Cranbrook Church Inventory, 1509

( 57 ) CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY, 1509. BY AYMER VALLANCE. THE following Inventory, made on 13th April, 1509, of the jewels, books, vestments and other ornaments of the Church of Cranbrook, is the oldest except two, viz., that of St. Andrew's, Canterbury, dated 6th October, 1485,1 and that of St. Dunstan's, Canterbury, dated 1st May, 1500,2 of any of the early inventories, which have already been printed in these pages. It is anterior by two years to any of the others, viz., Edenbridge Church, April, 1511 to April, 1512,3 Faversham Parish Church, 8th December, 1512,* and Maidstone Collegiate, 2nd September, 1548.5 It is comprised on folios 1-3 and 4 of the manuscript volume of Churchwardens' Accounts, now in the custody of Cranbrook Parochial Council. The Inventory was known as early, at any rate, as the first half of the eighteenth century, when Rev. John Lewis, M.A., Minister of Margate and Vicar of Minster, was preparing his Life of Raynold Pecock, S.T.P., Bishop of St. Asaph and Chichester, which forms a supplement to the same writer's Life of Dr. John Wiclif. In that work, published in 1744, Lewis refers, characteristically enough, to the document, but without printing it. " By the inventories," he says, " yet remaining of the jewels in cathedrals and parish churches it appears that a prodigious treasure lay there buried. This will be easily presumed by 1 Communicated to Arch. Oant., Vol. XVII, by J. M. Cowper, whose transcript, however, was incomplete, because he omitted the books. 2 Transcribed by J. B. Bunce and published in 1837 in the Gentleman's Magazine, whence (the original from which Mr. Bunco's version was taken having meanwhile disappeared) it was reprinted in 1886 in Arch. Oant., Vol. XVI., pp. 312-316. 3 Communicated by G. Leveson-Gower, F.S.A., to Arch. Cant., Vol. XXI. 4 Communicated by the late F. F. Giraud to Arch. Oant, Vol. XVIII. s Communicated by Rev. C. Eveleigh Woodniff to Arch. Cant., Vol- XXII. 58 CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. anyone who has the curiosity to look over the account of the ornaments or implements of the Parish Church of Cranbroke in Kent, as they were in those days of ignorance and superstition, when toys and baubles were a great part of religion." But, while Lewis chose to leave the inventory unpublished, a transcript of it in his handwriting, with marginal notes, is preserved (Add. MSS. 33906) in a notebook of materials collected by him in preparation for his work on Bishop Pecock, and may be found on folios 30 to 33 inclusive, Vol. XXIX of the Streatfeild Collections in the British Museum. Later, though mentioned in 1872 in Arch. Cant., Vol. VIII, p. 74, and again in the Inventory of Parish Registers and Other Records in the Diocese of Canterbury (1922), and, though printed in 1870 by William Tarbutt as an appendix to the first part of his Annals of Cranbrook Church, it has never hitherto appeared in the pages of Archceologia Cantiana. The importance, however, of the document is so great that, as Lewis' and Tarbutt's versions are both of them full of misreadings, and therefore quite untrustworthy, no apology is offered for reproducing the whole text verbatim. It would have been interesting to be able to compare this Inventory of 1509 with that of 1552, if only the latter had been available, but, the text of it not being given in Vol. VIII of Archceologia Cantiana, the place where, in alphabetical order of the published inventories from the Record Office, it should be looked for, it must be assumed to be of the number of those which unfortunately have perished. It is perhaps unnecessary to remark that in the original the several items are not numbered, but they have been differentiated here by Roman numerals in order to facilitate reference. The text is as below, those annotations, which are taken from Lewis' own transcript at the British Museum, being distinguished by his initials, J.L. : (folio 1.) Md that the xiij day off apll the xxiiij yere off kyng [page torn at corner] harry the vij* & a° dni m° ccccc0 & ix° al the [page torn as before] IueUys off the Cherch off Canebroke were shewde as her aft' ffolowyth. CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. 59 i. ffyrste a monstrance of Sylu' & gylte of the valew off xx ll off olde nobyll & off the gefte off sr Robard1 Egelyonnysby whiche sr Robard was Iohn Roberth prste xxx yere & he had never oder srvyse ne benefysshe & the seyde Iohn Roberth was fader to2 [page torn.] ii. It' the forseyde sr Robard Egelyonnysby gaff ij Canstykks of Silu' off xxu marc8 of olde NobyU. hi. It' a Cope off cloth of golde tyssew of Reed colou1 off the gefte of olde Thoas portreffe.8 iv. It' iij Copys of purpyll velewet that oone is velewette vppon velewet & an albe w* ij tewnykkys of the Same colour & velewet vppon velewet wt4 Imagys brawderd of the gefte off Iohn hendely & he is grandefader to Gervase hendely of Cushorne and to Thoas hendely of Canebroke strete. v. [Inserted in margin.] It' an aut' cloth off velewet yppo vellewet w* a ffronte of the same. vi. It' a cope an albe w* ij tewnekelys of crymsyfi velewet brawderd vppon of Iohn hancokks gefte. vii. It' the Same Iohn hancok gaff the beste crosse xxiij H an anteffynar & a grayle & iij psessynars. viii. It' ij whyte Copys an aube &5tewnyklys whyte brawderd w* fflowrys of lord CardylnaU mortynnys6 gefte. ix. It' a Cope & awbe ij tewnyklys off grene damaske of my lord CardylnaUe Bowgsher7 gefte. (folio lb.) x. [Page torn at corner) ye seond crosse of Sylur & gylte of ye gifte of Sisley hernden to ye walew of [page torn] marks of old nobHs. 1 Eleynsby erased. 2 J. Lewis reads " Walt." with a marginal note, " High Sheriff of Kent 4 Hen. VII." Tarbutt reads " Walter Roberts Eqr°." 3 For another benefaction by this donor see Arch. Ount., Vol. XXXVII, p. 28. 1 An erasure. 6 " to " erased. 0 John Morton, Archbp. of Canterbury, 1486, created Cardinal 1494. J.L. ' Thomas Bourchier, Archbp. of Canterbury, 1454, created Cardinal 1465. . . . Craconius says he was created Cardinal 1464. Contelorius places him in Paul II's second creation. 1468. J.L. 60 CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. xi. Itm Censour of SUur w* a Schepp & a spon of ye gffte of Iohn okcombe. xn. Also a nodr Sensour of silur of pceU gUte of x marks of ye gifte of Ric' moor w* iiij penacles. xfii. Also Crismatorie of SUu1 & pceU gilte to ye valew of iiij H lackyng a penaclfe]. xiv. Itm a pax of Silur & gilte pceU of Stephen Carkereg gifte. xv, Itm a nodr pax of Silur of Iamys Bakers gifte. xvi. Also ij Cruetts of SUur of Sir Iohn lacstofi gffte to ye valew of xujs Hijd. xvn. Also vj ChaHs of SUurwher of nj be gUte & oyr iij pceU gUte wher of ye lest was off ye gifte of lorans Taylo1 to ye valew of xlr. xvui. Also a pyx of SUur of ye gifte of mastr Thomas rowe of ye valew of vjs vfijd. xix. Itm a Sute of vestemets of mottley1 w* a cope of benden gifte. xx. Itni a Suete of blacke welwett w* a cope of Thomas henley2 gifte (folio 2) And lone his wyfe & ij clothis of blacke welwett & ij curtens of Silke of ye sayd Thomas henley ys Thomas henley was Son to Iohn henley y6 wich was gever of y° aornaments befor writen. xxi. Also a Sute of cloth of Bawdkyfl w* a Cope of brown prpull branchyd w* Hzht3 lackyng a obe.4 xxii. Also a vestement of cloth of Bawdkyn brown branched w* swannys. xxiu. Also a vestement of white & rede w* a blew orphareg of ["Mr. Tho"s rows gifte preste" erased] Sir wyllia pastue vicar of canbrok. xxiv. Also a Cope of Bawdkyn of grefi borderyd w* cloth of venyd gold of Syr wyllya Cabroks gifte chanon. xxv. Also a white vestemet w* a orphareg of cloth of gold of brodered gifte of or lady. 1 Variegated or particoloured. > For another benefaction by Thomas Henley, see Arch. Cant., Vol. XXXVII, foot of p. 24. 3 Perhaps light purple. * alb. J.L. CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. 61 xxvi. Also a cheseble & a cope for lent of white of ye brodered gifte of or lady, xxvn. Also a cheseble of white cloth of Bawdkyn w* a grefi orphareg of gilte byrds. xxviii. Also ij. chesebls1 of reed, xxix. also a vestement of prpull w* grefi branchis of Silk w* a rede crosse. xxx. Also a vestemet of Hzth2 taton w* a grefi orphareg nowe redde. xxxi. Also a vestemet of prpuU Silke.3 xxxn. Also a vestmet w* a prpull orphareg w* aU oyr thyngs yrto. (folio 26) xxxiii. also a Uj Suspended vestements w* oute obbis. xxxiv. also Hj obs for chyldren. xxxv. also ij autr clohis of Bawdkyn of Damaske werk Silke w* a fronte of swannys. xxxvi. Also a holy cloth of redde cloth of Bawdkyn. xxxvii. also xxij of lynnyn autr clothis vii xij* of diapr vu iiij myelled. xxxviii. also a autr cloth of GorHff portreff of diapur w* blew myeldyng. xxxix. also a nodr good autr cloth of diapyr w* a crosse of blew D rede of Stephen EUs wyfe called helwis Elis. xl. Also iij houslyng toweUis vii ij diapr also a towell for ye fonte a noyr for ye rede.5 xU. also a vayle for ye a u f for lente w* ij lenten autr clothis ij curtayns. xHi. Also iiij banr clothis stremers & v odr. xliii. Also ij clothis of Silke for ye crossis. 1 " westements " erased. 2 " Light cotton." J.L. 8 " of " erased. 4 Seven dozen. 5 That which follows is obscure, being half buried in the tightness of the binding. Lewis reads " for the rode, diaper myled." The document appears to have suffered through being bound since Lewis' day, the existing hiatus here, as in several other places, being rilled in his transcript. 62 CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. xHv. Also a corporas cooched wfc perle of gifte of Anes Bettna vxr wiili Bettna of viijxx ix perle.1 xlv. Also ij paynted clothis for ye sepulker & a fronte to hang vndr ye taperrs. xlvi. also ix corporas wher of on of blew Hons of Rob henley gifte & a noyrw* grefi grownded w* a crucifix of aU xv corporas wher of vfij be clotbid. xlvii. Also a white autr cloth for or ladi autr w* a ymage of or lady I ye mydds bordred w* rede, xlviu. Also a corporas of cloth of Gold of ye gifth of Iohn Blewberd. xHx. It' a Corporas Casse of cloth off Gold y6 Gyfft off John blewberd. (folio 3). 1. Also a autr cloth for Sent Thomas autr w* iij ymags pceU gylte of Syr Geo [page torn at corner] Weldisth gifte. H. Also a autr cloth for Sent Nycolas autr [of Silk chamletf] [over line] w* ij ymags of sent Iohfi & sent2[pagetorn at edge]. Hi. Also a nod1 aut1 cloth of Sir Iohn Oxley gifte. Hii. Also iij Masse boks writen. A olde masse boke & a pisteU boke. Hv. Also iiij3 antifen1 & a HteU old boke & a noyr antifenr w* a sawtr. Iv. ij olde boks De tempis & scis legentts. lvi. Also uj grayles Hj manueUis* also a sawtr. Ivu. Also vj pcessionars of aU & ij mo on prent & of mr Georgs gift ye odr of Samson, lviii. Also xiij canstiks for ye autar w* bolHs & v priketts canstiks of laten. Hx. Itfn ij grete standard cansticks of laten be for ye hye autr of5 [ye gifte of] Iohn Dranr. 1 169 pearls. 2 Lewis here reads " Nicholas." 3 " v " erased. 4 manellis ©rased. 6 The same erased. CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. 63 lx. Itrn ij grete Canstiks be for or ladi autr of laten of ye gifte of Syr Thorns Brown, lxi. Also ij fayr legents a pye or a portaysse & a nodr old legent. lxii. Also ij crossis of cop also iij pelous of silke. lxiii. Also of bollys of laten vp on ye rode lofte xij. Ixiv. Itfn a furred hode & a lyned hode of mr Georgs gifte. lxv. It' a siperd kercher for ye c^matorie.1 lxvi. Itfn a kercher off ffyn Cloth ffor a Corporas off ye Gyfft off dorot2 [edge of page torn]. IxvU. It' a nawtr Cloth off the Gyfft of Eward Waghorn. lxvifi. It' ij Ames Clothys off the Gyfft of Marger Awys. lxix. Itfn a Cloth to bere the Crssmatori in off the Gyfft off wyUyam [page torn at corner].3 [Next two pages are blank or have extraneous matter.] [folio 46.] lxx. It' ij long Canstyks be ffor or lady awtr ffottyd w* lyons off the Gyfft off old modr hopper, lxxi. It' a Towell over the Rod in or lady Chauncell off her Geft. lxxii. It' a Towell & a Sheett off Waghorns wyvys Gyft. lxxhi. It' a ToweU off Dyap off Ieamys karkeregs wyvys Gyft. lxxiv. Item a awter cloth of Dyapper of old moder hoppers gyft. NOTES. i. A monstrance, monstral, ostensory or ooster is a metal stand of the nature of a reliquary, with a disc of glass or crystal, to hold the Sacred Host, for carrying in Corpus Christi processions, etc., for the solemn Exposition of the same upon an altar, and also for the rite of Benediction. i., ii. and x. The noble, a gold coin first struck about 1346, was worth 6s. 8d. Its value having subsequently been increased, in the shape of the Rose Noble, or Ryol, of 1465, to 10s., a new coin, designed to supply an 1 Fine curled linen. J.L. Cyprus silk. 2 Lewis reads " Dorothe Brickenden." 3 Lewis supplies the surname Lynch, now wanting. Here his transcript ends abruptly, all the remainder of the folio sheet being cut away. Apparently he continued to transcribe the manuscript as he found it, but stopped short, and cut it off on realising that the matter in hand did not relate to the inventory, and never discovered that there were five more items but a few pages further on in the volume. 64 CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. equivalent of the original noble, was minted. The new coin was named Angel, because it bore on one side the figure of St. Michael vanquishing the dragon; a device which continued until the Commonwealth. The description " of old nobyll " apparently means that the standard of value of the articles referred to is computed on the ancient unit of the 6s. 8d. noble. Another suggestion is that the vessels in question may have been fashioned from old bullion melted down for the purpose. vii. and x. The " best cross " and the " second cross " mean altar crosses, which were generally made in such a way that they could be lifted off their foot or stand, and fixed in a long staff for use as processional crosses, when required. Thus, at St. Mary's, Sandwich, it is recorded in the bederoll that a couple named Oolwyn gave " the best crosse of syluer and gylt with a staff of laton there to," while another couple named Grene joined with one John Byschop in giving " the fote of syluer for that crosse to stand ther on the hygh auter." (Boys's Sandwich, p. 373.) An example of the kind, from West Farleigh, is illustrated and described in Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. XL. So common, indeed, was this fashion of convertibility that it has given to Heraldry the familiar device of the fitched-footed cross. vii. Processioners, or processionals, containing the plainsong anthems, responds, etc., varying with the season and occasion, for use in procession. (V. J. Torr.) xi. The common mediaeval English name for the incense vessel, now generally known as the " boat." (V. J. Torr.) xiii. A chrismatory is a box or casket containing three small phials of the oil of catachumens, chrism and the oil of the sick respectively. The blessing of the three different oils by the diocesan Bishop is among the solemn ceremonies of Maundy Thursday. Having been blessed, the oils are then distributed to the parochial clergy for use during the ensuing year. Although designed for purposes entirely distinct from one another, the three phials of oil were usually kept together in one and the same receptacle. A fourteenth century specimen remains at St. Martin's, Canterbury. xiv. and xv. The instrument of the pax, commonly called in English the " paxbrede," was a small slab or tablet of ivory, wood or metal, having on the front some sacred subject or device, and at the back a handle by which it could be held when presented to the lips to be kissed. The place of the kiss of peace in the Mass was immediately before the priest's communion. From the sacred ministers at the altar it was conveyed to any clergy pi-esent in quire, then to the lay ministers and thence by the clerk to the members of the congregation one by one. In process of time, to avoid misunderstanding, the instrument of the pax came to be substituted for a literal embrace. About the middle of the thirteenth century the " paxbrede " begins to make its appearance in Inventories. The constitution of Archbishop John Pecham, in 1280, enumerates the " osculatorium " among the ornaments which the parishioners of every church in the diocese of Canterbury had to provide ; and the same was required by the constitution of Archbishop Robert Winchelsea in 1305. The rubric of the Sarum Missal, translated from the printed folio edition of 1526, runs thus : " The deacon on the right side of the priest shall receive the pax from him, and shall hand it on to the sub-deacon. Then the deacon himself shall carry the pax to the rulers of the quire at the step of the quire, and they shall carry the pax to the quire, each to his own side, beginning with the seniors. But on feasts and week-days, when the quire is not ruled, the pax shall be carried from the deacon to the quire by the two end members of the second rank; the rest as before." The kiss of peace is now customarily exchanged by two persons standing face to face, placing their CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. 65 hands on each other's shoulders and inclining their heads toward one another. The instrument of the pax, however, is still occasionally used. An article on the Pax was contributed by the late Albert Way to Volume II. of The Archaeological Journal, 1846. xxii. and xxxv. The occurence of swans in ornament has no sacred symbolic significance. The swan was the badge of the noble house of de Bohun, to which Mary, first wife of Henry IV, belonged. Henry IV, then, adopted the swan badge in her right; and their son, Henry V, inherited the badge of his parents. Hence the swan became one of the recognised emblems of the Lancastrian royal house. xxvi. In mediaeval England it appears that from the beginning of Lent until Passion Sunday the normal liturgical colour was white ; not, indeed, the brilliant snow-white of festal array, but rather a negation of all colour, like the dull and ashen hue of unbleached calico or of undyed tussore silk. xxxiii. This item is difficult to interpret, but may refer to chasubles possessing an arrangement of cords whereby they could be drawn up for use as casulcs plicatce, tor the deacon and sub-deacon in Advent and Lent. (V. J. Torr.) xxxvi. A holy cloth of silk for brides is enumerated in the inventory of Hinxhill Church in 1552 (Arch. Cant., Vol. IX, p. 273). The holy cloth1, then, appears to be identical with the " care-cloth," " carde-cloth " or pallium. " I t was usually made of rich silk, possibly of the material known as Carde-of-Inde; whence its name" (Mackenzie Walcott, Sacred Archceology, p. 113). In the Sarum Missal the rubric in the order of Matrimony, translated into English, runs : " After the Sanctus the bridegroom and bride shall prostrate themselves in prayer at the step of the altar, a pall being extended over them, which four clerks in surplices shall hold at the four corners, unless one or both shall have been previously marrM and blessed, because in that case the pall is not held over them, nor is the sacramental blessing given." The nuptial blessing was given after the Paternoster and just before the Pax. " The care-cloth was then removed, and the bridegroom arose from his knees and received the kiss of peace from the priest. He then turned to his bride and kissed her upon the cheek." (England Howlett, F.S.A.) See also the article " Care-Cloth " in Popular Antiquities of Great Britain, Vol. II, by John Brand, who ascribes the ceremony to Hebrew origin. " There is," he says, referring to the Rites of the Jews, " a square vestment called Taleth, with pendents about it, put over the head of the bridegroom and the bride together." xxxvii. and xxxviii. " Myelled " and " myelling " mean, according to one interpretation the thickening of a textile by being passed through a fulling mill. But in this case the second interpretation seems the more likely one, viz., the ornamentation of a fabric by stripes or orphreys applied. xl. (a) The houselling towel or cloth—so called from the verb to housel, i.e., to give Holy Communion—is a long cloth stretched in front of the row of kneeling communicants, who, placing their hands underneath it, raise it to the level of their chins. The intention is to obviate the risk of any sacred particle falling to the ground in the act of communicating. (b) It was usual to dress the sides of the font with silk or linen cloths on occasions when the water was hallowed. The late Mr. T. J. Micklethwaite (Supplement to The Ornaments of the Rubric ; Alcuin Club Tracts, 1901) points out that the font cloth, often mentioned in inventories and churchwardens' accounts, " was not a substitute for the 1 It must, however, be owned that, in the Ivychurch Inventory of 1552, the holy cloth is enumerated as a separate item from the " clothe for jnarrages to hold over the brid." 9 66 CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. cover, for it would not by itself have allowed of the font being kept locked, as it was ordered to be ; and we find a cloth mentioned where there was also a cover. . . . I t seems that the cloth was laid over the font, and the cover shut down upon it." (c> All images, including the Great Rood, were veiled from after Compline on the first Sunday in Lent until the Gloria in Excelsis in the mass of Easter Eve. The Rood-veil, however, was drawn aside, exhibiting the Great Rood, and Ave Rex Noster Fili David Redemptor repeated thrice, at the fourth station in the Procession on Palm Sunday. The Rood then continued to be exposed until after Evensong on the same day, when it was covered by the veil again. xii. So essential an adjunct of mediaeval worship was the Lenten veil, that, by the Constitution of Archbishop Robert Winchelsea in 1305, honestum velum Quadragesimale is enumerated among the articles required to be provided at their cost by the parishioners of every parish in the Southern Province. The veil was usually, but not always, white ; it might be of some other colour j it might be paned, i.e., striped, or it might have some appropriate subject or emblem embroidered or stained, i.e., painted upon it. It had much the appearance of a sheet, or curtain, and was stretched as a line of cord or wire across the sanctuary, a few paces in front of the high altar, from the beginning of Lent onwards. It continued thus (except for a short time daily at the reading of the Gospel in mass, and all day on feasts of nine lessons) until the Wednesday in Holy Week, when the Passion according to St. Luke is read. Then, at the words " velum scissum est medium," the Lenten veil was ripped in halves, or drawn aside or its cord slackened so that it dropped to the ground. Interesting traces of the Lenten veil may be seen at the following, among other, Kentish churches. At Ashford an iron hook for the cord of the veil remains on opposite sides of the chancel in the spandrel wall about a foot above the capital of the first column from the east end of the building. At Stelling is a pair of plain stone corbels for the support of the Lenten veil. They are situated about 12 feet from the east wall of the chancel, and at a level of about 7 feet 6 inches above the floor. In the upper surface of each a hole was drilled for a peg to which to attach the cord of the veil, the hole in the south corbel remaining intact. At Molash a sculptured stone corbel, shaped like a human head, projects from the wall on both sides of the chancel. An iron pin or peg, fixed vertically into the top of each corbel served to hold the cord of the Lenten veil. At Woodnesborough a moulded wooden beam, stretching across the chancel, seems to have been provided to carry the Lenten veil. In the wall of the chancel, over the head of the north door, is a wooden stump, sawn off flush with the face of the plaster; and immediately opposite, close to the western top corner of the sedilia, a dark patch in the plaster indicates where formerly the other end of the same beam was embedded in the south wall. At St. Alphege, Canterbury, in the first joint of the masonry next above the base mouldings of the easternmost column on the north side of the chancel there remains a little patch of lead bedding, showing where there was fixed the cleat or the metal contrivance for securing the extremity of the cord of the veil after it had been drawn taut. The Lenten veil is now virtually extinct except, according to the late Dr. J. Wickham Legg (The Church Times, p. 354, March, 1909) in Sicily and in parts of Spain. Its use is certainly primitive, and had been estabhshed centuries before the elevation of the Host waa introduced. In process of time, however, as the latter practice became general, the Lenten veil was found to be incompatible with its due manifestation ; a circumstance which led, so Dr. Legg contends, to the ultimate abolition of the veil itself, or, if still retained, to its survival only, as in Sicily, in a very curtailed form. xlii. A streamer or banner-cloth, otherwise vexillum or cross-cloth (which, in spite of its name, must not be imagined to have had anything CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. 67 whatever to do with the Great Rood) was in the Middle Ages frequently attached to the processional cross. The cross-cloth is represented by the little banner hanging from the cross-staff usuaUy depicted as borne by the Agnus Dei, or as held in the Hand of our Lord after His Resurrection. In either case the banner is commonly of white, charged with a red cross, and terminating in two, sometimes three, fluttering strips or tails. The use of the cross-cloth is of great antiquity if, as can scarcely be doubted a literal allusion to it is to be recognised in Vexilla Regis prodeunt,the opening words of the hymn of Venantius Fortunatus (A.D. 530-609). Clement Maydeston, the well-known authority on ceremonial, who flourished about 1410, and who drew up a revision of the rite of Sarum, commonly called Pica Sarum, in his tract " Crede michi," which forms a supplement to the larger work, says : " In Ecclesia Sarum et secundum ordinate Sarum nunquam portatur crux cum vexillo." Nevertheless he admits that the custom does prevail in numbers of churches. Ancient wills and inventories bear witness to the widespread adoption of the processional-cross banner. Such documents show that there was no one prescribed colour nor device for the cross-cloth, the colour itself, as well as the particular subject stained or embroidered upon the banner, varying considerably, and being determined by the choice of individual donors rather than by any other consideration. The usage is now obsolete, except in the rite of the Dominican order, with whom the colour of the banner changes according to the sequence of days and seasons of the ecclesiastical year. xliv., xlvi. and xlviii. The corporas, otherwise corporal, is so named because in the Mass the Body of Christ is consecrated upon it and enfolded by it. The corporal consists of a cloth of fine white linen or lawn, now no more than 20 inches square, but, in bygone times, larger. "Anciently," writes Dr. Daniel Rock, in Hierurgia, Vol. I, Note 53, " the chalice also was covered by the Corporal, a practice still retained by the Carthusians." A reminder of the custom survives in the term for the chalice-cover ; for though the latter now takes the form of a small linen-bound card, 4 inches square, it is known to this day by the name of " pall," identifying it with the palla, or corporal, with which it was in origin one. xlix. A Corporas case corresponds with what is now called a Burse. 1. In 1508, the year previous to that in which this Inventory was drawn up, George Weldishe, priest, had bequeathed 13s. 4d. to buy an altar cloth for the altar of St. Thomas (Testamenta Cantiana, p. 90). li. Chamlet, now camlet, is a term, the origin of which is doubtful. It is, most probably, derived from the Arabic name for the Angora goat. It would seem to imply a glossy material, blended, according to Johnson, of " silk and camel's hair, also silk or velvet, especially pily or plushy." Iv. The author of the Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine, was born in 1230 at Varaggio on the Gulf of Genoa. In youth he joined the Friars Preachers of St. Dominic. He was chosen Archbishop of Genoa in 1292, and he died in 1298. We had already reached the age of forty when, between 1270 and 1280, he wrote, or rather compiled, the work which has made his name famous. He himself entitled it Historia Langobardica seu Legenda Sanctorum, but the public, with whom it won enormous popularity, called it Legenda Aurea. There were several versions in French, the earliest dating from the early part of the fourteenth century. The GoldenLegend was first Englished in 1438 by Brother John of Benynguay. Meanwhile, in about 1422, the celebrated William Caxton, who, since he was a native of the Weald, has deservedly been called " the pride of Kent," was born, probably at Causton, in the parish of Hadlow.1 Having in 1471 by the favour of the Abbot and convent of Westminster, set up his printing-press within 1 See Arch. Cant. Vol. II, 231-3 and Vol. V, 324-5. 68 CRANBROOK CHURCH INVENTORY. the very walls of the Abbey, Caxton produced in 1483, his English version of the Legenda Aurea, based on a French translation of 1480. Caxton died in 1491, without having lived long enough to bring out the third edition, which he had in preparation. He was ably succeeded, however, by Wynkyn de Worde, who went on producing editions of the Golden Legend until 1527. lviii and Ixiii. Metal cups, or basins, were very generally employed in churches for catching the swalings of wax candles, wax being a commodity too valuable to be wasted. The wax thus saved was melted down and reshaped by the chandler. The term for the process of making up the wax into candles viz., " striking " literally stretching, is familiar to all who are acquainted with pre-Reformation churchwardens' accounts. lxi. " The Legenda containing the long Lessons used at Mattins as well from the Bible, from the Sermologus and from the HomUiarius, used respectively at the first, second and third Nocturns at Mattins on Sundays and some other days, as also from the Passionate, containing the acts of Saints read on their festivals." Note by Henry Bradshaw, p. 268, of Illuminated Manuscripts, by J. Henry Middleton, 1892. Of the Pye or Pie, the full title was " Pica sive directorium Sacerdotum." It is said to have been named so because its text was pied, i.e. in two colours, black and red. A Portaysse or portif orium contains the services of the Hours, now generally called the Breviary. lxii. Pillows, i.e. cushions, serving to support the missal and the textus (the book of the Gospels and the Epistles) upon the altar. The covers of these books being, in many instances, encrusted with jewels, or embossed with costly ornament in relief, were safer from accidental injury when they rested on the pliant couch of padded cushions than on the hard surface of wooden or metal desks. lxv. and lxix. It was out of regard for their sacred quality, and to insure them from direct contact with lay hands, that the phials containing the hallowed oils were wrapped in a chrismatory-cloth or kercher. Grateful acknowledgments are due to Major Eric Clarke, Chairman of Cranbrook Parish Council, for kindly granting facilities for the Inventory to be copied ; to Mr. G. C. Druce, E.S.A., for obtaining the necessary permission and for making all the arrangements and lastly to Mr. V. J. B. Torr, who, with the help of Mr. Druce, took much time and trouble to decipher and transcribe the document.