27. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JULIAN OR GOD'S HOUSE, SOUTHAMPTON
This hospital was founded for the poor, in
the reign of Richard I., about the year 1197, (fn. 3)
by Gervase le Riche, who was a burgess of
Southampton and reeve of the town in 1185.
According to an inquisition held in 1229,
Gervase le Riche conferred the wardenship on
his brother Roger. (fn. 1) The earliest charter now
extant is a confirmation of the year 1197,
by Richard I., of the considerable properties
granted to the hospital by the founder, and
renewed in 1198 owing to the former royal
seal having been lost. (fn. 2) These gifts included
a rent of two marks on the house known as
West Hall, in which Gervase lived; eight
houses and various plots of land in the town
and suburb; a house and land at Portsmouth;
his estate at Gussage in Dorsetshire, and lands
in the Isle of Wight. (fn. 3) Shortly afterwards
William de Chelegrave granted the whole
land at Hickley, at an annual rent of five
shillings, and by the annual service of a pair
of gilt spurs and a pound of cumin; and
William de Redvers, Earl of Devon, granted
rights of pasturage and fuel, save for six weeks
each year, over the land of 'Werole,' in the
Isle of Wight, at a rent of two shillings, paying immediately, through Vincent, the warden,
ten marks, and a pair of gilt spurs to Baldwin,
the earl's son. (fn. 4)
About 1209, Roger son of Mark confirmed to the hospital, tor the support of the
priests, brethren and sisters therein, and for
the aid of the poor thither resorting, his father's
gift of the whole land of 'Werole,' at a rental
of six pence in lieu of service. (fn. 5)
Amongst the other muniments of the house
preserved at Queen's College, Oxford, are
charters of special protection from both John
and Henry III.
Warden Robert de Knowell died about
Christmas, 1285, whereupon Queen Eleanor,
the king's mother, who held Southampton in
dower for life, took possession of the hospital
through her bailiffs, and conferred the wardenship on Robert le Stock. The Bishop of
Winchester had however, shortly before this
date, made good against the town his claim to
the advowson in the Court of King's Bench.
On hearing of the queen's action, the bishop,
through the sheriff, ejected Warden Robert,
and appointed in his place, on 3 January,
1286, John le Flemang. A few months later
Warden John resigned, and on 11 July, 1287,
the bishop issued his mandate for the induction
of Richard de Multon. (fn. 6) This dispute was
brought to trial at Westminster in Hilary
term, 1290, before Gilbert de Thornton and
John de Mettingham, the king's justices.
The pleadings are extant, and are of considerable length and interest. The judgment was
against the bishop, who had to pay £20
damages, and Robert le Stock, alias le
Aumoner, was reinstated. (fn. 7)
The bishop, though defeated on technical
grounds, was able to make out a good case.
He was able to show from episcopal registers,
now lost, that Bishop Peter des Roches (1205-44) appointed Warin, a canon of St. Denis,
as warden, in succession to Vincent; that
Bishop William de Raleigh (1244-60)
appointed John Chilbaton, one of his chaplains,
and afterwards Nicholas Rokeland; that Bishop
John Gervais appointed William Chernbyne
in 1262, and afterwards Robert de Knowell.
Warden Bluntesdon, a favourite of the king,
seems to have been the first non-resident
warden. The scandal of giving the chief
emoluments of hospitals founded for the poor
and infirm to men who rarely, if ever, visited
the house over which they were supposed to
preside, became, alas! the rule and not the
exception. At God's House this procedure
began about a century after its foundation,
and was ever afterwards maintained. In 1297,
when the see of Salisbury was vacant, the king
gave Bluntesdon the archdeaconry of Dorset,
which he held with this wardenship, as well
as with other preferments, until his death in
1316.
In 1343 the king granted the custody of
God's House to the recent foundation of
Queen Philippa and Robert de Eglesfield
at Oxford, the provost and scholars of
Queen's Hall. By this charter the house
with all its appurtenances and rights passed
entirely to the hall or college, with the provision that the provost and scholars should
sustain all that was required by the original
foundation, and should use the surplus (if any)
to provide a habitation for any of their scholars
who might be afflicted with any incurable or
chronic illness. The hall was to enter into
possession immediately on the death or resignation of Robert de Eglesfield, the queen's
chaplain, who then held the wardenship.
After this date the wardens of God's House
are identical with the provosts of Queen's
Hall, Oxford. In 1347 the king repeated his
former charter, stating therein that in consequence of so much of the hospital having been
burnt by foreign invaders (1338), when its
records were destroyed, relief for its depressed
condition caused him to remit to the hospital
and all its lands for ever every kind of toll,
pontage, murage, passage, etc. This was
confirmed in 1375 by Richard II., who also
in 1385 exempted the hospital property in
Hampshire from the payments of tenths and
fifteenths for that turn. Other royal confirmations were granted in 1399, 1413 and 1429. (fn. 1)
In 1346, in the assessment for making
Edward the Black Prince a knight, it appears
that the prior of God's House, Southampton,
held half a knight's fee in Cosham. (fn. 2)
Among the muniments at Queen's College
are not only the charters of God's House, but
also a large number of household account rolls
and rent rolls beginning with the time of
Edward I. Of the earlier of these Mr. Riley
gave in 1877 a long and most interesting
analysis, as well as a summary of facts that
they establish in connection with this house
and its administration, to which we are indebted for the following particulars. (fn. 3)
In the time of the first two Edwards, the
members of God's House consisted of a master
or warden, two priests, a clerk, from two to
three brothers, from three to nine sisters, three
or more poor mendicants (paupers), and two
or three indoor servants, such as cook, washerwoman or dairymaid, and various outdoor
labourers, such as carters, ploughmen, and
herdsmen of cattle, sheep and swine.
The building contained two halls, probably
for the two sexes; chambers were assigned to
the warden, which had a cellar beneath let to
a tenant; the priests had also their chambers,
and there were separate rooms for the brothers
and sisters when in residence. It also seemed
probable to Mr. Riley that the paupers lived
in the house; judging from analogy it may
be assumed that this was certainly the case.
The duty of the senior of the two priests was
to act as steward or sergeant of the house.
The second priest, who had a lower stipend,
was the chaplain; though later there was a
third priest appointed as chaplain, and the two
senior priests were styled the two sergeants.
The brothers occasionally paid handsomely
for admission, as with a flock of sheep or
money gifts. They were often made bailiffs
or stewards of the different manors, and resided
at Cosham or Warror in the Isle of Wight,
or at Heckley near Southampton. Occasionally they took part in field labour, such as
reaping and haymaking. The sisters, too, at
times were engaged in winnowing. The
sisters, in addition to their meals, received a
farthing a day in lieu of clothing. The
paupers, in addition to their board, received a
farthing every other day; when working in
the fields they received additional remuneration,
chiefly in the form of shoes. No money
payment to the brothers is ever mentioned in
the accounts, but they had a liberal allowance
of materials for clothing.
The warden, who absorbed the greater
portion of the revenues, had a mansion or
residence at Gussage in Dorset. Occasionally
the accounts make mention of a warden
residing at Salisbury, Winchester, Odiham,
and even Wokingham in Berkshire. Brothers
and servants of the house were frequently
engaged in the laborious work of carrying
wine, cider, ale, stores or provisions to various
distant places where the warden for the time
might be dwelling. The accounts also reveal
that wardens now and again imposed their
relatives (nepotes) on the hospital, receiving
from it money, clothing, board and education.
In 1373, with characteristic energy, Bishop
Wykeham proposed to visit God's House, as
one of the most important hospitals in his
diocese. When the notice was received by
Queen's College as wardens, steps were at once
taken to resist the bishop. On 27 June, the
chancellor issued a prohibition to the bishop,
in the king's name, on the ground that the
hospital was held in free alms of the Crown
by the provost and scholars of Queen's, and
that therefore the Crown was visitor. This
prohibition was duly entered in the bishop's
register. (fn. 4)
In 1462, Edward IV. granted to the
warden, chaplains and brothers of God's
House the alien priory of Sherborne, with the
object of securing the increase of divine
worship within the hospital of St. Julian or
God's House, and perpetual masses for the
souls of the king and his successors, and for
the souls of 'Richard late Duke of York, our
father of famous memory, and of Richard, late
Earl of Cambridge, our grandfather who lies
buried within the hospital.' (fn. 5) The church or
chapel of the house was dedicated to St.
Julian, and hence the hospital itself occasionally went by that name. In 1463 the king
inspected and confirmed to Queen's Hall the
letters patent of Richard II. and the charter
of Edward III. granting them the hospital. (fn. 6)
The Valor of 1535 affords interesting
particulars as to the hospital. The gross
revenue amounted to £140 13s. 10½ d. and
included the manors of Cosham and Warror
in the Isle of Wight, the manor of Heckley,
tenements at Exbury and Hamley, a garden
in Winchester, a great number of small tenements and rents in or near Southampton, and
the property of Sherborne priory. The
charges on the income included, in addition
to a variety of payments at Monk Sherborne
and dues to divers Southampton officials, £18
a year to the three priests (Geoffrey Rudde,
Thomas Asheley and William Gy) appointed
by the founder and Edward IV. to pray for
the souls of the founders and others; £24 for
the maintenance of six poor brethren and four
poor sisters, in food, clothing and other
necessaries; £20 for seven beggars indigent
and infirm, beds and burial costs, etc.; and
£28 for daily hospitality to wayfarers and
strangers from beyond the sea, and daily distribution of alms at the gate. Beyond these
deductions the commissioners also asked that
the following expenses might be deducted:
Commons and stipends of butler, cook and
undercook, £9 6s. 8d.; stipend of barber, 8s.;
stipend of washerwoman, 16s.; wax, wine
and bread for the chapel, £1 13s. 4d.; utensils
of hall, pantry and kitchen, £1 6s. 8d.; petty
daily expenses, £18; average loss from unoccupied houses at Southampton, £6; fuel
for hall and kitchen, £2 13s. 4d.; and travelling expenses and the like, on the business of
the hospital, £3 13s. 4d. From all this it
may be inferred that God's House, under the
direction of Queen's College, was fairly carrying out the intentions of the founders, and
soundly administering the funds.
According to the accounts of 1568-9, the
senior priest was acting as steward, and 'the
house was still celebrating the exequies of
Edward IV. and Richard, Earl of Cambridge,
of Master Pereson, and the founders generally,
each at a cost of 4s.' (fn. 1) At the same time the
cost of the pauper inmates (including eight
brothers and sisters) was £41 12s. 0d.
The old domestic buildings of this house,
which dated back in the main to its original
foundation and were still substantial, were,
grievous to relate, swept away by the college
in 1861. In their place were erected the
present 'somewhat feeble though more
commodious buildings,' in two blocks. The
eastern block accommodates four brethren,
whilst the northern range is for the like
number of sisters. The old gateway has been
renewed, and the chapel of St. Julian 'restored'
out of all semblance to antiquity. An account
of the occupation of this church by a Walloon
congregation has already appeared. (fn. 2)
Wardens of The Hospital of St. Julian or God's House, Southampton
Roger le Riche (fn. 3)
William Fulient
Vincent
Warin
John Chilbaton
Nicholas Rokeland
William Chernbyne, 1262
Robert de Knowell, d. 1285
Robert le Stock or le Aumoner, 1285
John le Flemang, 1286-7
Richard de Multon, (fn. 4) 1287
Richard le Stock or le Aumoner, reinstated 1290 (fn. 5)
Roger de Estok, resigned in 1293
Henry de Bluntesdon, (fn. 6) 1293-1316
Gilbert de Wygeton, (fn. 7) 1316, 1332
Robert de Eglesfield, about 1343