[66]and 1 lb. of pepper.
[66]and 1 lb. of pepper.
[67]and 4 barbed arrows.
[67]and 4 barbed arrows.
In connection with the above table the following details may be noted here: other points will be considered when we come to examine the details.
Burton-on-Trent.In the first valuation the details of the Derbyshire temporalities amount to £73 11s. 2d., not £73 6s. 2d. In Roman numerals the shillings appear as vis.instead of xis..—a mistake easily made. The total of temporalities appears, therefore, as £271 11s. 3½d. instead of £271 16s. 3½d., and this affects the calculation throughout. The gross income should be £357 1s. 3½d. and the net income £267 19s. 3d.In the second valuation the details of the temporalities amount to £414 14s. 4½d. instead of £402 15s. 4½d. as given: the spiritualities amount to £99 5s. instead of £98 11s. 8d. The total income (gross) should therefore be £513 19s. 4½d. instead of £501 7s. 0½d., leaving the net balance £424 17s. 4d. instead of £412 5s.Croxden.See below, page 97.Dieulacres.The gross total income is given as £243 2s. 6d., whereas the totals of the various sections amount to £243 3s. 6d. As the total of the disbursements to be deducted is given as £15 18s. 6d. and the net final balance as £227 5s. (i.e., £243 3s. 6d.—£15 18s. 6d.) the sum first named is probably a misprint in the printed edition. I have, therefore, given the correct figures of the gross total income in my table.Hulton.The gross balance as given is 10½d. too little, but in working out the tenth this appears to have been remembered. A tenth of £76 14s. is £7 13s. 4¾d. and a fraction. This added to a tenth of the 10½d. gives £7 13s. 6d. nearly.Rocester.The items of expenditure are arranged in four groups, and the four totals are correctly given. They make £12 8s. 8½d. in all, but this is noted below as £11 8s. 8½d., and this is the amount which is deducted from the gross total income to make the balance of £100 2s. 10½d. The balance ought to be £99 2s. 10½d.Ronton.In stating the spiritual outgoings the amounts are given with great minuteness. For instance, the Bishop’s annual Visitation Fee is set forth as £1 2s. 2½d. + ⅓ of ½d. The result is that this small fraction appears throughout the succeeding calculation, until at last the gross balance becomes £lxxxx iis.xd.ob’ iiasptes ob’.Stafford, St. Thomas. In the spiritual disbursements the total is given as £24 1s. 8½d. and ⅓ of ½d., and in the deduction of the total expenditure from the total income the last item is put as 2⅓d., whereas it apparently should be 1⅝d.Stone. In the spiritualities the balance is printed inV.E.as £68 15s. 5¼d., whereas it should be £59 15s. 5⅓d. The final balance, therefore, should be £110 14s. 11⅓d. instead of as shown in the table.As the tithe paid (£11 19s. 6d.) is correct for £119 14s. 11¼d. the mistake is probably due to the official: he wrote £lviiii when he put down the total spiritual income, but read it as £lxviii when he added the total.Trentham. In temporalities the balance should be £75 13s. 2d. according to the figures given, and this error of 10d. affects the whole calculation. The final balance, according to the figures given inV.E., should be £106 2s. 10-11/12d. If the 10d. be added it becomes practically whatV.E.makes it, viz., £106 3s. 8-11/12d.
Burton-on-Trent.In the first valuation the details of the Derbyshire temporalities amount to £73 11s. 2d., not £73 6s. 2d. In Roman numerals the shillings appear as vis.instead of xis..—a mistake easily made. The total of temporalities appears, therefore, as £271 11s. 3½d. instead of £271 16s. 3½d., and this affects the calculation throughout. The gross income should be £357 1s. 3½d. and the net income £267 19s. 3d.
In the second valuation the details of the temporalities amount to £414 14s. 4½d. instead of £402 15s. 4½d. as given: the spiritualities amount to £99 5s. instead of £98 11s. 8d. The total income (gross) should therefore be £513 19s. 4½d. instead of £501 7s. 0½d., leaving the net balance £424 17s. 4d. instead of £412 5s.
Croxden.See below, page 97.
Dieulacres.The gross total income is given as £243 2s. 6d., whereas the totals of the various sections amount to £243 3s. 6d. As the total of the disbursements to be deducted is given as £15 18s. 6d. and the net final balance as £227 5s. (i.e., £243 3s. 6d.—£15 18s. 6d.) the sum first named is probably a misprint in the printed edition. I have, therefore, given the correct figures of the gross total income in my table.
Hulton.The gross balance as given is 10½d. too little, but in working out the tenth this appears to have been remembered. A tenth of £76 14s. is £7 13s. 4¾d. and a fraction. This added to a tenth of the 10½d. gives £7 13s. 6d. nearly.
Rocester.The items of expenditure are arranged in four groups, and the four totals are correctly given. They make £12 8s. 8½d. in all, but this is noted below as £11 8s. 8½d., and this is the amount which is deducted from the gross total income to make the balance of £100 2s. 10½d. The balance ought to be £99 2s. 10½d.
Ronton.In stating the spiritual outgoings the amounts are given with great minuteness. For instance, the Bishop’s annual Visitation Fee is set forth as £1 2s. 2½d. + ⅓ of ½d. The result is that this small fraction appears throughout the succeeding calculation, until at last the gross balance becomes £lxxxx iis.xd.ob’ iiasptes ob’.
Stafford, St. Thomas. In the spiritual disbursements the total is given as £24 1s. 8½d. and ⅓ of ½d., and in the deduction of the total expenditure from the total income the last item is put as 2⅓d., whereas it apparently should be 1⅝d.
Stone. In the spiritualities the balance is printed inV.E.as £68 15s. 5¼d., whereas it should be £59 15s. 5⅓d. The final balance, therefore, should be £110 14s. 11⅓d. instead of as shown in the table.
As the tithe paid (£11 19s. 6d.) is correct for £119 14s. 11¼d. the mistake is probably due to the official: he wrote £lviiii when he put down the total spiritual income, but read it as £lxviii when he added the total.
Trentham. In temporalities the balance should be £75 13s. 2d. according to the figures given, and this error of 10d. affects the whole calculation. The final balance, according to the figures given inV.E., should be £106 2s. 10-11/12d. If the 10d. be added it becomes practically whatV.E.makes it, viz., £106 3s. 8-11/12d.
From the table it is evident that the total income of the religious houses amounted to something like £1,608 5s. 2¾d., at least, so far as Staffordshire is concerned. Only a small fraction of this was returned to the Church when the property of the monasteries was confiscated, and practically nothing of the “moveable” wealth they contained. How great this latter was is shown by the proceeds of the sales which were conducted at the Suppression. We shall revert to the subject later.
The extent to which the monasteries had “robbed” the parish churches is shown by the following figures, taken fromValor Ecclesiasticus. The first column gives the tithes received by the monasteries, the second gives the amounts which came from parish churches in other ways, such as glebe, offerings, etc. The third gives the payments made by the monasteries to churches. In all cases the figures are fromValor Ecclesiasticus.
In all, the Staffordshire monasteries took £543 6s. 5d. at least from parishes in tithes, glebe, oblations, Easter dues and the like, and gave to churches the utterly insignificant sum of £19 7s. 10d. As Cistercian houses, long ago exempted by the Lateran Council of 1215, Croxden, Dieulacres, and Hulton, paid no tithe on land in their own occupation, and many other houses had obtained a similar privilege by special Bulls. Probably also the Commissioners did not return the tithe when it was paid to the church belonging to the monastery. In such cases, the payment of tithe among the disbursements would simply have cancelled the receipt of the tithe among the receipts. The following details illustrate the way in which money came from the parish churches. It is not an exhaustive table:
[68]In these cases it is not stated from what particular source the amounts are derived.The figures in heavy type are from the second survey inValor Ecclesiasticus.
[68]In these cases it is not stated from what particular source the amounts are derived.
The figures in heavy type are from the second survey inValor Ecclesiasticus.
Voluntary offerings amount to an absolutely insignificant sum, £7 19s. 8d. for the whole county. This is not surprising. It was difficult to obtain particulars if the monks were reticent on the matter, and, also, there is no doubt that recent religious events, and the whole trend of affairs, had seriously affected all forms of charity. It is probable, therefore, that although the voluntary offerings ought to be larger in amount than they appear inValor Ecclesiasticus, they did not stand at a very high figure.
Chantries are only mentioned in connection with Burton-on-Trent and Rocester. At the former, £5 was paid annually to the Chaplain of the Chantry at Sallow, in Derbyshire, according to the ordinance of John Stafford, formerly Abbot, and 2s. annually was paid towards the maintenance of a lamp in the churchof Allestree. At Rocester £4 6s. 8d. is stated as being paid for the maintenance of a chantry at Lichfield Cathedral, though no trace of it is to be found in the Cathedral returns.
Here again we cannot accept the evidence as complete, and cannot understand the motives which actuated the Commissioners and caused the instructions to be interpreted as they were. Why the incomes of chantries should be particularly apportioned at cathedrals and elsewhere, and not at the religious houses, is not evident. Certainly chantries existed in the religious houses. For instance, in 1517 Sir John Fitzherbert, of Norbury, had made bequests in his will to “the Chantries” at Rocester and Calwich.[69]The only payment for a lamp is the one already mentioned.
Fees in connection with Episcopal Visitations are found at Hulton (6s. 8d.), Trentham (£3 17s. 4d.), Stafford (£3 6s. 8d.), Stone (£3 6s. 8d.), Ronton (£3 6s. 8d.), and Burton (£3 6s. 7½d.). These amounts shown were paid triennially. The post-Dissolution valuation of Dudley Priory shows that 2s. a year was paid there also as Bishop’s Visitation Fees.
The Archdeacon also received annual Visitation Fees, and fees for procurations, etc. Fees for appropriations were paid in some cases to the Bishop and in others to the Dean and Chapter. The following shows the total annual payments, as given inValor Ecclesiasticus, to the Bishop, the Dean and Chapter, and the Archdeacons.
It is interesting to notice that two of the three Cistercian Abbeys, although they had not adhered to the earlier rule of their Order to abstain from the appropriation of benefices, had nevertheless managed to avoid the payments to either Bishop or Dean and Chapter which such appropriations usually entailed; and also that they are the only houses for men which did not pay Visitation Fees to the Bishop. But Ronton alone could show no payments to the Archdeacon: his all-embracing activity was evidently not less in the sixteenth century than it had been in the days of John of Salisbury, who characteristically propounded the probleman possit archidiaconus salvus esse?