HOSPITALS
28. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST, CAMBRIDGE
The tradition that this hospital was founded by
Bishop Niel of Ely in the reign of Henry I
appears to have been started by Archbishop
Mathew Parker (fn. 1) and to have no foundation. (fn. 2)
The earliest direct reference to the hospital is a
grant of protection to 'the house and brethren of
the Hospital of St. John' in 1204. (fn. 3) In 1207 the
king claimed the advowson of the church of St.
Peter (later known as Little St. Mary's) against
Herbert the chaplain, Reynold son of Alfred,
William de Caldecot, and Ives de Pipestre; they
showed that the church had descended to Henry
son of Segar, who had given it to the Hospital of
Cambridge, and the verdict was that the hospital
should have it. (fn. 4) Presumably Herbert was the
master and the other three were brethren of the
hospital. According to an inquiry (fn. 5) made in 1274
the hospital was founded on a valueless piece
of waste ground belonging to the commonalty
of the town of Cambridge, with whose assent
Henry Eldcorn erected a wretched hovel to lodge
paupers. He later obtained from Bishop Eustace
(1197-1215) leave for the paupers to have an
oratory and burial-ground. Eustace himself conferred the church of Horningsea upon the hospital,
and in return the burgesses gave the patronage to
the bishop. The jury add that it happened so long
ago that they do not know whether it was in the
time of King Richard or King John. As the site
of the hospital was within the parish of All Saints,
which belonged to the nunnery of St. Radegund,
Bishop Eustace ordained that every master
appointed should swear not to receive any
parishioners of All Saints to the sacraments, or to
take oblations from them, to the damage of that
church. At the same time three burgesses gave
the nuns rents to the value of 3s. in recompense
for the loss of the land, and for the right of the
brethren to bury members of the hospital. (fn. 6)
According to another return, made in 1279, the
site on which the hospital and chapel stood had
been given for that purpose by one Henry Frost
to the burgesses, who ought to have been patrons
but had been deprived of the right of appointing
the master by Bishop Hugh de Northwold some
30 years previously. (fn. 7) The two Henries (if they
are not identical) may have been acting on behalf
of the inchoate commonalty.
The hospital may therefore be said to have
been founded about 1200. It soon received endowments, mostly small gifts of messuages and
crofts from members of burgess families. (fn. 8) At the
head of the roll of benefactors (fn. 9) stood Bishop
Eustace, who not only gave them the church of
Horningsea, reserving a vicarage of £5, but also
allowed them to appropriate the church of St.
Peter. (fn. 10) Next stood the family of Mortimer: one
of them, Robert, received from King John land
to the yearly value of £5 in Newnham in 1206, (fn. 11)
which he or his son William had given to the
hospital before 1212, when the men of Cambridge were paying the £5, as part of their fee
farm, to William for the land 'which the brethren
of the hospital have'. (fn. 12)
A remarkable instance of the endowment of
beds in the hospital is found when Hervey [Dunning] son of Eustace, who died c. 1240, gave to
St. John's 7 acres in the fields of Chesterton, in
return for which the master and brethren granted
to him and his heirs two beds, with the necessary
bedclothes, for the use of the sick in the stone
house of the hospital. (fn. 13) Hervey's son Eustace gave
the brethren his lands in Madingley, for which
they agreed to maintain a chaplain of their house
to celebrate yearly for his soul and those of his
ancestors. (fn. 14)
In 1250 the hospital obtained a bull from
Innocent IV (fn. 15) taking them, with their possessions
and privileges, expressly under papal protection.
The bull contains the usual clauses against violence
within the inclosures or granges, of exemption
from certain tithes and exactions, right of sanctuary, burial, and the saying of low mass with
closed doors during an interdict, and another,
important at this juncture in the history of the
house, that the 'prior' must be elected according
to the Rule of St. Augustine, which Rule, instituted in the church of St. John, was to be inviolably observed there for ever. This may be the
Rule preserved in the college muniments, upon
which the Rule of the Hospital of St. John Baptist
at Ely (q.v.) was based.
The Rule begins by laying down that all the
brethren, clerical and lay, are to live as Regulars,
to eat together, and to sleep in one dormitory, if
the accommodation of the house allows of this,
otherwise the priests are to sleep in one building,
and the laymen in another near it. There is to be
silence in the chapel during celebration, and no
one is to absent himself from mass or the Hours
except for evident necessity. Every chaplain is to
have 20s. a year for clothing money; each layman
13s. 4d., and the prior or master 40s. The master
is also to receive a double portion of food and
drink. All are to wear a habit of the same colour,
and not to appear in choir or outside the gates
without it. Sick brethren are to be used with all
kindness, assigned a separate room where they can
eat meat, and to enjoy such comforts as the means
of the house allow. All occasion of acquiring
private property is to be avoided. Quarrels are to
be punished according to their degree. No one
is to eat or drink outside the house without the
prior's licence, and the bishop 'most strictly commands, upon their obedience' that they receive the
sick and infirm with all kindness and mercy,
except only pregnant women, lepers, the wounded,
the paralysed, and the insane. The beds and bedding of the sick are to be inspected by the prior, or
by some one deputed by him, and their food is to
be as good as the house can afford. Above all,
clerics as well as lay brethren are to obey the prior
in all things concerning the good of the house,
according to this Rule and the constitution of their
Order. A chapter is to be held once a week: the
brethren each and all are to go to confession to
their own prior, unless they have an indult. (fn. 16)
The Rule is to be publicly read in chapter twice
or thrice in the year. Lay brethren are to say 20
Paternosters and 20 Aves for Matins, wherever
they may be, 7 Paters and 7 Aves for each of the
other Hours, and one Pater and one Ave for grace
both before and after meat.
About the year 1267 Bishop Hugh de Balsham
allowed the hospital to appropriate the vicarage of
Horningsea and have the church served by a
suitable chaplain sent out from the congregation
of the hospital 'or elsewhere', because the house
had suffered from depreciation of its property and
from a fire, but also because of 'the great confluence of the sick and poor to your place'. (fn. 17) On
24 December 1280 he obtained the king's licence
to make his famous experiment of introducing
into 'his Hospital of St. John studious scholars
living after the rule of the scholars of Oxford
called of Merton', in place of the secular brethren. (fn. 18) Either because the hospital, to which there
was constant resort of sick and poor, was found to
be an unsuitable residence for scholars, or because
his ideas had expanded, the bishop in 1284 took
steps to remove his scholars to two hostels outside
the Trumpington Gate adjoining the church of
St. Peter, and thus inaugurated the first Cambridge
college, Peterhouse. (fn. 19) The site of the college and
the church, which he bestowed on his new
foundation, belonged to the hospital, to which he
assigned other lands and rents in compensation.
There seems some evidence that the hospital
occasionally received scholars as boarders, as in
1327 an order was made that food seized from
forestallers and regraters should be given to the
Master of the Hospital of St. John for the support
of 'poor scholars and sick persons' there; (fn. 20) and this
order was repeated in 1378. (fn. 21) The lay brethren
displaced by Balsham do not seem to have been
reintroduced and their place was apparently taken
by boarders. Thus in 1377 when John de
Stanton, rector of Rampton, died in the hospital,
one of his executors was Richard Trukke,
commorans in domo; and in the following year
Christine de Luyton corrodiaria et prehendinans
infra domum, and one Robert, formerly servant of
John Segeirle, also described as prehendinans et
commorans infra domum, died there. (fn. 22)
Although, as already mentioned, the Bishops of
Ely had for many years appointed the masters,
when William de Gosefeld resigned in January
1333 the brethren of the hospital, John de Shelford, John de Berton, Robert de Sprouston, and
Alan de Hemmyngeston, announced to Bishop
John de Hotham their choice of Alexander de
Ixnyng, one of their number, and asked him to
institute him as master. (fn. 23) This he did and took the
opportunity to issue a letter, or ordinance, concerning future appointments, which was confirmed by John Crauden, Prior of Ely, and the
convent, and on 2 March by King Edward III.
In this, after denouncing the injuries done to the
hospital and the cause of charity by some of the
clerks who had ruled it, he laid down the rule that
in future, on a vacancy occurring, the brethren
should nominate one of their own number to the
bishop. If it so happened that there was no member of their body suitable, then they should choose
one of the brethren of the Hospital of St. John at
Ely. If neither body could produce a fit candidate,
then the bishop should appoint, but on future
vacancies the presentation should revert to the
brethren. (fn. 24)
The hospital seems to have been in a flourishing
condition at this time, as in 1341 when assessment
was made in Cambridge for the subsidy of a ninth
of the value of movable chattels the master was
rated at £9, (fn. 25) a sum only exceeded by the Prior
of Barnwell (£13 10s.) and only approached by
the Gilbertine canons of St. Edmund (£8 4s.).
On 15 December 1341 the Bishop of Ely (fn. 26) gave
a licence to Brother Alexander, Master of the
Hospital of St. John, and to each of the brethren
to say mass 'in a suitable part of the Hospital', a
permission which suggests that the chapel may
have been under repair; and on 16 February
1347, Thomas de Lisle, Bishop Montacute's successor, licensed Brother Alexander (fn. 27) to hear the
confessions of the parishioners of Horningsea from
the beginning of Lent to Easter. In April 1349 the
Black Death fell upon the hospital. On 2 May
Brother Robert de Sprouston (fn. 28) was nominated,
admitted, and inducted upon the death of
Alexander de Ixnyng. (fn. 29) The brethren named as
taking part in this election are Alan de Heningeston, William Beer, Roger Broom, and Richard
de Schetlyngton. Robert de Sprouston seems to
have died at once, and Roger Broom was elected
by the other three. (fn. 30) Early in June he too died,
and on 28 June William Beer was admitted to
the mastership, being elected by Richard de
Schetlyngton and John de Swaffham. (fn. 31) It seems
probable that Alan had also died, leaving only two
of the brethren alive, and that John de Swaffham
had joined the community during June. The
Chancellor of the diocese, as one of Lisle's vicarsgeneral, installed William with all speed, seeing
'how much danger threatens the hospital through
lack of a Custos'.
William Beer was master in 1362, when he
and the brethren were licensed to receive from
John de Seggewelle and Robert de Wynpole, rector of Kirtling, 3 messuages, 11 cottages, and 3
acres of land in Cambridge and some 30 acres in
neighbouring villages. (fn. 32) This was probably a purchase for investment and not a pious gift.
On Friday 29 July 1373, Thomas de Wormenhale visited the Hospital of St. John. The chief
comperta as regards discipline were that the brethren did not make their confessions to the master,
as they were bound to do. It was also reported
that the buildings were falling down for lack of
repair. The master at this time was still William
Beer. (fn. 33) It was not long after this that one William
Potton entered the hospital, was professed as of
the Rule of St. Augustine as a brother of the
house, (fn. 34) and received sub-deacon's orders. After
he had been there rather over a year, it was found
that shortly before his entry he had married
Agnes Knotte, widow of Ralph Clerk, at whose
suit he was discharged of his religious profession
and restored to her as her husband. (fn. 35)
In 1393 Pope Boniface IX granted a relaxation
of penance to penitents who on the feast of St.
John visited and gave alms to the church of the
hospital; (fn. 36) and about 1470 Thomas Rotherham,
Bishop of Lincoln, and Chancellor of the University, in view of the injuries often done to the
hospital by laymen, extended to its brethren and servants the privileges of membership of the University. (fn. 37) At the end of 1477 the Pope commissioned
the Archdeacon of Ely to deal with a petition of
the master and brethren (here definitely said to be
of the Order of St. Augustine) that masses for the
souls of Sir John Moreys and his parents Stephen
and Denise Moreys, for which the said John had
given them lands producing 100s. yearly, might
in future be said in their own church of St. John
instead of in St. Botolph's. (fn. 38)
As a result of the extension of the privileges of
the University to the hospital St. John's House
ranked as a college, and as such was exempted
from the subsidy of 1500. (fn. 39) By this time, however, the hospital was falling into decay; the brethren were few in number and lax in character, and
the estates were in danger of being dissipated. (fn. 40)
The Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond,
mother of Henry VII, having founded Christ's
College, projected another scholastic foundation
and was persuaded by John Fisher, Bishop of
Rochester, to place it here. (fn. 41) On 10 March 1509
she and James Stanley (her stepson), Bishop of
Ely, agreed upon the conversion of St. John's into
a college, (fn. 42) and although after her death, on the
following 29 June, the bishop held matters up for
more than a year, (fn. 43) when a papal bull suppressing
the hospital had been obtained he gave his consent
and wrote to 'the fellows of St. John's House in
Cambridge' advising them to resign and promising
that they should each have an annuity of 8 marks
for life. (fn. 44) There were at this time, besides the
master, William Tomlyn, only three brethren—
Sir Christopher Wright, Sir John Ketenham, and
Sir William Chandeler, none of whom, judging
from the title 'Sir', was a graduate. (fn. 45) On 20
January 1511 the bishop's commissary handed
over the hospital to the executors of Lady
Margaret. (fn. 46)
Masters, or Priors (fn. 47)
?Herbert the chaplain, 1207 (fn. 48)
Anthony, occurs 1239-40 (fn. 49)
Richard, occurs 1246, (fn. 50) 1256 (fn. 51)
Ralph, occurs 1257, (fn. 52) 1261 (fn. 53)
Geoffrey de Alerheth (fn. 54)
Hugh de Stanford, occurs 1271 (fn. 55)
Guy, occurs 1274 (fn. 56)
Robert de Huntindone (fn. 57)
Richard Cheverel, occurs 1284
William, occurs 1299 (fn. 58)
John de Colonia, occurs 1321
William de Gosefeld, resigned Jan. 1333
Alexander de Ixnyng, elected Feb. 1333, died
1349
Robert de Sprouston, inducted 2 May 1349,
died
Roger de Broom, elected May, died June 1349
William Beer, elected 28 June 1349, occurs
1362, 1373
Henry Brown, occurs 1377, (fn. 59) 1379 (fn. 60)
John de Stanton, resigned 1400
William Killum, elected Jan. 1401, resigned
1403
John Burton, elected May 1403
John Dunham, occurs 1426, died 1458
John Dunham, the younger, elected 17 Feb.
1458, died Dec. 1474
Robert Dunham, elected Jan. 1475, died
1498
William Thomlyn, admitted 19 Nov. 1498,
last master
The 13th-century seal of the hospital (fn. 61) displays
an eagle rising to sinister with its head turned back
and supporting a cross-headed staff between its
uplifted wings. Legend: SIGILL' OSPITALIS S'
IOHĀNIS DE CĀTE.
The 14th-century seal has a similar eagle rising
to dexter but without the cross-staff. Legend:
IN PRINCIPIO ERAT VERBVM.