38. THE COLLEGE IN THE GUILDHALL CHAPEL
The new chapel of the Guildhall must at
least have been begun in 1299, for Henry le
Galeys then gave to the Fraternity of Pui
5 marks annual quit-rent to maintain a chaplain
there. (fn. 1) Either the building operations extended
over a long period or extensive repairs (fn. 2) were
soon needed, since in 1326 Thomas de Wake,
lord of Lidel, and John de Stratford, bishop of
Winchester, promised to supply the timber and
lead to complete the church. (fn. 3)
In this chapel—dedicated to the honour of
God, St. Mary, St. Mary Magdalen, and All
Saints—Peter Fanelore, Adam Fraunceys, and
Henry Frowyk proposed in 1356 to found a
chantry of five chaplains at the altar of St. Mary. (fn. 4)
Their intention, however, does not seem to have
been carried out until 1368, when Fanelore was
dead. (fn. 5) Of the college of five chaplains one was
to be warden with a salary of 13 marks a year,
the others receiving 10 marks each from the
revenues of the endowment, viz., two tenements
in the parish of St. Vedast and one in the parish
of St. Giles without Cripplegate. The clerk
who aided the priests in the mass was to have
6 marks a year. The warden was to collect the
rents and pay his fellow priests, and accounts
were to be given before the two founders during
their lifetime, and after their death before the
mayor and chamberlain, any surplus over expenses being kept in a chest with three keys held
by the mayor and chamberlain, the warden, and
the four chaplains respectively. When the post
of warden was vacant it was to be filled by
Fraunceys and Frowyk while they lived, but
when they were dead, the priests, after asking
leave of the mayor, were to elect one of themselves. The advowsons of the other chaplaincies,
after the death of the founders, lay with the
mayor and chamberlain.
The Corporation seems to have had the supervision of the chantry, judging from its order to
the chamberlain in 1417 to seize the lands of
the chapel because the chaplains wandered about
and neglected their duties. (fn. 6)
The chapel was so ruinous in 1430 that it
was decided to rebuild it, and in order to get
more space for the new building the chaplains'
house was taken down and another on the north
side of the Guildhall assigned to them instead. (fn. 7)
The work proceeded somewhat slowly: overseers
were appointed in 1439, (fn. 8) and it was not until
October, 1444, that the chapel was at last dedicated. (fn. 9) In December of that year the warden
and priests were commanded to perform choral
service there daily. (fn. 10) The chapel was still unfinished, the City companies being asked in 1446
to contribute to the expense of roofing it. (fn. 11)
A chantry was founded there in 1435 (fn. 12) by
Henry Barton, who bequeathed also some ornaments to the chapel; (fn. 13) chantries were also
erected by Roger Depham and Sir William
Langford, (fn. 14) while the gild of St. Nicholas,
founded by the parish clerks of London, added
in 1449–50 two more chaplains to those
then celebrating in the chapel, but in 1475 took
away one for lack of funds. (fn. 15)
Stow says that the college consisted of a
warden, seven chaplains, three clerks, and four
choristers, (fn. 16) but from the ordinances of Bishop
Bonner in 1542, (fn. 17) the number of priests seems
not to have been more than seven, the custos
and three chaplains established by the original
foundation and the three annexed to the same.
The bishop's attention must have been drawn
to the college by the unruliness of the priests, as
he observes that the founders had made no ordinances, and in consequence the chaplains recognized no spiritual person in the college as their
governor and refused to obey the custos. The
bishop accordingly ordered that in future they
should be obedient to the custos as their head,
and that the highest seat in chapel and college
should be assigned to him. Small misdemeanours
were to be judged by the custos and two chaplains, but serious offences were to be dealt with
by the bishop. Culprits not submitting to punishment were to be reported to the bishop, and
in case of contumacy to be expelled. The
bishop made arrangements for the daily celebration of masses in the chapel, and then proceeded
to lay down rules for the life and conduct of
members of the college: every year two of the
chaplains, viz., one of each of the two sets, were
to be appointed to provide the food, drink, and
fuel; every week one of the commoners was to
be steward, and prepare and see the food served
at table; dinner was to be at 11 a.m., and
supper at 5 or 5.30 p.m., according to the
season; persons arriving after grace at the end
of the meal must pay extra for bread and drink;
anyone wanting more delicate fare than that
provided must pay for it himself; anyone having
fault to find with the meals was to tell the
custos, steward, or bursars quietly; the four
children, evidently the choristers, were to serve
at all meals, and to take turns to say grace and
read a portion of the Bible in the middle of
dinner; no one except the bursars was to breakfast in the buttery or kitchen; none was to soil
the table with liquor or wipe his knife upon it;
the chaplains must not haunt taverns or alehouses; no weapons were to be worn within
the precinct; the slander of a fellow-commoner
was punishable by a fine of 4d. to the commons;
in case of a blow the fine was to be 6s. 8d.;
none without special leave of the custos was to
have a layman, a stranger, lodging in his chamber
within the precinct; chaplains or priests having
rooms in the college were not to sleep away from
the same; no woman was to go alone into any
of the rooms in the precinct except to attend to
cases of severe illness, and then with leave of
the custos; the college gates were to be shut
every night at a certain hour, and those coming
in later were to be fined.
The college was suppressed with other chantries and colleges by Edward VI. (fn. 18) Pensions were paid to three chaplains of the college and to another chantry priest. (fn. 19)
The income of the college was estimated by
the Valor at £37 7s. 4d. gross and £33 16s. 8d.
net; (fn. 20) its property lay in the London parishes
of St. Leonard Foster Lane, St. Giles without
Cripplegate, and St. Andrew Hubbard, in
which last Stephen Spilman had granted a messuage and garden in 1397–8 for the better
maintenance of the warden and chaplains. (fn. 21)
The chapel was purchased from the king in
1550 by the Corporation of London. (fn. 22)
Wardens of Guildhall College
William de Brampton, appointed 1356 (fn. 23)
Edmund Noreys, occurs 1389 (fn. 23a)
John Barnard, occurs 1430–1 (fn. 24)
Thomas Francis, appointed 1448, died 1488 (fn. 25)