1 - St Wilfrid, patron of the minster and parish

Summary

On 12 September 1453 Matilda Coke appealed to the chapter court on behalf of her husband, Thomas Coke. In a meadow that lay between the towns of Ripon and Bishopton, Robert Poode and John Writhson had attacked and injured him. The meadow was within the bounds of the liberty of Ripon, and thus within the jurisdiction of the chapter court. The court threatened Thomas Coke's assailants with excommunication if they did not appear within fifteen days. On the last day of this grace period, John Writhson's father and one of Robert Poode's relatives persuaded the court to grant an extension of eight days. At the end of this second period, Robert and John finally appeared and submitted to the judgement of the court. Their penance was to lead the Sunday procession in the minster for six weeks, each one carrying his offending weapon in one hand and a lit candle weighing 1lb in the other. At the end of this term they were to leave the wax as an offering ‘at the image of St Wilfrid in the nave of the church’ and their weapons on the high altar.

Not long afterward, on 7 October of the same year, before the hour of nones, three men attacked the pair of penitents as they approached the minster along Crossgate, the street that leads from Ripon's marketplace to the western portal of the church. The assailants were Milo Pikke, Henry Brancke and another man identified as Thomas Coke's servant. They beat Robert Poode and John Writhson with staffs and other weapons, preventing them from reaching the minster and performing their penance. The court discovered that the three attackers had threatened to kill the two penitents if they could catch them, which may explain why the two men initially fled after assaulting Thomas Coke. The chapter court could not tolerate this vengeful act. It had already passed sentence on Poode and Writhson, and they were under the chapter's protection when performing their penance. Facing excommunication, Pikke, Lowe and Brancke dutifully appeared in court and submitted to the judgement of the chapter. They received the same penance as Poode and Writhson plus two additional Sundays, one at the head of the procession at Beverley Minster and another at York Minster.