Page:Medieval English nunneries c. 1275 to 1535.djvu/42

18 Katherine, which was equivalent to a further sum of money, unfortunately not specified.

Any collection of wills provides ample evidence of this dowry system. Not only do they frequently contain legacies for the support of some particular nun during the term of her life, but bequests also occur for the specific purpose of paying for the admission of a girl to a nunnery, in exactly the same way as other girls are provided with dowries for their marriage. The Countess of Warwick, in 1439, left a will directing "that Iane Newmarch have cc mark in gold. And I to bere all Costes as for her bryngynge yn-to seynt Katrens, or where-ever she woll be elles". Even the clergy, who should have been the last to recognise a system so flagrantly contrary to canon law, followed the general custom; Wilham Peke, rector of Scrivelsby, left one Isabella ten marks to make her a nun in the Gilbertine house of Catley and Robert de Playce, rector of the church of Bromp-ton, made the following bequest: Item I bequeath to the daughter of John de Playce my brother 100s. in silver, for an aid towards making her a nun in one of the houses of Wickham, Yedingham or Muncton, if her friends are willing to give her sufficient aid to accomphsh this, but if, through lack of assistance from friends, she be not made a nun,

she was to have none of this bequest (1345). Sometimes, as has already been noted, the money is left alternatively to marry the girl or to make her a nun, which brings out very clearly the dower-like nature of such bequests. The accounts of great folk