The York Provinciale (c. 1518)

Summary

The York Provinciale is a collection of York statutes made by or for Cardinal Wolsey sometime between 1516 and 1523, following the pattern familiar from William Lyndwood’s Canterbury Provinciale, which appeared in 1433, and the Roman canonical tradition going back to the Liber extra of 1234 and beyond. It may have been Wolsey’s intention that the Provinciale should have been adopted at a provincial council, but if so, it seems to have been overtaken by events and it was never published. However it is valuable as a repository of already existing legislation, some of which no longer survives elsewhere. In this edition, the canons are printed in their correct chronological place, as described below. The preface was composed especially for the Provinciale and is printed here.

The archbishops to whom the canons are attributed are:

William Wickwane (1279-85). The single canon attributed to him is found as an addition to the statutes of c. 1240. See below under Grenefield.

William Grenefield (1306-15). They are supposed to have been published at Ripon on 30 September 1306, perhaps (though not necessarily) at a synod supposedly held then, but in fact most of them are much earlier in date, going back to the York canons first issued about 1240 and updated over the years. Only the last two (43-4) can be said with some certainty to date from 1306.

John Thoresby (1352-73). They were published on 29 September 1367 and survive independently. 1367/4 is in fact a canon of William de la Zouch, archbishop from 1342 to 1352.

John Kempe (1426-52). They were published on 17 August 1440 and reissued by George Neville on 29 April 1466.

William Booth (1452-64). On 1 September 1462 the convocation agreed to allow the validity of all Canterbury canons which were not expressly contradicted by York ones. A memorandum to this effect is in Booth’s register, fos. 342v-342Ar. Booth’s canons do not appear to be recorded elsewhere.

George Neville (1465-76). Many of these canons were issued on 26 April 1466. Others attributed to him are of uncertain date.

Thomas Savage (1501-7). The canons were passed in the 1504 convocation and are found in his register, fos. 102v-103r.

[130r] Prooemium

Thomas, permissione divina Ebor[ac]um archiepiscopus, Angliae primas, apostolicae sedis legatus, universis et singulis abbatibus, rpioribus, ministris, rectoribus, vicariis et aliis ecclesiarum praelatis, ac quibuscunque clericis nostrae Ebor[ac]um provinciae, salutem in Domino sepiternam.