The Story of an Ancient Parish: Breage with Germoe: With Some Account of Its Armigers, Worthies and Unworthies, Smugglers and Wreckers, Its Traditions and Superstitions — John Shaqi
The Story of an Ancient Parish: Breage with Germoe: With Some Account of Its Armigers, Worthies and Unworthies, Smugglers and Wreckers, Its Traditions and SuperstitionsCoulthard, H. R. (Hugh Robert)
History
The Story of an Ancient Parish: Breage with Germoe: With Some Account of Its Armigers, Worthies and Unworthies, Smugglers and Wreckers, Its Traditions and Superstitions
We have a practically complete list of the Vicars of Breage from the
appointment of William, son of Humphrey in succession to William, son of
John, in 1219. In the deed already quoted, William, son of Richard, is
described as the Parson of Breage; this means he was the Rector of the
Parish in the full sense of the word. With the grant of the Church of
Breage with its three Chapelries to the Abbey of Hayles the day of the
Rectors of Breage was over.
The Abbey of Hayles now stood in the place of Rector, and the Abbot
appointed a Vicar or substitute in his room, who acted as the deputy of
the Abbot and Convent in the parish. The first of the Vicars was Master
Robert de la More, who, as well as his two next successors, was
appointed by the Bishop, _jure devoluto_; the Abbot of Hayles finding it
difficult no doubt to fill up such a distant and remote appointment.
Robert de la More seems to have been a person of note in his day.[24] He
was only Vicar of Breage for three months; he subsequently became a
Canon of Glasney, an ancient Collegiate foundation near Penryn. In 1276
he was Vicar of Yeovil, and of sufficient importance for the King to
address a letter to him with reference to the raising of a loan for the
carrying on of the Scottish Campaign. Of his successor, Master Stephanus
de Arbor, we are able to gather no particulars, though the figure of his
immediate successor, Sir Pascasius rises clear and distinct for a moment
out of the mists of the past. It may be well here to remark that the
prefix "Master" meant one who had taken the degree of Master of Arts at
either of the Universities of Oxford or Cambridge. "Sir," on the
contrary, was a title given to those who had studied at the Universities
but who had not taken their Master's degree; this we fancy would in the
main be due to poverty rather than laziness or lack of ability, as a
Master's degree in those days entailed a longer period of residence at
the Universities than now. We may conclude that Sir Pascasius was a
Cornishman and a member of the clan Pascoe. His name survives in the
archives of the Bishops of Exeter, embalmed in a document dated July
1310, which gives a lurid picture of the brutal methods of the age. The
Chapel of Buryan was the King's Peculiar, and, as such, was outside the
jurisdiction of the Bishop. It was held by Dean and Canons of its own. A
dispute had long been simmering between the Dean and the Bishop of
Exeter as to the appointment of one John de Beaupré as Canon of Buryan,
the Dean refusing to admit him. As a step in this long dispute it seems
that Bishop Walter de Stapleton must have issued a commission to certain
clergy, possibly for the purpose of instituting John de Beaupré to the
vacant canonry in the Chapel of Buryan. The commission was composed,
amongst others, of Sir Pascasius, the vicar of Breage, the vicars of St.
Keverne, Constantine, St. Erth, Sithney, Grade and Landewednack. Dean
Matthew, in seeking redress through the King's Court, complained that
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