15 - Of Dilapidations

Summary

In their own churches, proprietors must provide a house for the vicar.

If a church which has a private and hereditary owner does not have a house in which the vicar may dwell, nor a convenient plot of land on which a house was previously located, and if the hereditary owner has been provided either with another house, or with lands which belong to the jurisdiction of the church, the bishop shall on his own authority set aside either that house or the land on which a house may be built, for the vicar's use, thereby providing that the vicar will have an adequate, suitable and comfortable place to live. And the vicar's dwelling shall be paid for by the hereditary owner of the church, so that within three years after he has been advised by the bishop, it may be fully built. If the bishop sees that the owner is reluctant to do this, and believes that he is the cause of difficulties, he shall either ensure that the fruits of the church are taken away from him, or he shall compel him to do so by ecclesiastical penalties. And if perchance the local bishop is not sufficiently vigilant in this matter, the superior bishop (who is called the metropolitan), shall hear and determine the cause when it is brought to him.

How ruined houses are to be repaired.

And in those parishes in which houses were at one time built for the rectors or their vicars, but which because of the negligence or the poverty of previous ministers have either fallen down completely or after a great length of time [are beginning to collapse, and] there is nothing left [from the estates of earlier incumbents] with which they might be repaired, the bishop shall have the seventh part of the annual income set aside by sequestration, until either a new house suitable for all the needs of the minister is built from scratch, or the ruined building is restored.

Qui silvas ecclesiarum vastant quomodo corrigendi s[i/u]nt.

Si quis arbores, arbusta, lucos, nemora, silvas, saltus, fruticeta, vel huiusmodi quascunque lignorum opportunitates ullius ad se beneficii ecclesiastici iure pertinentes, [271ν] licentiosius quam necessitas tulerit sine consensu proprii [ditionis] illius [ditionis] episcopi vendiderit, succiderit, amputarit, asportarit, aut quocunque modo corruperit et vastarit, pretium is universum, et aestimationem omnium huiusmodi lignorum distractorum et eversorum in cistam pauperum attributam piene conferet.