66. THE PRIORY OF ST. ANDREW, YORK
About 1200 (fn. 1) Hugh Murdac, Archdeacon of
Cleveland, granted to God, and twelve canons of
the Order of Sempringham serving God at St.
Andrew's in Fishergate, York, (fn. 2) that church, with
the land adjacent, and an annual rent of 21
marks arising from certain stone-built houses near
St. Peter's, and a stone camera adjoining, and
other lands, &c., elsewhere.
In 1202 (fn. 3) the Master of Sempringham, the
canons of St. Andrew, and the founder, demised
in perpetuity to the dean and chapter and the
church of St. Peter the land which they held of
Hugh de Virly, before the western door of the
major ecclesia, in order to extend the cemetery of
the said church, and to avoid the risk of fire and
damage thereby to- the major ecclesia and the
buildings of the lord archbishop. In return, the
dean and chapter gave the canons of St. Andrew
2½ marks rents in the vill of Cave. (fn. 4)
The buildings immediately adjoined those of
the small Benedictine nunnery of St. Clement.
Although the original intention of the founder
was that there were to be twelve canons in the
house, the probability is that their number was
much less. In 1380-1 there were three canons
besides the prior, and at the dissolution only two
canons in addition to the prior.
On 20 August 1280 (fn. 5) the Prior and convent of St. Andrew addressed a formal letter
to Archbishop Wickwane, reporting that Richard
de Kyrkeby and Alan de Thorpe, their brothers
and fellow canons, relinquishing the habit of
their religion, had by night furtively departed, to
the contempt of religion and the peril of souls.
The prior and convent had unanimously
denounced them, in chapter and convent, as
excommunicate, and they asked the archbishop
to do so throughout the diocese, and after forty
days to invoke the secular arm. The letter is
followed in the register by the archbishop's
denunciation of Richard de Kyrkeby and Alan de
Thorpe as excommunicate, with a notification
addressed to the Bishops of Durham, Carlisle, and
Whithern (Candida Casa), (fn. 6) and all archdeacons
and officials in the diocese and province of York.
On 30 January 1486-7 (fn. 7) Archbishop Rotherham
issued a monition to [John] Beysby, John Shaw,
Sheriffs of York, and others, citing them to
appear before him for having gone to the priory
of St. Andrew and seized certain persons by
violence who had sought sanctuary within the
precincts of the monastery, the churches of the
order of Sempringham having the right of
sanctuary granted them by Pope Clement III.
According to the Valor Ecclesiasticus
(fn. 8) the total
revenue was at that time £57 5s. 9d., and the
clear income £47 14s. 3½d. At the Dissolution
there were a prior and three canons, all of them
priests. (fn. 9) The prior, John Lepington, (fn. 10) was
awarded a pension of £10 (altered from £8), the
three canons £4 each. They surrendered on
28 November 1538. (fn. 11)
Priors of St. Andrew's
Bartholomew, occurs 1208 (fn. 12)
Robert, occurs 1210 (fn. 13)
John, occurs 1214 (fn. 14)
Baldwin, occurs 1219 (fn. 15)
William, occurs 1225, (fn. 15a) 1230-40, (fn. 16) 1254 (fn. 17)
Robert, occurs 1262 (fn. 18)
Adam de Aghton, c. 1278 (fn. 18a)
Robert de Scalleby, c. 1288 (fn. 18b)
Ralph, occurs 1335 (fn. 19)
Robert, occurs 1354 (fn. 19a)
John Hawkesworth, occurs 1481 (fn. 20)
William Beseet (Bisset), occurs 1506 (fn. 21)
John Lepington (surrendered 1538) (fn. 22)