diocese already held substantial endowments, but income increased enormously with the Peace of the Church; partly due to imperial subsidies in kind, but mainly from private bequests and regular private benefactions (often called 'first fruits'); although at this date, tithe was never paid to the church. In addition, many individual landowners supported private chapels and oratories on their own property; and endowed independent charitable institutions, and eventually monasteries and nunneries too. Bishop's share Augustine of Hippo estimated his personal income as being 20 times that of his father, a minor civil servant; and Augustine was by no means the wealthiest bishop in North Africa. But in accepting from Constantine the status of civil magistrates, bishops were now also committed to substantial expenditure to maintain their new style and status; and also to fulfil the associated duties, for instance in employing qualified legal assessors to support them when sitting as civil judges. Clergy share All ordained clerics attached to the cathedral were paid through stipends from the general fund. This applied both to the clergy working directly within the cathedral itself, and also to the clergy, called canonici attached to churches founded by the bishop within the city. From the end of the 4th century, as the mission of the church extended more into rural areas, 'baptistery churches' were founded in more distant villages, so that rural populations could receive the bishop's baptism locally; and the clergy in these churches also counted as canonici and drew a regular stipend. Fabric share Plentiful donor inscriptions show that most new church building programmes; mosaics, roofs, furnishings, were financed by private donations. The costs of maintenance and lighting, however, fell on the general fund. This also applied to the churches, known as tituli, served directly by the bishop's clergy, generally also including any surviving house churches from the period before the Peace of the Church and the rural baptistery churches; but not to the chapels, called parochiae, established by rural landowners for the convenience of their tenants. The bishop, in respect of his civil status, was expected to contribute to public works of general benefit; aqueducts, bridges, watercourses. Charitable share In all cities, bishops dedicated substantial sums to the support of widows, orphans and the poor. Such donations had been a strong feature of the church in earlier centuries, but tended then to be specifically directed to the Christian needy. Now the charitable compass