[3] The monks of
Ely (1160), of Westminster (c. 1159), of the cathedral
convent of St. Swithin's, Winchester (1171), of Bury St.
Edmunds, and of Whitby, received tithes and rents for a
like purpose.[4] The prior of Evesham received the tithes of
Bengworth to pay for parchment and for the maintenance
of scribes; while the preceptor was to receive five shillings
annually from the manor of Hampton, and ten shillings
and eightpence from the tithes of Stoke and Alcester for
buying ink, colours for illuminating, and what was
necessary for binding books and the necessaries for the
organ.[5]
[1] Gesta Abbatum, i. 57.
[2] Chron. mon. de Abingd., ii. 153. A list of the preceptor's
rents, applied to expenses of the writing-room and the organ,
will be found in ii. 328.
[3] H. Mon. S. A., 392.
[4] Stewart, Ely Cath, 280; Surtees Soc., lxix. 15-20; Robinson,
I.
[5] Chron. abb. de Eivesham, 208-210.
In some houses a rate was levied for the support of the
scriptorium, but we have not met with any instance of this
practice in English monasteries. At the great Benedictine
Abbey of Fleury a rate was levied in 1103 on the officers
and dependent priories for the support of the library; forty-
three years later it was extended, and it remained in force
until 1562.
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