2. THE PRIORY OF LUFFIELD
Robert Bossu, earl of Leicester, in the reign
of Henry I. (fn. 1) founded a small priory of Benedictine monks at Luffield within the forest of
Whittlebury. The conventual buildings and
offices were situated chiefly in the parish of
Lillingstone Dayrell (Bucks), but the church
stood in Northamptonshire, and from this fact
the establishment was usually reckoned as pertaining to that county. (fn. 2) The new foundation,
dedicated to the honour of the Blessed Virgin,
and built, according to the charter of the
founder, for the good of the soul of William,
king of the English, and Matilda his wife,
as well as of the founder and his family,
obtained charters of royal favour and protection from Henry. I and Queen Maud, but
from the outset was only poorly endowed.
In 1171 the monks obtained a bull from Alexander III. (fn. 3) confirming their possessions, among
which was reckoned the church of Dodford with
other gifts. At the time of the Taxation of
1291 the prior and convent held the churches
of Thornborough and Padbury, Evershawe and
Steeple Claydon in Bucks, with a pension of 10s.
from the church of Mursley. (fn. 4) Their temporalities amounted to £24 19s. 7½d., of which
£13 19s. 8d. was derived from lands in the
archdeaconry of Bucks, and £10 6s. 3½d. from
the archdeaconry of Northampton. (fn. 5)
Little is known of the early history of the
priory. In 1230 Henry III. granted a licence
for the brethren to hold a yearly fair at Luffield
commencing on the vigil of the Exaltation of
Holy Cross and lasting three days. (fn. 6) The king
showed much practical sympathy with the little
community on the occasion of an outrage at the
priory which occurred in the autumn of 1244.
A band of twenty-five robbers broke into the
monastery and stripped it of all on which they
could lay hands, including gold and silver vessels
and even the ornaments of the church. (fn. 7) The
king, on hearing of their misfortune, ordered
that three chalices and ornaments for three
chaplains should be supplied to the brethren,
together with £15 in money. (fn. 8)
Of the internal condition of the houses no
hint is given till the year 1280. Early in that
year the visit of Archbishop Peckham brought
about the resignation of the prior, William de
Esteneston, who had succeeded to the rule of the
house on the resignation of Ralf of Silverston
in June 1275. (fn. 9) On 17 March, 1279-90, the
archbishop wrote to Oliver Sutton, bishop-elect
of Lincoln, (fn. 10) setting forth the deplorable excesses
of the late prior and his perverse misbehaviour,
even on the very day of the archbishop's departure from the priory and in defiance of his
injunction. (fn. 11) The latter forbade women to frequent the cloister, and desired that no pension
or portion should be assigned to the late superior,
unless indeed the bishop should think fit to send
him elsewhere to do penance for his offences.
In that case the cost of his maintenance was left
to the bishop's discretion lest another house
should become chargeable. In the course of a
year or two, however, the ex-prior prevailed on
his diocesan to grant him the usual privileges of
a retired superior, and a special chamber in the
infirmary, together with certain liberties, was
assigned to him with episcopal sanction so long
as he should behave honestly and regularly. The
archbishop visited this forest priory 14 November,
1284, and on the following day issued his decree
to the prior and convent with regard to their
former superior, who was found to have grossly
abused his privileges. Brother William of Esteneston, so ran the archbishop's order, was to be
deprived of his chamber, which should be restored
to the use of the sick as before; he should have
his meals with the brethren in the frater and
partake of the same diet, and should sleep in the
common dorter; unless obviously ill he should
attend all the night and day offices in the church,
and in the event of sickness or infirmity should
receive the same treatment as the ordinary
brothers in the infirmary. His servant should
lodge with the other servants of the monastery
and not in the cloister. (fn. 12) Peckham also ordered
that the door from the chamber occupied by the
late prior, which led into the orchard, should be
locked and the key kept by the prior until a wall
had been built round the orchard. After that
the sick should be allowed to go freely in and
out of the orchard until sunset, when the door
should be locked and the key given into the
immediate custody of the prior. If the ex-prior
refused to comply with these regulations he should
be separated from the community and kept in
seclusion, as their rule provided, until he yielded
humble obedience. If he showed signs of apostasy or attempted to renew his former sinful
career he was to be at once placed in close
custody (in arcto carcere). (fn. 13)
It was not, however, easy to obviate the consequences of the evil example of such a superior,
and William of Esteneston seems to have inaugurated a period of discord combined with
irresolution and feebleness of purpose that apparently affected the whole house. On the resignation of Adam de Hanred in December, 1284,
the monks, having obtained licence to elect,
chose William of Brackley, one of their number,
who received the royal assent to his election. (fn. 14)
The bishop, however, on the ground of internal
discords at the time, annulled the choice of the
convent and suspended their power to elect, with
the intention of providing himself to the house.
He found none fit for the rule save brother Adam,
whom he straightway reappointed, not without
protest from the king, who pointed out that for
this second choice no licence had been asked or
obtained; nevertheless, pitying the state of the
house, by his special grace he directed the escheator
of the county to restore the temporalities to the
said Adam till the time of the next Parliament,
when the matter should be finally settled. (fn. 15) Adam,
thus reappointed, remained in office till 1287,
but in the meantime the financial affairs of the
house became embarrassed and the burden of
debt so serious that the king interfered and
appointed Richard de Rothewell, a royal clerk,
to the custody of the temporalities during his
pleasure, describing the house as being of the
king's immediate patronage. (fn. 16) On the resignation of Prior Adam in 1287 Richard of Silveston
was elected, (fn. 17) but the vacillating policy of the
house showed itself, and on the same day that
the king notified his assent to the bishop of
Lincoln a messenger arrived from the priory
bearing the resignation of the newly-elected
prior. (fn. 18) Having obtained another 'congé d'élire'
the convent this time wisely went outside their
own ranks and elected John of Houton, a monk
of the Cluniac house of Daventry. (fn. 19) But in less
than two years the office was again vacant,
Prior John having resigned to join the Friars
Minor. It seems difficult to credit the lack of
steady purpose that characterized the community
at this period, but no sooner had the royal assent
been obtained to the election of Gilbert de Merse
than the newly-elected head decided to resign. (fn. 20)
Eventually choice was made of Peter of Suldeston
or Shalstone, but he only retained office for four
years, and was deposed by the diocesan in October,
1284, for disobedience to canonical injunctions
for the rule of the house. (fn. 21) William of Brackley,
whose election ten years previously had been
annulled by the bishop, now succeeded, (fn. 22) and the
priory entered on a period of greater quiet and
security, as the prior retained his office for twentytwo years.
As has been previously mentioned, this priory
was regarded as of royal patronage, and the king
exercised the right of imposing pensioners, as in
cases of other houses of royal foundation. On
20 August, 1316, following the recent election
of John of Westbury, John de Ditton, clerk,
was sent to the prior and convent of Luffield to
receive the pension they were bound to give to
one of the king's clerks by reason of the new
creation of a prior. (fn. 23) In 1334 Robert de la
Chapelle was sent to the priory to receive such
maintenance as John Cloer had enjoyed at the
request of Edward I. (fn. 24)
This house suffered severely under the visitation of the Black Death in 1349; the prior and
all the monks are said to have died, (fn. 25) and the
rental of the house was declared inadequate for
its support. The benefactions of Sir Henry
Greene are recorded during the rule of Prior
William of Horwood, who succeeded in 1349.
Among other gifts he gave 100 marks to re-roof
the choir of the church with lead; in return for
his kindness the monks promised to celebrate
for him and his family. (fn. 26) The priory, however,
never attained to any degree of prosperity, and at
the request of Henry VII. in 1494 Alexander VI.
issued a bull for its annexation to the college and
hospital of St. George's, Windsor. (fn. 27) The bull
stated that the priory being of the patronage of
the kings of England, founded in a desert place,
and for a long time now only able to support a
prior with two monks who had not been professed in the house, was with the church and
buildings now in a ruinous condition. The pope
stipulated that licence should be obtained from
the diocesan for its union, and that the prior and
monks should be transferred to other houses with
a fit pension from the issues of this foundation. (fn. 28)
The execution of the bull was stayed till after
the death of the prior in 1504 at Abingdon,
whither he had become transferred, and died as
lord abbot. (fn. 29) Immediately after Henry VII. procured another bull from Pope Julius II. cancelling
the previous grant to Windsor in favour of the
king's chapel at Westminster Abbey, which was
carried out. (fn. 30)
Priors of Luffield
Mauger (fn. 31) occurs before 1133
William (fn. 32) occurs 1151
Ralph (fn. 33) occurs 1174
John (fn. 34)
William (fn. 35) occurs before 1218
Roger (fn. 36) died 1231
William of Brackley (fn. 37) elected 1231
Ralf of Silverston (fn. 38) elected 1263, resigned
1275
William of Esteneston (fn. 39) elected 1275, resigned
1279-80
Adam de Hanred, Henred or Heured (fn. 40) elected
1279-80, resigned 1284
William of Brackley (fn. 41) elected 1284-5, election annulled
Adam de Hanred, Henred or Heured reappointed 1285, (fn. 42) resigned 1287
Richard of Silveston (fn. 43) elected 1287, resigned
same time
John of Houghton (fn. 44) elected 1287, resigned
1289
Gilbert de Merse (fn. 45) elected 1289, resigned same
time
Peter of Saldeston or Shalstone (fn. 46) elected 1289,
deposed 1294
William of Brackley (fn. 47) elected 1294, resigned
1316
John of Westbury (fn. 48) elected 1316, died 1344
William of Skelton (fn. 49) elected 1344, died 1349
William of Horwood (fn. 50) elected 1349, resigned
1383
John Pirye (fn. 51) elected 1383
John Horwood (fn. 52) elected 1396
John Hals (fn. 53) elected 1420, died 1444
John Pinchbeck (fn. 54) elected 1444, resigned 1468
William Rogers (fn. 55) elected 1468, resigned 1488
Thomas Rowland (fn. 56) elected 1488, resigned (fn. 57)
1494
Pointed oval seal of the thirteenth century
taken from a cast at the British Museum, (fn. 58) represents the Virgin seated on a throne under a
trefoiled arch with church-like canopy which is
supported on two columns, in her right hand
a sceptre fleur-de-lizé, on the left knee the Holy
Child with cruciform nimbus lifting the right
hand in benediction, in the left hand a book. In
base a prior kneeling in prayer.
Legend : S' : COMMVNIS : SANCTE : MARIE :
D' LVFFEILT.