Page:VCH Norfolk 2.djvu/277

 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 1280 by Sir Nicholas Hastyng, knt. ;^ a free chapel dedicated to the honour of the Virgin was founded at Roydon in 1282 by Sir Matthew de Morley, knt.;^ and a free chapel and chantry dedicated to the honour of St. Mary the Virgin and All Saints was founded by Sir John de Thorp, knt., at Ashwellthorpe, in 1311.^ These are among the earliest foundations, but later many more were founded, until, in the year 1535, the number of chantries and free chapels in existence in Norfolk,* distinct from those in parish churches, was 138 ; while the annuities granted to retired chantry priests and incumbents of free chapels and chantries in Norfolk in 1553 amounted to jCs^^ oj-. i d} The Calendar of Papal Petitions^ for 1355 records the grant of a licence to Thomas, bishop- elect of Norwich, sub-deacon, to be ordained deacon and priest, and to be consecrated by any Catholic bishop. This was Thomas Percy, brother of Henry Percy, earl of Northumberland, and then only twenty- two years of age, preferred to the bishopric by the pope in deference to the wishes of Henry, duke of Lancaster, though the monks could not be persuaded to elect him.^ When first appointed he was not in England, so the adminis- tration of his diocese fell to his suffragan, Thomas, titular bishop of Nazareth.' Thomas Percy was consecrated 3 January, 1356, and died at his manor of Bloheld 8 August, 1369, when little more than thirty-five. Contrary to what might have been expected, the young bishop seems not to have frequented the court, and to have seldom left his diocese. As he was a graduate of Oxford he can have been no unlettered ecclesiastic, and probably his kinsman's anxiety to obtain the bishopric for him shows that he considered him unfitted for the life of a layman. In 1361, the year of the second great pestilence, which, however, seems to have affected Norfolk but slightly, a hurricane blew down the cathedral tower,' and the bishop contributed largely to its restoration. For the year before his death a record is in existence of very remarkable value for the account it gives of the churches in the arch- deaconry of Norwich. It is a visitation^" and registry of church ornaments in the archdeaconry, and it gives the value of every benefice, with a list of the ornaments and books of the church, and in many cases the names of the donors. Fifteen churches are included in the deanery of Thetford, and its list of churches in Norwich mentions some which were already ruinous or united to other churches." But its interest lies less in its enumeration of benefices in each deanery and their values, than in the picture it affords of church ritual and adornment at the time. It has been shown that if the character of the Norfolk clergy sometimes reflected that of the rough and violent times in which they lived, they were often men of education and standing, and this register makes it clear with what generosity Norfolk people contributed to the decoration of their many beautiful churches, and how sumptuous was the ceremonial maintained in them. ^ Tiylor, Ini/(x Monastkus, 67. 'Ibid. Mbid. * Ibid. App. 127. » Ibid. ' i, 276- ' Goulburn, Hist, of Norwich Cathedral, 439. ' Stubbs, Reg. Sacr. Anglic. ' Cal. Papal Petitions, i, 418. This calendar also contains many grants of indulgences to those who helped to restore other Norfolk churches at this time. '° Excheq. Misc. Bis. K. R. xxx, P.R.O. ; Norf. Arch, v, 89. " This work mentions 19 churches in the deanery of Taverham ; 36 in that of Blofeld ; 2; in Flegg ; 40 in Ingworth ; 3 I in Sparham ; 31 in Holt ; 20 in Walsingham ; 11 in Toftcs ; 36 in Brisley ; 56 in Lynn ; 1 6 in Breccias ; and I 5 in Thetford. 243