More help with Latin

[DRH123]

A burial entry in the register of Chew Magna in Somerset, 1566, reads

Richarde Kinge minister ab arbore cadens mat: ye xi^th of July

I guess that the "mat:" abbreviates some form of "materia" but I see that can mean a branch of a tree or a cause. So was the poor chap hit by a falling branch or did he fall out of the tree himself? Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

David

[Bookbox]

ab arbore cadens means 'falling from a tree' (nominative, agreeing with minister).

Perhaps mat: is an abbreviated matutine, meaning ‘in the morning’ ?

[DRH123]

Thanks Bookbox. I hadn't realised that the "cadens" agreed with "minister". I suppose that means he did the falling. Not sure about "maturine", why bother to record the time of day?

I've attached a copy of the record. I can't see the word as anything other than "mat:" but perhaps someone can come up with an alternative. Most of the entries are in English and do not include extra details such as cause of death so there is no useful comparison.

David

[shanreagh]

Wouldn't 'mat.' be short for Matutine or a word like matin, morning? 

Over the years I have found that records of accidental deaths are often more detailed, time and circumstance-wise  than natural deaths as often an inquest would follow to confirm that the death was truly accidental. 
Of course the intriguing question is not answered.  Why was he in the tree?  Picking fruit, hiding, pruning?

[Bookbox]

As in my reply #1 

The entry may be different from the others (e.g. in Latin, with cause of death and time of day) simply because he was the minister.