stminster by a plague. The next reign is marked by an improvement in
the status of the Vicars. They had been living dispersed over the
town,--indeed, their common residence or Bedern is said to have been
destroyed by the Scots.

In 1415, therefore, =Archbishop Henry Bowet= (1407-1423), having obtained
from Henry V. a charter with a dispensation of the Statute of Mortmain,
gave a site out of his manor for a new Bedern; and the vicars
themselves, who at this period are commended by both the Archbishop and
the King, were at the same time formed into a corporate body having a
common seal, and were allowed to elect from their number a Provost.
Under this Archbishop there were several instances of canons exchanging
their stalls for other benefices. The discipline of the staff seems to
have become exceedingly lax by 1439. The church music was neglected.
The Mass of Our Lady was not said regularly in the Lady-chapel. The
inferior clergy did not study for their examinations, and wore daggers
in the Choir. They and the vicars frequented taverns, walked about the
nave during service, and absented themselves without leave. The Canons
did not attend church in their habits, and the clergy generally indulged
in field sports.

=Archbishop John Kemp= (1426-1452) did what he could to reform these
abuses, and effected some improvement (the nature of which is not clear)
in the status of the Vicars, who had been badly treated by the Chapter
in financial matters. Later in this century a chantry chaplain is found
engaging in dishonest trade; priests fight; laymen assault one another
in the minster during service. But mediaeval morality in general must not
be condemned, of course, for a few recorded crimes.

About 1450 the south-east corner of the central tower gave way, and so
unsafe was the church that service had to be held in the Lady-kirk. In
consequence of this disaster the Canons were obliged to rebuild not only
the south and east sides of the tower, but also the east side of the
south transept, and eventually part of the south side of the Choir; and
it is evident that they would have rebuilt the two remaining sides of
the tower, had they not been prevented by the Dissolution. The present
rood screen and canopied stalls were put in toward the close of the
fifteenth century. In 1502 the Lady-kirk (in which a chantry had been
founded in 1392) was handed over by the Chapter to Archbishop Savage,
who in turn transferred it to Fountains Ab