The Release of Ornaments in the Archbishop's Chapel and some other arrangements following Simon Mepham's Elevation

THE RELEASE OF ORNAMENTS IN THE ARCHBISHOP'S CHAPEL AND SOME OTHER ARRANGEMENTS FOLLOWING SIMON MEPHAM'S ELEVATION ROY MARTIN HAINES Archbishop Walter Reynolds died at his manor of Mortlake after sunset on Monday 16 November 1327, and was buried eleven days later. There was no undue delay in the choice of his successor. The process adopted at the election scheduled for I I December began, following certain traditional ritual, with the appointment of a committee of three to select seven monk compromisers, whose recommendation had to secure the bene placet of all members of the monastic community at Christ Church, Canterbury. The compromisers' choice fell on Simon de Mepham, a relatively unknown doctor of theology and canon of Chichester. He was duly acclaimed, there being no other candidate. 1 Simon was a native of Kent, where his family held some properly at his name-place Meopham near Rochester, and was beneficed at Tunstall a short distance from Sittingbourne. 2 These connections, and the fact that he was a theologian rather than a legist or, like Reynolds, a man of no intellectual reputation, may well have weighed with Prior Henry Eastry and the monastic chapter. But there was another element in the situation. The country had been plagued by civil wars and the former king, Edward II, who had been forced to abdicate, had only recently died at Berkeley under mysterious circumstances. 3 As a result, the government, nominally that of Edward III but in fact subject to the control of Queen Isabella and her lover Roger Mortimer, was anxious that there should be no occasion for dissension. The candidature of men who had adopted a political stance, such as Bishops Adam Orleton, John Stratford or even Henry Burghersh, would have engendered controversy. Mepham was perceived as politically innocuous, hence unlikely to form a focus of opposition, a calculation that was soon to be proved 363 ROY MARTIN HAINES erroneous.4 Thus no unfavourable reaction to the monks' choice was anticipated from the government. On 15 December two Canterbury monks, Geoffrey Poterel and Richard de lckham, acting as 'instructors' (instructores), were despatched with the decree of election to Chichester; their task being to secure the assent of the elect. After what was considered a respectable show of reluctance, Mepham gave his consent on the 21st, whereupon as archbishop-elect he accompanied the monastic envoys to the royal court, which they found at Lichfield. On arrival the envoys presented the chapter's letters and the person of the elect to the juvenile king, who - doubtless under instruction - graciously accepted Mepham's candidature and arranged for recommendatory letters to be despatched by the chancery to the pope and each of the cardinals. Signification to Pope John XXII of the royal assent to the election is dated 5 January 1328 and on the 6th, from Nottingham, letters were despatched in the king's name to express his anxiety to have the matter settled in view of recent disturbances in the realm and the injudicious behaviour (indiscretum regimen) of bishops in his father's time. Other letters followed on 25 March from Barlings in Lincolnshire. Yet others were sent in Queen Isabella's name and in that of the English nobles, likewise bemoaning the recent strife and expressing hope that the new archbishop would bring peace.5 Meanwhile, on 17 January, the monastic instructors accompanied by the elect had embarked at Dover. The journey to the papal court at Avignon was undertaken as a precaution, for at this time capitular elections were frequently superseded by papal provision. What is more, Pope John showed a predilection for advancing lawyers like himself. In this case the Barlings letter reveals a certain anxiety in government circles that no positive response had been made to Mepham's election. By mid-April a strong rumour had percolated to England that some difficulties about confirmation of the election had arisen and that the pope might wish to make provision. If so, it was suggested, Henry Burghersh would be a suitable substitute and the pope might wish to translate him from Lincoln. 6 Such concerns were to prove unduly pessimistic: in a public consistory on 27 May 1328 Mepham's election was confirmed by the pope. Consecration by Peter des Pres, cardinal bishop of Palestrina followed on 5 June in the church of the Dominicans at A vignon. Four days later Mepham received the pallium - considered to confer the fullness of pontifical authority- from the body of blessed Peter.7 Meanwhile there had to be a sede vacante administration. During the thirteenth century disputes on this matter had arisen between the archdeacon of Canterbury, the prior and chapter of Christ Church, and the bishops of the Canterbury province as to their respective 364 RELEASE OF ORNAMENTS IN THE ARCHBISHOP'S CHAPEL IN 1328 rights within the diocese and province during a vacancy of the metropolitan see. The provincial bishops maintained that the prior and chapter's exercise of metropolitan jurisdiction was prejudicial. Eventually, in 1278, an agreement was reached. By this the prior and chapter were to exercise the metropolitan jurisdiction subject to the nomination within a month of two suitably qualified persons for presentation to the dean of the province, the bishop of London, or were he not available to the bishop of Winchester, or failing him the bishop of Worcester. The bishop concerned was to choose one of the candidates, who would then be appointed official of Canterbury by the prior and chapter. 8 Such temporary jurisdiction, about which comparatively little is known in this instance,9 came to an end with Mepham's commission of 19 June appointing his brother, Edmund de Mepham, canon of Llandaff and like himself a doctor of theology, to exercise the office of official or vicar general within the diocese and province of Canterbury, but reserving the archbishop's rights of patronage. 10 This is in the form of a notarial document drawn up by Simon de Cherringg (Charing) who is described by the archbishop as his 'notary and scribe'. This man was clearly his registrar, but Mepham 's register has been lost and only a few of his acta can be recovered from a variety of other sources. 11 Apparently the commission, together with the papal bull of promotion, was entrusted to Master Thomas Lytlynton (Littleton). The bull was published at Canterbury before the prior and chapter, so it would seem, on 7 July, the commission on the following day,12 The new archbishop would have been delayed by business at the Curia, particularly on account of the customary payments due to pope and cardinals on his elevation, so it was not until the autumn that he crossed Hainault and Brabant to Antwerp where he took ship, disembarking at Dover on 5 September. It is recorded that he travelled by way of Chartham, hence to Rochester, Gravesend and London. He must have paused en route at Canterbury for consultation with Prior Eastry and with his own officers. Thus he could well have been in his cathedral city when the ecclesiastical ornaments (listed in Appendix 1) were restored to his chaplain, Thomas de Woghope or Wouhope, who had accompanied him to Avignon. 13 There is no precise information about the chapel in which they were deposited. The medieval palace of the archbishops lay along the eastern side of Palace Street, close to the cathedral. In the early fifteenth century there would seem to have been two chapels in the building. One of them, the 'great chapel', could be used for minor ordinations, the other was probably more of a private oratory . 14 365 ROY MARTIN HAINES From London Mepham journeyed north to meet the king at Lynn, where on 19 September he performed fealty and received livery of his temporalities. Returning south, he visited his Mayfield manor in Sussex where he had a burst of activity. On 29 November, prompted by Pope John (crebris monitis excitati), he summoned a provincial council to St Paul's London for 27 January, 15 and the following day appointed Bishop Peter of Corbavia, who had previously acted as suffragan for Archbishop Reynolds, 16 to celebrate orders in the cathedral for monks of Canterbury and for beneficed clerks of the diocese and immediate jurisdictions. 17 Despite, or possibly because of his irenic nature, Mepham was almost immediately drawn into the camp of the disaffected followers of Henry of Lancaster, younger brother of that Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who had unsuccessfully opposed Edward II's forces at Boroughbridge in 1322, and for whose canonisation there was now considerable support, even at government level. The somewhat ludicrous effort of the archbishop to mediate on behalf of the rebels led to the fiasco at Bedford where in mid-January 1329 the Lancastrians were forced to prostrate themselves in the mud before the young king and his mother, who had allegedly donned full armour to accompany the royal forces led by Mortimer.18 Consequently, when the archbishop was enthroned by Prior Eastry on Sunday, the feast of St Vincent (22 January), the king was not present nor were many of the earls, barons and bishops who had promised attendance. 19 The priory's sede vacante register specifically mentions only Stephen Gravesend and Hamo de Hethe, Bishops of London and Rochester respectively, and the abbots of Faversham, Langdon, St Radegund's (Dover) and Glastonbury. There was even a dispute about Lady Badlesmere's claim to perform the service of chamberlain by reason of the manor of Hatfield by Charing. Mepham declined to accept any such service from her, but promised to provide compensation should it prove to be due. 20 Seemingly undaunted by so catastrophic a start to his archiepiscopate, Mepham proceeded to hold his provincial council in St Paul's Cathedral, at which statutes were drawn up, and shortly thereafter, on 13 March 1329, to conduct a visitation of the cathedral priory, a prelude to that of his diocese.21 NOTES 1 For an overview of procedure at this period see 'The Election of Archbishops of Canterbury in the Earlier Fourteenth Century', in Haines, Ecclesia anglicana, Toronto, 1989, chapter 2B. 366 RELEASE OF ORNAMENTS IN THE ARCHBISHOP'S CHAPEL IN 1328 2 In July 1329 Mepham issued a forty-days indulgence for those visiting Meopham church and praying for his parents; Registrum Roffense, ed. John Thorpe, London, 1769, 2, p. 777. Of another of his forty-day indulgences we learn by chance from an inaccurate colophon in a manuscript of William de Shoreham 's poems. The work of the beneficiary, William vicar of Chart Sutton, south-east of Maidstone, would have appealed to Mepham because of its religious didacticism. See H . Wheeler, 'William de Shoreham', Archaeologia Cantiana, 108 (1990), 153-61, esp. 153-4. 3 Haines, 'Edwardus Redivivus: the "Afterlife" of Edward of Caernarvon', Trans. Bristol and Gloucestershire Arch. Soc., 114 (1996), 65-86, gives an account of the king's death and subsequent events. 4 Despite his later conduct, there is no reliable evidence to support the suggestion that Mepham was the candidate of a faction supporting Henry of Lancaster. Rifts in the ruling clique only became apparent later in 1328. 5 Foedera (Ree. Comm. edition, 1816-69), 2 ii, pp. 727, 735-6; Cal. Patent Rolls 1327-30, pp. 191, 198. The nobles, using language similar to that of the royal chancery, blamed the prelates: 'Quot strages nobilium, quot animarum et corporum periculum apud nos effluxisse retro diebus contigerint divulgatus sermo quasi per tocius orbis clamata (MS climata?] provexit et vestri credimus indubitanter apostolatus auribus inculcatum .... ob quorundam Anglie prelatorum incuriam et regimen indiscretum'. Canterbury Cathedral Archives and Library Dec Reg. Q fo. 127r•v. This and other pertinent documents are printed in D. Wilkins, Concilia, London, I 737, 2, pp. 539-44. 6 Dec Reg. Q fo. I 26'-v (without dating clause); Foedera, 2 ii, p.7 39. Oundle 20 April 1328: 'quod de confirmatione electionis praemissae, propter defectus aliquos, in ipsius examinatione repertos, verisimiliter desperatur, et quod de provisione ejusdem ecclesiae vestra paternitas ordinare proponit ista vice'. 7 Dec Reg. Q fo. 127v. 'Palleum, videlicet plenitudinem pontificalis officii, de corpore beati Petri sumptum, recepit'. 8 This somewhat complex compromise is examined by Irene Churchill in her Canterbury Administration, 2 vols., London, 1933, 1, pp. 552-5. For the whole topic of sede vacante administration in Canterbury diocese and province, ibid. chapter 15. 9 Sede vacante registers Dec G and Q contain some information, but much of this is concerned with the election of the new archbishop. 10 The form of this document is unlike any of the exempla given by Dr Churchill, Canterbury Administration, 2, pp. 1-8. The appointment of an 'officialis seu vicarius general is' eo nomine may be unique. Could it be that Mepham did not have access to the regular formulas? 11 See Appendix I (pp. 581-8) in Haines,' An Innocent Abroad: the Career of Simon de Mepham, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1328-33', English Historical Review, 112 ( 1997), 555-96. 12 The manuscript is somewhat misleading. A memorandum states that on the Translation of St Thomas (7 July) the archbishop sent (misit) Lytlynton to the prior and c_hapter with apostolic letters detailing the confirmation of his election, his consecration and receipt of the pallium. In fact this would appear to be the date of publication at Canterbury, and on the morrow the vicar general's commission was likewise published. Dec Reg. Q fos. 127v, 129': 'Recepta bulla predicta statim post missam dicta hora sex ta prior et conventus in capitulo convenerunt et dictam bull am legi fecerint •. The bull, copied in extenso at fos 127v .29•, is dated 8 June from Avignon. Both it and the commission would have been sent as soon as possible to facilitate the transfer of jurisdiction. 367 ROY MARTIN HAINES 13 For these and other details see 'An Innocent Abroad' [using material mainly from Canterbury Dec Reg. Q]. In that article 'Chatham' should read 'Chartham' (Reg. Q fo. 129v: Ch 'tham). Although the archbishop probably did cross the Medway in the neighbourhood of Chatham, the manuscript reference must be to Chartham of which he had the advowson and where the prior had an estate. 14 The Register of Henry Chichele, archbishop of Canterbury 1414-1443, ed. E. F. Jacob, 4 vols., Oxford, 1943-7, 1, p. 319 (Simon Carpenter made keeper of the palace); 4, pp. 204, 354. The writer can find no mention of the archbishop's chapel in the index to Churchill, Canterbury Administration. The archiepiscopal registers of John Stratford and of Mepham have been lost, but in 1349 Stratford's executors valued books, vestments, silver vessels, and precious objects in his chapel at a substantial sum. He also seems to have had boy choristers in his chapel. See Haines, Archbishop John Stratford, Toronto, 1986, pp. 61 n. 46, 512; A. K. McHardy, 'The Loss of Archbishop Stratford's Register', Historical Research, 70 (1997), 337-41. 15 Cal. Patent Rolls I 32 7-30, p. 3 l 9. Mepham' s mandate for the counci I is in Hampshire Record Office, Winchester Register Stratford, fo. 43'. It was circulated to the comprovincial bishops by Bishop Gravesend of London as dean of the province by letters dated 6 December from Wickham. 16 For references to the employment of this suffragan by Archbishop Reynolds see J. R. Wright, The Church and the English Crown, Toronto 1980, p. 241, n.141. 17 The eight deaneries of the archbishop's immediate jurisdiction are discussed by Churchill, Canterbury Administration l , pp. 62-81. 18 A fuller account of the Lancastrian insurrection and of Mepham 's part in it is in Haines, Archbishop John Stratford, pp. 203-7. For Lancaster's 'sainthood': J. Edwards, 'The Cult of "St." Thomas of Lancaster and its Iconography', Yorkshire Archaeologi• ea/ Journal, 64 ( 1992), I 03-22; idem, 'The Cult [etc.]: a Supplementary Note', ibid. 67 (1995), 187-91. 19 Dec Reg. Q fo. 134': 'Dominus rex Edwardus tercius post Conquestum et alii episcopi provincie Cant', comites eciam et barones nonnulli qui prefato archiepiscopo promiserant ad intronizacionem suam venisse, non venerunt propter dissensionem ortarn inter dictum dominum regem et quosdam magnates regni sui'. 20 Lady Badlesmere (Margaret de Clare), widow of Bartholomew Badlesmere (hanged in 1322), had defended Leeds Castle against Edward II in 1321, but there is no reliable evidence to suggest that Mepham was distancing himself from her on that account. It was probably a technical matter of whether her tenure entitled her to perform the office of chamberlain and to enjoy the perquisites. Bartholomew Badlesmere had acted in that capacity at Archbishop Reynolds' enthronement. Dec Reg. Q fos 9or-v. Lady Badles• mere featured among those whose lands were restored in February 1327. Foedera, 2 ii, p. 692. 21 Haines,• An Innocent Abroad', 566-70. The constitutions are ibid. App. 2, 588-94. In the table, 595, the meeting place of the council is given in error as Lambeth instead of St Paul's. 368 RELEASE OF ORNAMENTS IN THE ARCHBISHOP'S CHAPEL IN 1328 APPENDIX 1 Ecclesiastical ornaments released on 8 September 1328 to the chapel of Archbishop Simon Mepham (Canterbury Dec Reg. Q, fo. J3or (cxv)) [Rubric) Ornamenta ecclesiastica liberat[a) ad capellam domini S[imonis) Archiepiscopi. Ornamenta ecclesiastica subscripta in duabus cistis rubeis amalatis liberata fuerunt ad capellam venerabilis patris domini Simonis dei gracia Cant' archiepiscopi tocius Anglie primatis die Nativitatis beate Marie, anno domini M°Cccmo XXVIII0 {8 Sept. 1328), per indenturam factam inter dominum Hugonem de Sancta Margareta tune sacristam ecclesie Christi Cantuar' et dominum Thomam de Woghope custodem capelle dicti patris videlicet: Crux portatil[is) argentea. Item, mitra domini Johannis [Pechamj archiepiscopi. Item, baculus eiusdem argent[eus) et operat[us]. Item, cirothece domini R[oberti] de Wynchelese archiepiscopi cum perulis et gemmis in platis quadrat{is] et magnis tassellis rotund[is]. Item, anulus pontificalis magnus cum saphiro oblongo et quatuor pram is cum quatuor margaritis. Item, tres acus aurei ad palleum quilibet cum uno rubino baleys et .ii. srnaragdinis et .ii. saphiris. Item, .ii. sandalia cum galochis de rubeo samicto brudat[a] armis regis Anglie. Item, calix .i. cum patena argent[ea) et deaurat[a] intus et extra cum nodo in medio cum perulis et gemmis operatis ponder[is] xiii s. Item, .ii. urcioli argent[ei) unde .i. deaurat[us) et alius amalat[us) ponder[is] xxii s. Item, .ii. candelabr[a] argent[ea] cum tribus pedibus argent[eis] domini R[oberti) archiepiscopi predicti. Item, thurribulum argent[eum] et deaurat[um] ponder[is) lxxiii s. iiii d. Item, vas ad thus cum coclear[e) argent[eo] ponder[is] xxii s. Item, vas argent{eus] ad aquam benedictam ponderis Ixxiii s. iiii d. Item, aspersor[ium] argent[eum] ponder[is] xiii s. iiii d. ltem, pixis eburnea ad oblat[a). Item, crismator[ium) argent[eum] domini Walteri [Reynolds) archiepiscopi. Item, capa chori .i.) . . . casula .i. ) pro domino arch1ep1scopo Tunica et dal matica. Item, tunica et dalmatica pro diacono et subdiacono de rubeo samicto brudat[ e] cum arboribus aureis et cum aurifrigio de perulis et avibus operatis. [fo. 13ov1 Item .ii. cape de rubeo samicto cum .ii. tassellis aureis pro .ii. clericis capelle. Item, alba .i. cum amictu et cingulo brudat' cum coronacione beate Marie ex parte una et matre et filio ex parte altera pro domino . .. archiepiscopo. Item, stola et manipulum cum scutis consutis et brudat[i)'. 369 ROY MARTIN HAINES Item, corporalia brudata cum crucifixo et coronacione beate Marie. Item, .ii. albe cum amictibus pro diacono et subdiacono de serico consut[is]. Item, stola .i. et duo manipu\i pro diacono et subdiacono brudat[i]. Item, palla altaris cum frontell[oJ de scutis brudat[oJ. Item, palla .i. sine frontell[o]. Item, manutergium .i. ad manus. Item, pannus .i. ad sacrarium. Item, campana .i. ad. summar' capelle. Item equ[u]s .i. summar[ius] cum tapeto et barehid[o] et alio harnas[io] pertinent(ibusJ precii x librarum. Item, magnus liber qui dicitur pontificale domini Johannis [Pecham] archiepiscopi. Item, biblia domini R[oberti Winchelsey] archiepiscopi supradicti. Ibid. fo. 129r_ Copy of a notarial instrument attesting the commission, dated I 9 June 1328, appointing Master Edmund de Mepham, the archbishop's brother, as official or vicar general within the diocese and province. Commissio magistri E[dmundi] de Mepham generalis vicarii S[imonis] archiepiscopi. In crastino [8 July I 328? See n. 12] rnagister Edrnundus de Mepham domini . . archiepiscopi vicarius generalis publicavit coram . . priore commissionem suam, cuius tenor talis erat. Simon permissione divina Cantuar' archiepiscopus tocius Anglie primas venerabili et discreto viro magistro Edmundo de Mepham canonico Landaven[ si] sacre pagine doctori, germano nostro, salutem in domino sempiternam. Ex iniuncti officii debito provocamur quinimmo quadam urgentis consciencie neccessitate compellimur ut circa execucionem impositi oneris, cui personali ministerio sic cito nequivimus intendere, tales habeamus personas quarum cura et providencia defectus, qui possent ex nostra provenire absencia, prout est possibile supleantur, et que reformacione indigent reformentur omnibusque exhibeatur iusticie complementum. Proinde attendentes quod divino assistente presidio vos de cuius providencia et discrecione probabiliter nobis constat partem iniuncti nobis oneris comode poteritis supportare, quodque clero et populo civitatis diocesis et provincie Cantuar' eritis [?Difficult to read] non modicum fructuosi, usque ad nostre voluntatis beneplacitum in spiritualibus ac eciam in quantum nobis licet in temporalibus, tenore presencium vos facimus [fo. 129v] et ordinamus nostrum officialem seu vicarium generalem, vobis expressius committentes atque mandantes ut omnes causas tarn spirituales quam civiles, seu criminales, ad nostrum forum et curiam spectantes, audire cognoscere examinare, ac eciam diffinire, ipsasque per vos, vel alium seu alios, possitis et debeatis execucioni debite demandare. Ecclesias autem prebendas atque beneficia que in civitate diocesi et provincia predictis quovismodo vacaverint imposterum, vel hactenus vacaverint, quorum ad nos collacio seu confirmacio noscitur pertinere nostre collacioni et confirmacioni totaliter reservamus. In quorum omnium testimonium, presentes litteras nostras in forma publica fieri feci- 370 RELEASE OF ORNAMENTS IN THE ARCHBISHOP'S CHAPEL IN 1328 mus per notarium et scribam nostrum infrascriptum, nostrique sigilli munimine roborari. Dat' et act' Avinioni in domo habitacionis nostre, anno nativitatis domini M°Cccm0XXVIII0 secundum cursum sacrosancte Romane ecclesie, indiccione undecima, mensis Junii die xixa, pontificatus sanctissimi patris in Christo et domini, domini Johannis divina providencia pape xxiidi anno xiim0 , et consecracionis nostre primo. Presentibus domino Thoma de Woghope presbitero, Roberto Viannde et Godefrido Hunstane litteratis, testibus ad premissa vocatis specialiter et rogatis. Et ego Simon de Cherringg' clericus Cant' diocesis, publicus apostolica auctoritate notarius, prefatis faccioni et ordinacioni ornnibusque aliis et singulis prout suprascribuntur interfui una cum testibus prescriptis, et ea sic fieri vidi et audi vi, et presentes de rogatu et mandate prefati reverendi in Christo patris domini Simonis archiepiscopi in hanc publicam formam redegi anno, indiccione, mense, die et loco prefatis, meumque signum apposui consuetum. Ibid. fo. 130v Mayfield 30 November I 328. Mepham appoints Brother Peter, Bishop of Corbavia, to ordain in Christ Church Canterbury on Saturday in Embertide next ( 17 December) both those monks presented by the precentor, and beneficed clerks of the city, diocese, or immediate jurisdictions presented by the commissary general with the assistance of the official of the archdeacon of Canterbury. Commissio domini Petri episcopi Corbav' de ordinibus celebrandis in ecclesia Cantuar' sede plena. Simon permissione divina Cant' archiepiscopus et cetera, venerabi Ii fratri domino Petro dei gracia episcopo Corbav', salutem et fraternam in domino caritatem. Ad celebrandum ordines vice nostra in instanti die sabbati quatuor temporum post festum Sancte Lucie virginis prox[ime] futur[um] in ecclesia nostra Christi Cantuar' et per rnanuum vestrarum imposicionem ordinandum personas religiosas quas ... precentor ecclesie nostre predicte, necnon alias personas ecclesiastica beneficia optinentes in nostris civitate diocesi et iurisdiccionibus immediatis quas dilectus nobis in Christo magister Thomas commissarius noster Cant' general is assistente sibi officialis .. archidiaconi nostri Cant', vobis duxerint presentandas, dum tamen huiusmodi ordinandis aliquod canonicum non obsistat, vobis tenore presencium committimus potestatem. In cuius rei testimonium sigillum nostrum presentibus duximus apponendum. Dat' apud Maghefeld' ii kalen' Decembris anno domini M0cccmoxxvm et consecracionis nostre prime. 371