3. THE PRIORY OF MARKYATE
The priory of Markyate was founded in
the year 1145, in a wood which was then
part of the parish of Caddington, and belonged to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's,
London. (fn. 1) Ralf de Langford, who was dean
at the time, granted the site at a rent of 3s.
annually; adding to it afterwards another
portion at a rent of 6s. As the house was
built under the patronage of Geoffrey, sixteenth abbot of St. Alban's, and endowed by
him (though not with the goodwill of his
convent) with tithes from Cashio and Watford, (fn. 2) it has sometimes been called a cell of
that abbey; but this is scarcely a correct
description of it, as the patronage remained
always with the Dean and Chapter of St.
Paul's, (fn. 3) and the nuns were never exempt from
episcopal jurisdiction. There can however
be no doubt that in its early days the priory
was closely connected with St. Alban's, though
the history of its origin is somewhat involved
in legend. It is said that a monk called
Roger (fn. 4) went out from the abbey some time
during the reign of Henry I., with the consent of his abbot, to seek a place for a hermitage; and was guided to choose a spot in the
woods near Caddington, not far from Watling
Street. There he lived for some time in such
solitude as he desired, until a damsel from
Huntingdon, Christine by name, came and
placed herself under his direction, believing
that she had a similar vocation. He enclosed
her in a shed close by his own hermitage, and
fastened the door with planks in such a way
that she could not open it herself, nor could
she be seen by any passers-by; and in this
narrow dwelling she remained for four years,
enduring with heroic courage heat and cold
alike, and only released from her cramped
posture once a day at dusk. At the end of
this time her patience was rewarded by
heavenly visions, (fn. 5) which convinced Roger
that it was indeed her destiny to succeed him
in his cell. When he died, and was carried
to St. Alban's to be buried 'in a curved place
on the south wall near the choir,' it was
natural enough that the abbot should take
Christine under his special protection and
patronage. A woman could scarcely live
quite alone in a wood away from either town
or church, but it was not difficult in the
twelfth century to find a few others who were
willing to embrace the stricter forms of the
religious life; so Christine was soon surrounded by disciples. The formation of the
house into a priory under the Benedictine
rule was probably due to the influence of St.
Alban's. (fn. 6)
The priory was dedicated to the Holy
Trinity, and the name most commonly given
to it was 'Holy Trinity in the Wood.' It
seems to have been destroyed by fire almost
as soon as built; for Matthew Paris asserts
that Abbot Geoffrey built the house twice
from the foundation. (fn. 7) The later story says
that Christine had great influence with the
abbot, and often gave him good advice;
which may well have been, without the intervention of any ghosts. (fn. 8) There is happily
no doubt of her real existence, as her name
appears on the foundation charter and other
documents; (fn. 9) and an entry on the Pipe Roll
of 1156 (fn. 10) gives some evidence of the fame to
which she attained. During her lifetime the
priory acquired some property outside the
county; (fn. 11) there were certainly four churches
belonging to it in the thirteenth century, and
possibly more. But it was never a wealthy
house.
In 1259, (fn. 12) when the Friars Preachers came
to Dunstable, the prioress of Markyate, Agnes
Gobion, sent them a certain number of loaves
every day for their dinner—'out of pure
charity,' says the chronicler, because they
were then building their church. But her
kindness was ill requited, for when the immediate necessity was past, the friars would
not allow her to withdraw the dole; they
sent to Rome and had it confirmed to them
for ever. (fn. 13) This grant would not probably be
in itself a heavy burden to the priory; but
there is no doubt that the nuns had some
difficulty in maintaining themselves during
the second half of the thirteenth century.
Debts began to press heavily; and in 1290
they sent a petition to Parliament (fn. 14) to say
that if they were to pay all that they owed
(more than two hundred marks) they could
not possibly live. The relief they asked was
not granted, but perhaps they found some
other way out of their troubles, for the priory
continued to exist. But its poverty was
noticed by the bishop in 1332. (fn. 15)
The number of nuns in 1406 was twelve, (fn. 16)
and in 1433 there were a prioress, subprioress and nine nuns (fn. 17) ; it is probable that
the revenue would never have supported more.
The priory had a warden or master in 1323, (fn. 18)
like many other nunneries at that time.
There are records of several visitations of
this house in the episcopal registers. In
1297 (fn. 19) it came under the notice of Bishop
Sutton. He had heard that the apparitor of
Dunstable had cited 'certain persons of both
sexes living in the priory of Markyate' for
immorality, whereby these persons had been
defamed, and the house had incurred scandal.
Evidently the bishop thought the evidence
against them insufficient, for he ordered
the archdeacon to see that they were not
further molested. It seems improbable from
the description that the persons alluded to
were religious: they were perhaps boarders
taken in during the great necessity of the
house. At about the same time the prioress
and convent were ordered to repair the chancel of one of their appropriate churches. (fn. 20)
In 1300 Bishop Dalderby (fn. 21) visited the monastery in person to explain the statute of Boniface VIII., De Claustura Monialium, and found
the nuns at first ready to accept it; but when
he had concluded his visit, and turned to go,
four of them broke away from the rest and
followed him to the outer gate, declaring that
they would not observe it. Like a wise man,
he did not stop then to argue the matter, and
went on his way to Dunstable; but the next
day he returned to Markyate, inquired the
names of the four refractory nuns, and put the
whole convent under penance on their account, threatening to excommunicate them
if the statute were not observed. But this
was not the only house where the bishop had
difficulties in enforcing this statute.
In 1323 (fn. 22) a visitation by the warden and
the vicar of Kensworth was ordered by Bishop
Burghersh, but its results are not recorded ;
probably there was nothing striking to record,
as the house was still in much poverty. In
1336 (fn. 23) an apostate nun was received back
again and absolved; three others sought absolution at the same time, for having aided
and abetted her in her escape.
A terrible scandal was revealed by the
visitation of 1434, (fn. 24) undertaken by a commission from Bishop Grey. The prioress of
the house, Denise Lewelyck, was accused
of having broken her vow of chastity, to the
very evil example of her sisters. She was
called upon to purge herself of the charge,
but preferred to confess it, and submit herself
to the ordinance of the bishop ; and resigned
her office in the presence of the assembled
convent and the vicar of Kensworth. It was
objected against her at the same time that she
had not kept the rule, and that she and others
had concealed certain things at the visitation;
also that she had allowed one of the sisters to
withdraw from the monastery. The house
was evidently in a most unsatisfactory condition at the time; and the resignation of
Denise was followed by a long interregnum,
her successor not being appointed till 1448. (fn. 25)
No further visitations are recorded.
The house was surrendered under the Act
of 1536, (fn. 26) as its income was less than £200 a
year, and there may not have been by this
time as many as twelve nuns. The exact
date of the surrender is not known, but it
must have been some time before 10 February
1537, (fn. 27) when the prioress, Joan Zouche, received for the first time her pension of 20
marks.
The first endowment of the priory consisted of the demesne lands, granted by the
Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's, with another
portion of land in the neighbourhood, at a
total rent of 9s. annually ; (fn. 28) and tithes from
Cashio and Watford, Herts, granted by the
abbot of St. Alban's. (fn. 29) During the lifetime
of the first prioress some other small parcels
of land in Oxfordshire were acquired; (fn. 30)
and during the thirteenth century the tithes
of Sundon, Streatley, Higham Gobion and
Buckby, Northants. (fn. 31) At the dissolution the
Crown bailiff found the house possessed of
the manors of Burcester, Oxon; Livesey;
and Stokesby, Norfolk; with parcels of lands
in Herts, Hunts, Northants, Cambs ; and the
tithes of Sundon, Streatley, Watford (Herts),
Kingsbury, Coleshill, Bickenhill and three
chapels besides in Warwickshire; besides pensions from Higham Gobion, Buckby (Northants), Bushey (Herts), Eversden Parva (Cambs)
and Pakinton, amounting altogether to £155
5s. 10¾d. (fn. 32) This is in excess of the amount
given in the Valor Ecclesiasticus, which is only
£114. 16s. 1d.
Prioresses Of Markyate
Christine, (fn. 33) prioress 1145
Isabel (fn. 34)
Joan, (fn. 35) occurs 1212, 1238
Agnes Gobion, (fn. 36) occurs 1259, died 1274
Isabel Gobion, (fn. 37) elected 1274, resigned
1280
Alice de Basseville, (fn. 38) elected 1280, died
1284
Lora de Kantia, (fn. 39) elected 1284, died 1291
Maud of Luton, (fn. 40) elected 1291
Bennet or Benedicta of Whitacre, (fn. 41) elected
1332
Joan Power, (fn. 42) died 1349
Alice Spigurnel, elected 1349 (fn. 43)
Isabel of Ashby, (fn. 44) resigned 1350
Joan of Stanbridge, (fn. 45) elected 1350
Sibyl Attelburgh, (fn. 46) died 1406
Elizabeth Benington, (fn. 47) elected 1406
Denise Lewelyck, (fn. 48) occurs 1431, resigned
1434 (14 April 1433)
Joan Wyrell, (fn. 49) elected 1448
Agnes Stephens, (fn. 50) elected 1508, died
1508
Joan Zouche, (fn. 51) elected 1508, surrendered
1536
There is a very early seal of the priory attached to a charter of the first prioress, (fn. 52) of a
light-brown colour, pointed oval, representing
our Lord, with cruciform nimbus, seated on
a throne, with rainbow behind it, the right
hand raised in benediction, the left resting on
a book on the left knee. The inscription is
illegible, and very little of it remains.
The ordinary chapter seal (fn. 53) was a representation of the Holy Trinity, pointed oval:
a figure seated upon a throne, holding a crucifix; a crescent on the left and a star on the
right. Legend: ..... MUNE C .....
M .....
There is another (fn. 54) similar to this, only the
figure is under a triple canopy with pinnacles,
and has a shield of arms below. Legend:
SIGILL' . . . ANCTE TRINITATIS DE . . . .