THE ADMINISTRATION OF WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL PRIORY IN THE TIME OF CARDINAL BEAUFORT by Joan Geiftrja^i .eatrex, M. A, LbRAK.fcS % *.» '"*lty o< °* A thesis presented to the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Ottawa in partial fulfilment of the re quirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. DECEMBER 1972. Joan Gertrude Greatrex, Ottawa, 1973. UMI Number: DC53514 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform DC53514 Copyright 2011 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 FORWARD In the preparation and writing of this thesis I have received advice and help from a number of persons to all of whom I remain most grateful. Among those whom I would like to thank are Professor F. C. Wilson of the History Department of the University of Ottawa, and the staff of the Institute of Historical Research in the University of London. My supervisor, Professor F. R. H. Du Boulay of Bedford College, London, has been a constant source of encouragement and good counsel. The former Hampshire County Archivist, Mrs. E. Cottrill, has also rendered valuable assistance on many occasions; and the Librarian and Assistant Librarian of Winchester Cathedral Library, Canon F. Bussby and Miss B. Forder, have come to my aid at every request during my frequent visits to Winchester over the past five years. I was also the fortunate recipient of several awards from both the Canada Council and the British Council which have enabled me to do the greater part of my research in situ both in the summers and during a year's leave from my own University. Finally, I must thank Mrs. May O'Meara for her patience, and the competence with which she typed my manuscript. Carleton University, Ottawa, April, 1973. TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages I. Introduction 1-10 II. St. Swithun's Priory in the late Fourteenth and early Fifteenth Centuries 11-4-2 III. The Internal Arrangements of the Priory 43-67 IV. The Monks of St. Swithun's as Landowners and Farmers: i Introduction 68-70 ii The Manors and their Staff 71-133 iii Farm Organization: 133-135 a) Harvesting 136-154 b) The Manor as a Food Farm 155-166 c) Sheep Farming l66-l8l V. The Monks as Landlords 182-244 VI. The Administrative Personnel of the Priory 24-5-286 VII. Conclusion 287-291 Map of the Manors, facing p.68. APPENDICES I. Tables A. Rents and Leases 1. Table of Fixed Rents and Farms i 2. Leasing the Demesne on the St. Swithun's Manors ii B. Harvest 1. Table of Harvest Expenses iii 2. Details of Acreages, Labour-Force and Costs iv-ix C. Grain Tables 1. Comparative Table of Sown Acreages (totals) x 2. Details of Sown Crops: Acreages xi-xv 3. Sales of Grain xvi 4. Grain Allowances to the Famuli (totals) xvii- xviii Pages D. The Manor as a Food Farm 1. Details of Food supplied to the Priory xix-xxxi 2. Sums of Money turned in to the Priory XXXIX 3. Food consumed by the Prior and Obedientiaries on Manorial visits XXXX11 k. Sales of Stock (and Grain) xxxiv E. The Manor as a Sheep Farm 1. Details of Sheep Rearing and Wool Pro­ duction: Numbers, Losses, Sales, Transfers and Number of V/ool Fleeces xxxv-xliv 2. Stock Book Itineraries xlv 3. Sheep Totals in A.D. 1390 xlvi k. Pattern of Sheep Transfers in 1390 and 1391 xlvii F. List of Manumissions xlviii-xlix G. Debts and Allowances of Sergeants and Reeves 1-liii H. Some Records and Examples of Early Leases liv-lvii I. St. Swithun's Fasti lviii-lxii J. Manorial Visits of Monastic Officials lxiii-lxvi K. Manorial Visits of Clerical and Lay Officials lxvii-lxxi APPENDIX II A. Conjectural Plan of the Monastery of St. Swithun's. (This is reproduced from a diagram used by T.D. Atkinson in his lxxii article "Winchester Cathedral Close" in Papers and Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club..., Vol. XV, 19^1-^3, facing p. 21. B. Location of Account and Court Rolls lxxiii-lxxvii C. Charter of Innocent III (A.D.1205) lxxviii D. The Agreement between Pontissara and St. Swithun's lxxix-lxxxi E. The Account Roll of Chilbolton Manor for A.D. 138^ lxxxii-xcvii F. Unprinted Chronicles of St. Swithun's xcviii ii SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY Pages A. Unprinted Sources xcix-c B. Printed Original Sources ci-ciii C. Secondary Sources ciii-cvi D. Unpublished Typescripts and Theses cvi-cvii iii ABBREVIATIONS B.M. Add MS. British Museum. Additional Manuscript. B.M. Add Roll British Museum. Additional Roll. B.M. Rot. Harl. British Museum. Harley Roll. CP.R. Calendar of Patent Rolls. E.H.R. English Historical Review. H.R.O. Hampshire Record Office. P.R.O. Public Record Office. Reg. C.S. Common Seal Register, Vol.1. Reg. Pont. Registrum Johannis de Pontissara. Reg. Wyk. Registrum Willelmi de Wykeham. V.C.H., Hants. Victoria County History of England, Hampshire. W.C.C. Cartularium Prioratus Sancti Swithuni, Wynton. (Winchester Cathedral Charters) T.R.H.S. Royal Historical Society. Transactions. Note: V/herever possible the modern spelling of place names has been used. V/ith respect to proper names the manuscript and printed sources show much variation; here consistency and common sense have been the factors governing the choice in each case. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION From time to time we read that the last word has been written on a certain historical subject. This is a foreboding assertion for the scholars whose manuscripts on a similar theme are awaiting submission to the experts for examination and approval, and whose future career depends at least partly on the interest and support of a publisher. The definitive judge­ ment against the future implied by these words neither enhances the reputation of their author nor provides any critical insight into the value of the particular book under review. It is with a firm conviction that, for the historian, the last word will never be written that I present this study of the administration of the Cathedral Priory of St. Swithun's in Winchester during the episcopate of Cardinal Beaufort. The list of historical monographs, essays and articles on the administration of English monastic cathedrals in the medieval period continues to grow, although no one has yet attempted a comparative study to stand beside that brilliant work of Miss Kathleen Edwards, The English Secular Cathedrals in the Middle Ages (19^9)* However, each of the nine cathedrals in England "These were Canterbury, Winchester, Durham, Norwich, Worcester, Ely, Rochester, Bath and Coventry. The last two, however, differ from the rest in that they were only one of two cathedrals under the same bishop. See Miss Edwards' Secular Cathedrals, 2nd edn., rev., p. 11; and also M. D. Knowles, The Monastic Order in England, 9^3-1216, Cambridge, 1950, p. 621. - 2 - which were staffed by Benedictine or Black Monks has had its own devoted group of antiquaries, scholars and more recently professional historians who, during the centuries since the Reformation, have preserved and often at the same time augmented the store of historical knowledge which has been handed down by succeeding generations. Winchester has had its share of such writers to whom much is owed by their present day successors. Yet their writings, though for the most part in the tradition of sound scholarship, cannot be considered in any way either final or complete. In the first place, there are many lacunae in the surviving historical records, and the bulk of what remains is of limited value since it belongs in the category of official documents. Secondly, while this large collection of manuscript quires and rolls has been frequently examined in the search for additional information, and a few transcriptions and translations of certain classes of docu- 2 ments have been edited and printed , the interests of previous antiquarians and historians centred on topics and problems which were of contemporary concern. Their preoccupations have now ceased to have much significance for us who are surrounded by the 'E.g., G. W. Kitchin, ed., Compotus Rolls of the Obedientiaries of St. Swithun's Priory, Winchester, Hampshire Record Society, 1892; and also A. W. Goodman,ed., Chartulary of Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, 1927- The more recent work of J. S. Drew deserves mention. This is available in bound volumes of un­ published typescript, copies of which are in the Institute of Historical Research, London, and the Cathedral Library, Winchester, and consists of a series of compotus rolls, and where they ex­ ist, court rolls, rentals and custumals of the priory manors of Silkstead, Chilbolton, Michelmersh and Houghton which were edited and translated by Mr. Drew between 19^3 and 19^7. - 3 - perilous uncertainty of our own continued existence in the face of recurring world crises; our present situation thus stands in sharp contrast to the more settled world of our fore­ fathers. The fact that the professional historian has now largely replaced the antiquary and local amateur historian can be taken as reflecting the new outlook.