Imprimatur Jo. Battely RR mo P. D no. Wil. Archiep. Cantuar. Ã Sacris Domesticis Ex Aedibus Lamb. Aug. 20. 1685. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF PETERBURGH WHEREIN The most remarkable Things concerning that Place from the First FOUNDATION thereof With other Passages of HISTORY not unworthy Publick View are represented BY SYMON GUNTON late Prebendary of that CHURCH Illustrated with Sculptures And set forth By Symon Patricl D. D. now Dean of the same LONDON Printed for Richard Chiswell at the Rose and Crown in S. Paul's Church-Yard MDCLXXXVI THE PREFACE THe Author of this History was the better fitted for the Work he undertook because he was born at Peterburgh and there lived all his days a few years excepted whereby he had the advantage of being perfectly acquainted with many things about which he writes Particularly the Monuments in the Church broken down in the late Sacrilegious times whose Inscriptions when he was but a Boy as he himself writes in a Letter to Dr. Henshaw late Bishop of Peterburgh he both often read and also transcribed These he hath preserved and transmitted to Posterity as that learned Antiquary Sir William Dugdale hath also done Who in the Year 1641. fearing what shortly followed was at the pains and charge to take the Draughts as well as the Inscriptions of the Monuments in sundry Cathedral Churches of this Realm which soon after were demolished and of this Church among the rest By whose kindness they would have been communicated to the World if the Undertaker had come to the knowledge of them before he had received Subscriptions to his Proposals which were not high enough to bear the charge of them But the best Monuments the Records of the Church out of which a more compleat History might have been gathered are never to be recovered being torn in pieces or burnt by the more than Gothish Barbarity of those ignorant people who took upon them the glorious name of Reformers An account of which is given by a faithful hand in the conclusion of the Supplement to this Work One Book indeed and but one still remains which was happily redeemed from the fire by the then Chaunter of the Church Mr. Humfry Austin Who knowing the great value of it first hid it in February 1642. under a Seat in the Quire and when it was found by a Souldier on the 22 April 1643. when all the seats there were pulled down rescued it again by the offer of ten Shillings for that old Latine Bible as he called it after which he pretended to enquire The name of the Bible by the help of the ten Shillings preserved this pretious Treasure from the Flames whither it was going as Mr. Austin hath left upon Record in the beginning of the Book with a Copy of the Souldiers acknowledgment that he had given him satisfaction for it in these words I pray let this Scripture Book alone for he hath paid me for it and therefore I would desire you to let it alone By me Henry Topclyffe Souldier under Captain Cromwell Colonel Cromwell 's Son therefore I pray let it alone Vnto which goodly Warrant for its security the Fellow subscribed his name The Book I speak of is commonly called by the Name of SWAPHAM it being vulgarly believed to have been composed by Robert Swapham a Monk of this Church of Peterburgh But in truth is for the greatest and most antient part of its History the work of HUGO surnamed CANDIDUS or White an eminent Monk also of the same Church who himself in the very body of the Book gives an account both when he lived and that he was the Author of the History which now all passes under the Name of Swapham For speaking of the Reliques of the Church the principal of which was St. Oswald's right Arm super omne aurum pretiosum as his words are he saith that he himself saw it and kissed and handled it with his own hands when it was shown intire both in the flesh and skin to Alexander Bishop of Lincoln and to the whole Convent with many others 487 Years after the death of St. Oswald Now he was slain in the year 643 and therefore this was in the year 1130. From whence it appears that Mr. Selden is out in his account when he saith in his Preface to the Decem Scriptores fol. XLVI that this History of our Church vulgarly thought to be Robert Swapham's was written in the Reign of Henry the Third or thereabouts He should have said that then Robert Swapham lived as I shall show by and by he did but he who wrote the greatest and best part of the History lived in the Reign of Henry the First King Stephen and his Successor And therefore it might more truly have been said to have been written in the Reign of Henry the Second or thereabout unless his words be restrained to that particular part of the History which he hath occasion to mention which followed immediately upon the death of HUGO This is declared more plainly and fully in another place of the History viz. in the life of Abbot ERNULPHUS Where mention is made of two famous Sacrists of this Church Victricus and Remaldus The latter of which is said to have made a Brother of his a Monk when as yet he was but a child whose name was Hugo who always attended upon Remaldus and served him qui etiam hunc libellum collegit collectumque scripsit who also collected this little Book and having collected it put it in writing And then follows a description of him that in his childhood he fell into a disease which made him very weak For every Year and that often he vomited abundance of blood and once was brought so low by vomiting fifteen Basons full in one week that they utterly despaired of his life gave him extream Vnction and were called out of the Chapterhouse by Nicolaus then Keeper of the Infirmary to come and commend his Soul to God he being upon the point of departure But Egelbrithus a most holy man perswading them to go into the Church and beg his life of God who would not deny them one man as his words were they did so and he was miraculously restored as there is at large related And he lived a long time beloved by all the succeeding Abbots John Henry Martin William under whom he served the Church having all the business of the Monastery both withindoors and without committed to him till he came at last to the degree of Supprior first under Martin then under William de Watervile in whose time he dyed Remaldus his brother being then Prior. I have given the larger account of this man because he is mentioned in many Authors as an excellent person being known as our History adds in the neighbouring Monasteries nay famed far and near and no less loved than praised by all that were acquainted with him And had the name of Candidus or Albus in all likelyhood from his pale Complexion caused
they had received investiture into their Abbeys from the King and not from Anselme So Godricus held his Abbey of Peterburgh but one year which was an unhappy year too for in that year Foreign Thieves from Almain France and Flanders broke in through a window into the Church and stole away a Cross of beaten Gold with many Jewels two Chalices and Patins two golden Candlesticks which Elfricus Archbishop of York had given to this Church Although the Thieves were pursued and taken yet the goods were not recovered but came into the Kings hand who held them so fast that the Abbey could not retrieve them Godricus being deposed the Abbey was destitute of an Abbot about the space of four years all which time it continued in the Kings hand at length King Henry 1. in the year 1103. and the 3 or 4. of his Reign sent an Abbot unto them Until these days of King Henry all the Charters and Grants of former Kings and other Benefactors to the Church were without Seals and signed only with their Names and Figures of a Cross but now they began to affix Seals to their Deeds 16. MATTHIAS Was the man whom King Henry sent to the Abbey of Burgh after that Godricus was deposed One may almost smell the wind that blew Matthias hither for he was Brother to Galfridus Ridel the Kings Chief Justice to whom Matthias gave the Mannor of Pightesly belonging then to his Church What conveyance Abbot Matthias made to his brother Galfridus I cannot determine but Galfridus resolved to hold the Mannor of Pightesly as his own and not of the Monastery of Peterburgh which caused a long suit betwixt them until at length an agree-ment was made betwixt the Abbot not this Matthias but one of his Successors and Galfridus that he should hold the said Mannor for his life paying to the Abbot the yearly rent of four Marks and that after his decease the Mannor should return again to the Church of Peterburgh which it did not long after for Galfridus was drowned at Sea with William Son of King Henry Not long after Abbot John de Sais gave the King 60 Marks in Silver to confirm again the Mannor of Pightesly to his Monastery Matthias held his Monastery of Peterburgh but one year for on the same day he entred thereon on the same day twelve month he died at Gloucester about the year 1105. and the King again kept the Monastery in his hand three years till the coming of 17. ERNVLFVS He was Prior of Canterbury and there being then a Council holden at London wherein many were promoted to Ecclesiastical Dignities Ernulfus was offered to the Monks of Peterburgh for their Abbot and they willingly accepted of him knowing him to be both a pious and prudent man Whilst he was Prior of Canterbury the business concerning the marriage of Priests was hastily agitated and Anselme the then Archbishop was strongly for the negative writing Letters to this Ernulfus which are to be seen in Mr. Fox his Acts and Monuments Whilst Ernulfus was Abbot here all things went happily with the Monastery Ernulfus promoting the good thereof by the Kings favour which he had in a plentiful measure He built the new Dormitory the Necessary and finished the Chapter-house which was began before he made an agreement betwixt his Convent and those Knights who held Lands of his Abby that every Knight See in Adulphus should pay yearly to the Sacristary two parts of his Tythes and at his death the third part of his whole Estate for his burial in the Church all his Knightly endowments as well Horses as Armes being to be brought with his body and offer'd up to S. Peter the Convent were to receive the Corps with procession and to perform the office for the dead In the time of this Ernulfus Anno 1112. was the Church of Thirlby near Bourn in Lincolnshire dedicated by Robert Bloet then Bishop of Lincoln Thirlby Church dedicated Swapham fol. 115. pag. 1. which Church with the Mannor belonged then to this Monastery of Peterburgh Abbot Ernulfus was translated from this his government in his seventh year Anno 1114. For King Henry being to pass over the Sea and waiting for a wind at Bourn he sent to Peterburgh for Ernulfus to come unto him to consult about weighty Affairs he being the Kings Confessor but being come the King with Raulfus so our Peterburgh writers call him but Bishop Godwin Rodolphus the Archbishop of Canterbury importuned him to take upon him the Bishoprick of Rochester which Ernulfus did though much against his will the Monks also taking it very heavily wept for the loss of their Abbot Ernulfus being Bishop of Rochester wrote a Book in answer to certain questions propounded See the Catalogue at the end O. and B. by Lambertus Abbot of S. Bertine as also another book of incestuous Marriages although Pitseus makes no mention of him Ernulfus being thus removed the King gave his Monastery to Johannes de Sais or 18. JOHN of Salisbury He being appointed Abbot was honourably received of the Monks He took a journey to Rome but I find not to what end and returned the year following In his time the Monastery was burnt again only the Chapter-house Dormitory Necessary and the new Refectory escaped the flames which took hold of the Village and wholly consumed it Wittlesey writes that one in the Bakehouse being to kindle a fire with much pains could not make it burn which John the Abbot being present seeing in a cholerick mood cried The Devil kindle it and presently the fire flamed to the top of the house ran through all the Abbots Offices and thence to the Town The life burning in one of the Towers for nine days together a violent wind drove the Coals upon the Abbots house and fired that also Afterwards Abbot John began to build the Church anew Anno 1118. which he industriously prosecuted but lived not to finish it for he held his Abby but eleven years and died of a Dropsie Anno 1125. being the 25 or 26 of King Henry I. A year before this was the Church of Castri dedicated as may be seen by an Inscription yet continuing over the Chancel door XV KL MAII DEDICATIO HUJUS ECCLESIAE MCXXIIII Abbot John being dead the King again kept the Monastery in his hand two years And although as hath been said this John gave the King 60 Marks for the confirmation of the Mannor of Pightesly yet upon the death of John the Abbot of Peterburgh the King having all at his disposing for 60 Marks more sold Pightesly to Richard Basset and for Abbot of this Monastery appointed 19. HENRICVS de Angeli Or Henry of Anjou who was made Abbot Anno 1128. He being ambitious sought after many preferments but held them not long for besides he was unstable and voluntarily deserted his present Governments or else found opposition in new ones that he was compelled to withdraw Having an Abbey beyond Sea he got a
Wine for which he assigned ten pounds yearly to be paid from his own Chamber out of the Lands of his Mannor of Polebrook He gave also a great Bell to the Church whereon was written Jon de Caux Abbas Oswaldo consecrat hoc vas In his time Anno 1250. the Pope then Innocent the fourth Vid. Privileg in App. granted leave to the Monks that in consideration of the coldness of Winter in these parts the Monks should perform their service in the Church with their Hoods on their heads Abbot John having held the government of this Church the space of thirteen years died at London Anno 1262. the 46 of King Henry the third and was brought to his Church at Peterburgh and buried in the Isle on the South side of the Quire The King after his death challenged his Palfrey and his Cup but upon what grounds I know not unless it was because John had been his Officer the Cup he had after some urgent demands but the Palfrey he had not Some write that this Abbot John was also made Lord Treasurer Mr. Filpot by the Barons in the 44. year of King Henry the third and according to this account he held that Office to his death which was two years after His Secular employments might take off his mind from Books and plead for the poorness of his Library Flores Evangeliorum Tractatus de Theologia Concilium Lateranense Templum Domini Testamentum 12 Patriarcharum This was his stock of Books as I find in an ancient Manuscript 31. ROBERTVS de Sutton So called from the place of his birth being a little Village in the Parish of Castre He was a Monk of Peterburgh Deputy to his Predecessor and upon his death chosen Abbot in April 1262. He received benediction from Richard Bishop of Lincoln and gave him his Cope which some demanded as a fee the Archdeacon of Northampton demanding also his Palfrey as his vale Abbot Robert made him go without it The Earl Marshal received five Marks for his Palfrey when he took the Oath of Allegiance to the King But it was not long ere Abbot Robert falsified his Oath for in the Wars of those times the Town of Northampton being fortified against the King Robert Abbot of Peterburgh took part with them in defence of that Town The King coming thither to assault the Town espied amongst his enemies Ensigns on the wall the Ensign of the Abby of Peterburgh whereat he was so angry that he vowed to destroy the nest of such ill birds But the Town of Northampton being reduced Abbot Robert by mediation of friends to the King saved both himself and Church but was forced to pay for his delinquency To the King 300 Marks to the Queen 20 pounds to Prince Edward 60 pounds to the Lord Souch 6l 13s 4d After this hapned the Battel of Lewes wherein King Henry with Prince Edward was taken Prisoner then did the other side fleece the Abbot of Peterburgh for his contribution to the King the General and several Barons and Commanders forcing the Abbot to composition by several sums of mony Afterwards at the Battle of Evesham Prince Edward overthrew the Earl of Leicester with his whole Army and the King having recovered himself called a Parliament at Winchester wherein he required large benevolence from the Church Particularly the Abbot of Peterburgh because he had held with the Barons was again constrained to purchase his peace at these rates The King had of him 333l 6s 8d The Queen 33l 6s 8d The Prince Prince Edward 200l He paid also to the Earl of Gloucester 133l 6s 8d Earl Warren had of Abbot Robert for his Mannors of Castre Tinwell and Thirlby 100l Warin Lord of Bassingburn 42l The Commander of Fotheringay Castle 100l 6s 8d Lord Thomas Typtot for the Mannors of Fiskerton and Scotter 65l 13s 4d The Lord of Fanecourt for the Mannor of Collingham 12l Lord Robert Picot for several Mannors 14l 6s 8d Thomas of Bulton 6l 13s 4d All which summs of mony he carried to Winchester and there paid them These and other payments which he made at other times exhausted from him amounted to the summ of 4323l 18s 5d Having paid thus dear for his disloyalty he became more obedient to his right Master and when King Henry sent to him for aid against the Castle of Kenilworth Abbot Robert did what the King required for that siege Vid. Chartam in App. In these times Prince Edward having occasion for mony he borrowed a great summ of certain Merchants for which the Abbot of Peterburgh and his Convent became Sureties And the Prince granted unto them his Mannor of Graham until he should repay that mony unto them Edward was no sooner King but in the first year of his Reign he came to Peterburgh where he was entertained by this Abbot Robert And from hence he dated a Charter which he granted to the Church of Ely as the close Ms Eliens in manu Geo. Glapthorn Armig. pag. 135. thereof testifieth Teste meipso apud Burgum Sancti Petri 13 die Aprilis Anno regni nostri primo This was in the year of our Lord 1273. And perhaps this is that entertainment which Wittlesey makes mention of the Queen being then with the King and Abbot Robert expended in the entertainment the summ of six hundred pounds In the 11 Year of his Government he was called to the Council of Lions Gregory 10 being then Pope which Council being ended in his return homewards he sickned and died and was buried in a Monastery near Bononia the Abbot of Croyland celebrating his Funeral rites His heart was brought in a Cup to his Monastery of Peterburgh and there buried before the Altar of S. Oswald Anno 1274. being the second year of King Edward the first In his Library were these Books Psalterium glossatum Summa Raimundi cum apparatu Summa fratris R. de Fissacre super Sententias in 4 voluminibus Summa Qui bene praesunt Templum domini cum tractatu de professione in 1 volumine Summa M. J. de Cantia cum aliis rebus Secunda pars Hugucionis super Decreta Summa Gaufridi Liber naturalium Aristot Raimundus abbreviatus cum meditationibus Bernardi Manuale Liber de miseria humanae conditionis Psalterium B. Virginis Vita S. Thomae S. Oswaldi versifics. Psalterium parvum In his time Anno 1270. lived Elias Trickingham a Monk of Peterburgh who wrote certain Annals from the year of our Lord 626 to 1270. Pitseus 32. RICHARDVS de London Steeple Born there in the Parish of S. Pancratius He having run through many Offices in this Monastery at length arrived at the Abbot's when he was aged sixty years And so being of much experience he governed his Monastery carefully and happily He contended in Law with Gilbert Earl of Clare for the Mannor of Biggins near Oundle wherein he had good success through the wisdom and diligence of William Woodford one of his Monks who being a
that he had stollen out of S. Oswalds shrine certain Jewels and what he could elsewhere lay his hands on and given them to Women in the Town That one Reginald Bray what he was I know not but he is called Dominus should have a due proportion of Diet for number of Dishes That the Monks haunted a Tavern near the Monastery and gave themselves to singing and dancing in the Dormitory till 10 or 11 a Clock at Night to the trouble of the rest That at the Celebration of the Funeral of the late William Abbot of the Monastery there was withholden from every Priest 6 s. 8 d. and from every Monk 3 s. 4 d. which was used to be given at such times This Robert Kirton had great contention with his Tenants in Peterburgh about Pasturage in the Fenn called Burgh a little Fenn adjoyning to the Monastery which as the Inhabitants alledged the Abbot had overcharged with 1500 Sheep in two flocks complaining also to the King then Hen. 8. that he had suffered thirty Tenements in the street called Boongate-street to fall to utter decay and then emparked the same ground and made it a place The Park for his own Deer But notwithstanding these contests Abbot Robert forgat not to enlarge and beautifie the buildings of his Monastery for he built that goodly building at the East end of the Church now commonly known by the name of The New Building New buildings wherein he placed three Altars opposite to three pair of Stairs descending from the back of the great Altar The places of those Altars are yet discernable though their use be not known He built a Chamber in his dwelling House calling it Heaven-gate-Chamber which is extant and retaineth its name to this day Heaven-gate Chamber He made in his great Hall that goodly Bow window overlooking the Cloyster the memory whereof is fresh to this present age He set up in the Church the Crucifixerium or Rood-loft now standing at the entrance into the Quire though placed something lower than it was at its first erection He set up the Gate leading to the Deanry which is yet standing and retaineth the memory of the Builder in his Hieroglyphick of a Crosier with the letter R and a Church or Kirk placed upon a Tun which must be construed with the allusion thus Abbot Robert Kirk-Tun and so Kirton He beautified the Chappel of S. Mary or The Ladies Chappel with pictures and gilded work much of which was lately extant He maintained a long suit in Law against Margaret Countess of Richmond and Darby about Knights-service for Lands in Torpell Thorpe Watervile and Achirch wherein at last he prevailed I know not whether I have done well or ill in declaring the acts of this Robert but this must be according to the capacity of the Reader for I find Abbot Robert thus pleading for himself Legitur in historia scholastica quod Antipater Idumaeus M. Herodis pater in quodam praelio in servitio Imperatoris multis vulneribus confossus est qui tandem accusatus rejectis vestibus dixit Ego nolo me Domine Imperator excusare apud te sed ista vulnera quae suscepi pro te loquantur pro me si ego diligo te Sic ista parva praedicta loquantur pro me si aliqua feci digna Deo laude Si interrogaretur utrum haec manifestari vel celari debent nec carnalibus incredulis sunt revelanda nec devotis prudentibus vere fidelibus sunt abscondenda And when he had been Abbot about thirty two years he was buried in the said Chappel His Monument was in the year 1651. levelled with the ground above which it was erected some four foot and placed upon an hollow Arch where his body lay and at the head thereof was a fair Stone lying even with the pavement which covered a pair of stairs going down into the Sepulchre There let him rest if I may say he rested till we pass to his Successor the last of all the Abbots 45. JOHN CHAMBERS Was born in Peterburgh but what he was or upon what score made Abbot Records are wanting to inform us His advancement to the Abbatical Chair was Anno 1528. which might be the 19 or 20. of King Henry 8. In his first year Cardinal Wolsey came to Peterburgh where he kept his Easter upon Palm-Sunday he carried his Palm going with the Monks in procession and the Thursday following he kept his Maundy washing and kissing the feet of fifty nine poor people and having dried them he gave to every one of them 12d and three Ells of Canvass for a shirt he gave also to each of them a pair of shoes and a portion of red herrings On Easter-day he went in procession in his Cardinals Vestments and sang the High-Mass himself after a solemn manner which he concluded with his benediction and remission upon all the hearers In the seventh year of this John Katherine the first wife of King Hen. 8. and Mother of Queen Mary died at Kimbolton Castle in the County of Huntingdon Jan. 8. 1535. and was buried in this Church betwixt two pillars on the Northside of the Quire near to the great Altar her Hearse being covered with a black Velvet Pall crossed with white Cloth of silver which how it came to degenerate into one of meaner value is unknown to us yet this changeling was also taken away Anno 1643. with her Spanish Scutcheons affixed thereunto Some write that for her sake the Church of Peterburgh fared Lord Herbert in King Hen. 2 Kings 23. 18. the better at the dissolution of Abbys and was turned into a Cathedral as if King Hen. like King Josiah who favoured the grave of the Prophet should favour his Wifes grave in this place Be it so or no the goodly structure of the place convenient situation for a new erection with accommodations thereunto might make a fair plea for a reprieve from the stroke of that Ax which cut others down I have not as yet seen any Record showing how John Chambers demeaned himself towards King Henry or complied with him in that great dissolution of Abbys that the King should continue him in his place and not put him to death as he did some or depose him as he did others But probable it is that Abbot John loved to sleep in a whole skin and desired to die in his nest wherein he had lived so long and perhaps might use such means as might preserve if not his means to his Church yet his Church to posterity And now that we are come to those times wherein that great alteration in the Church and alienation of her Revenues hapned for our more orderly proceeding in the declaration thereof we shall first present the Reader with an Inventory of the Church-Utensils and of the Abbots domestick goods and then take him abroad to view the Mannors and Lands that he may understand what was taken from and what continued to the Church
tam Ecclesiae quam capellae per praedictos Abbatem sc Thuroldum milites quarum proventus Monasterium Burgi totaliter recepit per multos annos usque ad tempus bonae memoriae Domini Roberti Lincoln Episcopi Abbatis Ernulphi Burgensis Ecclesiae Anno viz. Domini MCXII. The names of those Milites who were first infeoffated and did these good things are there set down fol. CCXCVI. There were but nineteen of them the first of them called Azelinus de Watyrvil I shall not trouble the Reader with the rest but end this account of Turoldus who dyed saith John Abbot MXCVIII Obiit Turoldus Abbas Burgi qui milites feodavit de terris Ecclesiae Castellum juxta Abbatian constraxit alia multa mala secerat Hic erat alienigena The Hill whereon this Castle stood called now Touthill is on the Northside of the Minster Notwithstanding all which he had an honourable memory perserved in this Church upon the XIIth of April upon which was Depositio Thoroldi so he is called and Guidonis Abbatum Anniversarium Roberti de Hale Agnetis Matris ejus Who Guido was I have not yet found GODRICVS He is called by Roger Hoveden Bodricus de Burch who was not deposed in that Council mentioned by Mr. G. but only removed for he was barely elected to the place but not blessed or consecrated So Eadmerus informs us who tells this story more exactly than any following Writers except William of Malmsbury who to a little agrees with him and says that in the year MCII. in the 4th year of Pope Paschal and the third of King Henry there was a Council held by Anselm with all the Bishops of England in the Church of St. Paul Where in the first place simonicae haeresis surreptio dampnata est In qua culpa inventi depositi sc Guido de Perscora called by others Wido Wimundus de Tavestock Aldwinus de Ramesei Et alii nondum sacrati remoti ab Abatiis suis sc Godri cus de Burgo Hanno de Cernel Egelricus de Mideltune Absque vero Simonia remoti sunt ab Abatiis pro sua quisque causa Ricardus de Heli Robertus de Sancto Edmundo ille qui erat apud Micelneie Many other of our Writers tell this story though not so distinctly particularly Florentius Wigornensis and Gervasius Monk of Canterbury in the life of Anselm who calls Goderick Electum de Burgo agreeable to what Eadmerus saith And yet notwithstanding this deposition they tell us that Anselm going to Rome the next year 1103 had two of these Abbots in his company viz. Richard of Ely and Aldwinus of Ramsey as both Florentius and Symeon of Durham report which would make one think he did not take them upon further inquiry to be so guilty as was pretended And as for our Godrick it is very strange he should be touched with this crime who was chosen Abbot against his Will if we may give credit to Hugo and had been before Elect to an Archbishoprick in Little Britain but refused the dignity And therefore this is all he saith of his being thrust out of this place that when Richard of Ely and Alduinus of Ramsey and others were deposed in Council for purchasing their Abbies he also was deposed with them Neither doth Abbot John mention his crime but only saith ad An. MCII. Anselmus Archiepiscopus Concilio convocato apud Lond. Rege consentiente plures deposuit Abbates vel propter Simoniam vel propter aliam vitae infamiam Depositi sunt ergo Burgensis Persorensis Heliensis de Sancto Edmundo Ramesiensis Cervel Midleton Tavestock Micheln And so Symeon of Durham plures Abbates Francigeni Angli sunt depositi honoribus privati quos injuste acquisierunt aut in eis inhoneste vixerunt c. What became of him afterward I do not find He hath no memorial in the Kalander of this Church as all the rest since the Restauration of it but Kenulphus and another have till the time of Henry Morcot John Abbot adds at the end of the year 1098. that the Church wanted an Abbot five years Vacavit Ecclesia quinque annis That is from the death of Turoldus to the coming in of Matthias which was in the year 1103. So he makes Godricus to have been but a Cypher by whom the place was not filled at all This vacancy began in the time which Eadmerus speaks of p. 26. when W. Rufus kept many Abbies in his hands and making no Abbots the Monks went whither they list The robbery Mr. G. mentions was committed in Whitsunweek by climbing up to a window over the Altar of St. Philip and Jacob where those Vagabonds broke in While they were taking the things away one of them stood with a drawn Sword over the head of the Sacrist Turicus who was fast asleep that if he waked he might instantly dispatch him MATTHIAS John Abbot of Burgh comprehends the most that can be said of this Abbot in these words Chron. M. S. MCIII Matthias Abbas factus est post Godricum Abbatem qui uno anno praefuit Ecclesiae Burgensi Et eodem die quo receptus est anno revoluto ex hac vita decessit Hic concessit fratri suo Galfrido Manerium de Pyetislee ad firmam Only we understand from Hugo that he dyed at Gloucester and was there buried and that the day of his reception and death was XII Kal. Novemb. the Kalander saith 22. Octob. Depositio Domini Matthiae Abbatis c. and that he granted this Mannor of Pichlee unto his Brother to Farm but for one year but after the Abbot's death he kept the Village by force And yet he swore when he was accused before the King for himself and for his Heirs upon the high Altar and the Reliques of St. Peter promising he would compel his Wife and Children to make the same Oath that he would restore the said Mannor with all belonging to it unto the Church without putting them to the trouble of a sute and for the time he had held it pay four pound a year Rent This Oath he made to Ernulphus But in the time of the next Abbot John de Says An. 1117. Godfrey came to him in his Chamber and by importunity procured a grant of it for his life at the yearly Rent of four pound provided that when he dyed it should without sute at Law return to the Monastery Unto which he swore upon the Gospel before many Witnesses whose names Hugo saith were written super textum Evangelii and therefore he did not mention them Three years after this agreement viz. An. 1120. he was drowned as he was crossing the Sea with the Kings Son and the same Abbot seised on the Mannor according to the forenamed agreement But fearing some sute he gave the King Sixty Marks of Silver to confirm the possession of this Mannor to the Monastery for ever per suum Breve The Chron. of the other Abbot John saith he gave
forty days of Penance that had been injoyned them And he also confirmed such Indulgences as had been granted by any of his Suffragans It bears date from Croyland the Thursday before the Feast of St. Michael There had been the like Indulgence granted a little before by Hugo Balsom Biship of Ely to those who out of devotion went piously to visit the Arm of St. Oswald and other Reliques in this Church c. To whom he grants 30. days relaxation of Penance Dated 11. Kalend. Sept. 1253. Another there is of Will Bishop of Ossory granting ten days Indulgence as I noted before to those that visited this Church on the Feast of the Dedication before mentioned All which show the true nature of Indulgences which were only relaxations of Penance and that other Bishops granted them as well as the Bishop of Rome as they also sometimes canonized a person for a Saint I have transcribed them all and set them down in the Appendix together with an Indulgence of Oliver Sutton some years after wherein he grants a merciful relaxation to all those that on certain times should devoutly come to the Altar of the blessed Virgin in her Chapel in the Monastery of Burgh which he had newly consecrated The same Boniface on the same day and year directed his Letters to the Bishop of Lincoln mentioning a Constitution of the Council held at Oxford which Excommunicated all those who either violated or disturbed the Ecclesiastical rights and liberties which he being desirous to maintain by these presents commands that all the disturbers or violaters of the rights and liberties of the Church of St. Peter de Burgo which had been granted by the Kings of England or any other persons should publickly and solemnly in general and by name be Excommunicated when it appeared they were guilty of such disturbance or violence About this time I suppose it was that Polebroke before mentioned out of which the ten pound for finding the five Hogsheads of Wine was paid was purchased by this Abbot The whole History of which is related in the Monasticon out of a Register of this Church in Sir Joh. Cotton's Library Which saith that Eustachius Vicecomes Founder of the Church of St. Mary de Huntingdon held two Fees de Honore Burgi in Clopton Polebroke Catworth c. Which Estate came afterward to one Will. de Lovetot and then to his Son Richard who held these two Fees in King Richard the first 's time as appears by his Charter in the first year of his Reign which confirms to the Abbot of Burgh among other Lands duo feoda in Clopton pertinentiis which were held by Richard de Lovetot Who had two Sons William and Nigell and three Daughters Amicitia Rosia and Margeria William dying without Issue the Estate came to Nigel who being a Beneficed Clergyman it came upon his death to the three Sisters The two Eldest of which though married had no share in these Fees but they fell to the youngest who was married to Richard Patrick and by him had a Son and a Daughter William and Margery She married to Will. de Vernon and her Brother William gave all his share in the Estate which was in the hand of Hugo Fleming and Tho. Smert and their Heirs who did homage to Will. Patrick for it to his Sister Margery Who after his death in her free Widowhood gave and granted all the Homages and Services of the aforesaid Fleming and Smert and their Heirs to John de Caleto Abbot of Burgh by her Deed. And afterward Rob. Fleming feofavit praedictum Johannem Abbatem de omnibus terris Tenementis quae habuit in Polebroke per Chartam Which Charter I find in our Records here remaining wherein Rob. de Flemenk gives to John de Caleto his Tenement in Polebroke and the Advouson of the Church In this year King Henry granted the very same Charter to this Church which Richard the first had done confirming all their Lands in the several Counties of the Realm by name It bears date at Windsor 12 Junii Anno Regni sui 37. The like for their Liberties in which is the Fair for eight days and the eight Hundreds c. and for their Woods In the next year 1254. three neighbouring Abbots dyed as I find in the Chron. of John Abbot viz. Thomas de Wells Abbot of Croyland David Abbot of Thorney and William Abbot of Ramsey Pope Innocent the IV. dyed also And in this year there was an aid granted to the King ad primogenit fil suum Militem faciend for the making Prince Edward a Knight An. Regis Hen. 38. sc de quolibet scuto de Honore Burgi XL. Sol. every Knights Fee of the Honour of Burgh paying forty Shillings which was received by one of the Friers Rich. de London So the Title of this account runs in our Book fol. CCCLXXI Recept fratris R. de Lond. de denariis Auxilii Domini Regis H. c. And then follow the names of all the Knights and their payments the first being Galfridus de Sancto Medardo who payd twelve Pound and therefore had six Knights Fees the second Radulph de Kameys who paid as much c. I have not room for the rest who are two and fifty in all some of which had but half Fees and others less In this year it was also that the King sent his Justices into many places in England to do right to every man and to free the Country from Thieves and Highwaymen Quorum unus fuit Abbas de Burgo saith Matth Paris one of which Justices was the Abbot of Burgh as Mr. G. hath observed In the year 1257. there was a power granted to this Abbot to distrain both of his Knights and of all other Freeholders who owed him service but had not done it that he might be able to perform the service wherein he stood bound to the King for his assistance in his War then in Wales For the Abbot stood bound to the King for Sixty Knights Fees which he had not performed and therefore a distress was granted against him upon all the Land he held of the King in that service without any prejudice to what the Church held in perpetuam eleemosynam In the next year I find a final agreement made between him and Ralph Crumbwell Son of Rob. Crumbwell about sixty Acres of Meadow in Collingham A confederation also between him and the Prior of Worcester whereby they engaged their Churches in such a mutual society and Friendship as I mentioned before between Alexander and the Abbot of St. Edmunds and several other things which I cannot find in what year they were done Particularly a Charter made by Steven de Horbiling wherein he gives to him and the Convent a Capital Messuage in Burgh in the Street called Tugate and another hard by it and three Acres of Arable Land c. Mr. G. saith p. 34. that he found no mention of the Rule of St. Benedict in this Monastery till