ALIEN HOUSES
40. THE PRIORY OF MONKS KIRBY
Geoffrey de Wirche, in the year 1077, made
large grants of land and tithes to establish at
Monks Kirby (then called Kirkbury) a cell or
priory of Benedictine monks under obedience to
the abbey of St. Nicholas at Angiers. For the
founding of the priory he gave the church of
Kirkbury, which he had found ruinous and had
rebuilt in honour of the Blessed Virgin and
St. Denis, with all its ornaments, and the two
priests Francis and Osgot, with their possessions,
together with two parts of the tithes of his five
manors of Newbold, Wappenbury, Telhoore,
Crick (Northamptonshire), and Melton (Leicestershire), the five mills of these manors, and the
third part of the tithe of the isle of Axholm. (fn. 1)
Nigel de Albini, who was lord of these manors,
temp. Henry I, confirmed these grants to the
monks, and they were again confirmed and
augmented by his grandson Nigel de Mulbray. (fn. 2)
In 1217 Walter, bishop of Coventry and
Lichfield, when visiting the archdeaconry of
Coventry, confirmed to the prior and monks of
Kirby the parish churches of Kirby and Newbold and a pension of 40s. from the church of
Withybrook, and of 20s. and a pound of wax
from the church of Wappenbury. (fn. 3)
A somewhat remarkable covenant of peace or
concord was drawn up in 1256, in the church
of Arbury, witnessed by the rector of that church,
the vicar of Kirby, and others, between Philip
Pantulf, clerk, and Dominus Defensor, prior of
Kirby. From this document it appears that
there had been several suits between the two
parties because Philip had joined with his sister
Maud, widow of Geoffrey de Craft, in slandering the prior and his men, by charging him with
the death of the said Geoffrey, and with bringing
about the wounding of Philip and the putting
him in prison at Warwick through the action of
the sheriff's officers. Philip, however, in this
concord stated that he was now better informed
and knew that what had taken place was by
command of the king; he consequently submitted and pledged himself to take no further
action against the prior in any court, Christian
or secular, and that if he should do him any
damage to the extent of half a mark he should
pay him ten, and gave sureties for the performance of his oath. (fn. 4)
In 1266 Henry III granted the priory a
weekly Wednesday market and a fair of three
days at the feast of St. John Baptist. (fn. 5)
The Taxatio of 1291 gave the annual value
of the temporalities of this priory in the deanery
of Coventry as £41 17s. 4d. and the temporalities in Leicester archdeaconry as £7 8s. 2d.
The appropriated churches of Monks Kirby and
Newbold were respectively worth £21 6s. 8d.
and £12 13s. 4d. a year, and a pension of 20s.
from the church of Wappenbury is also named. (fn. 6)
Edward I granted the priory in 1305 free
warren in all their demesne lands and view of
frankpledge of all their tenants; at the same
time the weekly market was changed at the
monks' request from Wednesday to Tuesday. (fn. 7)
Monks Kirby, though an alien house, was
expected to receive one of the royal pensioners.
In June, 1316, Robert de Karliolo was sent to
the prior and convent to receive the necessaries
of life in place of William de Ponton deceased.
In October Robert was transferred, and the
crown appointed Richard de Gloucester, who
had long served the king, in his place. (fn. 8)
In 1325 Edward II committed the custody
of this house to the prior, for a fixed rent to
be rendered during the war, five persons being
mainpernors or security for the prior. In the
following year three of these mainpernors were
accused by the prior of collecting the profits of
the house for their own use, and others were
appointed in their place. (fn. 9)
Bishop Northburgh caused this priory to be
visited, with the result that serious irregularities
came to light, which formed the subject of a
series of injunctions. The episcopal ordinance
is undated, but appears to have been about the
year 1330. In addition to the usual endorsement of the rule as to silence, the non-admission
of women, the due observance of divine service,
and other like points, the following particular
orders were made:— That the brethren, including the prior, were to have all their meals
together in the refectory, excluding seculars;
that one monk of approved and honest life
should be deputed to choose the meat and to
see to the needs of the sick; that the prior
should sleep in the dormitory with the brethren
and was not to be excused the canonical hours;
that four servants (familiares) of the house, whose
names are set forth, and who were of incorrigible
life, were to be expelled the house within fifteen
days of the receipt of the ordinance; that Adam
German, who had acted as steward for the prior,
was to be expelled within five days, and another
good man put in his place who was capable of
rendering a fit account; that the vicar of the
church of Kirby, a former domestic servant of
the prior's, was to be forbidden the house, save for
reasonable cause, and not to be received at table;
and that no corrodies, liveries, or pensions be
granted without express episcopal licence. The
bishop made serious complaints of the neglect of
the duty of hospitality to the poor owing to the
grievous waste of the goods of the house, and
ordered the immediate appointment of an almoner.
Accounts were to be rendered annually before the
convent by the obedientiaries, and the necessities
of the monks, who had suffered from the neglect
of the prior, duly provided for in accordance
with the faculties of the house. (fn. 10)
In February, 1330, William, prior of Monks
Kirby, going beyond the seas, had letters patent
for nominating attorneys until midsummer. (fn. 11)
Letters patent were issued to the prior of
Monks Kirby in 1333 to the effect that the
grant from that house of 40s. as a contribution
towards the expense of the marriage of Eleanor,
the king's sister, to the count of Gueldres, should
not prejudice their house as a precedent. (fn. 12)
In 1354 Bishop Northburgh commissioned one
of the monks of the priory to administer the
goods of the house on account of the prior's
wastefulness. (fn. 13)
In February, 1359, Pope Innocent VI declared
the Benedictine priory of Monks Kirby void,
because Oliver de Desertis had obtained the
priory of Vieux Belesme, in the diocese of Sées,
of the same order, and appointed William de
Granteriis, prior, who was ready to resign the
priory of Gilion in the diocese of Vienne. (fn. 14)
In 1360 the prior and monks of Monks Kirby,
supported by 'the clergy and people of the city
and diocese of Lichfield,' addressed the following
petition to Pope Innocent:—
Whereas Christ has wrought many miracles in honour
of His Mother in the church of the said priory, which
is old and in danger of ruin, they pray for relaxation
of seven years and seven quadragenae of enjoined penances
to penitents who visit the said church on the four
feasts of the Blessed Virgin, and at Easter and Pentecost, and give a helping hand to the fabric.
The prayer was granted, but only for the usual
period of one year and forty days. (fn. 15)
In 1376 the custody of the priory was granted
to Sir Cannon Rubursard, or Robsart, to hold
during the wars with France, by a yearly payment of £40. (fn. 16)
An extent of the priory's property at Monks
Kirby in 1380 gave the annual value as £34 2s. 4d.
The items included two mills, one being a wind
mill, and the other worked by horse-power,
which were of the annual value of £4. (fn. 17)
An inquisition of 1387 gave the annual value
of the whole property of the priory as £165 12s. 2½d.
The jury reported the damage done to the property as amounting to £8 6s. 8d. When William
Stoneley was prior (for about twenty years) the
dilapidation of one grange amounted to £5.
During the time that Sir Cannon Rubursard had
farmed the priory, damage had been done to the
fishpond within the priory precincts to the extent
of 66s. 8d. The buildings of the priory itself
were in good repair. (fn. 18)
In 1390 the monks executed a lease, in consideration of a large fine, of all their lands to
Sir Cannon Robsart for twenty-five years, but
the abbey of Angiers, finding themselves set
aside, addressed themselves to Thomas Mowbray,
earl of Nottingham, and offered to release their
interest in the priory and its possession to him on
easy terms. The earl having obtained leave in
1396 to found a Carthusian house at Epworth,
or elsewhere within the Isle of Axholm, Lincolnshire, procured letters patent to enable him
to secure from the abbey and convent of Angiers
their priory of Monks Kirby, with all its manors,
advowsons, and pensions, and to grant them for
ever to the Carthusians. (fn. 19)
The situation is more fully explained in the
Papal Letters. In 1396 Pope Boniface IX issued
his mandate to the archbishop of York to grant
licence, &c., if he found the circumstances with
regard to this priory to be as stated. A statement
had been made to Urban VI, on behalf of the earl
of Nottingham, that the number of the monks
at Kirby Priory, founded by his progenitor for
seven monks, and subjected to the monastery of
St. Nicholas, Angiers, had long not been maintained, and only two monks resided (besides the
prior); that the rule was not observed; that
the goods were not expended for pious uses;
that on account of the dissolute life of the prior
and French monks living there, and of their
servants, who were at discord with the English,
and on account of the wars between the two
realms, the buildings were partially falling; and
that the earl desired the priory to be turned to
better uses—Urban VI had ordered the bishop
of Lichfield to transfer the house to the Carthusians; but on the earl's recent petition saying that no step had been taken to carry out
that mandate, Boniface ordered the archbishop
to grant him licence, with King Richard's assent,
to found on the island of Morholm (sic), in the
diocese of Lincoln, a Carthusian house, and to
transfer to it the priory of Monks Kirby, and to
appropriate to it the churches of Belton and
Epworth in that island in the earl's gift. The
Carthusian house was to consist of a prior and
twelve monks. (fn. 20)
But no sooner did Henry IV come to the
throne than favour was again shown to the alien
priories, and on 29 December, 1399, the patronage and advowson of those religious houses
which had pertained to the abbey of St. Nicholas,
Angiers, were restored to that house. The
custody of the priory of Monks Kirby was
restored to John Godinier the prior, on condition of his paying to the king the apport due
to the abbey of Angiers when there was war
with France. (fn. 21)
Henry V, on the contrary, reverted to the
policy of Richard II, and the Carthusians of the
isle of Axholm were once more put in possession
of this priory and its property, and that action was
confirmed by Edward IV. (fn. 22)
Priors of Monks Kirby
Richard de Cornwall, temp. Hen. II (fn. 23)
Dominus Defensor, occurs 1251-85 (fn. 24)
John, 1314 (fn. 25)
Peter Francis, 1314 (fn. 25)
William Eisnelle, 1326 (fn. 26)
William de St. Clement, 1335 (fn. 27)
Maurice Aubere, 1350 (fn. 28) -3 (fn. 29)
Oliver de Desertis, 1353 (fn. 30)
William Stoneley, 1358 (fn. 31)
John Godinier, 1399 (fn. 32)