to Ivo dean of Wells by Adrian IV on 22 Jan. 1158 with the bull directed to Richard his successor by Alexander III on 15 June 1176.[1] For in the later bull Huish and the church of Compton duly appear among the possessions confirmed to the dean and canons, whereas they are not named in the earlier bull which was issued, as we have seen, in the year before the new prebend was created.
We are now in a position to review Bishop Robert's record of his new institution without being hampered by the supposition that the statements which it contains must all be referred to the first six months of his episcopate.[2] He begins by declaring that after the divine mercy had raised him to the bishop's seat he had anxiously striven to banish all abuses from the churches committed to his care, and to root out all causes of contention. Accordingly, finding the church of Wells crushed by the wrongful exactions of the provostship, he had taken counsel with the archbishops, bishops, and other religious persons of England, and then at the request of the canons themselves had appointed a dean of Wells, to whom he had granted such dignities, liberties, and canonical customs as were usual in the well-ordered churches of the land.
This is not properly speaking a foundation charter, but a record under the bishop's seal of the more important points of his action. It was probably suggested by Bishop Giso's account of his institution of canons and distribution of properties, which closes, as does Bishop Robert's, with an appeal to his successors to secure the stability of his work.[3]
The dean alone is mentioned at the outset, but in a later paragraph there is an incidental notice of the precentor; and there can be no doubt that the constitution was framed on the pattern of Sarum and provided also for a chancellor, treasurer, subdean, and succentor. To the dean and chapter of Salisbury Dean Ivo and his chapter had already applied for guidance some years before this Ordinance of Bishop Robert was drawn up, and we have the answer of Robert dean of Salisbury (who in 1155 became bishop of Exeter), in which he describes the dignitas decani so far as it relates to archidiaconal jurisdiction.[4]
The distribution of the common estates of the canons into separate
- ↑ R. ii. 45, 46: the former is misdated in the Cal. of Wells MSS, i. 533.
- ↑ The appended note is probably due to some copyist who in ignorance referred the Ordinance to the early part of Bishop Robert's episcopate, and desired to give the names of the archbishops and bishops alluded to in the text of the document.
- ↑ See below, p. 60.
- ↑ . i. 29. The next dean of Salisbury also wrote to Ivo, and afterwards to Ivo's successor, with regard to certain Sarum customs.
