Note 1162 — XXVI. THE ANGLICAN CHURCH.
Reading edition
“They be very pore, and can have lytyll serves withowtt ther capacytes. The bischoyppys and curettes be very hard to them, withowtt they have ther capacytes.”—The Bishop of Dover to Cromwell, March 10th, 1538 (Suppression of Monasteries, p. 193). These “capacities” empowered them to perform the functions of secular priests. The good bishop pleads that certain poor monks may obtain them without paying the usual fee.