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Historical Account Of The Life Of William Of Wykeham.
of the free chapel , or collegiate church , of St . Martin ' s le Grand , which he held about three years ; and , during that time , he generously rebuilt , in a very handsome manner , and at a very great expence , the cloisters of the chapter-house and the body of the church . In October 13 60 , he attended the king to Calais , and assisted at the ratification of the treaty of Bretagny , as a witness , in quality of notary public .
From this time to the year 136 3 , he received grants of no less than sixteen prebends , besides the archdeaconry of Lincoln , for which he resigned the archdeaconry of Northampton , which had been granted to him before , arid several other benefices . In June 1362 , he was WARDEN and justiciary of the king ' s forests on this side of Trent ; and on the 14 th of March followinghe had
, an assignment of 20 s . a day oilt of the Exchequer : he was made keeper of the privy seal on the nth of May 13 64 , and within two years after ; was appointed secretary to the king . In Ma } ' 136 5 , hi was commissioned to treat of the ransom of the King of Scotland . ; and the prolonging of the truce with the Scots , together with the chancellortreasurerand the Earl of Arundel ; andnot long after
, , , this , he is called chief of the privy council , and governor of the great council , terms which are supposed riot to be titles of office , but to express the influence and authority which Wykeham then possessed in those assemblies ' . The whole annual value of the ecclesiastical benefices which
Wykeham held from this time , till he was made Bishop of Winchester , amounted to 842 I . sterling per annum ; which at that time , when ' a shilling a day was thought a sufficient appointment for a SURVEYOK of the KING ' S WORKS , was an immense revenue , and yet was probably much less than the value of his pensions and places in a civil capacity , Such indeed was his influence , that Froissart , a cotemporary historianwho was perfectly acquainted with the affairs' of the English
, court , and at this time resident there , records , that William of Wykeham , a priest , was so much in favour with the King of England , that every thing was done by him , and nothing was done without him ' . Oh the 8 th of October 13 66 , Edyngdon , Bishop of Winchester , ' died ; and Wy keham , upon the king ' s earnest recommendation , was " unanimously elected by the prior and convent to succeed him .
Wykeham , when he began to rise in the world , obtained an ' allowance of coat armour , and chose for his motto manners m ' aketb man ; by which it is probable he alluded to the obscurity of his birth , and intimated , that a man ' s worth is to be estimated only from the endowment of his mind arid his moral qualifications , as the best apology for the ensigns of his new dignity , which was not derived either from
high birth or hereditary fortune . It has been said that Wykeham , notwithstanding his' promotion in the church , was an illiterate person ; but the , contrary incontestibly appears from the pope ' s bull ; by -Which he is' constituted administrator of the spiritualities arid temporalities of tM see of Winchester
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Historical Account Of The Life Of William Of Wykeham.
of the free chapel , or collegiate church , of St . Martin ' s le Grand , which he held about three years ; and , during that time , he generously rebuilt , in a very handsome manner , and at a very great expence , the cloisters of the chapter-house and the body of the church . In October 13 60 , he attended the king to Calais , and assisted at the ratification of the treaty of Bretagny , as a witness , in quality of notary public .
From this time to the year 136 3 , he received grants of no less than sixteen prebends , besides the archdeaconry of Lincoln , for which he resigned the archdeaconry of Northampton , which had been granted to him before , arid several other benefices . In June 1362 , he was WARDEN and justiciary of the king ' s forests on this side of Trent ; and on the 14 th of March followinghe had
, an assignment of 20 s . a day oilt of the Exchequer : he was made keeper of the privy seal on the nth of May 13 64 , and within two years after ; was appointed secretary to the king . In Ma } ' 136 5 , hi was commissioned to treat of the ransom of the King of Scotland . ; and the prolonging of the truce with the Scots , together with the chancellortreasurerand the Earl of Arundel ; andnot long after
, , , this , he is called chief of the privy council , and governor of the great council , terms which are supposed riot to be titles of office , but to express the influence and authority which Wykeham then possessed in those assemblies ' . The whole annual value of the ecclesiastical benefices which
Wykeham held from this time , till he was made Bishop of Winchester , amounted to 842 I . sterling per annum ; which at that time , when ' a shilling a day was thought a sufficient appointment for a SURVEYOK of the KING ' S WORKS , was an immense revenue , and yet was probably much less than the value of his pensions and places in a civil capacity , Such indeed was his influence , that Froissart , a cotemporary historianwho was perfectly acquainted with the affairs' of the English
, court , and at this time resident there , records , that William of Wykeham , a priest , was so much in favour with the King of England , that every thing was done by him , and nothing was done without him ' . Oh the 8 th of October 13 66 , Edyngdon , Bishop of Winchester , ' died ; and Wy keham , upon the king ' s earnest recommendation , was " unanimously elected by the prior and convent to succeed him .
Wykeham , when he began to rise in the world , obtained an ' allowance of coat armour , and chose for his motto manners m ' aketb man ; by which it is probable he alluded to the obscurity of his birth , and intimated , that a man ' s worth is to be estimated only from the endowment of his mind arid his moral qualifications , as the best apology for the ensigns of his new dignity , which was not derived either from
high birth or hereditary fortune . It has been said that Wykeham , notwithstanding his' promotion in the church , was an illiterate person ; but the , contrary incontestibly appears from the pope ' s bull ; by -Which he is' constituted administrator of the spiritualities arid temporalities of tM see of Winchester