The Mediæval Hospitals of England by Rotha Mary Clay
2. BEQUESTS
261 words | Chapter 82
The money chest, larder and wardrobe were replenished largely by
legacies. Amongst the earliest recorded are those of Henry II and his
son, William Longespée. Henry left a large sum to religious houses in
England and Normandy, and particularly to lepers. Longespée bequeathed
cows to lepers in the hospitals of Salisbury, Maiden Bradley and
Wilton, as well as to St. John’s, Wilton, and St. Bartholomew’s,
Smithfield (1225). Men in humbler circumstances were likewise generous.
A certain William de Paveli left 12_d._ each to eight hospitals in
Northampton, Brackley, Towcester, Newport Pagnell, Hocclive and
Stra[t]ford (_circa_ 1240).[107] Wills abound in references of a
similar character. Early legacies were made to the hospital as a body,
but when the renunciation of individual property by the staff ceased,
money was given to individuals; a benefactor of St. [p182] Giles’,
Norwich, left 20 marks to the master and brethren, 40_d._ each to other
officials, and 2_s._ to each bed (1357).[108] Gifts were frequently
made to patients; Stephen Forster desired that 100_s._ should be given
away in five city hospitals, besides five marks in pence to inmates
of St. Bartholomew’s, Bristol (1458). An endowment of penny doles
was provided by Lady Maud Courtenay in Exeter, namely thirteen pence
annually for twenty years “to xiii pore men of Symon Grendon is hous”
(1464). Testamentary gifts were also made in the form of clothes,
bedding, utensils, etc. The founder of St. Giles’, Norwich, left to it
“the cup out of which the poor children drank,” probably some vessel of
his own hitherto lent for the scholars daily meal.
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