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 A HISTORY OF LONDON the chapel or precincts, and have the oblations or obventions, except in the case of parishioners of St. Botolph's, when half the offering was to go to the rector. Considering that at this time their fixed income was only 335.^ per annum, and that the proceeds of the collection, which by royal licence ° they made throughout the kingdom, had probably fallen off after the plague of 1350,' this settlement was important, and in order to swell the flow of offerings they obtained from the pope in 1363 a special in- dulgence, extending over a period of ten years, to those who at Christmas, the Epiphany, and the five feasts of the Virgin Mary, with their vigils, visited and rendered material aid to the hospital.* In 1389 it benefited, presumably to the extent of ;^I00,° by the will of Ralph Basset of Drayton ^° who erected two chantries there. It must also have reaped some advantage from a gild called the Fraternity of St. Mary of Bethlehem established in the church in 1370." The connexion of the house with the bishop- ric of Bethlehem doubtless came to an end in the latter part of the thirteenth century, when the Holy Land was lost to Christendom, but how or when the king obtained the patronage it is im- possible to say. The corporation of London in 1346 took the hospital under its protection, ^^ and had certainly some kind of right over the place in 1350, for on the death of the master, John de Nortone, the Serjeant was ordered to take pos- session of the house in the name of the City,^' though the order was afterwards rescinded because the hospital had been let to a certain Robert Aaunsard, fishmonger, for a term of years. In 1 38 1, when the king appointed William Welles as master, the City disputed his right, asserting that the hospital was in their gift.^* At first they were successful, ^^^ but in the end the crown gained the day, and appointed " as in the case of ' Ca/. ?ap. Petitions, i, 423. 'Ca/. 0/ Pat. 1327-30, pp. 446 551 ; 1330-4, pp. 107, 179, S41 ; 133+-8, P- 3+4; 1340-3. p. 72. ^ Ca/. Pap. Petitions, i, 423. The statement is that they had lost many of their benefactors by the pesti- lence. Mbid. 'Dugdale, Baronage,, 380. As he left ^^200 for the establishing of four chantries, it seems most probable that half went to the two in St. Mary Bethlehem. '"Nicolas, Testamenta Vetusta, 126. "Gild Cert. No. 202. " Sharpe, Cal. of Letter Bk. F, 1 54. " Ibid. 163. " Par/. R. (Rec. Com.), iii, 128^. "* John Gardyner was appointed by them in 1 38 1, and still held the post in 1389. Sharpe, Ca/. of Letter Bi. H, 165, 338. " Lincoln, who followed Gardyner, was nominated by the king. Ca/. of Pat. I 385-9, p. 526 ; Sharpe, Ca/. of Letter Bi. H, 338. In 1423 the king again appointed. Ca/ of Pat. 1422-9, p. 135. a royal free chapel, which the hospital resembled also in another point, viz. its exemption from the jurisdiction of the ordinary. Some very interesting facts about the house were disclosed during a visitation by two of the king's clerks in March, 1403." It had already become an asylum principally, though not exclu- sively, for the insane, and at that time there were six lunatics and three sick persons there. These people, or their relatives, contributed something to their support, but the amount varied, the highest rate mentioned being 12^. a week paid by a merchant of Exeter, who was there for six weeks. The hospital had a little property,^' but was chiefly maintained by volim- tary contributions, and it was calculated that the collections throughout England brought in about 40 marks a year, the obventions in the great and small chapels 52J., those on the great feasts another $25., the box at the door of the house and the two boxes carried about London and the suburbs similar amounts, and the offerings for the poor on the day of the Parascene 2QS. A collection throughout the diocese of London for the sick poor amounted roughly to 4 marks annually, and gifts of meat, ale, fish, salt, and candles were also made. The management of the hospital appears at this time to have belonged to the office of porter, and Peter Taverner, who had received the post for life, had abused his trust in every way. He had rendered no accounts of the money accruing fi-om the various collections, in some cases for four years, in others for fourteen, nor of bequests and payments made for the inmates. He had not distributed the alms, but with the money had bought fuel and made the poor pay for it, while his wife had taken the best of the contri- butions in kind. Not content with this, he had disposed of the beds and other goods, causing a loss to the hospital of about ;^40, and through him robbers had caused even worse damage. In spite of the remonstrances of the master he per- sisted in playing at dice and draughts, and in selling ale at his house within the close. It is incredible that Taverner's conduct would have been so long unchecked if the master had been constantly resident or really interested in the place, and it may be noted that the statement of one of the inmates that divine service was sometimes withdrawn by the default of the master or his curate was found to be true, and that the chapel was but poorly provided with books and plate,^* " Chan. Misc. R. No. 276. " Lands and houses in the precinct, Dugdale, Mon. Ang/. vi, Size ; a house near Charing Cross, Chan. Misc. R. No. 276. " There was only one silver cup for the high altar. There were two missals, said to be neither sufficient nor suitable, a gradual not suitable, a breviarj', and no manual. The vestments and ornaments were, how- ever, declared sufiicient. Chan. Misc. R No. 276. 496