1337-05-29, Treasurer Stamford

To the treasurer and barons of the exchequer. Order to cause 121. 4s. ld. to be allowed to William de Langeford, keeper of the New Temple, London, in his yearly ferm, from the time of the livery of certain houses and other places dedicated to God, to ie prior of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England, and to cause both William and the prior to be discharged and acquitted thereof, provided that William shall answer to the king yearly, as he ought, for the remainder of that ferm, as lately, at the prior's suit, by his petition before the king and his council in parliament, showing that Hugh le Despenser, the younger, had taken possession by force of the prior's manor of the New Temple, and had occupied the cemetery and enciosure of the prior there, and other consecrated places annexed to that church, where many bodies of founders of the church and of brethren of that Temple were buried, and so detained them against justice, ecclesiastical liberty and canonical sanctions ; which said manor, cemetery, enclosure and other places came into the king's hands after Hugh's forfeiture, and the cemetery, enclosure and consecrated places are detained from the prior, who has besought the king to cause his hand to be amoved therefrom, the king ordered Reginald de Conductu, mayor of London and _ escheator there, to take with him the sherifts of London and four lawful men of that city to the said Temple, cemetery, enclosure and other places, and inspect them and to enquire by the oath of lawful men of the neighbourhood of the temple, &c. in the presence of the keeper of the Temple, upon the premises, and if he found that they had been annexed as aforesaid and unjustly occupied by Hugh, and to have come into the king's hands as aforesaid, then to cause them to be reunited to that church by certain bounds, and delivered to the prior, to be held as the prior and his predecessors and the Templars and their predecessors had held them before the said occupation; and the mayor and escheator certified to the king in chancery that he, having taken with him Walter de Morden and Ralph de Upton, sheriffs of London, and John de Oxon ia], Richard de Lacer, and Richard de Berkyng, aldermen of that city, and Thomas de Maryns, chamberlain of the Guildhall (guzhalde) of that city, and going to the Temple, found by the oath of lawful men of the neighbourhood and city, in the presence of the sheriffs, aldermen, chamberlain, and William de Langeford, keeper of the Temple, that the chapel of St. Thomas, at the door of the hall of the Temple, with a plot of land there, as a wall of earth, extends to the old gate of the Temple towards the highway, and likewise the enclosure, as a stone wall, which begins at the chamber called the chamber of the bishop of Ely, extending towards the east, and afterwards that wall extending towards the north to the highway, are places consecrated and dedicated to God, annexed to the prior's church, and that one Roger Blom, sometime apparitor (nunczus) of that ; IiI Parr i. 73 Temple, caused. certain houses to be built upon a plot of land so consecrated in the front part near the highway, towards the north, to let those houses to maintain lights (/wmenaris) and other ornaments of that church, and that Hugh unjustly occupied the said places, and they are in the king's hands by reason ot Hugh's forfeiture and for no other reason; and the mayor and escheator, by reason of the king's order, caused the said chapel and places, together with the houses built on that consecrated land, to be reunited to the church and delivered to the prior to hold as aforesaid, wherefore the king ordered the treasurer and barons to take information by inquisition or otherwise, concerning the cemetery and other places delivered to the prior by virtue of the aforesaid order, certifying the king concerning the profits and rents there from, and concerning the portion of the term which William rendered yearly at the exchequer for the custody of the Temple, touching the said places delivered to the prior, so that the king might do what was reasonable for the keeper's discharge in this respect; and the treasurer and barons returned that they had found by inquisition that the portion of the yearly ferm of 24/., which William renders to the king for the said custody, touching the said places, is 12/. 4s. ld. yearly. By pet. of C. ToJ. bishop of Exeter. Whereas the king lately ordered the dean and chapter of Exeter to have 285/. of the money of the tenth granted to the king by the clergy of the province of Canterbury in their congregation at Leicester, in that diocese, of the first term of payment, at London before the Ascension last, and 285/. of that tenth ot the second term of that payment before St. Peter ad Vincula next, to be delivered to Master Paul de Monte Florum, the king's clerk, or to John de Portenar, or to Francis de Portenar, merchants of Florence, Paul's attorneys, in part payment of 10,000/., which the king received on loan from Paul; and the dean and chapter, under pretext of an order directed to the bishop to appoint certain trustworthy men to levy and collect the money of that tenth, then not collected, for the king's use in that diocese, excuse themselves from paying the 285/., as the king has learned and refuse to do so; and because Paul has promised to administer that money with a greater sum to certain persons, within a little, for certain affairs touching the king nearly, the king wishing to hasten the payment of this money as far as possible, orders the bishop, that if Paul is not satisfied in anything, then to cause those whom he so appointed to levy and collect that tenth to pay and deliver 285/. of the said term of payment, at London, and 285/. of the second term before St. Peter ad Vincula, to Paul, without further delay, compelling them, if necessary, to make these payments as he shall see fit, so that the expedition of the king's affairs may not be retarded for lack of such payment, warning the collectors that they shall receive from Paul or his attorneys letters of acquittance testifying the receipt of that money. By C.