The abbot not only had a separate residence within the
monastery and lived apart from his monks, but he had his separate
estate for the maintenance of his dignity, and to bear the very heavy
expenses which that dignity necessitated, and he had the patronage of
every office in the convent. These officers were numerous. The first
of them was the prior, who was the abbot's prime minister and head of
the executive and the abbot's representative in his absence. Under
him was the sub-prior, sometimes a third prior, and then a number of
functionaries, to whom, as in the case of the abbot, separate estates
were assigned out of which they were bound to provide for certain
charges which they were called upon to meet as best they could, while
a complicated system of finance provided for the surplus of one
office being applied when necessary for the deficiency of another.
In the great Abbey of Evesham a very elaborate constitution was drawn
up and agreed to in the year 1214, after a long dispute between the
abbot and convent which had lasted for several years, and this scheme
has come down to us.
From it we find that certain officers (obedientiaries was their
technical name) were charged with providing certain articles out of
the revenue of the office. The prior, to whom no mean share of the
revenues was assigned, had to provide the parchment that might be
required for business purposes or for legal instruments and all other
materials for the scriptorium, except ink.
Pages:
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138