York Clergy Ordinations 1450-1474 Edited by David M. Smith 2018 www.york.ac.uk/borthwick archbishopsregisters.york.ac.uk Online images of the Archbishops’ Registers cited in this edition can be found on the York’s Archbishops’ Registers Revealed website. The conservation, imaging and technical development work behind the digitisation project was delivered thanks to funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Register of Archbishop John Kemp (1450-1452) Register of Archbishop William Booth (1452-1464) Sede Vacante Register (1464-1465) Register of Archbishop George Neville (1465-1474) YORK CLERGY ORDINATIONS 1450-1474 Edited by DAVID M. SMITH 2018 CONTENTS Introduction v Ordinations held 1450-1474 ix Editorial notes xxii Abbreviations xxv York Clergy Ordinations 1450-1474 1 Appendix I: Letters Dimissory issued 1450-1474 276 Appendix II Letters of Orders 300 Index of Ordinands 301 Index of Religious 429 Index of Titles 439 Index of Places 458 INTRODUCTION This second volume of medieval clerical ordinations at York covers the years 1450 to 1474 and includes the final part of the ordinations section of Archbishop John Kemp (Reg. 19, fos. 293Ar-304r, just for the years 1450-52), the whole of the ordinations 1452-64 recorded in the register of Archbishop William Booth (Reg. 20, fos. 412r-460r), the duplicate vacancy registers of 1464-5 (Reg. 5A, fos. 453v-478v and 479r-508r) and the main part of the ordinations in Archbishop George Neville’s register (Reg. 22, fos. 179r-231v, for the years 1465-74). The registers also record just over 500 letters dimissory granted in this period to York diocesan clergy enabling them to be ordained by other bishops, and this forms the first appendix to the volume. A smaller second appendix contains copies of letters of orders entered in the registers. Apart from three occasions when Archbishop George Neville is found ordaining clergy (on the day before his enthronement in 1465 (no. 102) and twice while at his manor of La More near Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire (nos. 111A, 112A)), all the remaining ordinations in this period were celebrated by a succession of suffragan bishops, namely: John [Kegill, O.F.M.], titular bishop Philipolensis, held ordinations for the last years of Kemp’s pontificate, namely1450-52 (nos. 1-17) and then for Archbishop William Booth from 1454 to 1458 (nos. 27-43, 45-48).1 John, bishop Insulensis is found from 1452 to 1464 (nos. 18-26, 44, 57-8, 63-5, 67, 69, 75, 79, 83, 84- 91, 94, 95A). Sometimes he is conferring orders at the main ceremonies in York but between 1460 and 1464 is also found conducting ceremonies within the Nottingham archdeaconry when another suffragan is celebrating orders at York.2 Richard [Messing, O.Carm], bishop of Dromore, held ordinations from 1458 until 1462 (nos. 49-56, 59-62, 66, 68, 70-74, 76-8, 80-82).3 William [Egremont, O.S.A.], bishop of Dromore, began his long association with the York diocese in 1464 and held the ordinations from 1464 to 1474 (nos. 92-3, 95-101, 103-11, 112, 113-157).4 The ordinations section of these registers, following York practice, is concerned with the four orders of acolyte, subdeacon, deacon and priest – and the ordinations are recorded in this sequence within each ceremony, in the case of acolytes mostly noting their place of origin, and in the other cases recording the titles provided for the candidates from (chiefly) religious houses.5 Those clergy fortunate enough to have benefices are ordained to the title of their particular benefice and ordinations to the title of patrimony or linked with an annual rent are found, but there are just a handful of cases at this date. Clergy from other dioceses having letters dimissory and being ordained by the York suffragan are also noted in the main sequence. 1 L.A.S. Butler, ‘Suffragan Bishops in the medieval Diocese of York’, Northern History, XXXVII (2000), pp. 49-60, at 58. 2 Butler, ‘Suffragan Bishops’, 59. 3 Butler, ‘Suffragan Bishops’, 58-9. 4 Butler, ‘Suffragan Bishops’, 59. For Egremont see also BRUO, I, 632. He also held every ordination recorded in the 1475-1500 volume. 5 For a discussion of titles for orders in English dioceses see R.N. Swanson, ‘Titles to orders in medieval English episcopal registers’ in H. Mayr-Harting and R.I. Moore eds., Studies in medieval history presented to R.H.C. Davis, (London, 1985), 233-45, and D. Robinson, ‘Titles for Orders in England, 1268-1348’, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 65 (2014), 522-50. v For just a short period between March 1458/9 and May 1464 an additional ordination was held in the Nottingham archdeaconry (at Southwell Minster, Lenton priory, Thurgarton priory, or the archbishop’s manorial chapel at Scrooby) usually on the same day as the main ordination ceremony in York city and celebrated by a second suffragan bishop (nos. 57-8, 63-5, 67, 69, 75, 79, 94, 95A). This 1450-1474 period also provides evidence of different registrational practices, no doubt dependent upon the preferences of specific registry clerks or the way the material was presented for registration. For the last years of Archbishop Kemp (with a single exception) and the whole pontificate of William Booth and the 1464-5 vacancy (nos. 1-101) the four sections of acolyte, subdeacon, deacon and priest are maintained under each ordination heading, with the sequence within each section almost invariably being secular clergy first, then the regular clergy. With George Neville’s translation in 1465 the arrangement is changed and following on the four main orders there is a completely separate section for clergy of the archdeaconry of Richmond being ordained to all four orders (nos. 102-157), while still maintaining the secular/regular sequence within each section. From 1472 to 1474 the order of secular/regular clergy noted in each section is reversed, with the regular clergy being placed first. The exception in the series of Kemp’s ordinations mentioned above is in the first ceremony of 28 February 1449/50 where there is an additional Richmond archdeaconry section appended, but this is not a changed registrational practice, merely a temporary requirement since the Richmond archdeaconry was vacant at that time by the preferment of the archbishop’s nephew, Thomas Kemp, to the see of London. Another difference in registrational practice in this period can be seen in the territorial descriptions often given to ordinands. In the 1475-1500 period only the section for acolytes usually contained a note of their place of origin, and further ordinations to subdeacon, deacon and priest did not note any territorial description. In the earlier part of the 1450-1474 period this is not the case at least for ordinations under Archbishops John Kemp and William Booth (until 1464), where a place is normally given after a candidate’s name at each stage of the ordination. This can lead to some problems, since sometimes they differed. In some cases it was just a more precise territorial description. Thus, Thomas Goodale is described as of Wakefield when an acolyte but subsequently as of Horbury (which was within the parish of Wakefield) (nos. 31a, 43s, 44d, 46p). In other cases there was no connection between the places mentioned: Richard Faseby is described as of Huby when acolyte and subdeacon but then of Pickhill when deacon and priest (nos. 35a, 49s, 50d, 53p); William Frankish is described as of Cowling when acolyte, subdeacon and deacon, but as of Richmond as a priest (nos. 32a, 38s, 39d, 40p). Presumably these subsequent territorial descriptions related, not to their place of origin, but where they were actually located at the time they received higher orders. Understandably in large registers where the names of thousands of ordinands are noted in this twenty- five-year period scribal errors creep in, and one can completely understand the circumstances under which this would occur. Names are mistranscribed – Wytull at one stage also occurs as Wytus (nos. 1d, 4p), Ragett and Ragell are also found for the same individual (nos. 96s, 97d, 99p) etc.; there are plenty of errors over forenames – the Benyngworth candidate with a title from Swine nunnery occurs as Robert as subdeacon, John as deacon, and Richard as priest (nos. 100s, 103d, 105p); Robert Whelpdale occurs twice in the priests’ section at different ordinations (nos. 152p, 153d, 155p) when clearly in the first instance he should have been included among the subdeacons. The dioceses of candidates ordained with letters dimissory are either not always noted, or sometimes confused: Laurence Lawe is once described as of Coventry and Lichfield diocese and later as of Carlisle diocese (nos. 150d, 151p) and Christopher Clerk is mentioned twice as being of Coventry and Lichfield diocese and once of York diocese (nos. 14s, 15d, 17p). Sometimes Richmond entries occur in the main sequence even on those occasions when there was also a separate Richmond archdeaconry section. Occasionally religious candidates appear to have been entered under the wrong ordination – vi Thomas Watkyn twice appears in the deacon lists on different dates but not in those for the subdiaconate (nos. 142d, 153d, 154p); William Rodes, canon of Worksop likewise appears in two subdeacons’ lists (nos. 1s, 5s). There is also the suspicion that names of titles were mistranscribed. At this date the vast majority of candidates had the same title for the three orders of subdeacon, deacon and priest, although changes are not unknown – for example, Richard Barker was ordained subdeacon to the title of Nostell priory, deacon to the title of Shap abbey, and priest to the title of Healaugh Park priory (nos. 152s, 153d, 154p) – but some other apparent changes suggest the possibility of hurried mistranscription when the spelling of the religious houses involved is very similar: for instance, we have candidates with titles to Cockersand and Coverham; to Nun Appleton and Nun Monkton; to Sawley and Selby; to Thornton and Thornholme; to Warter and Watton etc., which could easily have been scribal miscopying.