dean and of secular canons of the chapel of God, St. Mary and St. Stephen in the palace of Westminster was granted an exemption from murage dated 1/1/1354.
Wording
Gift, of special grace, after a suitable preamble, to the dean and of secular canons of the chapel which the king has founded to the honour of God, St. Mary and St. Stephen in his palace of Westminster, of the following:-
a place within the king's palace aforesaid, towards the north, stretching in length between the walls of the said chapel and the Receipt of the Exchequer and in breadth from the wall of the king's great hall of Westminster to the waters of .Thames, to make their close there and the houses necessary to their said chapel; the foregoing to be held by the said dean and canons and their successors together with free access therefrom to the said chapel by day or night by the gate next the king's bridge (pontem regium), where there is already an entrance to the chapel, of which gate they shall have the keys;
the chamber within the gate aforesaid which formerly belonged to the clerk of the king's kitchen; also other buildings (domos) within the palace which were appointed (ordinatas) as stables for the king's destriers (dextrariorum) and other horses; also the king's garden lying in length and breadth between the said houses and the hostel (hospicium) late of . . , earl of Kent, in the town of Westminster; also the said hostel as fully and freely as the king himself had it of the gift of John, late earl of Kent ; and the tenements in the town of Westminster late of Roger de Heydon the king's surgeon (surigici), deceased, which tenements the heirs of the said Roger for themselves and their heirs released to the king and his heirs ; all the foregoing to be held by the said dean and canons and their successors of the king and his heirs and the other chief lords of the fees in frank almoin;
that if any on pilgrimage (peregre) or by reason of devotion come to visit the threshold (limina) of the said chapel, they may have access thereto during daylight by the great hall of Westminster, without let or hindrance of the king's ministers of the palace ; for which purpose the said dean and canons shall have the keys of the doors (ostia) of the said hall;
together with grants of the following liberties to the said dean and canons for the better carrying out of their religious duties:-
that they shall be quit of aids for knighting the king's eldest son or for marrying his eldest daughter and of all aids of kings, contributions and tallages which might be exacted from them for the king's use in respect of the lands, tenements, rents, goods and chattels which they do now or shall in the future hold; and that whensoever the clergy of England or the provinces of Canterbury or York separately .shall contribute any tenth or other quota of their spirituality, or when the commons of the counties or the citizens or burgesses of the realm shall grant any quota or tax of their temporal goods, moveables, lands, rents or tenements to the king, or when the king himself or his heirs shall tallage their demesnes, or when the pope shall impose any tenth or other quota upon the clergy of the realm or of the provinces of Canterbury or of York and grant the same or a part thereof to the king, the churches and benefices appropriated to the said dean and canons, their lands, tenements, rents, goods and chattels shall not be so taxed, assessed or tallaged nor themselves in any way charged or vexed therein; nor shall they contribute to the provision or equipment of men-at-arms, hobblers, archers or foot soldiers for the king's service in any parts or for the defence of the coast;
that they shall hold all their buildings within the palace and town of Westminster and elsewhere quit of livery of stewards, marshals and other ministers of the king and his heirs, and of stewards, marshals, purveyors and ministers of queens, of the king's sons and of the sons of his heirs and of magnates and others, so that the said officers shall not make any livery in the houses of the said dean and canon against their will or the will of their successors or their ministers there ; and that no duke, earl, baron or other magnate of the realm or of any other place, nor any steward, marshal, escheator, sheriff, coroner or other minister of the king nor their bailiffs nor any other of any rank or condition shall lodge or stay in their said houses against their will;
that they and their successors and all their men and tenants dwelling in their lands, tenements, fees and places shall be quit of toll, pavage, pontage, quayage, murage, passage, paage, lestage, stallage, tallage, carriage, pesage, barbicanage, terrage, scot and geld, hidage, scutage, works of castles, parks and bridges, enclosures and of building and repairing of royal houses, of suits of counties, hundreds and wapentakes, of view of frankpledge and murder and of common amercement, whenever the county is amerced before the king or his justices, or those of his heirs, whether justices of the bench, justices in eyre or others;
that they shall have the chattels of their men and tenants, being felons or fugitive,' of all the lands and fees already conferred or in the future to be conferred upon them or their chapel ; so that if any such men, tenants or residents for any delict ought to lose life or limb or fly or refuse to stand to judgement or commit any other delict by reason of which he ought to lose his chattels wherever justice ought to be done of him, whether in the king's court or elsewhere, the said chattels shall go to the said dean and canons, and they or their ministers without let or hindrance of the king or any his ministers may at once put themselves in seisin and hold them to their own use;
that they shall have all fines for trespasses, oppressions, extortions, excesses, concealments and other delicts, under whatever form of words or subtlety such fines may be made, with fines for licence to agree, fines for having charters and writs and for all other causes, and with all amercements, redemptions, forfeited issues and forfeitures, year, day and waste and all things which belong to the king and hia heirs therefrom, and murders from all their men and tenants of their lands and fees aforesaid and also from residents therein in whatever court of the king the said men, tenants and residents may be adjudged to pay the fines and amercements as aforesaid, whether before the king himself and in the Chancery, or before the treasurer and barons of the exchequer, or before the king's justices of the bench, or before the steward and marshal, or the clerk of the market of the king's household, or in any other court of the king or his heirs, or before the king's Justices in eyre for common pleas or for pleas of the forest, or before any other justices or ministers of the king, as well in his absence as in his presence which profits would have accrued to the king, if these lands had not been granted to the said dean and canons ; all which they shall have even though the said men, tenants or residents be escheators, sheriffs, taxers or other officers of the king, or ministers of the said officers, or hold of the king or his heirs or others there or in any other place ; so that they and their successors by themselves or by their bailiffs and ministers may raise, take and keep all such fines, amercements, redemptions and so forth without let or hindrance of the king and his heirs or any their ministers;
that they shall have wreck of sea (wreccum maris) and the animals called wayf and stray found on the lands and fees of their chapel aforesaid, unless any follow the said animals and prove them to be his or they be claimed within a proper time according to the custom of the country;
that, in order to prevent their goods and chattels or those of their men and tenants being taken or wasted by purveyors and takers of victuals and other things for the king's household or those of the queens, the king's sons or the sons of his heirs or of any magnates or others, they and their successors, their chapel and all the lands and possessions already conferred or in the future to be conferred on it, their goods and chattels and those of their men and tenants, wherever they be found, shall be in the king's special protection; so that nothing of the corn, hay, horses, carts, carriages, victuals or other goods, chattels or matters belonging to themselves and their successors, their chapel, or their men and tenants shall be taken for the use of the king and his heirs or queens, the king's sons or his heirs' sons, nor for that of magnates or any others, against the will of them the said dean and canons, their ministers or men and tenants by any purveyors, takers or other ministers of the king or any other: and if by chance the purveyors or takers of anyone thall (sic) have entered the lands and fees of the said dean and canons or their men and tenants to make any such purveyance and shall have carried off anything therefrom, being duly convicted thereof before the Chancellor, the justices of any of the king's benches, the Barons of the Exchequer, or any other justices of the king or the steward and marshal of his household, in one of which courts by the choice of the said dean and canons the king wills that the matter shall be brought and decided, they shall make restitution of the matters taken or, if that be impossible, shall restore the true price thereof; and they shall incur besides a penalty of thrice the value of the matter taken, and being convicted shall pay the same before they leave the court, one half to the king's use for the contempt done him and one half to that of the said dean and canons for their prosecution, without delivery or bail unless it be by the assent and free will of the said dean and canons;
that they shall not be compelled to pay any pension, corrody or maintenance at the request or mandate of the king out of their said chapel or other possessions;
that they shall have free warren in all their demesne lands already conferred upon them or to be conferred in the future, even if they be be within the limits of the king's forest upon penalty of 10l. whereof half shall be levied to the king's use and half go to the said canons;
that they shall have and hold all their lands and tenements as aforesaid with soc and sac, infangenethef and outfangenethef; and shall have view of frankpledge of all their men and tenants ; also that they may have there, if they will, thwe, pillory and tumbril for the punishment of malefactors, and may cause gallows to be erected and judgement to be done of malefactors taken there according to their liberty of infangenethef and outfangenethef aforesaid without let or hindrance of the king and his heirs or any their ministers; that they shall be free and quit of suits and pleas of the forest and of summons and plaints (querelis) and all other actions pertaining to the king or his heirs, his forest or his justices and other ministers of the forest in respect of lands already conferred or in the future to be conferred upon them; also of expeditation of dogs, of maintenance and puture of foresters and other ministers of the forest, and of all other charges, fees and dues (curialitatibus) which the said foresters or ministers have been able aforetime to exact or claim (vendicare); also of gelds, danegelds, scutages when they are run (currant) and of the money belonging to murder or larceny; of regard and keeping of castles, and of works and repairs of bridges, castles, parks, fishponds, walls, dams, banks (walliarum), causeways, and all manner of enclosures ; of assises, summonses and aids of sheriffs or their ministers with all pertaining thereto ; and of conduct of treasure and all other aids whatsoever, of common assize, county amercements and hundreds and of all actions belonging to the king, of wardepeny, averpeny and hundredpeny, of grithbrech, forstall and homsoken, of blodewite, wardwite, hengwite, fightwite, lairewite, lastage, pannage, essart and waste of forest, provided that they do no destruction, waste or other delict in the king's forests, parks or woods; and if they do any such delict or damage therein beyond or against their liberties above granted it shall be amended without imprisonment or heavy redemption;
that they shall have return of all writs and attachments as well of pleas of the crown as of other pleas in all their lands and fees; so that no sheriff, bailiff or other minister of the king shall enter their said lands and fees to make execution of writs or attachments of pleas as aforesaid or to do any other office there save in case of default by the said dean and canons;
that if any of the vicars or choristers of their chapel aforesaid or any other of their servants shall within the bounds (septa) of their said chapel or dwellings lay violent hands upon another of the chapel or of the servants as aforesaid, yet lightly so that no serious wound (enormis lesio) is caused, they or their lieutenant (locum tenens) may have cognisance, correction and punishment of this offence without interference from the keeper of the king's palace or any other royal minister;
that they shall have their leets and lawedayes of all their men and tenants and of residents in their lands and fees, who ought by law and custom to come to them, together with the amends of the assise of bread and ale in their lands and fees aforesaid; and that they shall have cognisance of all pleas both of trespasses and contracts and of other matters in their courts of all their men and tenants and of residents within their fees aforesaid ; and they shall hold all their said lands and fees together with wards, reliefs, escheat, forfeitures and other profits, issues and emoluments, which would belong to the king and his heirs in respect of those fees if the said fees were in their hands, of all their tenants thereof although they hold of the king or of any other, there or elsewhere, in chief as of the crown or in any other manner.
Further grant that the said dean and canons shall hold all the possessions which they have of the king's gift in frank almoign free of all secular service.
Grant also that even if in the future they or their successors abuse or fail to use the liberties above mentioned by reason of negligence or by any chance, they shall not on that account be hindered in their enjoyment thereof at any time when they see fit to make use of them. By p.s.
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Feb 10. 1382. Westminster. 5 Richard II
To all sheriffs, mayors, bailiffs, ministers, purveyors and takers of victuals for the households of the queen and the king's children, and others to whom etc. Order to suffer the dean and canons of the king's free chapel within Westminster palace, their men and tenants, to enjoy the liberties and quittances granted them by the late king's charter, confirmed by charter of 1 June 1 Richard II, maintaining and defending them therein; as it was thereby granted that they and their successors, their men and tenants and the dwellers in their lands, fees etc., shall be quit of toll, pavage, pontage, quayage, murage, passage, payage, lestage, stallage, tallage, carriage, peisage, barbicanage, terrage, of scot and geld, hidage, scutage, works of castles, parks and bridges, enclosures, building and repair of the king's houses, suits of counties, hundreds and wapentakes, view of frankpledge, murder and common mercy, that their goods and chattels shall not be taken or spent by purveyors etc. for the king's household, the households of the queen and of his sons, of princes, lords or others, the said chapel, the dean and canons, their men and tenants, lands and goods being taken into the king's protection, with covenant that nought should be taken against their will of their corn, hay, horses, wains, carriages, victuals and goods, and that if aught should be so taken within their lands and fees the purveyors etc. shall be bound to make restitution, and shall incur a further pain of triple the value thereof.
Et erat patens.
Granted by Edward III. (Regnal year 27). Granted at Tower of London. Grant by By p.s. .
Primary Sources
Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1916,
Calendar of Charter Rolls 15 Edward III - 5 Henry V 1341-1417 Vol. 5. (HMSO) p. 133-37
view online copyMaxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1920,
Calendar of Close Rolls Richard II (1381-85) Vol. 2 p. 50
online
Record created by Philip Davis. This record created 03/03/2009. Last updated on 19/01/2013. First published online 6/01/2013.
