He represented the tendency to a less strict interpretation of the Rule in regard to money than had hitherto obtained in England, holding that-- ‘the friars might in a hundred cases lawfully contract debts, and might with their own hands dispense the money of others in alms. He said further that it was right after a visitation to amuse oneself a little in order to distract the mind from what one had heard[1275].’ The following story may be regarded as an instance of his cynicism or knowledge of human nature:-- ‘He used to narrate that St. Stephen, the founder of the Order of Grammont, placed a chest in a secret and safe place, and forbade anyone to go near it during his life. The brethren were very inquisitive, and after his death could not refrain from breaking it open, and they found only a piece of parchment with the words; Brother Stephen salutes his brethren and prays them to guard themselves from the laity. For just as you held the chest in honour, as long as you did not know what was in it, so they will hold you in honour[1276].’ That the well-known _Commentary on the Gospels_, called also _Unum ex quatuor_, or _De concordia evangelistarum_, by Friar William of Nottingham, was by this William, and not by his namesake, the seventeenth provincial of the English Minorites[1277], is proved by Eccleston’s words (Mon. Franc. I, p. 70)-- ‘... Verba Sancti Evangelii devotissime recolebat; unde et super unum ex quatuor Clementinis (Phillipps MS. f. 80 reads _Clementis_) canones perutiles compilavit, et expositionem quam idem Clemens fecit complete scribi in ordine procuravit.’ The commentary was founded on the work of Clement of Langthon[1278], and the number of MSS. of it still in existence attest its popularity in the Middle Ages. The work comprised 12 parts. _Inc._ ‘Da mihi intellectum.’ MSS. Brit. Museum: Royal 4 E ii. (A. D. 1381); readers are asked to pray ‘pro anima Fratris Willielmi de Notingham, qui studio laborioso predictam Expositionem ex variis compilavit.’ Oxford:--Bodl.: Laud. Misc. 165 (sec. xiv ineuntis), Balliol Coll. 33 (sec. xiv exeuntis). Merton Coll. 156 and 157 (sec. xiv). Magdalen Coll. 160 (sec. xv). St. John’s Coll. 2 (sec. xv). Cf. Merton Coll. 68, fol. 121 (sec. xv), ‘Questiones quas movet Notyngham in scripto suo super evangelia extracte secundum ordinem alphabeticum per Mag. Joh. Wykham.’ _Inc._ ‘Abel. Queritur super:’ Lincoln Coll. 78 (sec. xv), a similar work: _Inc._ ‘Abraham. Queritur super illo dicto.’ _Comment. in Longobardum_, perhaps by the other W. of Nottingham. Mentioned in the Catalogue of Illustrious Franciscans (Leland, _Script._).