york00orns

DEALS WITH ABUSES OF PATRONAGE.
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bishops of Lincoln and Worcester, two dioceses in
which the York influence was more or less strong."^
A number of instances occur amongst the records of
Gray's episcopate showing the care he took to carry
out the pope's injunction. It gradually died out by
the middle of the thirteenth century.
Other matters affecting the temporal welfare of the
Church in his diocese were dealt with. Lay patrons
seem to have exercised an extraordinary amount of
power over the property of the Church. Livings were
divided into medieties, the result, probably, of a division
of the lord's own estate between heiresses, or the
disposal of a portion of it to some other proprietor.
The assignment of a suitable proportion of Church
property followed the division or accompanied the
purchase. The lay patron had the power, moreover,
to assign pensions or portions out of the livings in his
gift, and present to them, and to allot the tithes in
like manner.
"It was not unusual for three or four
persons to have a pecuniary interest in one and the
same living, a state of things which would lead to
pauperise the benefice, and lessen the responsibility
of each person connected with it." Against these
abuses Gray steadfastly set his face. He dealt also
with another abuse. The monastic bodies often
absorbed the tithes and rents of a living without
making any fixed provision for the performance of
divine offices in the Church. To meet this he took
care that vicarages should be settled and endowed.
Another work which he took in hand was an
increase in the number of chapels or oratories. The
'
Gray's "Register," Pref., p. xxix.
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