Rich. de Dumar about Woods and the bounds of them in Eston and between him and Rob. de Burnebu and others about Essarts in the same Woods which I can but just mention He was one of the Witnesses to the great Charter of the Liberties of England granted by King Henry in the XIX year of his Reign upon the Kal. of January After the mention of which there follows in our Records that solemn Excommunication which was made eighteen year after 1253. of all those that infringed this Charter It is in Matthew Paris Pag. 866. only in our Book there are these words added which are not in him Qui omnes testes audierunt cum Dominus Rex non coactus sed propria voluntate petiit quod omnes Archiepiscopi Episcopi Abbates excommunicent ipsum Henricum nomine si ipse unquam veniret contra aliq ' articulum istius Chartae omnes alios venientes contra eandem chartam Et idem Rex tenuit candelam dum sententia fuit promulgata Whereas Math. Paris saith he refused to hold the Candle P. 887. Two years after 1237. followed the solemn dedication of this Church of Burg Which Matth. Paris places in the next year 1238. when he saith that several noble Monasteries in the Diocese of Lincoln within the Fens were dedicated by the venerable Bishop of Lincoln viz. Ramsey Burgh and Sautrei and that the Church of Burgh was dedicated quarto Calendar ' Octobris But the Chron. Johan Abbatis Burgi makes this to have been done as I said the year before and not on the 4th of the Kalends but of the Nones and by two Bishops An. MCCXXXVII quarto Nonarum Octobris dedicata est Ecclesia de Burgo à duabus Episcopis viz. à Sancto Roberto Lincolniensi Exoniensi Episcopis And so saith Swapham not naming the Bishops Ipse etiam dedicare fecit Ecclesiam Nostram à duobus Episcopis magnis sumptibus propriis This Robert Bishop of Linc ' was Rob. Groseteht who was consecrated Bishop of that Dicocese the year before Whose Sanctity as the Chronicon before mentioned celebrates so it gives this Character of his learning Iste er at in omnibus VII artibus liberalibus eruditissimus What this dedication meant Mr. G. doubts but it is explained by a passage in Matthew of Westminster who follows M. Paris and uses his very words about this business of the dedication of these Churches but then adds that it was done juxta Statuta Concilii London celebrati in obedience to certain Constitutions which had been made in a Council at London Which extended further than to the Churches before named for he saith the Church of St. Paul London was dedicated 1240. die Sancti Remigii What the ground of that constitution was I have not now opportunity to search but it was so famous a thing that the day of its Dedication was made an Anniversary and this Abbot gave the summ of forty Shillings a year ad festum dedicationis Ecclesiae nostrae annuum uberius procurandum for the making more plentiful provision upon the Feast of the Dedication of this Church as the words are in his Charter about it which still râ—mains And this Feast is mentioned in another Charter of his in which for Gods sake and with respect to peace as his words are he grants that instead of the assise of Corn which the Celerarius was wont to pay him out of Belasise he should hereafter pay him ten Pound six Shillings and three Pence per annum quarterly viz. instead of 28. Seam and one Sceppe of Corn 4 l. 13 s. 9 d. and instead of 33. Seam of Barly and 6. Sceppes 3 l. 7 s. 6 d. and instead of 45. Seam of Oates 2 l. 5 s. Which Seams are called Summae Regiae Fol. CVI. And there is this Note in the Margin that before the time of this Abbot till the making this Charter the Abbots were wont to pay the Celerarius for the celebration of the principal Festivals eight Pound to which this Abbot added forty Shillings for celebrating the dedication of the Church which was in his time in all ten Pound So that the ten pound before mentioned the Celerarius received back again and it is to be noted that this Assise of Corn was first granted because of the increment of eight Monks augmented by Abbot Robert To which eight Monks this Abbot Walter added thirty more which made the number in all an hundred and ten But I suppose it was an act like that of Acharius who maintained two and twenty besides the usual number which lasted for his own time only Swapham's words are that he received them out of Charity by divine Inspiration to serve Christ perpetually Recepit itaque Domino inspirante Caritatis intuitu XXX Monachos Jesu Christo perpetue famulandos The Bishop of Ossory I must add to make this Feast of the Dedication the more solemn granted an indulgence wherein ten days of Penance injoyned are relaxed to all those who confessing their sins and being truly penitent should come to visit the Church of St. Peter of Burgh on the Feast of Dedication for devotion sake It is in the end of the Appendix In the next year all the Abbots of this Order were summoned to appear at London in order to their Reformation as the Chron. Joh. Abbatis tells us An. MCCXXXVIII Otho Cardinalis ad reformationem ordinis Sancti Benedicti omnes Abbates Nigri Ordinis London convocavit In what year he took his first journey to Rome I do not find nor shall I add any thing about it or the other two but what Mr. G. hath omitted In his first journey he procured certain priviledges for the Church which Swapham only mentions but tells not what they were When he returned from his second in which he went no further than Anvers he offered two pieces of rich Silk Of which two Copes were made by John of Holderness the Subsacrist The third time he was called by a special Mandate to answer the contempt with which he was charged of granting the Church of Castre according to the Kings commandment contrary to the Provision of the Pope For which he was not so shent as Mr. G. relates if we may believe Swapham but procured his favour by that gift of ten pound a year out of his Chamber to the Popes Nephew insomuch that he got a great priviledge at that time for the liberties of the Church which begins thus Innocentius Servus c. and another that none belonging to the Monastery should be forced to go ultra duas dietas above two days journeys in any cause before the Judge-delegates and some others At his return he offered a precious Pall of Baldekine with the Image of the blessed Virgin and her Son in her Arms. This was in the year 1244. for then that large Charter of Pope Innocent the IVth bears date called Magnum Privilegium Fol. LXXXII The Council at Lyons was held the year after
1245. as the Chron. of John Abbot informs us Therefore all that Mr. G. hath out of Matthew Paris belongs not to this time In that very year which he mentions the eighth year of his Abbotship which was 1241. the milites of the Abby were summoned to Saropesbury to go to Wales Fol. CCLXX. whither the Abbot himself went and some Knights with him Who earnestly insisting to have their expences Horses and Arms from the Abbot he would by no means grant it but commanded them by the Fealty they owned to the King and to him to follow the King to Chester which they did The Abbot also came thither where they again made the same demands pretending that Stephen de Segrave had given judgment for them apud Lehayetayle Of whom when the Abbot had diligently inquired he declared before him and his family that it was false and said the Knights ought to defend the Abbot at their own charge with Horses and Arms. Then they complained to Hugh Earl of Hereford Marshal of the Army who determined the matter against them and the Abbot commanded them that at the summons of the Marshal they should be inrolled which they refused But the Abbot ad cautelam caused Radulph de Ayston and Hugo de Bernack to be inrolled and two Servants of his family pro uno milite And so the Abbot returned with good grace from the King and his Knights neither going nor coming could recover one farthing of him The Steward of the Bishop of Lincoln and other Prelates did the same And by the diligence of the Abbot he received from the Kings Exchequer plenarie scutagium suum sc de quolibet scuto X L. Sol. In like manner in the time of John de Calceto he had scutagium suum plenarie de dictis militibus And when they complained to the King and the Magnates that the Abbot ought to pay that scutagium out of his own Chamber the Abbot made it appear that he ought not In that grand Priviledge of Innocent's there is the same grant which is mentioned in Greg. the IXths that they might say divine Service with a low voice in the time of a general Interdict the gates being shut no Bells rung and all Excommunicated and interdicted persons excluded Many other Bulls there were of his as I noted out of Swapham some of which remain One of them imports that by his Mandate they stood bound to pay to Opizomus Archdeacon of Parma a Pension of fifteen Mark yearly untill they had provided him with some Ecclesiastical Benefice worth forty Mark of Silver yearly o◠more But he now granted them this indulgence for the future that they should not be bound to provide any person with a benefice for the future against their wills nor receive any Letters Apostolical to that purpose unless they made express mention of this Indulgence and said that notwithstanding any Apostolical Indulgence they must do it Afterward Letters Apostolical were directed from another Pope to several Priors therein named to see his Absolution executed which he had granted to the Abbot and Convent of Burgh from the payment of such Pensions when the person who received them would not accept of the Ecclesiastical Benefices to which they offered to present them when they fell Which some refused because they had benefices already but no dispensation to hold another and so would have kept their Pensions when a Benefice was provided for them to the great grievance of the Monastery Another of Innocent's is dated from Lyons on the Kal. of Sept. the seventh year of his Pontificate which was a little before his death Wherein they having represented their Monastery to be built in a cold place so that they could not without danger in Winter time especially perform divine Offices with heads uncovered he grants them a licence utendi pileis ipsorum ordini congruentibus to use Capps suitable to their Order according as the Abbot in his discretion should think fit Another is that they having represented to him how great a disturbance it was to their devotion to have causes frequently referred to them by the See Apostolical he grants them this Indulgence that they should not be bound against their wills to take Cognizance of any cause committed to them by the same See for the future unless in the Letters of Reference express mention were made of this Indulgence There is a Statute made by this Abbot but I do not find in what year with the consent of the Chapter that on the Feast of the Dedication of their Church as upon the principal Feasts of St. Peter and St. Paul seven Candles should burn before the Altar super baccas and four upon the Altar à principio Matutinorum usque ad finem totius servitii and that the Arm of St. Oswald as I noted before should be carried in procession on this festival unless it had been carried on his own day Out of a Meadow in Peykirk which he bought of Roger Son of Paganus de Helpstona he gave forty Shillings to the celebration of his own Anniversary viz. twenty Shillings for the recreation of the Brethren and the other for the refection of the Poor upon the day of his death This Meadow William his Successor made over to the Convent intirely and warrants it to them that he and his Successors might be freed from the payment of that forty Shillings At the last time of his crossing the Seas he gave several pretious things feretris trium Virginum viz. Kiniburge Kiniswith and Tibbe and a great number of Vessels and Jewels when he dyed which were all brought into the Chapterhouse and there disposed according to the pleasure of the Convent He was not well before he went and the infirmity of his body was increased by his journey so that he dyed not long after his return An. 1245. For whom Swapham makes this prayer The Lord grant he may enjoy eternal life and joy in the Land of the living by the merits of the Mother of God and of St. Peter and St. Benedict and all the Saints He was pious and merciful to all did nothing without the advice of his Brethen of the better sort exacted nothing unduly of his Tenants whether rich or poor But if any poor Man or Woman made their necessities known to him he would burst out into tears and take compassion upon them In some things he acted tepide which he bewailed all his days but he left the Abbey abounding in all good things stored with Horses Oxen Sheep and all Cattle in great multitudes and Corn in some places for three years But after his decease Magister R. de Gosebek to whom the King committed the custody of the Abbey wasted and sold and in a manner carried all away There were found in his Chamber when he dyed a great many Cupps of Gold and Silver whose weight and worth are set down in Swapham with six silver Plates twenty nine Spoons thirty gold Rings and a great
  Navesford   Tinwell 16 6 9   Eston 35 10 1 ob q. Collingham 34 4 5 ob  Fiskerton 69 1 2   Scotter 37 6 0   Walcot 9 19 2   Thurlby 7 1 8   Stanford 2 0 0   In all 621 l. 16 s. 3 d. ob  Yet was not this the whole Demesnes of the Abbot in those times for there were many other Mannors and many Rents and Lands in and about Peterburgh and in several Counties but these are all which Wittlesey hath recorded and I have no leisure to examine why there were no more returned Godfrey being dead Anno 1321. 12. Cal. September being the 15 year of King Edw. 2. the person thought fittest to succeed him was 35. ADAM de Boothbie Born there and was made a Monk in Peterburgh where he also had the Office of Subcelerarius Being chosen Abbot he repaired to the King then in the Isle of Tanet for his confirmation which he obtained And having also Episcopal confirmation he repaired the second time to the King for his Temporalities which were likewise confirmed unto him paying the Fees and other demands at that time due His acts in the several years of his government are more punctually related by Wittlesey than I intend to transcribe In his first year Thomas Earl of Lancaster making War against the King to wit King Edw. 2. Adam aided the King with the summ of 133 l. 6 s. 8 d. and towards the Kings expedition into Scotland with 200 l. more In his fourth year the Mannor of Torpel and Vpton came to the possession of Edmund surnamed Woodstock half brother to King Edward the second now reigning and there arising great troubles betwixt the Earls Officers and the Abbots Tenants all was quieted by the Abbots becoming a Tenant to those Lands paying the yearly rent of 106 l. 13 s. 4 d. In his seventh year which was the first of King Edward the third there arose a great contention betwixt him and John Bohun Earl of Hereford and Essex about the Son of Galfridus de la Marc which Galfridus Lord of Northburgh died Anno 1327. holding three Knights-fees of the Abby of Peterburgh and was buried at Peterburgh in S. Maries Chappel amongst his Predecessors And the said Galfridus held also of the said Earl of Essex Lands in the County of Essex by Knights-service He had three Wives and his last Wife by name Margaret he put away when she was great with Child at Peterburgh where the Child being born and baptized was called by the name of his Father Galfridus this young Galfridus had two Sisters by his Fathers side who charged him with being illegitimate saying that Margaret his Mother was not their Fathers Wife but his Concubine so that he had no hereditary right to his Fathers Lands Abbot Adam as guardian to the Child defended the Cause three years in the Consistory at Lincoln and in the Arches constraining the Sisters to desist But afterwards Queen Philipp Wife to King Edward the third Daughter of William Earl of Henault whom Roger of Northburgh Bishop of Chester so called by Wittlesey though I cannot find any such man elsewhere the Kings Proxie had beyond Sea espoused for the King coming to Peterburgh on New-years-day and the said Earl of Essex attending on her towards York where King Edward then was expecting her coming for the solemnization of Marriage which was performed the 24 day of the said Month of January 1327 the said Earl demanded young Galfridus of the Abbot and by threatnings and violence gat possession of him Whereupon the Abbot pursued the Earl at the Law the Earl on the other side accused the Abbot and his Covent of certain outrages upon his Mannor of Plaisic in Essex but this matter was composed by the Abbots giving the Earl 100l and yet the Earl was still possessed of Galfridus keeping him at Kimbauton in the County of Huntingdon Registrum Adae in manu D. H. The King sent his Breve to the Sheriff to seize upon him and to bring him to York there to appear before the Judge and to be awarded to his right Guardian But at length the Earl Wittlesey without more ado being conscious of his ill act freely restored the Child to the Abbot and moreover languishing upon his Bed of sickness and drawing towards his end he commanded his Executors to restore the 100l to the Monastery of Peterburgh And the Abbot married young Galfridus to the Daughter of Galfridus Scroope then one of the Kings Chief Justices Regist Adae About this time the Sheriff of Northampton required assistance and contribution from the Abbot of Peterburgh and his Tenants towards the Wall of Northampton Park which was quieted by the Kings writing to the Sheriff from York his Letters bearing date February 12. the second of his Reign wherein he certified the Sheriff that by ancient Charters of Kings his Predecessors the Abbot and Convent of Peterburgh with all their Lands and Dominions should be free from all works of Castles Parks Bridges and Inclosures Regist Adae The same day there was Inquisition made concerning the Bridge leading into Peterburgh which being gone to decay the question was Who should repair it for this there was a Jury empannelled six of Northampton-shire and six of Huntingdon-shire who upon examination returned an Ignoramus after this manner that there was none of right bound to repair or sustain the Bridge seeing none had done it in former time for there was no Bridge there until Godfrey Abbot of Burgh of his own good will in the fourth year of King Edward Father to King Edward that now is erected the said Bridge and himself kept it in repair so long as he lived But the King and Queen coming to Peterburgh the present Abbot Adam repaired the said Bridge for their passage although he was not bound thereunto to this the Jurors set their several Seals At this entertainment of the King Queen and John of Eltham the Kings Brother besides diet of meat and drink the King and Q. at Peterburgh Abbot in gifts Jewels Jocalibus and presents expended in ready mony the summ of 487 l. 6 s. 5 d. And for his Confirmation 50 l. 13 s. 4 d. more At other times also Abbot Adam was very free of his Purse giving the King towards an expendition into Scotland 100 l. and to the Queen 20 l. Attending upon the King at Oundle and Stanford he expended 34l 7s 4d with many other summs when the King or Queen came near his Monastery to Walmisford Bourn or Croyland And the second time giving entertainment King and Q. at Peterburgh to the King and Queen at his Monastery of Peterburgh besides other things he expended 327 l. 15 s. And after this Prince Edward the Kings eldest Son with his two Sisters and their Servants came and staied at Peterburgh eight weeks which cost not the Abbot nothing Wittlesey
their honey out of several Flowers composed these Constitutions out of several former Rules And more particularly took care about the singing used in Monasteries V. Seld. ad Eadmerum p. 145. that it should not be hudled nor too swift but be so distinct that the mind might accompany the voice and they might fulfill that of the Apostle Sing with the Spirit and sing with the Vnderstanding also All which considered I look upon it as highly probable that this Monastery of Peterburgh now became subject to this Rule being one of those restored by King Edgar And yet it was not the very Rule of St. Bennet which was established in this Council but many ancient Orders and Customs improved by that Rule and accommodated to his Precepts For long after this when there was a Third Regulation of Monasteries under Lanfranc An. 1075 in the Council of London when several things were restored as the words are which had been defined by ancient Canons the Council after consideration of Episcopal affairs decrees concerning Monks ex Regula Benedicti Dialogo Gregorii antiqua Regularium locorum consuetudine as Baronius observes From which Sir John Marsham judiciously concludes in his large Preface before the Monasticon that even in the Norman times the Monastical Laws were mixed and that the Benedictine Rule was not so admitted as that the antient customs of the Monks were thereby abrogated I have noted already the day and year when Adulphus dyed but there is a mistake I since find in the day which if the Records of our Church be true was June 5. when he was solemnly commemorated in this Monastery and is the very first Abbot of whom there is any mention made in the Kalender of this Church which is still preserved in the Library of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth of which I shall give an account in its proper place Where over against the fifth of June are these Words Depositio Adulphi Anniversarium Ricardi de Lincolnia Agnetis uxoris ejus Of all the foregoing Abbots there is not the least memory little being certainly known of what passed in the time of the first Monastery before its desolation by the Danes But it 's like they were all comprehended in that general commemoration which was made in Whitson-Week Specialium Defunctorum and was repeated in the two Ember-Weeks following in September and December Where I find the same Order with this addition that there should be a Missa ferialis cum de Profundis and the names of those speciales defuncti were then read KENVLPHVS The Character which Hugo gives of this Abbot who was chosen by the unanimous consent of the Friers and the favour of King Edgar is that he was Flos literalis disciplinae torrens eloquentiae decus norma rerum divinarum secularium which was the cause of that general concourse from all parts ad ejus Magisterium which Mr. G. hath observed And it 's likely that he brought this Monastery into the credit wherein it continued for several years For Ingulphus P. 83. Oxon. Edit tells us that in the Reign of the Conqueror the Monks of Burgh were so famous and the World had such an high opinion of them ut totus mundus abiret post eos and many of the great men of the Land both the highest Bishops and other Noble Men and Lieutenants of the Countries chose to be Interred among them He procured a confirmation of the Priviledges of this Church and of all that had been given to it from King Ethelred the Son of Edgar in these words Swapham fol. XL. Ego Athelredus Anglorum imperio sublimatus has donationes praedecessorum meorum regnante Abbate Cenulfo solidavi cum hiis testibus Dunstano Oswaldo Archiepiscopis That he surrounded the Monastery with a Wall is certain but that it was thence called Burch or Burgh as W. of Malmsbury writes Mr. G. justly doubts For King Edgar in his Charter calls it upon its restauration by this name of Burch Yet notwithstanding this name Burh and Burgh and Byrigh signifying any place which was walled about and particularly a City or Castle from the Saxon word Deorgan which signifies to defend or take into safety W. of Malmsbury might mean that the place did not deserve the name of Burch till this time His words I confess imply more for he saith the place formerly called Medeshamstede being now incompassed with a Wall by Kenulphus à similitudine Vrbis Burch vocatus est was called Burch from its likeness to a City Upon the translation of St. Elphege to the See of Canterbury Kenulphus succeeded him in the Bishoprick of Winchester as Abbot John among others remembers ad An. 1006. Who saith not a word of his Simony with which William of Malmsbury boldly charges him L. 2. de gestis Pontificum Angl. Wentanum enim Episcopatum Kenulphus Abbas Burgensis nummis nundinatus fuerat Sed non diu sacrilego ausu laetatus ante duos annos hominem exuit For which cause it is likely there was no commemoration made of him in this Church his name not being in the Kalender before named as his predecessors and all his Successors are except one guilty of the same crime and another guilty of the like though he was so great a benefactor and famed also for his Wisdom and Learning Hugo saith he governed most admirably and sweetly till he was promoted to Winchester ELSINVS Called also Elfinus and Alfinus between whom and Kenulfus there was another Abbot viz. KINSINVS if we may believe the MS. Chron. of John Abbot of this Church which I have so often cited For though he say ad An. 1006. that upon Kenulphus his removal Elsinus succeeded him and was the third Abbot after the restauration yet ad An. 1048. speaking concerning the sute which the Abbot of Peykyrke had for the Lands of his Monastery which by the judgement of the Court of Hardecnute as I shall show hereafter were given away from him he saith it was contra Kenulfum Kinsinum Abbates Burgi And that this was no mistake we may learn from his remark upon the year 1051. where he saith expresly Elfinus succeeded him in this Monastery Alfricus Eboracens Archiepis obiit apud Burgum sepelitur cui successit Kinsinus Abbas Burgi cui successit Elfinus in Abbatem promotus Monachus ejusdem loci And again ad An. 1060. obiit Kinsinus Eborac Archiep. quondam Abbas Burgi c. What truth there is in this I am not able to say from any other record but that he was a great man and Archbishop of York and here buried it will appear more hereafter when I come to that time and we have gained this piece of knowledge from John Abbot that Alfinus was a Monk of Burch and chosen to be Abbot saith Hugo by the unanimous consent of the whole Congregation whom he governed fiftyyear By which account Kinsinus must either never have been Abbot here or but for
deal of Riches besides Which is the more wonderful since he was so very charitable and frequently gave Presents and Jewels of Gold and Silver to King Henry and Eleanor his Queen and Prince Edward their Son and to the Nobles and great Men of England besides what Mr. G. mentions and all for the peace and tranquillity and defence of the Liberties of the Church He dyed in the latter end of the year as the MS. Chron. of Johan Abbatis P. 690. N. 30. saith Matth. Paris saith 1245. 29 Hen. 3. obiit Walterus Abbas de Burgo 2. Kaland. Januarii Which doth not perfectly agree with the Kalender of the Church where is placed on the 26. Decemb. Depositio Domini Walteri Abbatis Here Swapham's History ends WILLIAM de HOTOT The controversie that had been between this Church and Croyland in the time of Akarius was now revived between this Abbot and Richard Bardenay Abbot of Croyland contrary to the agreements made before between their Predecessors as the words are in the Continuator of the History of Croyland Lately Printed at Oxon. p. 478. Who lays the blame upon this Abbot because he hindred the Abbot of Croyland in their Fair time from taking Toll or making Attachments upon Crowland Bridge c. This he saith was in the year 1240. Which cannot be for then Walter was Abbot it should be therefore 1246. in the very beginning of William's time Who the next year made a composition about this matter 1247. as I find in our Records at the end of Swapham Fol. CLXX where there is an agreement between Richard Abbot of Croyland and Robert Abbot of Burgh about the Fen between Singleshould and Croyland and this agreement made in the Kings Court at Northampton before the King Justices between these two Abbots Richard and William de villa de Croyland ponte tempore Nundinarum which is too long to be inserted It is called finalis concordia but the quarrel was renewed in the time of William of Ramsey In the same year 1247. Robert de Taterhille Physician made his last Will and Testament and thereby gave to the Church of St. Peter his Body with his Palfrey to the Fabrick of St. John's Church V. Shillings and to the Church of St. Mary de Oxney two Shilling c. and four Acre of Arable Land apud Rumpele to find two Wax-Candles before the Altar of the blessed Virgin in Ecclesia majori de Burgo as long as the said Robert lived And if his Wife Ailice out-lived him she was to enojoy that Land and the house he also gave c. for her life if she remained a Widow and to find four Wax-Candles After both their deaths all to go to the Custos luminaris beatae Virginis to find so many lights before her Altar as that Land House and Meadow would furnish In the same year likewise An. 2. Will. 2di Abbatis as the words of the Record are there was a Subsidy given to Pope Innocent according to an Estimation that had been made of the Estate of the Abbey in the time of Stephen Nuncio to Pope Gregory of which subsidy the Obedientiaries as several officers in the Church were called paid the fourth part being taxed seven Pence for every pound of yearly Rent as followeth Estimatio Cellerariae 121 l.  Contributio 70 s. 7 d. Estimatio utriusque Sacristiae 106 l. 10 s. Contributio 72 s.  Estimatio Eleemosynariae 63 l. 6 s. Contributio 36 s. 2 d. Estimatio Pitanciariae  115 s. Contributio  40 d. Estimatio Infirmariae 7 l.  Contributio 3 s. 10 d. Estimatio Precentoriae  36 s. Contributio  12 d. Estimatio Refectoriae  20 s. Contributio  7 d. Estimatio Camerae praeter portionem Abbatis 4 l.  Contributio  28 d. Estimatio auxilii de Pylesgate 100 sol Contributio  35 d. Notandum quod Dominus Willielmus Abbas solus fecit hanc taxationem One half of which was paid at the Feast of St. Martins the other half at the Purification Here a fit occasion offers it self to mention the several donations bestowed upon the forenamed Offices of the Monastery which they called Obedientias and the Names of their benefactors which were very many especially to the Sacristy and to the Altars Sanctae Mariae and Sanctae Crucis in particular but it would prolong this work too much and swell it beyond the designed proportion Fol. CVII This William in the year 1248. obliged himself and Successors to several things very profitable for the Convent For instance that no composition should be made for the future about their possessions and liberties no Wards granted no Woods sold without the consent of the Convent no nor any thing of weight attempted without their advice And moreover that one or two Monks should without intermission be Custodes of the Mannors of the Abbot and two receivers of all the profits of them one of them a Monk residing in the house and one of the Chaplains of the Abbot And lest in process of time the condition of the Convent should be worsted he granted and promised that neither he nor his Successors would diminish their allowances nor procure them to be diminished And that the Parents and acquaintance of the Monks should be competently and sufficiently provided with better bread and beer than ordinary out of the Celerary of the Abbot c. To which he set his Seal and the Chapter theirs In the same year he granted out of his mere liberality to the Celerary of the Church his Mannor of Gosdkirk with all the appurtenances and all the Tenement called Belasise with the appurtenances for the eight pound Sterling in which he and his Predecessors stood bound at the four quarters of the year for the celebration of the principal Feasts and for the forty Shillings which Walter his Predecessor gave for celebrating the Feast of the Dedication of the Church Yet so that he and his Successors should pay the increment of Wheat and Malt for the augmentation of the VIII Monks throughout the whole year without substraction every week out of their own Granary Then follows the assignation of the Capital Messuage in Northbruch for the increase of the Chamber In this year as the Chron. of John Abbot tells us the King demanded a Subsidy of all the Prelates and this William gave him an hundred Pound of Silver presently after which he resigned his place but he doth not tell us any reason why he left it His words are ad An. MCCXLVIII Henricus Rex petiit subsidium à Prelatis Willielmus Abbas Burgi dedit ei C. marcas argenti Cui cedenti successit Johannes de Kaleto The cause which Matth. Paris who places this the year after 1249 assigns of his receding is something strange he having been so compliant as I have related with his Convent and so studious of their good And the damage they complained of was not so great but he had an honourable commemoration in