Transcript:Shropshire Archaeological Society. Transactions/1889/History of Shrewsbury Hundred or Liberties: Battlefield

Transactions of the Shropshire Archæological and Natural History Society.

Established 1877.

2nd SERIES, VOL. I., 1889.

History of Shrewsbury Hundred or Liberties.

By the late Rev. JOHN BRICKDALE BLAKEWAY, M.A.

<< Editor's preface < Acton Reynold | Berwick >

[page 321]

Battlefield.

A parish within the liberty of Shrewsbury, consisting of a single township, comprising the farms of Battlefield, Abright Hussey, and Huffley. It was formerly a part of Abright Hussey chapelry, and in the parish of St. Mary, of which the best account we have been able to collect is given in our history of Shrewsbury. At the important engagement which took place here, and from which the parish takes its name, the king's life was at one time in the most imminent danger. Hotspur and Douglas, with a personal animosity which exasperates the horrors of war, directed their attacks against the royal person, and were very near effecting their purpose. Whether it was on the very spot on which he was rescued from peril that Henry chose to erect his college ; whether it was here that the brave Earl of Stafford fell ; or whether there was any other motive to direct his choice, we are not told. As little do we know why so long an interval elapsed before the accomplishment of the king's intention to consecrate the scene of his victory by a religious foundation. This battle which fixed him in the throne befell in the summer of 1403 ; yet it was not till three years after, viz., in the 8th of his reign, that Richard Husse, Esq., obtained the royal license to grant two acres in Adbrighton Huse lying in a field called Haytelefield,^[1] [page 322] “ in quo bellum extitit inter dom. Regem et Henricum Percy,” to Roger Yve, rector of the chapel of St. John Baptist of Adbrygton Husee ; and it took three more years (during which, however, the building was, I conceive, all the while going on) actually to complete the legal part of the foundation by the royal charter. Did the grant proceed from the spontaneous liberality of Mr. Husse, from his zeal for the house of Lancaster, or from his desire of making his court to the sovereign ? This we cannot tell, but there is something out of the ordinary course in the whole transaction. In 8 Henry IV., Husse has license to grant the two acres to Ive and his successors, rectors of the chapel of St. John of Adbrighton, to build thereon a chapel of St. Mary Magdalen, of which chapel he and his successors, rectors as aforesaid, shall be masters or wardens, and shall for ever nominate the other five chaplains : which chaplains shall daily celebrate divine offices for the good estate of the king during his life, and after his death for the souls of himself and his progenitors, and for the ancestors of the said Richard Husee and Isolda his wife, and their heirs, and for the souls of those who were slain in that battle and lye buried there,^[2] and for the souls of all faithful deceased.

At some subsequent date which is not specified, Ive granted the said two acres to the king, his heirs and assigns, kings of England, for ever ; and Henry, by his charter of March 27, 11^mo regni (1410), regrants them^[3] to Ive with the buildings thereon erected, and [page 323] then proceeds to found the said chapel, and to erect it with a perpetual chantry of six chaplains, of which the rectors of St. John Baptist of Adbrighton for the time being are to be masters.

Upon the face of this transaction, it rather looks as if Henry at first wished to give it the air of a tribute of loyal affection to his person and title from one of his zealous subjects ; and considering the way in which he came by the crown, it was not unimportant for him to give it this appearance. At least I cannot otherwise account for this needlessly circuitous mode of conveyance. Why he found it afterwards expedient to proceed in a more direct course, and become himself the immediate founder, does not appear. But it is certain that, by the charter just mentioned, after reciting the grant from Husee to Ive, and from Ive to himself, he “ founds, erects, and establishes a certain chapel, made, built, and constructed in the place aforesaid, in the honour of St. Mary Magdalen ” (where we may collect that the church was now actually completed), “ into a certain perpetual chantry of six chaplains, to be appointed by the master or warden for the time being, who is always to be the rector of the Chapel of St. John aforesaid,” to which he annexes his new foundation, of which he constitutes Husee and his heirs perpetual patrons. He erects the master into a corporation sole, capable of purchasing and receiving lands and tenements ; and grants unto him and his successors the advowsons of the parishes churches of Michaeliskircke, in the county of Lancaster and diocese of York, parcel of his dutchy of Lancaster, and St. Andrew of Ideshale, and of the Royal Chapel of St. Michael, in Shrewsbury Castle, with the Chapel of St. Julian thereto belonging, to be by him appropriated to the use of the said chantry, making however sufficient endowments for the vicarages of the same churches, and reserving certain competent sums of money for the poor parishioners. [page 324]

His Majesty further grants them full exemption from all aids and subsidies ecclesiastical and temporal, and an annual fair on the feast of St. Mary Magdalen. This grant had been made a year before. “ Henry p' la grace de dieu Roy d'engleterre a touz ceux, &c. Sachez q' nos chs au dieu Rog’ Ive de leeton mestre de la chaunterie de Sainte Marie Maudeleyn,” &c. It is a grant of y^e advowson of Michaelleskircke co. Lancaster, parcel of our heritage of Lancaster, so that a vicar be competently endowed : “ Don’ souz n're gret seal de n're contee palatyn de Lancastre 28 Mai x regni.” (e cart J. Moultrie arm.)

[Seal of Duchy of Lancaster is here tricked.]

These grants were confirmed by papal authority. The following extract of a bull of Pope John XXIII. is taken by Dodsworth from the register of Hen. Bowet Abp. of York, fo. 268. (Dodsw. MSS., vol. 28.)

“ Capella de Batelfeld juxta Salop, prius dicta capella S. Johannnis Baptiste de Adbrighton Husee in com’ Salop, Lychefieldensis dioceseos, contigua placee terre vulgariter Haytelefeld nuncupate, in qua dudum Rex rebelles sibi potenter subjugavit, quam quidem placeam Rogerus Yve de Leeton rector dicte capelle habet de pia largicione nobilis viri Ricardi Husee domini loci de Aldbrighton Husee eamque postea Regi predicto imperpetuum dedisset ad hoc quod in illa quedam capella in honorem Beate Marie Magdalene construeretur. Rex construxit quoddam collegium in dicto campo, & in eodem fundabat cantariam sex capellanorum in dicta capella et constituit quod dictus Ricardus & heredes sui ejusdem collegii sive cantarie patroni imperpetuum existent ; Et preterea concessit dicto Rogero & successoribus suis, ut de ecclesia de Michaelliskirk, parcella sue hereditatis Lancastrie existente, necnon S'ci Andree Iddesale, parochialium ecclesiarum, & capelle S'ce Juliane de Salop advocationes, ut eas appropriatas tenerent &c., Dat. Bononie 4 Kal. Jan. 1^mo Pontificatus.” [The 1st year of John 23 is 1411.]

“ Appropriatio vicarie ecclesie de Michaelliskirke cum portione vicarii. Dat. apud Haytelefeld in festo S^ci Andree, 1411.” ibid.

Mr. Plaxton (MS.) says that Mr. Jobber of Aston hath an original bull from the council of Basil for the foundation of Battlefield College, and other charters of it. [page 325]

In 3 Hen. VI., 5 Oct., a general pardon passed the great seal for Roger Yve, master or custos, &c. “ Teste Johanne duce Bedford, custode Anglie.”

5 Oct. 3^to Henrici 6. Pardon to Roger Yve Master or custos of the chantry of St. Mary Magdalene near Salop of all transgressions rapes murders &c. &c. &c. &c. committed before 8^th Dec. last. Teste Johe duce Bed. custode Anglie.

The college of Battlefield was unable to maintain its immunity from taxation under the princes of the house of Tudor. In 1519, is a receipt of Thomas, prior of Bromfelde secunda deputy collector of the tenth granted to the king in the archdeaconry of Salop, in the diocese of Hereford of a payment due last Michaelmas from the chapel of Forde. Writings of Andrew Corbet, Esq., of Albright Hussey, 1736, among the Mytton collections : and in the same MSS. is the following notice :—

“ Battellfilde. Benefiiciariis & stipendiariis ejusdem parochie & aliis quorum interest omnibus & singulis.

Vos, tenore presencium monemus & mandamus quatinus decimam partem & subsid' per quemlibet vestrum respective debit' domino nostro Regi hoc xxxv^to anno regni sui secundum formam statutorum editorum, nobis personaliter xviij^to die mensis Januarii prox’ in publico Hospicio vocat' the George infra villam Salop, in hujusmodi solucione non deficien' sub pena juris.

per Jo. Apharry Collectorem.”

Ult. Sept. 22 Henry VIII. Humphrey Thomas master or custos of the church or chapel of Batelfyld & ye combrethren of the same place demise to farm to Robert Forster & Catherine his wife two messuages in Aston near Shyffenhall, & two parts of all their lands & meadows of the said township, now divided into four parts, with all the tithe of sheaf & hay of y^e same lands so demised, for 94 years, at a rent of 30s.—(E cartis Tho. Jobber.)

Mr. Ive, whose wardenship was of long duration paid a very vigilant attention to the interests of the Society over which he presided. The Abbey of Salop had, as long ago as 3 Edw. II., purchased three messuages and [page 326] three virgates of land in Albrighton Huse and Harlascote, from Robert Bakenhale and Cecile his wife. (Harl. MSS. 744.)

These premises lay very convenient for the College of Battlefield : accordingly, by deed dated Saturday before the feast of St. George 6 Hen. VI., John “ by the Grace of God, Abbot of Salop, and the convent thereof, demised to Roger Yve, first master of the College of St. Mary Magdalen de campo belli, near Salop, and the combrethren of the same,” all their lands, tenements, and rents, in the towns and fields of Harlascote and Adbryghton Husee, with all wards, marriages, &c., to hold for the term of ninety-nine years, by the service of 40^s yearly rent, and making an appearance annually at the court of the manor of Adbryghton Abbots.—(E cart. J. Moultrie ar.)

The royal founder of this College had, as we have seen, exempted it from the payment of taxes, and this grant is couched in as large words as ingenuity could frame,—“ that the said Roger Yve and his successors, masters or wardens of the said chantry,” for ever should be quit of tenths, fifteenths, subsidies, tillages, contributions, quotas (quotis), and other burdens whatsoever, to us or our heirs, by the clergy or commonalty of our realm of England, in future to be granted, as well in respect of their spiritual goods as of their lands, tenements, rents, temporal goods and chattels whatsoever.

But this liberal community, worthy of the important victory which the foundation designed to commomorate, was regarded with an evil eye by the ministers of Henry VI. They even endeavoured to extort from the College arrears of upwards of thirty years standing ; and in 22 Hen. VI. the Sheriff of Shropshire, Thomas Corbett, acting under an order of the Court of Exchequer, actually distrained upon the possessions of this little community for divers tenths granted by the clergy to the crown, in the 3rd, 7th, and 9th years of Henry V., and in the 9th year of the present king. Though the sum may not appear very large to a [page 327] modern reader, amounting in the whole only to £9 16s., it was more considerable than it now appears, and it was at any rate fitting that any illegal demand should be resisted, and that an illegal precedent should not be established.

Accordingly, in the Michaelmas term of 1443, Mr. Ive sued the sheriff in the Court of Exchequer, stating his seisin of the churches granted to his college by Henry IV., the king's grandfather, producing a Charter of his father, as well as another of his own, issued in the 19th year of his reign, exempting the society from such payments, and demanding judgment. The court appears to have very strictly examined the charters and bulls under which the college held these impropriations, which were in effect nearly the whole of their substance, and at length gave judgment in favour of the exemption, and the warden took care to have an exemplification of the record, which bears date July 13^th 23 Hen. VI. It will be seen, however, in the benevolence roll of 7 Henry VII. in our general history^[4] that the college was unable to evade that monarch's well disciplined collectors.

Having conducted this thorny affair, which depended six years (for it was on a charge in the great roll of 17 Henry VI. that the sheriff's distress was founded) to the eve of a successful conclusion, Mr. Ive proceeded, by testamentary disposition, to settle the affairs of the college over which he had presided so long and with such exemplary fidelity and prudence. His will was drawn upon great consideration, and is very long ; but its provisions contain so many curious particulars, and furnish so lively a picture of the mode of life adopted in these collegiate establishments, that an abstract of the whole must be laid before the reader. It is printed in the Monasticon.

It is dated Oct. 30, 1443, only two days before the decision of the barons of the exchequer in his favour. [page 328] After bequeathing his soul, in the usual terms, to the Almighty, the blessed virgin, and St. Mary Magdalene, he directs himself to be buried in a tomb of stone near the high altar of his college. He gives to the five chaplains then of the foundation (for though six were appointed by the charter, the number seems never to have been full) and their successors, the following articles :—

Three chalices silver gilt.

A pax brede of the same. [A Pax is “ a little gilded or painted table,” to use the words of Jos. Mede, disc. on Luke ii, 13, “ with a crucifix or some saints' picture thereon to be kissed of everyone in the church, before they receive the holy bread.” A substitute for the kiss anciently given before the eucharist. It is sometimes called an osculatory.]

Two silver crewets (fiolos.)

Three bells of brass hanging in the belfrey. [This was not the present bell-tower, which, as we shall see, was not then built.]

Two portiphories ad usum Sarum otherwise called Lyggers. [The portiphorium or portiforium is a book of the Romish service, the same (according to Lindewood, as quoted by Burn) which is sometimes called the ordinal, because it was the book which ordered the manner of performing divine service. From an authority cited by Du Cange in v. it was plainly synonymous with the breviary, which received its name, I suppose, from its being a compendium of the usual ministrations. That learned glossarist derives its name of portifory, which the French converted into Portez vous (see Brit. Crit. July, 1802, p. 12.), and analagous to a Vade Mecum, and the English into Portues,^[5] from its [page 329] being easily carried about, quod foras portari potuit ; a notion very consistent with that of a Breviary, but not so well reconcileable with that of a lyggar or leiger, which denotes its being fit to lie on a table or desk.]

Two crosses of brass gilt | de Auricalco :—See Bp. Watson's Essay on Oricalchum in the 4th vol. of his Chymical Essays. That it was brass is clear from the old French name for that metal—archal.]

Two new Missals. Two new graduals. [The gradual or grail was the book containing the choral service at High Mass. Burn, from Lindwood.] Three old Missals ; one of them covered with red leather. An old portiphory. A processionel. An executor of the office. A collectuary. Four books of Placebo and Dirige. A psalter. A pair of vestments of red velvet. A cope of red velvet, with two velvet dalmaticas. [Deacon's vestments.] A pair of silk vestments. A white silk cope, with two dalmaticas. Four pairs of other vestments. An yearly Manual. [The Manual seems, says Burn, to be the same with the ritual ; and contains all things belonging to the ministration of the Sacraments, also the blessing of fonts, and other things which require blessing, and the whole service used at processions.]

He also devises to the chaplains and their successors, a manse now erected, a buttery (promptuarium), and a kitchen in common, with other buildings and easements prepared for them ; and the following articles :—A long dining table, with two benches. Three table cloths. A basin and ewer. Three brass kettles. Two iron spites and rakkes. A cobard (cupboard). A spit with iron wheels and weights to turn and roast meat. [page 330]

{Note : The numbering of footnotes is not the same as in the original source.—Transcr.}

1. ↑ I long thought this was an original error of the clerk who engrossed the license, on which the subsequent proceedings were founded, for Baytelefield. The original Inspeximus by Henry V., 7 June, 1^mo regni, of his father's charter of 11 Henry IV., is now before me, by the kindness of Mr. Moultrie, and the word is distinctly Hateleyfeld ; but in an Inspeximus 17 Nov., 4 Henry VI., of which I have also seen the original, it is as plainly “ in campo qui vocat' Bateleyfeld.” I find however, that the field round the chapel is still called Hateleyfield.

   Inspeximus by Henry VI., 17 Nov., 4 regni, of an Inspeximus by Henry V., 7 June, 1 regni, of Henry IV.'s original charter 27 Mar., 11 regni, to ye College of Battelfyld. In this Inspeximus y^e field in which y^e battle was fought is plainly written Bateleyfeld,—“ in campo qui vocat' Bateleyfeld in quo campo bellum inter nos & Henricum Percy defunctum &c.,”—so that I suppose at this time the clerk conceived there was an error in writing it Hateley ;—for in Henry V.'s [page 322] Inspeximus, the original of which is now before me, it is Hateleyfeld. 24 Oct., 8 Elizabeth, Inspeximus by her, at y^e request of Richd. Moreton junior gent. & Tho. Jobber gent., of an Inspeximus by Henry VII. 29 June, 1 regni, of y^e above Inspeximus of Henry VI.

2. ↑ I hope the king had no hostility to the soul of his enemy ; but Hotspur was not buried at Battlefield.
3. ↑ Thus described,—a plat of ground enclosed by a ditch, containing in length and breadth two acres ; with two exits and entrances, each twenty royal feet wide, the one reaching from Hadenhalleslone strait upon the land of Richard Husee, lord of Adbrighton Husee, and the other reaching from Harlescotelone strait upon the said Husee's land.
4. ↑ [See Owen & Blakeway, i, 239, 258, where the original roll is said to be in the possession of William Hamper, Esq. Ed.]
5. ↑ “ When Esdras…purposed to restore the sacrifices of God, he sent not to Rome, although peradventure he had heard that there were Numa Pompilius' manuals or portuesses, containing the service of their Gods.” Jewel Apol. Pt. 6. ch. 17. “ The book of Common Prayer is patched out of the Pope's portuise, says the puritanical author of the Admonition to the Parliament. See Strypes Annals Ref. v. 2. app, pp. 36, 527. Gutch Collect. Curios, v. i. p. 173. [page 330] Hence the name was extended to compendiums, or catalogues in other branches of knowledge.

   The Porteous of Nobleness was a Scottish work on armouries in the 16th century. It even became the name of a family ; and the book in the arms of the late venerable Bishop of London is not, as might have been supposed, and as with great propriety it might have been, a bible, but, in allusion to his name, a Porteus or Portifory.