Vatican Regesta 436: 1455

Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 11, 1455-1464. Originally published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1921.

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'Vatican Regesta 436: 1455', in Calendar of Papal Registers Relating To Great Britain and Ireland: Volume 11, 1455-1464, (London, 1921) pp. 1-8. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-papal-registers/brit-ie/vol11/pp1-8 [accessed 25 April 2024]

In this section

Calendar of Selections From Papal Regesta.

Vol. XI.

Vatican Regesta. Vol. CCCCXXXVI. (fn. 1)

De Curia.
1 Calixtus III.
1455.
10 Kal. May.
(22 April.)
St. Peter's, Rome.
(f. 1d.)
Safe-conduct, to be valid for a year, for Anthony de Rocha Prioris, a papal serjeant at-arms and member of the pope's household, whom the pope is sending to England on business of the pope, and for five companions. Universis etc. Cum dilectum filium. (M. Ferrarii. | B. de Brendis.) (fn. 2)
Non. May.
(7 May.)
St. Peter's, Rome.
(f. 159d.)
To Andrew Stewart, clerk, of St. Andrews. Motu proprio reservation to the pope's gift of the deanery of Aberdeen, a major elective dignity with cure, a canonry of Glasgow and the prebend of Kirkandris, a canonry and prebend of Lincloudane, the perpetual vicarage of Kilpatrik in the diocese of Glasgow, and the subdeanery of Glasgow, an office without cure, value altogether not exceeding 90l. sterling, which are to become void by the provision which the pope intends to make this day of the see of Glasgow to Andrew de Dur[i]sder, dean of Aberdeen, and by the consecration which is to be administered to him, the said canonries and prebends and subdeanery to be collated to the said Andrew, who is a brother of James king of Scots and is in about his twelfth year, and the deanery and vicarage to be held by him in commendam for life. The pope hereby orders the bishops of St. Andrews and Dunkeld and the vidame of Reims to make to him the respective collations and commende, dispenses him, notwithstanding his defect of age and his not being in priest's orders, to hold for life the said vicarage in commendam, and grants to the said Andrew [de Durisder], in order that he may the more easily bear the expenses of his provision and of obtaining possession of the rule and administration of the said church of Glasgow, that, even after the said provision has been made to him and after he has been consecrated, he may, until he has obtained peaceable possession of the said church, take and convert to his own uses the whole of the fruits etc. of the said canonries and prebends, deanery, subdeanery and vicarage, and may for two further years take in like manner the fruits etc. of the said deanery and vicarage. The pope also appends the form of oath of fealty to the pope and the Roman church to be taken by the said Andrew [Stewart] as dean of Aberdeen. Laudabilia iuuentutis indicia. (Dalthus [sic]. | c. L. de Castiliono. Julius.) [In the margin: Maii. 5½ pp. Theiner, Vet. Mon. Hib. et Scot. Hist. Illustr., pp. 395–396, No. 772, from ‘Reg. de Curia Tom. I. fol. 159,’ i.e. the present Register, abbreviated at the end, and with the spellings ‘Linclondane’ and ‘Kilpatult.’]
12 Kal. May.
(20 April.)
St. Peter's, Rome.
(f. 168.)
To John Spiser alias Vode, a Benedictine monk of St. Saviour's, Faversham, in the diocese of Canterbury. Decree, etc. as below. Nicholas V on Kal. Feb. anno 8 [1455] granted to him, who was a priest and had made his profession, an indult to receive and to retain in commendam for life any benefice with or without cure wont to be held by regulars of the said or any other order, even if a priory etc., but not a conventual priory nor a claustral office. Inasmuch as the said pope died before his letters were drawn up, the pope hereby decrees that these presents shall suffice as proof of the said grant. Racioni congruit. (P. Candidus. | xxviii. L. de Castiliono. P. de Legendorff.) [In the margin: Maii. 1 p. +.]
Ibid.
(f. 168d.)
To the bishop and dean of Emly and Richard Purcell, a canon of Cloyne (Clonen.). Decree etc., as below. It was set forth to Nicholas V on behalf of Dermit Yhifirnayn, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of St. Mary alias Holy Cross, Woichdarlamand, in the diocese of Cashel, that provision thereof had been made to him by papal authority on its voidance by the voluntary resignation of Odo Ograda, [now] a monk of the said order, formerly abbot of the said monastery, who had been, on its voidance by the death of Fergal Yhifirnayn, canonically elected abbot, the election being duly followed by confirmation by authority of the ordinary and by possession of the rule and administration, and that in virtue of the said provision he had administered the monastery and was then administering it in peace; but that (inasmuch as the said Odo had not long continued his said possession before he, having been expelled by certain enemies who were forcibly endeavouring to procure the election as abbot of a certain kinsman of theirs, found it impossible to continue the said possession and, having no hope of recovering it on account of the power of his adversaries, resigned as stated) it was said by some to be doubtful whether, between the said present abbot Dermit and the said Fergal, who was his [Dermit's] father, he [Odo] had constituted an intermediate person, and that consequently there was ground for hesitation as to the provision made to Dermit as above. It was also added [on behalf of the said abbot Dermit] that the said Odo had been canonically elected abbot, duly followed by confirmation by authority of the ordinary and by possession, that he had remained for some time in such possession, that it had not been his fault that he had not continued it longer, perhaps even for his lifetime, that he had resigned the said rule and administration, as above, and that it was believed that the monastery had become really void by resignation, made by him and lawfully admitted, and not by the death of the said Fergal, and that consequently it was not believed in regard to the foregoing that he [Dermit] had grounds to claim the succession. At abbot Dermit's petition for a remedy, in order that he might not be molested in future, the said pope granted a mandate to certain judges on Prid. Non. April anno 8 [4 April, 1454], if after inquiry they found the facts to be as stated, to declare and decree that there was no ground for the aforesaid hesitation, and that the said Dermit (who had been previously dispensed by papal authority, on account of illegitimacy as the son of the said Fergal, then a clerk, and a married woman, to be appointed abbot of the said monastery and rule it) was in no wise to be molested on account of the foregoing, (fn. 3) and moreover, for greater safeguard [to grant] that the aforesaid provision and dispensation, and his blessing, and their consequences, should hold good as if the said Odo had remained in peaceable possession of the said monastery long enough to prevent any doubt as to whether he [Odo] had constituted an intermediate person between the said Dermit and Fergal; (fn. 4) even if the said monastery, value not exceeding 40 marks sterling, were still void as above, or by the successive deaths of William or Denis Ycontil (rectius Yconeil), or in any other way. Inasmuch as the said pope died before his said grant was drawn up, the pope hereby decrees that the said grant shall nevertheless hold good from the said date, and that these presents shall suffice as proof thereof; with mandate to the above three, if they find the facts to be as stated, to declare, decree and grant as above. Racioni congruit. (M. Ferrarii. | xxxxvi. L. de Castiliono. L. Therunda.) [In the margin: Maii. 21/5 pp. Theiner, Vet. Monum. Hibern. et Scot. Hist. Illustr., pp. 394–395, No. 771, from ‘Reg. Tom. I. fol. 168,’ i.e. the present Register.]
8 Id. May.
(8 May.)
St. Peter's, Rome.
(f. 177d.)
To John Twysse, perpetual chaplain of the chantry of William Copston in the city of [Coventry] in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, (fn. 5) bachelor in laws. Dispensation to him, who holds the perpetual chaplaincy or chantry of William Copston in the city of [Coventry] in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, (fn. 6) value not exceeding 26l. sterling, to hold for life together with the said chaplaincy or chantry, (fn. 7) at which he is bound by oath to reside in person, any one other benefice, or without it, or without it and such other benefice, any two other benefices, with cure and incompatible with one another, even if dignities etc. or two parish churches or their perpetual vicarages etc., and to resign them all, simply or for exchange, as often as he pleases, and hold instead two other similar or dissimilar benefices, even if two dignities, or two parish churches or their perpetual vioarages, etc. Litterarum sciencia, vite etc. (M. Joannis. | l. L. de Castiliono. S. de Spada.) [In the margin: Maii. 12/3 pp.]
4 Kal. May.
(28 April.)
St. Peter's, Rome.
(f. 178d.)
To all and singular. Requesting a safe-conduct for John Valtrim, a member of the household (familiaris) of William Gray, bishop of Ely, a referendary of the pope, who is going to divers parts of the world on business of the pope and of himself. Cum dilectus filius. (Blondus. | C. Fidelis. de Curia.) [¼ p. Registered briefly: Cum dilectus filiushabeat se conferre. Nos volentes etc. ut in forma. Datum …, i.e. without mention of the limit of validity.]
12 Kal. May.
(20 April.)
St. Peter's, Rome.
(f. 207.)
To the prior and convent of the Benedictine monastery of SS. Mary and Cuthbert, Durham. Decree etc., as below. Nicholas V (upon its being set forth to him on their behalf that in their said monastery there had long prevailed a custom or rather an abuse, to the effect that from Septuagesima Sunday to Quinquagesima Sunday, inclusive, the monks of the said monastery and of its dependencies ate certain kinds of food, namely, pancakes and sausages for the most part made of flesh, very hurtful to the body, especially in the case of those who have to celebrate masses and take part in divine offices by day and night, and that on the Sunday when Christmas falls on a Monday they ate fish, whereby the said prior and convent suffered very many inconveniences, both personal and material; and that, inasmuch as there dwelt in the said monastery about fifty religious of the said order, with but little space within its precincts for walking exercise, it often happened that in consequence of the said unwholesome food they were afflicted with divers sicknesses, rendering them so ill that they were kept from divine offices, especially from the celebration of masses, to the great diminution of divine worship and the hurt of the religious dwelling therein; and its being added to the said pope that in the said monastery it had long been the laudable custom of the prior and convent to have as their guests on Christmas Eve very many persons, both nobles and others, and that when Christmas fell on a Monday, on the Sunday before the guests ate flesh and the religious fish, on account of which difference of food the prior and convent were very much burdened with the cost) granted on 9 Kal. Nov. anno 8 (24 Oct., 1454) to the said prior and other monks of the said monastery and places, present and future, that they might, after the rite and observance of other monasteries of the said order in England to which like grants were alleged to have been made by the apostolic see, provided that there were no canonical impediment and that they did so without the refectory, eat flesh or such food as the said guests ate, instead of the said food and sausages, from Septuagesima Sunday to Quinquagesima Sunday, inclusive, namely on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, whereon they had been wont to eat such food, and also on the said Sunday when Christmas fell on a Monday, notwithstanding etc. In order that there may be no hesitation about the said grant, by reason that pope Nicholas died without his letters having been drawn up, the present pope hereby wills and decrees (fn. 8) that it shall nevertheless hold good from the said date, and that these presents shall suffice as proof thereof. Racioni congruit. (Gaspar Veronen. | lx. L. de Castilliono. Constantinus.) [In the margin: Maii. 2pp. Printed from the original bull in Hist. Dunelm. Scriptores Tres, ed. Raine, Surtees Soc. (1839), p. cccxxix, with the variants shown in the footnote below.]
15 Kal. June.
(18 May.)
St. Peter's, Rome.
(f. 208.)
Confirmation, with exemplification, at the recent petition of the master, wardens and friars of the house or hospital of St. Mary Bethleem in the suburb of London, of the order of St. Augustine, depending on the church of Bethlehem (Bethlemitan.) in the Holy Land, of letters, as below, which the pope has caused to be inspected in his chancery, of Boniface VIII (granting certain privileges and indults to the said church of Bethlehem and the bishop thereof, and to the friars and other religious places depending on the said church) and Urban VI (confirming the said privileges and indults at the petition of the master, wardens and governors and friars of the said hospital, and granting certain other indulgences to the said hospital); with further grant hereby in perpetuity of relaxation of two years and two quarantines of enjoined penance to penitents who on the feasts of St. Mary the Virgin or on Good Friday (sexta feria maioris ebdomade in parasceve nuncupate) visit the chapel of the said hospital or give alms for the subvention of the said hospital and the maintenance of its poor. The pope hereby exemplifies:—
(i) the letters of pope Boniface ‘Cum universa religiosa loca,’ dated at the Lateran on Id. Jan. anno 5 [1300], and addressed to all archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors and other faithful, enjoining and ordering them, after the example of pope Alexander IV, whenever friars of the said church arrive for the purpose of collecting alms, to receive them kindly and help them in their mission to obtain alms, and not to give their own confraternities, which they can hold every day, preference over those of the said church, which take place only once a year, lest on their account the alms of Christ's poor wane or works of piety be in any way hindered; granting moreover to all, [being penitent and having confessed], who from their means help the said friars and enrol themselves as members of the fraternity and make them yearly payments, (fn. 9) a relaxation of one year and forty days of enjoined penance; and adding that if any of the said friars who are sent for the said fraternities and collections come to a city, castle or village under interdict, at their joyful arrival churches shall be opened once a year and divine offices celebrated, the excommunicate, even those interdicted by name, being ejected, etc.; (fn. 10) ordering the above archbishops etc. to cause his present constitution to be published throughout their parishes by their own letters, and also that if any of the clergy of their churches resolve to serve freely the friars of the said church for a year or two years, with licence of their prelate and chapter, they shall not be prevented, and shall not meanwhile lose their benefices or their ecclesiastical revenues; (ii) the letters of pope Urban, ‘Cum a nobis petitur,’ dated at St. Peter's, Rome, 4 Kal. Jan. anno 1 [1389], and addressed to the master and friars of the house or hospital of St. Mary, Bethleem, in the suburb of London, of the order of St. Augustine, (fn. 11) depending on the church of Bethlehem (Bethlemitan.) in the Holy Land, which immediately belongs to the Roman church, taking their persons, their said house or hospital and their possessions present and future under the protection of St. Peter and the pope, confirming all liberties and immunities granted by former popes, or privileges or other indulgences granted to them and the said church of Bethlehem and the friars thereof, also liberties and exemptions from secular exactions granted to them and the said church and house or hospital by kings and princes or other faithful, and granting moreover to all, being penitent and having confessed, who from their means help the said friars to bear the seven works of mercy which are and shall be carried on perpetually in the said house or hospital etc., and enrol themselves as members of the said fraternity and make them yearly payments, a relaxation of five years and five quarantines of enjoined penance. (fn. 12)
Ad fut rei mem. Regimini universalis ecclesie. (M. Ferrarii. | lxxxx. L. de Castilliono. A. de Racaneto.) [In the margin: Junii. 4 pp.]

Footnotes

  • 1. On the back of the volume is the usual modern label, with the description in Latin: ‘Calix. iii. de Curi. Anno i. Tom. i.’ On a flyleaf is a like description, in the hand of Giovanni Bissaiga. Prefect of the Vatican Archives circ, 1670–1680, followed by the ‘Rubricelle,’ in the same hand: ’Rubricelle primi libri de Curia sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini nostri domini Calixti divina providentia pape iii. pontificatus eiusdem anno primo, incepte de mense Aprilis 1455, indictione tertia.’ On the bottom edge of the volume is the usual contemporary description similar to that above. The text consists of ff. i.–cclxxxxviii.
  • 2. On the same f. 1d. four other serjeants-at-arms get safe-conducts, under date 11 Kal. May 1455, but their destination is not stated.
  • 3. quia tamen dictus Odo possessionen suam huiusmodi non multum continuaverat quamprimum per eum, qui per certos suos emulos per impressionem certum eorum consanguineum in abbatem dicti monasterii eligi facere molientes inde expulsus fuit, non stetisset quominus possessionem continuasset eandem, et de eadem possessione recuperanda propter potenciam adversariorum spe sibi nulla subsistente ce[s]sisset ut prefertur, ab aliquibus dicebatur revocari in dubium an inter Dermicium modernum abbatem et Fergallum qui eius genitor existit predictos mediam fecisset seu constituisset personam, et per consequens de provisione de persona dicti Dermicii ut premittitur facta hesitari, ac eciam subiuncto quod prefatus Odo in abbatem dicti monasterii canonice electus fuerat, confirmacione ordinaria auctoritate et possessione rite subsecutis, quodque ipse Odo in huiusmodi possessione aliquamdiu perstiterat nec per eum steterat quominus eam amplius eciam forsan vita sibi comite continuasset, necnon regimini et administracioni predictis ut prefertur cesserat, per cessionem quoque per eum factam et rite admissam monasterium et non per obitum Fergalli huiusmodi realiter vacasse credebatur, et per consequens in premissis non credebatur successionem sibi debere locum vendicare, ac eciam pro parte Dermicii abbatis eidem predecessori humiliter supplicato ut, ne ipsum huiusmodi occasione molestari contingeret tempore procedente, sibi et statui suo super his opportune providere de benignitate apostolica dignaretur, idem predecessor volensvoluit et concessitcertis judicibus dari in mandatis utpredicte hesitacioni locum non existere, ipsumque Dermicium premissorum occasione nullatenus molestandum fore auctoritate apostolica declararent pariter et decernerent
  • 4. eciam perinde ac si prefatus Odo in dicti monasterii pacifica possessione per tanti temporis spacium perstitisset quod an inter Dermicium et Fergallum predictos mediam fecisse seu continuasse (? rectius constituisse; cf. above) personam dubium nullatenus resultaret
  • 5. capellano perpetuo (or perpetue) cantorie [sic] Willelmi Copston in civitate Conventrensis et Lichfeldensis diocesis.
  • 6. perpetuam capellaniam sive cantoriam [sic] Willelmi Copston in civitate Conventrensis et Lichfeldensis diocesis.
  • 7. unacum predicta capellania sive cantoria [sic].
  • 8. Racioni congruitDudum siquidem felicis recordacionis Nicolao pape Vto predecessori nostro pro parte vestra exposito quod in monasterio vestro sancte Marie et sancti Cudberti Dunelmensis ordinis sancti Benedicti a nonnullis temporibus citra quedam inoleverat consuetudo seu verius usurpacio quod a die dominico septuagesime usque ad diem dominicum quinquagesime inclusive monachi predicti monasterii et aliorum ab eo dependencium locorum certa cibariorum genera frixa videlicet et farcinaturas (written in full,? rectius ‘farcimaturasHist. Dun. p. cccxxix has ‘farciaturas’) que ut plurimum de carnibus fieri consueverunt humane nature, presertim illis qui missas celebrare ac die noctuque divinis officiis insistere habent, plurimum contraria et nociva manduc[ar]ent, ac in die dominico quando [qn¯cf. below] in secunda feria festivitas [the word ‘festivitas’ is omitted in Hist. Dun.] natalis domini occurrit piscibus vessebantur [‘vescebantur,’ ibid.], ac propterea non solum in personis sed eciam in bonis plurima paciebamini incommoda; et cum in dicto monasterio quinquaginta vel circa religiosi dicti ordinis commorarentur, nec infra limites illius loca multum spaciosa pro deambulandi exercicio haberentur, plerumque accidebat quod ex intemperatis cibariis huiusmodi variis opprimebantur infirmitatibus, quibus adeo reddebantur indispositi ut a divinis officiis, maxime a missarum celebracione retraherentur, in non modicum divini cultus diminucionem et personarum religiosarum inibi degencium detrimentum pariter et gravamen; ac eciam ipsi Nicolao [Nicholao, ibid.] predecessori subiuncto quod a diu in dicto monasterio fuerat laudabiliter observatum quod in vigilia festivitatis predicte quamplures personas tam nobiles quam alias invitatas habebatis, et cum festum huiusmodi in dicta secunda feria occurrit in die dominico immediate presiden(ti) [‘prœcedenti,’ ibid.] invitati carnibus [‘et’ inserted ibid.] religiosi piscibus vescebantur, ex ciborum disparitate huiusmodi plurimum gravabamini in expensis, pro parte vestra eidem Nicolao predecessori fuit humiliter supplicatum ut super hiis oportune providere de benignitate apostolica dignaretur, Prefatus igitur Nicolaus [‘Nicholaus,’ ibid.] predecessor statui et indemnitatibus vestris in premissis favorabiliter consulere cupiens, huiusmodi quoque supplicacionibus inclinatus, sub data diei nono kalendas Novembris pontificatus sui anno octavo, vobis priori et [as also ibid; in the Register it is written more like ‘vt’] tam presiden(ti) [‘prœsidentibusibid.] quam aliis monachis monasterii ac locorum predictorum presentibus et futuris ut juxta ritum et observanciam aliorum monasteriorum regni Anglie ordinis huiusmodi quibus similes concessiones ut asserebatis a sede apostolica facte existebant, loco cibariorum et farci[ma]turarum [‘ferciturarum,’ ibid.] huiusmodi a die dominico septuagesime usque ad diem dominicum quinquagesime inclusive, ipsis videlicet dominicis lune martis et jovis diebus quibus cibaria predicta co[m]medere [‘commedere,’ ibid.] consueveratis, necnon in die dominico predicto quando [‘qm¯’ has apparently been corrected to ‘qn¯,’ as above; Hist. Dun. has the impossible ‘quum’] in secunda feria dicta natalis domini festivitas occurrerat [sic; ‘occurreret,’ ibid.], dummodo aliud canonicum non obsisteret, extra tamen refectorium, carnes aut huiusmodi cibaria quibus ipsi invitati vescebantur commedere licet [‘licet’ is rightly absent, ibid.] libere et licite possetis ac ipsi [the words ‘possetis ac ipsi’ are omitted, ibid.] possent, premissis ac constitucionibus et ordinacionibus apostolicis necnon statutis et consuetudinibus monasterii et ordinis predictorum iuramento confirmacione apostolica vel quavis firmitate alia roboratis nequaaquam [sic; ‘nequaquam,’ ibid.] obstantibus auct[oritat]e [in full, ibid.] apostolica tenore suarum si desuper confecte fuissent litterarum de specialis [speciali, ibid.] dono gracie concessit pariter et indulsit. Ne autem de concessione et indulto huiusmodi, pro eo quod super illis dicti Nicolai predecessoris littere, eius superveniente obitu, confecte non fuerunt, valeat quomodolibet hesitari, volumus et auctoritate apostolica decernimus
  • 9. confratrias vestras quas facere cotidie potestatis [sic] eorum confratriis que semel in anno fiunt nullatenus preponentes, ne occasione illarum elemosine pauperum Christi depereant vel quomodolibet impediantur opera pietatis. Preterea quicunque de facultatibus sibi a deo collatis eis subvenerint et in tam sancta fraternitate se collegas statuerint eisque beneficia persolverint annuatim, eisrelaxamus
  • 10. adicientes insuper ut si qui eorundem fratrum qui ad easdem fraternitates et collectas missi fuerint in quemlibet civitatem castellum vel vicum advenerint, si forte locus interdictus fuerit ab officiis divinis, in eorum jocundo adventu semel aperiantur coclesie annuatim, et excommunicatis eciam nominatim interdictis eiectis divina ibi officia celebrentur, salva in predictis declaracione consilii generalis
  • 11. ordinis sancti Benedicti Augustini, the word ‘Benedicti’ not being cancelled.
  • 12. propterea (rectius ‘preterea,’ as before) quicunque de facultatibus sibi a deo collatis eis subvenerint ad sustentandum septem opera mi(sericordi)e que in dicta domo sive hospitali assidue fiunt aut fiant in perpetuum, pro quibus dominus noster Jesus Christus vitam promittat eternam, et in tam sanctam fraternitatem statuerint se collegas eisque beneficia persolverint annuatim, Nosrelaxamus. Nulli ergo etc.