[138] Pat. 17 Edw. III, pt. i. m. 25_d_. [139] Yorks. Arch. Assn. Record Series, xxiii. Inq. ii. p. 123 et sq. [140] Pat. 16 Edw. III, pt. ii. m. 22 _d_. Close 20 Edw. III, pt. i. m. 4 _d_. [141] Close 6 Edw. III, m. 29 _d_. [142] Lichfield Reg., 1344, Wm. Salt, Soc. i. [143] See p. 213. [144] See p. 242. [145] It had been declining for above a century; a Papal Letter (1435–6) states that for fifty years, on account of the diminution of its fruits, etc., there were no brethren in the hospital. [146] Aug. Off., Chantry Certificate 40 (36). [147] _Complaint of Roderyk Mors_, ch. xiiij. [148] Fabyan, _Chronicles_, ed. 1811, p. 578. [149] Early Eng. Text Soc., 77. [150] Camden Soc., 1843, p. 166. [151] Stow, _Survey of City of Westminster_, bk. vi. p. 4. [152] MS. Soc. Antiq. cxxix. f. 274. [153] Cal. of Letters and Papers, Hen. VIII, 13. i. 383. [154] B.M. Add. 30277, f. 3. [155] Early Eng. Text Soc. Extra liii. App. xvi. [156] Speeches, p. 104. [157] Communicated by the Secretary. [p244] PART TWO NOTES ON HOSPITAL PATRON SAINTS “_Hospitals . . . founded to the honour of God and of His glorious Mother._” (Parliament of Leicester.) The words “GOD’S HOUSE,” and “MAISON DIEU” were familiar enough in mediæval England. A hospital was the house of God, for therein Christ was received in the person of the needy:—“I was a stranger and ye took Me in, sick, and ye visited Me.” It was also built in His Name and to His honour, for the principle underlying all dedications was, says Hooker, that they “were consecrated unto none but the Lord only.” But with God’s Name that of one of His saints was often associated, and by this the hospital was commonly called; thus a charter of Basingstoke ran:—“I have given and granted to God and to the glorious Virgin His Mother, and to my venerable patron St. John the Baptist the house called St. John.” THE HOLY TRINITY.—Hospitals bearing this title are not very numerous, though it often occurs as first of a group. There are a few single dedications early in the thirteenth century, which may be partly attributed to the institution of the Feast of Trinity by St. Thomas of Canterbury. Two hundred years later it was a fairly common [p245] dedication for almshouses. The seals depict various symbols. The “majesty” representing the Three Persons, occurs at Walsoken; the Almighty seated upon a rainbow (Salisbury); our Lord enthroned (Berkeley); whilst a triple cross ornaments the Dunwich seal. Bonde’s almsmen at Coventry bore upon their gowns “the cognizance of the Trinity.”