Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/492

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. x. DEC. 20, 1902.

Prior Sc'i Fritheswid h't ibidem de redd', 12s.

Prior Sc'i Wandrelii h't ib'dem in redd\ 51. 10s.

Abb' Sc'i Albani h't ibidem in redd', 3s.

From this it will be seen that the rents of the Priory of St. Wandregesil exceeded in value the combined lands and rents of five other religious houses at that time interested in Moulton ; and it is, therefore, strange that Baker in his county history (1822) should have omitted this priory altogether, as indeed his predecessor John Bridges did in 1791. At what date Upavon came into possession of the Moulton " rents," or any portion of them, is not altogether clear. However, the two following " Papal Letters " show the con- nexion in the year 1337 :

(1) " To the Archbishop of Rouen. Mandate to absolve the Benedictine abbot and prior of St. Wandregesil (Fontenelle) from whatever penalty they have incurred in selling without licence of the bishop, or of the Pope, a yearly pension of 120s. which they had in the churches of Boughton and Moulton.* in the diocese of Lincoln,f belonging to them in virtue of the Priory of Uphaven in the diocese of Salisbury. The pension which John Walteri was bound to pay could not be collected, and was therefore sold to the said nobleman " (Kal. May, 1337, Avignon). 'Regesta,' vol cxxii. (2 Bene- dict XII.).

(2) " To the Archbishop of Rouen. Mandate to absolve Abbot William and the Benedictine con- vent and prior of St. Wandregisil from the penalties they have incurred by selling without Papal licence, to John Walteri, the yearly pension of 110s. \sic] hitherto received by the Priory of Uphaven, subject to them, from the parishes of Bouketon (Boughton) and Multon, in the diocese of Lincoln " (Id. May, 1337, Avignon). 'Regesta,' cxxiii. (3 Benedict).

The Clerical Subsidy Rolls have been searched, and it has been ascertained that on one occasion, and pnS only, the priory in Fontenelle is mentioned, the document being an extremely faded one of the year 1393, marked "Clerical Subsidies (Lincoln 35/21) : 17 Ric. II." :

Sep'al eiusdem [abba't Sc'i Alban'] in Multon, id. oo. qr.

Sep'al pr' Sc'i Wandrelij in Multon, vs. vjd.

Beyond this I cannot go ; but it is evident that the Priory of St. Wandregesil was not concerned with the parish of Moulton for many generations after the date of this subsidy, as by the time the 'Valor Ecclesi- asticus' is reached the name has disappeared. I shall therefore be glad to have any further information which will throw light on the connexion existing between Moulton. Up- avon, and Fontenelle. Have any of the registers or cartularies of these priories been preserved? If so, where may they be con- sulted] In the case of Upavon Priory it would


 * Only a mile apart.

t Since 1541 in Peterborough diocese.

be interesting to learn whether its history has yet been written, and, if at all, in what books or papers. S. J. MADGE.

CATACOMBS OF THE LAVRA OF PETCHERSK. M. Leroy-Beaulieu in his pleasing descrip- tion of the Lavra of Petchersk, the oldest of Russian monasteries, seems to be at fault in one or two particulars. He says :

" Au pied du monastere, de 1'autre cot4 du grand fleuve, s etend un paysage vert, aussi plat et aussi vaste que la mer ; au-dessous sont les noires cata- combes ou v^curent les vieux anachoretes, ou leurs

corps reposent debout L>e la niche dont ils font

leur tombeau, apres en avoir fait leur demeure, les saints ascetes, mur6s dans la paroi, tendent une main dess^ch^e aux baisers des fideles." ' L'Empire des Tsars,' vol. iii. p. 230.

In these mysterious catacombs, the most interesting in Europe after those of Rome, repose the uncorrupted bodies of two classes of saints. First there are the saints who are in some way connected with the early history of the monastery, the only one whose name is likely to be familiar to English ears being Nestor, the Bede of Russian literature. Their corpses lie in open coffins, placed in niches formed in the sides of the subterranean passages, and they are laid horizontally and are not upright, with one exception, and that is the "great martyr" John, who in order to preserve his chastity dug a hole in the earth, in which he lived buried up to the waist, it is said, for thirty years. Whether he ever came out of the hole I do not know, though I believe he was ultimately made a bishop, and to-day in the dim light of the catacombs his upright form may be seen, visible above the armpits and adorned with a mitre jauntily placed upon his head. In the second sentence I have quoted the distinguished French writer seems to have confounded these saints, who with one exception lie in their coffins, with another class of hermits who, having excavated a cave in the soft rock, lived there alone, and then shut themselves off from contact with the outside world by blocking up the entrance, leaving only a small hole through which a pitcher of water and the consecrated elements were placed at certain intervals. When it was observed that these had not been touched for some time it was concluded that the inmate was dead, and the brethren of the monastery assembled and filled up the aperture, so that his dwelling- place became his tomb. It is not, therefore, very easy to see how he could extend a hand for the innumerable pilgrims to kiss. And as far as my observations have gone all the bodies are kept so carefully covered