The Colleges of Oxford: Their History and Traditions: XXI Chapters Contributed by Members of the Colleges
History
The Colleges of Oxford: Their History and Traditions: XXI Chapters Contributed by Members of the Colleges
University of Oxford -- History
In addition to the high altar, the chapel contained no less than seven
side altars; where they were placed it is a little difficult to see,
as the stalls bear every mark of being contemporary with the founder,
and extend all along the sides of the chapel from the altar-steps to
the screen. Probably then the smaller altars--of which we know that
one was dedicated to the four Latin Fathers--must have been all, or
nearly all, placed in the ante-chapel. The windows, both in the chapel
and ante-chapel, were filled with excellent glass; all that of the
chapel has disappeared, but in the ante-chapel there is much good
work remaining. The most interesting window contains an admirable set
of historical figures; the founder, his masters Henry V. and Henry
VI., John of Gaunt, and several more being in excellent preservation;
but this was not originally placed in the chapel, and seems to have
belonged to the old library. The other windows are filled with saints.
The total cost of the foundation of the College to Chichele was about
£10,000; that sum covered not only the erection and fitting up of the
buildings, but the purchase of some of the lands for its endowment. The
two largest pieces of property which the Archbishop devoted to his new
institution were situated respectively in Middlesex and Kent. The first
estate lay around Edgeware, of which the College became lord of the
manor, and extended in the direction of Hendon and Willesden. It was
mainly under wood in the founder’s day, and formed part of the tract of
forest which covered so much of Middlesex down to the last century. The
second property consisted of a large stretch of land in Romney Marsh,
already noted as a great grazing district in the fifteenth century.
Many lesser estates lay scattered about the Midlands; they consisted in
no small part of land belonging to the alien priories, which Chichele
had assisted Henry V. to abolish, and included at least one of the
suppressed houses--Black Abbey in Shropshire. For these confiscated
estates the Archbishop paid £1000 to the Crown.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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