| The abbots who presided over the conference of the order requested the abbey of St. Peter, Gloucester, to take charge of this gift, and accordingly monks were sent from Gloucester under the charge of Henry de Heliun as prior; and in 1284 we find H. 'prior Oxonie,' voting as the prior of a cell of Gloucester<ref>Cartul. of Glouc. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 26.</ref>. In 1291, when John Giffard granted four more tenements, the conference of the Benedictine order decided that an independent priory should be established under Henry de Heliun as first prior, the patron saints being St. John the Evangelist and St. Benedict. The abbey of Gloucester released him from all subjection and renounced all special claim upon the premises; and in consequence the abbots of the order consented to make contributions towards the erection of buildings, on condition that they should have the privilege of sending monks to reside there for a course of study. Besides these temporary inmates there were to be other permanent members of the priory, probably monks who had taken their degrees; and when the office of prior became vacant both alike should have the privilege of voting, and whoever was chosen was to be presented to John Giffard or his heirs, as the founder and patron of the priory<ref>From Reyner, who obtained his facts from Cott. MS. Tib. E. iv, fols. 43, 44; Wood (Life and Times, iv, 105) thought the manuscript had additional facts, but in reality Reyner copied the whole.</ref>. It is clear, therefore, that Gloucester College was not, like Durham College, a cell of another house; and the title 'Gloucester' adhered to it merely because for the first eight years it was affiliated to Gloucester Abbey. On 6 July, 1291, an agreement was made between Oseney Abbey, which held the parish churches of St. Mary Magdalen, Saint George, and St. Thomas, and the prior 'of the monks of St. Benedict in Stockwell St.' that the priory, which was situated in these three parishes, should be exempt from tithe by a payment of 6s. 8d. a year<ref>MS. among muniments of Ch. Ch. Oxf.</ref>, and that the monks might build a chapel for their own use with the right of sepulture. | | The abbots who presided over the conference of the order requested the abbey of St. Peter, Gloucester, to take charge of this gift, and accordingly monks were sent from Gloucester under the charge of Henry de Heliun as prior; and in 1284 we find H. 'prior Oxonie,' voting as the prior of a cell of Gloucester<ref>Cartul. of Glouc. (Rolls Ser.), iii, 26.</ref>. In 1291, when John Giffard granted four more tenements, the conference of the Benedictine order decided that an independent priory should be established under Henry de Heliun as first prior, the patron saints being St. John the Evangelist and St. Benedict. The abbey of Gloucester released him from all subjection and renounced all special claim upon the premises; and in consequence the abbots of the order consented to make contributions towards the erection of buildings, on condition that they should have the privilege of sending monks to reside there for a course of study. Besides these temporary inmates there were to be other permanent members of the priory, probably monks who had taken their degrees; and when the office of prior became vacant both alike should have the privilege of voting, and whoever was chosen was to be presented to John Giffard or his heirs, as the founder and patron of the priory<ref>From Reyner, who obtained his facts from Cott. MS. Tib. E. iv, fols. 43, 44; Wood (Life and Times, iv, 105) thought the manuscript had additional facts, but in reality Reyner copied the whole.</ref>. It is clear, therefore, that Gloucester College was not, like Durham College, a cell of another house; and the title 'Gloucester' adhered to it merely because for the first eight years it was affiliated to Gloucester Abbey. On 6 July, 1291, an agreement was made between Oseney Abbey, which held the parish churches of St. Mary Magdalen, Saint George, and St. Thomas, and the prior 'of the monks of St. Benedict in Stockwell St.' that the priory, which was situated in these three parishes, should be exempt from tithe by a payment of 6s. 8d. a year<ref>MS. among muniments of Ch. Ch. Oxf.</ref>, and that the monks might build a chapel for their own use with the right of sepulture. |
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| + | At the Dissolution the property passed to the English Crown, then to the Bishop of Oxford in 1542 [2], who sold it to Sir Thomas Whyte. Whyte was the founder of St. John's College, Oxford, and Gloucester Hall, as it then became, was treated as an Annexe to St. John’s. The position changed only in the 18th century, when the college was refounded in 1714 by Richard Blechynden as Worcester College, Oxford. Oxford's Gloucester Green, which was opposite the old College, preserves the name. |