BENEDICTINE HOUSES
1. THE CATHEDRAL PRIORY OF BATH
Our first English notice of Bath is the statement in the charter, which certainly does not
come down to us in its original form, how
Osric (fn. 8) the under-king of the Hwiccas in the
kingdom of Mercia gave to Bertana the abbess (fn. 9)
one hundred manentes of land adjacent to
the city of Bath for the erection there of a
monastery of holy virgins. The charter is
dated 6 November 676. An Osric who was a
follower and perhaps nephew of Ethelred King
of Mercia founded the monastery at Gloucester (fn. 10)
in 681 and this may be the same as the
founder of the nunnery at Bath.
Another charter (fn. 11) concerning Bath records
the gift by Æthelmod with the consent of
King Ethelred of Mercia of some land on the
River Cherwell to the venerable abbess Bernguidis and to Folcburga. The charter is attested
by Archbishop Theodore who died in 690, and
is probably of the year 681. Folcburga was
doubtless the under abbess or prioress.
The nuns appear no more. In 758 Cynewulf
King of the West Saxons (fn. 12) with the consent
of Offa King of Mercia granted five manentes
of land at North Stoke to the monks and to
their monastic church of St. Peter. It has been
supposed that the monastery which Osric
founded was a double monastery for monks and
nuns, but there is no evidence for the supposition.
This new foundation of monks was made
dependent on HÆthored, Bishop of Worcester;
but he seems to have offended Offa King of
Mercia, who claimed that the grant made
by Æthelbald of Mercia to Hæthored, or his
predecessor, of the land at Bath was not in
perpetuity but only for a life, either that of
Æthelbald or of the predecessor of Hæthored. So
at the Synod of Brentford (fn. 13) in 781, Hæthored
gave back to Offa all that 'celebrated monastery'
at Bath, and south of the river the land he had
bought from Cynewulf King of the West Saxons.
So Bath becomes part of the royal demesne
of Offa and we hear no more of the monastery
for two hundred years. William of Malmesbury (fn. 14)
in the 12th century says that Offa founded the
monastery there, and Leland (fn. 15) records the tradition that he founded there a college of secular
priests. Offa may have rebuilt the church and
reconstituted the body of clergy which served in
it.
The gifts from the West Saxon monarchs
begin with Æthelstan (925–40) (fn. 16) who bestowed
upon St. Peter the Apostle and the 'venerable
family' which is located æt Bathum lands at
Cold Ashton and Priston. Edmund (940–94) (fn. 17)
gave Tidenham, Bathford, Corston, Bathamp
ton and lands at Weston, and Edwy (955–9)
gave again Corston and Bathampton. The
exact tenure of these lands is somewhat obscure. Some of the lands granted by Edmund
seem to have reverted to the Crown, for Edwy
is said to have given Corston to one of the ladies
of his court, Ælfswyda; and part of Bathampton
to one of his faithful attendants Hehelm, and
again he grants 'meo sacerdoti Wulfgar' lands
at Tidenham and Bathford. (fn. 18)
Under Edgar (944–75) took place the great
monastic reform of Archbishops Dunstan (fn. 19) of
Canterbury and Oswald of York, and Bath may
have been affected. Now we hear for the first
time of the head of the clergy as an abbot and
Abbot Æscwig (fn. 20) may have been appointed as the
head of a new family of priests organized on
stricter monastic principles. Here on Whitsunday 11 May 973, Archbishops Dunstan and
Oswald took part in the solemn crowning of King
Edgar. The anonymous life of St. Oswald (fn. 21)
gives us minute details of the service in the
church, but does not mention a monastery or
an abbot.
About the year 980 Ælpheah, generally known
as St. Elphege, (fn. 22) came to Bath from the monastery of Deerhurst, dissatisfied with the laxity
and worldliness which prevailed there. At
first he lived in a cell apart from the other
religious as a hermit rather than as a monk.
But soon his fame for sanctity was noised abroad
and many flocked to consult and to live near him.
Certainly this seems to be the beginning of a
monastery. Though he did not forsake his
cell he seems to have had the administration of
the funds which the endowments of St. Peter's
Church provided and he appointed a provost
to arrange for the maintenance of those who had
gathered round him. (fn. 23) After a time many fell
away, wandering in the town and giving themselves up to drunken habits.
St. Elphege could not have been in Bath for
many years. In 983 he was appointed Bishop
of Winchester, and in 1012 Archbishop of
Canterbury, in which year he also fell a martyr
to the Danes. (fn. 24)
During the reign of Æthelred (979–1016) a
certain Wulfaru (fn. 25) bequeathed 'into Badum to
sancte Petres mynstre' certain mass robes, two
gilt crosses and sixty gold marks and to Abbot
Ælfere, whose name we only meet with on this
occasion, land at Freshford. To our confusion
also we find in the first half of the 11th century
two abbots at the same time, whatever their
functions may have been. Wulfwold was abbot
in 1061 when Edward the Confessor gave him—'meo abbati'—a phrase which seems to indicate a
special relationship to the king—land at Ashwick
with right to bequeath it to whom he would. (fn. 26)
On his death (fn. 27) he gave it and an estate at Evesty
to St. Peter's minster. While Wulfwold was
abbot we meet with Ælfig, also described as
abbot, (fn. 28) and Ælfig is succeeded by Sewold,
Wulfwold being still alive, and then Ælfsige
succeeds Sewold and in 1084 Wulfwold
and Ælfsige are mentioned together. (fn. 29) Then
Wulfwold died and Ælfsige ruled alone until 1087,
when his death opened the way for the union
of the monastery with the bishopric of Wells.
In the Domesday (fn. 30) record of the lands of the
church of Bath Wulfwold and Sewold are both
mentioned as abbots in 1066, Wulfwold being
entered as abbot T.R.E. in reference to Evesty
in Wellow, and Sewold, also as abbot T.R.E., in
reference to Corston.
The post which Wulfwold held in Bath and
which he vacated by his death soon after 1084
was not filled up and in 1087 his colleague Abbot
Ælfsige also died. (fn. 31) The church of Bath was
thus bereft of both its abbots when William
Rufus succeeded to the throne of England.
Early in the summer of 1088 the bishopric of
Wells (fn. 32) also became vacant through the death
of Bishop Giso.
In 1088 William Rufus conferred the bishopric on John de Villula, a native of Tours (fn. 33)
and a rich and skilled physician, and he was consecrated by Archbishop Lanfranc in July of the
same year. Immediately afterwards and with
the help of Archbishop Lanfranc (fn. 34) the king made
Bishop John a grant of the abbey of Bath and
all its endowments in augmentation of the income
of his bishopric. At the time perhaps the gift
was of little value, for in the summer of 1088
Bath had been burnt by Robert de Mowbray, (fn. 35)
and Bishop John received a ruined church and
devastated estates. The gift, however, facilitated
the transfer of the bishopric from Wells to Bath,
and this was made forthwith under sanction
apparently of the king and the archbishop. (fn. 36)
Neither the canons of Wells nor the monks of
Bath were consulted, though the change affected
both very seriously.
In addition to this grant of the church and
its endowments the bishop obtained by purchase or by a bribe a grant of the city of Bath (fn. 37)
so that the city of Bath should be as the vill of
Wells his own property as bishop of the see.
There were thus three grants made to John
de Villula. There was the gift of the church
of Bath (fn. 38) and its endowments made in 1088.
Then followed immediately the licence to transfer the bishopric from Wells (fn. 39) to Bath and
assume the title of Bishop of Bath instead of
that of Bishop of Wells, and lastly in 1091 there
was the transaction which ended in his obtaining
possession of the city of Bath. (fn. 40) This grant
Bishop John was careful to have confirmed by
Henry I (fn. 41) in 1101, for which he paid the sum
of five hundred pounds of silver.
Thus the church of Bath was raised to the
rank of a cathedral church and the monks
attached to it were brought into close relationship
to their abbot bishop. (fn. 42) William of Malmesbury
has little to say of Bishop John de Villula to
his credit. (fn. 43) He was accused of having confiscated the monastic endowments and clung to
them even on the approach of death. Certainly he met with opposition and he acted in a
somewhat high-handed manner. The monks
resented what seemed like a confiscation and he
did not consult them in the management of
their endowments as perhaps their abbots had.
He saw in them the enemies of reform and he
counted them as ignorant and of barbarous
habits. As opportunities occurred he sent away
English monks and filled their places with his
Norman friends.
It was a time of great reform and magnificent
building schemes, and in Bath the bishop seems
to have been busy in both directions. The
small family of monks under his fostering direction developed into a well-organized monastery
with the new officers, called obedientiaries.
The ignorance which had prevailed gave place
to literary activity, and it has been claimed as
under his abbotship that the scholar Adelard or
Æthelhard of Bath acquired the knowledge that
made him famous. (fn. 44) When the monastery was
recrganized there in 1106 Bishop John began to
place in the hands of the monks the estates which
he had managed for them. He obtained also
for them an estate of five hides at Weston which
King Edmund had given the church and which
had been lost, and he also procured for them the
manors (fn. 45) of Claverton, Dogmersfield, Batheaston,
Warleigh and Arnwood (Hernewuda on the
Sea). The enumeration of these estates is
somewhat perplexing. During the next fifty
years some disappear and are not recovered and
to trace their fate seems beyond our province.
Like most contemporary bishops, John de
Villula had great building schemes, and for this
purpose he devoted the revenues he derived
from the city as well as those he could save from
the endowments of the church. (fn. 46) On a scale
much larger than the earlier churches he set
about rebuilding the abbey church (fn. 47) and had
completed it as far as the lower vaultings before
his death. His influence seems to have brought
to the monks the assistance of two great Norman
barons of Somerset. William de Moion (fn. 48) gave
them the church at Dunster and all that belonged to it, and Walter de Douai (fn. 49) gave the
church of Bampton in Devonshire and half a
hide of land. The bishop also built for himself something more than an abbot's lodging. (fn. 50)
It was outside the monastery and was known as
the Bishop's Bower, and Leland (fn. 51) said that when
he visited the place one great tower still remained
amid the rapidly increasing ruins.
It was impossible with the care of all the
diocese on his shoulders that he could supervise
the internal affairs of the monastery, and he gave
the monks as their especial ruler a prior, about
whom we only know that he was a Norman
and that his name was John. (fn. 52)
On 29 December 1122 (fn. 53) John de Villula died
and was buried in his cathedral church before
the altar of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Bishop John's organization of the monastery
at Bath, giving the monks a prior and surrendering to them in 1106 the estates which their
church had possessed before the Conquest,
placed them in a state of comparative independence. They had certainly more power and
they must now be consulted by the bishop.
Their church was his cathedral church, he indeed
was their abbot and their prior was appointed
by himself, but the prior and the monks formed
a chapter which as years went on became more
and more independent.
John de Villula was succeeded (fn. 54) by Godfrey,
Queen Adelais' chaplain, whom the king nominated as Bishop of Bath at the Easter Council
1123. He was consecrated at St. Paul's on 26
August 1123. (fn. 55)
Bishop Godfrey's successor was Robert of
Lewes, the first appointment made by King
Stephen, in 1136, and of him we are told (fn. 56)
'Canonica prius electione precedente,' a statement which seems to show that the monks of
Bath were formally consulted by the Crown.
On 29 July 1137 the church of Bath was
burned, (fn. 57) and soon after in the struggle between
the party of King Stephen and the empress,
Bishop Robert, who was an adherent of King
Stephen, had the misfortune to be captured by
the Bristol garrison. (fn. 58) A short time before, the
bishop's following at Bath had captured Geoffrey
Talbot, one of the supporters of the empress,
and the exchange of Talbot for the bishop so
enraged King Stephen that he meditated depriving Bishop Robert of the temporalities of his see.
The bishop was as great a builder in Bath as
he was an organizer in Wells, and he erected
in Bath (fn. 59) a chapter-house, cloister, dormitory,
refectory and infirmary and other conventual
buildings for his monks. He certainly did not
meditate a return to Wells or a raising of the
canons of Wells into an equal position with the
monks of Bath as the members of his diocesan
chapter. In 1157 (fn. 60) he obtained from Pope
Hadrian IV a formal recognition that Bath was
the seat of the bishopric and that his title was
Bishop of Bath and a confirmation of his possessions as bishop of the diocese. In 1166 Bishop
Robert (fn. 61) died and the see was vacant for seven
years.
In 1173 the monks of Bath at the instigation
of Henry II (fn. 62) elected as their abbot and bishop
Reginald Fitz Jocelin.
Though Bishop Reginald in his endowments
of the church of Wells seemed to be preparing
the way for its recognition as jointly with Bath
the cathedral church of the diocese, yet he
did not regard it as such. In 1180 appealing
for the Whitsuntide offerings to the faithful
of the diocese for the repair of the church of
Bath, he called it the cathedral and mother
church of the whole diocese, (fn. 63) and he endowed
it with many relics and ornaments and books,
and the body of St. Euphemia and two precious
copes and he acquired also for the monastery a
precious alb of cloth of gold and the amice and
mitre of St. Peter of Tarentaise.
In the autumn of 1191 Bishop Reginald (fn. 64)
was elected to the see of Canterbury, rendered
vacant by the death of Archbishop Baldwin. (fn. 65)
His appointment had been materially advanced
by Savaric Archdeacon of Northampton, by race
a Burgundian and a kinsman of the Emperor
Henry VI.
In November 1191, Reginald left Bath on his
way to Canterbury, and Walter the prior accompanied him on his journey. At Dogmersfield,
Reginald was taken seriously ill and perceiving
that his end was drawing near, he clothed himself in the dress of a Benedictine monk, exclaiming
to his faithful prior, (fn. 66) 'It is not the will of God
that I should be Archbishop, neither is it my
will, but God wills that I should be a monk and
such is my will also.' He died on 26 December,
1191. It is said that during his last illness
Reginald procured from the prior a promise to
nominate Savaric for the see of Bath, and after
his death Prior Walter seems to have had no
difficulty in inducing his fellow monks to elect
Savaric as their bishop.
Savaric designed to make himself in every
way bishop of the diocese; for this purpose
it was necessary for him to gain authority over
all the Benedictine monasteries in Somerset.
He was Abbot of Bath and so could influence
the monks there. Within a year he surrendered
to the Crown the city of Bath and received in
exchange the abbacy of Glastonbury (fn. 67) and
the right to call himself Bishop of Bath and
Glastonbury. Then he induced the Abbots of
Athelney and Muchelney (fn. 68) to become canons
of the church of Wells and members of his
chapter there. Thus while Savaric had recognized at first the monks of Bath as the members
of his cathedral chapter, his action towards the
church of Wells tends to show that he did not
ignore its ancient claims.
On his death on 8 August 1205, (fn. 69) the arrangements for the election of a successor which had
been foreshadowed by Bishop Robert were
loyally adhered to. (fn. 70) The prior, the sub-prior,
and two monks, were chosen to represent the
convent of Bath, and the dean, precentor, subdean and Canon Ralph de Lechlade the chapter
of Wells, and the unanimous choice of the
delegates fell on Jocelin Trotman of Wells.
This election by compromise was then formally
ratified by both chapters and each ratification
was signed by the full body of the canons of
Wells and the monks of Bath. The Bath notification (fn. 71) gives us the names of all the monks of
the abbey at the time. The convent of Bath
then consisted of forty-one monks.
The life as of a community connected with
and yet distinct from the household of the
bishop began when Bishop John de Villula gave
them about 1106 (fn. 72) their first prior, by name
John. This act of the bishop probably shows
the completion of their organization as a Benedictine priory with the usual monastic officers or
obedientiaries. The convent would have thus
a complete organization and could act through
its various officers as a compact household.
The papal confirmation of Pope Adrian IV,
which at some time between 1156 and 1159 (fn. 73)
the bishop obtained for them and which secured
for them all their possessions and privileges,
completed the process which gave them an
independent existence. Certainly the 12th
century was for Bath the period of its greatest
development and probably of its greatest influence. Bishop Reginald (1174–91) was as
friendly as Bishop Robert had been and
gave them also a prior, Walter, (fn. 74) a man of
remarkable piety, who had been sub-prior of
the Benedictine monastery of Hyde and was
noted for his learning. After a time Prior
Walter grew dissatisfied with his life at Bath
and retired to the seclusion of Witham, intending
apparently to adopt the Carthusian habit. It
chanced however that while at Witham a
monk of the abbey of Hyde (fn. 75) arrived and seeing
Prior Walter, and recognizing him as his former
obedientiary, accosted him somewhat enigmatically—'pater, quod facis est kere, quod tractas
kirewiwere.' (fn. 76) The remark, whatever its exact
meaning, went home to Prior Walter, and he
returned to Bath (fn. 77) and resumed the work to
which Bishop Reginald had appointed him and
which he had rashly forsaken.
Bishop Savaric, 1192–1205, like his predecessors was a kind friend to the monks, and when
collections were made from the churches and
monasteries of England for the payment of King
Richard's ransom (fn. 78) he paid the demand made
on the monks out of the revenue of the see.
It was in 1204 during the episcopate of Bishop
Savaric that the priory of Bath became possessed
of lands in Ireland. (fn. 79) The brethren of the
Hospital of St. John at Waterford surrendered
their house and estates in Ireland to the monks
of Bath, in order that they might become
affiliated to them as a priory belonging to a
great English monastery. There were four
brethren and three sisters to be maintained and
they were known as the brethren and sisters of
St. Leonard. Their Irish property at Waterford and other places in Ireland was of no real
advantage to the monks. The rents barely
supported the brethren of the hospital. The
estates demanded considerable attention and
the presence from time to time either of the
prior or his proctors, and a hundred years later
we are not surprised to find that the monks
tried to rid themselves of it.
From 1208 to 1213 Bishop Jocelin of Bath
and Glastonbury was abroad in exile (fn. 80) and during
that period the priory suffered heavily from
the vengeance of King John, (fn. 81) who was himself
in Bath 13–14 May 1209, 17 October 1212,
and 13 March 1213. The prior and monks were
forced by the king's servants to make a free
grant in 1213 to the king of all that he had taken
forcibly from them for the maintenance of his
court, and the monks found themselves in such
straits for their own sustenance that they had
to borrow from Canon Ralph de Lechlade of
Wells for the purpose of buying corn for the
monastery.
In 1241 in obedience to the summons of
Cardinal Otho, (fn. 82) the papal legate, the priory sent
a representative to the Council summoned by
Pope Gregory IX to assemble at Rome, but
apparently the Bath delegate suffered the
same fate as his English colleagues who were
captured by Pisan and Sicilian sailors acting
under orders from the Emperor Frederick II. (fn. 83)
It was only to be expected that the vast expenditure that had been incurred by the monks
of Bath in their contest for precedence with the
canons of Wells should greatly impoverish them.
The gift by Matilda de Champflour (fn. 84) of the
advowson of Batheaston and by Bishop Roger of
Bath and Wells of the fines coming to him from
the manor of South Stoke (fn. 85) were at this time
extremely welcome and we find that soon after
Bishop William Button I (fn. 86) granted them an
indulgence for the furtherance of their effort
to complete and beautify their chapel of the
blessed Virgin Mary.
This bishop also in May 1261 (fn. 87) granted to
the monks permission to elect their own prior,
and in that year they chose on 26 November
Walter de Anno the cellarer of the priory, in
succession to Thomas de Scolton who had died
on 23 June of that year.
During the Civil War 1264–6 Walter the
prior, in the name of the monks, had to seek
for absolution from the papal legate Cardinal
Ottoboni (fn. 88) from the excommunication which
had fallen on them owing to the assistance they
had given to the barons against the king. When
in 1197 Bishop Savaric obtained for himself
the abbotship of Glastonbury he surrendered
to the Crown his right over the city of Bath,
but when Robert Burnell, Chancellor of England, became Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1275,
Edward I at once began negotiations with him
for the surrender of this patronship of Glastonbury, (fn. 89) and in exchange Burnell received a
regrant of the city of Bath which Bishop Savaric
had surrendered, charged however with a rentcharge on the barton at Bath. (fn. 90)
Edward I looked well after the property of
the Crown. He visited Bath on two occasions, (fn. 91)
on 15 September 1276 and on 23 January 1285.
Immediately after and probably because of
what had been seen on the first visit there was an
inquisition ad quod damnum, (fn. 92) when the jury
at Bath presented the prior as unlawfully acting
as patron of the church of Walcot and as having
pulled down a building on the wall of the city
and taken the materials into the monastery,
and though bound to keep in repair the king's
bath and lodgings, as having allowed them to
fall into a ruinous condition. (fn. 93)
In June 1295 the position of the prior was
recognized by the State in the writ (fn. 94) that was
sent to him to attend the Great Council at
Westminster in the following August, and
from this time the prior took his place in Parliament and in the deliberations of the nation.
In 1301 Robert de Clopcote succeeded Thomas
de Winton as prior. He seems to have been
both an ambitious man and a bad financier
and soon strong discontent prevailed in the
monastery on account of the way he was administering the funds of the house. On 22 February
1311 Bishop Drokensford attempted to stop
the reckless extravagance of the prior and sent
a commission (fn. 95) of his officials to inquire into
it. He was met however by a conspiracy of
silence so that he felt compelled to pronounce
excommunication against all who withheld the
truth.
In 1321 Bishop Drokensford (fn. 96) wrote to the
prior to say that he had heard of the scandalous
waste of the revenues and the stinting of the
monks' diet, and urged him to be a more careful
steward of the priory; and on 5 November
1321, (fn. 97) he appointed a commission of two canons
of Wells and one other to hold an inquiry concerning the evil reports against the Prior of Bath.
In 1323 the sub-prior and convent, who apparently had been authorized by their abbot bishop
to write directly to him, informed him that the
new ordinance concerning the kitchen, which
was probably the result of their commission, was
working smoothly and they asked him to confirm it. (fn. 98) The prior himself seems to have
submitted in part, as he wrote in November
1321, (fn. 99) promising to consult the bishop on
certain points, and on 6 July 1323 (fn. 100) he wrote
thanking the bishop for postponing the visitation and asking for it in the following August.
The ambition of the prior is shown in his
desire to obtain the right to wear the pontifical
insignia. On 25 October 1321 Pope John XXII (fn. 101)
wrote to Edmund Earl of Kent that he should
not take it amiss that he is unable to grant to
the Prior of Bath the right to wear the pontifical
insignia.
On the death of Prior Clopcote, 26 February
1332, (fn. 102) the convent proceeded at once to elect
Robert de Sutton, on 7 March 1332, as prior,
but the election appears to have been irregular,
for the resignation of Clopcote or a promise
to that effect had been forwarded to the pope
and the pope's acceptance of it had not arrived
in Bath when he died. The pope (fn. 103) therefore
claimed to appoint to the priorship and Thomas
Crist was chosen by him, and on 24 September
1332 Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury confirmed
Crist in his appointment as prior. (fn. 104) To compensate Sutton he was made Prior of Dunster
and that distant property became a dependent
priory rather than an isolated cell. He was
granted also a pension of £20 and permission
to have with him at Dunster such friends as
he desired. If any of them should prove
troublesome Sutton had only to complain and
the offender would be summoned to Bath 'et
alius magis quietus et maturus loco sui subrogetur.'
During the priorship of Robert de Clopcote,
the priory suffered not only from his wastefulness but from the estates in Ireland, i.e. the
three small dependent priories at Waterford,
Cork and Youghal. In 1306 Clopcote himself
went over there to inquire into the cause of the
poverty and to put an end to the mismanagement.
Bishop Drokensford also had hoped that Hugh
de Dover, who had done well as sacristan at
Bath, would prove there an able warden. But
Dover disappointed him and proved as inefficient there as Clopcote was at Bath, and when
Archbishop Mepeham heard of the appointment
of Sutton he wrote in March 1332 (fn. 105) to bid
him recall Hugh de Dover, the incompetent
Irish warden.
Thomas Crist filled the office of prior for
eight years only. (fn. 106) The disorders in the monastery seem to have been greater than he could
cope with, and in August 1340 (fn. 107) he retired on
an ample pension consisting of a life interest in
the manor and church of North Stoke, a chaplain,
a squire and a groom to attend him, sufficient
meat and drink for them all and a supply of wood
for his fire.
His successor John de Iford or Ford does
not seem to have checked the steady increase
of the monastic debt and was in every way unworthy of the high post to which he had been
elected. To pay off old debts the convent
became involved in a bond for £1,300 (fn. 108) with
some Lucca merchants. He provided for friends
and relations in England and Ireland at the
expense of the priory. In 1346 Bishop Ralph
of Shrewsbury had his attention called also to
his immoral character. (fn. 109) The priory held
the manor of Hameswell in Gloucestershire
within the diocese of Worcester, and on 7 August
1346 Bishop Wulstan of Worcester wrote
from Henbury near Bristol, to inform the Bishop
of Bath and Wells that he had found at Hameswell one Agnes Cubbel who was living there as
the prior's mistress. The bishop seems to have
discovered something of the scandal before he
received this letter, but we know nothing of the
punishment that was inflicted on the unworthy
prior. He was certainly not removed from his
office, for he died as prior in 1359.
His term of office extended through the period
when England was visited in 1348 and 1349
by the Great Pestilence. We know nothing
of the details of the havoc in Bath. The pestilence reached there probably viâ Bristol as well
as viâ Bruton and Frome and the convent never
recovered the loss it then sustained. The
average number of monks during the 12th and
13th centuries seems to have been about forty. (fn. 110)
As late as 1344 (fn. 111) thirty monks joined the prior
in a power of attorney executed on October 5
and this list did not include those who were
at Dunster or those who were looking after the
Irish priories, and there may have been some sick
monks at Bath who did not sign. After the
plague the priory never seems to have had more
than half this number. In a Clerical Subsidy
of 1377 (fn. 112) there were only sixteen monks and
that number was never greatly exceeded till
the dissolution of the priory in 1539.
On 1 December, 1352, (fn. 113) Andrew Brooke was
proposed by the Crown for John le Harpour's
lodging and the convent replied that they could
not receive him since the substance of the
monastery was exhausted. The Great Pestilence had emptied many chambers but had
also greatly reduced the income of the house.
This was one of numerous examples of corrodies
which were merely pensions for old servants,
or relatives of monks, but there were others
which carried rooms and accommodation for
servants. In 1296 (fn. 114) Richard de Wedmore was
granted a corrody and lodging in the chamber
called Cork and stabling for two horses. About
the same time Roger de Depeford (fn. 115) was taken
into the monastery. In 1328 John de Bathon, (fn. 116)
a physician, was granted a chamber within the
gate of the priory and a corrody and he was
appointed physician to the monastery. A
similar condition was attached to the corrody
granted John Wulfrich. (fn. 117) He was to serve the
priory all his life as plumber and glazier. In
1336, (fn. 118) John de Combe was granted, by a formal
deed witnessed by three witnesses, which looks
as if he had bought this refuge of his old age,
a corrody of 20s. a year, one furred robe or suit
of an esquire, and a chamber for himself and
his grooms; and the same year Sir Tristram
de Hanvyll (fn. 119) was granted another next the
chamber which John de Combe expected to
occupy within the court of the prior. In
December 1349 Sir John Garrard, (fn. 120) chaplain,
was granted a corrody and living and the chamber
which Peter de Derby had. This probably was
the ordinary provision for a priest necessary
from the small number of priests among the
monks, a provision common enough at the
present time in our colleges at Oxford and
Cambridge. When the convent received in
December 1299 Brother Eugenius, (fn. 121) formerly
an abbot in Germany, at the request of Margaret
Queen of England, they did not grant him a
corrody but enrolled him among the monks of
the convent.
In 1352 (fn. 122) we find Prior Ford involved with
Robert Gyene, to whom the convent had granted
some years before a lease of their manor of Olveston and at a later date that of the advowson
of the church. Robert Gyene was a Bristol merchant and had lent the convent £100, and when
afterwards he was outlawed and his property became forfeit to the Crown the prior of Bath took
him into the priory. The Crown claimed also to
appoint to the church of Olveston, and in 1352
brought an action against the prior in that he
and Gyene and others had assembled in a
chamber of the priory and had bound themselves to uphold each other's claims against the
Crown. Prior John de Ford was arrested, but
was acquitted, and the advowson of Olveston
ultimately came back to the priory.
The date of Ford's death cannot be definitely
fixed, but it may have been in 1359, for on 31
July of that year we find the sub-prior acting
where certainly the prior would have acted had
there been one at the time. (fn. 123)
He was succeeded in the priorship by John
Berewyck, and he by John Dunster, and the latter
in 1412 by John Tellesford. In 1423 under
John Tellesford there were four novices admitted
as monks by Bishop Bubwith. (fn. 124)
In 1412 (fn. 125) a dispute arose between the city
authorities and the monks concerning the ringing
of the church bells. It had been customary
for the bells of the priory to begin and end the
day. In 1408 the mayor and corporation of
the city broke through this custom and caused
the bells of the parish churches to be rung earlier
and later than those of the monastery. The
quarrel thus begun resulted four years afterwards in litigation and it did not end until 1421
when the king gave judgement in favour of the
monks.
From 1425 to 1447 William Southbroke was
prior. From the action of Bishop Stafford (fn. 126)
it is evident that the discipline of the monastery
deteriorated under him. On 24 June 1445,
Bishop Beckington (fn. 127) wrote to reprove the
prior for allowing a monk Robert Veyse to live
a secular life alone at the church of Stokeney
and a life of adultery also. He had not been
recalled by the prior, though it was against all
rules of monasticism for a monk to live alone.
So notorious was the man's evil life that Bishop
Beckington obtained a royal writ to have him
arrested as an apostate and had him sent under
custody to the prior for punishment and imprisonment, and for a perpetual diet of bread
and water. So careless however was the prior
that on 27 December the bishop had to write
to say that he heard Veyse was again at large
and had gone back to live at Stokeney his old
life of sin.
There had never been any great object of
pilgrimage in Bath, though there is not wanting
evidence that the monks were trying to create
it. The canons of Wells had endeavoured to
encourage pilgrimages to the tomb of William
de Marchia, and the growing legend of St.
Joseph of Arimathea and his tomb at Glastonbury was attracting greater numbers to that sanctuary. When under Bishop Robert of Lewes
the monastic church at Bath was completed
and rededicated there seems to have been an
attempt to stamp with peculiar sanctity a cross
erected in some unspecified part of the church.
Archbishop Theobald of Canterbury and the
Bishops of Llandaff and Clonmacnoise, (fn. 128) as
well as the bishop of the diocese, all granted
indulgences to those who should go and worship
and make their offerings at it. In the 15th
century there appears to have been another
object of special veneration, some representation of the Trinity, probably the reredos of
the altar of that dedication, and the efforts to
promote this veneration in accordance with
the spirit of the times created an opposition. A
certain Agnes, wife of Thomas Cold or Baker
of Norton St. Philip, (fn. 129) had openly denounced
it and said it 'was waste time to offer to the
Trinity at Bath.' For this she was brought up
before the bishop's consistory court, and on
18 January 1459 before the Chancellor of Wells
in the Lady Chapel at Wells she publicly confessed her crime and abjured her errors.
On the death of William Southbroke in 1447
the monks were unable to agree as to a successor
and they appealed to Bishop Beckington, who
chose for their prior Thomas Lacock, then the
Prior of Dunster. (fn. 130)
Twice during his episcopate Bishop Beckington held a visitation of the priory, in 1449
and in 1454. (fn. 131)
In 1476 Bishop Stillington gave notice of a
visitation, and in 1499 Bishop Oliver King (fn. 132)
held another visitation just before the death
of Prior Cantlow.
On the death of Cantlow the convent proceeded to an election of a successor before
they had obtained the bishop's licence. Bishop
King therefore quashed the election and then
himself postulated the nominee of the convent,
William Birde. (fn. 133) Bishop King in his visitation censured the lax discipline in the priory.
There was feasting out of the refectory, (fn. 134)
idleness prevailed among the monks, and women
were very often and at unseemly times allowed
within the precincts of the monastery. The
church too had been neglected by the former
prior Cantlow and was grievously dilapidated.
The bishop therefore enjoined on the monks
that they should eat their meals only in the
appointed places, and meat was not to be allowed
except to those who were physically weak. (fn. 135) One
of the monks was to set out for the others their
appointed portions of food, and their clothes
were to be of coarse and inexpensive material.
Lastly each monk was to produce an inventory
of the things he was using himself and what
was superfluous was to be sent back into the
common store.
The bishop found that the yearly revenue
of the priory was about £480, and having allowed
sufficient for the support of the prior and his
sixteen monks he set aside about £300 a year
for the repair or rather, since it seems to have
been in a hopelessly ruinous condition, for the
rebuilding of the monastic church. William
Birde therefore pulled down the earlier church,
which had been begun by Bishop John of Tours
and completed by Bishop Roger, and on the site
of the original nave began the building of the
present church.
He died however on 22 May 1525 and left
the work to his successor. In the instrument
which (fn. 136) records the election of his successor
the names of twenty-two monks are entered,
a larger number than at any other period since
the visitation of the Great Pestilence in 1349.
The choice of the monks fell on William Holleway
or Gybbs, who held the office of pittancer.
It was in the summer of 1535 that Dr. Richard
Layton came to Bath to discover material for that
Black Book of the Monasteries which Cromwell
hoped would procure their dissolution. On
7 August (fn. 137) he wrote to the Vicar-General a
letter, for the statements in which there seems
to have been no authority but his desire to stand
well with the man who employed him.
Hit may please yor goodnes to understande that
we have visited Bathe wheras we found the prior
a right vertuose man and I suppose no better of his
cote a man simple and not of the gretesteste wit, his
monkes worse then I have any fownde yet both in
bugerie and adulterie sum one of them haveyng x
women sum viii and the reste so fewer. The house
well repared but foure hundreth powndes in dett. . .
the prior of Bathe hath sent unto yowe for a tokyn
a leisse of Yrisshe Laners brede in a selle of hys in
Yrelonde, no hardier hawkes can be as he saythe.
Layton had been in the monastic library to
look out ancient literature which would help
on his cause and continues in his letter (fn. 138) —'Ye
shalle receve a bowke of or lades miracles well able
to mache the canterberie tailles. Such a
bowke of dremes as ye never sawe wich I fownde
in the librarie.'
The visitors acted in every case as if the
dissolution of the monastery was decided on.
They took steps to prevent any alienation of
monastic property and they left behind an
injunction forbidding the prior and his monks
to leave the precincts of the monastery. So
Prior Holleway wrote on 24 September (fn. 139) of
the same year to Cromwell to protest against
this restraint and to ask permission to leave the
monastery to defend an action brought at that
time by some woman in the king's court—'I
hartlie desire yor honorable maistershipp to
know by yor lres or other insinuacion whethre
I may sit yn suche commyssions,' and then
follows as a bribe—'I have send yor maistershipp
hereyn an old Boke Opera Anselmi whiche one
William Tildysleye after scrutinye made here
in my libarye willed me to send unto youe by
the kynge ys grace and commawndment.'
In 1537, (fn. 140) the convent endeavoured to gain
the goodwill of Cromwell by granting him an
annuity of £5, and the prior wrote to thank
him for his protection against some secret and
hostile efforts against him.
One year was to go by before the end came.
It was a year during which the prior and convent seem to have done more than they were
justified in doing in order that they might win
for themselves friends among the noble families
of the neighbourhood. Prior Holleway's Register (fn. 141) gives us details of this action which could
be pardoned only because the dissolution of
the house was regarded as inevitable. Next
presentations to benefices, corrodies, leases of
estates, tenements and cottages, the register is
filled with a painful succession of surrenders of
property which they knew would soon be
absorbed by the Crown.
On 27 January 1539 (fn. 142) Drs. Tregonwell and
Petre came to Bath to receive the surrender
of the priory. For four years the monks had
been under restraint and the prior had been
confined to the house. Resistance would only
bring trouble upon them, for they knew how
unscrupulous were the men with whom they
had to deal. And so they surrendered, and the
noble foundation well-nigh a thousand years of
age was blotted out from the history of this
most ancient city. The deed of surrender was
signed by the prior, sub-prior, Prior of Dunster
and eighteen monks.
The prior William Holleway received a
pension (fn. 143) of £80 a year and a house in Stall
Street; the sub-prior a pension of £9, and the
next three received pensions of £8 each, and
all the others pensions varying from £6 13s. 4d.
to £4 13s. 4d.
In 1553 all the monks are mentioned in
Cardinal Pole's pension list, (fn. 144) except the prior,
Thomas and Nicholas Bathe, John Edgar and
John Humylyte.
William Clement had become vicar of St.
Mary de Stalls at Bath and perhaps Thomas
Powell rector of Tellesford. The fate of
Prior Holleway (fn. 145) was very sad. In a poem of
1 January 1557 called 'The Breviary of Natural
Philosophy,' Thomas Charnock the alchemist
refers to the great learning of the last prior,
stating how he used the bath of Bath in the
place of fire in his chemical experiments.
He had our Stores, our Medicine, our Elixir and all
Which when the Abbie was supprest he hid in a
wall.
Finding his deposit stolen he seems to have
lost his reason and becoming also blind he
wandered about the country led by a boy.
The monastic church after the surrender of
the priory was offered by the Crown to the
citizens of Bath for the sum of 500 marks, and
when they refused to pay that price the lead
was stripped from the roof and melted and sold.
Eight bells in one tower were sold to Francis
Edwards and three bells elsewhere to Richard
Morian. (fn. 146) The materials of the dormitory
were bought by Robert Cocks, those of the
fratry by Sir Walter Denys, and the cloisters
by Henry Bewchyn, while Ralph Hopton purchased in a lump the superfluous buildings.
The glass and iron were sold for £30, and the
great church which Prior Holleway had spent
all the time of his priorship in completing was
allowed for some years to go into ruin. (fn. 147)
Leland (fn. 148) visited the monastery probably
about 1540 before the work of demolition had
begun. His description of what he saw is not
only interesting but of value.
This John (i.e. John of Tours) pullid down the old
church of S. Peter at Bath and erected a new and
much fairer one and was buried in the middle of the
Presbyteri thereof whos image I saw lying there an
9 yere sins at the which tyme al the Chirch that he
made lay to waste and was onrofid and wedes grew
about this John of Tours sepulchre.
I saw at the same tyme a great marble tumbe ther of
a bisshope of Bath out of which they sayid that oyle
did distill: and likely: for his body was enbaumid
plentifully. There were other divers bisshops buried
ther. Oliver King bisshop of Bath began of late
dayes a right goodly new chirch at the west part
of the olde church of S. Peter and finished a great
peace of it. The residue of it was sins made by the
priors of Bath: and especially by Gibbes the last
prior ther, that spent a great summe of mony on
that Fabrike.
Oliver King let almost al the old chirch of S.
Peter's in Bath to go ruins. The walles yet stande.
The estates in Somerset reckoned as belonging
to the church of Bath in 1086 (fn. 149) consisted of
over 80 hides of land. The manors and lands
were situated in Priston, Stanton Prior, Wilmington in Priston, Weston, Bathford, Monkton
Combe, Charlcombe, Lyncombe, Batheaston,
Bathampton, Woodwick in Freshford, Corston,
Evesty and Ashwick. In addition to these,
there were estates at Tidenham, Cold Ashton
and Olveston in Gloucestershire comprising
about 40 hides. Much of this was of the gifts
of English kings and the donors are all mentioned in the chartularies already published. (fn. 150)
Bishop John also obtained from William II
the temporal lordship of the borough of Bath
and this was confirmed to him by Henry I in
1101, (fn. 151) and the details of this lordship, which
was probably purchased and not freely granted,
are given in the confirmation. The estates
of the monastery were then all in the bishop's
hand by grant of the Crown, but in 1106 (fn. 152)
when he had organized the convent he gave
back the estates and appointed a prior to rule
the monastery in his absence. Some of the
estates he did not restore because in the troubles
during the reign of Rufus they were lost, as the
manor of Tidenham, (fn. 153) which was overrun by
the Welsh and afterwards got into the hands of
the Earl of Pembroke, and as the manor of
Dogmersfield, (fn. 154) which was seized by Ralph
Flambard.
The priory also gained greatly from the fact
that it had become the cathedral church of the
diocese. William de Mohun gave the church
of Dunster (fn. 155) and all that pertained to it. This
in later times was formed into a dependent
priory with its own succession of priors. Walter
de Douai gave them the church of Bampton (fn. 156)
in Devonshire, half the tithes of Castle Cary and
the church of Brigge or Bridgwater. Bishop
John had obtained from Henry I the manor
of Dogmersfield (fn. 157) and Bishop Godfrey obtained
from King Stephen its restitution and also got
back the manor of Monkton Combe. In
1153 the monks purchased from Alexander de
Alno the manor of Camely, (fn. 158) and between
1156 and 1159 Bishop Robert procured for them
from Pope Adrian IV a confirmation of their
possessions, (fn. 159) privileges and diocesan status. In
1180 Bishop Reginald (fn. 160) gave them the Hospital
of St. John in Bath which he had built and
endowed. This was for the benefit of the sick
poor that thus they might take the Bath waters
and go through a treatment.
He also gave them permission to appropriate
the church of Bathford (fn. 161) for the maintenance
of the fabric of the monastic church, and assigned
the Whitsuntide offerings of the diocese to the
rebuilding of it.
Bishop Savaric (1192–1202) did not forget
Bath in his ambition to secure Glastonbury.
He gave them the rectories of Chew (fn. 162) and of
Weston and confirmed the gift of Fulco de
Alneto of the church of Compton Dando. In
memory of his many benefactions a hundred
poor people were fed annually by the monastery
on the anniversary of his death.
It was during his episcopate, 1204, that the
brethren of the hospital of St. John at Waterford in Ireland (fn. 163) surrendered their house and
lands to become affiliated to Bath. (fn. 164) This was
the beginning of that list of estates and churches
in Ireland which the priory possessed and of
which afterwards in the time of Edward III they
would have been glad to be rid. (fn. 165) In addition
to certain lands there were the advowsons and
rectories of Rathmoylan, Kilkee, Kilcop, Balycohyn and Ballytruckle. Soon after there came
to the monastery in a similar way a small priory
at Cork, (fn. 166) and about 1333 another at Youghal.
The rents of these foundations seem barely to
have supported the brethren for which they
were established and in 1333 (fn. 167) an attempt was
made to exchange the lands in the counties of
Waterford and Cork for other lands in England
or to lease them to any person in the king's
fealty.
In the middle of the 13th century when the
priory was exhausted with its long contest with
Wells, Matilda de Champflour (fn. 168) made some
exchanges of pasture land with them greatly to
the advantage of the monks, and sold them the
advowson of Batheaston, giving back a considerable portion of the price. Sir Alexander de
Alneto and Sir Hubert Husee were also benefactors towards whom the convent showed their
gratitude by their prayers. (fn. 169)
In 1275 Bishop Burnell (1275–92) exchanged
with the Crown the patronship of Glastonbury
for the city of Bath which Bishop Savaric had
surrendered. (fn. 170) The farm of the royal barton
for which a fixed charge of £20 was due yearly
to the Crown was generally profitable.
This bishop also gave the monks £10 to build
two fishponds, and the advowson of the church
of St. James in Bath. (fn. 171) The dispute about
Bampton Church (fn. 172) and the church of Uffculme
which was attached to it did not end until 1295
when the right of the priory was at last acknowledged.
In the Taxatio Ecclesiastica
(fn. 173) in 1291 the
temporalia of the priory are valued at £71 11s. 11d.
and the spiritualia at £11 7s. 8d. The temporalia are recorded as issuing from lands at Weston,
North Stoke, Bathford, Lyncombe, Monkton
Combe and Combe Down, Compton Dando,
Corston, Priston, Stanton Prior, Newton St.
Loe and Ashwick in the diocese of Bath and
Wells, the manor of Melford in the diocese of
Winchester, the manors of Hameswell and
Olveston in Gloucestershire and in the diocese
of Worcester and Stapleford in the diocese of
Salisbury. The spiritualia in the diocese of
Worcester were portions due to the prior from
the churches of Olveston, Hawkesbury and
Cold Ashton; in the diocese of Bath and Wells
pensions from Camely and Radstock Churches,
pittances for the monks from Cannington, allowances for the cook and the almoner from Kelston
Church and for the almoner and sacrist from
Batheaston and for the firmarius from Walcot
Church. The prior had also a pension from
Bathwick and the convent certain pittances
from St. Mary de Stalls. There were also pay
ments due to the monks for pittances from
Englishcombe, Newton St. Loe and Corston.
In 1302 the convent, which had already the
grant of a fair in Bath, obtained a licence to hold
two fairs on their manor of Lyncombe on the
festival of the Invention of the Cross (3 May)
and on the feast of St. Lawrence (10 August).
In 1308 they obtained licence to appropriate
Batheaston Church (fn. 174) and Bishop Drokensford
enriched the church with many costly eucharistic vestments. Bishop Ralph Shrewsbury, (fn. 175)
who is described as a citizen of Bath and afterwards a professed monk, gave them a precious
reliquary, built for them two great towers at a
cost of one hundred marks and completed the
principal tower of the church.
In 1535 (fn. 176) the net revenues of the foundation were estimated as worth £617 2s. 3d. a year,
Bath being the second in the value of its endowments of the monasteries of Somerset.
Abbesses of Bath
Bertana, 676 (fn. 177)
Bernguidis, 681 (fn. 178)
Abbots
Æscwig (fn. 179)
Ælfhere (fn. 180)
Wulfwold, 1061–84 (fn. 181)
Ælfwig (fn. 182)
Sewold, 1066 (fn. 183)
Ælfsige, died 1087 (fn. 184)
John de Villula, Bishop of Wells, 1088 (fn. 185)
Priors
John, occurs 1122 (fn. 186)
Benedict, occurs 1151 (fn. 187)
Peter, occurs 1157 (fn. 188)
Hugh, 1174–c. 1180 (fn. 189)
Gilbert, appointed 1180 (fn. 190)
Walter, occurs 1191, died 1198 (fn. 191)
Robert, appointed 1198 (fn. 192)
Thomas, 1223–61 (fn. 193)
Walter de Anno, appointed 1261, occurs
1263 (fn. 194)
Walter de Dune, occurs 1266, (fn. 195) 1283 (fn. 196)
Thomas de Winton, occurs 1290 (fn. 197)
Robert de Clopcote, 1301–32 (fn. 198)
Thomas Crist, 1332 (fn. 199)
John de Iford, alias Ford, appointed 1340,
died 1359 (fn. 200)
John de Berewyk, 1359–77 (fn. 201)
John Dunster, died 1412 (fn. 202)
John Tellesford, 1412–24 (fn. 203)
William Southbroke, 1425–47 (fn. 204)
Thomas Lacock, appointed 1447 (fn. 205)
John, occurs 1468 (fn. 206)
John Dunster, occurs 1481, 1482 (fn. 207)
Peter, occurs 1482 (fn. 208)
Richard, occurs 1476 (fn. 209)
John Cantlow or Cauntlowe, occurs 1493, (fn. 210)
died 1499 (fn. 211)
William Birde, 1499–1525 (fn. 212)
Willam Holleway or Gybes, 1525–39 (fn. 213)
The first seal of the Chapter of Bath (fn. 214) is
believed to belong to the period of the refounding of the Abbey in the 10th century. It is
circular, 2¼ in. in diameter, with a conventional
representation of the house with three towers,
pointed roofs and pinnacles, and this legend:—
+ SIGILLUM SC'I PETRI BADONIS ECCLESIE.
A counterseal of Prior Thomas (fn. 215) (c. 1226) is
vesica-shaped, 1¾ in. by 1 in., shewing St. Paul
holding sword and book. The legend is:—
+ SIGILL' THOME PRIORIS BATHONIE R.P.T.G.
The second seal, (fn. 216) which seems to belong to
the latter part of the 13th century, is a very
large vesica, 4¼ in. by 2¼ in., with the figures of
St. Peter and St. Paul under a triple canopy
holding between them the abbey church.
Below are three monks adoring the Saints. The
legend is:—
SIGILLUM CAPITULI BATHONIENSIS ECCLESIE