city of great antiquity.' This appeal on behalf of the seculars was
at once met by the monastic zeal of Sir John Pakington, who daringly
answered, that if Evesham 'cannot boast of a cathedral, it can of
one of the most beautiful abbeys in England.' We should be sorry
to suspect the good town of Evesham of any Anabaptist tendencies,
but it is certain that, if it makes the boast which the member for
Droitwich puts into its mouth, it belongs to the class of those who
do falsely boast ... Mr. Gladstone had never been at Evesham; we know
of no particular call of duty likely to take him there; but Sir John
Pakington, a Worcestershire man, must surely have visited a borough
in his own shire. How then about the beautiful abbey, one of the most
beautiful in England? Any one who has been both at Wells and at Evesham
must know that Wells Cathedral is still standing, while Evesham Abbey,
saving its bell-tower and a small piece of wall, has long ceased
to exist. But one might ask both disputants whether Sir Lawrence
Palk, in his zeal for cathedrals, would enfranchise Ely and Saint
David's--whether Sir John Pakington, in his zeal for abbeys, would
restore Saint Alban's and enfranchise Romsey."--_Saturday Review_, July
11, 1868.
[3] This Lecture was given in the time between the election
and installation of the present Bishop, Lord Arthur Hervey.
[4] In strictness the West-Saxon Bishoprick was first placed
at Dorchester in Oxfordshire in 635, and the see was not finally
settled at Winchester till 670. The time between these years was
one of great confusion. See Bæda, Hist. Eccl. iii. 7. Florence of
Worcester, i. 235. Stubbs, Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum, 161.
[5] See Bæda, v. 18, and the Chronicle A.D. 709. The first
Bishop at Sherborne was Ealdhelm. See his life by William of Malmesbury
in Wharton, Anglia Sacra, ii. 20.
[6] See Florence of Worcester, i. 236. Will. Malm. Gesta
Regum, ii. 129. Gesta Pont. in Scriptores post Bædam, 144 _b_;
Canonicus Wellensis in Anglia Sacra, i. 554; Stubbs, 13.
[7] In 710 Ine won a victory over the Cornish King Gerent; in
722 Taunton is spoken of as the town which Ine had built. This fixes
the foundation of Taunton within that time. See the Chronicles under
these years.
[8] On this whole matter, see Anglia Sacra, i. 553, and
the Historiola de Primordiis Episcopatûs Somersetensis in Hunter's
Ecclesiastical Documents, p. 10. The alleged charter of Cynewulf will
be found in Kemble's Codex Diplomaticus, i. 141.
[9] Ceawlin conquered to the Axe in 577; Cenwealh to the
Parret in 658; Ine, as we see, as far as Taunton. On Ceawlin see Dr.
Guest in the Archæological Journal, xix. 193.
[10] That is, the modern shires of Monmouth and Glamorgan.
[11] This is shown in various passages of the Laws of Ine. See
Thorpe's Laws and Institutes, i. 119, 131, 147, 149.
[12] See the whole history of the early church of Glastonbury
in the first chapter of Professor Willis' Architectural History of
Glastonbury Abbey.
[13] See Willis' Architectural History of Canterbury, p. 20;
ditto Winchester, p. 34.
[14] It is not said in so many words that the church of
Dunstan was of stone, but it is plain that it was so, both because
the "lignea basilica" or wooden church is distinguished from it, and
because Osbern the biographer of Dunstan (Anglia Sacra, ii. 100) speaks
of him as laying the foundations, which could hardly be said of a
wooden church.
[15] See the account of the Canons of Waltham in the book De
Inventione, and those of Rheims in Richer, iii. 24.
[16] I have discussed this in full in my History of the Norman
Conquest, ii. 571, Ed. 2.
[17] When a Bishop is to be elected by the Chapter, two quite
distinct documents are sent; there is first the _congé d'élire_, which
recognizes the undoubted right of the Chapter to elect and gives them
full leave to elect, only with a little good advice as to the sort of
person to be chosen. With this, as a kind of after-thought, comes the
_letter missive_ or _letter recommendatory_, recommending a particular
person for election.
[18] The names of the early Bishops, of whom but little is
recorded, will be found in the Canon of Wells, Anglia Sacra, i. 556,
and Godwin's Catalogue of English Bishops, 290.
[19] He was "natione Saxo," says his successor Gisa in
the Historiola de Primordiis Episcopatûs Somersetensis. See Norman
Conquest, ii. 583.
[20] See Godwin, p. 291.
[21] Anglia Sacra, i. 559.
[22] See Historiola, 15-18; Mr. J. R. Green in the
Transactions of the Somersetshire Archæological and Natural History
Society, 1863-4, p. 148; and Norman Conquest, ii. 674.
[23] For examples see Norman Conquest, ii. 549.
[24] See the writ, the only writ of Harold's which is
preserved, in Kemble's Codex Diplomaticus, iv. 305.
[25] After mentioning Harold's promise, Gisa (Historiola, p.
18) adds, "præoccupante autem illum judicio divinæ ultionis," and goes
on to speak of Harold's two battles and his death.
[26] Historiola, p. 19, "publice vivere et inhoneste mendicare
necessariorum inopia antea coegerat."
[27] For the story of Hermann, see Norman Conquest, ii. 401.
[28] On these places see Historiola, pp. 18, 19. But it is as
well to say that the well-known charter of Eadward to Gisa, printed in
Cod. Dipl. iv. 162, is undoubtedly spurious, though it is useful as
giving the names of places in the neighbourhood, in older, though not
always their oldest, forms.
[29] The rule of Chrodegang will be found at length in
D'Achery's Spicilegium, i. 565; and see Norman Conquest, ii. 84.
[30] This was about 969. Adalbero's changes are described at
length by Richer, iii. 24, in Pertz's smaller collection.
[31] See Norman Conquest, ii. 84.
[32] In Domesday Book, pp. 89-89 _b_, the land of the canons
is put under that of the Bishop; "Canonici Sancti Andreæ tenent de
Episcopo." This is much the same with the Canons of Exeter in p. 101
_b_. In the Exon Domesday, (71) "Isaac præpositus Canonicorum Sancti
Andreæ" is mentioned by name.
[33] Historiola, 21: "Sepultus est in ecclesiâ quam rexerat,
in hemicyclo [a semicircle or round arch] facto in pariete a parte
aquilonali prope altare, sicut Duduco prædecessor ejus sepultus est a
meridie juxta altare."
[34] Will. Malms. Gest. Regg. iii. 300. "Pronunciatum est
secundum dicta canonum ut episcopi transeuntes de villis constituerent
sedes suas in urbibus dioecesium suarum." This was in 1072, but the
change at Wells did not take place just yet.
In his other book, the Gesta Pontificum (144 _b_), he says that John
"minoris gloriæ putans si in villâ resideret inglorius, transferre
thronum in Bathoniam animo intendit."
[35] William of Malmesbury, in the place last quoted, says,
"Cessit enim Andreas Simoni fratri, frater major minori."
[36] See the Chronicles under 577, and note 9.
[37] The charters are given in Dugdale's Monasticon, ii. 66,
67. In the second charter of Henry the First he speaks of "Batha ubi
frater meus Willielmus et ego constituimus et confirmavimus sedem
episcopatûs totius Summersetæ, quæ olim erat apud villam quæ dicitur
Wella." The grant of the town which is confirmed in this charter of
Henry is made in a charter of William Rufus on the same page.
[38] So says William of Malmesbury in the passage last quoted:
"Aliquantum dure in monachos agebat, quod essent hebetes et ejus
æstimatione barbari."
[39] The Historiola mentions the destruction of Gisa's
buildings, and the Canon of Wells adds (Anglia Sacra, i. 560),
"Fundum in quo prius habitabant sibi et suis successoribus usurpavit,
palatiumque suum episcopale ibidem construxit."
[40] See Willis' Architectural History of Winchester, 34, 35.
[41] Historiola, p. 22. "Canonici foras ejecti coacti sunt cum
populo communiter vivere."
[42] The story of Hildebert, John, and the Provostship is
given both in the Historiola and by the Canon of Wells. Several letters
discussing the matter appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine in the year
1864 in the numbers for February, July, August, September, October,
November, and December, especially one by Mr. Stubbs in November.
That Hildebert was the brother of Bishop John appears from a charter of
Bishop Robert (which I shall have to quote again) in the Monasticon,
ii. 293, where Bishop John is called the uncle of Precentor Reginald.
[43] This comes afterwards in the Historiola, p. 24.
[44] The Canon (p. 560) says, "Licet ipse confractus senio
inde poeniteret, tamen ædificia canonicorum destructa minime
reparavit, nec fundum eis injuste ablatum restituit." But the
Historiola seems to imply at least a purpose of restitution, as its
words are, "Poenitentiâ ductus de sacrilegio perpetrato, resipuit et
poenituit, et poenitentiam suam scriptam reliquit. Johannes vero
Archidiaconus terras quas pater suus obtinuerat per hæreditatem et
præposituram canonicorum nihilominus sibi usurpavit."
[45] The Charter is printed in the Monasticon, ii. 268.
LECTURE II.
[1] The Historiola and the Canon both call Godfrey simply
"Teutonicus;" but it appears from the Continuator of Florence of
Worcester (ii. 78) and from the Annals of Waverley (Ann. Mon. ii. 219)
that he was Chancellor to Queen Adeliza. We can hardly doubt that he
was one of her countrymen from the Netherlands.
[2] This account of him is given both by the Historiola and by
the Canon (Angl. Sacr. i. 561), who gives as a reason for his mission
to Glastonbury, "eo quod non recte eorum aratra incedebant." His birth
comes from the Continuator of Florence (ii. 95), who says that he was
"Flandrensis genere, sed natus in partibus Angliæ."
[3] Historiola, p. 25.
[4] See the agreement in Wharton's note, Anglia Sacra, i. 561.
[5] The Act is printed in the Monasticon, ii. 293.
[6] Historiola, p. 24: "Ipse ecclesiam Beati Petri Apostoli de
Bathoniâ magnis c[=u] expensis construi fecit."
[7] Angl. Sacr. i. 561: "Complevit fabricam ecclesiæ
Bathoniensis per Johannem Turonensem inchoatam." This seems to be
confirmed by the words of John himself in the charter which I have
already quoted (Monasticon, ii. 268), which is dated in 1116, and
where he says that he sets aside the revenues of the city of Bath "ad
perficiendum novum opus quod incepi."
[8] Historiola, p. 24: "Capitulum quoque et claustrum,
dormitorium et refectorium et infirmatorium, nihilominus ædificari
fecit."
[9] Historiola, p. 24. See above, p. 39.
[10] The Historiola (p. 25) mentions only the Deanery and
Precentorship as founded by Robert. "Decanatum in ecclesiâ constituit,
et Decanum et Præcentorem primos ordinavit." But the Canon (p. 561)
says, "Ordinavit etiam in ecclesiâ Wellensi Decanum et Subdecanum,
Præcentorem et Succentorem, Thesaurarium et Cancellarium, _quem vocavit
Archiscolam_ in statutis ecclesiæ Wellensis, quæ ipse primus edidit
omnium in eâdem." (Robert, the first to make the Chapter a distinct
corporation, was naturally its first lawgiver.) He adds, "Tum Decanus,
Subdecanus, etc. non habebant tunc temporis illa beneficia eis annexa,
quæ eorum successores nunc habent in ecclesiâ antedictâ." But in the
deed by which Bishop Robert founds the Deanery and divides the estates
of the church into prebends (Monasticon, ii. 293), no dignitary is
mentioned except the Dean and Precentor; and the church of Wookey,
which afterwards belonged to the Sub-Dean, is specially mentioned as
belonging to the Dean. This certainly looks as if Robert had founded
the Deanery and Precentorship only. But, if they were not founded
by Robert, they were founded by Jocelin, for the Canon says (564),
"Jocelinus fundavit multas præbendas in ecclesiâ Wellensi de novo,
dotavit etiam omnes dignitates, personatus, et officia dictæ ecclesiæ,
in formâ adhuc durante."
The duties of the different officers of the church cannot be better
described than they are by Bishop Godwin (p. 294): "He also it was
that first constituted a Deane to be the President of the Chapter,
and a Subdeane to supply his place in absence; a Chaunter to governe
the quier, and a Subchaunter under him; a _Chauncellour to instruct
the yoonger sort of Cannons_: and lastly a Treasurer to looke to the
ornaments of the church." He adds, "The Subchauntership togither with
the Provostship an. 1547. were taken away and suppressed by Act of
Parliament, to patch up a Deanry, the lands and revenewes of the Deanry
being devoured by sacrilegious cormorants."
[11] He did what he did "consilio et auxilio illustris Regis
Stephani et venerabilis Episcopi Henrici," says the Historiola, p. 24.
[12] That is, in the churches of Bangor and Saint Asaph, and
now in those of Saint David's and Llandaff. But, till the late changes,
there were no Deans at Saint David's and Llandaff, beyond a vague
tradition that the Bishop was Dean. At Saint David's the Precentor was
President of the Chapter and at Llandaff the Archdeacon. The collegiate
church of Southwell had no Dean or President under any title.
[13] A _sinecure_ is strictly an office _sine curâ animarum_,
without cure of souls, not necessarily an office where there is nothing
to do of any kind.
[14] See the quotation in note 10.
[15] I here alluded to the Theological College, where the
offices of Principal and Vice-Principal are held by the Sub-Dean of the
cathedral and another Canon, who are therefore really resident, but who
are not admitted to any share in those rights and revenues which go to
those nominal Residentiaries who stay away nine months in the year.
[16] _Beneficium_ is the word constantly used for a lay fief
as well as for an ecclesiastical living. The most curious instance of
this use will be found in the dispute between Pope Hadrian the Fourth
and the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The Pope speaks of his coronation
of the Emperor as a "beneficium" conferred on him. The German Bishops
were very indignant, as if the Pope meant that the Empire was a fief
of the Papacy. The Pope then explains that "beneficium" means both
_benefit_ and _benefice_. He thought that he had done the Emperor a
_benefit_ by crowning him, but he did not pretend to invest him with a
_benefice_. See the History of Frederick by Otto (continued by Radevic)
of Freisingen, ii. 15, 16, 22. Most likely the Pope used an ambiguous
word on purpose.
[17] Compare the account in the Historiola, p. 24, with
Robert's charter quoted above.
[18] See the Historiola, pp. 26, 27. The story begins in a
marked way. "Quum ... deinceps, glorioso Rege Stephano decedente, Rex
præpotens Henricus secundus regni gubernacula suscepisset."
[19] Domesday Book and the Codex Diplomaticus are full of such
cases.
[20] His words (Monasticon, ii. 293) are: "Quum igitur
ecclesiam Wellensem indebitis præposituræ oppressionibus supra modum
afflictam invenimus et gravatam, communicato consilio archiepiscoporum,
episcoporum, aliarumque religiosarum Angliæ personarum, exigentibus
quoque ejusdem ecclesiæ canonicis, Decanum illic ordinavimus, concessis
sibi dignitatibus, libertatibus, et consuetudinibus canonicis
ecclesiarum Angliæ bene ordinatarum, et ne in eâdem ecclesiâ pristina
tribulatio locum denuo vendicaret, possessiones et prædia quæ ad eam
fidelium sunt donatione devoluta in præbendas taliter distribuimus."
"Rogerus Witene," who must, one would think, have been one of the same
stock, appears in the Exeter Domesday, p. 75, as a tenant of the Church
of Glastonbury.
[21] See the letter of Bishop Rowland Lee to Lord Cromwell
in the Monasticon, iii. 199. He prays that it might be "browghte to a
college churche as Liche [Lichfield]."
[22] On this point, and on other points touching the relations
of Bishops and Chapters, there was much disputing between Robert
Grosseteste, the great Bishop of Lincoln, contemporary with our
Jocelin, and his Canons. See on the Chapter's side, Matthew Paris, pp.
485, 522, 572; and, on the other, Robert's own letter to his Chapter in
Mr. Luard's collection of his Letters, p. 357.
[23] The words of the Historiola, p. 24, are, "Porro non est
oblivioni tradendum quod ecclesia Welliæ suo consilio fabricata est et
auxilio." The Canon (561) says only, "Multas ruinas ejusdem ecclesiæ
destructiones ejus in locis pluribus comminantes egregie reparavit."
[24] "Ecclesiam sedis meæ perspiciens esse mediocrem," he says
in the Historiola, p. 16.
[25] The consecration and the presence of the three Bishops is
mentioned both in the Historiola and by the Canon.
[26] William of Malmesbury, writing not very long before
Robert's time, says of the church of Eadward at Westminster (ii. 228),
"Quam ipse illo compositionis genere primus in Angliâ ædificaverat
quod nunc pene cuncti sumptuosis æmulantur expensis." Matthew Paris
(2), evidently copying this, alters the tense, because in his day
another style of architecture had come in. His words are, "Quam ipse
novo compositionis genere construxerat, a quâ post multi ecclesias
construentes, exemplum adepti, opus illud expensis _æmulabantur_
sumptuosis."
[27] The Canon of Wells (Angl. Sacr. i. 562) says of him,
"Multas præbendas in ecclesiâ Wellensi fundavit de novo, multaque alia
bona fecit tam Bathoniensi quam Wellensi ecclesiis." He mentions also
his gift of the manor of North Curry and other lands to the Chapter,
and speaks of him as granting the first municipal rights to the
citizens of Wells, a point which I must leave to Mr. Serel.
[28] See Mr. Stubbs' account of Savaric in the Gentleman's
Magazine for November 1863, p. 621, and Mr. Green's notice in the
Transactions of the Somersetshire Archæological and Natural History
Society for 1863, p. 39.
[29] The whole history is given at length by Adam of
Domersham, a monk of Glastonbury, in Anglia Sacra, i. 578.
[30] See Anglia Sacra, i. 579. The Dean was Alexander, the
third Dean.
[31] See the disputes about the "advocatio" or "patronatus"
of the Abbey in Anglia Sacra, i. 584, and the correspondence between
Bishop Beckington and Abbot Frome, translated by Mr. George Williams
in the Somersetshire Proceedings, 1863, p. 17. On the terms of the
composition see pp. 564, 585.
[32] See Roger of Wendover, iii. 222.
[33] Anglia Sacra, i. 564. "Capellas etiam cum cameris de
Welles et Woky notabiliter construxit." In the Palace at Wells,
Jocelin's chapel has been reconstructed, and many buildings added by
later Bishops, but the greater part of the house is still his. In
Wookey Court, now a farmhouse and alienated from the see, only a single
doorway, probably that of the chapel, remains of Jocelin's work, but it
is in exactly the same style as the Palace and the West Front of the
Cathedral.
[34] See Matthew Paris, p. 756, ed. Wats. He describes the
earthquake as happening four days before Christmas, and says that he
had the account of what happened at Wells from the Bishop himself. This
must be William Button the First, who however could not have been at
Wells at the time, as he was consecrated at Rome on June 14 in that
year and did not come back to England till the next year. His account
of the damage at Wells stands thus, "Tholus quoque lapideus magnæ
quantitatis et ponderis, qui per diligentiam cæmentariorum in summitate
ecclesiæ de Welles ponebatur, raptus de loco suo, non sine damno, super
ecclesiam cecidit, et quum ab alto ruerit, tumultum reddens horribilem
audientibus timorem incussit non minimum. In quo etiam terræ motu hoc
accidit mirabile; caminorum, propugnaculorum, et columnarum capitella
et summitates motæ sunt, bases vero et fundamenta nequaquam, quum
contrarium naturaliter debuit evenire." Yet in the repairs of the nave
of Wells, a greater change seems to have been made in the bases of the
pillars than in their capitals.
[35] Matthew Paris gives the list, p. 522, Abingdon, Wells,
Evesham, Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Winchcomb (?), Pershore, Alcester, "et
multæ aliæ per regnum Angliæ."
[36] These were various works in the church and dormitory,
done in the time of Abbot William, 1214-1235. Matthew Paris, in the
_Gesta Abbatum_ (i. 280), after describing them, adds, "Quippe ista
conquæstu et industriâ Ricardi de Thidenhangaer, monachi nostri
conversi ac camerarii, sine obedientiæ suæ defectu vel diminutione,
sunt perfecta: _quæ tamen Abbati ob reverentiam sunt adscribenda_. Ille
enim facit, cujus auctoritate quippiam fieri dinoscitur."
[37] In the Historia Monasterii S. Petri Gloucestriæ (i. 29)
we read, "Et anno Domini MCCXLII. completa est nova volta
in navi ecclesiæ, non auxilio fabrorum ut primo, sed animosâ virtute
monachorum item in ipso loco exsistentiam."
[38] See especially Gervase's account of the architects
employed at Canterbury, William of Sens and William the Englishman;
Willis, 35, 51.
[39] Mr. Serel gives me a reference to the Close Rolls of
Henry the Third, October 3, 1225, in which "the King grants to the
Bishop of Bath five marks towards the works in the church of Wells, the
same payment to be continued for the eleven following years according
to the King's gift."
[40] The extract is given in the Monasticon, ii. 278. It
consists of a series of regulations touching the keeping open and shut
of various doors. The door of which I speak is described as "magnum
ostium ecclesiæ _sub campanili_ versus claustrum." This must mean the
door in the transept, under the great central tower, rather than the
door opening into the cloister from the south-western tower. But the
existence of the cloister is proved by the mention of either, and it is
equally odd to call either of them "magnum ostium ecclesiæ."
Another doorway in the cloister is also spoken of in the same document;
"Ostium _versus capellam Beatæ Virginis in claustro_ propter cameram
necessariam." This door, I imagine, may still be traced in the east
walk of the cloister, near the remains of the Lady chapel in the
cloister. This chapel must be carefully distinguished from the Lady
chapel at the east end of the church. Mention is also made of "duo
ostia _de la Karole_, ex utrâque parte chori," one of which is further
described as "ostium _de la Karole versus librariam_." The word
_Karole_ or _Carel_ has several meanings; but it generally implies a
small recess or chamber of some kind. Were the books kept in one of the
transepts?
Another mention of the Lady chapel in the cloister is found in Anglia
Sacra, i. 566, when Bishop William Button the First, who died in 1264,
is said to have buried "in novâ capellâ B. Mariæ Virginis." On this
Professor Willis (Somersetshire Proceedings, 1863, p. 21) remarks: "As
his chantry was in the 'Capella B. Virginis infra claustrum' (Liber B,
p. 62), the above passage does not apply to any Lady chapel at the
east of the cathedral, but to the building of the other Lady chapel,
which was in the east walk of the cloister in the position usually
given to a chapter-house." By "usually" the Professor must mean in
monastic foundations. "Liber B" is one of the books in possession of
the Chapter.
[41] See the extract in note 10.