HOUSES OF KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS
78. BAILIWICK OF YORK
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of
St. John of Jerusalem settled at Mount St. John
in Feliskirk in the 12th century and at Newland
and Beverley in the early years of the following
century. Upon the suppression of the Knights
Templars in 1312 they received a large accession
of property in the county, but of the seven
Templar preceptories handed over to the Hospitallers Ribston alone appears to have continued
in the independent position of a preceptory.
As in the case of the Templars, there seems
to have been a 'chief preceptor' for the county.
Nicholas de Cardinel witnessed a deed in 1189
as 'Master of the Hospitallers of York' (fn. 1) ;
Walter Dewyas was ' rector of the Hospital of
St. John of Jerusalem in York' in 1220, (fn. 2) and
Ralph de Castro was preceptor of Yorkshire in
1317. (fn. 2a)
Besides their four preceptories the Hospitallers
had ' camerae ' at Copgrave, Huntington, and
Stainton. (fn. 3) These may at first have been under
the ' chief preceptor,' but seem in 1338 to have
been directly under the head house at Clerken well,
though Stainton, which had been bestowed on
the order about 1140, is said to have been
attached to the preceptory of Beverley. (fn. 4)
79. THE PRECEPTORY OF BEVERLEY
A preceptory was established at Beverley at
the beginning of the 13th century, probably in
1201, when Sybil de Beverley, second wife of
the third Lord Percy, gave to the Knights
Hospitallers the manor of Holy Trinity, east of
Beverley, the manor of North Burton and other
lands. (fn. 5) In 1338, (fn. 6) besides their house and grounds
at Beverley, the knights had some 350 acres at
Burton, 150 acres at Fitling, 120 at Walsay,
270 at Cleving, and about the same at Dalton.
The voluntary offerings collected in the district
were reckoned at £20, the whole issues being
rather over 125 marks. From this had to be
deducted various expenses for the exercise of
hospitality, as enjoined by the founders, and for
the support of the establishment, consisting of a
preceptor, Simon Fauconer, knight, and two
brethren, Simon Belcher, knight, and Philip
Ewyas, sergeant, two chaplains and clerks employed to collect the voluntary offerings, a
steward and the usual retinue of servants. The
clear yearly profits amounted to 60 marks. The
estates of the Templars' preceptory of Westerdale
were at a later date put under the commander,
or preceptor of Beverley, (fn. 7) and the total value of
the preceptory of Beverley was returned in 1535
as £164 9s. 10d. (fn. 8) John Sutton was preceptor
at this time, (fn. 9) as he had been in 1528, (fn. 10) and continued to hold the post until the suppression of
the order in 1540, when he was given a pension
of £200. (fn. 11)
80. THE PRECEPTORY OF MOUNT ST. JOHN
Early in the reign of Henry I, William
Percy I gave to the Knights Hospitallers five
knights' fees in the neighbourhood of Feliskirk,
and a preceptory was founded to the honour
of St. Mary. (fn. 12) The advowson of the church of
Feliskirk soon came into the hands of the Hospitallers, whose right therein was acknowledged
by Robert Fossard in 1210. (fn. 13) The church was
appropriated to the Hospitallers in 1279 and a
vicarage ordained. (fn. 14) In 1338 the buildings at
Mount St. John were ruinous; the total receipts
were about 87½ marks, of which £26 came
from the church of Feliskirk and £13 6s. 8d.
from the voluntary offerings made in the district.
There was a preceptor and one confrater, both
of them chaplains, and the usual staff of servants.
By their foundation ordinances they had to maintain hospitality and to make two distributions
yearly to the poor, the total deductions and
expenses coming to 37 marks. (fn. 15) In 1535 the
gross value of the commandery was £137 2s.,
including property in Westmorland and Northumberland, £9 from collections made in Northumberland and £8 from similar collections in
Yorkshire; the clear value was £102 13s. 9d. (fn. 16)
Preceptors of Mount St. John
William de Reding (fn. 16a)
John de Thame, occurs 1338 (fn. 17)
Richard de Quertone, occurs 1365 (fn. 18)
John Kylquyt, occurs 1415. (fn. 18a)
Thomas Pemberton, occurs 1528, (fn. 19) 1534 (fn. 19a)
Richard Broke, occurs 1539, (fn. 20) 1540 (fn. 21)
81. THE PRECEPTORY OF NEWLAND
The manor of Newland in Howden was
granted to the Knights Hospitallers by King
John, and a preceptory was founded there early
in the 13th century. During the reign of
Henry III the greatest benefactor of the house was
Roger Peytevin, lord of Altofts. (fn. 22) In 1338 the
manse was said to be in bad repair; there were
some 300 acres of land in Newland and ' Hoton '
(Howden), the voluntary offerings of the district
were reckoned at £20, and the whole issues
amounted to a little over 84 marks; from this
had to be deducted 45½ marks for the expenses
of the household, consisting of the preceptor,
John de Wyrkelee, knight, and his confrater
John Molhiry, sergeant, a chaplain, a squire, and
the usual servants. (fn. 23) There were also two
stewards, one for estates in Craven and the other
for those in Furness and Coupland, and Sir
William Scot, knight, was in receipt of a pension for life of 40s. (fn. 24)
The Templars' church of Whitkirk seems to
have been made over to this preceptory before
1402, (fn. 25) and the sphere of its bailiwick was much
enlarged in the process of time until in 1535 (fn. 26)
it extended over Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmorland, and Nottinghamshire, as well as part
of Yorkshire, necessitating the employment of
thirteen bailiffs. The Yorkshire rectories of
Darfield, Whitkirk and Kellington accounted
for £80; the offerings collected through the
fraternity of St. John the Baptist in the
counties other than Yorkshire amounted to
£24; the total issues came to £202 3s. 8d.
The deductions amounted to £72 8s. 8½d.,
including the stipends of a chaplain at Newland
and another at Stede (Lancs.), and the fees of
the numerous bailiffs and other officials; the clear
value, therefore, was £129 14s. 11½d., of which
£88 9s. 6d. was paid over to the head quarters of
the order.
Preceptors of Newland
John de Wyrkelee, occurs 1338 (fn. 27)
Richard Cerne, occurs 1402 (fn. 28) , 1415 (fn. 29)
Alban Poole, occurs 1528 (fn. 30)
Roger Boydell, died 1533 (fn. 30a)
Thomas Pemberton, occurs 1535 (fn. 31)
? Cuthbert Leghton, last preceptor, 1540 (fn. 32)
82. THE PRECEPTORY OF RIBSTON AND WETHERBY
Upon the suppression of the Knights Templars in 1312, seven out of their ten Yorkshire
preceptories were made over to the Knights
Hospitallers, but Ribston alone retained its independent position as a preceptory. In 1338 (fn. 33)
the estates of this preceptory were valued at
£167 11s. 8d., of which some 30 marks came
from the appropriated church of Hunsingore, and
40 marks were estimated as obtainable for the
church of Whitkirk if it were leased instead of
being kept in their own hands. The preceptor,
John de Thame, chaplain, seems to have been
the same as the preceptor of Mount St. John at
this date; (fn. 34) he had two brethren with him,
William de Bautre, sergeant, and Amisius de
Cantebiry, chaplain. There were also two
pensioners who held corrodies (life grants of
board, lodging, and small stipends), given them
by the Templars, and the usual staff of servants, and the expenses of hospitality were
heavy, as the preceptory lay on the road to
Scotland; the clear value, therefore, was only
£101 1s. 10d.
In 1422 the Grand Master of the Hospital
granted for ten years to Thomas Weston the
preceptory of Ribston, vacant by the death of
John Brimston, with its member Copmanthorpe,
vacant by the death of Thomas 'Scquipuit'
(probably Skipwith), ' the last preceptor'; (fn. 35) it
seems, however, pretty clear that Copmanthorpe
was not a preceptory, but merely a member of
Ribston. By the 16th century, Ribston, like
so many other preceptories of the Hospitallers, had
ceased to be the residence of any of the brethren
and was leased to lay farmers, who probably
maintained a chaplain. In 1529 Sir John Rawson, the prior of Kilmainham in Ireland and
nominal preceptor of Ribston, had leave to lease
the preceptory for three years to John Alen,
citizen mercer of London. (fn. 36) The return of
1535 shows a gross value of £224 9s. 7d., out
of which £6 13s. 4d, had to be paid to a chaplain celebrant at Ribston 'of the foundation of
Mowbray' and other £17 for the fees of
bailiffs and other officials. (fn. 37) The church of
Hunsingore is entered as ' appropriated to the
monastery (sic) of Kilmayn in Ireland.' (fn. 38) In
1539, the year before the suppression of the
order, Sir John Rawson wrote to Cromwell
thanking him for giving the receivership of the
commandery of Ribston to Henry Gaderyke,
who had married Rawson's niece. (fn. 39)
Preceptors of Ribston
John de Thame, chaplain, occurs 1338 (fn. 40)
John de Bromstone, or Brimston, occurs 1392, (fn. 41)
dead before 1422 (fn. 42)
Thomas Weston, appointed 1422 (fn. 43)
John Rawson, prior of Ireland, occurs 1529,
last preceptor (fn. 44)