Abbotsbury Abbey

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remains of Abbotsbury Abbey and its barn

Abbotsbury Abbey was a southern English Benedictine monastery dedicated to St. Peter in the village of Abbotsbury near the Dorset coast . The abbey was founded in the 11th century by King Knuts Thanen Urk (also Orc) and his wife Tola, who bequeathed generous land donations to the monastery. As a result, the church prospered and became a local center of power that exercised feudal rights over eight mansions and villages. In the late Middle Ages the abbey suffered a decline. Their last abbot was Roger Roddon, who held this office during the dissolution of the English monasteries under King Henry VIII . On March 12, 1539, the abbey was dissolved, after which Sir Giles Strangways received their land. Today the remains of the monastery and nearby St Catherine's Chapel are under the protection of the English Heritage .

founding

In the earlier, incorrectly attributed to John Coker († around 1635), but actually written by the historian Thomas Gerard (1593–1634) Survey of the County of Dorset , citing that unfortunately during a fire in Abbotsbury during the English Civil War (1642–49 ) The burnt copy book of the monastery claims that a priest named Bertufus built a church in honor of St. Peter on the site of the later Abbotsbury Abbey and that he himself consecrated the church in gratitude and named it Abodesbyry . Apart from this legendary note, the first historical record possibly relating to Abbotsbury could be a document from King Edmund I (reigned 939-946), which represents a donation of five hides of land in a place called Abbedesburi to the Thanen Sigewulf. The name Abbedesburi suggests that this area of ​​land once belonged to an abbot.

During the reign of King Canute (ruled 1016-35) the Scandinavian Thane Urk (also Orc, Urki) and his wife Tola, who came from Rouen , settled in the area, were assigned 1024 land in Portesham and founded Edward the Confessor in the early reign of Edward the Confessor (ruled 1042–66) a monastery in Abbotsbury on the site of a small church previously built there. The childless couple donated a lot of land in Tolpuddle, Portesham, Hilton and Anstic to the monastery. Tola later left all of her fortune to the abbey. Urk also founded his own guild there around 1050 , the statutes of which were preserved in the monastery archive. These show that the guild had to protect the interests of the abbey. In a charter by Eduard the Confessor, the king declared himself the patron of the abbey to the responsible diocesan bishop Hermann . Already before 1066 it was owned by the Benedictine order, who sent monks there from Cerne Abbey . William the Conqueror confirmed the abbey its previous rights. From 1075 it belonged to the Diocese of Salisbury until it was dissolved by Henry VIII .

History from the 12th to the 16th centuries

In the late 11th century, Abbotsbury Abbey controlled eight manors and villages according to the Domesday Book : Abbotsbury, Tolpuddle, Hilton, Portesham, Shilvinghampton, Wootton Abbas, Bourton, and Stoke Atram. At the time, the monks of the abbey complained that the Norman sheriff Hugh Fitz Grip and later his widow had illegally confiscated some areas of their Abbotsbury estate. As a result, the abbey received further privileges and land donations. Henry III. confirmed her earlier privileges in 1269 and, two years later, granted her the privilege of holding a weekly market and annual fair on the Hilton estate. Edward I granted Abbotsbury market rights . Edward III. confirmed the monastery the right to hunt wild animals in considerable areas of the lands under it. These territories were then famous for their livestock.

King John Ohneland left the position of Abbotsbury's Abbotsbury vacant at the beginning of the 13th century, as did other ecclesiastical institutions, in order to be able to earn the income of the abbey or give it to his followers. Such a vacancy is documented around 1212/13. It was not until July 1213 that the Abbotsbury Prior was asked to send clergymen from his abbey to the King so that a new abbot could be appointed from among their ranks. The monastery, like other important places of worship under royal protection, had to fulfill various obligations, in particular to show generous hospitality. So in 1244 Henry Lombard was sent to the abbey, where in future his needs were to be taken care of. Edward II sent Norman Beaufiz to Abbotsbury in 1309 so that he could get his further care there. During the Scottish Wars of Independence , the abbey often received various requests for assistance; and war invalids asked for a hostel there. Not all requests were welcome to the monastery. His clergy had around April 1339 to look after two hostages in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed , which were sent to them by Glastonbury Abbey ; and when these hostages were later to be transferred to other monasteries, they seem to have refused to receive them. Occasionally Abbotsbury Abbey was obliged, even after the election of an abbot, to pay for the pension of a member of the royal household; so inter alia in 1321 after the appointment of Abbot Peter of Sherborne for the pension of the royal employee John Bellymont and in 1324 after the election of Abbot William le Fauconer for the remuneration of Peter de Mount Toure.

The abbey was often used as a burial place and was also repeatedly asked to establish soul masses. In 1323, for example, Robert le Bret received permission to transfer land in Holwell to the monastery so that a chaplain could celebrate a daily mass in the abbey church for the soul of Richard le Bret, the father of the founder, and for the souls of his ancestors. Numerous other people made considerable donations to the monastery so that its clergy could offer prayers for them and their families.

In the mid-14th century, the Black Death raged in Abbotsbury too; and Abbot Walter de Saunford probably succumbed to the plague in 1348. At that time the abbey also got into a financial crisis. The cause was partly due to the fact that the monastery was exposed to frequent attacks by invaders due to its location near the coast and also had to pay for the troops assigned to protect the coast, but partly also due to the mismanagement of Abbot Walter de Stokes (officiated 1348-54). The diocesan bishop visited the church, discovered various grievances there and tried to remedy the situation. But since the abbot and the monastery community did not follow his instructions, he asked them in writing to justify themselves on November 11, 1353 to the clergy he had sent in the chapter house of their abbey. King Edward III placed the goods of the monastery under the supervision of Prior Robert de Faryngdon and three other agents. The disempowered abbot complained in a letter to the Archbishop of York about his treatment by the newly appointed administrators. You would have deprived him of all rights; He now has no proper food and clothing and is deprived of the care of a squire and two valets and the supervision of his horses by two grooms. For their part, the administrators complained that the abbot had refused the order for his religious community to live in an inexpensive house until the debt of 534 pounds was paid off. Furthermore, he did not attend masses, did not dine in the refectory , but had meals brought to his room and increased the monastery's debts through his continued expenses. His followers had also stolen the seal of the abbey and thus certified various documents and subsidies that were detrimental to the monastery. In an investigation initiated in March 1354 into lands and taxes that were unlawfully misappropriated, the abbot's misconduct was found; he is also said to have kept hunting dogs and employed an excessive number of servants; in total, he had damaged the monastery by 855 pounds. The abbot died that same year.

The abbey filed a petition for assistance with Urban VI in 1386 . one, because due to its exposed coastal location, it often suffers from invasions by Spaniards, Normans and Bretons and is also exhausted by the cost sharing for the coastal defense troops; Therefore, it was destroyed and could not worship discourage more. The Pope then instructed the Bishop of Salisbury to make the Church of Tolpuddle available to the brothers. Boniface IX incorporated the parish churches of Abbotsbury, Portesham, Winterborne St. Martin, Toller Porcorum and Tolpuddle again into the monastery in 1390.

In the 15th century Abbotsbury is rarely mentioned except for partitions. After his visit to the abbey in 1426, Bishop Chandler published the decrees he subsequently decreed. Accordingly, the convent should not grant any ill-considered donations and the abbot should only procure the quantity of wine absolutely necessary for consumption ; Visiting women in the monastery was generally prohibited. Further visitations took place in 1488 and 1503.

King Henry VII made numerous donations to the abbey, which was obviously flourishing again. One of the last significant endowments made to the monastery was that of Strangeways Chapel in 1505 through a tripartite treaty between the Abbotsbury Abbotsbury, William, the Abbot of the neighboring Milton Monastery and the knight Thomas Strangeways. According to this agreement, Thomas Strangeways gave the monastery a parish and various income for the holding of certain soul masses .

resolution

Abbey barn

The lawyer Thomas Legh , who was instrumental in the dissolution of the English monasteries on behalf of King Henry VIII , probably visited Abbotsbury Abbey in March 1539, which was then in good order and received an annual income of more than 400 pounds. On March 12, 1539 the abbey was dissolved; and their last abbot, Roger Roddon, the prior Thomas Bradford, and eight monks handed them over to William Petre and received a pension. Abbotsbury Abbey was demolished according to the terms of its sale so that its stones could be reused. Only the 80 m long stone barn, which was built around 1400 and is still in good condition, and St Catherine's Chapel were spared from demolition . Sir Giles Strangways bought the abbey buildings, manors, watermills, lands and the Abbotsbury Swannery for nearly £ 2,000 .

Abbotsbury Abbots

The following people were abbots of Abbotsbury Abbey:

  • Æsuuerdus, mentioned in 1075
  • Bishop Roger of Salisbury 1107–1139
  • Geoffrey 1140
  • Roger, mentioned in 1129 and 1150
  • Geoffrey II, mentioned in 1166
  • Ralph?
  • Roger II, mentioned in 1201
  • Hugh, mentioned in 1204 and 1205
  • Hugh II? - 1246?
  • Roger de Brideton 1246–1258?
  • Joan of Hilton (or Helton) 1258-1284
  • Philip of Sherborne 1284-1296
  • William de Kingston, 1297, but his election was canceled by the Bishop of Salisbury
  • Benedict of Loders (or Lodres) 1297-1320
  • Ralph of Sherborne 1320-1321
  • Peter of Sherborne 1321-1324
  • William le Fauconer 1324-1343
  • Walter de Saunford 1343–1348, probably died of the plague
  • Walter de Stokes 1348-1354
  • Henry Toller (or Tolre) 1354-1376
  • William Cerne 1376-1401
  • Robert Bylsay 1401-1426
  • Richard Percy 1426–1442, resigned in 1442
  • Edward Watton 1442-1452
  • William Wuller 1452-1468
  • Hugh Dorchester 1468-1496
  • John Abbotsbury 1496-1505
  • John Portesham 1505-1534
  • Roger Roddon 1534–1539, resigned as the last abbot in March 1539

literature

Remarks

  1. ^ Cokers Survey of the County of Dorset (1732), p. 31.
  2. ↑ Simon Keynes: The lost Cartulary of Abbotsbury , in: Anglo-Saxon England , No. 18 (1989), p. 207.
  3. ↑ Simon Keynes: The lost Cartulary of Abbotsbury , p. 208; DA Bullough: Abbotsbury , in: Lexikon des Mittelalters , Vol. 1 (1980), Col. 16; William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), p. 49.
  4. ^ William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), p. 49.
  5. ^ William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), p. 50.
  6. ^ William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), pp. 50 f.
  7. ^ William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), p. 51.
  8. ^ William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), pp. 51 f.
  9. ^ William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), p. 52.
  10. ↑ J. McDonald: Abbotsbury , in: Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques , Vol. 1 (1912), Col. 60; William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), p. 51.
  11. ↑ J. McDonald: Abbotsbury , in: Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques , Vol. 1 (1912), Col. 60.
  12. ^ DA Bullough: Abbotsbury , in: Lexikon des Mittelalters , Vol. 1 (1980), Col. 16.
  13. ↑ J. McDonald: Abbotsbury , in: Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques , Vol. 1 (1912), Col. 60; William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2 (1908), p. 52.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h David Knowles, CNL Brooke, Vera CM London: The Heads of Religious Houses: Wales and England , Vol. 1 (2001): 940-1216 , p. 23.
  15. ↑ The position of Abbotsbury Abbey was vacant in 1175 under King Henry II and in 1213 under King John Ohneland .
  16. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m David M. Smith, Vera CM London: The Heads of Religious Houses: Wales and England , Vol. 2 (2001): 1216-1377 , p. 15 f.
  17. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j William Page: The Victoria History of the County of Dorset , Vol. 2, 1908, p. 53 ( online at archive.org).