Duties of the Cooks of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Recording the responsibilities of the priory cooks. Translation of Custumale Roffense, folios by Dr Christopher Monk.

Translation

Concerning the cooks and the house which belongs to their office.

The office of R. Fichet and Ernulf serves at supper.  The office of G. Toterel serves the patients and the little brothers in the infirmary.  The office of S. Calchepalie serves the guests, and watches over the kitchen door, and carries out the slaughter of sheep and pigs at the Feast of St Martin, and distributes the cooks’ fee.  

The office of Fichet carves all the dishes, both meat and fish.  He himself [i.e. Fichet, the cook] makes the first or second dish and thereupon serves the monastery. He himself is witness to the buyer in order that all purchasing may be bought well and faithfully and later accounted for before the cellarer in the cellar.  His wage is 7 shillings.  Ernulf’s office is 5 shillings.  Toteterel’s office is 4 shillings.  Calchepalie’s office is 4 shillings. They have in common daily bread of a single monk and 2 and a half gallons of ale, but this from goodwill; and this was made by joint decision on account of the offenses which used to happen when they were eating at home, because there was no one who might respond to strangers arriving.  They will also have in the evening, after the reckoning of the dishes, a pot of ale in common to drink.  They also have, when the cellarer makes his larder, all necks of oxen and cows and all pieces from the knee to the foot, so that the sinews of the aforesaid pieces will remain attached. They have the heads for their skinning, and the cellarer keeps the tongues. They have at the same time, to be sure, all necks and tails of pigs, attached to a single joint from the backbone.  They have also all heads of fish except salmon, from which they have the tail.  For the offal of the prepared oxen, cows and pigs, the cooks will fetch their wives and the cellarer will supply them.  And if the cellarer wishes, when, instead of one pig, two or three sucklings are slaughtered for the court, the swineherd has a tale and neck from the cook, and for prepared offal they [i.e. the cooks] have charity, namely bread and ale, but by the goodwill of the cellarer.  They also get to take all the feathers of all the types of birds which come into the kitchen for eating.

Supper: Latin ad cenam, meaning the principal communal meal of the day which was taken in the evening rather than at noon.

Feast of St Martin: or St Martin’s Day, 11th November .  In England, the day of the annual butchering of animals for food.

Makes his larder: prepares his meat for storage, by slaughtering, butchering and salting.

Duties of the Brewers of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Transcription

By Jacob Scott (pending review).

54r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De braciatoribus quid agere debeant.
Magister braciator custodit clavem de bracino quousque
cervisia colatlir,. postea tradit eam Gerentario
vel Subcelerario. Ipse recipit totam sirmam que pertiliet
ad cervisiam faciendam, et curat et palpat Grodum
et brasium, utrum sit idoneum vel non antequam portetur
in granarium, et habet dicam contra celerarium, quotiens
fuerit braciatum in. mense. Capit etiam ebdoma-
dam suam in bracino sicut unus sociorum suorum. Sti-
pendia ejus V solidos. Item de uno tonello de cervisia
conventus habebit seces, celerarius de omnibus aliis. Secun-
darii habebunt secundam loturam de omnibus tonellis.
Debent etiam habere in communi unam bollam plenam de II
galonibus de nova cervisia ad bibendum. Stipendia istoram
duorum unusquisque IIII solidos. Debet magister cum hostiario cel-
larii portare cervisiam conventus de cellario in refecto-
rium et statim recedere.

Translation

Concerning the brewers, what they ought to do:

The master brewer guards the key of the brewery until the ale is filtered; afterwards, he delivers it¹ to the granary keeper or the sub-cellarer.

He himself receives the full food-rent² that pertains to ale-making, and looks at and strokes the groats³ and the malt, for what may be suitable or not, before it may be carried into the granary; and he has talk face-to-face with the cellarer as often as [the ale] may be brewed in the month. Also, he holds his Sabbath in the brewery just the same as one of his associates.

His wages: 5 shillings.

Also, the monastery will have/manage the dregs from one cask of ale, the cellarer from all the others.

The second-ranks [the brewer’s assistants] will manage the subsequent washing of all the casks.

They ought also to have in common one full bowl of 2 gallons of new ale for drinking.

The wages for these second-ranks is 4 shillings each.

The master ought, with the doorkeeper of the cellar, to carry the ale of the monastery from the cellar into the refectory and then return immediately.

Footnotes

1 He delivers it: the grammar allows for ‘it’ to mean either the key or the ale.

2 Food-rent: the payments of grain from the various farmed estates owned by the monastery.

3 Groats: hulled kernels of grain, here likely referring to barley.

Almsgiving for deceased brothers of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

This details the almsgiving for deceased brethren at St Andrew’s priory.

Transcription

67r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De Fratribus defunctis Elemosina pro fratribus nostris de hac vita migrantibus.
Sacrista debet duodecim denarios.
Camerarius duodecim denarios.
Celerarius duodecim denarios.
Hedenham quatuor denarios.

67v

Frendesberia quatuor denarios.
Suthflete quatuor denarios.
Derente tres denarios.
Wldeham tres denarios.
Stokes tres denarios.
Denitune tres denarios.
De hiis quinque folidis emetur panis et per manus ele-
mosinarii et alterius de fratribus cui preceptum fuerit
distribuetur pauperibus. Ipso die quo corpus defuncti
sepulture traditur.

Translation

For deceased brethren:

The alms for our brothers that have passed away.
The sacrist should pay 12 shillings.
The chamberlain 12 shillings.
The cellarer 12 shillings.
Haddenham four shillings.
Frindsbury four shillings.
Southfleet four shillings.
Darenth three shillings.
Wouldham three shillings.
Stoke three shillings.
Denton three shillings.
Of those, five solidi to be buy bread by hand. Arms and alter of the brothers which keeps the commandment to distribute to the poor. That same day for the bodies of the dead to be buried traditionally.

Concerning salmon paid to the refectory of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Salmon dues could be commuted as sturgeon or a payment in shillings, as detailed on the previous folio.

Transcription

66v (select folio number to open facsimile)

Mutatio Salmonum De Wldeham, de Suthfete, de Frendesberia, de
denitune de Stokes IIII salmones, si hii mu-
tati sunt in sturgun, scillingas in XXXII frustis. De Frendesberia et de Stokes XXX agnos ad pascha.
Hos habet episcopus contra cartam Gundulfi episcopi.

67r

De Salmonibus, qui expenduntur in Refectorio. IN Refectario octo salmones de pulcesoribus qui inve-
niri possunt, quos invenient custodes maneriorum,
scillingas. Hedenham duos salmones. Derente duos
salmonest Stokes duos salmones. Frendesberia
tres partes de uno salmone. Est denintone quartam
partem. Suthflete dimidiurn salmonem.
[W]ldeham dimidium salmonem.

Translation

Alternatives for salmon:

Concerning Wouldham, concerning Southfleet, concerning Frindsbury, concerning Denton, concerning Stoke: four salmon, alternatives in sturgeon, shillings, in 32 pieces.

Concerning Frindsbury and Stoke, 30 lambs at Easter. These are the bishops as per the charter of Bishop Gundulf.

Concerning salmon that are paid to the Refectory:

In the refectory eight salmon of the best looking which can be found by the custodians of the manor, or shillings. Haddenham two salmon. Darneth two salmon. Stoke two salmon. Frindsbury three parts of one salmon. And Denton a quarter part. Southfleet half a salmon. Wouldham half a salmon.

Almsgiving for Ernulf, Bishop of Rochester, c.1235

This details the dues to be paid as alms to the poor on the anniversary of Ernulf. Ernulf (1115-1124) was the ruling bishop when Textus Roffensis was produced.

Transcription

67r (select folio number to open facsimile)

De Ernulfo Roffensi Episcopo. Elemosina in anniversario Ernulfi episcopi pauperibus distribuenda.
De ecclesia de Hedenham panem valentem XV solidos.
In Refectorio fratribus piscem vel aliquid aliud valenis
sexdecim solidos.

Translation

For Ernulf Bishop of Rochester:

Alms on the anniversary of Bishop Ernulf to be distributed to the poor.

The church of Haddenham, bread worth 15 shillings.

In the Refectory of the brothers, fish or some other valuing sixteen shillings.

Almsgiving for Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, c.1235

This details the dues to be paid as alms to the poor on the anniversary of Gundulf.

Transcription

66v (select folio number to open facsimile)

De Gundulfo episcopo Roffensi. Elemosina in anniversario patris nostri Gundulfi episcopi
pauperibus distribuenda. Frendesberia XXVII denarios.
Denitune novem denarios.

67r

Suthflete oaodecim denarios.
WIdeham octodecim denarios.
Hedenham quatuor solidos.
Celerarius quadraginta denarios.
Sacrista quadraginta denarios.
Camerarius quadraginta denarios.

Translation

For Gundulf Bishop of Rochester:

Alms on the anniversary of Bishop Gundulf to be distributed to the poor.
Denton 11 shillings.
Southfleet 11 shillings.
Wouldham 8 shillings.
Haddenham 4 shillings.
The cellarer 40 shillings.
The sacrist 40 shillings.
The Chamberlain 40 shillings.

Payments of Romescot, c.1235

A list of the payments of Romescot, an annual contribution to the Roman see due from various southern English cathedrals. Of the fifteen cathedrals listed, Rochester has the second lowest annual payment of just 112 shillings (£5 and 12 shillings). The highest is £21 and 10 shillings for Norwich. In comparison, the Archbishop of Canterbury, listed first, owed a modest £7 and 17 shillings. Important historically. Romescot, better known as Peter’s Pence, was a ‘voluntary’ tax or levy against each household to the See of Rome. Practically, one presumes the householders paid their debt to their local church who in turn forwarded it to the cathedral churches, hence the cathedral’s are obliged to raise and pay the amounts listed in the Rochester custumal. Romescot originated in eight-century Anglo-Saxon England (Old English scot means ‘payment’). In 1031 King Cnut wrote a letter to the clergy outlining the levy as one penny on each hearth or household with an annual rental of 30 pence or more. In the 13th century, probably due to widespread avoidance of the payment, the revenue arising from the tax was stabilised at an annual sum of £20 1s. 9d for the whole of England. However, Pope Clement V (1305-1314) pressed to have the levy returned to the ancient basis of one penny per household – obviously more rewarding. The figures given in the Rochester custumal list suggest that these payments reflect the penny-per-household model.

Transcription

27r (select folio number to open facsimile)

_Romiscoth de Anglia;
Archiepiscopatus Canterberiensis: Vll· libras et XVII· solidos.
Eboracensis: XI· lib. et ·X· solidos.
Wintoniensis episcopatus: XVII· Libras.
Lincolniensis: XLII· Libras.
Northwicensis: XXI· libras et X· solidos.
Exoniensis: IX· libras et ·V· solidos.
Herfordensis: VI· libras.
Cestrensis: IX· lib. & ·V· solidos.
Roffensis: C· et ·XII· solidos.
Londoniensis: ·XVI· libras et ·X· solidos.
Salesberiensis: XVII libras.
Eliensis: C· solidos.
Cicestrensis: VIII· Libras.
Batoniensis: XI· libras et V· solidos.
Wigornensis: XI libras et V· solidos.
Dunolmensis pertinet ad Eboracensem Archiepiscopum.

Translation

Romescot of England:

Archbishop of Canterbury 7 pounds and 17 shillings.
York 11 pounds and 10 shillings.
Bishopric of Winchester 17 pounds.
Lincoln 40 pounds.
Norwich £11 and 10 shillings.
Exeter £11 and 5 shillings.
Hereford 6 pounds.
Chester: 9 pounds and 5 shillings.
Rochester 112 shillings.
London: 16 pounds and 10 shillings.
Salisbury: 17 pounds.
Ely: 100 shillings.
Chichester: 8 pounds.
Bath: 11 pounds and 5 shillings.
Worcester: 11 pounds and 5 shillings.
Durham pertains to the Archbishop of York.

Duties of the Steward of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Translation

Concerning the steward: what he ought to do.

The steward must always be at the ready for all matters with the prior, or with the cellarer, or with any other person, or for those things which by himself alone are discharged outside the court.  He also must make presents for guests if such are being sent to persons who are being lodged in town. As long as he is at the house [i.e. at the monastery], he always has the allowance of a single monk, but when absent, he gets nothing.  He ought to carry a staff in hand and in the guest hall to arrange the seating at table.  His annual stipend is 10 shillings.  And whenever he rides with the prior or cellarer outside the gate for business of the house, he has a servant to discharge his duties, who serves the guests in the guest house and draws ale; and he [the steward] carries presents for guests with the agreement of the cellarer wherever he wishes to send them; and he will have daily from the cellar the bread of a squire/attendant and a bowl of ale and from the kitchen just the same as one in the guest house.  The steward also ought to have the bishop’s household under his charge.

Requiem Masses performed for benefactors to St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

Transcription

68r (select folio number to open facsimile)

What is to be done for our benefactors on their anniversary days and how we ought to include them at Mass for the dead.

Anniversaria tria principalia similiter celebrantur, Gundulfi, Ernulfi, Lanfranci. Qua>rus Radulfi scilicet archiepiscopi, ubi cantor duobus sibi as[ci]tis {cf. ascire, to engage as assistant} chorum tenere debet, et tria signa maio[ra] cum ceteris.

The three principal anniversaries are celebrated alike, Gundulf’s, Ernulf’s and Lanfranc’s – a fourth less so, namely Archbishop Ralph’s – where the cantor must lead the choir with two responding to him;¹ and three greater [bell] signals,² as well as the others.³

Vii idus Januarii obiit Odo Baiecensis [Thorpe has ‘Baiocensis’] episcopus, cappa j myssa ad minus altare, ij, R/, ij, K/. Signum grossum unum cum ceteris in parua turri.

7th January,⁴ Odo bishop of Bayeux died.⁵ 1 cope;⁶ Mass at the lesser altar; 2 [?responses; or Requiescant in pace (May they rest in peace), also known as Requiem aeternam ] 2 Kyrie eleison. One great bell, as well as the others in the small tower.

23rd January,⁷ Bishop Anselm [Ascelin] died.⁸ 2 copes, 3 ?responses/RIPs, 3 ?Kyrie eleison. Two great bells [or the great bell twice]. Mass at the greater altar.⁹

2nd February,¹⁰ for William son of Anfrid,¹¹ the same as for Odo.

10th March,¹² Lord Bishop Gundulf,¹³ of affectionate memory, founder of our church, died.

15th March,¹⁴ Bishop Ernulf,¹⁵ of adored memory, died.

20th April,¹⁶ Prior Ralph.¹⁷ 1 cope, one candelabrum.

10th May,¹⁸ for Countess Goda,¹⁹ the same as for Odo.

28th May,²⁰ Lord Archbishop Lanfranc,²¹ of affectionate memory, died.

21st June,²² for Bishop John,²³ the same as for Anselm, 2 candelabra.²⁴

24th June,²⁵ for Bishop [Gilbert],²⁶ the same as for Anselm.

26th June,²⁷ for Hugo abbot of St Augustine’s,²⁸ the same as for Anselm.

17th May,²⁹ for William de Helles, the same as for Anselm.

8th July,³⁰ in commemoration of fathers and mothers, the same as for Anselm.

16th July,³¹ for Bishop Arnost,³² the same as for Prior Ralph.

26th July,³³ for Bishop Walter,³⁴ the same as for Anselm.

2nd August,³⁵ for King William,³⁶ the same as for Odo.

12th August,³⁷ for Offa,³⁸ the same as for Odo.

29th August,³⁹ for Bishop Waleran,⁴⁰ the same as for Anselm.

9th September,⁴¹ for King William.⁴²

6th October,⁴³ for John de Beseville, the same as for Odo.

14th October,⁴⁴ for Bishop Siward,⁴⁵ the same as for Odo.

20th October,⁴⁶ Lord Archbishop Ralph died.⁴⁷

23rd October,⁴⁸ for Prior Silvester,⁴⁹ the same as for Ralph.

25th October,⁵⁰ for King Stephen,⁵¹ the same as for Ralph.

27th October, ⁵² for Hanfrid and Amabel, ⁵³ the same as for Odo.

2nd December,⁵⁴ for King Henry,⁵⁵ 1 cope and 2 great [bell] signals.

19th December,⁵⁶ for Bishop Benedict, ⁵⁷ the same as for Anselm.

Et nota quod hic et in omnibus quando constant duo Kyrie elieson, Requiem aeternam, ii. diaconus et subdiaconus casulas habebunt et duo candelabra. Quando cantant ad maius altare non erunt plures collecte [Thorpe], nisi due.

And it should be noted that here, and in all things, when they establish/agree two Kyrie elieson, two Requiem aeternam, the deacon and subdeacon will have chasubles and two candelabra.

When they sing at the greater altar [high altar] there will be no more than two collections.⁵⁸

Footnotes

1 ‘responding’: or ‘engaged as assistants’, Latin ascitis, from ascire; see DMLBS, ascire: logeion.uchicago.edu [accessed 06.12.18]. This may be alluding to how, in the Mass, the cantor sings the ‘Responsorial Psalm’ and the congregation takes part by means of the response; see The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, 2011), p. 14: liturgyoffice.org.uk [accessed 06.12.18].

2 Probably meaning one of the named bells in the great tower of Rochester Cathedral was to be struck three times; this is suggested by a passage concerning the duties of the church attendants, recorded in Custumale Roffense (fol. 58r): ‘Also, in the great tower, during dinner on the principal feast days, they make three strikes of a great bell, either Bretun or Thalebot.’ Allusion to bells being rung for the dead is also recorded in this section of the manuscript (fol. 58r-v): ‘When from the community a body of the deceased laity is received, according to whom the person is, it may be accepted; and, as it pleases the sacristan, bells in the great tower, many or few, may be struck.’

3 ‘as well as the others’, probably indicating other bells in the smaller tower were rung too; see below.

4 Or ‘The 7th day before the ides of January’. Dates in this text use the Roman calendar – with its kalends (calends), nones, and ides – where days ‘before’ are counted inclusively; in other words, in this instance, the ides of January, i.e. 13th January, is the first of the seven days counting backwards, and thus we arrive at the 7th of January (not the 6th). For more on medieval English dating and calendars, see C. R. Cheney (ed.) and revised by Michael Jones, A Handbook of Dates for Students of British History: New Edition (Cambridge University Press, 2000); also the very useful website: medievalgenealogy.org.uk [accessed 05.12.18].

5 Bishop of Bayeux from 1049 until his death in 1097.

6 ‘It belongs to the master to regulate all things in the church, […] and that the copes in the second choir, when feast days occur, are carried in an orderly manner. He has nevertheless a man for himself who must with the second rank [attendant] strike and regulate the bells at processions’. From the same passage as above.

7 Or ‘The 10th day before the kalends of February’.

8 Or ‘Ancel’ (Latin Ancelus, abbreviated as Anceľ in the manuscript), probably a confusion of Anselm, the alternative name for this bishop of Rochester, who ruled from 1142 until his death in 1148. See ‘Ancel’ in DMNES. Handbook of British Chronology gives 24 January as his death.

9 The high altar.

10 Or ‘The 4th day before the nones of February’.

11 William of Allington (de Elintune), son of Sheriff Ansfrid (filius Ansfridi vicecomitis) is listed in Vespasian A. xxii; see Thorpe, Registrum Roffense, p.119; on Ansfrid of Allington, sheriff of Kent, see Martin Brett and Joseph A. Gribbin (eds), English Episcopal Acta 28: Canterbury 1070-1136 (Oxford University Press, 2004), pp. xlvi-xlvii.

12 Or ‘The 6th day before the ides of March’. Handbook of Chronology gives 7th March.

13 Bishop of Rochester from 1077 until his death in 1108.

14 Or ‘The ides of March’.

15 Bishop of Rochester from 1115 until his death in 1124.

16 Or ‘The 12th day before the kalends of May’.

17 Prior of Rochester; BHO gives ‘before 1107’, but this seems inaccurate as Gundulf was also prior during his bishopric, i.e. 1077-1108; see british-history.ac.uk [accessed 05.12.18]

18 Or ‘The 6th day before the ides of May’.

19 Goda, also known as Godgifu, died in 1055. Daughter of King Ethelred the Unready (r. 978-1013 and 1014-16) and his second wife Emma of Normandy (d. 1052); sister of King Edward the Confessor (r. 1042-66).

20 Or ‘The 5th day before the kalends of June’. Handbook gives death as 24th May.

21 Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 until his death in 1089.

22 Or ‘The 11th day before the kalends of July’. BHO gives 20 June as his death, and 22nd as his commemoration.

23 Bishop of Rochester, from 1125 until his death in 1137.

24 The abbreviation ca. is used in the manuscript; Thorpe gives cappe ‘copes’ rather than ‘candelabra’.

25 Or ‘The 8th day before the kalends of July’.

26 The name has been erased from the manuscript. Bishop of Rochester from 1185 until his death in 1214.

27 Or ‘The 6th day before the kalends of July’.

28 Hugh of Trottiscliffe, former monk of Rochester, died 1151. BHO gives ‘the morrow of St. John Baptist’, i.e. 25th June as the date of his death: see british-history.ac.uk (accessed 05.12.18).

29 Or ‘The 16th day before the kalends of June’.

30 Or ‘The 8th day before the ides of July’.

31 Or ‘The 17th day before the kalends of August’.

32 Or ‘Ernost’; Ernust, correcting Ernulf, in the manuscript; the correction is rather clumsy. Bishop of Rochester, from 1075 until his death in 1076. Handbook of Chronology: 15 July 1076

33 Or ‘The 7th day before the kalends of August’.

34 Bishop of Rochester, from 1148 until his death in 1182.

35 Or ‘The 4th day before the nones of August’.

36 William II (‘Rufus’), r. 1087-1100.

37 Or ‘The 2nd day before the ides of August’.

38 Presumably King Offa of Mercia, r. 757-96. Check Handbook

39 Or ‘The 4th day before the kalends of September’.

40 Spelt Galeranno in the manuscript; Bishop of Rochester, from 1182 until his death in 1184.

41 Or ‘The 5th day before the ides of September’.

42 William I (‘the Conqueror’), r. 1066-1087.

43 Or ‘The 2nd day before the nones of October’.

44 Or ‘The 2nd day before the ides of October’. BHO gives 30th October as the commemoration date: british-history.ac.uk [accessed 05.12.18].

45 Bishop of Rochester, from 1058 until his death in 1075.

46 Or ‘The 13th day before the kalends of November’.

47 Ralph d’Escures, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1114 until his death in 1122, former Bishop of Rochester, 1108-14.

48 Or ‘The 10th day before the kalends of November’.

49 Prior of Rochester, from c. 1178 to c.1181; he probably died in office; see: british-history.ac.uk [accessed 06.12.18].

50 Or ‘The 8th day before the kalends of November’.

51 Stephen, reigned from 1135 to his death in 1154.

52 Or ‘The 6th day before the kalends of November’.

53 Or ‘Mabel’: Mabilia in the manuscript.

54 Or ‘The 4th day before the nones of December’.

55 Henry I, reigned from 1100 to his death in 1135; Henry died on 1st December.

56 Or ‘The 14th day before the kalends of January’.

57 Benedict of Sawston, Bishop of Rochester, from 1215 to his death in 1226. BHO gives the 18th December as the date of his death: british-history.ac.uk [accessed 06.12.18].

58 This appears to allude to the collection of alms during the Offertory Chant, the part of Mass which accompanies the procession of the bread and wine and their placement on the altar. See: liturgyoffice.org.uk, p. 17.

Provisions for the sick of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Rochester, c.1235

The text lists the daily provision of leftovers, loaves and ale from the monastery’s refectory, enough for as many as there are sick in the hospital, as well as special provisions on holy days, such as a ham (instead of the usual cheese) at Christmas.

On the Feast of St Bartholomew, which of course was in celebration of the hospital’s own saint, the hospital received ‘every living thing which is offered [to the priory by the laity] except geese’. In fact, on this holy day, the almoner (one of the monks in the monastery) received on behalf of the hospital the entire offering from ‘vespers till vespers’, from evening to the next evening.

The text also delineates the amounts of grain to be given to the hospital, including 20 seams [160 bushels, or 1,280 gallons] of grain from the total owed the monastery by the church at Stoke on the feast day of St Michael.

It also states the wages for the hospital’s priest (2 shillings for each of the following: the feast day of St Michael, Christmas, Easter, the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist and the feast day of St Bartholomew), and ‘the wages of the servants who devote themselves to the sick’, namely 8 shillings annually.

Other special provisions enumerated include the food gifts ‘in respect of the land which lies opposite the monk’s hospital in Strood’, land which had been inherited by the priory ‘from the heirs of Gaufrid son of Wimarche and others’.

The foodstuff which the almoner received were: ‘one simnel loaf [made from the finest white flour], a fair amount of ale or a gallon of wine, and three of the best dishes which are presented to the brothers in the refectory; and on the days of Easter and Pentecost, if possible, a flaco [a flan].’

Transcription

47r (select folio number to open facsimile)

¶¹ Hec debentur infirmis fratribus de sancto Bartholo-
meo. Cotidie quot sunt infirmi, tot remanen-
tes de refectorio, et todidem bolle ceruisie,
cum releuio Refectorii, et semper sancta die xiij
panes de pondere panis quadrantis, medie-
tas frumenti², et medietas ordei. Seruientibus
eorum ij remanentes. Secunda die xi ostripa-
nes³. In uigilia Natalis Domini, unam pernam,
pro caseo ij solidos. In die sancti Bartholomei

47v

habebunt omne uiuum quod offer( )tur, preter a[n]cas⁴, et ad fes-
tum eorum duos solidos. Diuidunt in communi xx⁵ summas
de toto blado que debentur de ecclesia de Sto[c]hes⁶ ad
festum Sancti Michaelis.
C⁷ Stipendia sacerdotis. Ad festum Sancti Michaelis ij solidos. Ad
Natale ij solidos. Ad Pascha ij solidos. Ad Natiuitatem sancti
Johannis ij solidos. Ad festum sancti Bartholomei ij solidos.
C Clericus eius habet mandatum bis in ebdomada, et sab-
bato v ostripanes, et in cena domini⁸ mandatum.
C Stipendia seruientum⁹ qui infirmis deseruiunt viij solidos per annum.
C Elemosinarius habebit in festo sancti Bartholomei totam oblatio-
nem a vespera usque ad uesperas in die. Ad festum sancti Mi-
chaelis habet quatuor summas frumenti ad seminan-
dum de ecclesia de Stoches.
¶ Sartrinarii¹⁰ iii ostripanes cum companagio.
¶ Custos locutorii cotidie j remanentem, et j Galun¹¹ cerui-
sie, et matinellum,¹² et bis in ebdomada mandatum,
et ea die carebit remanente et ceruisia¹³
¶ Collector releuii ij remanentes¹⁴ et bollam ceruisie de re-
fectorio, et in sex principalibus festis mandatum, et de per-
na infirmorum unum ferculum in uigilia Natalis
domini. Et ad ipsum¹⁵ pertinet fodere et colere ortum
de Strodes.¹⁶
C Si frater aliquis infirmorum obierit, elemosinarius¹⁷ habet
primam missam. Et de oblatione faciet quod ei placue-
rit.
C Nollector releuij, et suportarius, et qui lauat uasa ele-
mosine, debent partiri releuium de seruitoribus.
CDecime, et ecclesie pertinentes ad elemosinariam.
Ecclesia de Kingesdune. Decima de Henherst,¹⁸ et de

48r

la Rede de Frendesberi.¹⁹ Willelmi de la Dene²⁰ de
Borstalle. ---------------------------------------------
¶ Elemosinarius debet pro terra que²¹ iacet ex oppo-
sito hospitalis monachorum in Strodes,²² heredibus
Gaufridi filij Wimarche,²³ et aliis, in sex princi-
palibus festiuitatibus, Simenellum unum, iustam
ceruisie uel Galonem uini, et tria fertula de-
primis que apponuntur²⁴ in refectorio fratribus,
et in die Pasce et Pentecostes, flachonem²⁵ si est.
De firma tocius anni habet elemosinarius
de blado seruientum xxviij summas, et tres
eskippas, et toluet. --------------------------
Quando furnatur cumba, habet Lv ostrepanes.
Quando iij minas xlij. ----------------------------
Habent etiam infirmi oblationem duorum al-
tarium, scilicet, sancti Jachobi,²⁶ et sancti Egidij,
et ideo debent cooperire alas ecclesie.

Translation

These things are due the infirm brothers of Saint Bartholomew:²⁷ from the leftovers of the refectory, sufficient daily for the number of patients; and the same with the amount of ale as with the leftovers of the refectory; and always on a holy day, 13 loaves of the weight of farthing loaves,²⁸ half wheat, half barley.²⁹ For their servants two leftover dishes. On a secondary/ordinary day, 11 oyster loaves.³⁰ On Christmas Eve,³¹ one ham; instead of cheese 2 shillings.³² On the [feast]day of Saint Bartholomew,³³ they will have everything living which is offered, except geese, ³⁴ and two shillings for their feast day/holiday. They share in common, from the total grain,³⁵ 20 seams,³⁶ which are due at Michaelmas³⁷ from the church at Stoke.

The wage of the priest: at Michaelmas, 2 shillings; at Christmas, 2 shillings; at Easter, 2 shillings; at the Nativity of St John,³⁸ 2 shillings; at the feast day of St Bartholomew, 2 shillings.

Its [i.e. the hospital’s] cleric has the Mandatum³⁹ twice a week, and on the Sabbath⁴⁰ 5 oyster loaves, and the Mandatum on the Lord’s Supper.⁴¹

The wages for servants who are devoted to the infirm are 8 shillings per year.⁴²

On the feast day of St Bartholomew, the almoner⁴³ will keep [for the hospital] the whole offering from the evening before to Vespers/evensong on the day. At Michaelmas he receives [on behalf of the hospital] from the church at Stoke four seams of wheat for sowing.⁴⁴

The tailors, three oyster loaves with relish.⁴⁵

The guard/warden,⁴⁶ daily 1 leftover dish, and 1 gallon of ale, and a light morning meal, and twice a week the Mandatum; and in the daytime he will be without a leftover dish and ale/and [on/at] that day/time will abstain from leftovers and ale.⁴⁷

The alms-collector, two leftover dishes and a bowl of ale from the refectory, and the Mandatum on the six principle feast days, and on Christmas Eve one dish of the patients’ ham. And it belongs to him to cultivate and take care of the garden at Strood.

If an infirm brother should die, the almoner holds the first mass. And from the offering will make that which is pleasing to him.⁴⁸

The alms-collector, and the assistant porter, and he who washes the alms vessels, they ought to distribute the servants’ relief.

Concerning tithing and appurtenances of the church to the almonry:

The church at Kingsdown;⁴⁹ tithing of Henhurst;⁵⁰ and of La Rede⁵¹ of Frindsbury⁵²; of William de la Dene of Borstal.

For the land which lies opposite the monks’ hospital in Strood, ⁵³ [given] by the heirs of Geoffrey son of Wymar, and others, the almoner must [have] on the six principal feast days, one simnel loaf, a fair amount of ale or a gallon of wine, and three of the best dishes which are presented to the brothers in the refectory; and on the days of Easter and Pentecost, if possible, a flan.

Concerning the total annual food-rent the almoner has of grain (wheat) of the servants: 28 seams, and three skeps,⁵⁴ and a tovet.⁵⁵

When baking a coomb⁵⁶ he/it has 55 oyster loaves.⁵⁷

When 3 minas⁵⁸ 42.

The patients also have the offerings of the two altars, namely of St James and St Giles, and therefore they must cover/clothe the aisles of the church.⁵⁹

Footnotes

1 ¶ pilcrow mark

2 fruti

3 Scďa ; ‘ostri’= ?of the oyster; = purple

4 qď ; ( )= erasure ; aucas

5 xx has superscription mark: square ‘a’?

6 Stothes ; ‘Stroches’ in Thorpe ; Stoke

7 capitulum mark ‘little head’

8 dñi ; ‘domina’ in Thorpe

9 s’uientũ ; ‘seruentium’ in Thorpe

10 ‘Tartrinarii’ in Thorpe

11 Anglo-Norman galun = gallon

12 light morning meal ; ‘matinell’ in Thorpe

13 ‘remanentem et cervisiam’ in Thorpe

14 remañ [n with super ‘s’]

15 ip

16 ‘Strodes’ in Thorpe ; Strood

17 elemosinarig

18 Kingsdown: near Deal? Henhurst, near Cobham or near Staplehurst

19 Frindsbury ; Rede (now Rede Court, Strood)

20 dene = ‘dean’, i.e. ‘wooded valley’

21 q with macron = que

22 ? Newark hospital in Strood, run by monks

23 Geoffrey son of Wymar

24 aonunt

25 ‘flathonem’ in Thorpe

26 ‘Jacobi’ in Thorpe ; St Giles

27 The implication is that alms and dues are given to provide for former brothers of the monastery. But were there other non-religious who benefitted from the hospital? If St Bartholomew’s was a house for lepers, that might explain why the brothers were separated from those in the infirmary of the monastic precinct, which was some ¾ mile away. In the inquest set up by Edward III in 1342 (post CR), it was noted that there were in St Bartholomew’s nine brethren and sisters and the prior who himself was a leper. This seems to be the basis for referring to St Bartholomew’s as a leper house or hospital/hospice: see Sethina Watson, ‘The origins of the English hospital’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Sixth Series, vol. 16 (2006), pp. 75–94, at p. 76: ‘Within a generation there were leper houses at […] Rochester’.

28 Latin, ‘panis quadrantis’, literally ‘of a quarter [penny] loaf’: a quarter of a penny being one farthing; bread at this time was sold as farthing, half-penny and penny loaves. Both farthing and penny loaves are referred to in the Assize of Bread (dated to 1193–99) copied into CR on f. 27v.

29 Made especially for the infirmary? The monks normally had the ‘finest’ wheat bread. The number, thirteen, perhaps signifies Christ and his disciples.

30 Suggestive of ordinary, everyday bread, suitable for eating cheap and readily available oysters. The number given, eleven, may possibly indicate that the hospital’s capacity was set at 11 patients; compare the nine brothers and sisters in 1342.

31 Literally, ‘on the vigil of the Lord’s birth’.

32 2 shillings to buy cheese; monetary substitute for the original cheese donation: what might this say about cheese as a commodity in the local Rochester community: cheese makers/sellers?

33 August 24th.

34 Latin ‘preter ancas’, ‘except geese’, preter (praeter) being used as a conjunction disjunctively, rather than to mean ‘in addition to, as well as, besides’.

35 Latin bladum, grain, esp. wheat.

36 160 bushels, or 1,280 gallons. Seam: ‘A [measurement of capacity] and w[eight] […]; grain, generally 8 striked or levelled bu[shels] […] of 8 gal[lons] each’, though with some variation: Ronald E. Zupko, A Dictionary of Weights and Measures for the British Isles: the Middle Ages to the Twentieth Century (American Philosophical Society, 1985).

37 Literally, ‘the feast day of St Michael’. September 29th. Marking the ending and beginning of husbandman’s year, the end of the harvest, a time for accounts to be made up and settled.

38 John the Baptist. June 24th.

39 The Mandatum is the foot-washing ceremony practiced by Benedictines (and others) as an act of humility. See ‘Spread and Form of the Mandatum’, unamsanctamcatholicam.com. The context suggests that the monks took seriously their duty to show Christlike humility. It would have been the job of one of the monks to carry out this clerical foot-washing; this was in addition to any acts of the ‘Mandatum of the poor’). The procedure was to genuflect before the recipient, adoring the presence of Christ in him, followed by the actual washing and kissing of the feet and then drying them with a towel. After this the monk would bow his head and touch his forehead to the feet. In the case of the ‘Mandatum of the poor’, a chosen group of poor men would be led into the cloister of the monastery to receive the ceremony, in which they also were served beverages and given two pence each, after which the abbot concluded with a prayer. See Constitutions of Lanfranc.

40 Sunday.

41 On the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the day before Good Friday. See: unamsanctamcatholicam.com

42 This strongly suggests that the hospital was not run by monks, at least not initially, but paid servants. Interestingly, the amount of 8 shillings is 3 shillings more than for the infirmary attendant in the priory.

43 At St Andrew’s Priory.

44 In addition to the 20 seems above?

45 Perhaps this refers to the tailors’ workshop at the priory rather than one within the hospital, though the latter is possible. In the priory workshop, there was a master and two associate tailors/tanners. There is no mention of wages, so it might be that the daily bread and relish is their renumeration for work carried out for the hospital.

46 Latin, ‘Custos locutorii’, literally ‘guard of the speaker’?

47 The guard or warden works from the evening to the morning. He receives a meal and ale as food and drink during his night-time work and a light breakfast, but nothing during daylight hours as, presumably, he is not working,

48 The almoner will make a donation to St Bartholomew’s.

49 Meaning ‘King’s hill’. Which Kingsdown is being referred to is unclear: there is a Kingsdown on the Isle of Sheppey and also near Deal. There is also a West Kingsdown in the Sevenoaks district of Kent.

50 Probably near Cobham or near Staplehurst.

51 Quite a few quarrels over the manor of Frindsbury and its appendages including Rede: Wikipedia - Frindsbury: ‘Bishop Gilbert de Glanvil claimed Frindsbury back from the monks “as belonging to the maintenance of his table” in 1185. […] In 1[2]48 the manor was confirmed as being in the possession of the prior of Rochester, reconfirmed in 1295. In 1287 the manor, along with its appendages of Chattenden, Strood and Rede, were taxed at £24-6-8’. For more information, including the story of the monks of Rochester being clubbed at Frindsbury whilst on a procession to pray for rain, see: british-history.ac.uk.

52 Known later as Rede Court, in Strood.

53 The Hospital of the New Work of St Mary of Strood (‘Newark Hospital’; ‘Stroud Hospital’) was founded by Gilbert de Glanville, bishop of Rochester (1185–1214), in 1193: british-history.ac.uk; see also Sethina Watson, ‘The origins of the English hospital’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Sixth Series, vol. 16 (2006), pp. 75–94, at p. 91. Worth exploring a connection to the Knights Templar: land was granted to the Knights Templar by Henry II in 1960 [to the church/chapel of 1122?] Bibliography: Richard L. H. Coulson and L. M. Collins, A Chronology of Strood to 1899, Kent County Libraries (1982).

54 Skep: ‘A [measure of capacity] for grain and other dry products, varying in size from 1 or 2 bu[shels] […] to approximately 1 or 2 SEAMS’: Zupko, Dictionary. N.B. 1 bushel = 8 gallons (35.238 litres; 64 pints). Contrast: ‘Skep. Dry measure in the 13c equivalent to a half-bushel. There were eight skeps in a quarter, though the bushel was the unit most frequently used. The skep itself was orig. a basket which came to hold half a bushel.’ A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon and Ann Williams.

55 Tovet (spelling in ms: toluet): ‘A [measure of capacity] for grain, generally containing 2 p[ec]k[s] or 4 gal[lons] […] and equal to ½ bu[shel]. It arose as a local measure of Kent.’ Zupko, Dictionary. N.

56 Coomb (Latin spelling in ms: cumba): ‘A [measure of capacity] for grain containing 4 bu[shels] […] and equal to ½ SEAM’: Zupko, Dictionary.

57 If we take a coomb as 4 bushels, or 32 gallons, then each oyster loaf required 0.58 gallon of wheat to be made; this is equivalent to approx. 2. 55 litres. If we take the text about the second rank miller into account, then each measure of wheat produces 1.4 measures of flour; so 0.81 gallons, or 3.57 litres, of flour is used for each oyster loaf; if 1 litre of flour equals 4.23 US cups, or 529g, or 19 oz (1.19 lb), of flour, then each loaf required 1.89kg, or 4.25 lbs (roughly double the size of a supermarket loaf).

58 Mina: ‘A [measure of capacity] for dry products sometimes considered equal to 4½ bu[shels] […], but more commonly defined as a vessel containing 3 to 7 SKEPS’: Zupko, Dictionary. However, this definition doesn’t make sense with the figures in the text, which suggest 1 mina is about ¼ of a coomb, i.e. 1 bushel.

59 ‘aisles’: or ‘wings’, referring to where the saints’ shrines were located. The injunction is that these altars must be kept dressed at all times, to attract devotees and increase the offerings to be used for the hospital.

Duties and succession of the Millers of St Andrew’s Priory, Rochester, c.1235

The requirements of the millers references a bakery, possibly once part of the long medieval building to the north of the Cathedral, now Minor Canon Row. This intriguing, if not slightly confusing, account seems to suggest that the miller, under-miller, the winnower and the winnower’s son (i.e. Eylaf, Galfrid, Robert Grente and Herbert Russell) came under scrutiny for large economic losses at the priory sometime during the time Gundulf was bishop (1077-1108).  The result was that all four men were expelled from the monastery.  However, Galfrid, the under-miller, regained his position, due (at least in part) to the fact that he was, or subsequently became, the husband of the sister of the cellarer who, of course, was one of the senior monks.  Once the ex-master miller Eylaf died, a certain Gilbert took over as master miller at the invitation of Ernulf the prior, who shouldn’t be confused with the Ernulf who became bishop of Rochester in 1014/15.  Bishop Walter, who was around several decades later (bishop 1148-82), appears to be the source for this information.

Translation

Concerning the office of the millers: here is what they ought to do: The master of the millers ought, in fact, to see and feel the wheat at the door of the granary.  And, if he is able or not to make for the monastery the best and finest bread, even by his mouth¹ he ought to accept or reject it.  He weighs the bread.²  Also he ought to reach agreement on all bread at the storeroom of the cellarer; and, after, he will have one monk’s loaf and at Easter time a flan.³  His wages: 7 shillings.  To him it belongs to mix and knead the dough of the monastery.
What the second rank [miller] ought to do: The second rank will measure all the wheat that pertains to the bread of the monastery, both in receiving and sending forth from the mill-house.  He himself ought also to measure the flour when it will be brought back from the mill-house, and to see whether he has 7 skeps of flour from five skeps of wheat.⁴  He will also measure, on receiving it and at the nod of the cellarer, all servants’ metecorn⁵ for the free servants.  And afterwards he will have one monk’s loaf and a gallon and a half of ale.  He will mill the wheat as often as is necessary, and he will have a horse for this office and a groom; which groom will likewise have a room in the guest-house and twelve pennies per year from his master, paid once at the command of the Lord’s Supper.⁶ His wages: 5 shillings.  To him it belongs to mix and knead the dough of the monastery one day and the master the next day [i.e. they alternate].  They will obtain the equipment for preparing the bread of the monastery, and they will manage the production of the bread of the monastery, the master one day, the second-rank the next.  They will make consecrated loaves and wafers, and on the same day they have a loaf and a gallon and a half of ale and a single dish of pottage from the kitchen.
What the other three millers ought to do: The other three millers: according to how their days fall, the first will heat the oven, the second will form the bread according to measure, the third will sit at the grindstone.  Their wages: one for each of them, 4 shillings. They will have in common one loaf and three gallons of ale.  It is noted that they ought not to eat there [in the bakery] nor have ale until luncheon.  They will carry wood and draw water.  They will bolt⁷ the flour and when they do the refining they will enter this room.  The guard of the granary, or anyone else appointed by the cellarer, will make firm the door over them until they have finished this.  The cellarer will obtain overalls.  They will have a small round loaf of the weight of one monk’s loaf⁸, and for carrying the bread to the cellarer, four guest loaves.  And it will be observed that the first loaf which is weighed is Christ’s.

Footnotes

1 i.e. he tastes the grain.

2 Keeping therefore to the rules of the Assize of Bread and Ale, i.e. the thirteenth-century law governing the price, weight and quality of bread and ale produced in towns and villages.

3 Flan: In Middle English, known as a flawn or a flathon (there are numerous variant spellings in English culinary collections of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries). The flan was essentially an open tart made with an egg and dairy custard filling. Versions containing cheese are recorded but more common are sweet milk/cream egg custards, usually sweetened with sugar. Dried and/or fresh fruits were sometimes added. During Lent, almond milk and a thickener, such as rice flour or wheat starch, were substitutes for milk, cream and eggs. Some surviving recipes include saffron and spices such as cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Since dairy foods and eggs were forbidden fare during Lent, a flan would have been a suitably delicious way of marking the end of abstinence.

4 Skep: a dry measurement.  Latin eskippa, from Old English sceppe and Old Norse skeppa, originally meaning a wicker or wooden basket.  In the 13th century, a skep was equivalent to a half-bushel.  A bushel equalled 8 gallons.  A Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases, ed. Christopher Corèdon with Ann Williams (D. S. Brewer, 2005).

5 Metecorn: from Old English metecorn meaning ‘corn-measure’, i.e. the allowance of corn for dependents.  A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, J. R. Clark Hall (4th ed. University of Toronto Press, 1960).

6 The command of the Lord’s Supper: meaning, most likely, that the groom’s wages were to be paid once a year on Maundy Thursday, the commemoration of Christ’s Last Supper.

7 Bolt: to further refine milled wheat that has already been sieved to remove the coarser particles of bran; this was done using a bolting cloth made from fine-meshed linen. The result would be fine white flour for making the monks’ loaves. See Peter Brears, Cooking and Dining in Medieval England, p. 115.

8 Small round loaf: tortellus, the word in the text, is a Latinised form of Anglo-Norman turtel, a small round and flat loaf made using unbolted flour. Compared to the monk’s loaf, the turtel was coarse, but it may have been more nutritious. Woolgar discusses the large variety of breads made at St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury, around the same time as Custumale Roffense; this included the largest loaf, ‘turta’, weighing 1.62 kg; the turtel was evidently the smaller version of this. Woolgar explains that the turta was ‘largely for servants’ and may be synonymous with the ‘treat’ loaf which ‘[a]ccording to the Assize of Bread and Ale of c.1256 was the lowest quality of wheat bread’. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the servants’ loaves were made from barley. See C. M. Woolgar, The Culture of Food in England, 1200-1500, pp. 154-55; for definitions, see the online Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, tortilla; and the online Anglo-Norman Dictionary, turtel [accessed 28 March, 2022].