the twenty second Day of _April_, a gatheryng together shall be made of
all the Knyghtes of Saynt _George_ within the Castell of _Wyndesore_,
that is to wit, of all them that shall be within this Realme of
_Englande_ or withoute, that conveniently may come; and there they
shall have the Service of Saynt _George_, and also shall were their
hole Habit of the said Order, duryng the seid Servyce, being ordinarily
in theyre Stalls. And every of them shall have his Banner, Sworde, with
his Helme and Creste, above his Stall, the which, duryng his Lyff,
shall abyde in the said Chappell for his Honor, and in Signe and
Knowledge that he beres them in defence of holy Churche, as the Order
of Knyghthod requireth. But in Case that the seid Feast of Saynt
_George_ happen to fall within fifteen Days after the Feast of
_Easter_, or upon any Fyshe-Daye or Fastyng-Day, then shall it be
proroged and prolonged at the Soverayn’s Pleasure, as above is said, if
so be that the Day of the seid Feast be not assigned nor ordeyned to be
kepte the twenty fourth, twenty fifth, twenty sixth, nor the last Day
of _April_, nor upon the fowre first Dayes of _May_, for by cause of
the impediment or let of Devyne Servyce ordened by Holy Churche, for
the double Feasts of Saynt _Marke_, _Philipp_ and _Jacob_, and the
invention of the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesu Chryste, nor at such Dayes
as shall fall the Assencion, or the Feast of _Pentecoste_, or any other
Feaste of Solempnitie as is ordened in Holy Churche, whereby the fyrst
or second Even Songe, by suche Prorogacions, might be letted or
distorbed.
IX. _Item_, That all the Knyghtes of the said Order shall come Yerely
in the said Place of the said Castell of _Wyndesore_, on Saynt
_George_’s Even, at the Owre of _Tierce_, the which is at three of the
Clocke at Afternoone, as it is abovesaid; and if thei come not at the
tyme assigned, without havyng a juste and reasonable Excuse, that they
may be acceptable to the said Soverayne or to his Deputy, or otherwyse
pardoned by the said Soverayne, of their absence, by special Letters of
Excuse, in the whiche Letters theyr Names and Causes shall be wryten,
or otherwyse shall have their Pennance after the Ordenaunce and
Agreement of the said Chapter; And the said Ordenaunce is such, that
they shall not entre into the Chaptre for that tyme, but shall byde
without the Dore, and shall have Voyce in any thynge that is done in
the said Chapter at that tyme allonly; and if they come not to Even
Songe before the begynnyng of the said Even Songe, they shall not enter
into their Stalles, but shall byde belowe affore the said Stallis, in
the Queristers Places, duryng the said Even Songe; and like Pennance is
ordened for them that come not to the High [7] Masse betyme, and at
Even Songe on St. _George_’s Daye. And if there be any that come not to
the Feaste, and have not a reasonable Excuse towarde the Soverayne or
his Deputye, as is above declared, his Pennance shall bee, that he
shall not enter within his Stalle the next Feaste after, but shall byde
below, as it is said at the first Even Songe, and shall goo in the
Procession before all the [8] three Crosses, and shall sit below as
afore is said, all the [9] Masse tyme, untyl the Offering, and he shall
Offer laste; and after his Pennance so done, incontinent he shall come
before the Soverayn’s Stalle, or his Deputye, and there he shall aske
Pardon; and after that, the Soverayne or his Deputye shall Command hym
to goo unto his Stalle in his fyrst Estate; and if he come not to the
seconde Feaste, and be dwellyng within the Realm, without having any
Excusation alowable to the Soverayne or his Deputye, as is abovesaid,
he shall not enter into his Stalle from thenceforth, until the tyme
that he hath gyven and offered a Jewell unto Saynte _George_’s Aultar,
within the said Chappell, of the valew of twenty Markes of Silver of
Troye, and fro thensforwarde, he shall double every Yere the Penaltie,
unto the tyme he be reconsciled.
Footnote 7:
_Morning Service._
Footnote 8:
_Queristers._
Footnote 9:
_Divine Service._
X. _Item_, It is agreed, That if any Knyghte of the sayd Companye be
founde in apperte without his Garter, that he pay anon, after that the
Chalenge be made to hym by any of the five Officers of the Order, or of
the Warden of the seid College, a Marke of Money, except he be boted
for to ryde, that then it shall suffice to were under his bote a blew
Ribande of Sylke, in signyfying of the Garter, and also provided that
no Knyght of the seid Order from hensforthe, do entre into the Chaptre
without his Garter, upon the Payne abovesaid; and whosoever of the said
Officers or Warden shall make the fyrst Chalence, shall have the
Penaltye for his Labor.
XI. _Item_, It is agreed, That the Knyghts of the Order of St.
_George_, alway, and as often as they were theyr Mantels, they shall
goo before there Soverayne, every of them with his Felow, that is for
aneynst him ordinarily as they be set in their Stalls. And if it should
happen that eny of them were not there present, his Felow for aneynst
hym shall goe alone, the which Order shall be kepte and observed, as
well in goyng in Procession as elliswhere in other Places. But at the
Offryng, the Soverayne or his Deputye shall goo before all the Company,
and the ordinaire Officers of the said Order shall goo as they have
bene accustomed, when any Procession shall be done in the Chapter,
Chappell, or elliswhere. And for the Order of the said Knyghtes for to
sitt at the Table, for to take their refeccion by it at Dinner, or at
Souper, they shall sitt all along on one side after there Stalles, and
not after there State, except Children or Bretherne of Kinges, Princes,
and Dukes, that be Strangers, the which shall kepe their Places and
Romes after their Astate; and at their voiding and going out shall
abide and goo in Order, so as thei sat at the Table.
XII. _Item_, It is agreed, That every one of them at the Castell of
_Wyndesore_, on the Morrow after the Feast of Saynt _George_, before
the departyng of the Company, that the said Knyghtes, upon such Gownes
as shall please them, at the Chapter Dore, shall take their Mantels,
and shall goo into the said Chapter, and after that shall goo and here
a [10] Masse of _Requiem_, the which shall be Solempnely songe for the
Souls of all the Felows of the said Order, which be departed and
deceassed, and for all Christen Sowlles; and that all the Company be
there present, without eny of them be lett bi a reasonable Cause, or
have Lysence of the Soverayne or his Deputie before the departyng; and
when it happens that for any Cause of the voydyng of eny of the said
Felowship, there shall be certayne Banners, Swordes, Helmets, and
Crestes, the which ought to be offered up before the offeryng of eny
Silver, the said Hachements ought to be offered, fyrst the Banner, by
two of the seid Felowship, such as the Soverayne or his Deputye shall
appoynte or name, and after that the Sworde shall be offered by two
other, and likewise his Helmet and Crest by two other Knyghtes of the
seid Order, assigned by the Soverayne or his Deputye; and if any
Knyghte of the seid Order shuld decease the Yere afore, then every
Knyghte beyng in the said Castell of _Wyndesore_, at the said [11]
Masse of _Requiem_, shall offer a Tapre armed with a little Scuchion,
of the Arms of the Knyghte departed; and if there were more then one
deceassed, that then be made for every of them a Scuchion of Arms, and
a grote sett nye to the light of the Tapre, the which Scuchions and
Tapers shall be made at the Coste and Charge of the Knyghts of the seid
Order.
Footnote 10:
_Divine Service._
Footnote 11:
_Divine Service._
XIII. _Item_, It is agreed, That all Strangers that shall be electe
Felowes of the seid Order, shall be certifyed by Letters of the
Soverayne of their Election. The which Letters of Certification, with
the Statutes of the seid Order, under the common Seal, shall be sent
unto them, at the Coste and Charges of the seid Soverayne, in all
diligence, and at the fardest thei shall be certifyed of this within
foure Moneths after the seid Election, to the end that the seid Electe
may advyse them by the seid Statutis, if they will receyve the seid
Order or no. But if the seid Soverayne have greate and high Lettes and
Busynes, that then he may deferre the Certification of the seid
Election at his good Pleasure, unto tyme of opportunitie and
convenient. After that the Certification have byn delivered, and that
the Soverayne shall be certefied that the said Electe will receyve the
said Order; Then the Soverayne shall sende unto the said Electe by his
Ambassadours his hole Habit, with the Gartier and Coller; and that all
such Strangers, of what Estate, Dignytie, or Condicion, that they be
of, shall sende within seven Moneths after the reception of the said
Gartier, Coller, and Habit, and that he have certified the Soverayne to
have reseyved those thyngs, a sufficient Deputye or Attorney, after the
Astate of his Lorde and Maister, so be that he be a Knyghte without
Reproche, to be stalled in his place; the whiche shall bryng with him a
Mantell of blew Velvett, of the Order of that which he shall send him,
and also his Banner, Sworde, Helme, and Crest, for to be and abide
within the said College duryng his Lyff. And that the Mantell, in the
tyme that the said Deputye or Attorney shall be stalled by the
Soverayne or his Deputye, put upon his right Arme, for to hold the said
Mantell upon his Arme, and shall be accompanyed and ledd by two of the
Knyghtes of the said Order, from the Dore of the Chapter unto the
Stalle, and there beyng shall make his Oath, and shall be stalled for,
and in the Name of his said Lorde and Maister, and the said Mantell
abovesaid, the said Attorney or Deputye shall bere it upon his right
Arme duryng the Devyne Servyce; beyng sett in the Stalle of his said
Maister and Lorde without beryng of it at any tyme after: And to have
no manner of Voyce in the Chaptre, or to come in it, in the absence of
hym that hath sent hym. And if he send not his said Attorney within
seven Moneths abovesaid, without havyng a reasonable Excuse, which
shall be acceptable to the Soverayne or his Deputye, the Election shall
be void of hym; except so be, that the said Knyghte be lett and
distorbed by great Affaires; then he may send his Excuse to the said
Soverayne, or to his Deputye, within a Moneth after; and after he is,
as the Soverayne or his Deputye will allowe it, or accepte it, that
then the said Soverayne or his Deputye, may geve unto hym four Moneths
more of respite; and if he came not or sent not his Attorney, before
that the tyme of the four Moneths be fynished, that then in this case
the Election shall be hole voyde from hym for that tyme. And it is to
be knowne, that this Favoure is done and shewed to the Strangers, the
which may not well come in their proper Parsons, that they myght be
stalled by Attourneys; to the ende that they may be parretakers of the
[12] Masses, and all the Prayers of the seid Order, for they shoulde
fayle of the half, yf they were not stalled before their Deathe. And
likewise it is ordened for them that be never Chosen and electe of the
said Order, beyng in the Kyngs Warres by his Commaundement, for to
enjoy of the Benefytes of the said Statutes, to that that shall
appertayne allonly to their Stallacion.
Footnote 12:
_Divine Service._
XIV. _Item_, There is also ordened a Dean and Warden, with twelve
Cannons Seculers, the which shall be Pristz at their entryng in, or
ells within a Yere nexte folowyng; and also eight Peticanons and twelve
Vicars, also Prestes at their entryng in, or ells at the gyvyng of the
next Orders, or at the furdest within a Yere after their Presentacion;
also thirteen Clerkes and thirteen Queristers, for to syng and Pray
unto God for the prosperity of the Soverayne and all the Knyghtes of
the said Order lyving, and also for the Sowles of all the Knyghtes of
the said Order departed, and for all Crysten Sowles; and the
Presentation of the said Cannons shall belonge allway to the Soverayne
of the said Order; and the said Cannons, when any Knyghte of the said
Order is there present within the Quyer of the said Chappel, shall sitt
in the lowermost Seates, where they be wonte to sitt at the Feastes of
Saynt _George_; and in the absence of the said Knyghtes, the said
Cannons may sitt in the high Seates nexte unto the Stalles of the said
Knyghtes.
XV. _Item_, There be ordened five Officers appertaynyng to the said
Order; that is to witt, Prelate, Chaunceler, Register, and Kyng of
Armes, named Gartier, and an Huysher at Armes, named the Blacke-Rod;
the which shall be receyved and Sworne to be of the Councell of the
said Order; the Secretes, with alsoo their Charges and Privileges,
shall expressely be declared in the Booke of the Ordenances of the said
Officers.
XVI. _Item_, It is also ordened, That thirteen pore Knyghtes, that have
not wherwithall to lyve, for to have in that Place their lyvyng and
sustentacion conveniently, for their good Prayers in the Honor of God
and Saynt _George_, of the which the Charges and Privileges hereafter
shall be declared folowyng: The Ordynances of the Officers and of their
Election is ordened, as of the Presentacion of the Cannons, so that
allway the Election shall abyde to the said Soverayne; and it is agreed
that the pore Knyghtes shall have their Mantells of Scarlett, and a
Scuchion of the Armes of Saynt _George_, without a Gartier.
XVII. _Item_, It is agreed, That every Knyghte of the said Company
shall leave his Mantell within the said College, for any sodayne
Chaunses that myght happen, for to kepe, holde and observe, all suche
Ordenances, Precepts and Commaundements, which may be advysed in
Chapter by the said Sovereign. The which Soverayne, by the Consent and
Agrement of six Knyghtes of the said Order, may at all Tymes and
Places, at his Pleasure, Sommon and make to be kepte Chaptre for all
suche Causes, as it shall please to the said Soverayne to name,
towching the said Order.
XVIII. _Item_, It is agreed, That if it fortune, that any of the said
Companye shulde come within eleven Myle of the Castell, that he shall
goo in, if he may, for the Honor of the Place, if he be not busied or
lett by some juste Cause, and that he take his Mantell before he entre
within the said Chappell; and alsoo that he enter not in, but he have
his Mantell upon hym; and the Cannons there beyng present for that
tyme, shall come to receyve hym, and devotly shall bring hym into the
said Chappel; and if it be in tyme of [13] Masse, he shall tarry and
heare Masse in the Honor of God and of Saynt _George_; and if it be at
Afternone, he shall come in, in manner abovesaid; and there shall be
said by the Cannons _de Profundis_, for all Cristen Sowles, and there
shall offer and returne to his Stalle; and if any of the said Companye
ride thorowgh the Town, and wyll not offer as agreed, that upon his
Obedience for every tyme that he faileth, he shall goe one Myle a Fote
from the said Chappell unto the said Place, in Honor of Saynt _George_;
and also for every tyme that he shall so fayle, he shall gyve a Grote
for his Offrynge; the which distance, for to come nygh unto the said
Castell, is two Myles allonly and no more.
Footnote 13:
_Divine Service._
XIX. _Item_, It is accorded the thirty second Yere of our Soverayne
Lorde Kynge _Henry_ VIII. by the Grace of God, Kynge of _Englande_ and
of _Fraunce_, Defensor of the Faithe, Lorde of _Irland_, _&c._ upon
Saynt _George_’s Day, the twenty third Day of _Aprill_, at a Chapter
holden at the Paleys of _Westminster_, by the Soverayne and the
Companyons of the said Noble Order then there assembled; That as sone
as the deth of any of the Company of the said Order shall be certeynly
knowen, every of the rest, beyng no Strangiers, shall, accordyng to the
rates of their Degrees hereafter specified, immediately, upon a demande
to be made for the same by the Register and the Dean, or one of them,
to be by one of them employed in Aulmes Deeds, as in mendyng of High
Wayes, or such other Workes of Charitie, as the Kyng’s Majestie from
tyme to tyme shall lymite and appoynte, the severall Somes of Money
ensuyng. Furst, The Soverayne, eight Pounds six Shillings and eight
Pence; a King of another Realme, six Pounds thirteen Shillings and four
Pence; the Prince, five Pounds sixteen Shillings and eight Pence; a
Duke, five Pounds; a Marquess, three Pounds fifteen Shillings; an Erle,
fifty Shillings; a Visconte, forty one Shillings and eight Pence; a
Baron, thirty three Shillings and four Pence; a Bacheler Knyghte,
sixteen Shillings and eight Pence. Of all which Somes thus to be
receyved, the said Dean and Regester, or eyther of them, shall yerely,
at the Chapter, present his Accompte to the Kyng’s Majestie, with his
true and juste declaracion of disbursyng agayne, and defraying of the
same. In that Cause the Partie whose Porcyon shall apere to be unpayde,
shall in the Name of a Payne add unto his former Dutye another thirde
parte of the same, and so for every Yere that he shall be behynde, to
pay a thirde parte more than he shuld pay if he shuld satisfye his
Ordinary, accordyng to the rate before expressed; and if the Dean or
Register, or any of them, shall not at every suche Chapter present the
Certificate of the Receipts and Payments in fourme aforesaid, whereby
the same may apere to the Soverayne and Companyons of the Order then
present, or at the leest he in whome the defawlt shall rest, shall in
the Name of a Payne contente and paye immediately, to be employed
abowte like purpose as afore, the Some of ten Pounds for every such
defaulte.
XX. _Item_, It is agreed, That if any of the said Companye die, that
the Soverayne or his Deputie, after that they shall have certification
of his Deth, shall be bounde for to send and gyve knowlege by ther
Letters to all the Felowship of the said Order, beyng within
_Englande_, for to come and be with the said Soverayne or his Deputie,
in what place soever it be, where it shall please hym to assigne,
convenyently within six Wekys after the certification of the Deth or
Decease of the said Knyghte; the which allsoo assembled, or at the lest
six, with the Soverayne or his Deputie abovesaid, every of them that
there shall be present come to the Election, shall name nine of the
worthiest and sufficient Knyghtes withoute Reproffe that he shall
knowe, Subjectes to the said Sovereyne, or others, so be that they
holde no contrary Partie or be agaynst hym; that is to witt, three
Dukes, three Marquess, Erles, or of greater Astate, three Barons, or
Banerettis, and three Bachelers; the which denominations the cheiff
Prelate of the said Order shall wryte; that is to witt, the Byshop of
_Wynchester_ for the tyme beyng, or in his absence the Chaunceler, or
the Dean, or Register, or the mooste auncient Residencer of the said
College in their absence, and the denominacion soo done by all, or six
at the leest, by hym that have Written shall be shewed to the said
Soverayne or to his Deputie, that then shall Chose of them that be
named he that shall have the moost Voyces, and also he that the
Soverayne shall exteme to be moost Honorable to the sayde Order, and
moost profitable to his Crowne and to his Realme. And if there be any
Knyght of the said Order that doth fayle for to come to the said
Election, if he be not lett by a juste Cause, and that the said cause
of his Excuse shewed under his Seal of Armes, be founde by the
Soverayne or his Deputie to be juste and reasonable, then his Excuse to
be accepted and allowed; and that if his Cause be not juste, and that
he come not to the Seremonies above-named, it is agreed that he shall
Paye to the Warden of the College for to synge for hym that is
departed, twenty Shillings Sterling; and at his nexte comyng to the
Chapter, he shall not be before the Soverayne or his Deputie and the
Company; and shall knele upon the Grounde in the myddes of the Chapter,
untyll the tyme that he be reconciled by the Soverayne or his Deputie
and the said Companye.
XXI. _Item_, It is agreed, That if any Knyghte of the said Companye
shulde departe, and another is Chosen and Electe, he shall have sone
after his Election the Garter, in signyfyeng that he ys one of the
Knyghtes and Felowes of the Order of the Garter, and his Robe and Hode
shall be delivered hym in the Chapter-House incontinently, after that
his Commission hath been red before the Soverayne or his Deputie and
the Companye, and after that shall be led by two Knyghtes of the said
Order, accompanied with the other Noblemen, and the Officers of the
Order shall also be present, and his Mantell shall be borne before hym
by one of the Knyghtes of the said Order, or by the Kyng at Armes of
the Order. The which Mantell shall be delyvered to hym for his Habit,
after that he shall have made his Oth before his Stalle, and not
before. And this done, he shall retorne into the Chapter-House, where
he shall reseyve, by the Soverayne or his Deputie, the Coler, and soo
he shall have the full Possession of his Habit holely, except great
Prynces Strangers, the which may receyve their Habit holely within the
Chapter-House, as it hath been used and accustomed in tymes paste, for
the shortenyng of tyme. And if he die before he have receyved hys
Habit, he shall not be named one of the Founders, seyng that he lacketh
to have full Possession of his Astate: But he shall have the one halfe
of the Masses above-named for the delyverance of the Garter, and none
other thynge above it. And if he soo Chosen come not in all good
diligence, after the reception of the said Garter in the said Place to
be stalled, and in specyally within the Yere of his Election, if he be
a Knyghte dwellyng within the Realme, and hath none Excuse reasonable,
allowable, and acceptable to the said Soverayne or his Deputie and the
Company; then the Election shall be voyd of hym, and the Soverayne or
his Deputie and the Companye, shall goo and make another new Election,
and neyther the Banner, the Sworde, nor the Helmet, nor Crest, of hym
so Chosen, be put upon his Stalle within the Castell before his
commyng; to the ende that if he come not, his said Hachementes, as
Banner, Sworde, Helmet, be not taken down nor avoled, but honesly put
oute of the Quyer, and the reast of other thyngs shall abyde, to the
profitt and use of the saide Order.
XXII. _Item_, It is agreed, That if any of the Dukes, Marques, Erles,
Vizcontes, Barons, Bandrettis, or Bachelers die; that he that shall
come after and succede in his place and rome, be he Duke, Marquess,
Erle, Vizconte, Baron, Baneret, Bacheler, or any of the Astates
above-named, he shall have the selffe same Stalle his Predecessor had,
and shall not change it, without he have especiall License or Warrant
of the said Soverayne, allwayes all Emperours, Kyngs, and Prynces, be
excepted, the which shall kepe and holde theyr Stalles after theyr
Astate, and very nexte unto the Soverayne; and then by this meane a
Duke shall take the Stalle of a Bacheler, and a Bacheler the Stalle of
a Duke, in signe and knowlege of the fyrst Founders.
XXIII. _Item_, If there be any Place or Stalle voyde, the Soverayne at
his Pleasure may advance and translate, by his special License, any
Knyghte of the said Companye in the said Stalle, so be it that it be
more hyer then the Stalle that he was in afore; also the Soverayne onys
in his Lyffe may, if it please hym, make a general Translation of all
the States at his pleasure, excepte the Emperours, Kyngs, Prynces, and
Dukes; the which allwey shall kepe ther Places and Stalles, if not that
they be translated in more hyer Rome and Stalle, in the which
translacion the long contynuance in the Ordre, and the praises,
worthynes, and Merites of the Knyghtes ought to be considered and
remembred; the which Knyghtes from hensforth in goyng and syttyng at
all tymes, that they shall were their Mantells, shall kepe their Places
after the Order of their Stallis, and not after their Astatis, as is
aforesaid.
XXIV. _Item_, It is agreed, That all the Felowis abovesaid, at their
fyrst commyng in, shall gyve every of them a certayne Somme, after
their Astate, for the entertaynyng and mayntenance of the Cannons and
pore Knyghtes dwellyng in the said Place, and for the Almes Dedes that
is there perpetualli ordenyd; that is to witt, the Soverayne fourty
Markes, a Stranger Kyng twenty Pounds, the Prynce twenty Markes, every
Duke ten Pounds, every Marques eight Pounds six Shillings and eight
Pence, every Erle ten Markes, every Vizconte five Pounds sixteen
Shillings and eight Pence, every Baron and Baneret, five Pounds, every
Bacheler five Markes; and their Baners, Helmetts, Crestis, and Swordis,
shalle not be set over their Stalles untyll the tyme that they have
payd, at their entryng, the foresaid Sommes, every one after his Astate
and Degree whereof he is; and that is to witt, the Soverayne is bounde
to pay for every Stranger that shall be Chosen and electe, when he
shall be stalled in his propre Parson, or by procurement or Attornay,
and these Gyftes be gieven, to the entent that every one of them that
shall entre into the Ordre, be more worthy to have the Name, Title and
Privelege of one of the Founders of the said Ordre.