At Bodmin, according to a note taken by William of Worcester from a register in the Church of the Friars Minor there, it was estimated that 1,500 persons died of this sickness.[151] Amongst these was the Vicar, whose successor was appointed on April 8th, 1349. The Augustinian priory in the town was almost depopulated. The prior, John de Kilkhampton, and all his brethren but two were carried off by the sickness. The two survivors, on March 17th, wrote to the Bishop saying that they "were left like orphans," and begging that he would provide a superior [p091] for their house at once. The next day, March the 18th, 1349, an inquisition was held under a writ of the Prince of Wales. The jury found that the priory was free, and that the last prior had died "on Friday, next after the feast of St. Peter in Cathedra then last past" (February 27th).[152] On March 19th Bishop Grandisson wrote to the prior of Launceston setting forth the facts, and appointing a member of that house to the office. Three days later the mandate for his induction was issued, in the hopes that "by his careful watchfulness the said priory may recover from the calamity."[153] The plight to which the Augustinians of Bodmin were reduced by the disease is, after all, typical of that of many religious houses throughout the country. Meantime, however, the epidemic had not confined its ravages to the western counties, but continued to spread the same desolation in every direction, as the wave of pestilence rolled onward over the length and breadth of the land. FOOTNOTES: [121] Originalia Roll, 24 Ed. III., m. 2. [122] B. Mus., Harl. MS. 6965, f. 132. [123] _Chronicon Galfridi le Baker_, ed. E. M. Thompson, p. 98. [124] _Eulogium Historiarum_ (ed. Rolls series), iii, p. 213. It seems not at all improbable that this account was written whilst the plague was still confined to the west of England. [125] Harl. MS. 688, f. 361. [126] Hutchins, _History of Dorset_ (3rd ed.), ii, p. 422. [127] Rot. Pat., 26 Ed. III., pars 3, m. 5. [128] _Historical Manuscripts Commission, Eighth Report_, App., p. 338. [129] _De Gestis Edwardi III._ (ed. Rolls series), p. 406. [130] As will be seen subsequently, this estimate of Dr. Jessopp is certainly too low, and it is probably more correct to suppose that the non-beneficed clergy, including under that head the religious, were four times as numerous as those holding benefices. [131] The following table will show the actual number of institutions in Dorsetshire for some months:— +-------------------+-------------------------------+ | 1348. | 1349. | +-----+------+------+------+------+--------+--------+ |Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Jan. | Feb. | March. | April. | +-----+------+------+------+------+--------+--------| | 5 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 10 | 4 | +-----+------+------+------+------+--------+--------+ [132] Originalia Roll, 22 Ed. III., m. 4.