ALMS AND LOANS
We wound up our first part with a draft on parochial records; and we
enter on our second part with a further taxation of the same fruitful
and unimpeachable source. Those familiar with the life of our ancient
universities only in its more modern and luxurious aspects may prepare
for revelations of the most startling character, for Oxford and
Cambridge were nurtured not only in poverty, but in authorized
mendicancy and--a learned phrase may be excused--regulated
hypothecation. That clerks in those early days were not ashamed to beg
is susceptible of various sorts of proof, one of which consists in the
help so frequently afforded them by generous churchwardens. Let us
glance at some sixteenth-century books of accounts:
ASHBURTON, DEVON
1568. "In gyft to too scolers of Oxenford iiij^s iiij^d"
1575. "To a skoler of Oxeford vj^d"
1578. "To a skoler of Oxford iij^s iiij^d"
TAVISTOCK
1573. "Geven to a skoler of Oxford xij^d"
WOODBURY, DEVON
1581. "P^d to tow skolowers of Oxford vij^d"
1588. "P^d to a Scholar that came fro
Oxford named Edward Carrow viij^d"
1589. "P^d to Richard Crokhey a scholar vj^d"
(According to the "Alumni Oxon." Edward Carrow was elected Student of
Christ Church, 1575, from Westminster School; and Richard Crocker,
B.A., from Exeter College, 1594.)
PLYMOUTH
1583. "P^d to two schollers the xj of June iij^s iiij^d"
"Geven to a scholler to bringe hym
to Oxenford vj^s viiij^d"
BARNSTAPLE
1583. "Paid as a gift to a scholar at
Oxford 1^s"
1603. "Given to a poore scholler by the
consent of Mr. Moore, vicar 0 0 6"
It is worthy of note that the amounts bestowed on this deserving class
were in excess of the sums meted out to ordinary "travellers." It is
also a fact that, while mention is often made of Oxford scholars, the
reverse is the case with Cambridge men. On referring to Willis and
Clark's "History of the University of Cambridge" we find that although
notices occur of scholars in menial employment there is no indication
that begging licences were granted them. Still, the following entries
prove that occasionally incipient Cambridge men received public
assistance.
SHEFFIELD
1573. "Gave to William Lee, a pore
Scholler of Sheffield, towards the
settynge him to the universitye
of Cambridge and buyinge him
bookes and other furnyture vij^s iiij^d"
CAWTHORNE, YORKSHIRE
1663. "Collected in y^e parish church of
Cawthorne, for Thomas Carr, a
poor scholler, who was going to
Cambridge, and borne in y^e parish
of Ecckesfield, the sum of 6s. 6d."
From the beginning of the reign of James I. there are few entries
relating to scholars "of Oxford." Those of other places, however, are
named to the time of Charles II., and some of them must have belonged to
Oxford, their native place being recorded in lieu of the university.
YOULGREAVE, DERBYSHIRE
1623. "To a poore scholler of Bakewell 0 1 0"
HEAVITREE, DEVON
1667. "Given towards the maintenance
of one Laskey, a poor Scholler for
Oxforde £4"
(This was one Nicholas Laskey, who was a son of Henry Laskey, of
Heavitree, and was entered in the books of Wadham College as "filius
pauperis." He matriculated May 23, 1667, at the age of seventeen; and
was rector of Eggesford in 1674, and of Worthington in 1687.)
These examples are all comparatively late, but we may be certain that
the practice to which they bear testimony had existed at a much earlier
period, when contributions had been sought, not only from custodians of
church funds, but from private persons, to whose charitable instincts or
devout inclinations necessitous clerks successfully appealed. Chaucer
says of his clerk of Oxenford:
Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre:
But al that he myghte of his frendes hente,
On bokes and on lerning he it spente,
And bisily gan for the soules preye
Of hem that gaf him wher-with to scolaye.
This diligent and conscientious student "loked holwe," and his
"courtefy" was threadbare.
In MS. Lansdowne 762 is a poem wherein a husbandman is represented as
complaining of the many charges of which he is the subject--taxes to the
court, payments to the church, and exactions in the name of charity.
Included in the last of these categories is alms to scholars:
Than cometh clerkys of Oxford and make their mone;
To her schole-hire they must have money.
It is hardly likely, perhaps, that such "scholar-gypsies" always
procured licences, but such were issued, and, when obtained, were
doubtless efficacious in promoting the object which the applicant had in
view. The following is a specimen in English dress, the original being
in Latin, and dated July 15, 1467:
"To the whole of the sons of Holy Mother Church, to whom the present
letter may come, Thomas Chaundler, Professor of Sacred Theology, and
Chancellor of the University of Oxford, greeting in the Saviour of all.
"Know the whole of you that we, with full affection, recommend to your
worships by reason of his deserts N., a scholar of this University, a
peaceable, and honest, and praiseworthy student, strongly beseeching you
that when he shall chance to traverse your places, lands, castles,
towns, fortresses, lordships, jurisdictions, and passages, ye freely
suffer him to cross them without let, trouble, arrest, or injury, with
his goods and chattels, or to make halt in his expeditions; and if at
any time it shall befall that wrong be done him in person, chattels, or
goods, ye deign to remedy the same as may behove in remembrance of the
aforesaid University. Further, deign to assist him, when need press,
with your charitable favours, receive him whom we recommend, and succour
him with the protection of charity, devoutly considering that him who
pitieth shall God also pity in meet and acceptable time.
"Given at Oxford, under the Seal of the Office of the Chancellery of the
aforesaid University on the fifth day of the month of July in the
fourteenth hundred and sixtieth year of our Lord."
From the wording of this letter-testimonial it would be a reasonable
inference that it was granted to enable the recipient to travel to his
home or some other place, but in certain cases the object may have been
to replenish an exhausted purse and aid the distressed scholar to
complete his academic course.
"Many," remarks Mr. A. Clark, "were in a condition of extreme poverty,
which it is now difficult to recognize or even to imagine.... [They]
were exempted from University and College dues, and lived from what they
received from colleges or individual graduates in payment of the
different menial services which they rendered." He gives a list of
fifteen Oxford scholars to whom licences were accorded between 1551 and
1572, their duration varying from seven weeks to eight months. In the
sixteenth century such passports had become necessary, or, at least, the
absence of them, where scholars resorted to begging for a livelihood,
was attended with serious risk. By the 4th section of the Act of 22
Henry VIII. c. 12: "Scolers of the Universities of Oxford & Cambrydge
that goo about beggyng, not being aucthorysed under the Seale of the
sayde Universities," were to be punished as idle rogues, and that
punishment was far from light. This section was included in the Act of
Elizabeth of 1571-2, but omitted from that of 1596-7.
Scholars were often reduced not only to beg, but to borrow; and as this
method of raising money might not always have been easy, even where
security was offered, a system of pledging was devised by the
authorities for the benefit of impecunious members of the University,
both high and low. In all essentials this department is hardly
distinguishable from a pawnbroking establishment conducted under
respectable auspices, but we should go sadly astray if we suffered our
views of the institution to be tinged by the associations of a dingy
shop in some back street in which hopeless penury plays its last shift.
We should rather turn our eyes to the beatific vision of the Mons
Pietatis as pictured by Botticelli--a hillock of florins, with the
kneeling forms of worthy suppliants and the cloud-borne founder crowned
by angelic hands. The poor scholar did not part definitely with his
cherished possession; he might hope to recover it in sunnier days, and
meanwhile he was enabled to tide himself over an awkward emergency. At
the same time the brokers took care to make the transaction a source of
profit to the University.
The earliest benefaction for the support of scholars at Oxford consisted
in the annual payment of forty shillings by the townsmen in atonement
for the execution of certain clerks. In the year 1219 this charge was
undertaken by the Abbey of Eynsham, by which the fine was punctually
disbursed to the period of its dissolution. A similar but smaller
contribution was made by the Abbey of Oseney, but nothing is known as to
its origin. Irregularities in the application of these funds induced the
Chancellor, Robert Grosseteste, in 1240, to frame an ordinance which
resulted in the creation of the "Frideswyde Chest." This treasury was
the parent of many others--at the close of the fifteenth century there
were as many as twenty-four--and it long remained the typical, as it was
the earliest, form of scholastic benefaction, existing side by side with
the foundation of colleges, to which it gave an important impetus. The
management of these chests was, in all cases, practically identical. The
preamble of the ordinance, by which the administration of the funds was
regulated, first stated the name of the donor, and then proceeded to
announce the desire of the University to requite his liberality by
annual masses and celebrations. The beneficiaries also were enjoined to
repeat so many "Pater Nosters" and "Aves" for the repose of his soul.
Next followed particulars of the sums that might be borrowed and those
to whom they might be advanced, always on condition that a pledge of
equal or greater value was first deposited by the borrower. The term
within which the pledge might be redeemed was specified, as also the
time at which an unredeemed pledge was to be sold after due notice had
been given by public proclamation. It was usual to appoint as guardians
a North and a South countryman, so as to obviate any complaints as to
the allocation of the funds, and provision was made for the registration
of loans and the audit of the accounts. The last chest to be
founded--this was in the latter half of the sixteenth century--placed at
the disposal of the University a sum raising the total amount to not
less than two thousand marks; and the capital, not merely the interest,
was available for the relief of embarrassed scholars. The pledges were
valued by the sworn stationer of the University, and that they were
expected to exceed in value the amount of the loan is shown by the terms
of ordinances, in some of which the guardians are required to submit to
the auditors an account of the capital and increase. In spite of
precaution, however, cases of peculation were not unknown, for, on more
than one occasion, guardians were accused of embezzlement, and there are
statutes complaining of the "marvellous disappearance" of funds, the
property of the University, and safeguarding their future
administration.
The chests were divided into two categories--the "Summer" and the
"Winter." This distinction seems to have been due to the date of the
election of the guardians. In this matter, however, there was
considerable variation, and in later ages the stipulations of the
ordinances, in which the bequests were embodied, ceased to be observed.
Another circumstance which deserves notice is that in the reforms
instituted in the time of Archbishop Laud nearly all traces of this
benevolent system were obliterated, and the names of founders--John
Pontysera, Bishop of Winchester, Gilbert Routhbury, Philip Turville,
John Langton, W. de Seltone, Dame Joan Danvers, etc.--consigned to the
shades of academic oblivion. During the period when the funds were
employed in conformity with the testator's design, the authorities, in
their wisdom, ignored limitations of age, birth, and neighbourhood, and
thus any member of the University, sophist or questionist, bachelor or
master, was entitled to a share of the benefit. This wide charity cannot
have met with unanimous approval. Large as the fund was, it would hardly
have sufficed for the needs of every ill-clothed and ill-fed scholar;
and, in the distribution of the money, it would be only in accord with
common experience of human nature if an enterprising official, whose
eagerness had outstripped his resources, should be preferred to some
pinched, obscure stripling, and receive a wholly disproportionate share
of the eleemosynary grant.
As an illustration of what sometimes occurred, we may take the case of
Master Henry Sever, Warden of Merton Hall. He had carried out certain
repairs of the buildings, and, in order to discharge the bill, had
borrowed from Seltone chest the maximum amount permitted by the
ordinance--sixty shillings. To obtain this advance he had pledged an
illuminated missal of considerably greater value, and now he had come
prepared to redeem it. He finds that the missal had been lent to some
client for the purpose of inspection, a silver cup, estimated by the
stationer to be worth even more, being deposited in its stead. This is
not precisely what Master Sever had wanted. However, he takes the cup,
assured that he will presently be able to negotiate an exchange with the
person in possession of his missal.
This serves as a reminder that, if money was scarce, books--the
mainspring of intellectual activity--were yet scarcer; and it is of the
utmost interest to inquire how this famine of the arts was mitigated.
Oral lectures were the rule, but books could not be entirely dispensed
with; and even Wardens might not always be in a position to procure all
the works of which they stood in need. The obvious remedy was a library
or libraries; and such collections--they arrived in good time, chiefly
through the bequests of virtuosi--constituted an invaluable resource to
that vast horde of scholars whose scanty means would not allow them to
purchase books. As the result of Mr. Blakiston's research, the famous
library with which Richard Aungerville is said to have endowed Durham
College, and, according to Adam de Murimuth, filled five carts, turns
out to be a myth or rather a pious intention. The good Bishop died deep
in debt, and the books, if preserved as a collection, went, it is now
certain, elsewhere. Thirty-five years later, however, another bishop,
Thomas Cobham, of Worcester, who died in 1327, bequeathed to the
University a mass of books, and the statute referring to them provides
that they shall be chained in convenient order in the "soler" over the
old Congregation House, where all the property of the University was
stored. The books were to be in the custody of a chaplain, who was to
pray for the soul of the donor.
Another statute relates to a "chest of four keys," from which it appears
that books were kept in coffers and lent upon indenture or security,
exactly as was done in the case of money. It was also a by no means
infrequent occurrence for persons to give or bequeath books on condition
that they were chained in the chancel of the church for the use of
scholars and periodically inspected by the chancellor and proctors. By
far the greatest benefactor of the University in the matter of books was
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who made many valuable presents during his
lifetime, and on his death, in 1447, a final large instalment was added
to the store. Of these only one remains in the Bodleian Library, but in
contemporary letters there are many notes expressing gratitude for, and
appreciation of, this splendid munificence, which advanced the cause of
learning more perhaps than any other donation recorded in the annals of
the University.
The well-being of the librarian was, very properly, a subject of
concern. By an ordinance of 1412 his stipend was raised, and he became
recognized as one of the chief officers of the University. Lest "hope
deferred" should produce slackness in the performance of his duties, the
proctors were bound to pay his salary regularly, and, as a further
encouragement, every beneficed graduate, on his inception, was required
to make him a present of clothes. A similar custom prevailed with regard
to the bedels, and it is sententiously remarked that it would be absurd
for one adorned with superior dignity to be endued with inferior
privileges.
The ordinance of 1412 brought about other changes. At the outset the
library was accessible to all scholars at stated times; permission was
now confined to graduates or religious, and, in the case of the latter,
to those who were of eight years' standing _in philosophia_. Thus a monk
named Hardwyke, who did not possess this qualification, had to sue for a
"grace," and even then the privilege was limited to one term. The
reasons for these restrictions probably were that the undergraduate
constituency in those days was composed, in a great degree, of careless
and dirty boys, who would be apt to soil the manuscripts, while the
monks had their own libraries, to which they could resort without
encroaching on the slender resources of masters and bachelors. All
graduates on admission were required to take a solemn oath that they
would handle the books _modo honesto et pacifico, nulli librorum per
turpitudinem aut rasuras abolitionesque foliorum, præjudicium
inferendo_.
The librarian was granted a month's vacation, and the library was closed
on Sundays and holy days, unless it should chance that a distinguished
stranger desired to visit it, when leave was given him from sunrise to
sunset, subject to the condition that he was not followed by a loud
rabble. At all other times, the hours during which the library was open
were from nine to eleven o'clock a.m., and from one to four o'clock p.m.
Suspended on the wall was a large board inscribed with the names both of
the books and the donors "lest oblivion, the stepmother of memory,
should pluck from our breasts the remembrance of our benefactors." To
the same intent thrice every quarter a solemn mass of the Holy Ghost,
and once every quarter a requiem mass, were said at the altar of St.
Katherine in the Church of the Blessed Virgin. Every night the books and
the windows of the library were closed, and, with certain rare
exceptions, books were not permitted to be removed.
ACADEMIC