mmissary against one of the members who had
declined to contribute to the finding of candles, vulgarly called
"Coke-Lyght," in the church of St. Mary-the-Virgin, and to a certain
accustomed feast on the day of the Cooks' Riding in the month of May. A
day was appointed for investigating the matter, when the defendant did
not appear, but several witnesses were produced to confirm the
plaintiffs' assertions. Robert, the cook of Hampton Hall, deposed that
all the cooks of Colleges and Halls had been used to contribute to the
annual feast; that he had been a cook for six years, and that the cooks
had always nominated two of their number to gather contributions. His
testimony was corroborated by Stephen, the cook of Vine Hall, as also by
Walter, another cook, and John, the cook of "Brasenos." It is worthy of
note that in the record of these proceedings the names are entered as
"Stephanus Coke," "Walterus Coke," and "Johannes Coke," thus throwing
light on the formation of one of our commonest surnames.

Not only were questions of public policy and "constitutional usage"
determined by the Chancellor's court, but delinquents of all
descriptions were brought up for judgment. Here we shall do well to
remember that this was an ecclesiastical court, and therefore offences
against good morals as well as the law of the land were dealt with. A
person unjustly defamed as guilty of incontinence could clear himself by
a voluntary process of compurgation--that is, by the sworn testimony of
reputable friends. If, unhappily, he was guilty, he might rehabilitate
himself by formally abjuring his indiscretions. Both scholars and others
of the Privilege frequently appeared before the Chancellor in the
character of penitents. In 1443 a certain Christina, laundress of St.
Martin's parish, swore that she would no longer exercise her trade for
any scholar or scholars of the University, because under colour of it
many evils had been perpetrated, wherefore she was imprisoned and freely
abjured the aforesaid evils in the presence of Master Thomas Gascoigne,
S.T.P., the Chancellor. In 1444 Dominus Hugo Sadler, priest, swore on
the Holy Gospels that he would not disturb the peace of the University,
and would abstain from pandering and fornication, on pain of paying five
marks on conviction. In this case four acted as sureties, singly and
jointly. In 1452 Robert Smyth, _alias_ Harpmaker, suspected of adultery
with Joan Fitz-John, tapestry-maker, dwelling i