Therein his
books would bide when he died.[1] Not till long after his
death was the building completed. His books did not
come to the University without much trouble. Bequests
were elusive in the Middle Ages, for people sometimes
dreamed of projects they could not realize while they lived,
and sanguinely hoped their executors would win prayers
for the dead by successfully stretching poor means to a
good end. Cobham died in debt. His books were pawned
to settle his estate and pay for his funeral. Adam de
Brome redeemed the pledges, and handed them over, not
to the University, but to his newly-founded college of
Oriel.[2] In peace the books were enjoyed at Oriel until
four years after de Brome's death. The Fellows claimed
them, it appears, not only because he redeemed them, but
because, as impropriating rectors of the church, both
building and library were theirs, they argued, by right.
The University was equally persistent in its claim. At
last, ten years after Cobham's death, the Commissary,
taking mean advantage of the small number of Fellows in
residence in autumn, went to Oriel with "a multitude of
others," and brought the books away by force.
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