Mystery in the Minster

Historical Note

It is impossible to overemphasise the importance of Purgatory to the medieval mind. Few people saw themselves as sufficiently stainless to go straight to Heaven, so expected to spend time in the purifying fires first. The duration of their stay depended on the nature of their sins. However, there were things that could be done to speed matters along. The very wealthy could found private chapels or altars, so that prayers could be said on their behalf. For the less well off, there were obits – establishing a fund to pay for masses to be said on a particular day of the year. In York, one such obit was established in 1359 for Hugh de Myton, described as ‘venerable and discreet’. Another was paid for by William Frost, ‘administrator’ for John Gisbyrn (Gyseburne), a woman named Helen and various members of Gisbyrn’s family.

Archbishop Zouche, who died on 19 July 1352 in his palace at Cawood, started to build his own chantry chapel when he was still alive, and his will stipulated quite clearly that it was to be finished by his executors. It was probably in the south wall of the choir, near the angle of the east transept, but the project was abandoned when the choir was rebuilt and widened by his successor John Thoresby (Archbishop from 1352 until 1373).

Zouche’s will was drawn up by a notary public named John d’Alfeld (Dalfeld), and lists nine executors: Roger Zouche, Ralph Neville, Marmaduke Constable, William de Playce, Christopher and Anketil Malore, Gilbert de Welton, Roger de Stiendby and William de Ferriby. These would have been men Zouche trusted, and some would have benefited from his largess while Archbishop. But they failed to fulfil his last wishes, and he still lies in his ‘temporary’ tomb in the nave.

By the 1350s, York was England’s second largest city, a bustling metropolis with probably in excess of 13,000 people. It was dominated by its minster and religious foundations, but was also a centre for trade, with a burgeoning mercantile class. Like today, it was vulnerable to flooding, and the rivers Ouse and Foss were notoriously unpredictable.

The minster was run by secular clergy – ones not affiliated with a particular Order – comprising a dean and a chapter of canons. As the canons were often away, they appointed deputies known as vicars-choral to fulfil their religious obligations. These lived in the foundation known as the Bedern, located east of the cathedral, which comprised a hall, a private chapel and a dormitory that was later separated into little houses. The sub-chanter in 1358 was Ellis (or Elijah) of Walkington, and other vicars at this time included Richard Cave and William Jafford.

Because the post of Dean was a powerful one, a lot of men were eager to hold it, and during the 1340s and 1350s three men laid claim to the title. John de Offord and Philip de Weston were soon seen off by the third contender, the aristocratic Elias Talerand (or Talleyrand) de Périgord, who held the position until his death in 1364.

Generations of archivists have bemoaned the poor condition and order inflicted on the minster’s muniments through the years, and there is a record that Archbishop Thoresby expressed concern in 1359–60. They were stored in chests and boxes, some in the vestibule leading to the chapter house, some in the vestry and others (probably) in the treasury. The books would have been stored separately, and there is no record of the minster owning many in the 1350s. I have taken the liberty of enlarging the collection and having it stored in a single room named ‘the library’, although the minster owned no such place until the fifteenth century.

In 1357, a long-running dispute began between Gisbyrn and John Longton (Langton). It was all to do with a shift in power from the older, aristocratic families to merchants, a move that probably began when York was designated a Staple Town in 1355. Gisbyrn represented the up and coming mercantile class, a breed of clever, successful and ruthless opportunists; he was a mercer, who owned a ship and exported wool and cloth. Longton came from the old landed gentry, and he and his father were mayors of York twenty-two times. William Longton was a minster advocate in the 1350s.

Gisbyrn was elected a bailiff of the city in 1357, but was prevented from taking office when Longton claimed that he had subverted the liberties, laws and customs of the city. It is not known exactly what this entailed, but it is possible that Gisbyrn might have bent the rules for trading purposes. Regardless, he was unimpressed with Longton’s high-handed tactics, and the antipathy between the two men lasted well into the 1380s.

There were roughly sixty religious foundations in York. In addition to the minster, there were priories, hospitals, chapels, churches, chantries and maisons-dieu (small hospitals). The Benedictines alone had three foundations. The first was St Mary’s Abbey; its Abbot in 1358 was Thomas Multone, and one of his monks was named Oustwyk. The abbey’s relations with the city were ambiguous. On the one hand, it provided employment for locals and dispensed alms; on the other there were disputes over its boundary walls and ditches, especially with St Leonard’s Hospital. Another quarrel was over St Olave’s Church, built into the abbey walls; the monks declined to pay for its upkeep, but also rejected the notion that ownership should pass to its parishioners. As a consequence, St Olave’s was in poor repair during much of the fourteenth century.

The second Benedictine foundation was Holy Trinity Priory, an alien house owned and controlled by Marmoutier Abbey in France. Its Prior in 1358 was John de Chozaico. Richard de Chicole, Odo Friquet, Oliver Bages also held office. People resented its foreign ties, and it was deeply unpopular during the Hundred Years War, when it was accused of harbouring French spies and frequently attacked. Some years earlier, the monks had produced a remarkable bestiary. A permanent exhibition about it can be seen in the Priory Church of the Holy Trinity in Micklegate.

The third Benedictine foundation was Clementhorpe, a house for nuns, dedicated to St Clement. Alice de Pakenham was one of its prioresses; she died in 1396. Isabella de Stodley, who became a nun in 1315, proved to be troublesome, and was brought before the Archbishop accused of apostasy and other more worldly sins.

Robert de Stayndrop was a Warden of the Franciscans in the middle of the fourteenth century, and one of his friars, John Mardisley, had a famous debate in York Minster with the Dominican William Jorden about the nature of the Immaculate Conception. Both men went on to become Vicars Provincial for their respective Orders.

The Carmelites, whose Prior was William Penterel, were actively involved in several legal disputes in the 1300s. They sued Elen Duffield for debt and a potter for stealing topsoil, a crime that was repeated by the vicars-choral some years later. Roger de Fournays, a barber-surgeon, bequeathed them a garden in Hungate in 1350. In 1374, a Carmelite friar named John Wy killed a fellow cleric named John Harold.

Visitors to York today can see many reminders of the bustling medieval town. Besides the magnificent minster, there are the atmospheric ruins of St Mary’s Abbey (including the hospitium), the castle, gates, city walls and many churches. Some of the abbey ruins have been cleverly incorporated into the beautifully refurbished Yorkshire Museum and Gardens, along with a display about its history.

Nothing survives of St Mary ad Valvas, though. It is thought to have stood at the eastern end of the minster chancel, and was demolished in the 1360s. Its dedication is peculiar, but may have referred to a moving door, perhaps a reference to the stone that was rolled across the entrance of Jesus’s tomb.

The church at Huntington belonged to the Abbot and convent of Whitby, and its rector was John Cotyngham (Cottingham). The fourteenth-century vicars-choral had had their eye on it for some time, and had petitioned Archbishop Zouche to encourage Whitby to give it to them. They claimed their motive was poverty, although they owned at least a hundred and fifty properties at this time. It was duly passed to them in 1351 (one local witness was John Keysmaby). Zouche died before the proper deeds could be issued, and it was left to Thoresby to provide them. He was careful to state that the vicars should not have it until Cotyngham died or resigned. Cotyngham resigned in 1354.