A HISTORY OF NORFOLK brother {conversus) said 150 Our Fathers and as many Hail Marys, and they distributed to the poor daily for thirty days after his death a loaf, a gallon of ale, and a dish of meat or fish, such as a canon is wont to receive daily. ^ In 1328 pro- tection was granted for the abbey of Dereham, which was of the advowson of the heir of John de Hastings, deceased, a minor in the king's custody, in consequence of its being impoverished and in debt through injudicious management. Richard Coppe, a parson of the church of Oxborough, and Richard de Depham were af>- pointed custodians, under whose direction the abbot was to apply the revenues to the payment of the debts, saving a reasonable sustenance for himself and the canons and their servants." In 1325 the abbot of Dereham was prohibited by the king from leaving the kingdom to attend the general chapter at Prdmontre,' but in September, 1327, Bartholomew de Burghersh, constable of Dover Castle, was directed to per- mit the abbot of Dereham to cross the seas from that port to attend the chapter general at Pre- montr^, and to allow him 20 marks for the expenses of himself and attendants.* On 26 June, 1328, an exactly similarorder was made for a like purpose, save that ;^20 instead of 20 marks was contributed for expenses.^ On 15 May, 1325, John, abbot ofWelbeck, as father abbot of Dereham, wrote to the bishop of Norwich to inform him of the death of the late abbot, Paul de Tilney, and of the election of John de Rutham, in his presence and that of the abbots of Seiston and Wendling, and to ask for his episcopal benediction.^ Although the White Canons were specially exempt from diocesan visitation, and their elections were held independently of the bishop, it was usual for the abbot-elect, after he had been chosen by his convent and installed by the father abbot of the house, to promise canonical obedience to his diocesan, saving all rights of his order, and to ask for episcopal benediction. In the case of John de Rutham, the bishop's blessing was given on 21 May. In 1344, Mary de Sancto Paulo, countess of Pembroke, obtained the sanction of Clement III, on behalf of the Premonstratensian abbot of Vest Dtreham, for faculty to confer the office of notary public on six persons to be nominated by the countess.' Pope Urban V, in 1366, granted, during ten years, an indulgence of a year and 160 days to penitents visiting the chapel of the Holy Trinity in this monastery on the principal feasts.^ ' Ca/. of Close, 18 Edw. II, m. 6. ' Cal. of Pat. 2 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 12. ' Ibid. 19 Edw. II, m. jod.
- C.2I. ofCkse, I Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 16.
' Ibid. zd. « Add MS. 4935, fol. 7. ' Ca/. Papa! Pet. i, 155 ; Cal. Papal Reg. iii, 275. " Cal. Pap. Reg. iv, 56. 416 William de Holt received the episcopal bene- diction as abbot on 6 April, 1368, in the manor chapel of Heningham, and promised canonical obedience, saving the rights of his order.^ His obedience, however, seems to have been some- what incomplete if he is the person referred to in 1387, when the crown appointed seven officials to arrest William Holt, an ' apostate vagabond canon' of Dereham Abbey, signified as such to the king by John, abbot of Barlings, and George, abbot of Welbeck, visitors of the English Premonstratensian houses. If arrested, he was to be delivered to his abbot, or to one of the visitors or their attorney.'" Abbot John Saresson alias Wygenhale acted as vicar-general to the bishop in 1436, as well as on many later occasions. In 1444 he was collated to the deanery of the college of St. Mar)--in-the-Fields, Norwich, as well as to the rectory of St. Mary's, Great Massingham j which preferments he held in conjunction with the rule of the abbey. He died about 1455, and is particularly memorable on account of the survival of the precatory or mortuarj' roll that was issued by his convent at the time of his death. It is a class of documents of which very few examples are extant. On the death of a religious, and more especially of a religious superior, a roll was prepared on which was written a statement of the death, together with some eulogy or description of the deceased, with religious reflections, and a request for the pravers by other houses. The roll was then carried round, sometimes only to neighbouring houses, or those of the same order, but in the cases of superiors or distinguished personages these brevia or briefs were multiplied, and sent about through- out the kingdom at large. The monk or canon who carried the brief was termed a breviator, and on its reaching each monastery it was inscribed with the titulus or description of the house, accompanied by a promise of their prayers for the departed. On Abbot Wygenhale's death a beautiful roll was prepared. That which now remains (but it was doubtless originally longer) is 4 ft. 5i in. long by about 12 in. wide, formed of two membranes. On the upper membrane is an illuminated architectural design divided into three compartments. At the top is the Eternal Father supporting a crucifix, and at the right side is the small figure of an abbot kneeling, with a scroll asking the divine protection and guidance for John Lynn, who was the abbot that succeeded the deceased. In the centre is the Blessed Virgin. At the base is the scene of the interment of John Wygenhale, most interestingly portrayed. '^ ' Norw. Epis. Reg. v, 80. " Cal of Pat. 10 Ric. II, pt. ii, m. 20 J. " This roll was illustrated and described by the Lite J. Gough Nichols in the Norfolk volume of the Jref: Inst. (185 i), 99-1 14. It was exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries in Jan. 1 861, by Rev. G. H. Dash- wood, F.S..A. {Proceedings (sen 2), i, 289-90).
