Winchester. On the exterior of the eastern wall, ornamenting its panelling, may be seen

two shields of stonework each surmounted by a scroll. The dexter one charged with the royal arms of England-France and England-quarterly; viz., 1 and 4, three fleur-de-lys; 2 and 3, three lions passant guardant, and the motto, "Dieu et mon droit," carved in relief upon the scroll. The second shield bears, three roundles, in chief a label of three points, each point charged with as many roundles,1-the arms of Bishop Courtenay, and on the scroll the motto "En gloriam dei." Within the chapel, on the panelled stringcourse, beneath the window of the south wall, occurs another shield, with the armorial insignia of Bishop Courtenay carved and blazoned on it, viz. or, three torteaux, in chief a label of three points azure, each point charged with three plates; the shield surmounted by a scroll, with his motto, "En gloriam dei,"2 fig. 4, Plate XVI. In the vaulting above may be seen, in like manner, another coloured shield, charged with the same arms. Fig. 7, Plate XVI.

The earliest act of Bishop Courtenay, recorded in his Winchester Register, is the appointment of John Hayes to the office of treasurer and guardian (custos) of his palace of Wolvesey for life, who was to receive annually the sum of £20 besides all the other profits and emoluments, by ancient custom pertaining to the said offices. The bishop also, by the same deed, granted him a rent charge or annuity for life, of £10 per annum, payable out of the profits of the manors of Taunton, Poundesford and Holwey, with their appurtenances, in the county of Somerset; dated on the 24th March, 1486-7.3

*The woodcut represents an elevation of the north side. The south wall corresponds with this, but has no door. Its eastern wall is the same as the south, omitting the string course beneath the window. 1 Being of course uncoloured, I prefer describing the charges, without reference to their blazon.

2 Isaacke records that he used another motto.-" Quod berum tutum," Antiquities of Exeter, 2nd edition, London, 8vo, 1732, p. 39.

3 "Datum vicesimo quarto die mensis Martii Anno Domini Millesimo Quadringentesimo Octuagesimo Sexto. Et anno Regni Regis Henrici septimi post conquestum, secundo." The discharge of the first two payments is recorded on the pipe roll of the first year of bishop Peter Courtenay's translation, viz., from Michaelmas 1486 to Michaelmas 1487, as follows:-"Inde computus in quâdam annuitate per dominum

On the 25th August, 1487, the bishop granted an annuity for life of 207. to his kinsman, Thomas West, Lord de la Warr,1 for faithful services already performed and to be performed, to be paid to him in equal portions, at the feasts of Easter and Michaelmas, by the treasurer of the bishop's exchequer at Wolvesey. And in a similar manner, on the 28th of the same month, he granted 10l. per annum to his brother, Humphrey Courtenay.2 The only individual connected with Devonshire who appears to have been employed by Bishop Courtenay while bishop of Winchester, is Henry Rake, esquire, to whom he granted, on the 7th January, 1487-8, the custody of all his woods (boscorum) within the king's New Forest, in the county of Southampton, for life; together with an annuity, or annual rent of forty shillings, to be paid to him by the treasurer of Wolvesey, as before mentioned.3

concessum Johanni Hays Thesaurario de Wolveseye, ad terminum vitæ ipsius Johannis de exitibus et proficuis dominorum sive maneriorum de Taunton, Poundesford et Holewey, in Comitatu Somersetsiæ, solvenda annuatim ad festa paschæ et Sancti Michaelis archangeli, prout per literas domini patentes et sigillo suo sigillatas ac confirmationem capitularem prioris et conventûs Sancti Swithuni clare patet, videlicet pro festo, paschæ et Sancti Michaelis accidenti infra tempus hujus computi, x. li. Summa, x. li. The eldest son and heir of Richard West, the seventh lord de la Warr, by Katherine his wife, daughter of Robert, lord Hungerford, niece to Elizabeth Hungerford, the mother of bishop Peter Courtenay. He succeeded his father as eighth lord de la Warr in 1476, and was installed a knight of the Garter in 1510. He died in 1525.

Annuitas Domini de la Ware.-Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos præsentes litteræ pervenerint. Petrus permissione divinâ Wintoniensis episcopus, Salutem in omnipotente Salvatore. Sciatis quod nos nobilis propinquitatis contemplatione. Quia dilectus nobis in Christo Thomas West Dominus de la Ware nobis attinet ac pro fideli servicio nobis in posterum per eundem impendendo, in ejusdem fidelitate plenius confidentes, eidem Thomæ dedisse et concessisse prout per præsentes eidem concedimus, quoddam feodum annuum sive quandam pensionem viginti librarum ad duos anni terminos, videlicet, ad festa pascha et sancti Michaelis archangeli per manus thesaurarii nostri de Wolvesey in scaccario nostro ibidem æquis porcionibus solvendo. Habendum et tenendum feodum sive pensionem annualem prædictum eidem Thomæ ad terminum vitæ ejusdem. Mandantes et præcipientes dicto thesaurario nostro cuicunque pro tempore existenti quatenus dicta Thomæ festis prædictis de feodo sive pensione annuâ predictâ satisfaciat et eundem sic solventes pro quantitate solutionis feodi sive pensionis annuæ prædictæ in compoto suo exonorabamus per præsentes. Datum vicesimo quinto die mensis Augusti.

Annuitas Humfridi Courteney.—Item alia secundum tenorem prædictum, Humfrido Courteney fratri domini, de decem libris. Cujus datum erat vicesimo octavo die mensis Augusti anno regni regis Henrici septimi tercio.

2 I find his brother, John Courtenay, Esq., the father of Mary Courtenay, wife of Sir John Lisle of Woodington and Thruxton, knt., staying with the bishop of Waltham in January, 1490-1. His brother, Humphrey Courtenay, Esq., died on the 23rd April, 1496. Ex inquisitione capta, 20 Octobris, 1496. Inquis. post mortem, anno 12 Hen. VII, No. 82.

3 Custodia omnium boscorum Domini in nová Forestâ, ac etiam quædam annuitas, xl. solidorum.-Petrus permissione divinâ Wintoniensis episcopus. Omnibus ad quos præsentes litteræ pervenerint, Salutem. Sciatis nos præfatum episcopum, certis considerationibus nos specialiter moventibus, concessisse dilecto nobis Henrico Rake armigero custodiam omnium et singulorum boscorum nostrorum infra novam forestam domini regis in comitatu Suthamptoniæ. Habendam et occupandam custodiam prædictam præfato Henrico per se vel per deputatum suum sufficientem, pro termino vitæ suæ. Ac etiam concessimus et per

Bishop Peter Courtenay was either a person of delicate constitution, or was labouring under some bodily infirmity; as, from the time of his translation to the see of Winchester, till his death, he appears to have lived alternately at Waltham and Winchester, and to have visited no other place excepting Southwark, at which manor I find him sojourning for a few days at the latter end of November of 1487, and during a few days at the beginning of the same month, in 1489, and again also in June, 1491; and on this occasion he visited the court at Greenwich, and stood godfather to King Henry VIII, who was born at Greenwich on the 28th June, 1491, and was baptized in the parish church of Saint Alphege there, by Dr. Richard Fox, bishop of Exeter, and afterwards of Winchester, and founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.1 It would seem he was not able to undergo much fatigue, beyond the short and very easy journey of ten miles, the distance from his palace of Wolvesey to his palace or manor house of South Waltham; and this but rarely, as an interval of four or six months would elapse before he would make his return journey. The year 1488 was a remarkable year, and perhaps there was some improvement in his health, inasmuch as he undertook no fewer than five journeys to Waltham during that year. The last time I find him at his manor of Waltham is on the 23rd August, 1491; but, on the 26th of the same month, he was sojourning at his palace of Wolvesey, where he continued for a little more than six months, when, perhaps a change had become necessary for him; but even this was limited now to the distance of a few yards, the width only of the king's highway, beyond his palace grounds. On the 8th March, 1491-2, his abode was beneath the roof of Saint Mary's College, built by his munificent predecessor, the energetic and pious William de Wykeham, in the apartment known as the "Warden's Chamber," belonging to Master Michael Cleve, his chancellor, who had, for some time past, acted as his special commissary in various transactions and episcopal duties.2 Here Bishop Courtenay continued to live for more than six months, all his acts being dated from this chamber. On the evening of the 11th September, or else early in the morning of the 12th, he returned once more to his castle or palace of Wolvesey, and took up his quarters in a newly-built chamber. On this day

præsentes concedimus eidem Henrico quandam annuitatem sive annualem redditum, quadraginta solidorum annuatim percipiendo durante vitâ suâ prædictâ, per manus thesaurarii nostri de Wolvesey pro tempore existenti ad duos anni terminos, videlicet, in festo paschæ et Sancti Michaelis Archangeli, per æquales portiones. In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras fieri fecimus patentes. Datum nostro sub sigillo in Manerio nostro de Waltham quarto die mensis Januarii, anno regni regis Henrici septimi tercio. 1 Sanford's Genealogical History, p. 449.

2 "In camerâ Magistri Michaelis Cleve, cancellarii Domini, infra collegium Beatæ Mariæ Virginis prope Wintoniam. Dominus episcopus, etc." E Registro episcopali ejusdem venerabilis patris Domini Petri Courtenay, asservato in curiâ consistorio ecclesiæ cathedralis Wintoniæ.

3 "Duodecimo die mensis Septembris anno Domini prædicto (1492). In camerâ novæ constructuræ infra castrum de Wolvesey, Dominus contulit, Magistro Johanni Frye artium magistro ecclesiam parochialem

(12th) he granted a deed of emancipation to Richard Colswayne, and to all his children, villeins and natives of his manor of Marwell, near Winchester.1 He also collated and gave Master John Frye canonical institution to the vacant church of Hinton Ampner, Hants. On the 14th September, he collated Sir John Wyllyamson to the church of Hannington, Hants, and gave him canonical institution. Two days later occurs his last recorded act: An augmentation of the vicarage of Porchester, given under his seal in his palace of Wolvesey, on the 16th of September, 1492, and the sixth year of his translation.3 Illness, perhaps, incapacitated him from further business during the few remaining days of his earthly career; Thursday, the 20th September, was the great day on which he is recorded to have been released from all human trouble. This date I give upon the authority of the letter, announcing the vacancy of the see, and soliciting the royal license to elect, addressed by the prior and convent of Winchester, to Arthur, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King Henry VII, and vicegerent in the absence of the king; dated in their chapter-house, under their common seal, on the 15th October, 1492. "We intimate to your serene highness, by these presents, with heartfelt grief, that Peter, of pious memory, late bishop of your church of Winchester, on the twentieth day of September, went (as it pleased our Lord) the way of all flesh."4 I hardly know how to reconcile this with the statement in the register of Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, which distinctly records that the vacancy of the see of Winchester, by the death of Bishop Peter Courtenay, began on the 22nd of September.5 Both authorities are equally high; de Henton Wintoniensis dioecesis, per mortem naturalem Domini Ricardo Rolf ultimi rectoris ibidem vacantem, et ipsum Magistrum Johannem Frye rectorem instituit canonice in eâdem cum suis juribus et pertinentiis universis, curam animarum parochianorum ejusdem sibi in Domino commisit. Scriptumque fuit domino Willielmo Waus capellano ad eum inducendum. Primitus tamen juramento ipso de canonicâ obedientiâ, etc."

1 Confirmed by the chapter under their common seal, on the 14th September, 1492.

246

'xiiijmo die mensis Septembris anno Domini millesimo ccccxcmo secundo. Et translationis domini episcopi anno sexto. Dominus contulit domino Johanni Wyllyamson ecclesiam de Hanyngton Wintoniensis diœcesis, per mortem naturalem domini Alexandri Smally ultimi rectoris ejusdem vacantem, et ipsum rectorem instituit canonice in eâdem cum suis juribus et pertinentiis universis. Curam animarum parochianorum ejusdem sibi in Domino commisit. Et præstito per eum juramento obedientiæ. Scriptumque fuit pro ejus inductione curato ibidem, etc."

3 "Datum sub nostro sigillo in palatio nostro de Wolvesey xvjmo die mensis Septembris, anno Domini millesimo ccccmo iiij-xx xijdo. Et nostræ translationis anno sexto."

4

• Appendix E.

In the Register of John, cardinal Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, preserved at Lambeth Palace, fol. 78, tom. i, occurs the following heading :-" Acta et processus habita et facta in visitatione civitatis et diœcesis Wintoniensis, sede episcopali ibidem, per obitum Recolenda memoriæ Domini Petri Courtenay nuper ecclesia Cathedralis Wintoniensis Episcopi, vacante, auctoritate Reverendissimi in Christo patris et domini domini Johannis Dei gratiâ archiepiscopi Cantuariensis totius Angliæ primatis, et apostolica sedis legati, prætextu vacationis sedis hujusmodi excita, anno Domini millesimo ccccmo nonogesimo secundo. Et ipsius Reverendissimi in Christo patris Translationis Anno Sexto;" and in folio 84 b, "Sequitur Recepta et Recipienda, per Robertum

yet, in the first instance, it is not improbable the scribe has unintentionally omitted the word "secundo" in the registered transcript; be that as it may, had the monks taken the trouble of mentioning, as in all other instances, either the day of the week, or that it was on the vigil, or the morrow of the feast of Saint Matthew the Apostle, I should not be obliged to content myself with recording that Bishop Peter Courtenay died at his palace of Wolvesey, either on the 20th or the 22nd of September, 1492.1

Of Bishop Peter Courtenay no will exists, either at Doctors' Commons or at Lambeth; and, owing to the loss of several folios at the end of the first volume of cardinal Morton's register, containing records of the grants of probate and letters of administration for the years 1492, 1493, etc., I am unable to say whether he died intestate or not. No inquisition post mortem appears to have been held upon his death. His episcopal seal is of the usual shape, enriched with canopy work. Within a niche, in its upper portion, is a representation of the Blessed Trinity. The central and largest niche contains a seated figure of our Lady and Child. The dexter niche, a figure of Saint Peter, holding the keys in his right hand; and, in the sinister niche, a figure of St. Paul, with his right hand resting upon a sword;-patrons of the cathedral churches of Winchester and of Exeter. Beneath the Blessed Virgin, within a canopied niche, is a figure of the bishop himself, vested in pontificals, and in the attitude of prayer. On the dexter side (below the figure of Saint Peter), is a shield bearing two keys in saltire and a sword in pale,— the arms of the see of Exeter; and on the sinister side, in a corresponding position, a shield charged with the arms of bishop Courtenay. The legend is inscribed upon two scrolls in a kind of Longobardic, or semi Roman letter:-SIGILLV': PETRI: COVRTNAY: EPISCOPI: WINTON'. The seal of Peter Courtnay, bishop of Winchester. See fig. 3, Plate XVI. I believe this to be the same seal which he used as bishop of Exeter, with no other alteration than the obliteration of the word EXONIEN'. and the substitution of WINTON'. This will explain the circumstance of the arms of the see of Exeter appearing upon the seal. That they are the arms of the see of Exeter, and intended as such, there can be but little doubt. Fig. 5, Plate XVI, is an example of the arms of the see of Winchester in the time of Bishop Courtenay (from the panelled string course below the window of the north wall of the Lady chapel, Winchester cathedral), and fig. 8, Plate

Shirborne, in diœcesi Wintoniensi sede episcopali ibidem vacante, quæ incepit vacare xxijd die mensis Septembris Anno Regni Regis Henrici Septimi, Octavo, usque ad festum Pascha extunc proximo sequenti, Anno Regis prædicto."

1 "Obiit Septembris 22, 1492." Godwin's De Præsulibus Angliæ, 4to, London, 1616, p. 295, and Wharton's Anglia Sacra, fol., London, 1691, tom. i, p. 319. On the authority of the register of cardinal Morton. It is John Howell, alias Hooker, in his Antique Description of Exeter, 4to, Exon., 1765, p. 132; and Isaacke, in his Antiquities of Exeter, 2nd edit., 8vo, London, 1732, p. 39, who incorrectly record that he died December 20, 1491.