strongest opinion expressed is perhaps the regret that, through want of money, John de S. Germano, one of the Worcester monks, had lost his cause at Rome, and had been compelled to resign his election to the bishop- rick. The pope appointed William of Gainsborough; " et sic ecclesia Wygornite non personse electi defectu " aliquo nee electionis aliquali vitio, sed inopia solum- " modo pecuniae, tam nobili thesauro ea vice misera- " biliter vacuatur " (p. 555).
Nicholas of Norton, the sacrist, possibly the author
If any one officer of the priory more than another may the sacrist', seem to have a claim to the authorship, it would be Nicholas of Norton, the sacrist, who is mentioned in p. 510 as erecting two pictures in the church, and as being appointed by the bishop to visit the priory in conjunction with his official in 1300 (p, 546),[1] as throughout the Annals there is a very marked and elaborate mention of the vestments and other gifts presented to the sacrists by the newly elected abbats of the other monasteries of the diocese, when they were blessed at Worcester either by the bishop, or by some other bishop appointed by him. Beyond this I do not think any conjecture as to the author can be made.
Details of the history of the priory in the Annals.
The see of Worcester was founded in 680. Monks were established there by bishop Oswald in 969. The priory in church was enriched with lands from very early times, and details respecting these and the various churches in the gift of the priory occupy a considerable portion of the Annals. Presentations to churches, leases of lands given and taken, gifts of lands, legacies, pensions given or sold, lawsuits respecting the lands, appeals against the bishop's jurisdiction, journies to Rome to make good the appeals, and other similar matters, make up the chief
portion of the details of the history of the monastery
- ↑ He is also mentioned in p. 480 as receiving from the executors of Nicholas, bishop of Winchester, 60 marks towards rebuilding the tower of the cathedral. This was in 1281.
