| Description | The monks of Christ Church had to carry out various duties essential to the running of the priory and its estates. These posts were called obedientaries, and a fairly comprehensive list of them is to be found in 'Archeaologia Cantiana' vol. xxxvii (1925) p129. Some of the more significant of these obedientaries, responsible for whole departments of the priory, had to account for their expenditure and revenue, and there are series of rolls surviving for such as the sacrist, almoner, and treasurer. Others, such as the feretarian or infirmarian, have left only the occasional account, and some, such as the precentor, have left none at all.
The six greater obedientaries - subprior, precentor, penitencer, sacrist, cellarer, and chamberlain - were appointed by the archbishop from three nominees submitted by the prior. The prior and chapter appointed the lesser obedientaries - treasurers (usually two), almoner, anniversarian, granger, and bartoner.
The almoner was responsible for giving alms to the poor. In practice, he ran an all but independent almonry establishment outside the curia gatehouse. He had a deputy, the sub-almoner, who occasionally accounted instead.
The accounts record receipts from estates which accounted directly to the almoner, at Eastry, Seasalter, Blean, Monkton, Fairfield, Meopham, and Farningham, also of provisions and rents, and expenses of payments for grain and stock, buying and repairing property, allowances, costs of his household, and payments to estate officials. For the 1290s, these accounts usually take the form of views. A series of drafts survive from generally the 1310s and 1320s, along with the occasional bill of expenses. The one account surviving from after the great financial reorganisation of Prior Chillenden of around 1390 shows the almoner's loss of financial independence; the sketchiness of this account possibly indicates that no more have survived after 1392 as no more were drawn up. |
| Related Material | Almoner's accounts 1361-2 (29), 1363-4 (30), 1364-5 (31); Almoner's views 1431-2 (32), 1432-3 (33), 1439-40 (34), 1472-3 (draft) (35), c1430- 1440 (head missing) (36)., LPL ED 29-36 |