In the _Liber Albus_ there is a chapter on the periodical visits of the Mayor to various churches on certain saints' days, such as to St. Thomas's at the Feast of All Saints (November 1), to St. Peter's on Cornhill on the Monday in the Feast of Pentecost, and to St. Bartholomew's and St. Michael le Quern on other occasions.[371] The position of the parish priest was a good one in the eyes of the parishioners, who looked up to him as a friend, and resented the interference with his duties by monks and chantry priests. Among the parish priests the highest rank was conceded to the rector of St. Peter's, Cornhill. The mediæval writers, who are mostly vituperative when speaking of monks and friars, have little but good to say of the parson. The great evil of lay rectorship, which has done so much to injure the Church, was largely introduced by the monasteries. [Illustration] Bishop Stubbs, in his Introduction to the Historical Works of Ralph de Diceto, writes: 'S. Paul's stood at the head of the religious life of London, and by its side, at some considerable interval, however, S. Martin's-le-Grand, S. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, and the great and ancient foundation of Trinity, Aldgate.'[372] [Illustration: CHURCH OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW THE GREAT.] Besides the Chapter of St. Paul's, there were several other bodies of secular canons. One of these was at the Collegiate Church of St. Martin-le-Grand, within Aldersgate, which church was founded about A.D. 1056, and its privileges confirmed by William the Conqueror. It had special rights as a royal free chapel, and its privileges of sanctuary were given by Henry VIII. to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster. Others were the College of St. Michael, Crooked Lane, founded by William Walworth in 1380; Barking College, Holmes's College, and several other colleges in London, besides the Collegiate Chapel of St. Stephen, Westminster. The canons regular of the Order of St. Austin occupied the Priory of Christ Church or Holy Trinity, the Priory of St. Bartholomew in Smithfield; the Priory of St. Mary Overy, in Southwark, and many hospitals. These canons were less strict than monks, but lived under one roof, had a common dormitory and refectory. They were well shod, well clothed, and well fed. Monks always shaved, but canons wore beards, and caps on their heads. The chief rule of the canons regular was that of St. Augustine (or Austin), Bishop of Hippo, A.D. 395. The Order was little known until the tenth or eleventh centuries, and was not brought to England until after the Norman Conquest, and the designation of Austin canons was not adopted until some years afterwards. The Priory of Christ Church or the Holy Trinity within Aldgate was a house of the first importance in London, and the Pope absolved it from all jurisdiction. Norman, the first prior, was the first canon regular of his Order in England.