The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-11-15 00:00:00

THE OLD REGISTER OF SALISBURY.

At the time of the battle of Hastings the two I
ancient sees of Sherborne. in Dorset, and of Rams-
bury, or Ravensbury, in Wilts, were held by one in-
dividual. Nine years afterwards they were merged
into a single bishopric, the seat of which was placed
at Old Sarum, a fortified spot on the top of a hill,
which was more of a castle than a city, and in this
stronghold H.:—*.Jan, the first bishop of Sarum, com-
menced building a cathedral. On his death, in 1078,
he was succeeded by a kinsman of William the Con-
queror, Osmund by name, who completed the fabric,
secured for it endowments, and originated a cathe-
dral establishment consisting of clergy who were
known as "seculars," becaase they lived each in
his own house, and did not withdraw themselves
entirely from contact with the laity, as din
the " regulars " who lived together under a more or
less monastic rule. Bishop Osmund was a man with
capacity for work, talent foriorganisation, and love of
order. Before his time no uniformity had existed in
the externals of public worship, each bishop, abbot,
and prior prescribing that which seemed right in his
own eyes; but an attempt made by a Norman abbot
to thrust some change of liturgy or ritual upon the
Saxon monks of Glastonbury led to a scene of riot
and disorder which probably opened Osmund's eyes
to the urgent need of codifying the offices of the
Church—at any rate, he saw fit to compile a church
service and ritualfor the use of the diocese of Sarum.
Outside his own diocese he had, of course, no
authority, but the advantages and excellence of his
work were so apparent that other sees soon
adopted it, and in course of time the "Use
of Sarum" was generally followed throughout
the kingdom, and became, indeed, the base of
the rubric in our present Book of Common Prayer.
On Osmund's death, in 1099, he was succeeded by
Roger, the astute Chancellor of Henry 1., who, uniting
in himself the offices of bishop, chancellor, and jus-
ticiar, organised the exchequer, founded castles and
became the greatest constructor of the day of military
as well RS of ecclesiastical edifices. Statesman though
he was, he looked well after the material interests of
his cathedral, and contrived to add considerably to its
revenues. Jocelin de Bohun, the succeeding bishop, I
secured further additions of property to the cathedral,
and endowed various dignities with prebendal estates.
After Jocelin's death the see was left vacant for five
years, and was then filled by Hubert Walter, who
was almost immediately afterwards promoted
to the Archbishopric of York. His successor
at Sarum, Herbert Poore, was consecrated in 1194,
and by his time the inconvenience to eecclesiastics
of being quartered in a royal castle had made
itself felt. " The bishop," it has been said, "held the
castle, but as a keeper, or as a maistre d'hostel, or as a
tenant for the king, only in trust and during
pleasure, often put in and out as the king saw good ;"
and it is hardly a matter for surprise, perhaps, that
Bishop Poore was anxious to remove his cathedral to
some more convenient spot, if the story be true that
the castle was once occupied by soldiers, who took
advantage of all the clergy having gone in procession
to some neighbouring church to lock out the
whole of the cathedral establishment. Herbert
Poole died, however, before he was able to
carry his intention into effect, and was suc-
ceeded by his brother, Richard Poore, who followed
his predecessor's design and obtained from Pope
Honorius 111. a Bull, dated 29th March, 1219,
authorising the removal of the cathedral and giving
-as one reason for sanctioning the step that "free
access to the church was not to be obtained without
leave of the' castellan,' or governor of the castle."
By various means Richard Poore managed to collect
sufficient money for his purpose, and commenced the
new building on a plot of ground called " Myrfield,"
which Canon Jones takes to mean " Mcersfelde," or
the boundary field, from the fact that it was at the
junction of three parishes. Here was erected, be-
tween 1220 and 1258, all but the spire and west front
of that 'extensive and magnificent example of Early
English architecture which stands at Salisbury in the
present day.
The documents relating to the cathedral daring the
period between the original establishment of the see
at Old Sarum and its removal to New Sarum appear
to have been collected together at some early period,
and the*" Old Register" is a copy of them made in
the contracted Latin of the thirteenth century. It
contains the treatise concerning ecclesiastical offices,
or " consuetudinapy," compiled by St. Osmund ; divers
Papal Bulls; sundry charters relating to the founda-
tions of the cathedral, its endowments and prebendal
estates; records of visitations of the prebendal estates
by the dean; incidents connected with the removal of
the see from Old to New Sarum; accounts of the
efforts made for the building of the new cathedral,
of its dedication by Richard Poore, and of the
election of the bishop's successor; and in-
cludes a list of the various treasures and
ornaments belonging to the cathedral in those days.
This manuscript, of which now for the first time a
complete copy is printed, has been edited by Canon
Rich Jones and added in two volumes to the Roll's
series oi Memorials of Great Britain and Ireland
during the Middle Ages. To the first volume the
editor has prefixed a short preface, giving an account
of the manuscript, and of the contents of the " Con-
suetudinary," which he has translated into English.
In the second volume, one hundred and fifty-eight
pages of text are preceded by one hundred and forty-
four pages of preface, containing an elaborate history
of the Bishops of Salisbury from 1045 to 1228, sup-
plemented by a glossary, a chronological abstract,
and an index—all very excellent work, but a sufficiently
liberal interpretation of the Roll's direction that to
editions of the above-mentioned series no notes
should be added except such as are illustrative of
the various readings of the different manuscripts,
and that the preface should contain only remarks
necessary to explain the chronology, together with
a biographical account of the author, and an estimate
of his historical credibility and value. Nevertheless,
we have reason to be thankful to Canon Jones for the
view he has taken of the extent of his duties, and for
the careful manner in which he has executed them.
Each section of his work will be 'interesting to some
class of reader--the preface to the hagiologist, the
glossary to the philologist, the consuetudinary to the
student of Church history, and the Papal Bulls, list
of ornaments, record of visitations, and legal docu-
ments to the antiquary. Of the old book itself
Canon Jones says that "though of so miscellaneous a
character, and withal so fragmentary, the manuscript
is invaluable as giving us not only the oldest known
copy of the Consuetudinary,' but as showing us so
clearly and so vividly the foundation and gradual
development of a cathedral of secular canons."—.
Morning Post.

THE HORTON BITRGLARIRS.—At the Shoreditch Town
Hall, Shoreditch, a sum of £350, subscribed in the
neighbourhood Hoxton, has been distributed to the
members of the police force who had been engaged in
the capture of the Iloston burglars. Two civilians
who had aided the police also received rewards.
IMPROVING THE OCCASION.—Mrs. Alderman Cali-
pash : There my dear, the "dress improver" sets off
the robes splendidly." Alderman Calipash (jocosely,
as befits the joyous nature of the occasion) : "Then,
my love, if I'm "all right behind," as—ha !ha !—the
omnibus conductor says, I'll make a start. Talking
of omnibuses, I shall soon be full inside. Ha ha "
--Funny FoUes.

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SANURDAY, NOV. ls, 1884