heraldryofyorkmi01custuoft

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And
THE VAVASOURS. 325
beside being on the outside of the west end next to the figure of Vavasour.
On the outer wall of the east end of Thoresby's Ladye Chapel we
are told similar statues once stood, though they have now passed away.
In the south transept of the choir the commencement, probably, of
Scrope's work the arms appear again
;
and finally, highly decorated, as
deserving special honour, at the extreme west end of the north side of
the choir,* which indeed marks the completion of the building.
And we can understand this, because as the Vavasours rose in importance
they became closely associated with the Plantagenet kings, who, as we
shall see in the chapter on Royal Heraldry, made York their residence,
and had the interests of the Minster so thoroughly at heart. Sir William,
Sir John's son, having been keeper of the castles of Bolsover, Harston,
and Nottingham, in the reign of Henry III., had license from Edward I.
to castellate his dwelling at Hazelwood a : significant token of confidence
on the part of the King in his fidelity. In the twenty-second year of his
reign Sir William accompanied him in an expedition into Gascony, and
also in the twenty-seventh, twenty-ninth, and thirty-second years of his
reign he was with him in Scotland. His name is recorded amongst the
knights at the siege of Caerlaverock, where he served in the squadron
commanded by the Earl of Lincoln. Walter of Exeter in his poem thus
describes him :
" E de celle mesme part
Fu Guillemis li Vavasours,
Ki d'armes neest muet ne sours.
Baniere avoit bien conoissable
De or fin oue la daunce de sable."
also of the same division
Was William le Vavasour,
Who in arms is neither deaf nor dumb.
He had a very distinguishable banner
Of fine gold, with a dauncet of sable."
In 2oth of Edward I., he is said to have purchased of the King for
thirty marks two houses in the parish of St. Martin, Coney Street, which
belonged to Bonomy the Jew, when the Jews were expelled from the city.
This was the conventional way of repudiating the obligations incurred by
the barons for loans upon their lands from the Hebrews, to raise a cry
against them, and, expelling them from their midst, recover the title-deeds,
which, for better security, were often deposited in the Minster.
No doubt the barons were " very rapacious, but, perhaps, Simon of
" York '' and his brethren were not a little usurious. However, probably
Bonomy had a pleasant residence, and garden sloping down to
the river,
which for such a trifling consideration the rising nobleman of the neighbourhood
was glad to obtain ;
and where, no doubt, he entertained his companions
in arms and friends, on many occasions on their frequent passages through
York to and from Scotland; and at other times. He built the chapel at
Hazelwood, which, in consideration of his liberality to the Minster, was
* See illustration at the end of this Memoir.
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