HOUSE OF CLUNIAC NUNS
42. THE PRIORY OF ARTHINGTON
The priory of Arthington, the only house of
Cluniac nuns in the county, (fn. 1) was founded by
Peter de Arthington, either at the end of the
reign of Stephen, or at the beginning of that of
Henry II, as appears from an award made about
Michaelmas, 26 Henry VI (1447), in a dispute
between John Arthington and the prioress and
convent. (fn. 2) Peter de Arthington gave the nuns
'the place the whilk the said abby is byggyd on,
with all the appurtenaunces.' Peter de Arthington's son, Serlo, confirmed and added to his
father's gift. Serlo de Arthington's son, another
Peter, again confirmed the gifts of his father and
grandfather, and added 'one acre of land in
Tebecroft, and allso all the watyre that thai may
lede to make yam a milne with, and to thair
other usez necessarez.'
Alice de Romeli gave a moiety of 'Helthwait,' and pannage for forty hogs in her wood of
Swinden, and common of pasture for the nuns'
cattle in the same wood. (fn. 3) These latter gifts
were confirmed by Warin Fitz Gerald, (fn. 4) the king's
chamberlain, and William de Curcy, (fn. 5) her son,
the king's steward, subject to the condition that
each of them, and their heirs, should have the
right to nominate a nun in the house of Arthington. There is a grant by Edward I, dated
6 December 1306, (fn. 6) to Master Andrew de Tange
(for the time it remained in the king's hands, by
reason of the minority of Robert, the son and
heir of Warin de Insula) of the right of presenting a girl as a nun of Arthington, a vacancy
having occurred there by the death of a nun who
was last placed there by the ancestors of the said
Robert.
The church of Maltby, near Doncaster, was
given to Arthington, and formally appropriated
to it by Archbishop Alexander Nevill in 1377-8. (fn. 7)
The nunnery also received other grants of land
in the neighbourhood, which are enumerated by
Burton in his account of the house, (fn. 8) but it was
always a small house.
A commission was issued on 20 July 1286, (fn. 9)
by Archbishop Romanus, to R. de Pickering,
H. Sampson, and R. de la Ford, to visit the
house, and this was followed by a letter from the
archbishop to the nuns, stating that the visitation
had revealed their condition to be so poor and
depressed that the income of the house scarcely
sufficed for their maintenance. He enjoined
them therefore, in virtue of their obedience, not
to alienate any land without his special licence.
Seven years later (perhaps matters had not improved) the same archbishop, on 16 June 1293, (fn. 10)
appointed Adam de Potrington, rector of Kippax,
curator and guardian of the temporalities and
spiritualities of the nuns of Arthington. On
20 January 1299-1300 (fn. 11) the chapter (sede
vacante) granted licence to the sub-prioress and
convent to elect a successor to Maud de
Kesewik, deceased, and on 27 February (fn. 12)
directed William de Yafford, chaplain, to
'superintend' all the movable goods belonging
to the monastery of Arthington at the time of the
death of Maud de Kesewik.
In 1303 (fn. 13) Archbishop Corbridge wrote to the
Dean of Pontefract regarding the miserable condition of Custance de Daneport of Pontefract,
who some time previously, deceived by the
blandishments of the world, had left her house of
Arthington, in which for many years she had
been a nun, and had apostatized. She was to be
received back and undergo the proper penance
prescribed by their rule.
On 9 June 1307 (fn. 14) a visitation of Arthington
was held, and Archbishop Greenfield at once
wrote to the prioress and convent concerning
four of the nuns, two of whom, Dionisia de
Heuensdale and Ellen de Castleford, were (pending the issue of general injunctions resulting
from the visitation) forbidden to go outside the
convent precincts. Two others, Agnes de
Screvyn (who had resigned being prioress in
1303) and Isabella Couvel, appear to have
asserted that certain animals and goods belonging
to the monastery were their private property.
These they were to be monished to resign wirhin
three days to lawful and honest uses, according;
to the judgement of the prioress.
There must have been discontent in the house
rather later, as on 13 March 1311-12 (fn. 15) the
sub-prioress and convent were ordered to render
due obedience to Isabella de Berghby, their
prioress, who had been placed in charge of the
house, and Isabella Gouvel was joined with her
in the care of the conventual property. This
was followed on 30 August (fn. 16) by a letter to
Mr. Walter de Bebiry, Dean of Ainsty, directing him to go to Arthington and inquire as to
Isabella de Berghby and Margaret de Tang,
nuns of the house, who had left it. He was to
find out with whom they had gone, and where
they were living. It is clear that Isabella de
Berghby had resented having another nun associated with her in the management of the affairs
of the nunnery, and had cast off her habit and
gone abroad into the world. As to her companion nun, who seems to have been a less
worthy person, we hear more afterwards. Although Isabella de Berghby had gone off in this
fashion, she does not seem to have formally
quitted the post of prioress; and no successor
seems to have been elected or appointed till she
took steps to return. On 19 September 1312 (fn. 17)
(eighteen months after her departure) Maud de
Batheley, a nun of the house, was confirmed in
office, and four days later the archbishop wrote
to the new prioress and her convent that Isabella
de Berghby had come to him in the spirit of
humility, and he had absolved her from the sentence of the greater excommunication which she
had incurred by leaving her house, and that he
sent her to them. They were to receive her
back, but she was to take the last place in quire,
cloister, dormitory, and refectory, and was not to
go outside the cloister. The archbishop also
imposed a penance on Margaret de Tang. On
18 September 1315 (fn. 18) Archbishop Greenfield
visited Arthington, and issued a series of injunctions to the nuns. An account of all the goods of
the house was to be made up by all the officers
every year before the feast of St. Andrew, and
shown to the prioress and three or four of the
more discreet nuns. The sick were to be properly tended in the infirmary according to their
needs, and as the means of the house allowed;
silence was to be duly kept, and all who could
were to be present at the services. The archbishop further enjoined that no woman who was
received as a sister of the house should be allowed
to accept or wear the black veil. (fn. 19) The prioress
and sub-prioress were not to allow boys or any
secular persons to sleep in the dormitory. In
future, when the prioress or sub-prioress allowed
any of the nuns to visit their parents or friends,
a limit of fifteen days was to be fixed for them
to return in. If they did not return then, or if
they were late, without a legitimate cause, they
were to be punished in chapter. Leave to go out
was only to be granted once or twice in the year.
In 1318 (fn. 20) Archbishop Melton held a visitation of Arthington, and issued a long series of
injunctions, many of which were repetitions of
those of his predecessor. He exhorted that unity
and true concord, without which there is no
true religion, should be nurtured, and that no
quarrels should prevail among the nuns. There
are the usual directions as to the due performance
of divine service, and the proper observance of
silence. All the nuns were to be assiduous in
their attendance at divine service, and those who
were remiss in this were to be punished by the
prioress and sub-prioress, and if that did not
suffice, their names were to be sent to the archbishop, and he would see that they were so
chastised that the punishment of one should be a
warning to the other nuns. The sick were to
be duly tended, &c., and no outside secular
persons whosoever were to be allowed to
frequent the cloister, infirmary, or other private
place. As the archbishop found the house
burdened with various debts he enjoined all
possible economy. The old consuetudines of the
house were to be kept, and the dormitory,
refectory, and other buildings, which were
defective in. their roofs, were to be repaired
without delay. The then prioress, and all her
successors, were enjoined that in sales of wool,
and all other important business matters, the
convent, or at least the greater and wiser portion,
should be consulted. A carucate of land at
'Burghdon,' belonging to the house, was to be
cultivated and sown, if it were unanimously
found that this would benefit the nunnery.
The prioress, and three or four more mature
and discreet nuns, were to have an account of all
the goods drawn up, showing also the debts and
credit of the house, and the corrodies, pensions,
and other obligations in full, under the convent
seal, for the archbishop. The injunction as to
the non-use of the black veil by the lay sisters
was repeated, as well as the direction that boys
and secular persons were not to sleep in the
dormitory with the nuns. The prioress and
sub-prioress were to eat with the nuns in
the refectory. The directions of Archbishop
Greenfield as to visiting friends were repeated,
with the addition that each nun to whom such
leave was given was to have another nun of
good report with her. The prioress was to keep
convent in quire, cloister, refectory, and
dormitory, unless lawfully hindered, and under
pain of deposition she was ordered not to grant
corrodies, pensions, or liveries, or lease for undue
length of time any manors or granges, and
further was to make no alienation of the
immovable goods of the house, nor to take any
nun, sister, or conversus, or to have any secular
women as boarders, without the archbishop's
special licence. These salutary regulations were
to be read at least once a month in chapter
distinctly in lingua materna.
In 1319 (fn. 21) we hear again of Margaret de
Tang who in 1312 had left the house with the
prioress, Isabella de Berghby. On 7 April
Archbishop Melton sent her to Nunkeeling to
undergo penance for her 'demerits' at Arthington. Her penance was the usual type prescribed
for immorality: she was to fast on certain days,
be last in quire, &c., and receive the usual
disciplines. Again in 1321 (fn. 22) she was in trouble,
and it seems probable that if she ever reached
Nunkeeling she had again broken loose and
apostatized, for on 5 May the archbishop wrote
to the Prioress and convent of Arthington about
her. He says that, forgetful of her habit and vow
taken in their house, she had apostatized, and
committed grave arid serious excesses, contrary to
the honesty of religion. He had, however,
absolved her, and sent her back to Arthington to
perform her appointed penance. The prioress
and convent were to put her in some secure
place, and the access of secular persons to her
was forbidden. She was to say the whole of the
service as a nun, and two nocturns of the psalter,
and if her case needed it she was to be bound by
the foot with a shackle (ad modum compedis), but
without hurting her limbs or body. When the
prioress was assured of her contrition, the prioress
was to inform the archbishop. Afterwards,
when restored to the convent, she was to be the
last in church and refectory, and was not to
enter the chapter to hear the secrets, but every
day was to receive a discipline, and a beating
(fustigationem) up to the cloister, all secular
persons being excluded. The prioress was also
to inform the archbishop how Margaret behaved
from the day of her return. Next year (fn. 23) the
archbishop appointed the Prior of Bolton to
supervise the state of the house, and on
22 February 1327, (fn. 24) with consent of the prioress,
appointed Robert de Tang custos of the house.
The next information about Arthington in the
Registers is that in 1349 (fn. 25) Isabella de Berughby,
a nun of the house, was elected prioress. She was,
no doubt, the prioress, Isabella de Berghby, who
apostatized in 1312. If she was, for instance,
thirty years old in 1312 (and the appointment of
Isabella Couvel to assist her in the care of the
conventual property may have been due to her
youth and inexperience), she would only have
been sixty-seven in 1349. It may be assumed
therefore that in spite of her misbehaviour in the
interval this was her second term of office.
In the Register of Archbishop G. Nevili a very
curious error occurs regarding the election on
19 August 1475 (fn. 26) of Katherine Willesthorp as
prioress. Both in the margin and in the text,
including the prioress's vow of obedience, the
priory is spoken of as that of 'Arneclyff,' a
name which cannot ever have belonged to it, and
the mistake must be a clerical error, curiously
consistent throughout. On 17 May 1492 (fn. 27)
Elizabeth Popeley was confirmed in office as
prioress, and little more than two years afterwards, on 26 August 1494, (fn. 28) she was deprived for
incontinence and having given birth to a child,
and for wasting the goods of the house. Owing
to her contumacy and disobedience she was
deprived of a vote in the election of her successor,
Margaret Turton.
At the time of the Suppression (fn. 29) there were
nine nuns in the house, including the prioress,
Elizabeth Hall, aged forty-five, and against each
name, except that of the prioress, is written
'continue,' meaning that they desired to continue in their vows, and there is a note, 'All
these persons (including the prioress) be of good
religious liffying and not slanderid.' Their ages
ranged from seventy-two to twenty-five years.
The list is headed 'Domus monialium Arthyngton
clunienc' ordinis S[anct]i Benedicti.'
The house was surrendered by Elizabeth Hall,
the prioress, and the convent on 26 November
1540. (fn. 30) The clear annual value, according to the
Valor Ecclesiasticus, was only £11 8s. 4d., (fn. 31) and at
the date of the surrender (fn. 32) the demesne lands
were valued at £5 8s. 4d., the site of the priory,
with its storehouses, orchards, gardens, and other
things within the precincts, being only valued at
5s. a year.
Drs. Layton and Legh reported (fn. 33) that the
nuns had the Girdle of the Blessed Mary, as was
believed.
In 1543 the site was granted to Archbishop
Cranmer. (fn. 34)
Prioresses of Arthington
Sara, 1241 (fn. 35)
Eleanor, mentioned 1299 (fn. 36)
Maud de Kesewik, died 1299 (fn. 37)
Agnes de Skrevin, succeeded 1299, (fn. 38) resigned
1302 (fn. 39)
Agnes de Pontefract, succeeded 1302 (fn. 40)
Isabella de Berghby, 1311 (fn. 41)
Maud de Batheley, confirmed 1312 (fn. 42)
Isabella Dautry, died 1349 (fn. 43)
Isabella de Berughby (second time?), elected
1349 (fn. 44)
Isabel de Eccope, occurs 1413 to 1420 (fn. 45)
Sibil Plesyngton, occurs 1437 (fn. 46)
Alice Raucestre, died 1463 (fn. 47)
Marjorie Craven, elected 1463 (fn. 48)
Katherine Willesthorp, confirmed 1475, (fn. 49)
died 1484 (fn. 50)
Alice Mawde (sacrista), appointed per lapsum
1484, (fn. 51) died 1492 (fn. 52)
Elizabeth Popeley, confirmed 1492, (fn. 53) deprived
1494 (fn. 54)
Margaret Turton, elected 1494, (fn. 55) died 1496 (fn. 56)
Alice Hall, elected 1496 (fn. 57)
Elizabeth Hall, elected 1532 (fn. 58)