25. THE HOSPITAL OF ST. JAMES AND ST. JOHN, BRACKLEY (fn. 1)
About the year 1150, Robert le Bossu, earl
of Leicester, gave to one Solomon, a clerk, an
acre of land at Brackley whereon to build a
house for showing hospitality to the poor, together
with a free chapel and graveyard. His son,
Robert Blanchmaines, earl of Leicester, granted
2½ acres adjoining the site of the house and other
lands exempt from tolls and dues within the
parish of Brackley. (fn. 2) The house and chapel
were dedicated in honour of St. John the Evangelist, but afterwards re-dedicated in honour of
SS. James and John. (fn. 3) The abbot and convent of
Leicester, in whom the advowson of the rectory
of Brackley was vested, granted the hospital leave
to have a church free from all subjection to the
mother-church, with rights of sepulchre, and to
receive the tithes of all their lands. (fn. 4) Bishop
Hugh, 1186-1200, confirmed the charters of the
two earls, and granted to Solomon and his successors and to the brethren of the hospital the order
of priesthood, so that they might celebrate in the
chapel and officiate in the parish church during
a vacancy without further warrant, as had been
granted them by the authority of Pope
Alexander III.
Margaret, daughter and co-heiress of Robert,
earl of Leicester, son of the founder, married the
earl of Winchester, and their descendants were
patrons of the hospital. (fn. 5) One of the numerous
benefactions to the hospital recorded among the
Magdalen College Evidences is that of Roger de
Quincy, earl of Winchester, who ordered a
measure for corn in the shape of a coffin to be
placed in the chapel of the hospital on the righthand side of the shrine wherein the heart of
Margaret his mother was entombed, and left
provision for filling it with corn thrice yearly for
ever from the grange of Hawes or Halse, for the
use of the hospital. (fn. 6)
In 1278 Pope Nicholas III. ordered the
collectors of the Holy Land tenth in England not
to suffer the master and brethren of the hospital
for the poor of St. John's, Brackley, to be
molested, in accordance with the previous exemption granted by Pope Gregory X. to lazar
houses, houses of God, and poor hospitals. (fn. 7)
Various additions were made to the endowment of the hospital during the fourteenth century. In 1301 John de Segrave obtained a
licence for the alienation by John le Poer to the
master and brethren of the hospital of a messuage,
35 acres of land, and part of an acre of meadow
in Westbury, towards the maintenance of the
infirm poor. (fn. 8) In 1310 Thomas de Luton obtained a like licence for the alienation of lands
and rents to the annual value of £10 to three
chaplains to celebrate daily in the chapel of
St. James, Brackley, for the souls of himself and
his ancestors. (fn. 9) In 1316 Alice, widow of Roger
le Bygod, earl of Norfolk, obtained a licence for
the master and brethren of the hospital of St. John,
Brackley, to acquire lands, tenements, and rents
in the king's fee, their own fee, or the fee of
others, to the value of £10 a year. (fn. 10) Edward II.
seems to have exercised to the full the right of
imposing pensioners on all houses of royal foundation or patronage. On 12 August, 1314, the
master and brethren of the hospital were ordered
to admit into their house William, son of Thomas
le Charetter, of Grove, and to find him maintenance for life in food, clothing, and other necessaries, as he was unable to labour for himself, the
Scotch rebels having inhumanly cut off his hand
whilst engaged in the king's service. (fn. 11) In 1316
Nicholas Russell, who had also been maimed
while in the king's service in Scotland, was sent
to the hospital to receive maintenance for life, (fn. 12)
and in December of the same year Ralph de
Wakefield, another broken-down soldier, was sent,
but the community apparently resisted further imposition, and the grant of life-maintenance in this
case was changed on 15 February to the prior
and convent of Breamore. (fn. 13) The master and
brethren received the royal commands on 4 March,
1322-3, to admit Thomas de la Garderobe, a
maimed servant of the king, in the place of
'Russellus del Aumoneri,' deceased. (fn. 14) Edward III.,
following the example of his predecessor, sent
Lawrence le Charetter, in October, 1327, to the
hospital of St. John, Brackley, to receive the same
allowance that John Russell, deceased, had therein
by the late king's order. (fn. 15)
The patronage of the hospital, which had passed
into the hands of the earl of Winchester by the
marriage of the Countess Margaret, granddaughter of the founder, came into the hands of
Sir Alan la Zouch in 1296, on the death of Ellen
his wife, daughter and co-heiress of Roger de
Quincy, earl of Winchester. (fn. 16) In 1514 the escheator beyond Trent was directed to deliver to
Robert de Holand and Maud his wife, youngest
daughter and co-heiress of Alan la Zouch, the
advowson, inter alia, of the hospital of St. John,
Brackley, which was then declared to be of the
yearly value of 110s. (fn. 17) Andrew of Brackley was
instituted in January, 1331-2, with the consent
of the patron, Maud, widow of Sir Robert de
Holand. (fn. 18) John Dorne was collated to the mastership by the bishop of Lincoln, on 12 December,
1384; (fn. 19) he resigned in 1388, and was followed
by John de Brokehampton. (fn. 20) This last was vicar
of St. Michael's, Northampton, from 1400, and
in 1417 he was appointed master of the hospital
of St. Leonard, Brackley. For these pluralities
the papal court was responsible; as warden of the
hospital of SS. James and John, Brackley, he
obtained a dispensation in 1399 to hold another
benefice with cure or a dignity, his income not
exceeding 100 marks. (fn. 21) In 1411 Pope John XXII.
confirmed to him the double appointment of warden of Brackley Hospital and rector of Sheepy. (fn. 22)
In the same year a papal mandate was issued to
the archdeacon of Taunton, directing him, according to the petition of the warden and brethren of
the poor hospital of SS. James and John, Brackley, to inquire into the statutes of the said hospital,
which were reported to be obscure, and never
yet confirmed by papal or ordinary authorities,
and to interpret, amend, and approve the same. (fn. 23)
It is not, perhaps, greatly surprising, to find that
on the death of John de Brokehampton in 1423
it was reported that the revenues of the house
had been grossly misused, and that it was without inmates. The master was bound by the
constitution of the house to be in holy orders, but
there was no obligation as to residence, and
though he was sometimes termed the prior, there
was no kind of religious rule to be observed by
him or the secular chaplains. (fn. 24)
An inquisition was held on 29 July of that
year, 1423, as to the patronage of the hospital
of SS. James and John at Brackley. The king
had granted the custody of the hospital to his
clerk Thomas Morton, the jury declared that
the hospital was vacant and had been so since
the death of John de Brokehampton on 3 May
of that same year, and that the presentation was
for that time in the hands of the king on account
of the minority of William, Lord Lovell, (fn. 25) and
because the fellows to whom pertained the right
of election had ceased to exist. They stated that
at the last vacancy John of Brokehampton was
canonically elected by his brethren of the hospital,
the leave of the patron having previously been
sought and obtained; that the rules of the
hospital provided for such a canonical election,
but that the office of master could not now be an
elective one, as no fellows or brethren of the
hospital remained, and, therefore, for the present
the patron held the presentation to the hospital;
that the master presented should be admitted and
instituted by the ordinary, to whom pertained the
discussion and confirmation of any election so far
as admission and canonical institution were concerned. They further stated that there was not
at that time within the hospital a single fellow
or brother, though the statutes provided for both
brothers and paupers, the brothers acting as
secular chaplains; that there was no approved
rule or any regularity of living within the
hospital; that there were no insignia of religion (fn. 26)
within the hospital, save the tonsure and a
common seal; that the office of master required
to be held by one in orders, but what orders they
knew not; that personal or continuous residence
was not demanded of the master; that the clerk
Thomas Morton, now presented, was thirty
years of age and in sub-deacon's orders, and held
the benefices following: the prebends of Salisbury,
Warwell, Aberguille, and Tamworth, and the
rectory of Piddlehinton. (fn. 27)
After some delay the hospital was re-established in 1425; its ordinances were approved by
the patron William, Lord Lovell, and ratified
by Archbishop Chicheley, who visited the foundation ten years later, in 1435. (fn. 28) The number
on the foundation was reduced according to the
new constitution, on account of the insufficiency
of the revenues; 6 loaves of the value of 3d.
were ordained to be given weekly in the chapel
to the poor, and a decent house with six or four
bedsteads was to be provided within the hospital
for the free relief of poor travellers for one night,
or longer if necessary. Henry Grene was presented in 1449. Apparently the old evil practice of non-residence had not been relinquished,
for there was a priest of the same name, and
probably to be identified with him, rector of
Boddington, and somewhat later of Middleton
Cheney. A commission was issued in April,
1421, to inquire into a complaint of brethren of
this hospital that a certain Robert Marshall and
others had entered the hospital on 20 March and
carried off divers utensils and beasts belonging to
it, alleging them to be the property of Henry
Grene, the late master, a servant of Henry VI.
The offenders were ordered to be arrested and
imprisoned. (fn. 29)
James Stanley, the last master, was appointed
in February, 1471-2; he became bishop of Ely
in 1506. In February, 1484, Francis, Lord
Lovell, granted the advowson and patronage of
the hospital to William Waynflete, bishop of
Winchester, for the sum of 400 marks, in order
that it might form part of the endowment of the
bishop's newly founded college of Magdalen,
Oxford, and the following year the formal annexation took place; the deed for its execution
justifying the action on the ground of neglect of
the duties of hospitality and almsgiving. (fn. 30)
Masters Of St. James And St. John,
Brackley
Solomon, at the time of foundation
Alan, occurs as prior c. 1200
Stephen, occurs c. 1220
Thomas, occurs 1256-1269 (fn. 31)
Thomas Cust, (fn. 32) died 1271
William de Shaldeston, (fn. 33) elected 1271, resigned 1274
John de Chenoure, (fn. 34) elected 1274, died after
April 1289 (fn. 35)
Geoffrey de Hansho, elected 1289-1309 (fn. 36)
William de Dorsete, elected 1309
John Abbot, alias le Bere, (fn. 37) died 1332
Andrew de Brackley, (fn. 38) elected 1332
Robert de Tadmarton, (fn. 39) elected 1336, died
1349
Alan de Chacombe, (fn. 40) elected 1349
John Dorne, (fn. 41) appointed 1384
John Fane, occurs 1386, resigned 1388 (fn. 42)
William Fesaunt presented by archbishop
1387 (fn. 43)
John de Brokehampton, (fn. 44) elected 1388, died
1423
Thomas Morton, (fn. 45) appointed 1423, died 1449
Henry Grene, (fn. 46) elected 1449, died 1472
James Stanley, (fn. 47) elected 1472, consecrated
bishop of Ely 1506
A fragment of the seal of this house, enclosed
in an old damask bag attached to a charter of
1240, (fn. 48) represents a cross pattée. Legend all but
defaced: . . . . ILLV . . . .
Fragment of another seal attached to a charter
dated 1317. (fn. 49) It is a pointed oval, and represents
the feet only of St. John standing on a carved
corbel. The legend is wanting.
Later seal of the fifteenth century, pointed
oval, represents the patron saints SS. James and
John full length in two canopied niches. In base
under a round-headed arch the master or prior
kneeling in prayer. (fn. 50)
Legend: SIGILLŪ . HOSPITALIS . SBORŪ . JACOBI
. . . . JOHÌS . DE . BRAKELEY.