HOUSES OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
1. THE CATHEDRAL PRIORY OF THE HOLY TRINITY OF NORWICH (fn. 1)
An intrinsic part of the great scheme of
Bishop Herbert de Losinga (himself a monk)
when he transferred the episcopal seat from
Thetford to Norwich, was the building of a
monastery for the Benedictine monks, who
were to have the charge of the new cathedral
church. The bishop's palace was built on the
north side of the great church, and of the monastery on the south. The foundation stone of the
church was laid in 1096, and by the year 1101
the monastic buildings were sufficiently advanced
for occupation. The bishop gathered together
sixty monks, and in September, 1101, at Windsor, sealed the foundation deed, which was
witnessed by the king and queen, the two archbishops, eight bishops, the papal legate, and by
many earls and abbots. By this deed the bishop
fixed the possessions of the see as well as those
of the priory. (fn. 2)
The taxation roll of Pope Nicholas, 1291,
yields £489 7s. 2d. as the total annual value of
the priory. Of this sum £46 8s. came under
spiritualities, consisting of portions or pensions
from twenty-eight parish churches in the archdeaconries of Norwich, Norfolk, and Suffolk,
varying in amount from 4s. to £4. Of the
temporalities, £36 9s. 5½d. came from different
parishes in the city of Norwich. The five
places that yielded the largest incomes outside the
city were—'Sechford,' £76 18s. 4½d.; Hemsby
and Winterton, £41 11s. 2½d.; and Hindolveston, £18 0s. 7½d.
The Valor Ecclesiasticus shows a great advance
in the annual value of the priory during two and
a half centuries, for the income was then estimated at £1,061 14s. 3½d. The increase largely
arose from the considerable number of appropriations of churches that had been gained during
that period by the priory.
In the county of Norfolk the priory then held
the appropriations of thirty rectories, as well as
of two moieties of rectories. These produced
an income of £207 6s. 10½d., the largest being
Bishops Lynn £38 13s. 4d., and the smallest
Riston £1 13s. 4d. They also held three small
rectories in Suffolk, which added £9 6s; 6d. to
their income. In addition to this they possessed
the city rectories of St. Paul, St. James, St.
Gregory, St. Giles, St. Martin Coslany, St.
Martin at the Palace Gates, St. John Berstreet,
St. John de Sepulchre, St. George Colegate, and
St. Peter Parmentergate; these together with the
tithes of the gardens of the Carmelites, produced
an income of £21 11s. 8d.
The commissioners made an entry to the
effect that the priory also held the city rectories
of All Saints Fybridge, St. Vedast, St. Saviour
Fybridge, St. Cross, St. Mary the Little, St.
Cuthbert, and St. Etheldreda, but that no claim
had been made for many years on the parishioners
of these churches in consequence of the poverty
of the inhabitants. A further sum of £23 1s. 4d.
issued from over thirty pensions from religious
houses to which churches had been appropriated;
a small pension to the cathedral being the usual
condition of episcopal licence to appropriate. Old
established portions or pensions from different
parishes brought in £16.
The small sum of £3 13s. 8½d. represented
the offerings made that year at three shrines in
the hands of the priory, viz. £2 19s. 7d. at the
image of the Holy Trinity in the cathedral
church; 13s. 7d. at St. Robert at the cell of
Holme; and 6½d. at the image of St. Leonard's
cell, Norwich.
The actual manors that were then held by
the priory were those of Hemsby, Martham,
Great Plumstead, Catton, Newton, Eaton, Field
Dalling, Great Cressingham, Taverham, Hindolveston, Hendringham, 'Sechford,' Thornham,
Labenham, Ambringhall, Thurberton, and
Aldeby, all in Norfolk.
The historical or local incidents connected
with this priory are not very numerous, nor are
any of them of primary importance.
The long-continued disputes between the monks
and the citizens began in the reign of John, when
there were legal contests as to the respective
rights of commoning on lands near the city
between the priory tenants and the ordinary
townsfolk. The charters of the monks are of
a much older date than those of the citizens, and
the priory resented the liberties granted to the
borough by Richard I and his two successors.
Hence they stood strenuously to what they considered the rights of their tenants in common
pasture, and more especially in tollage. This
so enraged the populace, that in 1232 certain of
the more violent forcibly entered the monastery,
robbed it of some of its contents, and set part of
it on fire. The king was then at Bromholm,
Norfolk, and sent the sheriff to hold an inquisition as to the affray. The burgesses refused
either to allow the sheriff to hold an inquest or
to hold one themselves, whereupon the king
seized all their liberties. The city soon submitted, and the seizure was released. The dispute, however, broke out with fresh rancour in
1239, when the abbot of Ramsey, the provost of
Beverley, and four itinerant justices vainly endeavoured to make peace. Eventually Henry III
came to Norwich, and a decision was given in
favour of the priory as having the older liberties.
The point at issue was that the monks claimed
to exercise all their liberties in their own jurisdiction and lands; whereas the citizens claimed
to exercise their liberties on the priory site and
lands, as they were not specially excepted in the
city charters. (fn. 3)
There was comparative peace between the
ecclesiastical and civil authorities for about
twenty years, but in 1256 the strife broke out
anew. In that year the city complained that
the priory officers were taking landgable (fn. 4) in
the afternoon, when the city bailiffs had taken it
in the morning. This led to a great disturbance,
but the courts again upheld the priory, for the
prior was able to prove that he only took landgable in Holm Street, and other parts exempt
from city jurisdiction. (fn. 5)
A grievous tumult arose in 1272, brought
about by the old cause, namely, the priory's claim
to the liberties of their own property within the
city. The citizens attempted to hold a fair on
9 August on Tombland before the monastery
gates, and, as this was priory property, William
Burnham the prior directed the servants of the
monastery to disperse the fair-holders. This led
to violence, in which some of the citizens were
killed. The city coroner held an inquest, found
the servants guilty of murder, and issued warrants for their arrest. Upon this the prior
closed the monastery gates, having procured a
large force of servants and tenants to defend it.
Certain of the priory party made raids upon the
city, which so enraged the townsmen that they
assembled in vast numbers, fired the gates, burnt
all the cathedral church save the Lady Chapel,
and almost the whole of the conventual buildings,
killed many of the monks and their retainers in
the cloisters and precincts, and sacked the church
and priory of all its plate, vestments, and books,
treating similarly the houses of the priory tenants.
The prior fled to Yarmouth, where, instead of
trying to allay the storm which was mainly of his
own creation, he gathered together an armed force,
and entered Norwich to the sound of the trumpet
and with drawn sword, and put to rout the citizens,
with the loss of many lives and much property.
Meantime the Bishop of Norwich called together
his clergy at Rye in Suffolk, and on 30 August
excommunication was pronounced against the four
bailiffs of Norwich, the town clerk, the members
of the common council, and others unknown,
and the whole city put under interdict.
The king summoned a parliament at Bury
St. Edmunds on St. Giles's Day, and by their
advice proceeded personally to Norwich on 14
September, when the bishop, by royal request,
took off the interdict from the city. The king's
justices, according to the city roll, condemned
thirty-four of the offenders to be drawn with
horses about the city till they died; others were
hanged on the gallows; the woman who first
set fire to the monastery gates was burnt alive,
and divers persons forfeited their goods to the
crown. On the other hand the prior was committed to the bishop's prison, and the priory with
all its manors was seized into the king's hands.
The king also seized the city and all the
liberties that had ever been granted it, and appointed wardens to keep the city in his name. (fn. 6)
The king appointed the prior of Binham
warden of the property of the Norwich priory,
and left the city on 27 September. The next day
Prior Burnham resigned; the convent elected
William Kirkby in his place on 1 October, and
the king redelivered to him the goods and
revenues of the monastery.
Under its new ruler the priory demanded of the
city 4,000 marks for damage, appealing in 1274
to the Roman court to enforce the claim. The
pope took the wise course of referring the whole
matter to the decision of the king, who determined (1) that all parties should try to be real
friends; (2) that the citizens should pay 3,000
marks towards rebuilding the church, in six
annual sums of 500 marks; (3) that they should
give for the use of the high altar of the church
a pix of gold weighing ten pounds, and worth
£100; (4) that the priory might make new
gates to their monastery; and (5) that some of
the chief citizens should proceed to Rome at their
own expense to assure the pope of the truth of the
agreement, and to beg his pardon and peace.
On the city complying with these terms, the
king restored it to its ancient dignity. In 1276
the pope's general absolution came from Rome,
and was published at Norwich on Palm Sunday
by the priors of the Dominican and Franciscan
houses of that city.
On Advent Sunday, 1278, William de Middleton was enthroned as bishop, and the now
completely restored cathedral church was by him
dedicated, in the presence of the king and queen,
and of three other bishops and a great concourse
of nobles. (fn. 7)
Other disputes between the priory and the
city as to the respective limits of their jurisdiction took place during the reign of Edward I,
but were solved by appeals to the law courts.
In 1306 an important composition was agreed
to with regard to the claim of the priory that
Tombland, with Ratton Row, Holm Street, and
Spiteland was their demesne, and that their
tenants therein could sell and trade without contributing to any city tollage or tax. The agreement decided that henceforth Tombland should
always be kept clear, and not used as a market,
as a rope-walk, or to lay timber thereon, save that
the priory might hold there their Whitsuntide
fair, and that every Sunday at such times as there
was a synod held at Norwich, victuals and fruit
might, as usual, be sold at the priory gates; that
at every fair the citizens were to choose first
which half they would have for their stalls, for
which they were to pay no kind of toll, and
that the other half was to be the prior's; that
the city coroner might hold inquests on the
priory demesne, but that the prior should name
a brother to act as his assessor, and that the jury
should be drawn solely from the parish where
the offence had occurred; that the prior and
coroner might hold their leets in Holm Street
and Spiteland without any city officer; and that
the bailiffs were not to distrain or enter on the
demesne, nor levy any tolls or customs for the
city; but if any sold merchandise there they
were to pay such tolls to the prior, and the prior
was to answer for them to the city bailiffs. (fn. 8)
Edward III and Queen Philippa, when they
visited Norwich in 1344, and Richard II and
his queen, during their visit were lodged in the
priory. (fn. 9)
In 1329 there was a fresh readjustment of
the recurring disputes, whereby Prior William
Worsted secured better terms than hitherto for
his tenants in the exempt liberties, including
toll-free passage on the River Wensum. (fn. 10)
A strange kind of riot, called 'Gladman's insurrection,' arose in the city in connexion with
claims to mills in 1442. William Hempstede,
mayor for that year, was charged with designedly
raising an insurrection, declaring they had power
in the city to slay both bishop and prior, and
the abbot of Holm, and to spoil their goods, and
that the king, by reason the city was a county
by itself, had not the power to punish them for
so doing; whereupon John Gladman, a city
merchant, rode on horseback as a king, with a
paper crown on, and a sceptre and sword carried
before him, and with a great armed troop of
3,000 on horseback and foot (fn. 11) proceeded to the
priory gates, calling out: 'Let us burn the priory
and kill the prior and monks.' The priory
gates being guarded, they dug a passage under
them for entry, and carried wood thither to burn
the priory, and placed guns against it. At last,
by threats of killing the prior and all the monks,
they obtained from them an evidence of the
priory sealed with the city seal relative to the
meadows by the river. This they took away,
and for a week, from Monday after St. Paul's
Conversion, kept the city gates shut as against the
king, and would not suffer the Duke of Norfolk,
nor the Earl of Oxford, or any of the king's
ministers, though showing the royal commission,
to enter. This extraordinary outburst ended in
the liberties of the city being seized into the
king's hands, and they thus continued until
1447, when Mayor Hempstede and his associates
pleaded guilty and threw themselves on the king's
mercy. Thereupon, after payment of a fine of
1,000 marks, the liberties were restored. (fn. 12)
Through the influence of Cardinal Wolsey, a
composition was entered into between the priory
and the city in 1524, whereby the latter resigned all claims to jurisdiction within the precincts to the priory, whilst the monastery gave
up all claim to jurisdiction in Tombland, Holme
Street, Ratton Row, and Spiteland. The city
also made certain other surrenders to the priory,
such as freedom from all tolls and customs, both
by water and land, for all goods bought or sold
for the use of the convent and their household. (fn. 13)
On 6 April, 1539, the great monastery of
Norwich was dissolved. The monks were for
the most part changed into prebendaries or
secular canons, whilst the last prior, William
Castleton, became the first dean of the new
establishment.
Among the muniments of the city of Norwich
is a copy of the charter, quaintly described as the
document 'whereby the prior and monks are
changed from the monkish state into a dean
and chapter, and so made secular priests and
altered their cowls.' (fn. 14)
Some consideration must now be given to the
considerable number of old documents relating
to the inner working and life of the cathedral
priory of the Holy Trinity.
In the treasury of the cathedral of Norwich no
fewer than 1,400 of the old account rolls of the
great Benedictine priory are carefully preserved.
They are 'obedientiary rolls,' that is, they pertained to the obedientiaries or chief officials of
the priory, and are concerned with the yearly
accounts pertaining to the office of the particular
official. The earliest roll is of the year 1272;
many earlier ones were probably consumed in
the devastating fire of that particular year. The
date of the latest of the pre-Reformation series is
1535. (fn. 15)
A general account roll of the year 1363 gives
a Status Obedientiariorum, with the total receipts
of each officer of the convent, beginning with the
prior. The officials enumerated on this roll,
under the prior, were as follows, the year after
each giving the date of the earliest roll
still extant of that particular office:—Cellarer
(1303), sacrist (1274), chamberlain (1292), precentor (1283), almoner (1276), infirmarer (1313),
commoner (1284), pittancer (1289), hostellar
(1320), refectorian (1289), gardener (1340), and
warden of St. Paul's Hospital (1423). The
priors of four out of the five cells of this cathedral priory also sent in their account rolls—
Yarmouth (1355), Aldeby (1381), Hoxne (1394),
and St. Leonard, Norwich (1348).
The most interesting rolls for a history of the
actual working of the great cathedral in mediaeval
days are those of the sacrist; they happen, fortunately, to be more numerous than any of the
others, although there are considerable as well as
occasional gaps in their sequence. (fn. 16)
The income of the sacrist's office came mainly
from the voluntary offerings of the faithful.
The chief of these were the offerings at the
high altar, to the north of which stood the costly
patronal images of the Holy Trinity. In 1301
the offerings at the high altar were £43 16s. 7d.,
the Lady altar £14 11s. 4d., the Relics altar
£8 16s. 7d., the box (trunca) of the Cross
£6 17s. 2¼d., the box at the head of Walter the
bishop 56s. 5d., and the box of St. Hippolitus
12s. 6d. For the next few years these offerings
were of approximately similar amounts; in 1304
the high altar gifts were £46, and in 1305 £45,
but soon afterwards they diminished.
The results of the Black Death, here as elsewhere, were to stimulate the devotions of many
of the survivors. The rolls are, unfortunately,
missing of the immediate years on each side of
the great pestilence, but in 1343 (the latest
before the pestilence) the total receipts of the
sacrist were only £114 19s. 4¼d., whilst the
total for 1364 (the first extant after the pestilence) was £188 13s. 1½d., the rise being chiefly
attributable to the offerings. For this latter year
they were: At the high altar, £54 7s. 1¼d.;
'ad crucem,' £21 19s. 7d.; 'ad reliquias,'
£7 8s. 2¼d.; in the Lady chapel, £3 0s. 2½d.;
at the image of St. Osyth, £3 6s. 4½d.; and at
the image of St. Hippolitus, 11s. 7d. The two
lowest of the offerings before various other images
were St. Katherine 1¾d. and St. Anne 1d. This
year's receipts also includes the contents of a box
(21s. 0¾d.) at the door by the presbytery.
The receipts for 1369 were £192 14s. 0½d.,
and the expenses £190 11s. 2½d. The high
altar offerings were £49 13s. 8d., and those 'ad
erucem' £17 0s. 8¾d. The image of St. Katherine,
which had been new made in 1364, brought in
2s, 6¼d. The expenses of that year included
£2 6s. 7d. for gilding two archangels at the high
altar.
In the year 1400 a considerable impetus was
given to the devotional offerings owing to a bull
of papal indulgence (to last for seven years) to
penitents visiting the three chief altars of the
priory during the feast of the Holy Trinity.
This produced in 1401 the sum of £49 16s. 10d.
at those altars during the dedication feast, and
the offerings at the high altar during the rest of
the year rose to £62. The effect of the bull
of indulgence was perceptible throughout the
time it was in operation; the high altar oblations
in 1403 were £77.
The first year that this indulgence at the
Trinity dedication festival came into operation
(1401) a special feature was introduced into the
services, probably at the time of high mass. The
figure of an angel in the roof of the body of the
church descended with a great censer, censing
the doubtless vast congregation in the nave.
The charge for preparing the figure this year
was 9s. 1d. The angel was generally brightened
with silver foil year by year, a charge for which
constantly occurs. After a time the like solemnity was also enacted at the feast of Corpus
Christi, and an entry constantly occurs of 2s. for
the man in charge of the apparatus for lowering
and raising the censing angel at those two feasts.
At Easter, 1487, Henry VII was present at
Norwich, and in his honour the pageant occurred
a third time that year. This solemnity was
interrupted by the great fire of 1463, when the
roofs of the cathedral were destroyed, and was
not resumed until 1474.
The offerings steadily decreased; those of the
high altar, in round numbers, were £54 in 1442,
£33 in 1452, £26 in 1462, £20 in 1482, £18 in
1491, £13 in 1504, and in 1536 only £4. 15s. 3d.
The second source of the sacrist's income was
from the appropriated churches of Scrouteby
(Ormesby) £37 1s. 2½d., Hemsby, £18 10s.,
Banburgh £17 8s. 2d., and Eaton £11 13s. 5¾d.
The figures given are those from the roll of
1301, when these four churches brought in an
income of £84 12s. 10¼d., but tithes were exceptionally high that year; in 1328 the four
churches only produced £47, in 1403 £43.
A third source of income was from tithes and
rents. Latterly, a variety of pensions granted to
the mother church of the diocese by religious
houses at the time of the appropriation of rectories were assigned to the sacrist. A fourth
small source of income, of a fluctuating character, arose from legacies of usually quite small
sums. Bequests in wills to the cathedral church
all went to the sacrist.
With regard to the sacrist's expenditure, as
there was no separate master of the fabric at
Norwich, the most important items are those
concerned with the upkeep of the church and
the conventual buildings. (fn. 17) The ornaments of
the church naturally came under the charge of
the sacrist. A few items are here given from the
expenditure side of the rolls under this head.
The shrine of St. William was beautified in
1305, the sum of 6s. 8d. being spent on
140 leaves of gold and 11d. for 150 leaves of
silver. White lead, vermilion, and orpiment
(yellow arsenic) cost 2s. 2d, and oil for painting
10d., while Simon the painter and his boy
received 25s. 6d. in wage and victuals for nine
weeks. In 1369, fixing three basins with cords
and pulleys, each carrying a wax taper to burn
continually before the high altar (Holy Trinity),
26s. 6½d.; 1386, for a beautiful lantern hanging
in the choir, nothing, because Alice de Reppis
gave it; 1400, for making two chalices, 26s. 8d.;
1404, for a jewel bought for the body of Christ
at the feasts of the Holy Trinity and Corpus
Christi, £12; 1406, for chains for the great
thurible that serves from the roof of the church
on the feast of the Holy Trinity, and mending
the same, 2s. 3d.; 1494, for the repair of the
pix in which was kept the milk of the Blessed
Virgin, 3s. 4d., and for cleaning the crowns of
the Holy Trinity, 5d.; 1505, Thomas Worcester, goldsmith, for making the shoes of the
Holy Trinity, 22s. 10d.; 1510, for a ladder
with a carrying stand made with iron-work to
put the tunics and crown upon the second person
of the Holy Trinity at fit times, 2s.
The repair and renewal of the church vestments, as well as of the church napery, also
came under this department, the entries being of
a kind common in such accounts and presenting
no particular features of interest. The clock entries are numerous and interesting right through
the accounts; mending the clock cost 6s. 5d. in
1290; and in 1325, when a large sum was expended on an elaborate new clock and chimes,
with two dials and beautifully decorated, a regular
clock warden was appointed, Robert Orologiarius,
who received, in addition to money payment, a
furred robe valued at 16s. Organ repairs are
also of constant occurrence: Adam the organist
in 1333 received a robe worth 13s. 4d., and a new
pair of organs for the quire in 1510 cost £16.
Each of the obedientiaries, in addition to what
was done by the almoner proper, made certain
payments of an eleemosynary character. Thus,
in 1301, the sacrist, besides contributing 40s. to
the scholars from the priory at Oxford, gave 6s.
to poor scholars. In the same year over £4
was given to the poor of the appropriated parishes.
There was an invariable contribution to the lepers
of St. Mary Magdalen Hospital, and frequently
gifts of cloth and shoes to the poor of Norwich.
Among other payments of usual occurrence may
be mentioned strewing rushes three times a year
in church, cloister, and dormitory; strewing
herbs round the high altar; providing mats for
church, cloister, and refectory; painting and
gilding the paschal candle, and providing gravestones for the deceased monks.
It may be mentioned that the sacrist had six
regular assistants under him for the charge of,
the great church and keeping it clean, namely,
the sub-sacrist, the master of the high altar, and
four servants. The first two of these were
always monks; the last four were probably
originally lay brothers and so continued for some
time, but later they were paid servants, receiving
a wage of nearly £2 each, in addition to a
certain amount of board.
Though somewhat fewer in number and a
good deal shorter than those of the sacrist, the
rolls of the precentor come next in general
interest as affecting the story of the church.
The earliest is for the year 1283, the next is
for 1314. There are twenty-seven more of the
fourteenth century, upwards of fifty of the next
century, and seven of the sixteenth.
A most interesting item of the precentor's
receipts, which begins to occur on the rolls
towards the end of the fourteenth century, is
that for sealing. In 1385 the using the common
seal brought in 36s. 8d.; in 1395, 18s. 4d.; in
1407, 56s. 8d.; in 1427, 100s.; in 1437,
6s. 8d.; and in 1471 the seal 'ad causas' 20d.,
and the common seal 3s. 8d.
The charges for sealing were paid to the precentor by the parties in whose favour the seal
was used. The roll of 1477 shows to what
documents the common seal was appended for that
year, the charge on each occasion being 6s. 8d.,
viz. the presentations to the three vicarages of
Catton, Bamburgh, and Hindringham, the confirmation of the priors of Birsett and 'Kyrle,'
and a document relative to King's College,
Cambridge.
It was the precentor's duty to see that due
care was taken of the actual seals; in 1386
mending the matrix of the common seal cost
2s.; in 1425 silk cases were made for the seals
at a charge of 6d. Special wax was bought by
the precentor for making the seals, such as 4 lb.
in 1354 at 2s. Occasionally red lead was bought
for mixing with the wax, at other times it was
bought ready prepared as red wax. Again,
green wax was sometimes bought, but oftener
verdigris for mixing in the wax to produce the
green. This green wax as used for spreading
over the tabulae or tables suspended in the church
or cloister whereon were inscribed the names of
the different brethren on the rota of the masses,
or other instructions as to the services. Thus in
1447 wax 'vertegrees' was bought 'pro tabula' at
4d., and the same in 1457 for the great tables
at 8d. The precentor was similarly responsible
for the supply of ink for the convent; at one
time he bought galls, gum, and vitriol for its
manufacture; at another prepared ink, as in
1315, when it cost 6s. 6d.
One of his chief duties, abundantly illustrated
in these rolls, was the care of the quire and service books, as well as the books of the general
library. The entries are almost continuous for
general binding and repair and the purchase of
chains with staples and locks, and so forth. But
the chief duty of the precentor was to regulate
the singing and music of the quire. There are
many entries of small sums for the recreation or
refreshment of chanters or choristers at the three
great feasts of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost.
The boys of the Blessed Mary had breakfasts
given them on various occasions, and at other
times small gifts of money. Now and again a
special singer was hired; thus, in 1481, 2s. was
given to William Glover at Christmas for singing
in the quire and at the Lady Mass. There are
many references to both great organs and quire
organs and their repair. The usual annual fee
to a servant for organ-blowing was 12d. (once
9d. and latterly 16d.), but his services were only
required at the three great festivals, at other
times one of the monks or lay brothers must
have officiated in that capacity. In 1381, at
some special function, both great and small
organs were placed in the Lady Chapel at an
expense of 20s., and at the same time 3s. 4d.
was paid to two organ-blowers for five days.
Payment was also made to one of the brethren
in 1530 for making the bellows of the organs
with six calf-skins.
In 1383, when Richard II and his queen
visited Norwich, a gratuity of shoes, costing 8s.,
was given to those who cleaned the quire against
their coming. No doubt there was extra music,
as the precentor took 2s. 6d. out of his own fund
for his labour in the quire. There was a
contribution of 40s. from the precentor's fund
towards the entertaining of royalty.
The earliest infirmarer's roll is that of 1313;
the next is for 1345, and then consecutively to
1350, and there is also one for 1394; there are
twenty-one to 1530, and there is also one for
1394; there are twenty-one rolls of the fifteenth
century and five of the sixteenth. The receipts
for 1313 were £37 14s. 2d., and the expenses
£27 14s. 4d. The receipts during that century
kept up well, on two occasions reaching £43;
and the expenses were always less than the
receipts.
The infirmary had its own garden, the use of
which seems to have been chiefly confined to the
growing of herbs and medicinal plants, such as
rhubarb, peonies (the roots, flowers, and seeds
were all used in the mediaeval pharmacy), fennel,
and squills. Seeds for the garden are often
entered among the expenses, without specifying
the kinds bought; but on one occasion they
were the seeds of the white (opium) poppy. In
1400, 10½d. was paid for 'weding' in the garden
and for 'wedingyrnis.' In 1461, 20d. was paid
for planting saffron (croci). Fruit was also grown
in the infirmary garden, probably apples and
pears, which would as a rule be used by the
inmates; but one year (1496) there must have
been a surplus of fruit, for 5s. 8½d. is entered
among the receipts for fruit growing in the
garden. On another occasion there is a charge
for trimming the vines.
The medicines used are seldom specified, but
among the drugs and spices were liquorice,
aniseed, turbit (a cathartic drug), dragon's blood,
aggarik, mace, cloves, pepper, and nutmeg.
Other purchases of the infirmarer were almonds,
dates, figs and pomegranates, and white sugar,
but these were for convent feasts. The number
requiring medicine, and the names of particular
cases, are sometimes entered. Thus, in 1346,
twenty-four required medicine, of whom two
are named, Thomas de Wisbech, whose drugs
cost 8d., and Adam de Erpingham, 2s, 2d. The
same year medicines for the blooded cost 13d.
In 1394 dinner and drink of the physicians
(medicorum) cost 3s. 8d. The sum of 3s. 7d. is
entered under the head of medicines and the
wages of the physician. This year there also
occurs an entry, subsequently often repeated, of
2s. 6d. to the clerk (attendant) of the blooded,
in earlier rolls he is called the servant (servitori
minutorum). Physicians and medicines cost
41s. 11d. in 1400. A few years later the wages
of Master Marck, the physician, are entered as
13s. 4d. In 1429 Master Marck received 3s. 4d.
pro inspeccione urine (an entry afterwards often
repeated), and 6s. 8d. for clysters given and other
labour. A surgeon was called in during 1431.
There are occasional entries of medicine given
to the poor outside the infirmary.
In 1446 begins the definite entry at the two
feasts of the Conception and Assumption of the
Virgin of the number of monks in the house,
on each of whom 12d. was spent in 'spices' or
extra sweets. This went on down to the dissolution, and similar entries are made on some of
the precentors' rolls. This enables us to form a
fairly correct estimate of the fluctuating numbers
of the priory monks for the last century of their
existence. The numbers cannot be taken as
precisely accurate, for on two of the three occasions where there are returns for the same year
both on the precentor's and the infirmarer's rolls
they do not exactly tally. The average number
works out at about forty-five. (fn. 18) It would generally
also happen that two or three of the Norwich
monks would be absent for health's sake at their
cells of either Lynn or Yarmouth.
One other comment must be offered on the
infirmarer's rolls. As they are extant from 1346
to 1350, it is only natural to turn to them with
unwonted interest to see what references there
are to the Great Pestilence or Black Death,
which raged with such peculiar fierceness in the
city of Norwich. Was the infirmary crowded?
What were the drugs used? and other like
queries at once occur to the mind. At first
sight, however, these particular rolls seem most
disappointing; but after all their very silence is
eloquent, and the complete breakdown of the
machinery that usually sufficed to meet the needs
and the pains of sickness speaks clearly of the
overwhelming character of this awful tragedy,
before which human agency sank down aghast.
The summer and autumn of 1348 were abnormally wet throughout England, and there was
much sickness before ever the plague reached
our shores. The roll for 1347-8 ends with
entries of medicines for Robert de Walsingham
and others of the brethren, and the very last
entry is the sum of 2s. paid to Master Adam for
his labour about our brethren at Yarmouth,
whither some had doubtless gone for better air.
The epidemic did not reach East Anglia until
1349 had begun. The roll from Michaelmas,
1348, to Michaelmas, 1349, is left unfinished.
Ralph de Swantone, the infirmarer, began it, but
he must have died when the plague was raging
terrifically in the city (70,000 perished, whole
parishes being blotted out); for John de Heders
began to act as infirmarer on 10 July. Evidently the usual organization was paralyzed.
True, each of the brothers had an electuary, but
the whole expenditure dropped to £5 9s. 3d.
Heders drew up a further roll from Michaelmas,
1349, to Christmas Eve; William de Len had
another electuary, but there was merely £5
spent. At Christmas the roll ends, Heders died,
and the last entry records that 52s. 1d. was
stolen in the general disorganization from the
infirmarer's office.
So little is known with certainty of mediaeval
gardening, that the various gardeners' rolls of
this priory, in addition to the herb garden references in the infirmarers' rolls are of particular
value. (fn. 19) They are thirty in number, beginning
in 1340 and ending in 1419.
It is obvious that the monastery gardens produced more than was required even for their
great household. Among the receipts of the
year 1400, are the sum of 4s. 7½d. for the sale
of apples and pears; 24s. 4d. for onions; 6s. 1d.
for leeks; 3s. 11½d. for garlick; and 6s. 10½d. for
herbs and herb plants. The receipts for the
year 1379 amounted to £4 7s., and included
16d. for onions; 18s. 5d. for garlick; 18s. for
mustard seed; osiers and faggots 4s. 1d.
Among the details of other years in these
gardener rolls occurs the mention of peas and
beans and bean-straw, though these vegetables
were usually cultivated only for cattle in
mediaeval England. Mention is made of filberts
in 1340, of beets and carrots in 1320, and of
cherries in 1452. The sacrist also had a small
garden which occasionally produced filberts.
The gardener's receipts kept getting less and
less, as time went on. Thus in 1521, they
amounted to 49s., and in 1530 to 42s. 4d. This
diminution can partly be accounted for by the
gross carelessness of at least one who held the
office, as described in the subsequent account of
the cell of St. Leonard.
The most interesting of the hostilar or guestmaster's rolls is that of 1534, which contains a
full inventory of the furniture of his department,
including the chapel of St. Edmund in the great
chamber or lodgings that bore the saint's name,
in which chamber were two enclosed beds (lecti
inclusi) called 'cryboleys,' or cribs. There were
chambers bearing the names of the priors of
Yarmouth and Aldeby, which were doubtless
used by the superiors of those cells when attending the mother house.
The cellarer's rolls are nearly perfect from
30 Edward III to the end of Henry VII's reign.
The cellarer or bursar had his lodgings hard by
the refectory and kitchens on the south side of
the cloister. The Norwich cellarer had to find
wine on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and
three days after the Circumcision, the Vigil of
the Epiphany, Epiphany, Candlemas, Palm
Sunday, Easter Eve, and Easter Day and
three days after. He also paid the minstrels on
Trinity Sunday, All Saints and Christmas Days.
There are but few early chamberlains' rolls;
they are fairly perfect from Richard II. onwards.
The refectorian or comptroller of the refectory, had to see that everything was in order for
the meals of the brethren; he had the charge
of all the table linen, and the ordering of the
lavatory.
The pittancer, whose office it was to see to
the observance and supply of the pittances, had
to expend 13s. 4d. in wine for the convent on
St. Margaret's Day, and to provide for the whole
feast on the anniversaries of Prior Kirby and
Thomas de St. Omer; and on all high festivals
treated the convent with almonds and raisins. (fn. 20)
The minor lay officers, or paid servants of the
priory, who occur with more or less frequency in
the accounts and rolls, were naturally numerous. (fn. 21)
The porters or janitors who kept the gates
were several in number, but the head porter held
a life office, and was nominated by the prior. In
1381, Prior Hoo granted this office for life to
Nicholas de Clenchwerton, he was to receive
daily a monk's loaf and a gallon of ale, and
the like provision out of the kitchen as was
served to monks in the infirmary; he also received a mark yearly, or a suit like those of the
cellarer's servants. He occupied a chamber over
the main entrance gates. (fn. 22)
The granarymen, or keepers of the garners,
received and delivered the store of corn of
various kinds for use in the house. (fn. 23)
There were several grooms on the regular
staff of the priory. The head groom was
termed stallarius, or keeper of the stalls, and next
him was the provendarius, who was responsible
for the due supply of provender, especially oats
and horse bread. They had in their charge
four kinds of horses: manni, or saddle-geldings;
runcini, gallaways or pad nags; summarii, sumpter-horses; and averii, cart-horses.
The gaoler (carcerarius) had the charge of the
prison for incorrigible monks, and also of the
'sentuery' or sanctuary, the temporary refuge
of debtors and criminals. The 'swanard' or
swanherd, had charge of the swans in the priory
waters, and was responsible for their due marking. A great variety of other servants had their
daily bread out of the convent's stores, such as
the prior's butler, the cellarer's butler, the infirmary clerk, miller, cooper, maltster, carpenter,
woodward, gardener's men, kitchen servants,
scullions, &c.
Much light is thrown on the inner life of this
monastery from the moral point of view, by the
several episcopal visitations of the priory during
the last fifty years of its existence, which are to
be found in the volume of visitations at the
Bodleian. (fn. 24)
Bishop Goldwell visited Norwich Priory in
person on Friday, 5 October, 1492, with full
ceremonial. He was met at the west gates by
the whole chapter in solemn state, and conducted, preceded by the banner of the Holy
Cross, to the high altar, the bells ringing and
the organs playing. After giving the pontifical
blessing the bishop proceeded with the prior and
chapter to the chapter-house, accompanied by
Nicholas Goldwell archdeacon of Norwich, Dr.
Shankwin his official, Dr. Falke his commissary
general, and John Aphorsell notary public.
After the sub-prior had read the Word of God,
Friar William Spynke produced the citations and
other documents pertaining to the visitation, the
secret and individual examination of each
member began, and was adjourned on the
Saturday until the following Monday. The
report upon the visitation stated that the third
prior was indiscreet in his corrections; that
women (the wives of the barber and tailor)
passed the night within the precincts; that
valuables had been sold, and the office of the
sacrist deteriorated by 100 marks; that due
silence was not observed in choir, cloister, and
dormitory; that the offices were not properly
distributed, Father Denys holding the offices of
commoner, almoner, infirmarer, and pittancer,
and being at the same time master of St. Paul's
Hospital; that the altar warden does not sleep
in the church, to its jeopardy, and contrary to
ancient custom; that the sacrist deals prodigally
with his funds, and goes outside the monastery at
night, sitting an unnecessary time with the tailor
and his wife, and that the tailor and his wife
both lived within the precincts; that certain
jewels given to the high altar by the lady of
Blakeney had been alienated by the sacrist;
that the attendance in the infirmary was poor,
that Denys was using one of the gardens, planted
with saffron, for his own purposes; that the
pensions of the chantries of Hardingham,
Wakering and Tye had not been paid; that
laymen sat at table with the monks; that
monks sat and walked within the church and its
enclosures, and talked too much with women of
doubtful character; that there was not sufficient
fire for the monks in winter; that the gates and
doors of the monastery were not shut at night;
and that there were no monks studying at Oxford.
The bishop's injunctions to the priory, based
on this comprehensive report, were not dispatched until 27 April, 1493. They dealt at
length with the various evils, and ordered that
two monks and two novices should be sent to
Gloucester College, Oxford. The visitation was
then adjourned until November; as there is no
entry of that date, the bishop must have been
satisfied at that period as to the observance of
injunction. There were forty-five members present at the visitation, in addition to the prior. (fn. 25)
Bishop Nicke visited the priory in April, 1514.
William Repps, D.D., the sacrist, preached a
Latin sermon in the chapter-house from the
text Expurgate vetus fermentum. The prior
did not appear, and made no excuse for his
absence. The examination of the various members of the chapter, as briefly recorded in the
register, shows grave complaints. The prior had
evidently grievously relaxed the discipline of the
house. The sub-prior was denounced by some
as a profligate, the buildings were dilapidated,
there was no regular schoolmaster, the number of
the monks had fallen to thirty-five, women went
in and out at pleasure, the services were conducted in a slovenly manner, and sheep fed in
the cloister garth. Comperta were drawn up by
the bishop's officials based on the evidence, and
injunctions were issued, the visitation being kept
open to see their observance. (fn. 26)
By the time of the next visitation, in 1520,
there had been a great improvement; the prior
answered to his name and produced his accounts.
The evil sub-prior and two others against whom
there had been grave charges no longer appear
on the roll. The obedientiaries were unanimous
in returning omnia bene, save that the chamberlain complained that sheep still grazed in the
cloister garth. The bishop's consequent injunctions were of the briefest character, and were
confined to a prohibition of the sheep grazing
and a direction that the monks and novices
should proceed in an orderly way, two and two,
when going from dormitory to quire. (fn. 27)
The next visitation was in 1526, when
Bishop Nicke's influence in the diocese was
greatly on the wane. The visitation was conducted by the bishop's official, and the prior was
absent. Dr. William Repps, the sub-prior, who
subsequently became bishop of Norwich, was
obviously a lax ruler. Full reports of the visitation, with its subsequent comperta and injunctions are set forth. As Dr. Jessopp remarks,
there were evidently two parties in the monastery,
and it is difficult to attempt to unravel the
tangle of complaints and counter complaints, and
sometimes of evident slander and gross exaggeration, which were not accepted by the visitor.
Thomas Sall, the third prior, endeavoured to
keep the novices in order, but the prior and subprior excused them their penances. Though the
house was disorderly Dr. Jessopp's opinion that
the serious charges broke down, and that the
smaller matters were of little moment, is evidently correct. (fn. 28)
The last visitation was held in 1532, by
which time Prior Catton had become abbot of
St. Albans, Dr. Repps abbot of St. Benet's
Holm, and William Castleton, late abbot of
Wymondham, had been elected prior of Norwich. The visitation was of a very thorough
character. The outcome is that the house was
in a somewhat lax condition, there was much
dissension, no learning, and but little seriousness; 'but of any gross vices we hear not one
single word.' (fn. 29)
The poor opinion formed by Dr. Jessopp of
the general character of this priory as indicated
by these several visitations must be held to be
correct by every student of monastic times; its
condition during the last half-century of its life
was distinctly below that of our other great
Benedictine houses:—
The priory had nothing to boast of in its history.
It was not set down in the wilderness. It had no
half fabulous past to look back upon. No saint had
come forth from it; no martyr or hero had ever
shed the lustre of his name upon its annals; only one
really eminent man with more than a local reputation
had been educated within its walls.
From first to last it had been a singularly useless
institution as compared with any other great English
monastery with equal resources. As to the character
of the inmates prior to the days of Bishop Goldwell,
the extant episcopal registers at Norwich are silent.
What Dr. Jessopp says of the 1492 visitation
must at least have been true of its earlier history:—
That in a community of nearly fifty men of
different ages, temperaments and parentage, all should
be living devout and virtuous and blameless lives, it
would be foolish to suppose; but there were no signs
of anything like a general laxity of conduct among the
Norwich monks.
There can be little doubt that the long sustained strife between the monks and the
citizens had the evil effect of drawing the attention of successive superiors far too much to the
secular side of their rule, and this tendency was
further accentuated by the not infrequent occurrence of disputes between prior and bishop. In
the appointment of East Anglian bishops, the
earnest desires of the priory chapter were usually
set aside by pope or king. Only three of the
long roll of bishops of Norwich had been priors
of the Holy Trinity (Turbe Skerning and Tottington), two of whom were of the best.
Priors of Holy Trinity, Norwich
Ingulf, occurs 1121
William Turbe, occurs 1124, bishop of Norwich, 1146
Helias, elected and died 1158
Ranulph
John, occurs c. 1170
Elric
Tancred
Girard, (fn. 30) 1185-1201
William de Walsham, (fn. 31) 1201-18
Ralph de Warham, (fn. 32) 1218; bishop of Chichester same year
William FitzOdo, (fn. 33) 1219-35
Simon de Elenham, (fn. 34) 1235, 1251
Roger de Skerning, (fn. 35) 1257, bishop of Norwich,
1265
Nicholas de Brampton, (fn. 36) 1265-8
William de Burnham, (fn. 37) 1268-72
William de Kirkby, (fn. 38) 1272-88
Henry de Lakenham, (fn. 39) 1289-1309
Robert de Langley, (fn. 40) 1310-26
William de Claxton, (fn. 41) 1326-44
Simon Bozoun, (fn. 42) 1344-52
Lawrence de Leck, (fn. 43) 1353-7
Nicholas de Hoo, (fn. 44) 1357-82
Alexander de Totington, (fn. 45) 1382; bishop of
Norwich, 1406
Robert de Burnham, (fn. 46) 1407-27
William Worsted, (fn. 47) 1427-36
John Heverlond, (fn. 48) 1436-53
John Molet, (fn. 49) 1454-71
Thomas Bozoun, (fn. 50) 1471-80
John Bonewell, (fn. 51) 1480-8
William Spynke, 1488-1502
William Baconthorp, 1502-4
Robert Bronde, 1504-29
William Castleton alias Catton, 1529; dean
1538
The first seal of the priory, eleventh century
(circular, 23/8 in.), shows our Lord in half length
with nimbus, sceptre in right hand, and left
raised in benediction upon the cathedral church,
which is a building with side towers, each having
a domed roof surmounted by a cross. Legend:—
SIGILL . . IS . NORWICENSIS . . LE . . (fn. 52)
The elaborate second seal (circular, 3¼ in.)
came into use in 1258.
Obverse.—The cathedral church shows arcading, stringcourse, and pediment, with three
pinnacled towers. On each side of the central
tower is an angel censing. Under the tower is
the founder, right hand raised in benediction,
left hand holding crozier; on the plinth below,
Herbertus Fundator. In the arcade each side of
the bishop are three monks' heads. At the sides,
over the roof, are the sun and crescent moon.
Legend:—
SIGILLUM . . ECCLESIE . . SANCTE
TRINITATIS . . NORWICI
Reverse.—An elaborate architectural elevation,
probably intended for the west (?) front of the
cathedral. In the upper part is a double-quatrefoil shape compartment, in which is the halflength of our Lord with uplifted hands. In the
doorway, of two pointed arches, with central
pillar, over which is a trefoil compartment containing the emblem of the Trinity, is represented the Annunciation, with the words Ave
Maria on the plinth below. On the roof are
two birds. In the middle on either side of the
central panel of the façade are two circular compartments containing heads. Legend:—
EST . MICHI . NUMEN . IDEM . TRIBUS . UNI
LAUS . HONOR . IDEM . ET . BENEDICO . GREGI
FAMULATUR . QUI . MICHI . REGI
On the rim of the seal:—
ANNO . DOMINI . MILLESIMO . DUCENTESIMO
QUINQUAGESIMO . OCTAVO . FACTUM . EST
HOC . SIGILLUM (fn. 53)
In 1544 this beautiful and striking seal was
shamefully mutilated to suit the changed tastes
of the time. The Annunciation was clumsily
removed to make way for a shield of arms, a cross
within a bordure, but the tops of the heads of
the Virgin and St. Gabriel are visible. (fn. 54)
The Cells of the Cathedral Priory of Norwich
The cells of the great cathedral priory of
Norwich were five in number—Aldeby, Lynn,
Norwich, St. Leonard's, Yarmouth, and Hoxne
in Suffolk.