when Bernardus de Genebreda, now Prior of Longeville, had been Prior at Newington.1 William de Tevolio promised to pay this at the rate of forty marks a year, and did so for two years, after which the balance was remitted.2 Some extracts from the Pipe Rolls, which are given in a roll, state that the payment from Newington was raised to £105 on Feb. 12, 1343; there is no record of this on the Patent or Close Rolls, but no doubt it is correct. After the victory of Poictiers in 1355, there were many attempts at making peace, and the communications between Newington and the mother house were re-opened. In August, 1358, Peter de Sales was sent from Longeville to relieve William de Tevolio of his duties as proctor of Longeville, and in July, 1359, the king committed to "Peter de Sales, Prior of Newington," the custody of the priory at a rent of £105 a year. On Aug. 30, 1360, the Priory was committed to Brother John Fabri, monk and proctor of Longeville, at the same rent, according to the extracts from the Pipe Rolls." On May 8, 1360, the Peace of Bretigni was signed, and the war between England and France was at an end, and on Feb. 16, 1361, the French monasteries once more obtained possession of their English cells." 8 On Oct. 20, 1367, the proctor of the Priory of Longeville granted a lease of all their properties in England to Nicholas de Tamworth and Joan his wife for five years at a rent of £80; he was to provide maintenance at Newington for John de Boys, monk of Longeville, and to supply him with £2 a year for clothing. On the same day a lease was granted to him on still more favourable terms, of which we have information from the Patent Rolls and from the Pipe Roll; the lease was to be for twenty years, and the rent was reduced from 120 marks to 106 marks; on the other hand he was to maintain two monks, not one, and was to allow them 5 marks each for shoes and clothing; probably the two monks were John Fabri and John de Boys. Nicholas de Tamworth was king's admiral and captain of Calais, and the king gave him permission to take this lease. It is evident that the rent was 1 P. 96. 3 6 2 P. 97. Newington Longeville, No. 159. very low, and we may guess that the Priory of Longeville, foreseeing that war might be renewed, thought it wise to grant a favourable lease in return for a payment beforehand by Nicholas de Tamworth. One of our deeds gives what is practically this lease, but with the date Jan. 15, 136.1 On April 29, 1369, war broke out again, and Nicholas de Tamworth paid his rent of 106 marks each year to the king. One of our deeds shows that he and "Dan John Feuer" (i.e. Iohannes Fabri) sub-let the properties of Longeville in Norfolk to William Louche and others in the year 1375, for a rent of 90 marks, so that the rent due to the king was nearly covered by the properties in Norfolk. In 1377 Nicholas de Tamworth died, and on Oct. 20, 1377, the king granted a lease of the same property on the same terms to Joan his widow for a period of ten years; but before long she married Gilbert Talbot and in Oct. 28, 1384, the king granted the same property to Gilbert Talbot for the term of his life at a rent of 120 marks; he was to maintain at Newington two Cluniac monks, if they can be found, to say the divine service; failing them, he is to maintain two "religious" or two "seculars" for that purpose, providing them with firing and lodging, and paying to each of them 10 marks for food and clothing." It may be added that of the two Cluniac monks of Newington, John Boys had died in 1383.4 On July 30, 1390, the lease was renewed on the same terms except that it was granted to Gilbert Talbot and Joan his wife and the heirs and assigns of Gilbert, as long as the war lasts. On Nov. 28, 1399, the property was committed on the same terms to Thomas Tutbury. In 1403 it was committed to Ralph Rochefort, knight, and John Glaston, clerk, for Rochefort's life, at the same rent; but before long the king owed large sums to Rochefort, who was a prominent soldier and governor of Guisnes, and on May 8, 1412, the rent seems to have been reduced to 50 marks.7 Meanwhile Rochefort had been allowed by the king to obtain from the Prior of Longeville a deed by which he was confirmed in his lease of Newington for fifty years; so that even if peace was made and the alien 6 1 P. 21. 3 5 2 P. 83. Quoted in the Patent Roll of July 30, 1390; also from the Pipe Roll as quoted in Newington Longeville deed No. 159. 5 See Patent Roll. 7 See Patent Roll for July 16, 1424. priories were given back, Rochefort would still hold for life on the same terms. In 1424, when the money due from the king to Rochefort had increased, he was granted a lease for life free of rent,' and on Dec. 8, 1439, by which time the king owed him more than £2000, it was agreed that his assigns should hold the same property free of rent for twenty-six years after his death. 2 On April 3, 1441, Rochefort being dead, the king granted the Priory to New College, and on Aug. 18 the authority of Parliament was added. Owing to the grant of Dec. 8, 1439, New College could obtain nothing for twentysix years, and one of our deeds suggests that the College tried to overthrow that grant, giving reasons why it was null and void. Probably the parties came to terms; on July 15, 1442, the executors of Rochefort quitclaimed their rights to New College, and two deeds show that the College in return paid to them £40 a year for twenty-six years. Lastly, there is a deed which suggests that New College had some dealings with Longeville Priory; for in 1445, the Prior of Longeville, though he had lost his property in England for more than thirty years, yet appoints a proctor for England with full powers to act. Perhaps it was at this time that New College acquired from Longeville the Cartulary (now lost) of which we have a record, and from which some of the deeds in the Liber Niger may have been copied. LIST OF THE PRIORS OF LONGEVILLE. By the help of the New College deeds we can restore to some extent the successions of the Priors of Longeville. No Cartulary of Longeville has survived, and not many charters; but a Necrology or list of obits observed at Longeville was published in tom. xxiii., pp. 432-8 of the Recueil des historiens de France (1876), in which occur many names of priors; in Neustria Pia, p. 667, some names are given; and M. Jules Vernier, who is in charge of the archives of the Seine Inferieure, has kindly examined the deeds of Longeville that are in his charge, and has been able to contribute something. The 1 Patent Rolls. 2 P. 99; also Patent Roll. 4 Ibid. 5 P. 101. earliest priors of Longeville are not mentioned in our deeds; the following is a list : 1. Henry was prior between 1167 and May, 1173, as we learn from deed No. 70. No doubt he is the same Henry who is known to have been prior in 1177.1 2. Robert occurs as prior in deed No. 5, which is between Nov., 1185, and Oct., 1187, and in No. 88 which is certainly before 1189. 3. William is mentioned as prior in No. 53. This deed has been assigned in the text to the years 1186 or 1187, because of the mention of Pope Urban, but the date may be later. A commission to judges delegate by Pope Urban would hold good for many years after his death, if by the day of his death the lawsuit had reached its first stage. The date, therefore, may well be as late as 1189. No doubt the W., who occurs in No. 77, is this William; the date there must be after Michaelmas, 1189. 4. In deed No. 123 we have a prior of Longeville named Josbert. We have no means of deciding whether he should be placed second, third, or fourth in this list, but the most probable position is between 1190 and 1196. 5. Henry occurs as prior in No. 61, which is dated 1196; in No. 91, which is not later than Sept. 2, 1196; in No. 59, which is after May, 1202; and in No. 67, which is of Sept. 19, 1203. 6. M. Jules Vernier informs me that there is a charter at Rouen which mentions R. as Prior of Longeville in 1207. 7. In No. 44, which is of the year 1211, there is a prior with the initial S. 8. William occurs as prior in No. 95, which is of Oct., 1235 to Oct., 1236; also in No. 28, which is dated Mar. 25, 1236. 9. Nicholas, Prior of Longeville, is between Oct. 28, 1251, and Oct. 28, 1252.2 10. In 1265 (No. 82) Peter was prior and also in 1280 (No. 107), and M. Jules Vernier says that P. is Prior in a charter of 1284. The Necrology mentions that among the priors was a Peter de Bosco. In charter No. 106 there is a Prior of Longeville named John, in the year 1273; and the 1 Recueil des historiens de France, xxiii., p. 434. same name is given in the foot of the fine which is preserved at the Record Office; but the scribe probably means "John, proctor of Longeville and Prior of Newington," and deed No. 42 shows that in 1274 the Prior of Newington was named John. II. Philip occurs as prior, 1310 (No. 128), in 1321,1 and in Feb., 1328.2 He was promoted to be Abbot of Fécamp in 1329.3 12. Bernardus de Genebreda was prior in 1336,4 in 1342 (No. 132), and on Aug. 16, 1344 (No. 133). 13. Hugo Cariti occurs on Dec. 4, 1363 (No. 30). 14. Helias Jacobi is found in 1367 (No. 15 and No. 137), in 1368 (No. 138), and a charter of 1371 now at Rouen gives his name. LIST OF THE PRIORS OF NEWINGTON LONGEVILLE. By the help of the following documents it is possible to compile a list of the Priors of Newington Longeville; but, from what has been already said, it will be understood that such a list is not of much value. Priors of alien houses were not elected but nominated, and did not hold office for life but might be, and generally were, recalled to the mother house. Further, it was possible for a man to be nominated prior for a second period. Hence, for purposes of dating, the name of a prior of an alien house must be used with caution. It appears from the following list that the Prior of Newington and the Proctor of Longeville were generally identical, and that in early times the title Proctor (or, as we should say, Agent) was the more common. But it was not necessary that the prior should always be the proctor; for if the mother house had a matter in England which required special legal knowledge, a monk might be sent from the mother house to be proctor in that special case. The following is the list : William, proctor, in 1185-90 (No. 55). W., proctor, in 1188-91 (No. 36). 1 Registrum Collegii Exoniensis (ed. Boase), p. 324. 2 Cal. of Close Rolls of 1328 (p. 383). 3 Neustria Pia, p. 667. Ibid. |