Page:Medieval English nunneries c. 1275 to 1535.djvu/43

often tell the same tale. When Elizabeth Chaucy—probably a relative of the poet Chaucer—became a nun at Barking Abbey in 1381, John of Gaunt paid £51. 8s. 2d. in expenses and gifts on the occasion of her admission^[1], and the privy purse expenses of Elizabeth of York contain the item, "Delivered to thabbesse of Elnestowe by thands of John Duffyn for the costes and charges of litle Anne Loveday at the making of her nonne there £6. 13s. 4d."^[2].

It is possible to determine the exact nature of these costs and charges from an account of the expenses of the executors of Elizabeth Sewardby, who died in 1468. This lady, the widow of William Sewardby of Sewardby, had left a legacy of £6. 13s. 4d. to her namesake, little Elizabeth Sewardby, to be given her if she should become a nun. The executors record certain payments made to the Prioress of Nunmonkton during the period when Elizabeth was a boarder there, before taking the vows, and then follows a list of "expenses made for and concerning Elizabeth Sewardby when she was made a nun at Monkton":

They say that they paid and gave to the Prioress and Convent of Monkton, for a certain fee which the said Prioress and Convent claim by custom, to have and are wont to have from each nun at her entrance £3. And in money paid for the habit of the said Elizabeth Sewardby and for other attire of her body and for a fitting bed, £3. 13s. 6½d. And in expenditure made in connection with the aforesaid Prioress and Convent and with the friends of the aforesaid Elizabeth coming together on the Sunday next after the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary a.d. 1460, £3. 11s. 4d. In a gratuity given to brother John Hamilton, preaching a sermon at the aforesaid Monkton on the aforesaid Sunday, 2s. And in a certain remuneration given to Thomas Clerk of York for his wise counsel concerning the recovery of the debts due to the said dame Elizabeth Sewardby, deceased, 12d. Total £10. 7s. 10½d^[3].

1. V.C.H. Essex, ii, p. 117.
2. Quoted in V.C.H. Beds. i, p. 254.
3. Testamenta Eboracensia, iii, p. 168. The sum left for entrance of Ellen Fairfax to Nunmonkton was about the same, £10. 13s. 4d. {16 marks). Above, p. 18, note 4. There is an interesting note of the outfit provided for an Austin nun of Lacock on her profession in 1395, attached to a page of the cartulary of that house. "Memorandum concerning the expenses of the veiling of Joan, daughter of Nicholas Sambome, at Lacock, viz. in the 19th year of the reign of King Richard the second after the conquest. First paid to the abbess for her fee 20s. then to the convent 40s., to each nun 2s. Item paid to John Bartelot for veils and linen cloth 1102s." (this large sum may include a supply for the whole house). "Item to a certain woman for one veil 40d. Item for one mantle 10s. Item for one fur of shankes (a cheap

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