There  were  recognised  rights  of  advowson
in  '  Ankerholds,'  and  a  convent  would  some-
times present  one  of  its  members  to  a  distant
cell.  Such  anchorites  were  sometimes  sup-
ported by  their  community  or  by  a  neighbour-
ing convent,  otherwise  they  were  dependent
upon  alms.  When  secular  persons  sought
enclosure  the  bishop's  licence  would  often
insist  that  provision  should  be  made  for
the  maintenance  of  the  includendus  before
the  ceremony  of  reclusion  was  performed.
Anchorites,  having  no  community  goods  to
rely  upon  for  food  and  clothing,  were  not
strictly  bound  by  the  vow  of  poverty,  and
very  frequently  lived  upon  the  revenues  of
lands,  rent  charges,  or  other  property  which
they  had  received  in  charity  or  had  possessed
before  their  enclosure.  Those  who  were
priests  often  received  the  emoluments  of  a
chantry.  The  early  Pipe  Rolls,  the  Close
Rolls,  and  similar  records  contain  many
gifts  of  money,  provisions,  and  firewood  to
anchorites.  In  the  case  of  recluses  on  royal
demesne  a  fixed  alms  of  a  penny  a  day  or  of  a
fraction  or  multiple  of  that  sum  was  common.
Anchorites  were  also  frequent  legatees  in  the
wills  of  people  in  all  ranks  of  life.  They
appear  not  only  as  recipients  but  as  donors
of  money  and  other  gifts  to  church  purposes.
The  anchorite  did  not,  like  the  monk,
become  civiliter  mortuus,  but  retained  his
individual  rights  unless  he  were  already  a
member  of  a  community.  Thus  we  find  an
anchorite  making  a  will  four  years  after  his
enclosure,  and  an  anchoress  bringing  a  suit
for  the  recovery  of  a  rent  charge  which  had
been  granted  her  upon  certain  lands,  and  not
paid  since  the  death  of  her  benefactor.
