HOUSE OF PREMONSTRATENSIAN CANONS
17. THE ABBEY OF SULBY
The abbey of Sulby was founded about the
year 1155 for canons of the Premonstratensian
order by William de Wideville, who gave them
the church of Welford and nine carucates of land
in the parish of Sulby. (fn. 1) Their endowments
were speedily increased by the gift of the church
and manor of Sulby from Sir Robert de Paveley,
and many later grants set forth in a confirmation
charter of Edward II. (fn. 2) At the time of the dissolution the gross annual value of the abbey
amounted to £305 8s. 5d., the net income to
£258 8s. 5d. The canons held the Northamptonshire churches of Welford, East Haddon,
Little Addington, Sibbertoft, and Great Harrowden, as well as a pension of 53s. 4d. from the
rectory of Guilsborough, and the churches of
Lubenham and Wistow, in Leicestershire, and a
pension of 100s. from the rectory of Wappenbury, Warwickshire. (fn. 3)
Robert, earl of Leicester, granted the canons
remittance from toll for goods bought or sold by
them in Leicestershire, and a like exemption was
granted by Roger, earl of Clare, for goods within
the market of Rothwell. (fn. 4)
Unfortunately the early records of Sulby are
very meagre, and no chartulary or register is
extant. We know that the abbey was originally
founded in Welford parish, and subsequently
moved to Sulby. The confirmation charter of
Edward II., already referred to, describes the
abbey as formerly of Welford, and now of
Sulby. (fn. 5) The change probably took place in the
reign of Henry III., when Sir Robert de Paveley
bestowed on the canons the church and manor
of Sulby, comprising upwards of fifteen hundred
acres. The buildings must have been on a considerable scale. Bridges describes the wellwooded and watered site of the house, with the
grounds and pools, as covering a large area, and
Edward II. found the abbey convenient and
suitable as a royal lodging, and during progresses
frequently broke his journey here, and transacted
official business. Entries in the patent rolls record
that he stopped the night at Sulby, 12 October,
1309; (fn. 6) and again in 1310, on his way north for
the Scotch expedition, the king stayed at Northampton for the 1st and 2nd of August, proceeded
to Selby on the 3rd, arrived at Leicester on the
4th, and reached Nottingham on the 5th. (fn. 7) It was
during his stay on 14 March, 1315-6, that
the abbot obtained from him that charter of
confirmation to which reference has already
been made. (fn. 8) The king tarried at Sulby for two
nights in July, 1317, and he was here again in
March, 1322-3. (fn. 9)
In the year 1300 the abbots of Peterborough
and Sulby made a composition whereby the
former granted to the latter the manor of Little
Addington, or Addington Waterville, for an
annual rent of 6s. 8d. at Easter, in return for
which each successive abbot of Sulby was bound
to do homage to the abbot of Peterborough, and
pay a fine of ten marks in the same manner as
Humphrey de Bassingburn had been wont to do
service for the same manor. (fn. 10) In 1316 the abbot
obtained from the king a grant of free warren
over the manors of Sulby, Welford, and Little
Addington. (fn. 11) In 1326 the canons obtained the
advowson and appropriation of the neighbouring
church of Sibbertoft. (fn. 12) In 1349 Pope Clement VI.
issued a mandate to the bishop of Lincoln to
appropriate to the abbey the church of East
Haddon of its patronage, and of the yearly value
of sixteen marks. (fn. 13) This grant was made at the
request of Henry, earl of Lancaster, on account
of the 'small income' of the community and
their many debts. (fn. 14) In 1360 Edward III. allowed
the abbot and convent to appropriate the church
of Sulby of their own advowson, and taxed
at five marks. (fn. 15) More than a century later,
in 1481, the king's chamberlain, Sir William
Hastings, obtained a licence to grant the advowsons of the churches of Wistow and Lubenham,
Leicestershire, with lands not held in chief, to
the value of five marks yearly, to the abbot and
convent of Sulby, and for the latter to appropriate the churches provided a sufficient vicarage
were endowed in each, and a sum of money set
apart for distribution to poor parishioners. (fn. 16)
The connexion of this Premonstratensian
house with the head abbey of Prémontré appears
at the earlier stages of its existence to have been
a close one. In 1232 Abbot Walter was removed
from the rule of the abbey by order of the chaptergeneral at Prémontré, and William, a canon
of the house, appointed. In 1310 Edward II.
sent an order to Robert de Kendal, constable canon
of Dover and warden of the Cinque Ports, desiring him to permit the abbot of Sulby, who had
the king's licence to attend the general chapter
of his order in parts beyond the sea, to cross
from Dover with his household, horses, and equipments, and to furnish twenty marks for his
expenses, provided that he should carry with
him nothing contrary to the ordinance prohibiting contributions being carried to foreign
superiors. In the following month of September Abbot Henry obtained protection to last
until Easter. (fn. 17)
Abbot Henry of Sulby played so important a
part in the disputes between Prémontré and the
English province that it will be well to give a
brief summary of those events. The Abbot
General of Prémontré claimed under the rule of
St. Norbert to occupy a like position of those of
Cîteaux and Cluny over their respective congregations of reformed Benedictines. National
complications and jealousies materially interfered
with the smooth working of this foreign headship
in the case of the White Canons. From the
English canons Prémontré made three claims:
(1) attendance of the abbots at the general annual
chapter at the mother-house, (2) the appointment
of a visitor to report to the abbot-general, and
(3) the taxing of the houses for the benefit of the
order in general and of Prémontré in particular.
The last claim was the cause of many disputes.
A quarrel of this nature came to a head when
Adam de Crecy was abbot of Prémontré
(1304-1327). The English abbots, in obedience
to a royal proclamation of 1306 against making
payments to foreign superiors, had been defaulters for some time when they were summoned
by the abbot-general, in 1310, to a general
chapter at Prémontré, and ordered to bring with
them the arrears of tallage. Thereupon the
English abbots met and sent a joint letter to
their superior informing him that they were unable to obey, as Parliament had prohibited their
leaving the kingdom, and if they disobeyed they
would certainly be outlawed and unable to return
to their houses.
Two, however, of their number were deputed
to cross the seas and attend the general chapter to
explain more fully their position. The choice
of the convention fell on Abbot William of Langdon, and Abbot Henry of Sulby. The two
abbots proceeded to Prémontré as proctors for
their brethren, but their statements made no impression on the general chapter. Their excuses
were rejected, and sentence of excommunication
was pronounced on all English abbots who had
not paid the customary dues by the following
Easter. Moreover, the abbots of Langdon and
Sulby were ordered, under heavy penalties, to
publish this sentence of the chapter-general in
every English house before the end of the year.
Consequently on 18 October, 1310, the two
abbots summoned a general chapter of the
English province to be held on 1 December at
Lincoln, at which each house was expected to be
represented by a delegate among the canons as
well as by the abbot. Meanwhile Edward II.
issued letters, on 10 November, absolutely prohibiting the levying or sending any subsidy or
tallage to Prémontré; the king also warned the
abbots of Langdon and Sulby of the grave penalties they would all suffer if they ignored the
statute of the realm of 30 Edward I. Sheltering
themselves behind this royal letter, the representatives of the English Premonstratensians, when
they met at Lincoln, boldly denied that the
superior or chapter-general could legally claim
this tallage. They admitted previous payment,
but claimed that they had only done that in a
spirit of brotherly charity. A spirited protest
was forwarded to Prémontré, stating that they
were appealing to the Holy See for protection
against excommunication. Proctors were appointed to carry out the appeal, and victory for
the most part lay with the English. Eventually,
at the general chapter held in 1316, a final
agreement was arrived at to terminate the protracted dispute, whereby the English abbots were
to be represented at the annual chapter at Prémontré by certain delegates, and the question of
apport or tallage to the mother-house was held
over until the law of England should be
changed. (fn. 18)
Bishop Redman was nominated in 1475 by
the abbot of Prémontré his vicar in England.
He was abbot of the small house of White Canons
at Shap, Cumberland, and allowed to retain that
office when consecrated bishop of St. Asaph in
1471, and afterwards when translated to Exeter
in 1496, and to Ely in 1501. From 1475 up
to his death in 1505 he held the post of vicar to
the abbot of Prémontré, and was hence the
visitor of the English Premonstratensians. This
duty Redman discharged with exemplary diligence, visiting, as a rule, each house about every
three years.
Sulby Abbey was visited eight times by Bishop
Redman, as recorded in his register preserved at
the Bodleian. It will be noted that on one of these
occasions real scandals came to light, whilst in
one or two other cases there was need for
individual penance.
Redman first visited Sulby on 19 June, 1475,
arriving there from Leicester at the dinner hour;
he left Sulby on 21 June, dining that day at
Northampton at the expense of the Sulby House.
He found no occasion to make any other entries
save that John Halley was abbot, John Howden
prior, and Robert Bredon sub-prior, and that
there were five other canons then in residence
and one novice.
At the visitation of 1478 the number of
churches in the abbey's gift is entered as six, all
served by curates, and it is stated that the house
was founded in 1155. There were then, in
addition to the chief officers, seven canons in
residence and one novice.
The visitation of Sulby in 1482 produced
fuller notes. The bishop inspected the repairs
and rebuilding of half of the whole cloister
from floor to roof. He found that two great
antiphonars had been provided for the two sides
of the quire, as well as five bells of one accord,
and many other praiseworthy things too long to
be recited by a single pen. Between the abbot
and the brethren mutual charity abounded, there
was a happy lack of abuses, and the only injunctions applied to a few ritual details. On
the occasion of the last visitation the debts of
the house were twenty-one marks; they then
stood at £13 9s.
When Redman was at Sulby in June, 1488,
he found John Middleton abbot and Robert
Bredon sub-prior, and there were also four priests,
one deacon, and two novices. The injunctions
issued after this visitation prohibited all games for
money under pain of the greater excommunication; there was to be no eating or drinking in
the dormitory under pain of ten days' silence;
and going outside the precincts, even to the cowhouse, was prohibited. The keeping or feeding of
birds or little dogs was forbidden, as such things
pertained more to curiosity than utility. The
visitor then entered that he had no further fault
to find, that the debt had all been paid off, and
that there were then excellent supplies of stores
and cattle. Sulby was again visited on 15 September, 1491, when sad laxity came to light.
Some of the canons had been drinking at Welford; this, and the permitting of women to enter
the precincts, were prohibited under pain of forty
days' penance and greater excommunication.
Robert Bredon was convicted in a case of incontinence, and was condemned to forty days' severe
penance and seven years' banishment to Alnwick
Abbey. Bredon, the former sub-prior, seems to
have abandoned religion, for he was at the same
time condemned to an additional three years at
Shap Abbey for apostasy. Thomas Wylers was
also convicted of incontinence and sentenced to
forty days' severe penance, and to ten years'
banishment to the abbey of St. Agatha, Yorkshire. The abbot was severely reprimanded,
and complaint made of the paucity of the number
of canons. Drinking after compline was to be
punished by ten days' penance, and eating or
drinking in any secular house by twenty days'
penance. There was no debt, and the supplies
were good. The numbers, in addition to Abbot
Middleton, were six priests, and three deacons
who were novices.
When the bishop was next at Sulby, in 1494,
there were nine other canons in addition to Abbot
Middleton. Edward Melling, for a defect at
mass, was ordered to say a nocturn in cloister.
William Bromen, for talking to women relatives, and for receiving a black instead of a
white habit, had to say a psalter. Robert
Bredon's case came up again as an apostate, so
that he apparently had not been arrested or had
again departed; he was condemned to forty
days' penance, and ten years' banishment at
St. Agatha's Abbey.
In 1497 the numbers had grown, for there
were twelve canons in addition to Abbot
Middleton. On this occasion the visitor had
no lapses to enter.
The last recorded visitation paid to Sulby by
Bishop Redman took place on 28 October, 1500.
In addition to Abbot Middleton and Sub-prior
Robert Haddon, eight other canons were present
and two novices. Thomas Wright had been
detected in the study of certain illicit books of
experiments, apparently of the 'Philosopher's
Stone' type. He owned to the study of them,
but denied that he had attempted to put them in
practice. At the intercession of the superior and
brethren, the visitor allowed him to continue at
the monastery up to the next provincial chapter,
but enjoined on him meanwhile the saying of a
psalter. The bishop made further orders enjoining the wearing of amices when silk copes
were used, and the providing a house suitable for
the infirm. The use of ample and wide burses
by the religious was to be abolished, whilst those
who wore loose slippers (fn. 19) were threatened with
excommunication. (fn. 20)
The last abbot, Ralphe Armonte, succeeded
in 1534. Robert Bryer, in his confession as to
the northern rebellion made before Sir Edmund
Walsingham in October, 1536, stated that he had
visited Sulby and that the abbot gave him 3s. 4d.,
and asked him whether any more abbeys would
be suppressed, to which he replied 'Nay.' (fn. 21) The
monastery with all its possessions was surrendered
to Thomas Legh, 20 September, 1538. The
surrender deed was witnessed by Ralphe
Armonte abbot, Robert Buckley prior, Thomas
Hyle sub-prior, and nine other canons. (fn. 22) Five
days later Cromwell received a letter from Sulby
Abbey, addressed by John Hales, clerk of the firstfruits, and one of the commissioner's most accommodating agents, stating that he was in possession
according to order, and that 'the papistical den of
idle and utterly unlearned beasts at Soulbie' was
broken up. Sir Francis Bryan, steward of the
dissolved abbey, wrote to Cromwell on 27 September, begging his favour in the matter of a pension for the abbot. (fn. 23) The superior was granted,
on 26 November, the large pension of £50, the
rest of the canons £6 each. (fn. 24) The Valor of
1535 testifies to various distributions made regularly to the poor by these so-called 'idle beasts.'
On Maundy Thursday the abbot was wont to
wash the feet of twenty-six poor men and give
to each a penny, a farthing loaf, and a red
herring. On the same day five hundred other
poor folk received a loaf and a herring from the
convent. (fn. 25) The church or chapel of Old Sulby,
dedicated to St. Botolph, was given, as has been
already stated, to the abbey with the manor. In
the Valor Old Sulby is described as a free
chapel, and the abbey paid the incumbent a
pension of £2 16s. 8d. (fn. 26)
Abbots of Sulby
John, (fn. 27) occurs 1207
Walter, (fn. 28) deposed 1232
William, (fn. 29) elected 1232
Hugh, (fn. 30) elected 1276
Henry, (fn. 31) occurs 1301
John of Welford, (fn. 32) elected 1314
Walter, (fn. 33) occurs 1326
William Gysburgh, (fn. 34) occurs 1414
John Coventry, (fn. 35) resigned 1447
William Knolles, (fn. 36) elected 1447
John Halley, (fn. 37) admitted 1452
John Middleton, (fn. 38) occurs 1487 and 1500
Robert Goodall, (fn. 39) occurs 1513
Ralphe Armonte, (fn. 40) admitted 1534
The conventual seal with counter-seal of
Abbot William, date about 1240-1250, has a
fine but imperfect impression. (fn. 41) The obverse is a
pointed oval representing the Virgin with nimbus,
seated on a carved throne, the Holy Child, also
with nimbus, on her left knee, in her right hand
a lily branch. Her feet on a footboard. Legend:
+ SIGILLUM . A . . . . . . . . BI
Another seal of about 1276-1280 has the
legend in full. (fn. 42)
SIGILL' CONUENTUS SANTE MARIE DE SULEBI
There is also an impression of the chapter seal
dated 1257, of which only a fragment of the
upper part remains, (fn. 43) a pointed oval representing
the Virgin crowned. Legend:
+ MATE[R DEI MEMENTO] MEI
Of the seal of Abbot Walter, 1232, only a
fragment remains. (fn. 44) Obverse, a pointed oval,
represents the abbot standing, in his right hand a
pastoral staff. Legend defaced:
+ . . . . . DE SVLEB . . . . .
Reverse, a smaller counter seal with mark of
handle. Impression of an antique oval intaglio
gem: Legend:
+ SIG
Of the pointed oval seal of Abbot Hugh,
about 1276-1280, only a fragment remains,
representing the Virgin half-length, the Holy
Child on her knee. (fn. 45)