19. COLLEGE OF MALDEN
The great Walter de Merton, Chancellor
of England, Bishop of Rochester, and founder
of Merton College, the celebrated foundation
at Oxford, whose charter of incorporation was
obtained in 1264, was memorable as being
the first in this kingdom to incorporate a
body of persons for purposes of study, and to
attempt to raise the condition of the secular
clergy by bringing them into close connection with an academical course of study. (fn. 1)
This, however, was not the primary form of
the great founder's intention; but, as for a few
months Surrey had the honour of being the
first seat of the munificent educational scheme
of the learned Chancellor, some mention
must be here made of the brief-lived experimental foundation initiated at Malden, and
continued for ten years further on administrative lines.
Among the Malden title deeds in the
Merton muniment room is a document
assigning that manor, together with Chessington and Farley, for the sustentation of John
de la Clythe and seven other nepotes, who are
termed scholares in scolis degentes, and are stated
to be living under an ordinance approved by
the king, by the feudal lord, by the Bishop of
Winchester, and by the Chapter of Winchester. This charter bears no date, but
Bishop Hobhouse, with much ingenuity, has
shown that it is of the year 1263, and probably of the month of September. From
this document we learn that Walter de
Merton placed eight of his nephews in his
manor house of Malden, under a warden and
chaplains, binding them down to a life of
study and rule. It was intended to be perpetual in its benefits, for the vacancies as they
occurred were to be filled up by relatives
(consanguinei), or in default by others, who
were to be nominated during his lifetime by
the founder. Richard, Earl of Gloucester,
his feudal lord, commended the institution to
the protection of his successors. (fn. 2)
In the original ordinance Walter reserved
to himself and his household the occasional
use of the manor house of Malden and of
the two other manors so far as was consistent
with the shelter and support of the scholars.
There has been considerable discussion as
to the nature of this ordinance and to what
purpose the house at Malden was devoted at
the outset and subsequently. As Manning
puts it: 'It seems, by all the expressions used
in the several charters and other instruments,
that there was a house at Malden for the use
of the foundation in some respect; but it has
been much questioned whether the founder
first settled his scholars here, and afterwards
removed them to Oxford, or whether it was
for the ministers only who resided here to
take care of the estates, whom he afterwards
sent to Oxford to form one body with the
scholars.' (fn. 3) On the whole the latter theory
seems to be the soundest, and is that which
has been adopted by the latest historian of
Merton College. (fn. 4) At all events it is clear
that when 1264 is reached, the domus
scolarium de Merton was not to afford lodging
for a band of scholars on the manor of Malden, but to find perpetual sustenance for
twenty exhibitioners at Oxford or some
other university, and to sustain two or three
ministers of the altar of Christ, residing at
Malden. The foundation, according to Mr.
Henderson, fell into two halves. The
domus was at Malden in Surrey, where lived
the custos or warden of the property, certain
brethren of the foundation, and the ministers
of the altar; but the congregatio or societas of
the scholars was at Oxford. Once in the
year some of the scholars visited the Surrey
domus, for on every recurring feast of the
Exaltation of the Cross, eight or ten of the
older and more discreet of the scholars were
to come to the house at Malden, to inquire
into the administration of the estates by the
warden. If the scholars thought that the
warden had failed to guard the property as
though it was his own, they could appeal to
the Bishop of Winchester. The election of
the warden rested with the twelve senior of
the twenty scholars.
When Walter de Merton published his
second code of statutes in 1270, the domus
at Malden still existed. The Malden house
had its warden then elected by the thirteen
senior scholars with the advice of the brethren
(seu œconomi), who resided there and helped
in the administration; its other inmates were
the chaplains or ministers of the altar, then
described as three or four, and the young
scholars, parvuli, waiting for their promotion
to Oxford. The senior member of the congregation of scholars at Oxford still annually
visited Malden in July for administrative and
audit purposes.
The final code of statutes, put forth in
1274, brought to an end the duplicate
government of the house of trust and maintenance at Malden and the house of learning
and literature at Oxford. The society had
at that date property distributed in many
parts of England; it was found that it could
be administered as well from Oxford as from
Surrey, and the Malden establishment came
to an end. (fn. 5)