COLLEGES
33. THE COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF ST. MARTIN LE GRAND
The dedication in honour of St. Martin, a
favourite saint of Christian Britain, and architectural remains found in the nineteenth century,
point to the early existence of a church in this
place, (fn. 1) but nothing certain is known except that
in 1068 William the Conqueror confirmed a
grant of lands made a few months before by a
certain Ingelric to the church of St. Martin in
London, which he and his brother Girard had
built at their own cost as a foundation of secular
canons. (fn. 2) Ingelric, who was a priest, most probably of foreign origin, appears to have held an
official position under both Edward the Confessor and William, (fn. 3) and in consequence the
college was from the first not only well endowed
but highly privileged. To the lands given by
Ingelric, viz. Easter, Mashbury, Norton, Stanford, Fobbing, 'Benedist' Chrishall, Tolleshunt,
Rivenhall, and Ongar, a hide in Benfleet, a hide in
Hoddesdon, and 2 hides with the church in Maldon, William added some land and moor outside
Cripplegate; he made the college free from all
episcopal and archidiaconal exactions and from
services due to the crown, and granted them sac
and soc, tol and team, infangenthef, blodwyte,
burghbrice, miskenning, &c. (fn. 4)
The king directed the canons to choose of
their number a suitable guardian of their goods
who should keep them faithfully and distribute
to each his share without deceit, so that the rest,
freed from care, might devote themselves to
prayer. (fn. 5) This appears to have been the origin
of the deanery. Ingelric became the first dean, (fn. 6)
but, like a number of his successors, seems still to
have remained a royal official, (fn. 7) and so far detached from the college that the possessions of
the deanery could be regarded as his private
property. (fn. 8) The confusion caused by this dual
capacity may be responsible for the grant made
by the Conqueror on Ingelric's death of the
church of St. Martin and all its property to
Eustace count of Boulogne. (fn. 9)
If a charter in which the king refers to
St. Martin's as his royal free chapel is rightly
attributed to Henry I—though on this point there
is room for doubt (fn. 10) —it is difficult to say what
relations were established by this grant between
the church and the count. Otherwise it would
seem that Eustace thus became patron, for
William Rufus, after a quarrel with the count,
seized the land outside Cripplegate belonging to
the church; (fn. 11) Queen Matilda, the heiress of
Boulogne, speaks of 'my canons of St. Martin's,' (fn. 12)
and William count of Boulogne was styled 'advocatus' of St. Martin's in 1158. (fn. 13) There is
also no evidence of the appointment of a dean by
the king, as such, before the death of Count
William in 1160; as the Boulogne inheritance
then passed to a woman, (fn. 14) it is possible that
Henry II took the opportunity to make fresh
arrangements with regard to the lands and rights
of the honour.
The tie between St. Martin's and the Boulogne
family being of this nature, the college might
reasonably expect its fortune to rise when the
heiress of Boulogne became queen; and it is
perhaps worth notice that of the two churches
added to St. Martin's in the reign of Henry I,
St. Botolph's Aldersgate was given by Thurstan,
a priest, (fn. 15) and St. Mary's Newport, through
Roger (fn. 16) bishop of Salisbury, the dean, probably
by him; while in Stephen's reign it was Queen
Matilda herself who granted as provision for
another canon the churches of Chrishall and
Witham, with the chapel of Cressing. (fn. 17) King
Stephen, moreover, gave to the canons free
warren on their lands of Easter, Norton, Maldon,
and Tolleshunt. (fn. 18) The position of the church,
however, at this time, was most unenviable, and
nothing gives a better idea of the utter anarchy
then prevailing than the history of St. Martin's.
Although the college could depend on the
favour of both parties in the Civil War, for when
the empress was in power (fn. 19) it was secure through
its dean, Henry de Blois bishop of Winchester,
her supporter, yet its property was seized again
and again by various persons under cover of the
general disorder. Their land at Aldersgate, (fn. 20)
Cripplegate, (fn. 21) Maldon, (fn. 22) and elsewhere (fn. 23) was all
taken from the canons at different times, and
Geoffrey de Mandeville not only deprived them of
the church of Newport (fn. 24) and its appurtenances,
but committed depredations on other possessions of
theirs in Essex. (fn. 25) It may have been before the
beginning of the war that the rebuilding of
St. Martin's or some extensive addition to the
church was undertaken, since Nigel bishop of
Ely offered an indulgence of forty days to those
of his diocese who contributed, (fn. 26) and he was more
likely to be interested in St. Martin's while his
uncle, Roger of Salisbury, was dean. If so, the
work probably extended over some years, for the
begging letter sent out by the college speaks of
the troubles of the kingdom as having affected
the church. (fn. 27) The canons, to induce liberality,
promised to receive all who helped this cause into
the fraternity of their church, and set forth the
various remissions of penance offered to the
charitable: forty days by the bishop of Winchester to those of his diocese who gave alms;
fifteen days by Alberic, bishop of Ostia and
papal legate, to all benefactors of St. Martin's;
and forty days every year to those who on
4 July, the anniversary of the dedication, visited
the church and made an offering. W. bishop of
Norwich, besides aiding the canons in this way,
gave them leave to preach in the cause of their
church throughout his diocese. (fn. 28) The gift of a
piece of the cloth in which the body of St. Cuthbert
had been wrapped, (fn. 29) made to St. Martin's by Hugh
bishop of Durham at some time between 1171
and 1189, may have had some connexion with
these building operations, for such a relic, even
without the bishop of London's indulgence, (fn. 30)
must have been a great financial benefit; it is
more probably, however, a sign of the important
position already held by St. Martin's.
The year 1158 marks the constitution of the
prebends of St. Martin's. (fn. 31) William I had
ordered the 'Custos' of the property of the
college to assign a proper portion to each canon,
but the arrangement cannot have been wholly
satisfactory, since it was at the request of the
canons that the share of each was fixed. The
dean was to have the church of Newport and
land to the value of 20s. in Tolleshunt, the prebend being called Newport; (fn. 32) Maldon provided
for two canons, one of whom was called prebendary of Keton; (fn. 33) out of Good Easter were
formed four prebends, known afterwards as
Imbers, Fawkeners, Paslowes, and Burghs or
Bowers; (fn. 34) the church and land of Chrishall, 10s.
in Tolleshunt and 10s. in Hoddesdon made an
estate for another canon, (fn. 35) and land worth 100s.
within and without London for the eighth; the
land assigned for the support of the ninth lay in
Norton and 'Selga,' and appears to have been
the prebend called Norton-Newerks. (fn. 36) The rest
of their lands in and without London, the church
of Witham, the chapel of Bonhunt, (fn. 37) the tithes of
Tolleshunt, and anything in future accruing,
were settled on the community of canons residing
in the church.
The canons resident might be absent on their
business four times a year, if they were not away
more than fifteen days. If they should be
absent constantly, clerks must be appointed as
substitutes. The canons, moreover, who did not
frequent the church had to find suitable vicars,
paying to them 2 marks a year, to the community
of canons a mark, or half a mark if their absence
were for study, and to the work of the church
half a mark.
The issues of the church of Maldon were to
be devoted to the lights of St. Martin's, and the
tithe of Good Easter to the work of that church.
A further readjustment was found necessary a
few years later, and in the time of Godfrey de
Lucy (fn. 38) some land which had belonged to the
prebend of the dean and that of Master Ivo de
Cornwall was assigned to the holder of the
London prebend, the dean receiving in exchange
the chapel of Bonhunt and land in London
valued at 15s., and Master Ivo land there worth
12s. 6d.
The thirteenth century is an important period
in the history of St. Martin's; it is a time of
disputes and settlements of titles to possessions, of
internal development, and of the establishment
of its rights and immunities as a royal free
chapel. Up to about 1250 there is a continual
succession of agreements and suits: Innocent III
in 1203 confirmed a composition made between
St. Martin's and the House of the Holy Spirit at
Writtle over tithes; (fn. 39) in 1235 Roger bishop of
London, by command of the pope, settled a dispute between the dean and chapter of St. Martin's
and the chaplain of St. Nicholas Shambles, about
a pension; (fn. 40) the vicar of St. Botolph's Aldersgate seems to have refused to pay the pension
owing from his church at intervals between 1225
and 1349, and as a result there were constant
legal proceedings against him; (fn. 41) in 1236 the
college was engaged in a suit against the priory
of Brissant; (fn. 42) an agreement was made at the
same date by Herbert, canon of St. Martin's, and
the rector of Old Ongar about some property; (fn. 43)
in 1238 Pope Gregory XI ordered an inquiry into
the complaints of the dean and chapter against
the abbot and convent of Walden, the master of
the Temple, and other persons for injuries done
to them in the matter of tithes, possessions, and
legacies; (fn. 44) and in 1253 a case was begun between St. Martin's and St. John's, Colchester. (fn. 45)
The most striking change, perhaps, in the
college itself, was the foundation, about 1240, of
a new prebend (fn. 46) for two additional canons. (fn. 47) It
was called Newland, and was formed out of property in Good Easter, (fn. 48) acquired for this purpose
by Herbert, the canon mentioned above, who
was chamberlain of St. Martin's, (fn. 49) and altogether
an important member of that church. (fn. 50) It may
be inferred that perpetual vicars were established
in 1158 by the article ordaining that every nonresident canon was to appoint a vicar. They
undoubtedly formed part of the college in 1228,
for canon Richard de Elmham left by will in
1228 to each vicar 12d., and to their refectory
a cloth and a towel. (fn. 51) As in 1304 there were
only two resident canons (fn. 52) there should then have
been eight perpetual vicars, or ten if the prebend
of Newland be considered. Some statutes that
date from the late fifteenth century, but are probably a recapitulation of earlier rules, (fn. 53) declare
that each prebend shall find a vicar priest for
service in the church except the prebend of
Maldon, which ought to have a vicar deacon,
and the prebend of Norton which finds the vicar
sub-deacon. In 1503 there were eight perpetual vicars who were priests, (fn. 54) so that it would
seem that at one time there must have been in
all ten vicars.
There were seven vicars in 1235, for they
witness a document, (fn. 55) but whether there were
more at that date it is impossible to say.
In 1254 two chantries for the souls of Thomas
Mauger and William de Winton, to be served
by two perpetual vicars, were established in
St. Martin's, (fn. 56) and the terms of foundation leave
it at least uncertain whether two new vicarages
were not then created. (fn. 57) If, however, the
number of vicars was complete in 1254, these
chantries may be regarded as a first attempt to
supplement the original provision for the
vicarages. That something needed to be done
in this direction was probably even then evident,
but no general measures were taken until Dean
Louis of Savoy ordained (fn. 58) in 1279 that as the
vicars could not live on what they received, each
was to have 12d. a week, and that the canons
should have of the gift of Adam de Fyleby,
chamberlain of the church, in compensation for
the diminution of their commons, the manor of
Parva Benfleet, 7 acres of land in Good Easter,
and houses and rents in London.
St. Martin's was one of the three churches in
which the abbot of Abingdon ordered the sentence of excommunication and interdict against
the baronial party and the city of London to be
published, (fn. 59) and the dean, Geoffrey de Boclande,
and the chapter were excommunicated with the
canons of Holy Trinity and of St. Paul's for
their refusal to obey. These three churches
were no doubt selected for this work as the most
important in London, but if a further reason for
the choice is sought it may perhaps be found in
the intimate connexion of the cathedral and
priory with the City, and the peculiar position
of St. Martin's, especially in relation to the
crown.
The possession of the honour of Boulogne
and the kingdom of England for a time by one
person would undoubtedly foster the idea that
St. Martin's was a royal chapel, and facilitate its
becoming one in fact on the death of Count
William. It is just after this event that the
king first appears incontestably as patron, (fn. 60) though
the candidate for the post of dean had thought it
expedient to use the influence of the abbess of
Romsey, the representative of the Boulogne
family. (fn. 61) Richard (fn. 62) and John (fn. 63) subsequently
appointed the dean as if by undoubted right. It
was, however, some time before the point was
reached when the king regarded an infringement
of its privileges as an attack on his royal prerogative.
When in the reign of Henry II an attempt
was made by the archdeacon of Essex to exact
dues from the church of Maldon, which was
exempt as belonging to St. Martin's, it was the
archbishop who intervened at the request of the
canons. (fn. 64)
In 1225 a similar case occurred, but it was
treated in very different fashion. The archdeacon of Colchester tried to exact procurations
from the church of Newport, and on the dean's
refusal to pay impleaded him in virtue of papal
letters before the archdeacon, chancellor, and
dean of Oxford. The king, after ordering the
archdeacon of Colchester in vain to desist from
his suit, forbade the judges to proceed in the
matter, as it might be prejudicial to his royal
dignity. (fn. 65)
On another occasion, when Henry, rector of
St. Leonard's, brought a cause in Court Christian
in 1238 against Herbert, canon and procurator
of St. Martin's, (fn. 66) about certain things touching
the state and liberties of that church, the king
directed that the case should be stopped until he
had appealed to the pope. Again in 1250
Henry summoned Fulk, bishop of London, to
answer for exacting jurisdiction in the churches
of Newport and Chrishall which as prebendal
churches of St. Martin's were not subject to the
ordinary. (fn. 67) The struggle thus begun continued
for a century, and Henry's successors showed
themselves equally determined in their maintenance of the exemptions of their chapel.
Archbishop Peckham involved himself in a
difficulty with Edward I for excommunicating
the dean who had opposed the exercise of any
jurisdiction but his own in Newport, (fn. 68) and the
same king utterly forbade procurations to be
exacted from St. Martin's on behalf of two cardinals in 1295. (fn. 69) The procurations demanded
by the papal nuncio in 1309, (fn. 70) and by the collectors of the cardinal of Sts. Marcellinus and
Peter, and the cardinal of St. Mary in Via Lata
in 1317 (fn. 71) were likewise prohibited by the king
who in 1313 ordered the bishop of London to
refrain from his attempt to exercise authority in
St. Martin's and the churches annexed. (fn. 72)
Although the king in pursuance of his policy
with regard to the royal chapels had refused to
allow papal provisions to prebends, (fn. 73) he yet received the support of the pope.
Clement V in 1306 forbade delegates or subdelegates of the pope to promulgate sentences of
excommunication, suspension or interdict against
the king or his chapels without special licence of
the apostolic see, (fn. 74) and in 1317 John XXII
inhibited any ordinary, delegate, or sub-delegate
to publish sentences, or do anything contrary to
the exemptions of the king's free chapels. (fn. 75)
This freedom from all authority except that
of the king, while it secured for the college a
powerful position against the outside world, had
drawbacks both material and spiritual. From
the first the deanery was held by a royal official,
and in many cases it can only have been bestowed
for services to the king without any regard to
the recipient's fitness for such a post. Dean Guy
de Rossilian was freed in 1248 by papal indulgence from the obligation to take holy orders, (fn. 76)
and William de Marchia, the treasurer, dean in
1291, was only a sub-deacon. (fn. 77) It must be remembered, too, that the canons, who were
appointed by the dean, (fn. 78) were of the same class
as himself, clerks attached to the households of
royal or noble personages, (fn. 79) and holding many
benefices besides their prebends. (fn. 80) This does
not imply a slur on their conduct, but it would
give a reason why the discipline, always less in a
college of secular priests than in a body belonging to an order, may have been still further
relaxed in this instance. In fact St. Martin's
can always be better imagined as a corporation
of officials than as a religious house. It seems
indeed as if the spiritual side of the place was
felt to be somewhat lacking as early as the beginning of the thirteenth century, or there would
have been no need for Geoffrey de Boclande to
make provision for the canons who left the
college for a stricter rule. (fn. 81)
Since many of the deans may be said to have
owed their appointment to their administrative
ability, it might be presumed that the college
suffered from maladministration less than other
religious bodies. On the other hand it is quite
as likely to have been neglected while the dean
occupied himself with the king's business or pursued his own interests, and in support of this
theory it may be remarked that Peter of Savoy
while dean seems to have spent almost all his
time abroad, (fn. 82) and could have felt little pride in
his church or he would not have violated its
customs by committing the task of hearing the
accounts of its chamberlains and other ministers
to persons who did not belong to St. Martin's,
and who appointed places outside for this business. (fn. 83) It is, too, at least doubtful whether most
of the deans who received higher preferment (fn. 84)
were not promoted for services to the king
rather than to St. Martin's.
The state of the college in 1323 therefore
hardly causes surprise. It was found then that
books and ornaments were lacking; that the
officers and other ministers left undone the duties
for which they received their stipends, and raised
quarrels and scandals among themselves, while
some led dissolute lives elsewhere, and that the
sums which should have been devoted to the
repair of the church, the payment of commons,
and to salaries were applied to other uses. (fn. 85) The
commissioners appointed by the king to make
the visitation attributed the blame largely to the
dean, Richard de Ellesfield, (fn. 86) and he was removed.
Twenty years afterwards, in 1343, another
inquiry was necessary owing to the waste and
dilapidation of the church and its possessions
through the negligence of its deans, (fn. 87) and in
1344 a lawsuit had arisen because Dean John de
Heselarton, after declining to take the part he
should have in the election of the master of the
hospital of St. Leonard Newport, which was subject to St. Martin's, had refused to admit the
priest elected, and had committed the custody
of the house to another. (fn. 88) On the occasion
of the visitation of 1343 the two canons resident had a grievance against Heselarton about
the portion assigned to them from the commons
of the church on account of residence, and it
was ordained by the Lord Chancellor in 1345
that they and future canons resident were to
receive £20 a year between them besides pittances and obits. (fn. 89)
An extensive improvement to the church
appears to have taken place between 1258 and
1261 when Henry III gave the canons marble
columns and stone for the construction of a
pulpit, some sculptured figures of kings for
decoration and 200 freestones for the chapel of
St. Blaise. (fn. 90) It is not unlikely that the bishops
of Coventry, Durham and Laodicea in offering
relaxation of penance in 1260 to those who
visited and prayed at the tomb of Matilda de la
Fauconere de la Wade in St Martin's (fn. 91) may have
intended to help the church as well as benefit
Matilda's soul. The dean and chapter certainly
secured a great benefit for themselves by obtaining permission in 1286 to close the road running
from Foster Lane to St. Nicholas Shambles, (fn. 92)
as the canons had found the public road between
their houses and the church so inconvenient that
in the reign of Henry III they had spanned it
with causeways. (fn. 93) Although the outside world
was thus shut out it could still make itself painfully
evident to the ministers of St. Martin's, for
dung-heaps were raised by the neighbours so near
the wall of the close that, as the dean and
chapter complained in 1331, the air in their
church and dwellings was corrupted. (fn. 94) Unless
the buildings of St. Martin's had been greatly
neglected it is hardly conceivable that the wind
could have played such havoc with the church,
bell-towers and cloisters that the canons despaired
of repairing them and in 1360 thought of
abandoning the place. (fn. 95) The state of affairs
disclosed in 1343 could not have been remedied
at once, and a bequest of Dean Useflete shows
that the cloister at least needed some repairs in
1348, (fn. 96) the eve of the Black Death. This
terrible epidemic by carrying off the cultivators
left the lands of the college waste and desolate,
and its income consequently inadequate even to
the ordinary expenditure. (fn. 97) The situation was
saved in 1360 by the munificence of the dean,
William de Wykeham, who at his own expense
not only restored but beautified the church and
cloister, and built a chapter-house adorned with
a worked stone ceiling. (fn. 98) This new chapel was
consecrated and dedicated (fn. 99) to the Holy Trinity (fn. 100)
in 1378. It is evident that the resources of
St. Martin's had received from the Plague a
blow from which they took long to recover: in
1372 the pope granted a special indulgence to
those visiting the church on certain feast-days
during the next twenty years; (fn. 101) in 1381 the
king exempted the canons from payments of
tenths and subsidies during the life of Walter
Skirlawe, then dean, (fn. 102) a term extended to
thirty years in 1384, (fn. 103) and in 1385 gave them
the advowson of the church of Bassingbourn
with licence to appropriate. (fn. 104)
The income of the church or its ministers (fn. 105)
was augmented during this period by the
endowment of a chantry by Joan Hemenhale in
1361, (fn. 106) of others by John Band, canon resident,
in 1370 (fn. 107) and Thomas Stodelee in 1395, (fn. 108) and
the appropriation to St. Martin's in 1399 of
St. Botolph's without Aldersgate. (fn. 109)
It is clear that in the fourteenth century the
position of St. Martin's as a royal free chapel
was secure, for its ecclesiastical immunities
rather increased than diminished. A suit in
1354 over the tithes and oblations of St. Alphage's
Cripplegate was brought by the former parson of
that church against the priest who then held it,
and because the advowson belonged to St.
Martin's, though the church was not appropriated, it was held that the Court of Canterbury
had no jurisdiction. (fn. 110) Again in 1381 the king
claimed that the dean of St. Martin's had from
time immemorial exercised all ordinary jurisdiction within the Tower of London, a right
not based on any existing charter, and that
the bishop of London had exceeded his powers
in placing the Tower chapel under an interdict. (fn. 111)
In the fifteenth century St. Martin's had,
however, to meet a formidable attack from
another quarter on different grounds. The City
beyond trying once or twice to make the college
pay part of a tallage, (fn. 112) had hitherto scarcely
questioned its special privileges. (fn. 113) While, however, it was becoming even more conscious of
itself as a corporate body and more jealous and
resentful of exemptions from its dominion within
its bounds, the evils caused by the privileges of
St. Martin's did not grow less. As the elements
of disorder increased during the reign of
Richard II, the precinct of the church owing to
its right of sanctuary became a nest of corruption.
In 1402 the Commons complained to the
king in Parliament (fn. 114) that apprentices and
servants carried off their master's goods to St.
Martin's and lived there on the proceeds of the
sale, that forgers took up their abode and carried
on their nefarious work there, that the inhabitants of the place bought in the City things for
which no payment could be obtained, and that
robbers and murderers used the place as a convenient refuge from which they issued to commit
fresh crimes. The king ordered that the
privileges should be shown before the council,
and that there should be reasonable remedy, but
evidently nothing was done.
In 1430 the mayor and sheriffs took the law
in their own hands and forcibly removed from
the sanctuary a certain canon of Waltham, (fn. 115)
but they had to put him back. Undaunted by
this check the sheriffs in 1440 took away from
St. Martin's a soldier and the men who had
rescued him as he was being taken from the
prison of Newgate to the Guildhall. The dean
and chapter appealed to the king, and in spite
of the resistance of the City they won the
day. (fn. 116)
One of the sheriffs and some of the goldsmiths
of London in 1448 visited the shops of their
craft in the precinct. The dean did not oppose
their examination but prevented its being used as
a precedent against the immunities of the place
by himself ordering anything condemned by them
to be destroyed and the offenders to be committed
to prison. (fn. 117)
Although the privileges of St. Martin's were
found to hold good even against the king himself
as the cases of William Caym (fn. 118) and Sir William
Oldhall (fn. 119) in 1451 sufficiently proved, the
abuses of the right of sanctuary were too notorious
to be ignored any longer, and the council in
1457 ordained (fn. 120) that persons taking refuge
there should be registered by the dean; that
they should not retain their weapons; that
control should be kept over notorious criminals;
that stolen goods should be restored to their
owners if they claimed them; that makers of
counterfeit plate and jewels should not be
allowed in the sanctuary; that men exercising
their trades there should observe the rules of the
city in this respect; and that vice should not be
countenanced. The exemptions of St. Martin's
outlived the church itself, though the right of
sanctuary was curtailed under Henry VIII.
Considering the relations that had always
existed between the dean and the sovereign, it
would not have been easy for him to remain
neutral amid the dynastic changes which now
took place. Dean Stillington did not make the
attempt, but threw in his lot with the Yorkists,
and was employed by Richard III in the negotiations with the duke of Brittany for the surrender
of the duke of Richmond. (fn. 121) As a natural
consequence he was removed when Richmond
became king, James Stanley being put in his
place. (fn. 122)
In 1503 St. Martin's le Grand entered on a
new phase, for it was appropriated with all its
possessions except the prebend of Newland to
the use of Westminster Abbey as part of the
endowment of the chapel founded there by
Henry VII. (fn. 123) Stanley became bishop of Ely in
1506, (fn. 124) and must have given up his deanery
then if he had not done so before; (fn. 125) the prebends of Keton, (fn. 126) Cowpes, (fn. 127) Chrishall, (fn. 128)
Imbers, (fn. 129) Paslowes, (fn. 130) Knight's Tolleshunt, (fn. 131)
and Good Easter (fn. 132) were resigned by their
holders between February, 1503, and May,
1504; those of Fawkeners and Burghs appear
to have been vacant. (fn. 133)
The abbey gained the issues of these estates,
and the chapel services possibly lost little.
There were still two canons resident and there
seem not to have been more for two centuries, (fn. 134)
in 1391, indeed, there was only one. (fn. 135) On the
other hand the number of vicars may have been
reduced: the accounts of 1391 mention eighteen vicars, a sacrist, and a clerk; those of
1385, seventeen vicars, a sacrist, and a clerk, (fn. 136)
while after the appropriation there were
eight vicars, three clerks, a sacrist, the keeper
of the 'vestiarium,' (fn. 137) and the clerk of the
church. There were four choir boys in 1503
as in 1304. (fn. 138)
No great changes can have been introduced
until 1508 for the protest of John Fisher, one of
the prebendaries of Newland, was made in
November of that year. (fn. 139) Fisher complained
that the abbot, with the bishops of London and
Winchester, had visited the chapel, had abolished
the ancient statutes and customs of the place
without the consent of the canons and vicars perpetual, had taken away the common seal, and
deprived the canons and vicars of their fruits and
obventions, and Fisher himself of the emoluments of his prebend. The arbitrators decided
in November, 1509, in favour of Fisher and his
fellow canon: (fn. 140) they were to have the arrears
of their prebend, but were to expend almost the
whole sum on the chapel; they were to receive
5 marks a year each; compensation was to be
given them for their loss of the profits of the
convent seal; (fn. 141) they were to enjoy the statutes
and old constitution and were to have the
presentation of four vicars' stalls. The statutes
made by Abbot Islip for the college (fn. 142) will
enable some idea to be formed not only of the
daily life of the members, but also of their
standard of conduct. Two of the most discreet
of the chaplains were to be named every year,
and to govern the others as the abbot's procurators; each chaplain was to take his turn to act as
seneschal for a fortnight and superintend the
expenses of the house; no one was habitually to
absent himself from the services, and there was
to be no talking in the choir or presbytery before
and after, but especially at the time of service,
except of matters pertaining to the divine office,
and that in a low voice; the priests were all to
sleep in the dormitory unless they had good
reason for their absence; at table one of the
priests was to read the Bible or some homily
aloud that vain conversation might be avoided,
and no one was to withdraw before grace had
been said, except by leave of the procurator or
seneschal; no one was to write with his knife
on the vessels, candlesticks or tables of the hall
or rooms, nor wilfully tear the cloth or towel;
the priests were commanded under certain
penalties not to cause quarrels or discords among
themselves or reveal the secrets of the house, not
to use angry words to each other or hit each
other with swords or sticks within the hall or
close; the priests were to have tonsures and not
to wear rings; they were forbidden to use bad
language; they were not to engage in trade;
they were ordered not to bring any woman suspected or defamed by day or night within the
close to their rooms.
The college was suppressed in 1542, and all
the members were pensioned, the one prebendary
of Newland receiving £20 a year, three vicars
£4 each, another £6, the fifth £6 13s. 4d.,
the sixth, who was to serve the cure, £10 16s. 6d.,
three clerks, 40s. each and two others, 53s. 4d.
each. (fn. 143)
The plate possessed by the church at the time
of the Dissolution was considerable in weight at
least, 194 oz. gilt, 182 oz. parcel gilt, and 144
oz. white. (fn. 144) The vestments both in quantity
and quality appear to have been worthy of the
place: (fn. 145) there were forty-six copes alone, some
of them costly and beautiful, among which may
be noted four of cloth of gold, the gift of Dean
Cawdray; another of the same material, the gift
of Sir William Oldhall; (fn. 146) one of red bawdekyn,
with stars of gold and orphreys of white bawdekyn; two of white damask with arms of silver;
one of crimson velvet powdered with flowers
and orphreys of green velvet; a green one
barred with gold, the orphreys of red velvet with
stars and crowns of gold; others decorated with
birds and harts of gold, peacocks, eagles and
dragons; one of blue satin 'oysters fedders and
roses,' and orphreys of 'red saten fyne gold';
and several with needlework orphreys.
The income of the chapel in 1291 amounted
roughly to £209. (fn. 147) In 1535 the annual value
of its property then in the hands of the abbot of
Westminster was worth about £356 1s 9½d., (fn. 148)
but to this must be added the issues of the prebend of Newland and of eight chantries, equal to
£90 18s. 9d. (fn. 149) Among the possessions of St.
Martin's were the prebends or manors of Imbers,
Fawkeners, Paston, and Burghs, (fn. 150) and other
property in Good Easter, possibly the manor of
Newerks, (fn. 151) and the manor of Mashbury, mentioned in 1273 as held by the college; (fn. 152) lands
in Knight's Tolleshunt, Norton, (fn. 153) Maldon, (fn. 154)
and North Benfleet, (fn. 155) co. Essex, and Hoddesdon, co. Herts; the rectory of St. Andrews,
Good Easter, from early times a prebendal
church; (fn. 156) the church of Newport Pound, of old
appurtenant to the deanery; (fn. 157) the church of
Witham, where a vicarage was ordained in
1222; (fn. 158) the chapel of Cressing, which belonged
to Witham (fn. 159) ; the prebendal church of Crishall, (fn. 160) the rectory of St. Mary of Maldon, or
the prebends of Cowpes and Keton, (fn. 161) co. Essex,
and the rectory of Bassingbourn, co. Cambridge.
A fair in Good Easter had been granted by the
king in 1309, (fn. 162) and a portion of 5s. from the
chapel of Bonhunt, co. Essex, had been paid in
1291. (fn. 163) St. Martin's in 1215 held one knight's
fee in Mashbury. (fn. 164)
The tenements in London where the college
had had holdings in eleven parishes in 1291 (fn. 165)
amounted in 1535 to about half the entire
revenues. (fn. 166) St. Martin's also held the appropriated church of St. Botolph without Aldersgate, (fn. 167) and a pension of 6s. 8d. from St. Katharine
Coleman, 20s. from St. Nicholas Cole Abbey,
and 60s. from St. Nicholas Shambles, which
had been paid in 1291, (fn. 168) in some cases much
earlier. (fn. 169) In 1291, and presumably in 1535,
the college possessed, besides the advowsons of
the above churches, (fn. 170) those of the following:—St. Agnes, granted to St. Martin's
between 1140 and 1160 by Abbot Gervase
and the convent of Westminster; (fn. 171) St. Leonard
Foster Lane, built within the precinct early
in the thirteenth century; (fn. 172) St. Alphage,
which had been connected with St. Martin's
since the time of Roger, bishop of Salisbury, (fn. 173)
and in 1291 (fn. 174) and 1526 (fn. 175) paid a pension of
33s. 4d.
Deans of St. Martin Le Grand
Ingelric, the first dean (fn. 176)
Geoffrey (?), occurs 1077 (fn. 177)
Roger, bishop of Salisbury, appointed temp.
Henry I, (fn. 178) died 1139
Fulcher (fn. 179)
Henry de Blois, bishop of Winchester, appointed
temp. Stephen, (fn. 180) occurs 1158 (fn. 181)
William, son of Count Theobald, c. 1160 (fn. 182)
Godfrey de Lucy, appointed 1171, (fn. 183) occurs
1177, (fn. 184) promoted 1189 (fn. 185)
William de Ste. Mère l'Eglise, appointed
1189, (fn. 186) promoted 1199 (fn. 187)
Richard Briger, appointed 1199 (fn. 188)
Geoffrey de Boclande, occurs 1211, (fn. 189) 1216, (fn. 190)
1222, (fn. 191) and 1225 (fn. 192)
Luke, appointed 1225, (fn. 193) promoted 1229 (fn. 194)
Walter de Kirkeham, appointed 1229, (fn. 195)
occurs 1236 (fn. 196)
Guy de Rossilian, appointed 1244, (fn. 197) occurs
1248 (fn. 198) and 1254 (fn. 199)
Hugh, appointed c. 1253 (?) (fn. 200)
Henry de Wengham, appointed 1254, (fn. 201) occurs
1259, (fn. 202) promoted 1260 (fn. 203)
William de Champvent, appointed 1262, (fn. 204)
promoted c. 1274 (fn. 205)
Louis of Savoy, appointed 1274 (fn. 206) resigned
c. 1279 (fn. 207)
Geoffrey de Neubaud, appointed 1279 (fn. 208)
occurs 1280 (fn. 209)
William of Louth, appointed 1283, (fn. 210) occurs
1284, (fn. 211) resigned 1290 (fn. 212)
William de Marchia, appointed 1290, (fn. 213) occurs
1292 (fn. 214)
Peter de Savoy, occurs 1294, (fn. 215) 1301, (fn. 216) and
1308 (fn. 217)
William de Melton, appointed 1308, (fn. 218) occurs
1314 (fn. 219)
Richard de Ellesfield, appointed 1317, (fn. 220) removed 1325 (fn. 221)
Richard de Tysshbury appointed 1325, (fn. 222) removed 1326 (fn. 223)
John le Smale, appointed 1326 (fn. 224)
John de Wodeford, appointed 1328, (fn. 225) resigned
1343 (fn. 226)
John de Heselarton, appointed 1343, (fn. 227) occurs
1344 (fn. 228)
Thomas de Useflete, appointed 1345, (fn. 229) occurs
1347 (fn. 230)
William de Cusancia, appointed 1349, (fn. 231)
occurs 1354 (fn. 232) and 1355 (fn. 233)
William de Wykeham, appointed 1360 (fn. 234)
Simon de Northwode, occurs 1363 (fn. 235) and
1364 (fn. 236)
William de Mulsho, appointed 1364, (fn. 237) occurs
1370 (fn. 238)
Walter Skirlawe, appointed 1377, (fn. 239) resigned
1383 (fn. 240)
John Bacun, appointed 1383 (fn. 241)
Richard Mitford, appointed 1385, (fn. 242) resigned
1389 (fn. 243)
Roger Walden, appointed 1390 (fn. 244)
William de Pakyngton, appointed 1390 (fn. 245)
William de Assheton, appointed 1390, (fn. 246)
occurs 1391–2 (fn. 247) and 1396 (fn. 248)
Thomas de Langley, appointed 1395 (?) (fn. 249)
Thomas de Stanley, occurs 1399, (fn. 250) resigned
1402 (fn. 251)
Thomas Tuttebury, appointed 1402 (fn. 252)
Richard Dereham, S.T.P., appointed 1403, (fn. 253)
occurs 1414 (fn. 254)
John Stena, or Stone, occurs 1416 (fn. 255)
William Kynwolmersh, appointed 1420–1, (fn. 256)
occurs 1422 (fn. 257)
John Stafford, appointed 1422, (fn. 258) occurs
1425 (fn. 259)
William Alnwick, resigned 1426 (fn. 260)
John Estcourt, appointed 1426, (fn. 261) occurs
1427 (fn. 262)
Thomas Bourchier, appointed 1427, (fn. 263) occurs
1430 (fn. 264) and 1434 (fn. 265)
Richard Cawdray, appointed 1435, (fn. 266) occurs
1443, (fn. 267) 1448, (fn. 268) and 1455 (fn. 269)
Robert Stillington, appointed 1458, (fn. 270) occurs
1464, (fn. 271) removed 1485 (fn. 272)
James Stanley, appointed 1485, (fn. 273) occurs
1499 (fn. 274)
A seal of the twelfth or early thirteenth century, (fn. 275) in shape a pointed oval, represents the
sainted bishop with nimbus, lifting up the right
hand in benediction, and holding in the left a
crosier. Legend:—
SIG . . . ECC . . . ST . . . ARTINI
LONDONIE
The seal of Thomas de Useflete, dean in
1347, is attached to Add. Chart. 6,030. It is
red in colour, and bears an impression of an
ancient oval Christian gem engraved in intaglio:
two half-length figures of a man on the left and
a woman on the right lifting up their hands in
prayer; between them, overhead, a crosslet.
Above the impression of the gem is a half-length
representation of the Virgin with the Child. In
the base to the left is a bust, a fillet round the
head. The setting is ornamented with four
small carved circular openings. Legend:—
SIGILLE. THOME . DE . VSEFLETE . CL'ICI
A seal of 1349, (fn. 276) a pointed oval, shows St.
Martin dividing his cloak with the beggar. In
the base is a shield of arms.