Jurisdiction, privileges and liberties
HAVING now finished the account of the priors of
this church, as well as of the fabric itself, it will be
proper to make some mention of the several privileges, liberties and revenues belonging to this priory,
and of other matters relating to the establishment and
government of it.
The archbishop himself was reputed the head of
this monastery, in the stead of an abbot, who had the
superior power over the convent; hence the monks
contended, that no one could be duly constituted
archbishop, unless he first professed himself a monk
of their own order, that is a Benedictine; (fn. 1) and this
custom seems to have continued till the year 1123,
when the king and bishops, being of the secular clergy, over-ruled it, notwithstanding the vehement opposition made by the prior and convent; and William
Corboil, who was a secular, was constituted archbishop. (fn. 2) Certainly, the archbishop being as their abbot
and their father, superior or governor, might be a
strong reason why, as to that part of his function, the
choice of him should belong to the convent, and as
such it must have been most satisfactory, as well as most
beneficial, to the common interest of the convent.
The archbishop was visitor of the convent, and
though the convent elected and presented the persons
to him, yet he had the power of approving and constituting the prior, sub-prior, the obedientiaries, and
some other inferior officers; but in other respects the
chief government of it was committed to the prior.—
The disposal of the revenues and the management of
all the temporal affairs of it, wholly belonged to the
prior and chapter, the archbishop having no concern in
them. For the election of a prior, the manner was
thus: the death of the late prior being notisied to the
archbishop, by letters from the convent, he came, attended by his chaplain only, to the chapter-house,
within which the monks were all summoned to attend
him, for the creating of a new prior; when, after a
short exhortation on the occasion, each gave in the
name of the person he voted for to be prior; which,
as well as the person naming, the chaplain wrote
down in a roll. Next day the archbishop having taken
that time to consider of it, named aloud, in full chapter, that person to be prior, whom the great and more
discreet part of it had voted for. Upon which, the
prior elect, having first pleaded his insufficiency, the
precentor began the Te Deum, and all rising from their
seats, the convent preceding, the archbishop and prior
following, they all chanting, solemnly entered the
church, and being come into the choir, the archbishop directly installed the prior in his stall, on the
north side; which done, the archbishop being seated
in the first stall, on the south side, waited there during
the time the Te Deum, and the usual versicles and
prayers were repeated; after which they all returned
to the chapter house, in the same order as before;
where, before the archbishop had seated himself, he
placed the prior in the seat next to him, on the north
side, and then giving his benediction to the convent,
and people, he returned to his apartment in his palace, and the convent to divine service in the church. (fn. 3)
In which manner Richard Oxinden was elected prior
of this church in 1331. But if the prior happened to
die in the vacancy of the see, the monks proceeded
immediately to elect one of their own body; which
election, the new archbishop, as soon as he came to
his church, was obliged to confirm, unless there appeared a legal and justisiable cause to the contrary, by
the bulls of the popes Alexander III. Innocent III.
Urban III. Celestine III. and Gregory IX. of such
value did the privilege of electing their prior by themselves, in the vacancy of the see, seem to be to them. (fn. 4)
The prior, thus seated in his dignity, was esteemed
honourable, and received with profound veneration by
the convent at all times; Lanfranc's decrees concerning the Benedictines made large provisions for all due
respect to be paid to an abbot or prior in these monasteries. This veneration, and even high admiration,
was increased, from his being upon all solemn occasions adorned with rich and glorious vestments, and
from its being granted to him to bear the honourable
ensigns of episcopacy, the mitre, the pastoral staff, the
ring, the gloves, the sandals, and the like. From these
grants, as well as from his summons to parliament, his
stile and title of honour was derived; and he was usually
addressed by that of my lord prior.
It may not be improper to recite here these grants
in the same order in which they were made, together
with some other concessions of honour and privileges
made both to the prior and the convent. In the year
1205, pope Innocent gave the prior licence to wear
the episcopal gloves, (fn. 5) for an ornament to his hands. (fn. 6)
At the same time he invested him with the robe, called
the dalmatia, which was the common habit of all bishops; and by the same bull, the pope gave him licence to use the napkin at the altar; the meaning of
which was, when the bishop had put on his habit, in
order to administer there, he had a fine napkin or handkerchief fastened to his left arm. The prior therefore
had licence to use the like napkin, when he officiated
at the altar. Anno 1220, pope Honorius, of his special grace, put the pontifical ring, as a token of honour, on his finger; and the mitre, which was called
the sacedotal crown, upon his head, with the licence
of wearing them upon all solemnities in synods, at pro
cessions, and on the great festivals of the church. Thus
the prior appeared in like manner as a bishop. In the
year 1378, pope Urban granted him licence, in the
absence of the archbishop, to use the pastoral staff, to
put on the sandals or slippers, which were richly embroidered, and to give the solemn benediction.
By the rubric of the Roman missal, it was inhibited
to wear the dalmatic robe, or to sing the angelical
hymn, Glory to God on high; in the stated seasons of
fasting, pope Alexander granted a dispensation to this
church, that the dalmatic robe might be used, andgloria in excelsis might be sung upon certain seasts of St.
Gregory, St. Benedict, and St. Alphage, if they happened to be in the time of Lent; and on St. Andrew's
day, when it happened within the time of Advent. (fn. 7)
The prior and chapter had a pre-eminent jurisdiction, which of course devolved upon them as often as
the see of Canterbury became void, for the canon law
put them in possession of an authority to exercise all jurisdiction, as well provincial as diocesan, during that
vacancy, when they acted as the dean and chapter does
now, in like manner, and equally the same as archbishops. (fn. 8) They sent forth their commissions according
to their power, for the visiting of the dioceses within
this province, as well as the abbies, priories, nunneries and collegiate churches. They summoned provin.
cial synods, had the archiepiscopal right of the probate
of wills, and all other like privileges. (fn. 9)
At the provincial synods, the prior was seated with
the mitre on his head, on the bench of bishops, in like
manner as one of them; to the parliament he had several times summons by royal mandate; of this the
registers of the church do not asford any information;
however, from Mr. Selden we learn, that the first summons the prior of this church received to parliament,
bore date anno 49 Henry III. at which time above one
hundred regular barons, that is, abbots, priors and
masters of orders, besides the deans of York, Exeter,
Sarum, Wells and Lincoln, were in like manner summoned to parliament. The next summons, which he
mentions, wherin the prior of the Holy Trinity in
Canterbury was present in parliament, was in the 23d
year of king Edward I. when the chief abbots and
priors only, about fifty in number, were called to parliament; another summons to the prior of this church
was anno 24th of the same reign, and others again in
the 25th and 27th of it; others again in the 13th and
14th years of king Edward II. and again in the 5th
year of king Henry IV. (fn. 10) after which it does not appear that this prior was any more summoned to parliament.
The last of these summonses seems to have been an
act of grace, at the earnest request of Thomas Chillenden, who was then prior of this church, who was one
of a high spirit, a zealous promoter of his own honour
and greantness, as well as that of his church. It was
this prior who obtained the pope's bull for the pastoral
staff, and afterwards obtained the repetition of the summons to parliament, a privilege which his suecessors
never enjoyed after him.
The prior of this church had a large family, and
many officers and servants belonging to his lodgings
and his stables; he had his esquires to attend upon his
person, as his chamberlain, marshal, &c. He had his
clerk, notary, messengers, master of his stables, his
chief cook, and butler, with a number of others bearing
more menial offices. (fn. 11)
The other officers of account belonging to the
priory, were, first, the sub-prior, whose office was to
supply the place of the prior in his absence; during
which, he took care that all due order should be observed in the monastery. He was much respected by
the convent, being next in dignity to the prior himself,
not eating or sleeping in common with the rest of the
monastery, but having his own proper chamber and
apartments, and his table too, to himself.
The chief officers, called the obedientiaries, were
next to him in dignity; these were in order, the cellarer, the chamberlain, the sacrist, and the treasurer, (fn. 12)
to which may be added the precentor and the two penitentiaries; all these officers were constituted by the
archbishop, by the convent's nominating three monks
to him for each of them, from which he chose one, who
was admitted to the office. (fn. 13) These obedientiaries were
absolved from their offices by every new archbishop,
and they resigned them into his hands, as did the subprior his, and the archbishop then made a new choice
of them.
By the antient charters of our kings, this monastery
had the grants of divers liberties, immunities, freedoms, and privileges, such as have been usually granted
to free boroughs, cities, and other civil corporations
in the largest extent; the terms of these grants are obsolete, and but little understood; but the monks were
absolute masters of this kind of learning; and being
even industrious to procure, and pertinacious to maintain their privileges, they took care to be well skilled in
understanding the utmost extent of them. These liberties are all of them, from the change of the times,
and the great alteration in the constitution and subsequent laws of this realm, now obsolete, and of no manner of use; I shall therefore only mention, that by the
charter of king Henry II. this monastery was exempt,
among many other privileges, from the charge of repairing bridges, castles, parks, and inclosures. It was
freed from doing suit and service in the county, or shire
courts, and in hundred or lath courts, which exemption
was extended to all their lordships and villages: it had
also a grant of free-warren in all its seudal lands, and
free mercats in divers places. (fn. 14)
The papal bulls obtained from time to time by the
prior and convent, in which were contained liberties
and indulgencies, grants and possessions, and the confirmation of former ones, though now of no use, were
once esteemed by all of the greatest value and authority. (fn. 15) The piety and profuse bounty of kings, nobles
and other persons had liberally endowed this church
with ample possessions and revenues; several bold and
strong attempts were made to wrest these possessions at
various times from it; to prevent which, the convent
betook themselves for protection to the see of Rome,
and procured bulls from several popes to confirm to
them their manors, lands, appropriations, and other of
their possessions and revenues, all which were particularly specified, and were preserved safe and inviolate by
them; for these instruments were at that time esteemed
superior to the will of the king, or the laws of the
land, being armed with a double-edged sword, of
earthly and divine vengeance. By other bulls, they
became exempted from the payment of tithes of their
gardens, of the increase of their cattle, and the like; (fn. 16)
by others they were impowered to take of the oblations and obventions of the altars in the church, as they
thought sit, which before had been the archbishop's
right, according to the canons of the church. By
other bulls, they had a power of excommunicating (fn. 17)
all those found guilty of sacrilege, committed within
the walls of their monastery, and all other malefactors
within them, in the absence of the archbishop and
vacancy of the see; this was no small safeguard to
the monks themselves, as well as to the goods of their
church and monastery, and they had by them likewise
the liberty of free sepulture of all, who should desire
to be buried within their church and cemetery; a
privilege which brought in a considerable profit to
them.
They had besides those above-mentioned, other
bulls which provided for their safety, quiet and honour,
especially against such attempts as the archbishops
upon every displeasure might make to vex and molest
them; an attempt they had at times experienced, and
it therefore seemed prudent to make the best provision they could against the like in future. Archbishop Theobald had, by his own authority, deposed
two of their priors, an instance never before heard of;
his successor Baldwin was forced upon them, to be
elected their archbishop, against their will; and there
were continual disagreements between him and the
monks; and the convent was fearful left he might do
as Theobald had done before, and take upon him to
depose their prior at pleasure. For which reason, anno
1187, being the third year of archbishop Baldwin's
pontificate, they obtained a bull from pope Urban,
that the prior should not be deposed, or suspended by
any one, unless upon manifest and reasonable cause.
This privilege was confirmed by the bulls of the popes
Alexander III. Celestine III. and Honorius III.—
They further obtained licence of appealing to the see
of Rome, against all grievances; an injunction likewise, that no monk should be punished for any irregularity, but within the chapter house; and a declaration, that the prior and convent should not be
bound to pay any debts contracted by the archbishop
after his consecration. (fn. 18) They obtained an inhibition,
that no archbishop should impose on the convent new
and undue exactions investments, and the like, and
a licence and power of a free administration, disposition of their own affairs, and of keeping their own
seal, and of committing to the sub prior, in the absence or vacancy of the prior, the care and administration of the concerns of the convent; the express
reason for which was declared to be, that the archbishop should have no pretence to administer, dispose
of, or intermeddle with the affairs of the convent at
any time. There was also a papal injunction, that in
the vacancy of the see of Canterbury, the comprovincial bishops, or any others, should not withdraw the
obedience which they owed to the metropolitical
church; and a power was given to the convent to
send for any one of the suffragan bishops of the province, the see of Canterbury being vacant, to celebrate
the episcopal duties within this church, in case the bishop of Rochester could not come for that purpose;
they had also a licence, that whenever the kingdom
should lie under a general interdict, to celebrate divince service with a low voice, no bell being tolled, the
doors being shut, and excommunicated and interdicted persons being excluded; besides these abovementioned, there were numbers of papal bulls, licences
and provisions, which were granted to this convent
upon more trivial matters and occasions, which are too
immaterial to insert here; but it ought to be remembered, that all privileges, rights, liberties, and jurisdictions whatsoever, which belonged to, or were used
by the prior and convent of this church, and are not
now disconsonant, or prohibited by the laws and established religion of this realm, are at this time, by the
foundation charter of king Henry VIII. in which
they are granted in as full and ample a manner as
they were ever at any time enjoyed and used by the
prior and convent, vested in the dean and chapter of
this church.
Besides the above-mentioned papal grants, there are
among the archives of this church, numbers of grants
of manors, lands, possessions and appropriations of
churches, and of privileges likewise made and confirmed to this church in former times, by the several
archbishops of this see. One noted privilege ought
not to be omitted, as it survived the dissolution of
the monastery itself, for this church has an undoubted
right to it at this day. This privilege was, that no
suffragan bishop of the province of Canterbury might
be consecrated any where, but in the metropolitical
church at Canterbury, (fn. 19) to which he was bound to
profess obedience and subjection, unless the chapter
of it gave him, under their commonseal, a dispensation and licence to be consecrated in some other
church.
In antient times the archbishops resided chiefly in
their palace at Canterbury, or in some of their manors near it, and the suffragan bishops elect came directly to this church for consecration. From common
practice this grew up into a general custom, and
thence into a privilege claimed by this church; for
archbishop Becket perceiving how much it tended to
the honour and advantage of it, established this custom as a rule or privilege, by his charter granted to
this church, decreeing by it that the suffragan bishops
of the province should be consecrated, as ever had
been the custom, in it, and no where else; which
charter was confirmed by pope Gregory the ninth;
and the privilege was established still firmer by the
example of archbishop Edmund, who, when he was
going to consecrate Robert Grosthead, elect bishop of
Lincoln, in the church of Reading, was opposed in
it by the monks of this convent, when yielding to
them, he forebore to consecrate the bishop, until he
had, by entreaties, obtained their consent, and adding
a soleman protestation and acknowledgment, that the
consecration of a suffragan bishop could of right be
celebrated no where but in the metropolitical church
of Canterbury, unless by the dispensation and common consent of the whole convent; which acknowledgment he gave under his own seal, and the seals of
the bishops, who were then present at the consecration, namely, Jocelin, bishop of Bath; Robert, bishop of Sarum; Roger, bishop of London; Hugh,
bishop of Ely, and Ralph, bishop of Hereford. After
which this privilege remained, unviolated, so long as
the priory continued. In the registers of this church,
many of these dispensations or licences for the consecration of suffragan bishops in other churches or cha
pels, are recorded, for which every bishop had a separate one. At first these licences were not easily obtained; the king, the archbishop, the bishop elect, or
some other great persons sent their petitions or requests;
without which they were never granted. (fn. 20)
In the form of these licences granted by the convent, it is said, that this privilege was granted by St.
Thomas, the glorious martyr, and St. Edmund the
consessor, (fn. 21) according to custom of antient date. In
the time of archbishop Cranmer, before the dissolution of the priory, the form of these licences was altered, to what is still continued to be made use of.—
At this time a licence is applied for to the dean and
chapter of Canterbury by each bishop elect, and immediately granted and returned by their chapter
clerk, as a matter of course, (fn. 22) so that there has not
been a suffragan bishop consecrated in the church of
Canterbury for a great number of years past. In every
one of these licences of consecration, there was a provision made, that a new decent cope, such as was becoming the dignity and quality of the consecrated bishop, should be given, delivered and sent by him to
the metropolitical church, as a token of that obedience and subjection, which he solemnly prosessed to
it, at the time of his consecration; hence it was called
the professional cope; this the church claimed and received of antient right from the time, as was asserted,
of archbishop Lanfranc to the dissolution of the priory,
without any considerable interruption. (fn. 23)
The professional cope may have ceased to be paid
since the reformation, because such a garb is not now
in use, but the obedience and subjection to the me
tropolitical church must, and does remain the same as
it did before that time. (fn. 24)
AMONG THE REVENUES of this convent, THE JUBILEE ought to be first mentioned; for though it
came but once in fifty years, and was purchased at a
dear rate, at the court of Rome, yet it brought incredible gain. The origin of it was, the murder of archbishop Becket in 1170; whose body being buried in
the undercrost, was solemnly translated from thence
to a shrine prepared for it in the upper part of the
church in 1220, being the fiftieth year after the murder; this solemnity was attended with the grant of a
jubilee, by the bull of pope Honorius III. the copy
of which is preserved in the church registers; the second jubilee was anno 1270, and the third in 1320,
both which have no records left concerning them; the
fourth jubilee happened in the year 1370, at which
time Simon Sudbury, then bishop of London, being
upon the road, overtook a vast multitude of people
journeying towards Canterbury, to celebrate the jubilee there; to numbers of them he called out and
told them, that the indulgence which they expected
to find there, could be of no benefit or value to them;
upon this, though many returned back, yet numbers
continued their journey, having given him much abuse
for his stopping them in their progress, by advice so
contracy to their inclinations. (fn. 25) The fifth jubilee was
in the year 1420; the city records inform us, that
the confluence of people, who came to it, were no
less than one hundred thousand, who were all provided for with meat, drink and lodgings at easy rates,
and the estimate of their liberal oblations was almost
incredible; (fn. 26) the sixth jubilee was anno 1470; great
suits were made at that time for plenary indulgencies,
as had been formerly on like occasions, granted to the
church of Canterbury. There is in one of the registers of this church, the copies of two letters, full of
the most pressing importunities on this occasion, from
the king to the pope, and of two other letters from
him to the college of cardinals; of another letters from
the queen, and another from the prior and chapter to
the pope, containing their most humble and earnest
addresses and solicitations, for this grant of plenary
indulgencies, without which there could be no jubilee;
for in the bull of pope Honorius, by which the translation of the body of the martyr, and the first jubiliee
was granted, it is expressed, that although several
popes had desired it, and the church of Canterbury
had from time to time requested the translation of the
body of the martyr, yet it could never be accomplished until the fiftieth year, which was esteemed to
be a work of Divine Providence and not of human
contrivance; for in the bull it is said, that the fiftieth
year is a jubilee; a jubilee is a year of remission, and
in that sense in which it was understood in the law,
he the pope, remitted; and as in the year of jubilee
burthens and bondages were relieved, so also in the
jubilee of the translation of the martyr, the burthens
of all penitents were remitted. The arguments (fn. 27) made
use of in the above letters, obtained at last a bull of
indulgence from pope Urban, dated at Rome, on
July 4, 1470.
The seventh and last jubilee, was celebrated in the
year 1520, in the time of archbishop Warham. Mr.
Battely has inserted in his history of this monastery,
some original letters, (fn. 28) which were sent from the agent
of this convent from Rome, to the archbishop and
the prior of it. These letters, which are written in
English, discover the whole mystery of the actings of
the court of Rome, in granting these indulgencies;
what arts were contrived to enhance the price of this
grant; what delays were invented and made use of,
and what gratuities were given from time to time, to
buy off these delays. However, after a tedious and
dilatory proceeding, and the expence of a vast sum of
money and riches, the jubilee was granted, but upon
such terms as seemed hard and unreasonable, yet such
as could not be resisted; namely, that the pope should
receive half the offerings or oblations made in the
church, during the whole year of the jubilee; which
was the last ever celebrated in this church. (fn. 29)
AS TO THE MANOR, lands, possessions and appropriations of churches belonging to this convent, they
were many, and very great and extensive; such of
them as lay in this county, which were by far the
greatest part of them, are mentioned in the course of
the history of the county, in the description of the several parishes in which they were situated; (fn. 30) the others
lay in the counties of Surry, Sussex, Oxford, Buckingham, Essex, Suffolk, Norsolk and Devon, besides
several advowsons in the city of London and its
suburbs. (fn. 31) Their revenues amounting, at the time of
the dissolution of it, as they were then valued, to
2489l. 4s. 9d. gross yearly revenue; or 2349l. 8s. 5¼d.
clear yearly income. (fn. 31)
The small rents, which from time to time were given
and duly paid for lights and other uses of the church,
and the altars in it, were more in number than can
easily be computed. The copies of the deeds of gift
of these rents fill up some of the largest registers of
this church, and swell them to a large bulk; these
annuities or rents payable out of different lands and
tenements, were of considerable value in former times,
when they were given, though at this day they appear
small and inconsiderable. For this use they had like.
wise given numbers of small pieces of lands or tenements in the city of Canterbury and its suburbs, (fn. 33)
most of which now belong to the dean and chapter.
Notwithstanding the greatest part of the lands belonging to this priory were at first given by the several
benefactors in early times to the different archbishops
themselves, and continued in common between them
and the convent, till archbishop Lanfranc, in the Conqueror's reign, made a division of these estates, reserving one part to himself, and allotting the other to
the convent for their separate use, yet the latter was
always understood to be held by the prior, of the king
in capite, and not of the archbishop. (fn. 34)
There was a college or hall in Oxford, called Canterbury hall or college, (fn. 35) which was a nursery of learning for the use of the junior monks of this priory,
whence it derived its name.
It was founded by archbishop Simon Islip in the
year 1363, being the 36th year of king Edward III.
with the king's licence, which had been obtained the
year before, by which leave was given to appropriate
the church of Pageham, then belonging to the archbishopric, towards the maintenance of the students of
it. The archbishop likewise purchased eight houses at
his own expence, for the dwellings of those who belonged to the college; and of his nephew William
Islip, the manor of Wodeford, in Essex, which he gave
to the college for the use and support of it. (fn. 36)
The society was to consist of twelve members, a
custos or master, three fellows, who were to be professed monks, and eight students. The election of the
custos or master was made in the same manner that
the officers called the obedientiaries of the monastery,
mention of which has been made before, were elected;
that is, the convent nominated three of their own
members to the archbishop, who making choice of
one of them, committed to him the care, government,
and whole concern of this college. (fn. 37)
The college remained in this state at the dissolution of the priory, when it came into the king's hands,
where it continued till the king settled it by his dotation charter, in his 33d year, on his new-founded dean
and chapter of Canterbury; but it was with all its
lands, houses and appurtenances belonging to it, resigned again by the dean and chapter into the king's
hands, who afterwards settled it on the new-founded
college of Christ-church in that university, to the library of which, and the buildings of it, called Peckwater, it adjoins. It is still known by the name of
Canterbury quadrangle, and continues part of the possessions of that college at this time.
As the above college was a nursery for the young
students of this priory, so the priory of St. Martin in
Dover, was a cell to it, and continued so till the dissolution of this monastery; the prior of it being
usually elected from one of the obedientiaries of
Christ-church; and the monks, who were also of
the benedictine order, were taken likewise from
thence; a full account of which, and of that priory,
may be seen under the description of Dover, in the
history of the county.