After this tranfaftion it does not appear that the chapter of the
Priory proceeded to any election; on the contrary, we find that at
fix months end from the vacancy the vifitor declared that a lapfe
had taken place; and that therefore he did confer the priorftiip on
canon Peter Berne.— “ Prioratum vacantem et ad noftram colla-
“ tionem, feu provifionem jure ad nos in hac parte per lapfum
“ temporis legitime devoluto fpectantem, tibi (fc. P. Berne) de-
“ legitimo matrimonio procreato, &c.— conferimus,” &c. This
deed bears date July 28, 1454.
Reg. Waynjlete, tom. I. p. 69.
On February 8, 1462, the vifitor iffued out a power of fequeftra-
tion againft the Priory of Sefborne on account of notorious dilapidations,
which threatened manifeft ruin to the roofs, walls, and
edifices, of the laid convent; and appointing John Hammond, B. D.
reftor of the parifh church o f Heilegh, John Hylling, vicar of the
parilh church of Newton Valence, and Walter Gorfin, inhabitant of
the parilh of Selborne, his fequeftrators, to exact, colledt, levy,,
and receive, all the profits and revenues of the faid convent r he
adds “ ac ea fub areto, et tuto cuftodiatts, coftodirive faciatis ;,r
as they would anlwer it to the bilhop at their peril.
In confequence of thefe proceedings prior Berne, on the lalt day
of February, and the next year, produced a ftate of the revenues of
the Priory, N°. 381, called “ A paper conteyning the value of
“ the manors and lands pertayning tp the Priory of Selbornep
“ 4 Edward'Yll. with a note of charges ylfuing put p f it.
This is a curious document, and will appear in the Appendix.
-From circumftances in this paper it is plain that the fequeftration
produced good effedts; for in it are to be found bills of repairs to
a confiderable amount.
By
By this evidence alfa it appears that there were at that juncture
only four canons at the. Priory S and that thefe, and their four
houfehold fervants, during, th-is. fequeftration for their clothing,-
wages, and diet, were allowed per dm. xxx lib. ; and that the annual
penfion of the lord prior, refide where he- would, was to be x lib.
In the year 1468, prior Berne, probably wearied out by the
dilfenfions and want of order that prevailed in the convent, refigned
his priorlhip into the hands of the bilhop,
Reg. Waynjlete, tom. I. pars iml, fol. 157.
March 28, A. D. 1468. “ In quadam alta camerajuxta magic
nam portam manerii of the bilhop of Wyntm de Waltham^ coram
“ eodem rev. patre ibidem tunc fedente, Peter Berne, prior of
“ Selborne, ipfum prioratum in facras, et venerabiles manus of the
“ bilhop, viva voce libere refignavit : and his refignation was.
“ admitted before two witneffes and a notary-public. In confe-
“ quence, March 29th, before the bilhop, in capella manerii fui ante
“ didli pro tribunali fedente, comparuerunt fratres’’ Peter Berne,
'thomas London, William Wyndefor, and William Paynell, alias Stretford,
canons regular of the Priory, “ capitulum, et conventum
“ ejufdem ecclefie facientes; acjus et voces in electione futura
“ prioris didti prioratus folum et in folidum, ut afferuerunt,
“ habentes and after the bilhop had notified to them the vacancy
of a prior, with his free licenfe to eleft, deliberated awhile, and
then, by way of compromife, as they affirmed, unanimoully tranf-
ferred their right of eleftion to the bilhop before witnefles. In
confequence of this the bilhop, after full deliberation, proceeded,
u I f bifhop Wykehant was fo difturbed (fee Notab» V ijita t io ) to find the number of canons
reduced from fourteen to eleven, what would he have faid to have feen it diminifiied below
one third of that number?
D d d 2 April