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 RELIGIOUS HOUSES out these years many individuals made donations and bequests to forward the New Work/' After 1283 hortatory letters of bishops for the same end were few : ' the main brunt of the work was over.'*" The dean and chapter became involved in a quarrel with the mayor and commonalty on the question of the boundaries of their precmcts. The determina- tion of the way without their churchyard wall, which Henry I had suffered them to make, appears to have been ambiguous, while the com- pletion of the wall was delayed. Further, the chapter had, apparently, an unrestricted power of closing the gates of the churchyard, naturally productive of inconvenience to the citizens. In 1 28 1 an agreement was made by which the mayor and citizens conceded that the southern gates should not be open from curfew to morn- ing." In 1284-5 Edward I granted that the churchyard might be inclosed and have fitting gates and posterns.'^ The bishop, the dean and the chapter pleaded before the king at the Guildhall, in this year, that the proximity of houses to their wall had prevented them from building residences for the ministers of their church, and judgement was given in their favour.*' The attitude of St. Paul's in connexion with national politics under Edward II is proved by the honour that was paid to Thomas earl of Lancaster, after his death. The earl had put up a tablet in the cathedral to commemorate the granting of the ordinances, and its neighbour- hood acquired a reputation for the working of miracles.** An image of Lancaster was erected there, before which, with the sanction of the church of Rome and the bishop, the people prayed and made offerings. The king by letters to the bishop and to the dean and chapter ordered such practice to be discontinued ; ^^ the tablet, and presumably the statue, were removed by royal writ ; but the people still made obla- tions on the spot which had become sanctified.** A form of prayer in honour of Thomas of Lan- caster, which was used in St. Paul's, is extant, and it betrays curious popular sympathies on the part of the cathedral clergy. In a hymn the earl is addressed as ' he who, when he saw the common people shipwrecked and in travail, did not spurn to die for the right.' *' Under the stronger governments of Edward III and " Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, pt. i ; Sharpe, Cal. of Wills, &c. «° Dugdale, Hist, of St. PauPs, 14. " Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ix, App. pt. i, 51. »' Dugdale, Hist, of St. PauFs, 1 7. " Sharpe, Cal. of Letter Bk. A. 213 ; Abbrev. Plac. (Rec. Com.), 208. " Fabyan, Chron. of Land. 257. '* Cal. of Close, i 313-18, p. 723. " Fabyan, Chron. ofLond. 257. «' Doc. I Iks. Hist, of St. Paul's (ed. W. S. Simpson), 11-14. Richard II St. Paul's lost individuality and inde- pendence. To the first the chapter granted loans and free gifts.*' In 1379 Richard II exercised with regard to St. Paul's the privilege conceded to him by Urban VI, of nominating two canons in all cathedrals and collegiate churches in England.*' He presented a minor canon in 1381, a treasurer in 1387, and a pre- bendary in 1 39 1.'** In 1393 he again conferred the office of treasurer ; the matter was brought before the Court of Chancery, and, in accordance with the decision, Richard revoked his grant. '^ From the accession of Edward II resistance to papal aggression was likewise harder and less effectual ; its successes were due to the fact that Roman greed of gold was stronger than greed of power. After Ralph Baldock had been pro- moted to the bishopric, the deanery was held successively by two Roman cardinals, Raymond de la Goth and Arnald de Cantilupe.'^ It is probable that these deans took little part in the doings of the chapter: thus, in 1309, the year in which he died, Arnald was authorised to appoint attorneys while he was absent for three years at the court of Rome.'' It was in 1307 that the chapter wrote to the pope on the sub- ject of Grosteste.'* John Sendale was 'rightly elected dean by the canons' in 131 1 ;" yet in 13 14 Edward II sent a letter to the pope asking him to grant to John that confirmation without which his tenure was incomplete.'^ The occa- sion of such a request becomes clear when it appears that, probably in this year or the next, John XXII granted the deanery of London with a canonry to Vitalis de Testa, nephew of William, cardinal of St. Curiae ; '^ and addressed him as dean and canon of London until the year 1 322.'* The papal mandate states that the offices are void by the death of Arnald de Cantilupe, and ignores John Sendale. Yet in a list of deans in the archives of the cathedral it is stated that John was dean from 131 1 to 13 16, Richard New- port from 1 3 14 to 131 7, and Vitalis in 1323." In 1 3 16 the pope granted to Vitalis leave to enjoy the fruits of his benefices while he pursued his studies at a university.'"** This, coupled with the fact that he seems to have been chiefly dis- tinguished as the nephew of his uncle, makes it probable that he was very young, and must have ^ Cal. of Close, i333-7>P- i7; 1339-41. PP- 5S8, 684; 1346-9, p. 384. ^' Cal. of Pat. 1377-81, pp. 328, 329- '" Ibid. 1381-5, p. 411 ; Le Neve, f^j/;' (ed. 1716), zoi. " Cal. of Pat. 1383-92, pp. 327, 412. " Le Neve, Fasti (ed. 1716), 183. " Cal of Pat. 1307-13, p. 122. " V. supra. '■■ Wharton, De Episcopis Loud, etc., 214. "^ Rymer, Focd. iii, 473. " Cal. of Pap. Letters, ii, 124. »»Ibid. ii, 155. " Reg. S. Pauli (ed. W. S. Simpson), 468-470. "» Cal. of Pap. Letters, ii, 155. 413