Specimen of the Taxa in its full and unabridged form. It will of course be borne in mind by the tion of 1306 reader, that the preceding is but a synopsis, or abridged summary, of the original taxation from which it has been compiled. It may be interesting, however, to give a specimen in the form of a continuous extract from the taxation itself, by which the nature of that document may be better understood. The following is, in its unabridged form, the portion of it which belongs to the rural deanry of Moylinny, in the diocese of Connor. The error which obviously exists either in the Valuation or Tenth of this Church, is shewn by the sum to be in the latter, which has 6s. instead of 2s. The Hospitallers having been exempted from this taxation, the churches held by members of their body have no charge placed opposite to their names in the above cited record. Sum of the Taxation, £94 4s. 4d.; Tenth thereof, £9 8s. 54d." In this enumeration it will be seen that there are comprised 17 rectories and 4 vicarages, making up together the sum of 21 benefices, with an income of £94 4s. 4d. in this deanry, as already exhibited under the diocese of Connor in the above summary. No. XLI. BULL OF POPE NICHOLAS IV. CONCERNING THE GRANT OF THE IRISH "TENTHS" TO KING EDWARD I., A. D. 1291. (Referred to in the preceding No., p. 1148 sup.) The original Latin of this document may be seen in Rymer, Fœd. vol. ii., p. 519, (vid. p. 679 not. sup.) 19 Ed. I. Ex orig. in Thesaur. Cur. Recept. Scacc. this taxa "Nicholas, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to Names of our venerable brother the bishop of Meath, and our be- the agents in loved son the dean of the church of Dublin, our greeting tion. and apostolical benediction. Applause of the king for his zeal in the Holy Wars. He is grant clesiastical ed the Ec Tenths for twelve y ears. "It is not without sensations of lively joy, not without emotions of glowing exultation in the Lord, that we contemplate in our private meditations, and publish for the benefit of others, how that King, in whose hand are the hearts of kings, hath benignly touched the heart of our most dearly beloved son in Christ, Edward, the illustrious king of England; and hath kindled in his mind such a fervent zeal for employing his personal exertions for the relief of the Holy Land, subjected as it is to unnumbered sufferings, that both before his accession to the high honours of the royal dignity, which were his by hereditary right, he did in his own person, (not without large pecuniary expenditure and labours of serious magnitude,) supply relief to the said land, and this at a most critical season, when the country was exposed to very serious perils ;--and after that event, maintaining still the same resolve to render service to his Redeemer in this truly pious undertaking, (as though forgetful of the imminent risk which he had formerly incurred in the very same land at the hands of an assassin, and exhibiting a laudable magnanimity in his utter disregard of such perils,) he has again resumed anew the work of prosecuting the interests of the said land in his own person, and with all the resources of his royal might;-acting thus in the spirit of a Catholic prince, a prince of sterling energy; and holding himself in readiness to cross the sea, with God for his guide, on the feast of the nativity of B. John the Baptist, in the year of our Lord one thousand two hundred and ninety-three, which period we have thought proper, after advising with our brethren, to assign as the time for a general passage, as well for him, as for all others who have enlisted, or may yet enlist themselves, under the banner of the cross. "Now, albeit we have deemed it good to make over to the said king, for the prosecution of an undertaking so burdensome, so arduous, a grant of the Tenth of all incomes and rents ecclesiastical which has been collected in the kingdoms of England and Scotland, and in the lands of Wales and Ireland, in obedience to the decree of the Council of Lyons, for the relief of the land aforesaid, with certain other sums besides, and are giving direction in other our letters for the assigning of the said tithe to his use at the periods named for this purpose: yet seeing that there can be no doubt but that the said undertaking requires the aid of a far larger subsidy, We have, on advising with those same our brethren, made to the aforesaid monarch a [fresh] grant of the Tenth of all ecclesiastical rents, revenues, and profits, in the same realms and lands, according to their true valuation, for six years to be reckoned from the nativity of B. John the Baptist, next coming. But from any contribution on account of this Tenth, Exemption we have ordained, and it is our pleasure, to grant, an of the Tem exemption in favour of the Templars and Hospitallers, from this plars &c. (who have shewn such a readiness to expose their per- Taxation. sons and property in places beyond sea, and who have suffered serious losses in divers parts of the world, through the troubles of the times, of which it has befallen us to see so many instances in our own days ;) and also of all places, persons, and estates, which in declarations heretofore issued by the apostolic see, and herewith transmitted to you by us, are known to enjoy a right of exemption. "And in order that this our grant aforesaid may be The Irish the more promptly carried into effect, in other our let- clergy at ters addressed to our venerable brethren the archbishops Armagh, Dublin, Cashel, and Tuam, and their suffragans, and our beloved children, elect, . . . abbots, archdeacons, provosts, priors, . . . deans, other prelates of churches; and to the chapters, convents, colleges, of the Cistercian, Cluniac, Premonstrant, horted to be large are exspirited and liberal on the present occasion. |