THE CHAPEL OF BONES

Michael Jecks

Copyright © 2004 Michael Jecks

The right of Michael Jecks to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.

First published as an Ebook by

Headline Publishing Group in 2014

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

eISBN: 978 1 4722 1979 4

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About the Author

Michael Jecks gave up a career in the computer industry to concentrate on his writing. He is the founder of Medieval Murderers, has been Chairman of the Crime Writers’ Association, and helped create the Historical Writers’ Association. Keen to help new writers, for some years he organised the Debut Dagger competition, and is now organising the Aspara Writing festival for new writers at Evesham. He has judged many prizes, including the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. Michael is an international speaker on writing and for business. He lives with his wife, children and dogs in northern Dartmoor.

Michael can be contacted through his website: www.michaeljecks.co.uk.

He can be followed on twitter (@MichaelJecks) or on Facebook.com/Michael.Jecks.author.

His photos of Devon and locations for his books can be found at: Flickr.com/photos/Michael_Jecks.

Also by Michael Jecks

The Last Templar

The Merchant’s Partner

A Moorland Hanging

The Crediton Killings

The Abbot’s Gibbet

The Leper’s Return

Squire Throwleigh’s Heir

Belladonna at Belstone

The Traitor of St Giles

The Boy-Bishop’s Glovemaker

The Tournament of Blood

The Sticklepath Strangler

The Devil’s Acolyte

The Mad Monk of Gidleigh

The Templar’s Penance

The Outlaws of Ennor

The Tolls of Death

The Chapel of Bones

The Butcher of St Peter’s

A Friar’s Bloodfeud

The Death Ship of Dartmouth

Malice of Unnatural Death

Dispensation of Death

The Templar, the Queen and Her Lover

The Prophecy of Death

The King of Thieves

No Law in the Land

The Bishop Must Die

The Oath

King’s Gold

City of Fiends

Templar’s Acre

Praise

‘Michael Jecks is the master of the medieval whodunnit’ Robert Low

‘Captivating. . . If you care for a well-researched visit to medieval England, don’t pass this series’ Historical Novels Review

‘Michael Jecks has a way of dipping into the past and giving it that immediacy of a present-day newspaper article. . . He writes. . .with such convincing charm that you expect to walk round a corner in Tavistock and meet some of the characters’ Oxford Times

‘Great characterisation, a detailed sense of place, and a finely honed plot make this a superb medieval historical’ Library Journal

‘Stirring intrigue and a compelling cast of characters will continue to draw accolades’ Publishers Weekly

‘A tortuous and exciting plot. . . The construction of the story and the sense of period are excellent’ Shots

‘This fascinating portrayal of medieval life and the corruption of the Church will not disappoint. With convincing characters whose treacherous acts perfectly combine with a devilishly masterful plot, Jecks transports readers back to this wicked world with ease’ Good Book Guide

About the Book

The eighteenth novel in Micahel Jecks's medieval Knights Templar series.

In 1283, Exeter's Cathedral Close was the scene of a vicious ambush. Now, forty years on, more deaths are ocurring. Is the first an accident? The second is surely not, and the killer will not be easy to catch. The victim, Henry Potell, was feared by many, and held secrets some would wish to keep hidden at any cost...

For investigators Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, events become increasingly mysterious. Who among Henry Potell's companions would have wanted him dead? The key to the mystery lies in the ominous Chapel of Bones, built in reparation for that terrible murder so many years ago.

This book is for Don and all the Mortons.

In affectionate and loving memory of Mary.

Also for Keith Aylwin.

A kind, considerate, and generous friend.

He’s missed.

Map of Exeter in Early 1300s

Map of Cathedral Close

Glossary

Accounts
Medieval accounting was very simple compared with today’s bookkeeping. The accounts were kept yearly on rolls of parchment sewn together, top-to-tail, and recorded simply charge and discharge, with totals carried forward each year.

Annuellar
Priests appointed by the Dean and Chapter of a cathedral to service a specific chantry and participate in certain tasks.

Approver
The medieval equivalent of ‘Turning King’s Evidence’. A felon could confess and thereby postpone his execution; this often meant that he, the approver, would have to stand in combat against his former partners in crime.

Calefactory
A ‘warming room’ in a monastery or nunnery in which a good, blazing fire was kept going during the colder months.

Canon
Exeter Cathedral had a large Chapter of some twenty-four canons – men who had chosen to live together under the Church’s rules. They controlled the income of the Cathedral and mostly lived in the Close in their own houses.

Chapter
The Cathedral at Exeter was ruled by the dignitaries – Church officials who possessed separate endowments.

Chaunter
An archaic term for the next most senior Dignitary after the Dean. More recently (and commonly) known as the Precentor.

Choir
The full body of men who served the Cathedral, including the canons and the minor clergy. The word also refers to the part of the Cathedral where their stalls were located.

Common Fund
This was the fund through which all the running costs of the Chapter were maintained – prebends for canons, monies for food and drink and so on. The two Stewards, both canons, received money into the exchequer for the Common Fund (which did not include the Fabric monies) and then allocated it to salaries and expenses.

Dignitaries
The ruling body of the Cathedral, comprising the Treasurer, Chancellor, Precentor and Dean.

Fabric Fund
While the Common Fund dealt with the general Chapter running costs, the Fabric handled all the actual Cathedral building expenses. The Warden of the Fabric received and dispensed the money for supplies of timber, iron, wages for the workers and all other aspects of the works.

Minor Clergy
Four groups consisting of the Vicars Choral, Secondaries, Choir and Annuellars. The minor clergy had a pleasant, sociable life with access to good food and drink, and a certain amount of personal freedom.

Secondaries
Appointed by the Dean himself, these were usually young men between the ages of seventeen and twenty-four. Many were choristers whose voices had broken.

Treasurer
One of the four ‘dignitaries’ of the Cathedral, the Treasurer was responsible for the general Chapter costs. At Exeter this did not include responsibility for the Fabric accounts – as far as we can tell. Instead there were two Wardens of the Fabric, one of whom was the Master Mason and the other a member of the Chapter. In 1300 and beyond, this was a vicar.

Vicars Choral
The personal servants of the canons. Each was appointed by his own canon, to whom he rendered personal services in exchange for benefits. He had lodgings in the canon’s house, meals at his table, and accompanied his canon to the Cathedral. In 1300 these men were paid between two and three pounds each year in cash, but of course they also received free board and lodging.

Warden of the Fabric
The Chapter member responsible for the Fabric accounts and who worked with the Master Mason – also called the Clerk of the Works.

Cast of Characters

The Officers

Sir Baldwin de Furnshill
Once a Knight Templar, Sir Baldwin is Keeper of the King’s Peace in Crediton and has gained a reputation as an astute investigator of crimes.

Lady Jeanne
Baldwin’s wife, Jeanne has been married before, unhappily, and is constantly fearing that she may lose her new husband’s love.

Bailiff Simon Puttock
The former Stannary Bailiff, Simon is now Abbot Robert’s man in Dartmouth, and regrets taking the post.

Sir Peregrine de Barnstaple
Once a favoured advisor to Lord Hugh de Courtenay, this bannaret has been separated from his Lord’s household because his counsel was growing too opposed to the King’s favourite, Despenser. Lord Hugh couldn’t afford to be thought to challenge the King’s authority and so has forced Sir Peregrine to leave his entourage for a while.

The City |
Alured de Porter | Mayor of Exeter seven times, Alured was, nevertheless, hanged for the murder of Chaunter Walter when King Edward I arrived to try the case in 1285.
Henry Potell | A successful saddler and businessman, Henry is almost sixty and has been working with his companion Joel for many years.
Mabilla Potell | Henry’s wife is a stolid, dependable woman in her middle years.
Julia Potell | Their daughter, and of marriageable age, Julia is a noted beauty and is pursued by some of the men in the city.
Udo Germeyne | A German, Udo arrived in Exeter many years ago and decided to make the city his home. He desires Julia for his own wife.
Joel Lytell | A successful joiner, who makes the frames on which Henry Potell builds his saddles.
Maud Lytell | Joel’s wife. A rational and calm lady.
William | An Exeter man, William came to the notice of the King after the murder of the Chaunter. A notable member of Edward II’s household, he has recently been installed as a corrodian (pensioner) at the Priory of St Nicholas.
Saul | A well-known mason, Saul is a strong stone-worker and earns a good wage.
Sara | Wife to Saul and mother to his boys, Elias (three and a half) and Dan (eight), Sara is a stranger to Exeter.
Ralph of Malmesbury | A notable physician, Ralph is known to those in the city who can afford his services.
John Coppe | Wounded by pirates many years before, John has lost one leg and his face is fearfully scarred. He now has to beg at the gate to the Cathedral.
Vincent | Apprentice to Joel.
Wymond | Vincent’s father, a tanner on Exe Island. The Cathedral

The Cathedral |
Chaunter Walter | Walter de Lecchelade was the Chaunter murdered in Exeter Cathedral’s grounds in 1283.
Dean Alfred | The Dean conceals a sharp mind behind his bumbling manner.
Treasurer Stephen | A canon who has invested much of his working life in the rebuilding of the Cathedral, Stephen is devoted to ensuring that the works are completed successfully (even though he knows he won’t live to see them finished).
Matthew | The Warden of the Fabric, Matthew is responsible for much of the accounting for the building works.
Friar Nicholas | Once a novice at the Cathedral, Nicholas was dreadfully injured while trying to save his master, Chaunter Walter, during the fight when Lecchelade died. He has recently returned to the Friary.
Janekyn Beyvyn | The porter at the Fissand Gate of the Cathedral Close, Janekyn is popular with the beggars of the city, all of whom know him to be a kindly, generous soul.
Prior Peter | Peter was once a member of the Chapter of the Cathedral, but after his part in Lecchelade’s assassination, he was evicted. Now he has become acting head of the Priory of St Nicholas until a new Prior is elected.
Robert de Cantebrigge | A famous Master Mason from Kent, Master Robert is supervising the rebuilding of the Cathedral as well as several other projects.

Author’s Note

This story has been in my mind for some time, ever since I first heard of the strange murder of the Chaunter at Exeter Cathedral.

The tale has all those elements which a novelist would love: intrigue, hatred, jealousy and murder, all occurring within the supposedly calm and contemplative environs of a Cathedral Close. Naturally I was drawn to it.

A good friend of mine, Susanna Gregory, author of the excellent Matthew Bartholomew series of medieval murder stories, has commented that at a time in which almost a third of the male population of the country was directly or indirectly employed by the Church, it would be astonishing if some of them weren’t unpleasant, murderous or plain mad. Well, if events at Exeter in the 1280s are anything to go by, there were many men in the Cathedral who were ‘mad, bad, and dangerous to know’.

The story really began with the arrival of Bishop Quivil in 1280. He would appear to have been a thorough and responsible Bishop, who was notable for spending a lot of his time in the saddle travelling about his diocese and making sure that people were well-served by his men. Unlike Exeter’s Bishops before and after him, Quivil devoted his time to the souls under his jurisdiction, and would appear to have largely ignored the country’s politics. Sadly, though, he managed to make his Archbishop angry even before he had won his post.

Archbishop Peccham refused to consecrate Quivil*, sending him a curt letter that read: We should desire personally to confer on you the rite of consecration in the Metropolitan Church of Canterbury on the Sunday before St Martin’s Day; but, finding it a little inconvenient to be present in our own person . . . Thus Peccham found it too much of a trial to attend the installation of one of his top men in his own church at Canterbury.

This was a poor start to Quivil’s rule, but matters were soon to deteriorate.

Although Quivil appears to have been an exceptionally mild-tempered Bishop for his time – he rarely excommunicated anyone, tended not to call in the secular arm of the law to chastise the disobedient, had disputes neither with laymen and clerics nor the priories and abbeys in his territory – yet he still had a series of problems with one man: John Pycot.

The Archbishop installed John (also called John of Exeter) as his Dean under Quivil. From the records, John would appear to have been ‘an unscrupulous though plausible worldling’ (Boggis). Although Quivil fought against his appointment, John had the full weight of Peccham behind him, and eventually became Dean on the death of Dean John Noble in 1281. Quivil unsuccessfully appealed to the Pope against his installation on several grounds.

The actual reason for their enmity has been lost; however there are some clues. Nicholas Orme in Medieval Art and Architecture at Exeter Cathedral (‘Transactions of the British Archaeological Association’, 1985), points out that Pycot was already the Treasurer of the Cathedral, but that alone hardly seems reason enough for Quivil’s violent dislike of him. There must have been some other grounds for Bishop Quivil’s refusal to accept Pycot as his Dean.

For whatever the reason, Quivil would have nothing to do with him. He refused to acknowledge Pycot’s position, and then, when it was apparent that he was getting nowhere, he installed his own Chaunter, Walter de Lecchelade, who made it his business to obstruct the Dean whenever he could. He took over the Dean’s stall in the Cathedral, the Dean’s residence, and his income, as well as taking on all the rights pertaining to the office of Dean. As Chaunter, he had second-in-command status after the Dean, and would take control in the Dean’s absence. The fact that he was put in post in the same year in which John Pycot was elected to Dean seems to support the view that Quivil was looking to counterbalance the Dean’s authority.

In any case, two years later a terrible event took place in the Close. On 9 November 1283 – W.G. Hoskyns in Two Thousand Years in Exeter (Unwin, 1960) gives the date as 5 November – Walter de Lecchelade was murdered. He had attended Matins at the Cathedral and was walking the short distance home at between one and two in the morning, when he and his men were set upon by an armed gang. Lecchelade’s body was discovered early the next day, lying in the mud.

This set in train the events which I’ve outlined in my story. There was no resolution between the Dean and the Bishop, and relations must have worsened, because by 1285, two years later, the Bishop was asking the King to come and hear the matter.

King Edward I arrived on 22 December 1285 with his Queen, and they installed themselves in the moderate comfort of the castle. That was a Saturday. The next day, the royal couple attended Mass in the Cathedral, and on Christmas Eve they started hearing the case.

There were twenty-one men accused. Eleven were clerics, and as such were spared the risk of death, but were confined in the Bishop’s gaol. Dean John Pycot was one; the Vicar of Heavitree, John de Christenestowe, and John de Wolfrington, Vicar of Ottery St Mary, were two others. Among those who had nothing to do with the Cathedral were two main citizens of Exeter: the Mayor, Alured de Porta, and the porter of the South Gate. The reason for this was that the gates had been left wide open all through the night of the killing. The Bishop contended that this proved that the city had conspired in the murder of his Chaunter.

The trial was halted during Christmas Day, naturally, and continued on Boxing Day. On this day, Alured was taken out and hanged, along with the porter at the gate. Later, the churchmen were convicted by the Bishop’s court and Dean John was imprisoned.

This wasn’t quite the end of the affair. Archbishop Peccham interested himself in the fate of his ally still, and tried to have him released along with his ten associates. It didn’t work, though, and Pycot stayed in the ecclesiastical prison until 1286, at which time he was banished to a monastery – we don’t know which one.

This was obviously an extreme case of violence in a Cathedral’s Close, but when we look back through history at the behaviour of our ancestors in the Church, we find many other examples. Men were, in the words of Henry Summerson, ‘aggressive, vindictive, acquisitive and suspicious’*. For example, when there was an argument between a group of churchmen in 1271, the parson of Quantoxhead threatened Master Thomas de Graham that he’d be ‘revenged on him within three days’. Clearly a man in a hurry, the parson saw to it that Master Thomas was murdered the very next day. The poor fellow was attacked at Thorverton by men who slaughtered both him and his groom, cutting out Master Thomas’s tongue as well – presumably because the insult given had been verbal.

The point is, the members of the clergy were as likely to draw a sword as any other man. Perhaps more so than the average peasant, because so many of the clergy had been raised in noble surroundings, and many would have trained with their older brothers as warriors before being sent into the Church.

Clergymen saw no problem with girding themselves with a sword. They would protect themselves and their churches with steel, if necessary, and many who were of nobler birth would have no compunction about defending their honour with a blade. These were not the sort of men to turn the other cheek.

Those who have some knowledge of the rebuilding of Exeter Cathedral may be surprised at my sudden improvement of the schedule of works. So far as I know, the section east of the towers was largely completed by 1310, and in 1318 there was some remodelling (increasing some parts from two storeys to three for coherence of the whole) and presumably the rest of the works were internal finishing. The impressive – in fact, quite alarming – Bishop’s throne was made between 1313 and 1319. Thomas of Witney may have designed this, and was appointed Master of the Works around 1316. He was almost certainly responsible for the pulpitum (1317–25) and the presbytery sedilia (1316–26). We know that in 1324 Thomas was ordering huge quantities of stone from Caen, as well as from more local quarries in Silverton, Salcombe and Beer among others, in order to build the new nave. At the same time he ordered fifteen poplar trees for scaffolding, as well as a hundred alder trees, forty-eight ‘great’ trees from Langford, and assorted loads of timber. The Bishop bought 13s 6d worth of timber in London.

The materials for the west front were being purchased in 1328. In 1329 the nails were bought with their fittings for the door, hence much was finished by then – although not the fabulous image screen which we see today. That was started in about 1346 (so far as I can learn – it may have been begun a little earlier), and wasn’t finished for a hundred years.

To be entirely honest, though, I’m not sure how far advanced the rebuilding would have been in 1323. I have assumed that at this time the old walls were being thrown down, in preparation for the new walls to be erected. Sadly, because of time constraints, it has not been possible for me to learn precisely how much had already been done. I think that my guess of the topmost courses being removed is probably not too far out, though.

There is one last point I should mention for those who wish to look up any references to these events, and that is the spelling of the names.

In this period there was no consistency of spelling, and this is particularly true with the spelling of people’s names.

For example, Alured de Porta I have found as Alfred of Exeter and Alfred Duport. Likewise, Walter de Lecchelade is also Walter Lechlade and Walter Lechdale, while Bishop Quivil is also recorded regularly as Quinil. I have tried to take the middle road, and have stuck to what seems best phonetically, while retaining a little of the ‘feel’ of the period where I can.

Naturally, as always, any errors are entirely my own responsibility.

Michael Jecks

Northern Dartmoor

April 2004