Page:A History of the Knights of Malta, or the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.djvu/199

Rh or as a return for some favour conferred on the Order. The table from which the corrodary drew his commons, depended upon his rank. Those who were of gentle blood were accommodated at the higher table with the commander and his confratre8; the others, according to their position in life, were quartered either on the liberi servientes or on the garciones. In some cases these corrodaries were in the receipt of very luxurious rations. For instance, at Clerkenwell, William de Langford is entitled to his commons at the commander’s table whenever he chooses to dine there, together with a place for one chamberlain at the second table, and for three inferior servants at the third. But on occasions when it was not convenient for him to be present he drew instead an allowance of four loaves of white bread, two of ration bread, and two of black bread, three flagons of best beer and two of the second quality, one whole dish from each of the three tables, together with, nightly, for his bedroom one flagon of best beer, and, during the winter season only, four candles and a faggot of firewood. For his stable he drew half a bushel of oats, hay, litter, and one shoe with nails daily. All these allowances were granted to him for the term of his life by charter from Thomas Larcher, who was at the time grand-prior of England. This worthy seems to have distributed pensions and corrodies right and left with the most reckless profusion; so much so, that some years prior to the date of this report he was either superseded by, or resigned his post to, Leonard do Tybertis, grand-prior of Venice, under whose fostering care the revenues of the English langue underwent a rapid change for the better.

The charge for repairs was infrequent and small in amount. We may infer from this that it had always been the practice to keep up the buildings in good substantial repair, and thus prevent large outlay at any particular time for restorations. It must be remembered that charges under this head are only for materials other than the timber and stone found on the estate, and would not include the labour which, in most cases, could be furnished from the staff of the establishment.

In addition to the expenses incurred for the maintenance of the household and its corrodaries, there was in many commanderies a heavy item under the head of hospitality. The