulteney, Archbishop Potter, Lord Hardwicke, and Sir Isaac Newton : Queen Caroline was also pleased to admit him frequently to the honour of her familiar conversation. At length, however, in 1739, he was made Dean of Winchester ; in 1748, he was promoted to the bishopric of Bangor ; and, in 1756, translated to the see of Rochester, with tlie associated deanery of this church. These latter preferments he is said to have accepted with reluctance, as he had already conceived the de- sign of resigning his bishopric and retiring to a state of privacy. In 17()J, being advanced to the seventy- third year of his useful and learned life, he consi- dered himself as no longer equal to the duties of his situation, and communicated to his old friend Pulteney, now Earl of Bath, his wish to resign both his bishop- 'ric and the deanery, and to retire upon his private fortune. That nobleman ac- cordingly acquainted the king with the bishop's desire ; who was pleased to name a day and hour when he would receive him alone in the closet, and hear him on the subject. He then informed the king, that he was anxious to enjoy some in- terval between the fatigues of business and eternity; and requested his Majesty to consult proper persons, concerning the propriety and legality of his resignation. In about two months, the king informed him, that Lord Mansfield saw'no objec- tion; and that Lord Northington, who had entertained some doubts on the sub- 286 HISTORY OF ject, after more mature consideration, thought that there was no soUd objection to a comphance with the bishop's request : but, on Lord Bath's applying for Newton, Bishop of Bristol, to succeed him, the ministers interposed, and, at a third audience, the king told him, that he must think no more of resigning. In 1768, however, he obtained leave to resign the deanery ; but retained his bishop- ric till June, 1774, on the 24th day of which month, he closed his distinguished and venerable life. He was interred in Westminster Abbey, and his monument displays the fol- lowing record of him : M.S. Viri admodura reverendi Zachari^ Pearce, S. T. p. Episcopi Roffensis, bujusque Ecclesiae CoUegiatap, Nee non Honoratissimi Ordinis de Balneo, Decani. Pueritia in schola Westmonaslcriensi bene acta, Uberiorem scientias fructum Apud Cantabrigienses collegit. Quantus inde et criticus prodiit et theologus Testantur scripta istius jamduduni edita, Testabuntur et mox edenda. Secessus taudem, ac otii impense cupidus ; Quo Sacris Literis elucidandis vacaref, Decanatum hunc abdicavit ; Episcopatum, insuper, modo licuisset Abdicaturus. Absolute, demum, quod pra;cipue in votis erat, In Sacrosancta Evangclia et Acta Apostolorum Limatissimo Commentario, A laboribus requievit, XXIX Junij, A. D. M.DCC.LXXIV. Mtai. LXXXIV. WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 287 The critical abilities of Bishop Pearce were great, and an application to phi- lological studies, occupied a large portion of his life. During the early part of his residence at the university, he occasionally amused himself with composing essays for the miscellaneous publications of the times, and some of them appeared in The Spectator and The Guardian. In 1716, he published an edition of Cicero de Oratore: — in 1720, an Account of Trinity College, Cambridge: — in 1721, Epistolse duae de editione N. T. a Bentleio suscepta; de corruptis Epistolarum N. T. Locis, &c. : — in 1722, a Letter to the Clergy of the Church of England, on occasion of the Bishop of Rochester's commitment to the Tower : — in 1724, an edition of Longinus: — in 1726, a Sermon which he had preached at the con- secration of the church of St, Martin's in the Fields, accompanied with an Essay on the Origin and Progress of Temples: — in 1727, a Vindication of the Mira- cles of Jesus Christ, in answer to Woolston : — in 1738, two Letters against Dr. Conyers Middleton, in defence of Waterland : — and in 1745, an edition of Cicero de Officiis. He also published a review of Milton's Text, and several oc- casional sermons. Since his death, a Commentary, with Notes, on the four Evan- gelists and the Acts of the Apostles, together with a new translation of St. Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians, and a Paraphrase and Notes, have been published by his chaplain, John Derby, M. A.. JOHN THOMAS. When Bishop Pearce resigned the deanery of this church in the year 1768, Dr. Thomas was appointed his successor. He received the eariier part of his edu- cation at Cariisle, and completed it at Oxford. He was many years Vicar of St. Bride's, Fleet-street, and Rector of Bletchinglev, in Surry, which he retained till he was advanced to the see of Rochester, on the death of Bishop Pearce, in 1774. He died at his episcopal palace at Bromley, in Kent, August 22, 1793 ; 288 HISTORY OF but his remains were deposited in a vault of the church of Bletchingley, in Surry. A monument, which displays the following inscription, was erected to his memory, on the south side of the great aisle in Westminster Abbey, and near that of his right reverend predecessor in the deanery and the bishopric. M.S. Viri admodum reverendi Johannis Thomas, LL.I). Episcopi Roflensis, hujusque Ecclesiae Collegiafap, Honoratissimiqne Ordinisde Balneo, Decani. Pueritia in schola Carleolensi bene acta Uberiorem scienlifE fructum Apud Oxonienses coUcgil : Unde, ingenio, moribus, Uteris liumanis rccondilisque, Ornamcnfum ac palronus prodiit; Faniaque cxinde increbescenfe, et siiaplc pervulgata, Dignitates raerendo ornabat, Divilias largiundo augebaf, Ecclesiam consilio gubernabal, Auctoritale (iiebalur, Exeniplo instilucbal : In negotiis impiger, studiis indefessus, Omnia ad (xxoJo/xiiv referebat : Donee vila? muneribus recle perfuncfis, Alroci morbo din oppressiis, Invicia tamcn patientia Animam Deo redidit xx'' Sexlilis A. D. M.DCC.XCIIP A-.lat. LXXXI". Hoc inane miinus, hoc desiderii (cxiguum liccl) lestimoiiium, I'ra'slarc coiitigit ncpoti suo. G. A. T. A. M. All those, who remember this excellent })rehite, will confirm the language of his epitaph. The urbanity of his manners, the suavity of his disposition, the bene- WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 289 volence of his heart, and his apostolic meekness, gave a mild dignity to the at- tainments of learning and of science; so that, matured in virtue as in years, he af- forded a venerable example of the universal esteem and regard in which a good man may live, and a still more illustrious proof of tlic comfort in which a Chris- tian may die. It was during the time of this dean that the choir was fitted up in its present improved state of simple, elegant, and appropriate decoration. SAMUEL HORSLEY. This eminent divine, whose learning and superior talents had already raised him to the episcopal bench, succeeded Dr. Thomas in the see of Rochester and the deanery of this church. He was born, about the year 1737, in the parsonage of St. INIartin's in the Fields, of which his grandfather was the vicar, and his father the clerk in orders. The foundation of his education was laid at Westminster school, and completed at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where, in 1758, he took his degree of bachelor of laws. He went afterwards to Christ Church, Oxford, as tutor to the Earl of Aylesford, then Lord Guernsey; and proceeded to the degree of doctor of laws in that university. It was there he also published bis first mathematical work, which was printed at the Clarendon press. It was an edition of the Inclinations of Apollonius, an abstruse geometrical work of high estimation*. He left Oxford to settle in London, when he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, of which, in 1773, he was chosen secretary, and continued to serve that office, with great credit to himself, and benefit to the scientific world, during the time that Sir John Pringle was its president : but, as it appeared to him that the views of the society * Halley had published an edition of the remains of this author's works, while he was Savillian professor in that university. Vol. I. P P 290 HISTORY OF were directed, under the successor of that learned physician, to objects of an in- ferior nature, he determined, in his OAvn memorable words on the occasion, to re- tire from that temple where Philosophy once reigned, and Newton presided as her officiating minister. His great merit introduced him to Lowth, Bishop of Lon- don, who appointed him his domestic chaplain, no common honour, and by whose faAour he succeeded his father in the livings of St. Mary Newington, Surry, and Thorley, in Hertfordshire; the latter of which he resigned on being preferred to that of Southweald, in Essex. About this time, he attracted no small attention, from the learned and clerical world, by the superior knowledge and critical acumen which he displayed in his controversy with Dr. Priestley. The able manner in which he exposed the fal- lacious tenets of that heresiarch, and turned his own weapons ac^ainst him; the unanswerable arguments which he opposed to his sophisms; with the final and complete victory which he gained over the champion of materialism and philoso- phical necessity, under the guise of Socinianism, gained him the grateful respect of every friend of genuine Christianity. It was this important contest that introduced him to the notice of Lord Chancellor Thurlow, and his advancement to a stall in the cathedral church of Gloucester soon followed ; which, without any acquaint- ance with that nobleman, was, by his lordship's unsolicited interposition, conferred upon him ; while the voluntary favour was enhanced by the declaration, that the honours and emoluments of the church could never be so well bestowed as on such an able defender of it. On the translation of Bishop Smallwell to the see of Ox- ford, in 1788, Dr. Horsley was promoted, by the influence of the same noble pa- tron, to that of St. David's; when, by his vigilant and truly pastoral conduct, his particular attention to the state of the clergy, and the constant exercise of his epis- copal duties, in every branch of them, he obtained the veneration and grateful re- gard of all ranks of people throughout his diocese. On the death of Bishop Thomas, in 1793, he was translated to the see of Rochester and the deanery of WESTMINSTER ABBEY. 291 Westminster. He had alread}^ proved himself the decided and humane friend of the inferior clergy, and the same spirit accompanied him to the collegiate church over which he was now appointed to preside. His earhest attention was given to the state of its minor canons and subordinate officers, which was greatly improved by his just and liberal regard to their comforts*. In the year 1802, he was translated to the bishopric of St. Asaph, on the death of the Honourable Dr. Bagot; and died at Brighthelmstone, in the county of Sussex, October 4, 1806. His remains were deposited in the church and near the altar of St. Mary Newington, • On his removal (o the see of St. Asaph, the clergy and gentlemen of the choir of Westminster Abbey, presented to his lordship the following address : — My Lord, "We the precentor, minor canons, and lay clerks, of this collegiate church, im- pressed with a deep sense of gratitude to your lordship for the many obligations which we owe to your paternal concern for our welfare and interest, from the time of your lordship's coming to preside over us, down to the present period; and for the ready and kind attention which, in our different appli- cations to your lordship, for the advantage and comfort of ourselves and families, we have always expe- rienced; are prompted, no less by duty than inclination, to express our feelings to your lordship : and when we consider that we are about to lose a dean, who began his residence among us by augmenting our comforts, and continued to enlarge them, by granting additional benefits; however we, in com- mon with the rest of mankind, may rejoice, that great learning and piety are distinguished by suitable rewards, yet, in the present instance, we cannot but lament the loss we shall sustain by your lordship's removal. Accept, my lord, our warmest thanks for the many favours you have conferred upon us, and per- mit us to assure your lordship, that the recollection of them will be ever accompanied with sentiments of the most respectful esteem and affection for you. May the evening of your life be rendered happy in the possession of every temporal and spiritual blessing; and as the morning and noon have been spent in the cause of learning and religion, so will your day close, brightened with this assurance, that, in your lordship, the Church of England has long beheld a most able and aealous defender of her holy faith, and a firm and vigilant guardian of her constitution. Signed, in the name of the Body, by Jhe Puecentor. 292 HISTOHY OF m Surry, in a vault which had been made to receive those of Mrs. Horsley, who died some time before him. The elegant and affectionate inscription on the mo- nument, which he wrote to perpetuate her virtues, has no addition for himself, but the lines which mark, that in death they were not divided. It is not to be supposed, that, in times like those in which this prelate lived, such an ardent, powerful, and devoted supporter of the established order of things, in church and state, as he was, could fail of having enemies. The opinion, how- ever, cannot be controverted, that he had great attainments and superior talents; that, in general and scriptural knowledge, he had few equals; that he exposed and overcame one of the most dangerous and seducing heresies of modern times; and that his intellectual vigour, distinguished learning, critical sagacity, as well as recondite knowledge, have combined to place him among the most eminent men of his age and country. His splendid edition of the Works of Sir Isaac Newton; his Commentaries on the Prophets; his Dissertation on the Latin and Greek Prosodies; his Controversy with Priestley ; and a long catalogue of sermons, charges, and other detached publications, are the fruits of his talents and studious life. On the translation of Bishop Horsley to the see of St. Asaph, the vacant deanery was filled by the Rev. Dr. William Vincent, head master of Westminster school; so well known, and so eminently distinguished, for his learning and his virtues. This dignity he still enjoys— and may he long enjoy it. SEMPER HONOS, NOMENQUE 5UUM, LAUDESQUE MANEBUNT. Ei\D OF THE FIRST VOLUME. L. Harrison & J. C. Leigh, Prinlere, 373, Strand. APPENDIX. No. I. From the Original in the Archives of the Church. f CatjioaiD lung grct Ctlulfiui b. j jjiortljmaii gcirgrrffan. s aTUficinc sprrrfimifs sumi « rallc mine ttfrsnfs' on Ijanuun scire frrnDlicf. f tc b^tljc roil) tljat ic l}abbc gcgifrn ^riste f see |3ctrc into SStcstminetrc KotrlanD s rail tljat tljrr to tjrrt). mio saca. ii miD sornr. niiu tollc anD uiiD tranic. ano on rallrn tljingan. stoa full anustDafortt) fraljit nrrsilfan on IjanDa stcn. iJno it ann tljat CaDgitl) fro \fld\iigt \)it on l;anDc l)abbr stoa langr etoa l)fo libbc .... ix);err. tljat mungtrr ti)xx of grgoDigr. ^oD roiu grl). IN MODERN ENGLISH. f Edward the king, great AVulfwi the bishop, and Northman the sheriff, and TElfvvine the son of Merefinne, and all my officers in Northamptonshire*, friendly. And I declare to you, that I have given Christ and St. Peter in Westminster, Roteland, and all that belongeth thereto, with a power to try causes, and a fran- chise, and a right to take toll, and the offspring of the bondmen, and in all things so fully and largely as I myself was possessed of there. And I grant that the lady Eadgith possess it as long as she liveth, andX that monastery be endowed with it. God keep you. No. IL E Johaiiis Mabillonii veterum Analcctorm, torn. i. pag. 219. Willelmi Aiiglorum Regis Epislola ad Johannem Abhatem Fiscamnensem. W. Rex Anglorum Johanni abbati salutem. Diu mecum cogitavi, mi dilecte, in cujus manu & custodia possem mittere & commendare abbatiam sancti Petri de West- monasterio : quia in maxima veneratione & habeo & (*x debito habere debeo. Ibi enim jacet vir beatae memoriit dominus meus rex Ethwardus; ibi etiam tiimulata est regina Etgith uxor ejus inclita: ego etiam ibidem, Dei dementia providente, sceptrum & coronam totias regui Anglici suscepi. Tandem, consilio Lanfranni archiepiscopi, me- * Rutland, in the Conftssoi's time, was a part of Norlliamptojishire ; not a county of itself. X llie original is sullied, and a word or two noi to be read. Vol. I. Q Q 204 APPENDIX. orumque procerum, Vitalom abbatcm, qiiamvis iiivitiim, ad hoc coegi ut illam assu- mei-et. Cum enim abbatiam dc- Bernaco ex minimo inultum, ut patct, sublimaverit ; intellexi ilium digiuim esse abbalia de Wcstmonasterio, & utilitate & prudentia. Qua- propter liceat mihi istud fieri, quod de eo communi consilio meorum providi procerum, licentia tua & bona voluntate & conventus fratruni. Voio etiam tibi notum esse me elegisse Osbc-rnum, fratrcm scilicet Vitalis abbatis, ut habeat abbatiam de Bernaco: & hoc tua licentia mihi fieri liceat. Vale. No. III. E Laertii Cherubini Buliario, vol. i. pao-e 23. Canonizalio S. Edwardi Regis Angliee, ejusque ascriptio in numerum Sanctorum Confessorum. Hiijus Sancti Festum agitur die 5 Januarii*. Alexander episcopus, servus servorum Dei, venerabilibus firatribus, archiepiscopis, episcopis, ac dilectis filiis, abbatibus, prioribus, aliisque ecclesiarum preelatis per An- gliam constitutis, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. Illius devotionis constantiam et fidei firmitatem, quam circa matrem vestram Sacro- sanctam Romanam ecclesiam exhibetis, diligentius attendentes, in id propositum volun- tatis adducimur, ut vos sicut charissimos fratres, et speciales ccclesiae filios, syncera charitate in domino diligamus, propensius honoremus, et postulationes vestras, quantum cum Deo possumus, libenli animo admittamus. § 1. Inde utique fuit, quod super petitione, quam de Edvardo glorioso quondam rege Anglorum, canonizando et in Sanctorum cathalogo ascfibendo, tam charissimus in Christo filius noster Henricus, illustris Anglorum rex, quam vos ipsi nobis instantius porrcxistis, solicitam cum fratribus nostris deliberationem habentes, libro miraculorum inspecto, quae dum in carne mortali viveret, et postquam de presenti sseculo est as- sumptus, omnipotens Dominus per suam misericordiam declaravit. Visis etiam Uteris antecessoris nostri piae recordationis Innocentii papae, vestris quoquc testimoniis indere- ceptis; quamvis negotium tarn arduum et sublime, non frequenter soleat, nisi in solemnibus conciliis de more concedi. 2. De communi tamen fratrum nostrorum consilio, juxta votum et desiderium pracdicti filii nostri regis, ac vestrum corpus ipsius Confessoris ita glorificandum censui- mus, et debitis praeconiis honorandum in terris, sicut eundem Confessorem Dominus per suam gratiam glorificavit in cCelis. Unde videlicet inter Sanctos Confessoris de cae- tero numeretur, qui hoc ipsum apud Deum signis meruit ac virtutibus obtincre. 3. Quia igitur decet honestatis vestrae prudentiam cum pie colere et toto studio venerari, quem auctoritate apostolica venerandum vestra postulavit devotio et colendum. * Edita A,D, 1161. APPENDIX. 295 universitatem vestram per apostolica scripla moncmus et exhortaniur in Domino, qua- tenus cum ita deinceps stiuieatis debitis obsequiis honoraro, lit ipsius intcrcessionibus apud districtum judicem mercamini veniam obtinere, et gloriosam in aeterna beatitudinc praemium invenire, Dat. Anagniac 7 Idus Februavii. No. IV. From a Wrilitig in the Hand of that Time in the Archives of the Church. Sum MA custos operationum Westniinst. ab inceptione earundem usqne in die do- minica proxima post festnm Divi Michaelis, anno regni regis Henrici xlv'". Et cclx. Iibra3 rcstant solvendae pro stipendiis alborum scissorum et minntorum operariorum et pro franca petra et calce et aliis emptionibus, quae non compotantur in hac summa, xxix millia. cccxlv 1. xix s. viii d. No. V. From the Niger Quaternus, folio 137. Part of a Verdict of a Jury in the Cause of Visiting the Hospital of St. James Weslmins ' , m the sixteenth Year of King Edward III, Item dicunt, quod dictum hospitale primo fundatum esl de duobus hidis terrae cum pertinentiis in villa Westininst. infra parochiam Sanctae Margaretae supradictae per quos- dam cives London, tenentes dicti abbatis, ante tempus memoriae, quorum nomina igno- rantur. Qua? quidem terrae et tencmenta tenentur de praedicto abbate per fidelitatem et sectam ad curiam suam apud Wcstm. de tribus septiraanis in tres septimanas, et per servicium septem solidorum et octo denarioriim per annum. — Et fundatum fuit dictum liospitale primo super quatuordecim sorores puellas leprosas caste et honeste in divino servicio vivend. — Item dicunt, quod postea diversi homines London, quorum nomina ignorant, legaverunt dictis sororibus post fundationem dicti hospitalis, in London. Ivi 1. redditus; quern redditum tenent de domino rege, sicut alii tenentes ejusdem civitatis tenent. — Et tunc temporis ordinati fuerunt per eosdem cives London, octo fratres, quo- rum sex erant capellani, et duo laici, pro divinis serviciis et aliis eisdem sororibus in dicto hospitali faciendo et ministrando. ItLiu postea diversi tenentes nuper abbatis Westminst. dederunt dicto hospitali quatuor hidas terrae in campo Westminst. quae te- nentur de pra'dicto abbate per servicium xx s. per annum. Item in Hendon, Calde- cote, et Hampstcde iiii"" acrae terrae et bosci tenentur de praedicto abbate per servicium xl s. per annum. Et per quem vel per quos datae fuerunt ignorant. Summa valoria praedictarum tcrrarum valet in omnibus cxitibus per annum x. marcae. Q Q 2 '290 APPENDIX. No. vr. From the Probate or Copy in the Archives. UxiVERSis Christi fidelibus presentes literas sive presens transumptiim iiispecturis Robertus de Swardeby clericus Eboracensis diocesis, bacallarius in decretis ac publicus apostolica et iinperiali auctoritale notarius, salutem in auctore salutis, ct presentibu* fidem indubiam adhibere. Noverit universilas vestra, quod testSmentum inferius tran- scriptum in mei et testium infra scriptorum presentia per vencrabilem et circumspectum viruni magistrum Thomam de Southam executorem in eodem testamcnto nominatum exhibitiim, non cancellaturn nee suspectum, sed omni carens suspicione sinistra per magistrum Petrum de Nascia notarium publicum subscriptum et ejus signo si^-natum, vidi et inspexi in haec verba. In Dei nomine, Amen. Anno Domini millesimo treoentesimo septuagesimo quinto, Indiclione xiii"'\ Meiisis Junii die xxviii. Pontificatus sanctissimi in Christo Patris et Domini nostri, Domini Gregorii divina providentia papte undecinii anno quinto. Ego Symon episcopus Penestrinus, sanctae Ilomanae ecclesiae cardinaiis sanus mente, licet aliqiialiter languens corpore, condo Testamentum meum in hunc modum. In primis lego animam Deo et Collcgio omnium sanctorum; et corpus meum ad deponen- dum in nova ecclesia monasterii Honi passus ordinis Caribusiensis, Cavalliccnsis dio- cesis, et adsepeliendum in monasterio "Westmonasterii juxta London, in Anglia ordinis Sancti Benedicti. Item Domino nostro papac (iregorio moderno, printer duos annulos meliores sibi debitos, lego unam crucem parvam ornatam lapidibus preciosis. Item lego Domino mco Pampelononsi cardinali unum anuulum meliorem post dictos duos annulos domino nostro papac debitos, et unum ciphum deauratum cum coopcrculo cjusdem forma, et palafredum album. Item logo domino meo de Agrifolio cardinali quartum an- nulum meliorem post pra^dictos tres annulos, et unum ciphum deauratum cum coopcr- culo ejusdem formae, et palafredum Bay vocatum Albon. et unum librum novum de potestate ecclesiae coopertum de viridi. Item pro exequiisfuneralibus faciendis, videlicet pro cera et nigris pannis ac distributione pauperibus in die sepullura; mea?, lego mille quingentos florcnos camerip. Item lego quatuor ordinibus fratrum Mendicantium in Avinione, viz. Praedicatorum, Minorum Carmelitarum, et Augustiniensium, cuilibet ordini centum florenos cameras, ad celebrandum el orandum pro anima mea. Item lego fabricae ecclesiae Sancti Anthonii in Avinione centum florenos camera, ita quod nichil plus petant nee vendicent ratione sepulturae meae. Item lego monialibus SanctEe Kathe- rinae in Avinione xl florenos camerae. Item lego monialibus Sancti Laurentii in Avi- nione xl florenos camerae. Item lego monialibus Sanctae Claree in Avinione xx florenos camerae. Item monialibus in vico de la Masse in Avinione xx florenos camerre. Item Repentinis xx florenos camerae. Item hospitalibus pauperum in Avinione usque ad XX inclusive in numero cuilibet xl florenos camerae, ad distribuendum inter paupere* in eisdem infirmos. Item Leprosariae extra muros Avinionis ad distribuendum inter APPENDIX. 297. leprosos xl florcnos oamerac. Item lego domino Adae Je Eston monacho Xorwicensi, sacfcC paginae professori, ducentos florcnos cami-rae, et meliorem Icctum meum cmn cooperculo de variis purato, item ciphum deauratum de opere Calicis, dc quo solebara potare cum cooperculo ejusdem, ita (iiiod nichil aliud vendicet ratione alicujus promi?- sionis vel laboris. Item lego raagistro Thomac Southam auditori meo c florcnos camera} et palafredum vocatum Balle. Item llicardo Croxton camcrario meo Ixxx florcnos camerjc. Item domino Johanni Boukenluill monaclio AVestmonasterii pro expensis suis cl florcnos camera!. Item magistro Pctro medico meo Ix florenos cameraj. Item domino Henrico Croydon monacho Cantuariensi cl florcnos cameras. Item llogero Weston magistro aulas mere Ix florcnos camerae. Item Domino Johanni Morice comparatori meo Ixxx florenos camerae. Item Domino llogero buticulario meo Ix florenos camera?. Item dominis Philippe, Johanni, et Jacobo, monachis capellae me,T, cuilibet xxx flo- renos comcra;. Item Petro de Nascia notario meo, et Jolianni du Trisere presbytero, cuilibet xl florenos camerae. Item Guisberto de Beert clerico capella; meae et llannocmo cubiculario meo cuilibet xx florenos camer.x. Item dominis Philippo et Willelmo pres- byteris cuilibet xx florenos camera;. Item Johanni Adwende scutifero meo de camera Ixxx florenos camerae. Item Roberto Rodeschawe scutifero, et Willelmo barbitonsori meo, cuilibet xl florenos camerne. Item Willelmo Ondel, Johanni Sancti Martini, ac Johanni de Flandria, scutiferis meis, cuilibet xxx florenos camera". Item Johanni Lovechild pale- frenario, Thoma; butticulario et Willelmo portario, cuilibet xv florenos camera\ Item Gossvyno coco et Roberto pannetario cuilibet xx florenos camerae. Item cuilibet garci- onum meorum xv florenos camerae. Et si aliquis praedictorum servitorum meorum ali- quid vendicet seu petat ultra pr^dicta legata ratione alicujus promissionis, servicii, con- suetudinis, seu laboris, volo et ordino, quod excludatur ab exactione et petitione le- gatorum pra-missorum. Item lego ecclesia Penestrina; ducentos florenos camera-. Item leo-o ecclesia Christi Cantuariensis vestimentum album integrum melius cum capis. Item lego ecclesia; Elyensi vestimentum viride integrum cum capis pertinentibus. Item pro officio et solemnitate Sancti Thoma Cantuariensis in curia lego unum vestimentum rubeum integrum cum capa. Item lego ecclesia Lincolniensi unam capam de blueto blavio cum delphinis. Item lego parochiali ecclesire de Langham Lincoluiensis diocesis, unam vestimentum de plunket cum altari ejusdem sects. Itemmonasterio monialium de Kelbourne Londoniensis diocesis, lego unum vestimentum viride cum tunica et dalmatica quod erat coe. in capella. Item conventui monachorum Boni Passus or- dinis Cartusiensis Cavallacensis diocesis, lego duas planctas albas, ct unam planetam de camacha, et unam planctas de parva capella de blavio et viridi mixtam cum albis stolis et favonibus pertinentibus. Item lego t'abrica ecclesia sive monasterii Boni Passus pradicti mille florenos camera. Item lego fabrica monasterii monialium tituli mei Sancti Sixti in Roma centum florenos camera. Item lego fabrica hospitalis Sancti Thoma Cantuariensis in Roma et pauperibus ibidem, centum florenos camera. Item lego fa- brica ecclesiarum Apostolorum Petri et Pauli in Roma cuilibet centum florenos camera. Item leo-o fabrica ecclesia Sancti Johannis Laterancnsisin Roma centum florenos camera- 208 APPENDIX. Item pro prcsbyteris celcbraturis pro aniina domini Thomae de Paxton lego duccntos florenos. Item pro presbyteris celcbraturis pro anima mea et animabus patris et matris meae et parentum et omnium fidclium defiinctorum, quo citius fieri poterit post mortem meam, lego mille florenos camera?. Item lego fabricie ecclesiro Sancta Marine Avinion centum florenos camera. Item lego ecclesiw Sancti Petri in Avinione Missale novum de usu curi.x" Romana.\ De residuo vero omnium rerum et bonorum meorum ubicunque reperta fuerint dispono et ordino per modum qui sequitur, videlicet quod omnia bona mea in vassela argentea sive dcaurata, sive in pecunia numerata consistant, necnon ves- timenta omnia ad divina officia deputata, non legata ac paramenta capellarum mearum ct libros omneset singulos, pannos aureos et deauratos et aurifrizata quajcunque mitram quoquc et signacula crucis deaurata et alia jocalia omnia, annulis exceplis, lego fiibrica; monasterii Westmonasterii prope Londoniam in Anglia. VoJo in super ordino et dis- pono, quod lecti mei non legati, ac paramenta pro cameris meis, sive in cussinis sive aliis paramentis consistant, quibuscunque ac roba" mea; pro corpore meo, necnon equi stabuli mei de quibus non est dispositum vendantur; et distribuatur pretium eorun- dem pauperibus pro anima mea juxta ordinationem executorum meorum. Item fructus capelli mei venturos post mortem meam lego ad distribuendum pauperibus pro anima mea juxta ordinationem executorum meorum. A'olo etiam quod vasella coquina; vendantur, et distribuatur pretium pauperibus secundum ordinationem executorum meorum. De fructibus beneficiorum meorum in Anglia, qui tempore mortis me£e non fuerint recollect!, et qui remancbunt mihi post mortem meam, ita ordino et dispono, videlicet, quod de iilis fructibus satisfaciant executores mei camera; apostolica', si aliquid petatur. Et etiam pro reparationibus defectuum a>dificiorum dictorum beneficiorum qui tempore meo contigereut, satisfaciant de eisdem executores mei prefati, et distribuant inter pau- pcres in dictis bcneficiis commorantes de fructibus pradictis juxta arbitrium eorum. Residuum vero dictorum fructuum et omnia alia bona mea qua-cunque et qualiacun- que, ubicunque reperta fuerint, lego f;ibrica; monasterii Westmonasterii predicti. Ad prffdicta omnia et singula cxequenda et execiitioni debite demandanda, executores meos constituo, ordino et dispono, videlicet reverendissimos palres dominos Pam- pilonensem et de Agrifblio cardinales, dominos Nicholaum abbatum Westmonasterii juxta London, in Anglia, Adam de Eston monaclium Norwicensem, sacnr pagina; pro- fessorem, Eaurentium alt. monachum de Batayle, ]) niarium nationis Anglicana; in sic curia, Thomam de Southam archdiaconum Oxon auditorem meum, Wiilelmum Palmer canonicum Derbye, ct .Johannem Boukenhull monachum monasterii West- monasterii predicti. Quibus quidem cxccutoribus meis et eorum cuilibet in solidum dono ct concedo liberam et plenam potestatom, iicentiam, auctoritatem,, ac etiam ge- . neralc et speciale mandatum, praedicta omnia ct singula exequendi, compellendi, fa- ciendi, cxercendi, ac etiam pro dicta mek executione, et omnibus et singulis supradictis, compellendi et perficiendi et exequendi dono ct concedo dictis executoribus meis con- junctim et divisim, et eorum cuilibet in solidum, plenam et liberam potestatem et man- datum generale et speciale agendi, defendendi coram quibuscunque judicibus ordinariis sive delegatis, lites contestandi, juramentum de calumpnia, ct veritate dicendi, et cujus- APPENDIX. 299 libet altorius generis juramentum pracstandi, libcUum, scu libellos, et summariam peti- tionem dandi et recipiendi, testes et instrumenta et qua;libet alia genera probationum, producendi, exequeiidi, replicandi, testes jurare videndi, criminaet delectus opponendi, concludcndi, sententiiis interlocutorias et deffiiiitivas fcrri, petendi et audiendi, provo- candi et appellandi, provocatioiiibiis et appeli_Uionibus caiisas prosequendi, et genercditer omnia alia et singula faciendi, exercendi, qua> circa pra;missa, seu aliquod pra>missorum necessariafuerint, seu opportuna, et qiiaj ego facere possem et exercere, si viverem. Hoc est autem meum ultimum testamentum et mea ultima voluntas, quod et quam valere volo jure tcstamcnti ; et si valere non possit jure testamenti, volo quod valeat jure condi- cillorum, seu alterius cujuslibet ultimae voluntatis; et aliter volo quod valeat eo meliori modo jure et forma, quibus melius de jure valere poterit ct dcliihit. Volo etiam hoc testamentum sive ultimam meam voluntatem aliis testamentis sive ultimis meis volun- tatibus antea factis praevalere, et per ista aliis aiitcfactis totaliter derogari. In quorum omnium et singulorum testimonium pracsens testamentum seu meam ultimam volunta- tem, auctoritate Apostolica mihi in hac parte concessa factum seu factam, seu publicum instrumentum testamentum meum seu ultimam voluntatem in se continens per ^'Petrum de Nascia notarium publicum, scribamque meum infra'"™ subscribi et publicari manda- vi, et mei sigilli appendice muniri. Datum et actum Avinione in domo habitationis dicti domini Cardinalis, in camera in qua solebat commimiter dormire, sub anno, indic- tione, mensc, die et pontifiacatu pra-dictis, presentibus venerabilibus viris, magistris Adam, de Eston monacho Norwiccnsi, sacrne pas.in.'e professore, Thoma de Soutliam archdiacono Oxon. in ccclesia Lincoln, in legibus liccnciato, Petro Elicii clerico, in medicina licenciato, Johanne Attevvodc domiccUo, et .Johanne Symonis clerico, Trajec- tensis, Cicestrensis et Cameracensis diocesiam, testibus ad praemissa vocatis specialiter et rogatis. Et ego Petrus de Nascia clericus Cameracensis diocesis, publicus auctoritate, Apostolica notarius, necuon prasfliti domini Penestrini cardinalis scriba pra?dicti testa- menti seu ultimas voluntatis, ordinationi, constitutioui et omnibus aliis et singulis, dum sic ut praemittitur per dictum dominum cardinalem agercntur et fierent, una cum pra;no- minatis testibus, sub anno, indictione, mensc, die, pontificatu, et loco prsedictis presens interfui; eaque omnia et singula sic fieri vidi et audivi, ac in notam recepi, et in banc publicam formam de mandato ipsius domini cardinalis redegi, scripsi, publicavi, ac signo meo solito una cum appendice sigilli dicti domini cardinalis signavi, rogatus et requisitus, in testimonium omnium et singulorum prannissorum. Acta sunt ha?c Avinione in domo habitationis ipsius magistri Thomae de Southani prope nostram Dominam de Miraculis situata, anno a natali Domini millesimo trecentesimo septuagesimo septimo, indictione XV. pontificat'us sanctissimi patris et domini nostri domini Gregorii divina providentia papae undecimi anno septimo, mense Augusti, die xiiii, presentibus religiosis et dis- cretis viris, dominis Willelmo de Colchester et Johanne Earnyngho monachis monasterii Westmonasterii, ordinis Sancti Benedicti prope London, et Johanne Kcntyf clerico Sarum, ac Gerardo Suschide clerico monasteriensis dlocesium, testibus ad prremissa vc- catjs specialiter et rogatis. 300 APPENDIX. No. VII. Archives. In Dei nomine, Amen. Per presens publicum instrumentum cunctis appareat evi- denter, quod anno Domini millesimo quadringentesimo sexagesimo septimo, indictione prima, pontificatus sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini nostri domini Pauli divina prbvidentia papa? secundi anno quarto, mensis vero Novembris die vicesimo quarto. In quadam bassa parhu'a ex parte australi infirmariac exempli monasterii Westmonasterii London, 'diocesis, meique notarii publici subscripti et testium inferius dcscriptorum prajsenlia personaliter constituti fuerunt venerabilis pater dominus Georgius ejusdem monasterii abbas, ac pro parte convcntus ejusdem monasterii religiosi viri, magister Thomas INIillyng sacra; Theologiap professor, ejusdem monasterii prior, et fratres Richar- dus Braynt, Richardus Teddyngton, Johannes Amesham, AVillehnus Chertsey, Thomas Arundel. .Johannes Esteney, Thomas Frampton, Willelmus Chynner, Willelmus Wi- cumbe, Thomas Crosse, et Richardus Westmynster dicti monasterii commonachi, inter quos abbatem et commonachos tunc ibidem ostensae fuerunt duae cedulae, una videlicet siipplicationis sive desiderationis pro parte dicti conventus praefato abbati factas, et alia cedula continens in se notam et formam commissionis per eundem abbatem praenominatis priori ac fratribus AVillelmo Chertsey et Johannis Esteney faciendo;. Et tunc super con- tentis in pr.Tfatis cedulis inter eosdem abbatem et commonachos aliquali communicatione pr commissionis notatur, subrogaret, deputaret.ordinaretque, et crearct. Tenor vero diet* cedula supplicationis sive desiderationis. In cujus quidem ccdulas fine nomina dictorum, Thouiie Miliyug doctoris, prioris Richardi Braynt, Richardi Teddyngton, et aliorum commonaohorum, superius cum eis nomiuatorum, subscripta fuerunt, sequitur, et est talis. Suppliciter exposcimus omnes subscripti filii vestri, quatenus pie conside- rare vclilis, in quanta et quam magna pecuniarum summa ecclesia est provobis per si- gillum conventus indebitata, praeter et alia ea debita, quae raodo certis creditoribus per- soluta sunt, (juae extendunt se ad novies centum triginta tres libras, sex solidos et octo APPENDIX 501 denarios, nam proeter omnia ista dcbcnitur aclinic per sigilla convenUis duo milliA Irc- centae et quiu(iiiaginta marciB, praeter ipsas pccunias, quae debcntiir Johanni Randolf per sigillum vestrum proprium, scilicet centum quinque libras, et praeter octogiula libras debitas magistro Johauni AV'ardall super cautione calicis de auro, qui ex- tractus erat a vestibule per Dompnuui Tliomam Huston tunc officiarium ibi absque consensu prioris et seniorum, et praeter octoginta libras debitas Johanni Randolf de ex- cessu suo, prout patet in pede compoti sui, et praeter sexaginta libras debitas Roberto Drope ex penalitate pro defectu solutionum, et prajter omnia implementa pertinentia monasterio assignata vobis et succedentibus abatibus ponderantia septies centum decern et seplcm uncias, ut patet per billam de parcellis eorundcm; quae quidem unciae appre- tiando unciam ad tres solidos, extendunt se in valore ad centum septem libras undecim solidos : suinma totalis istius debiti de quo sumus cincti* extendit se ad tria millia triginta septem marcas, sex solidos et octo denarios. Et praeter ista creduntur alia esse debita, quae debentur certis creditoribus, iit David Celly viginti librae, Johanni Dym- mok Freston viginti librae ad minus, et Frowyk decern librae. Sic patet, quod debita quae debentur ad hue magna sunt, et ea, quae juvarent ad contentanda ista debita, dissi- pata sunt et vendita, utboscum apud Denham et Lalham et prope Wigorniam, et in aliis locis. Similiter staunim manerii de Lalham venditum est, et super haec omnia portio vestra de novo orneratur de feodo decern librarum annuatim solutarum Johanni Randolf, et de quadraginta solidis domino Johanni Grevyll militi, et de quadraginta solidis con- cessis Thorkmorton, et de sex libris tresdecim solidis et quatuor denariis concessis Ro- berto Drope per sigillum vestrum proprium ad terminum vitoe; et do quadraginta solidis concessis Johanni Anne. Quibus omnibus bene consideratis, placeat paternitati vestrae filiorum condescendere desideriis, quae, velut speramus, et firmiter intendimus, crunt ad vestrum singulare proficuum et praecipuum bonum, et ad non parvum commodum totius monasterii et omnium nostrum. In primis, ut debita vestra ocius solvantur, et vos in honore debito vivere possitis, desideramus unanimiter vos hospitari extra monasterium Westmonasterii in aliquo monasterio venerabili, cum capellano et panels servientibus in domo et familia propria, quia, si maneretis apud Firford, haberetis nimium concursum extraneorum et generosorum ad magnas et sumptuosas expensas, Et non displiceat pa- ternitati vestrae, quod incitamus et monemus vos ad talia: rmm abbas de IJury sic fecit jam nuper hospitando apud Bermundsey, et plures alii patres fecerunt ante haec tempera, viventes per certum spatium sub voluntaria parcimonia ad magnam laudem ipsoruni atque profectum. Praeterea desideramus quod constituatis vcl quatuor commissaries per scriptum auctentieum, qui conimissarii cum consilio mature seniorum omnium ne- gotia monasterii traciabunt in absentia vestra, prout viderint melius expediri, proviso semper quod Dompnus Thomas Rusten non sit aliquis de cemmissariis. Insupersummo cum effectu rogunus et desideramus quod de cetero non mutuemini ultra, nee indebi- tetis vos vel ecclesiam aliquo mode, vel ratione alicujus debiti novi. Preterea, de^ A * cti. Vol. I. R R 302 APPENDIX. sideratura est quod non retinebitis in manibus vestris aliquod maneriuiu, neque proventus alicujus manerii, sive de proventibus curiarum, vel de venditione bosci, vel stauri, vet alicujus alterius proficui sive redditus, sed omnia relinquantur ar- bitrio commissariorum vestrorum ; et quod receptor vester faciat compotum suum coram priore et commissariis, ut possit illis constare, quomoda debita persolvuntur. Item, desideratum est quod non veniatis redeundo ad monasterium Westmonasterii ante con- tentationem plenariam debitorum vestrorum, nisi fuerit urgens causa, pro qua missus erit nuncius, aut nisi rex miserit pro vobis per privatum sigillum ad aliquod parlia- mentum sive consilium, quia vester adventus onerosus est officiariis, ut concipitur. Item, desideratum est quod consideretis bene compositionem, secundum quam tenemini de- fendere omnia placita monasterii tam pro parte vestra quam eliam pro parte nostra : non tamen amplius desideramus, nisi quod detendatis partem vestram propriam, et quod patiamini nos defenders partem nostram, et quod justificetis nos in placitis nostris, et quod non impediatis priorem et seniores in aliquo de quo inter se convenerint pro bono monasterii. Item, desideratum est, quod omnia forisfacta et amerciamenta, sive infra sanctuarium, sive extra in villa, recipiantur per aliquem fidelim ad contentationem de- bitorum vestrorum. Item, quod provideatur aliquod stipendium pro custode convictorum, et etiam pro victu ipsorum, ita quod custos non percipiat ultra de portione nostra in pane et cerevisia, sicut modo percipit, et prius ad tempus percepit. Item, quod fiat melior provisio pro tribus officiis, quae modo sunt in manibus Dompni Thomte Ruston, scilicet pro officio novi operis, officio Celerarii et officio Sacristae, ita quod idem Dompnus Thomas Ruston sit sequestratus, et amotus ab omnibus et singulis officiis preedictis, cujus negligentia ut concipitur omnia officia praedicta sunt in magno decasu. Item, quod Celerarius fiat per electionem, sicut antiquitus fieri consuevit, et sicut Ballivus, Custos maneorum et scholares adhuc modo fiunt. Item, quod non ultra percipiatis aliquid de officio Celerarii in cerevisia, neque de dislributione in anniversariis regum et reginarum, quia est contra juramentum vestrum, sed eritis contenti cum portione et pensione vestra. Item, quod non revocetis aliquid in curia archidiaconi in manus vestras, sed quod fiat justitia per officiarium contra quemcunque, et quod non pardonetis amerciamenta, nee ahquod forisfactum. Item, quod de cetero non presentetur ad aliquod beneficium, vel jus presentandi alicui concedatur, antequam contigerit illud beneficium vacare, neque tunc nisi sub Sigillo conventus. Item, quod singuli officiarii, priore excepto, deputentur et removeantur ab officiis per dictos commissarios secundum consilium seniorum peripsos commissarios ad hoc convocandorum. Item, desideratum est quod acceptetis pro pen- sione vestra, et sitis contenti cum summa centum marcarum annuatim solvendarum, per manusreceptoris vestri, vel alterius vice sua; quam quidemsummam centum marcarum re- cipietis in pecuniis numeratis ad quatuor anni terminos, videlicet quolibet termino viginti quinq. marcas. Item, desideratum est, quod Dompnus Thomas Ruston respondeat ad sex, vel septem capas diversi coloris deperditas a vestibulo, eo tempore, quo ipse erat custos isti- us domus. Item desideratum est, quod si visum fuerit bonum, per dictos commissarios et seniores monasterii, quod fiat nova compositio inter abbatem et conventum, et portiones APPENDIX. 303 eorundem, quod sive durante tempore absentiaj vestroe, sive postea post restaurationem vestram, condesccndatis et consentiatis tali compositioni de novo fiendae per priorem et seniores absque perpetua diminutione portionis vcstrae, sou convenlus. Item, deside- ratum est quod Donipnus Tliomas Ruston intimct in scriptis in proximo compote suo omnia debita sua in quibus indebitatus est, quia putatur, quod ecclesia supportabit onera magna et multa pro debitis ejus: et etiam desideratum est, quod singula ofRciarii alii faciant idem, viz. unusquisque officlarius in compoto suo. Item, desideratum est, quod observetis omnia prius recitata sub juramento. Ita quod non tcmptetis facere contra premissa, vel subsequentia, ad mutandum, destruendum, vel annullandum ali- quem articulum promissum vel subsequentem, vel partem alicujus articuli, aliquo la- bore vel medio quocunque, nee per vos, nee per alium vel alios, nee veniatis ad monas- teriura Westmonasterii nisi sub ea forma qua permittitur, nee equitetis ad generalia capitula, neque circa visitationes, neque arripiatis aliqua itinera sumptuosa, quae essent vobis causa novae indebitationis ; et quod commissarii vestri, de quibus recitatum est prius, habeant plenariam potestatem vestram tam in spiritualibus, quam in temporalibus et in omnibus qutc ad jura monasterii pertinent, tam infra quam extra, tam circa offi- ciarios deputandos vel removendos quam in conferendis donis, feodis et regardis, prout viderint melius expediri. Ita quod omnia ista et alia qufccunque recitata prius firmiter observentur sub juramento praestito coram notario et testibus, qui et omnia ista reducet in formam publicam, sub instrumento signato signo suo consueto. Ila quod omnia et sin- o-ula prcTscripta firmiter observentur, quousque debita vestra persoluta fuerint. Thomas Millvn<^ doctor prior. Richardus Breynt, Richardus Teddyngton, Johannes Amesham, Will'elmus Chertsey, Thomas Arundel, Johannes Esteney, Thomas Frampton, Willel- mus Chvnner, Willelmus Wycumbe, Thomas Crosse, Richardus Westmynster. — Tenor vero dicta cedulse format commissionis sequitur in hunc modum : Georgius per- missione divino abbas monasterii Sancti Petri Westmonasterii London, diocesis, sedi apostolicfe immediate subjecli, dilectis nostris cont'ratribus, magistro ThomuB Millyng sacrtE theologice professor!, ejusdem monasterii priori, ac fratibus Willelmo Chertsey et Johanni Esteney ejusdem loci commonachis, salutem in Domino sempitcrnam. Ad re- o-endum et gubernandum dictum monasterium nomine nostro et pro nobis, ac singulas personas ejusdem, necnon ad ministrandum in spiritualibus et temporalibus ejusdem monasterii, disponcndumquc de eisdem, ac ad exercendum omnimodam curam, regi- men, administrationem et tacultaleui nobis raiione dignitatis nostrac abbathialis qualiter- cunque pertiiicntia, vobis tril)us et vestrum duobus conjunetim, quorum vos, priorem, semper unum esse voluuuis, vices nostras, ac plenum, liberam et generalem potestatem committimus, ac mandatum speeiale damns et concedimus per presentes, donee et quousque pra>fatum monasterium ab omni dcbito per nos, sen Edmundum predeces- sorem nostrum causato, peuitus liberatum fuerit, absque aliqua revocatione tacita vel expressa duraturas, promittentes nos ratum, gratum et firmum perpetuo habiturostotum et quicquid per vos sen duos vestrum, sic quod vos, prior, unus semper sitis de eisdem, actum, factum, sive gestum fuerit in pra^missis vel aliqus prtemissorum. In quorum R li i 504 APPENDIX. omnium et singulorum fidem et testimonium pra^missorum sigillum nostrum presentibus apposuimus. Dat. Super quibus omnibus pra^missis dictus Dominus Geor^ius abbas re- quisivit me notarium publicum subscriptum conficcre unum vel plura, publicum vcl publica instrumentum vel instrumenta. Acta fuerunt ha;c omnia et singula, prout su- perscribuntur et recitantur, sub anno Domini, indictione, pontificatu, mense, die et loco superius in capite presentis instrumenti descriptis. Presentibus tunc ibidem dis- cretis viris magistro Johanne Wardall logum doctore, London, ecclesi.x canonico, et Dommo WiUelmo Stokys presbytero Lincoln, diocesis, testibus ad pra-m.ssa vocatis specialiter et rogatis. Et ego AVillelmus Dabeney clericus civitatis Coventriensis publicus auctoritatibus apostolica et imperiali notarius, etc. No. VI I r. Beatissime pater. Post humillimam commendationem et pedum oscula beatorum non arbitramur beatitudinem vestram immemorem essefrequentium ad eandem literarum' nostrarum, quibus devotissimum ccenobium Westmonasterii tantopere commendavimus vestrs sanctitati, et novissime quidem venerabili patri .Johanni abbati Abvndonic-e cum istic oratoris ac procuratoris nostri officio fungeretur, ejusdem monasterii causa, curam commisimus, quatenus apud eandem sanctitatem nostris verbis precibusque insisteret Jrreparabilibus dampnis, quibus ob crebriorem solito abbatialis dignitatis ibidem vocatio- nem ultra vires affiigitur, et de Apostolica; sedis benignitate salubriter provideretur ; quibus nichilominus prccibus, intercessiouibusque nostris in ea parte minime satistactum' esse comperimus. Qua ex re ad vos prcces utinam prioribus efficaciores impel- limur. Ut non jam labenti, sed pene lapso ac extremam ruinam meditanti monasterio Apostolica sedes succurrere dignetur. Summa rei ha^c est. Antiquissimum ac devo- tissunum ccenobium est Westmonasterium a majoribus nostris olim fundatum : a beatis- simo Petro Apostolo dict-ne abbatia; patrono dedicatum, ac sepulchro sanctissimi Edwardi Regis Anglian et Confessoris insignitum. Quod quidem monastcrium etsi majores nostri partim construxerunt, et id pene totum vetustate ipsa consumptum est, majorem tamcn ecclesijE partem inconstructam reliquerunt, quamque iu hos usque dies monasterii inopia construere vetuit, idque non modo malitia; temporum et aquarum inundationi, quibus plurima monasterii pra'dia dissipantur, vcrum eliam niniiis pro confirmatione noviter electorum abbatum istic factis expensis, jure meritoquc nemo est qui non ascribat. Cui nimirum dampno expensarumque profliiitati nemo melius succurrere ac consulere poterit, quam vestra sanctitas. Rogamus obtestamurque vestram beatitudinem, qua^ uti confi' dimus, labentibus monasteriis adjutrices manus apponere parata crit, liuic monasterii copnobio in f\icie Anglicani orbis locato Apostolicam benignitatem gratiamque ita imper- tiri dignetur, ut deinceps elegendi illic abbates, eo ipso quod elecli sunt, absque iilte- non a sede Apostolica confirmatione obtinenda abbates iUius monasterii sint et pro talibus habeantur. Neque cnim ha^c res nova est, beatissime pater, quam petimus; nonnuUis APPENDIX. 305 equidem regni nostri monasteriis ad progenitorum nostrorum devotas preces per Aposln. licam sedem id ipsum similiter indultum est, quae tamen tanta neque tunc, ut credimus, neque nunc, ut scimus, inopia laborant. Non putamus majoris apud vestros sanctissi- mos predecessores ponderis illorum preces fuisse, quam nostras apud vcstram sanctita- tem, neque certe paratiores et illi ad Apostolicae sedisobsequia fuero quam nos, qui ejus obsequiis nos devovimus. Itaque ut pari nos gratia in ista Westmonasterii causa pro- sequi dignetur Sanctitas vestra etiam atque etiam rogamus suppiicamusque. Erit id nobis omnium gratissimum, augebitque non parum Angligenarum in vestram et Aposto- hcam sedem devotionem. Istius negotii sollicitationem dilecto nobis .Tohanni de Gezena commisimus, cui in dicendis fidem, flicilem aditum, auditumque importiri dignetur Sanctitas vestra, cui nos et istud negotium plurimum commeudamus, quseque diu ac fc- liciter vivat et valeat. Ex opidulo nostro Grenewici x"" caleudas Junias A. lxxviii. Sanctissimo in Christo patri ac domino Sixto, divina providentia sacrosanclai Romanae ac universalis ecclesiae summo ponlifici. /Another Letter from the King concerning the same matter, and of the satne date, uas written to William, Cardinal of Rohan, and Bishop of Ostia. SixTus episcopus, servus servorum Dei. Ad perpetuam rei memoriam. Inter curas multiplices, quibus ex commissi nobis pastoralis officii debito continue obsidemur, lUam voluntarie amplectimur per quam nostrae provisionis ministeriomonasteria singula, praecipue Romanse ecclesiae immediate subjecta, illisque presidentes, ac aliae in eis de- gentes personae a laborum et expensarum oneribus valeant sublevari. Sane pro parte dilectonim filiorum abbatis et conventus monasterii Westmonasterii ad proefatum ec- clesiam nullo medio pertinentis ordinis Sancti Benedicti Londoniensis dioccsis nol>is nuper exhibita petitio conlinebat, quod olim pro eo quod Sancti Albani et de Vt'altham preedicti et Sancti 7\ugustini ordinum Lincolniensis et praedictae diocesium monasteria ad eandem ecclesiam nullo medio pertinentia a sede Apostolira lam longe distare nosce- bantur, quod electi temporibus tunc retroactis ........ pro habitis ncc in in eligendi teriorum possent pro habendis suarum electionum confirmationibus sine magnis viarum periculis et gravi expensarum onere dictam sedem visitare, quodque eadem visitatio et alia onera eisdem monasteriis incumbentia bona et facultates Sancti Albaiii et de Waltham monasteriorum plurimum exhauserant et ex cerlis aliis causis conventibus dictorum monasteriorum a scde prasfata per diversas illius literas indultum extitit. Ut omnes et singuli qui successive perpetuo . . . imp ... in abbates dictorum monasteriorum rum vacarent per eosdem conventus pro t(>mpore electi forent, eo ipso absque alia confirmatione essent veri abbates monasteriorum eorundcm et pro talibus censerentur et haberentur, ac perinde curam animarum gerere, necnon omnia et singula, (jua; ad curam, •administrati«)neni et regimen dictorum monasteriorum perti- nerent,. libera et iicite facere et exercere in omnibus et per omnia imperpetuum possent ac si per sedem dictam .... electio confirmata foret, ac etiam a quocunque raallent ca- 306 APPENDIX. tholico antistite gratiam et communionem dictae sedis habeiite bencdici valcrent. ]ta tamen quod abbates eorundem monasteriorum pro tempore existentes, et dicti conven- *"S g'"ti marchas Sterlingorum et non ultra pro quolibet dictoriim mona- steriorum collectori fructuum et proventuum eidem cameras debitorum in regno Angliae pro tempore existetiti annis singulis imperpetuum in certo festo tunc tenerentur. et SI in solutione hujusmodi aliquo forsan anno saltem per duos menses post lapsum hu- jusmodi anni, cessante impedimento legitimo, deficerent, quod ex tunc ad solutionem praedictam sine dilatione faciendam per ... . coUectorem pro tempore existentem per censuras ecclesiaslicas debite compellerentur, prout in litteris prajdictis plenis contine- tur. Cum autem sicut eadem petitio subjungebat propter preemissas causas sit admodum grave et dispendiosum abbati et conventui dicti monasterii Westmonasterii pro obtinenda confirmatione electionis pro eodem abbate pro tempore focta; ad sedem eandem accedere et earn visitare. Pro parte carissimi in Christo filii nostri Edwardi Anglite regis illustris eorundem abbatis et conventus nobis fuit huniililer supplicalum, ut ipsis indul- tum praedictum ad instar eorundem aliorum monasteriorum concedere de benio-nitate apostolica dignaremur. Nos itaque monasterium ipsum AVestmonasterii que pro tempore abbatem ac eosdem conventum ab hujusmodi oneribus relevare volentes pra?fatis conventui dicti monasterii Westmonasterii. Ut omnes et singuli qui deinceps perpetuis futuris temporibus in abbates ipsius monasterii Westmonasterii cum illud vacare contigerit per illius conventum pro tempore electi fuerint, eo ipso absque alia confirmatione sint veri abbates dicti monasterii, et pro talibus censeantur et habeantur, curam animarum gerere, necnon omnia et singula, quae ad curam, administrationem et regimen dicti mo- nasterii Westmonasterii pertinent, libere et licite facere et exercere in omnibus et per omnia imperpetuum possint. Ac etiam a quocunque maluerint catholico antistite gra- tiam et cammunionem dictae sedis habente munus benedictionis recipere valeant. Nec- uon eidem antistite, ut illud eis libere impendere possit, quibuscunque constitutionibus, htteris et privilegiis ac statutis et consuetudinibus monasterii et ordinis prajdicto- rum juramento, confirmatione Apostolica, vel quavis firmitatealia roboratis, ceterisque contrariis nequaquam obstantibus, ad instar Sancti Albani etde Waltham monasteriorum prajdictorum auctoritate Apostolica tenore presentiiim de speciali gratia indulgemus. Volumus autem quod abbas ejusdem monasterii Westmonasterii pro tempore cxistcns et conventus ejusdem collectori pra^dicto centum florenos auri de camera annis singulis in festo beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolofum in perpetuum solvere teneantur, et si in so- lutione hujusmodi aliquo forsan anno, saltem per duos menses post lapsum cujusmodi anni cessante impedimento legitimo deficerent, quod ex tunc ad solutionem praulictam 8ine dilatione faciendam per hujusmodi collectorem pro tempore existentem per censu- ras ecclesiasticas debite compellantur. Nulli ergoomnino liceat banc paginam nostrorum indulti et voluntatis infringere vel ei ausu termerario cnutmirc. Si quis au- tem hoc atteinptare pra;sumpscrit, indignationem omnipotentis Dei ac beatorum Petri et Pauli Apostolorum ejus se noverit incursurumr Dat. Braciiani Sutrin. diocesis, anno incarnationis dominica; miUesimo quadringentcsimo octavo, idibus Augusti Pon- tificatus nostri anno septimo. APPENDIX. 307 No. IX. Cotton Librarij. Claudius. A. viii. O TU pastorem merilum bene plange sepultum, Relligiosa cohors lumine nuda tuo. Estney monasterium libris bis mille oneratum Et septingenlis, eruit aere suo. Pontifice a summo tres annos ante statuti Temporis obtinuit cura paterna calens, Professes fratres sublimet et ornet, ut hujus Ordinis atque loci presbyterale decus. Successore novo electo, tibi, Roma, tributa Debita sunt sumptu cuncta redempta suo: ■Impensisque suis processit fabrica templi, Cui magis idoneos qualibet arte viros Providit, bifariaque venustat imagine templum : Una Petri gestat, altera Pauii effigiem. Tempestate Tuiii* Neet humi quasi tota jacebas, Quae modo clara nites, aere refecta patris. Quid dicam plura? Si persequar omnia gesta, Longe hiis plura suis sumptibus acta scies; Hunc modo, quem Clotho Lachesisque trahebat ad annosf, Eripuit paribus invidia Parca suis. Fama tamen vivet, vivet memorabile nomen Ejus, et aetemos laus habitura dies : Sensibus ac poni decet monimenta sub imis, Dum Styx Ditis erit, arx Jovis alta poli. Metra legens ores, requiescat pace Johannes: Est ciner in cineres, tuque redactus eris. Flebilis haec musa non est se passa sub ista Tempestate lyra prosperiore cani. Tristis eram ; cecini, ne tarn praeclara Johannis Estney lyteisj gesta darentur aquis. N. B. Besides the objections which may be made to the poetry itself in these verses, they are also written very faultily in the book from whence they are taken : several of the faults are corrected, and conjectures are offered as to others. * Sic, forte ruens> t Sic, forte avos. % Letheis. 308 APPENDIX". No. X. The Interment of the Rev. Father^ in God John Isl'ip, Abbot of the Monastery of Westmin- ster, and one of the King's Majesttfs Privy Council, deceased at Westminster the twelfth Day of May, being Sunday, about four or Jive of the Clock at Afternoon, the Domi- nical Letter F. Aniio M.D. XXXII. the xxiiii"' Year of Kino- Henru \i\[. First, bis corps was chested and rered, and so remained in a large parlour in the- said place, which was hanged with black cloth garnished with scocheons of bis arms and the monastery ; the corps covered with a rich pall of cloth of gold of tisseu • and burning day and night four great tapers ; with masses daily, and every nip-ht watch until Thursday the sixteenth day about two of the clock ; at which time came all the fathers of the house with the monks, and the abbot of Bury in pontificalibus, did say such ceremonies as to the same appertaineth, the space of an hour. Then about three of the clock the corps was convej^ed unto Westminster monastery in manner following: First, two conductors, John Gardvu and William Alove, with each of them in their hands a black staff to avoid such people as would not be ordered, and to make room. Then the cross. Then the three orders of friers of Canterbury. Then divers other religious persons, as the brotherhood of the * * * preist and clerk of the parish. Then the church of St. jNIartin's in London. Then the preists and clerks of St. Margaret in Westminster, with all the monks of the said monastery. Then the abbot of St. Edmundsbury, in pontificalibus, with his assistance, in goodly rich copes. Then gentlemen in black gowns and hoods, two and two, and his two chaplains. Dr. Dudley and Sir Robert Sheder, with others, as Dr. Shorton and Dr. Doke, and the vicar of Croiden, with divers others. Then Richmond and Lancaster * ** in the king's cotes at arms. Then the corps born by six of his yeomen in black coats, and other six going by to help thom as they had need. Then about the corps four assistance, :Mr. Ilawkes, Mr. Jude, Mr. Andro, and Mr. Docarawe, and at each corner a banner, of our Lady by John James, St. Peter's by John Sheder, St. Edmund's by William Middleton, St. Catherine's by Thomas Kemp, in black gowns and hoods on their heads. Also two branches of white wax by two clerks in their surplesses. Item. Afore the corps twenty-four poor men in gowns and hoods in one range, bearing twenty-four torches. Item, About the corps twelve staff torches, born by twelve yeomen in black coats. APPENDIX. 50[) Then after (lio corps, alone, the Lord Windsor, chief mourner, with six others, two and two. Sir Henry V.'vatt, Sir Hugh Vjnighnn, jNIr. Densell, Serjeant at hxw, and Mr. Baker, Recorder of London, Mr. Joyner and Mr. Tamworth, in long gowns and hoods. Then the yeomen and farmers of »he said defunct, in hlack coats. Then divers other men and women of Westminster and other places, so that the train * from next iintii Tuttle-street, and so proceeded unto the monastery, doin? such ceremonies as to the same appertaineth. And at the entry of the said monastery the abbot of Bury, with his assistances, did receive the said corps, and so proceeded into the choir, where it was set under a goodiv herse with many lights, and ma'''' and vallunce set with pencils and double banners, with forms hanged with black cloth, and garnished with scocheons of arms, and the choir likewise: and so the mourners took their places. Then Dirige began, solemnly sung by the said monastery, and divers Dirige's done in other places of the church ; which being done with the other ceremonies, the mourn- ers, with the other, departed unto a place over the chapel of the defunct, where was prepared for them spiced bread, suckett, marmylate, spiced plate, and divers sorts of w ine plenty. And in the mean season they of the church did bury the defunct in the said chapel of his building, which was hanged with black cloth garnished with scocheons, and over his sepulture a pall of black velvet, and two candlestics with angels of silver and gilt, with two tapers thereon, and four alxjut the corps burning still. Then in the choir underneath the herse was made a presentation of the corps co- vered w ith a cloth of gold of t3^shew, with a cross, and two white branches in candle- sticks of silver and gilt ; which being done, every man departed for that night. The next day being Friday, in the morning about eight of the clock, every man did repair to the church in good order, and took their places as afore. Then began the first mass of our Lady, sung solemnly with deacon and sub-deacon ; and at the offertory the chief mourner offered a piece of gold of half a crown, ii s. vi d. assisted with the other mourners ; which being done, Then began the mass of the Twenty Song, set in like manner as afore; but at the offering the chief mourner offered a piece of gold of v s. assisted as afore ; which being finished. Then the mourners, with all the others, went in good nunnier to the manor-place, where was prepared for them bread and drink, as appertaineth for that day, being Friday ; and this done, every man returned in good order to the church to their places appointed, and the torches *** herse ; and other lights being lighted, Then began the mass of Requiem, sung by the abbot of Bury in pontificalibus, with * Something wanting here. Vol, I. S s 310 APPENDIX. deacon and sub-deacon, and at the offertory the monks offered their obhition after the custom and manner. Then offered the chief mourner a noble in gold, being conducted by the officers at arms, and assisted with the other mourners ; and so returned back again to the herse. Then all the mourners returned back again to offer for themselves every one a -rote. Then offered his attendants, with all other that would. ° Then began the sermon by the vicar of Croyden. Then all the other ceremonies being done and finished, with divers other masses, in his own chapel in the abbey, and parish church, with other thinge*. Then began a great doylle given among the poor. Then, all things finished, the lord chief mourner, with all other, went in like order as afore to the manor-place to dinner, which being done, every man took his leave, and so departed. Then the banners were set in order in the said chapel in brassesf of iron. The herse with all other things did remain there still, until the month's mynde The heralds rewarded with v" , and thanks beside their gowns, and their attendants coats. No. XI. From llie Original in the Augmentation Office. Stirmm ReMitio Monaslerii Weslmmasterkmu. OMx.,Br, Christi fidelibus ad quos presen. Carta pervenerit, WHIchnus permi, s,o„e Osbert de Clare after 1140 1134 > Helias, in the time of abbot Gervase de Blois Hugh, made abbot of Bury 1156 Alquinus, in the time of abbot Laurence, or between 1159 &c 1175 William Postard, elected abbot 1191 Robert de Mulesham 1219 Richard de Berkyng, elected abbot 1222 1246 Mauritius 1248 1253 Philip de Lewsham, elected abbot 1258 Elyas, in the time of abbot Richard (de Ware it is sup- posed) or between 1258 and 1283 1291 John de Culeworth 1295 1298 William Huntyngdon 1304 1305 Reginald Hadham 1319 1325 John Wanetyng 1344 Symon Warewyk Roger Burcs, before 1288 1293 1324 Robert 1327 «*»*' ^u^ APPENDIX. 1360 William de Zepeswych, Ips- wich, elected abbot 1372 Thomas Pyk 1382 William de Colchester 1388 John Stowe 1391 John Biirwell 1414 William Agmondesham 1467 William Wycombe 1498 William Borogh 1370 1373 1386 1394 1500 1554 Andrew Perne, D. D. 1560 John Hardyman, deprived 1561 William Latymer 1573 Richard Reve 1603 Richard Hakluyt 1609 Christopher Sutton 1617 Gabriel Grante 1631 Thomas Mountford 1572 1580 1604 1617 1630 N B., As it was not intended at first to publish the names of the archdeacons, are no t marked any iarther, and some of the oldest are omitted. they Zachary Pearce John Thomas No. XX. Deans of Westminster. 1756 Samuel Horslev 1768 William Vincent 1794 1802 No. XXI. From the Niger Quaterniis, folio 79. Anno regni regis Edwardi terli, quinquagesimo primo, septimo die Junii idem dom.nus rex hcenuam dedit abbati et conventui Westmonasterii perquirendi terra^ tenementa, et redd.f.s ad valorem quadraginta librarum per annum Statuto, &c ad manum mortuam, &c. non obstante . . . Et h.c licentia concessa est pro mag^a p^rte cujusdam Turns m angulo PalatU privat. versus austrum una cum quadam clausura julta Turnm praedictam ex parte-occidentali infra clausum abbati^ et solum Sancti Petri do- m,no reg. concessam . . Erat autem inter Turrim pr^dictam et murum Infirmarii, ub, nunc est clausura pra^d.cta, v,a pedestns et carectaria usque ad angulum Turris, &c 1 he title of this writing is, . «.^- Licentia r.gta data abbati Westm. perquirendt terras et tenementa ad valorem 40 /. pro part, Turris vocalce le Jewel-house, 6fc, . No. XXII. A Confederation between AVestniinster and Bury. From the Original in the Archives. Hu<.o^rw'r,^'"'r'' •""'"■'' '''''"^ ^^'"' ^"^ ^"^^ l^^^^^"^ «"'P*""^ pervenerit; i^u^o et Willelmus d.vma permissione Sancti Eadmundi, et Sancti Petri de Westmo- APPENDIX. 323 T.asterio, abbates et eorundem locorum conventus, Salutem in Domino sempiternam C^uum ex mntuo fraternae confederationis vinculo -crescit caritas et roborantur eccle* SIS. Ex commun. consilio placuit et assensu nos et ecclesias nostras invicem vinciri foedere perpetuo, eoque libentius et justius, quo Sanoti regis patroni nostri specialius se dilexerunt, eosque constat veraciter fuisse consanguineos. Ut ergo alternatim ad aux.hum in necessitate concurramus et consilium, et mutua defensione indempnitati nostrae prosp.c.amus, facta est inter nos talis conventio, videlicet quod communia sint nostra cap.tula, unus idemque per omnia sit conventus omni diversitate tarn cor- porah quam sp.rituali seposita. Altero autem abbatum sublato de medio abbas super- stes, s. vocatus fuerit, ad alterum accedat monasterium, in cujus presenlia novitii protessionem suam faciant, munus Benedictionis ab eodem recepturi. Siquis vero ex uno conventu ad alium venerit, vel ad* convianendum directus fuerit, domestico susc.piatur affectu, et omnis ei humanitas exhibeatur, donee ordinate recesserit, vel ecclesiae sua consignetur ad pacem, quod tamen ei non compctit, quern arguit hor^ ribile flagitium. Et si abbas alterius ecclesiae decesserit, audilo obitu suo, velut pro propno abbate fiat servitium ; si vero monachus, pro quolibet plenum tricennarium bine inde presolvatur; et nomina bine inde decedentium singulis annis die anniversariorum suorum m martir.logio conscribantur. Solempnitates etiam sanctorum patronorum nostrorum h.nc inde cum quatuor cantoribus in cappis singulis festivitatibus suis solemp- niter celebrentur. Ut igitur haec nostra statuta firma sint in perpetuum, cartas nostras sigillis nostris roboratas confecimus. N. B. The abbot of Westminster, in this instrument, is William Humez, so that it was made between the years 1214 and 1222. No. XXIII. Grant of a Market hy King Henry III. Henricus Dei gratia rex Angliae, dominus Hiberniae, dux Normannia?, Aqui- taniae, et comes Andegaviae, archiepiscopis, episcopis, abbatibus, prioribus, comitibus, baronibus, justiciariis, vicecomitibus, prepositis, et ministris, et omnibus ballivis et fidehbus suis, salutem. Sciatis nos concessisse, et hac carta nostra confirmasse, dilectis nobis in Christo Richardo abbati Westmonasterii et ejusdem loci conventui, quod ipsi et successores sui imperpetuum habeant unum mercatum apud Touthull singulis septi- manis per diem Lunae, et unam feriam ibidem singulis annis per tres dies duraturam„ videlicit in vigilia, in die, et in crastino beatae Mariee Magdalena?. Nisi mercatum iUud et feria ilia sint ad nocumentum vicinorum mercatorum et vicinarum feriarum. Quare volumus, et firmiter praecipimus pro nobis et haeredibus nostris, quod prsdicti abbas et conventus et successores sui imperpetuum habeant unum mercatum apud Touthull singulis septimanis per diem Lunae, et unam feriam ibidem singulis annis per tres dies- •Sic. -3U APPENDIX. duraturam, videlicet in vigilia et in die et in crastino beatae Marias Magdalenae, cum omnibus libertatibus et liberis consuetudinibus ad hujus modi mercatum et feriam per- tiuentibus. Nisi mercatum illud et feria ilia sint ad nocumentum vicinorum mercato- rum et vicinarum feriarum, sicut praedictum est. His testibus, Hugone de Clare comite Cjloucestriae et Hertfordiae, Humfredo de Boun comite Herefordiae et Essexiae, Rogero de Mortu Mari, et aliis. Data per manum nostram apud Windesore, quinto die Novem- bris, anno regni nostri quadragesimo primo. No. XXIV. Abbot Islip's Election. From the Original in the Archives. In Dei nomine, Amen. Per presens publicum instrumentum cunctis appareat evidenter, quod anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo, indictione quarta, pontificatus sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini nostri, domini Alexandri divina providentia papae sexti anno nono, mensis vero Octobris die vicesimo sexto, in domo capitulari mo- nasterii beati Petri Wcstmonasterii prope London, ad Romanam ecclesiam nullo medio pertinentis, meique notavii publici subscripti, ac venerabilium virorum magistrorum Ricardi Rawlins sacrae theologiae professoris, Edwardi Vaughan et Willelmi Haryngton legum doctorum, testium in hac parte vocatorum et rogatorum presentia, constituti per- sonaliter, venerabiles et religiosi viri Dompni Johannis Islip prior, presidens capituli dicti monasterii, Willelmus Lambard, .Johannes Waterden infirmarius et hostiarius, Willelmus Brewood thesaurarius et cellerarius, Radulphus Langley, Willelmus Graunte refectoriarius, Johannes Holond supprior, Thomas Ely custos feretri, Ricardus New- bery subelemosinarius, Johannes Norton tertius prior, Ricardus Caston magister novi- tiorum et vestibularius, Willelmus Mane elemosinarius, Johannes Brice quartus prior, Willelmus Borogh archidcaconus, Johannes Ashley granarius, Henricns Jones scruta- tor, Johannes Warde precentor, Thomas Champnay, Thomas Sail, Johannes Albon, Thomas Browne, Robertus Humfray custos capellae beatae Marias, Willelmus Grene, Christoferus Chamber, Robertus Daverssucccntor, Martinus Jamys, Radulphus Worsley, Radulphus Rumpnay, Thomas Gardyner, Willelmus Brent, Robertus Stanley, Thomas Elfryde, Willelmus Wcstmynster, Robertus London, Thomas Barton, Johannes Knoll, Willelmus Mersh, Thomas Stowell, et Willelmus Fitt, confratres et commonachi dicti monasterii, ac ordinem sancti benedicti in eodem, ut asseruerunt, expresse professi, capitulariter congregati ac capitulum sivc conventum facientes, asseruerunt quod idem monasterium ad tunc per obitum bonae memorise Georgii Fascet fuit abbatis solatio pe- iiitus destitutum. Dixcrunt insuper, quod excellentissimiis in Christo princepsdominus Uenricus septinuis Dei gratia rex Angliae et Francioe, ct dominus lliberniae illustrissi- mus, eis ad eligencUim fiiUirum ipsius monasterii abbatem licensiam per suas literas pa- tentes concessit specialcm. Et consequenter post hujusniodi assertionem meraoratus APPENDIX. S25 prior et commonachi, ut praefertur, capitulariter congregati ac capitulum sive conventum facientcs, iic praefatum monasterium gravia ac enormia priL'jutUcia ipsius vacatioue du- rante incurreret, diem Martis vicesimum septimnm dicti mensis Octobris, ac praefatam domum capitularem cum continualione et prorogatione dierum, horarum et locorum si oporteret faciendis, ad eligendnm futurum dicti monastcrii abbatem tarn sibi ipsis tunc ibidem presentibus, quam etiam omnibus aliis tunc ausenjiibus, qui in hujusmodi elec- tionis negotio, deberent, vellent, et posseiit commode int( rcssc, pvac-fixcrunl, assigna- verunt, statuerunt, ct limitarunt. Ac insupcr omnes et singulos conlVatrcs et comnio- nachos dicti monastcrii vocem et interesse habentes in dicta electiona celebranda, si fpii absentes forent, ad com.parendum in domo capitulari dicti monastcrii dicto die Martis hora capitulari, ct procedendo in hujusmodi electionis negotio usque ad finalcm cx- peditioncui cjusdcm monendos et citandos ibre decreverunt. Quo quid?m die Martis vicesimo septimo dicti mensis Octobri§, anno Domini, indictione ct pontificalu praidictis, missa de Spiritu Sancto ad summum altare ecclesiae conventualis monasterh antedicti co- ram confratribus et commonachis ejusdem solemniter extitit celebrata; qua finita et deinde campana ad capitulum congregandum, prout morisfuerat, pulsata, ipso eodem vicesimo sept, die mensis Oct. inpraefata domo capitulari in mei notarii publici subscripti, necnon vcnerabilium virorum, magistrorum Ric.irdi Rawlins sacrse iheologia? professovis, Ricardi Carpcntar, AYillelmi Ilaryngton, Nicolai Weste legum doctorum, et Ednuindi Dudley ge- nerosi, London, commorantium, testium ad infrascripta vocatorum et rogatorum praesentia, praefati dompnus .Johannes Islyp prior, prcsidens antedictus, ac singuli alii commonachi dicti monastcrii, viz. dompnus Johannes Ramsay, Willelmus Lambard, Ricardus Cha- ryng, Johannes Waterden, Willelmus Brewod, Radulphus Langley, ^^'illclnuIs Craunte, Johannes Ilolond, Thomas Ely, Ricardus Nevvbery, Johannes Norton, Ricardus Caston, Willelmus Lokynglon, Willelmus Mane, Johannes Bryce, Willelmus Borogli, Johannes Ashley, llenricus Jonys, Johannes Warde, Thomas Champney, Thomas Sail, Johannes Albon, Thomas Browne, Robertus Ilumfray, Willelmus Grene, Christoferus Chamber, Ilobertus Davers, Martinus JameS, Radulphus Worslay, Radulphus Rumpnay, Willel- mus Southwell, Willelmus Fenne, Thomas Gardyner, Willelmus Brent, Robertus Stanley, Thomas Elfryde, Willelmus Westminster, Robertus London, Thomas Barton, .Johannes Knoll, Willelmus Mersh, Thomas Stovvell, et Willelmus Eytt, capitulariter conffreffati fuerunt et capitulum fcccrunt. Et tunc consequentcr prEcnominatus magister Ricardus Ravvlyns coram praelato priore presidcnte ct ceteris monachis supradictis sic, ut praefertur, capitulariter congrcgatis solemncm ibidem fecit sermonem, cujus thema crat, Pro palribus lids null sunt libi Jilii, canslitius cos j.riucijcs. Quo quidcm scrmone finito, decantatus crat tunc ibidem ympnus I'ciii, Cm//or Syvm/«« cum versiculo et oratione sequenti in hoc casu dccantari consuetis. (^uibus peraetis Icctic fueruut publice tunc ibidem literee regiac patcntes licensiam regiam, de qua supra fit mentio, in se continentcs, quarum tenor sequitur, ct est istc. Uenricus Dei gratia, reoc Angliae et Franciae, et dominus Iliberniic, Dilectissibi in Christo priori et conventui exempti moiiasterii nostri beati Petri Westmonasterii, salutera. Ex parte vestra nobis est humilitrr suisplicatum. Vol. L Up 326 APPENDIX. ut, cum ecclesia monasterii nostri praidicti per mortem bonae memorige Georo-ii Fasset nuper abbatis ibidem sit pasloris solatio destituta, alium vobis eligendi in abbatem et pastorem loci illius, liccntiam vobis coiicedere dignaremur. Nos suppiicationi- bus vestris in hac parte favorabiliter inclinati licensiam illam vobis tenore praessn- tmm duxinuis concedendam, Mandantes quod talem vobis eligatis in abbatem, et pastorem, qui Deo devotus, ecclesiaj vestras necessarius, nobisque et regno nostro utiiis et fidelis existat. In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras fieri fecimus patentes. Teste meipso apud Wodstock, xxiii die Octobris, anno regni nostri sexto decimo.— Post quarum quidem literarum lecturam hujusmodi prgefatus prior presidens ac ceieri monachi omnes et singub, ut pracfertur, capitulariter congregati venerabilem virum magistrum Edwardum ^'aughan legum doctorem tunc ibidem presentem in di- rectorem, meque Thomam Chamberlcyn notarium publicum subscriptum in actorum seribam, ac praenominates venerabiles viros magistros Ricardum Rawlyns, Ricardum Carpentar, Willelmum Ilaryngton, Nicolaum Weste, et Edmundum Dudley in testes dicti negotii electionis futuri abbatis tunc ibidem celebranda; nominaverunt, requisive- runt, et assumpserunt, ac secum propterea fecerunt ibidem remanere. Nominibus quo- que et cognominibus omnium et singulorum ipsius monasterii monacliorum in quadam scedula conscriptis, tunc ibidem publice lectis et recitatis asseruerunt idem prior presi- dens et ceteri monachi saepe dicti sic congregati, quod non erant plures jus et voces iu electione hujusmodi habentes, quam fuerunt tunc ibidem capitulariter congregati. Et consequenter de mandato dictorum prions et conventus, pracconisationibus, ad ostium dictac domus rapitularis, et quicunque pretenderent se habere aliquod interesse in hu- jusmodi eleclionis negotio, tunc venirent, et, prout jura vellent, admitterentur, publice factis, praefatus dompnus Johannes Islyp prior presidens antedictus, vice sua ac vice et nomine omnium et singulorum fratrum et monacliorum praedictorum tunc ibidem, ut praemittitur, capitulum sive conventum facientium, quasdam monitionem et protesta- tionciu in scriptis redactus fecit, legit, et interposuit, sub eo qui sequitur verborum tenore. Ix Dei nomine. Amen. Ego Johannes Islyp prior hujus monasterii sive ec- clesiae conventualis sancti Petri Westmonasterii prope Londonias ordinis sancti Bene- dicti ad Romanani ecclesiam nullo medio pertinentis, presidens islius capituli sive con- ventus, vice mea ac nomine omnium confratrum meorum hie capitulariter congregatorum atque capitulum sive conventum facientium, moneo omnes et singulos excommunicatos, suspensos et interdictos, ac quoscunqe alios, si qui forsan hie sint, qui de jure seu con- siietudine, vel quavis alia ratione in instanti electionis negotio de futuro abbate istius monasterii Dei praesidio celebrandae interesse non debeant, quod a domo ista capitulari et hbc nostro capitulo recedant, meque et alios confratres meos jus et voces in electione hujusmodi habentes libert eligere permittant. Protestans omnibus modo, via, et forma melionbus quibus utilius et efficacius polero, nomine meo ac vice omnium et singulo- rum confratrum meorum praedictorum hie comparentium, ac jus et voces in isto elec- tionis negotio habentium, quod non est mea vel eorum intentio sive voluntas tales admittere tanquam jus seu voces in hujusmodi electione habentes, aut procedere vel APPENDIX. 327 eligere cum eisdem: ymmo volo, ct vult quilibet nostrum, quod voces talium si qua; postmodum rcperiantur, quod absit, in electione hujusmodi intervenisse, nuUi proestent suffragium, nee afferant alicui nocumentum, sed prorsus pro non receptis et non habitis, iiullisque penitus et invalidis omnino habcantur. — Quibus quidem monitione et protes- tatione sic factis lectis et interpositis (pra^fatoque priore presidentc, ac ceteris monachis supradictis, sic ut praemittitur, in eadem domo capitulari capitulariter congregatis, ac directore praenominato, -meque notario et testibus proxime antelatis in dicta domo, solummodo remanentibus) prenominatus venerabilis vir magister Edwardus Vaughan director prescriptus, constitutionem concilii (Quapropler) publice legit et election uni formas a jure traditas, et in eadem constitutione contentas publice exposuit et declaravit: qua lecta et declarata, iuterrogavit idem director praenominatos priorem et conventum per quam viam in hujusmodi electione procedere vellent: qui responderunt, quod eis omnibus et singulis per viam Spiritus Sancti in eodem electionis negotio procedere placuit et placere deberet. Et continuo praefatus dompnus Willelmus Lambard a loco suo se erigens et stans coram praelibatis directore et presidente publice nominavit domp- num Johannem Islyp in abbatem. Quo facto omnes et singuli fratres et monachi supra specificati tunc ibidem, ut saepe dicitur, capitulariter congregati, praenominato fratre Johanne Islyp duntaxat excepto, nullo ipsorum discrepante, subito et repente absque aliquo intervallo seu tractatu inter eos praehabito, aut aliquo alio actu interveniente, Spiritus Sancti gratia, ut firmiter creditur, inspirante unico contextu, una voce, et, ut apparuit, uno spiritu eundem fratrem Johannem Islyp priorem, presidentem antedictum ipsorum et dicti monaslerii abbatem eligendum concorditer et unanimiter nominarunt, et incontinenti tunc ibidem dompnus Willelmus Lambard supranotatus de expresso consensu omnium et singulorum fratrum suorum monachorum proefatorum praeterquam dicti dompni Johannis Islyp, electionem dc eodem dompno Johanne publice fecit ; ct ipsum dompnum Johannem in abbatem dicti monasterii in scriptis publice elegit solem- niter in communi sub hac forma verborum : Ix Nomixe Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen. Ego frater Willelmus Lambard monachus istius monasterii sive ecclesice con- ventualis sancti Petri Westmonasterii prope Londonias ordinis sancti Benedicti, ad Komanara ecclesiam nullo medio pertinentis, vice mea ac vice et mandato omnium et singulorum confratrum meorum ejusdcm monasterii in instanti electione comparentium ac jus et voces in eadem habentium pra'tcrquam fratris Johannes Islyp prions presi- dentis, eundem fratrem Johannem Islyp virum utique providum et discretum, literarura scientia, vita et moribus merito commendandum in ordine sacerdotali, et aetate legitima constitutum, ordinem et regulam in eodem monasterio expresse professum, de legitimo etiam matrimonio procreatum, in spiritualibus et temporalibus plurimum circumspec- tum, scientem, et valentem jura dicti juonasterii utiliter tueri et defendere, eligo in ab- batem dicti monasterii sancti Petri Westmonasterii hie publice in communi, et eidem monasterio provideo de eodem. Qua quidem electione in communi sic facta praenomi- natus dompnus Johannes Ilolond supprior ac ceteri fratres et monachi omnes et singuli fiupradicti (praelibato dompno Johanne Islyp electo duntaxat excepto) dederunt et con- Uu 2 328 appl:ndix. oesserunt memorato niagistro Edwartlo ^'aughan legiiin cloctori, electionis hujiismocH director!, pleiiain potestatem electionem pr«dictani dc prirtato dompno Johanue Isl\ p, ut priBasseritLir, tactam et celebratam ck-ro et populo in comuuini publioaiidi. Post (•ujus quidem potestatis datioiiem et concessionem oinnes et siiiguli monaclii siiperius recitati, sic ut pracfcrtiir, tunc ibidem capitulariter coiigrcgati (dicto douipiio Johanne Islyp electo tantummodo excepto) ympnum Te Dcum laudamus decantantes eundem dompnum Johannemsicelectumadet in ecclesiam conventualem monasterii pracdicti et ad summum altare ejusdem duel fecerunt, nbi consequentcr luijusmodi ympno cum oratione sequenti in iioc casu consuetis decantatis, supradictus magistcr Edwardus Vaughan, stans per dictum electum ante altare hujusmodi una cum ceteris cligentibus praefatis, in mei notarii public! subscript! necnon testiuui supra scriptorum presentia, electionem praedictam clero et populo inibi congregato alta et intelligibili voce publicavit et personam diet! dompni Jobannis elect! eis in publico ostendebat. Subsequentcr vero post pracmissa sic peracta dictus dompnus Johannes Holond supprior ct ceteri monach! supradicti, omnes et singuli (dicto dunipno Johanne Islyp electo duntaxat excepto) ad domuni capitularem supradictam redeuntes et in ilia capitulariter congregati et capitulum facientes, in mei notarii public! subscript! et tcstium superius nominatorum presentia, dompnos Willelmum Lambard et Ricardum Charyng monachos supradictos, ipsis tamen duntaxat exceptis, conjunctim et divisim ac utrumque ipsorum per se et in solidum, ita quod non sit melior conditio occupantis, scd quod unus eorutn inceperit, id eorum alter libere prosequi valeat, mediare et fniire, suos veros et legitimos ad infra scripta ordina- runt, fecerunt et constituerunt procuratores, actores, factores et nuncios speciales, dantes et concedentes eisdem procuratoribus suis conjunctim, et eorum utrique, ut preefertur, divisim, et in solidum potestatem generalem, et mandatum speciale pro ipsis constitu- entibus et eorum noniinibus proenarrato dompno Johanni Islyp electo electionem de ipso, ut pr-ccmittitur, celebratam presentandi, notificandi, el intimandi, ac eundem, quatenus election! hujusmodi de se factae conscntiat ac suos consensum pariter et asscnsum praj- beat et adhibeat, rogandi et requirendi, consensumque et assensum bujusniod! petendi et obtinendi, ccteraque omnia et sii.gula in ca parte necessaria, requisita sive opportuna, facicndi, exercendi, et expeditndi. Promiscrunt quoque se ratuni et gratum habituros totum et quicquid diet! procuratores sui fecerint, seu alter eorum fecerit, in praemissis vel aliquo praemissorum, Quam quidem potestatem procuratoriam sic datam diet! dompni V.'illelmus Lambard et Ricardus Charyng ibidem presentes in se expresse ac- ceptarunt: et assumptis seeum me notario publico subscripto, necnon venerabilibus viris magistro Ricardo Rawlyns et Nicholao Weste testibus suprascriptis ad dictum elec- tum in quadam parlura habitationis prioralis diet! monasterii tunc existentem accesse- runt, ac nomine procuratcrio dictorum constituentium electionem pra;fatam de ipso dompno Johanne in ea parte factam cidem dompno Johanni electo presentaruitt et inti- marunt, ac eundem electum ad consenliendum election! hujusmodi de se factai instanter rogarunt et requisiverunt. Idem vero dompnus Johann.^s electus election! hujusmodi de se factae consentire pro certis causis per eum tunc ibidem expositis recusavit, et eos- & APPENDIX. 329 dem procuratores et omnes fratres suos quatenus aliummagis idoneum eligerent instantfr rogavit, sese tanta dignitate indignuin asserendo, dicti tameii procuratores ejus assertio- nibufi !ion conteiiti eundeni electuin niagis assiduc institeruut : ct enm noiniiio suo ct nomine proefatonim cotistitiiPntiiim ciun instantia non modica dcnuo rogarunt et requis'r- verunt, ut electioni hiijiismoxli de ipso, ut pra;mittitur, factse annueret et consentiret. Et demum idem dompnus Johannes Islyp electus antedictus, licet multipliciter se ex- cusans, tainen dictorum dompnoruin Willelnii et Ricardi procuratoruin praedictorum post plurinias eorum. exkortationes et requisitiones instantia devictus, ac non audens divinae, ut asseruit, ukerius resistere voluntati, electioni hiijusmodi de se factae benignc conscntiit, suosque cousensum pariter ct assensum in ea parte in scriptis prscbuit (sub hac quae sequitur verborum forma). In Dei nomine, Amen. Ego Johannes Islyp monachus monasterii sancti Petri Westmonasterii prope London, ordinis Sancti Bencdicti ad Ilo- manam ecclesiam nuUo medio pertinentis, ipsumque ordinem atque regulam ejusdem Sancti Benedict! in eodem monasterio expresse professus, et in ordine sacerdotali con- stitutus, in abbatem que ejusdem monasterii canonice electus, nolens divinae resistere voluntati, ad requisitionem instantem capituli seu conventus dicti monasterii, et pro- curatorum corundem, ad honorem Dei omnipotentis, et beatae Mariae Virginis, ac Sancti Petri patroni dicti monasterii, nccnon gloriosi confessoris Sancti Edwardi regis, electi- oni hujusmodi de me factae consentio, et cousensum meum praebeo in hiis scriptis. Acta fuerunt haec omnia et singula, prout suprascribuntur et recitantur, sub anno domini, in- dictione, pontificatu, mcnse, diebus, et locis praedictis. Presentibus in forma superius annotata testibussuperiusnominatis, ad pracmissa vocatis specialiter et rogatis. Et ego Thomas Chambcrleyn clericus Lincolniensis diocesis, publicus auctoritate apostolica notarius, praemissis, &c. No. XXV. Ancient Custom of offering Salmon in the Church of Westminster*. This custom is detailed at great length by Sporley in a manuscript preserved in the Cotton Library!, with all the proofs necessary to establish the right claimed by this church to the tythe of all salmon taken in the river Thames, between Staines and Yenlade, beyond GravesendJ, which was frequently resisted by the parishes bordering on that river. He states, that the following ceremony was used at the offering of these tythe fish: — " The salmon, after being offered at the high altar, was carried into the kitchen, " and, being scraped and cleaned, the sacristan (having delivered to the fisherman a " candle of one pound, and to two of his companions, if there are two, a candle each of * See p. 7. f Claudius, A. X This is the precise extent of the pririlege of conserTacy poKessed by the city of London; 330 APPENDIX. " half a pound weight), in lieu thereof, demanded of the cook the head of the fish and " as much below the gills as the breadth of three fingers, being extended. When the " fish was boiled, it was carried in a dish to the table in the middle of the refectory " to which the prior and the convent rose. This day the fishermen had a right to dine' " at the same table with the prior and convent, and might demand of the cellarer ale " and bread, for which the cellarer might demand as much as four fingers, with the " thumb erect, could take of the said fish's tail." INDEX TO THE FIRST VOLUME. Page A. Abbots, liow elected . . . I05 Cotifirinalion expensive . . I6G Their exemptions . . . J79 Abbots, excused from going (o Rome for con- firmation , , . 215 A Id red. Abbot . . . 2