Monasticon Anglicanum: a history of the abbies and other monasteries, hospitals, frieries, and cathedral and collegiate churches, with their dependencies, in England and Wales; also of all such Scotch, Irish and French monasteries, as were in manner connected with religious houses in England / Originally pub. in Latin by Sir William Dugdale...[Now ed., enriched with a large accession of materials taken from leiger books, chartularies, rolls, and other documents preserved in the national archives, public libraries, and other repositories; the history of each religious foundation in English being prefixed to its respective series of Latin charters. By John Caley...Henry Ellis...and the Rev. Bulkeley Bandinel.
- Dugdale, William, 1605-1686.
- Date:
- 1846
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Monasticon Anglicanum: a history of the abbies and other monasteries, hospitals, frieries, and cathedral and collegiate churches, with their dependencies, in England and Wales; also of all such Scotch, Irish and French monasteries, as were in manner connected with religious houses in England / Originally pub. in Latin by Sir William Dugdale...[Now ed., enriched with a large accession of materials taken from leiger books, chartularies, rolls, and other documents preserved in the national archives, public libraries, and other repositories; the history of each religious foundation in English being prefixed to its respective series of Latin charters. By John Caley...Henry Ellis...and the Rev. Bulkeley Bandinel. Source: Wellcome Collection.
![men for covering one of the angles of the great tower; and furnished all the vestments for the chapel of the upper infirmary, and likewise its glass gate: ‘ cum hostio speculse ejusdem.’ He bought certain land of Adam Peterel, half of which he gave to the elemosinary, and the other half to supply the lamps of St. Mary in Cryptis. Other services to the monastery, of a minor nature, he also performed. He moreover caused to be written, a book concerning the office of the abbat from the Purifi¬ cation of the Virgin Mary to Easter, the praelections concerning Easter and Pentecost, concerning the bene¬ diction of baptismal fonts, and on the profession of monks, in one volume, in a barge letter ; and in another volume, in a smaller letter, all such things ordained in the monastery as had not been committed to writing, before. He made, also, the tablet for the locutory in the chapel of St. Anne, toward the west: and after the altar of St. Mary in Cryptis had been despoiled by thieves of its books and vestments, to the value of ten pounds, he contributed to their restoration: and, for that purpose, bought an alb, with ornaments of gold interwoven. He also gave half a mark for the Charter of confirmation of the estate at Radford, destined for the uses of the same altar. After a very active abbacy of about seven years, he died on the 12th of September, 1236, and was buried under the south wall of the church, against which, during his life time, he had erected a monument, with a marble image in pontificals, sculptured for himself.a Richard le Gras, or le Grai, who had been prior of Hurley in Berkshire, succeeded Marleberg.b Nash calls him Richard le Gros, or Crassus. In his time, Nash says, the church of Evesham was conse¬ crated by John bishop of Worcester. But there was no bishop there of that name at the time. Dugdale, in his extracts from a manuscript formerly in Sir Simonds d’Ewes’s possession, only says, “ cujus tempore venera- bilis pater Johannes episcopus dedicavit ecclesiam de Evesham, videlicet anno Domini mccxxxix.”0 Richard le Gras was much employed in the service of King Henry the Third, both at home and abroad. He held the office of lord chancellor of England, and was nominated to the bishoprick of Litchfield and Coventry, but died be¬ fore his consecration, at Riole in Gascony, December the 8th, 1242.d Thomas de Glovernia, or Gloucester, a monk of Evesham, was the next abbat.e He had been prior of the subordinate cell of Penwortham.f He was confirm¬ ed, in 1243, by Pope Innocent the Fourth, but could not obtain the temporalities of his abbacy from the king till a special mandate for that purpose had been sent by the Pope. He governed the monastery about fourteen years; dying December 15th, 1255. Nash, by some strange mis¬ take, has printed a memorandum, in his Appendix to the Account of Evesham, from the Cotton manuscript Ves¬ pasian B. xxiv. concerning this Abbat, intitled “ De bo¬ nis Operibus Prioris Thomae :”8 but it really belongs to abbat Thomas de Marleberg, and the substance has been already given in page 5. Abbat Thomas de Glovernia was buried in the middle of the church. a Compare Tindal, Hist. Evesh. p. 31. b Annal. Eccl. Wigorn. Angl. Sacr. tom. i. p. 490. c Compare Num. XXXII. d Nash, Hist. Wore. vol. i. p. 399. e Annal. Winton. Angl. Sacr. tom. i. p. 492. f Nash, Hist. Wore. vol. i. p. 399. A composition between this abbat and Richard prior of Worcester, upon a controversy about the common of pasture of Harferton, Norton, Salford, &c. in 1247, will be found in the Appendix of Instruments. g Ibid. p. 419. h The Annals of Worcester call him Hugh. Angl. Sacr. tom. i. p. 494. 1 “ Summitas clocherii ecclesise Evesham conflagravit fulgure.” Annal. Winton. ut supr. p. 495. k Compare Lei. Collect, edit. 1770, tom. 1. p. 173. After the battle, the bodies of Simon de Montefort earl of Leicester, his son Henry, and Hugh le Dispenser, justiciar of England, were buried in the abbey-church, before the high altar: the kinghimself assisting at the earl’s funeral. The monks esteemed the earl a martyr; and Tyrrel saw a manuscript in the public library at Cambridge, in which prayers were addressed to him. Compare Willis, Mit. Ab.vol. i. p. 91. Tyrrel, Hist. Engl. vol. ii. p. 1052. Nash, Hist. Wore. vol. i. p. 413.’ Tindal conjectures that Peter de Montefort, William de Mandeville, Ralph Henry, or Henry of Worcester, h prior of Evesham, succeeded Thomas de Glovernia. He was installed abbat on St. Egwin’s day, 1256 ; and was con¬ firmed by Pope Alexander the Fourth. He is stated to have discharged a debt of fifteen hundred marks con¬ tracted by his predecessors; and to have been otherwise a benefactor to the monastery. He died in the month of November, 1263. In 1261, during his abbacy, the upper part of the clock tower of the church was struck by lightning.* After the death of abbat Henry, the ab¬ bacy was vacant till 1266. In the interval, the battle of Evesham was fought.k In the month of September, 1266, Ottobon, the pope’s legate, appointed William de Whitechurch abbat of Evesham,1 originally a monk of Pershore, and afterwards abbat of Alnecestre, or Alceter, in Warwickshire, a cell to Evesham. He purchased the manor of Benge worth of William de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick; and likewise acquired a considerable estate, together with the advow- son of the church, at Dereford. He died on the 3d of the nones of August, 1282.m John de Brokehampton, a monk of the monas¬ tery, was the next abbat, confirmed by Pope Martin the Fourth, at Rome. He built the cloister opposite to the chapter-house, vaulted it over, and made a library, or studies, for the monks, above it.n It was during his abbacy that Henry Latham, one of the monks, built the refectory, the great hall, the abbat’s hall, kitchen, and a new chapter-house : the last of which, for size and beauty, is stated to have excelled all the other chapter-houses in the kingdom. He died August 18th, 1316; or, accord¬ ing to others, in 1317. He was succeeded, the year of his death, by William de Chyryton, or Shiriton, another monk of the monastery, who was elected abbat August the 30th; being confirmed by Pope John the Twenty-second on Sexagesima Sunday. In his time, William Stow, sa¬ crist of the monastery, anno 1319, built the new steeple, or belfry.0 Among the acquisitions obtained by William de Chyryton for the monastery, were the manors of Tatlynton and Witheleye, with the advowsons of the churches of Leylond, Ombresleye, and Baddeby. He granted, for the use of the hostilarius, an old apartment near the abbat’s hall, to be fitted up for the accommo¬ dation of guests of any religious order. He also built the stately Gate of the Abbey, with its chapels and apartments.P Having governed the monastery twenty- eight years, he died on the ides of December, 1344. William de Boys, or Boyce, was elected abbat on the kalends of January following: being confirmed by Pope Clement the Sixth at Avignon. He was much esteemed by the monks for kindness and good humour: enriching the monastery not only by his gifts but by the improvement of its lands. He obtained leave from Pope Urban the Fifth that his successors might be con¬ secrated by whatever English bishop they should choose.9 He died June 13th, 1367; and was buried by Lewis bishop of Hereford, in Evesham church, near the altar of St. Egwin. He ordered the two great bells of the church, Maria and Egivin, to be made. Basset, Sir John St. John, and other persons slain in the battle, were likewise interred in the abbey-church. Hist. Evesh. p. 137. 1 Leland, Collect, tom. i. p. 246, says, in 1265. m An entry upon the Originalia Rolls says,“ 10 Edw. I. rex com- misit Adae le Butiller abbatiam de Evesham vacantem per cessionem fratris Willielmi de Whitechurch nuper abbatis ejusdem loci, et in manu regis existentem custod. quamdiu rex placuerit.” Rot. Orig. 10 Edw. I. ro. 13. Again, “11 Edw. I. r. commisit Thomae de Codeleye abbatiam de Evesham vacantem custod. quamdiu rex placuerit. Ita quod de exitibus,” &c. Ibid. ro. 3. n See Lei.Collect, tom. i. p. 249. The Annales EcclesiseWintoni- ensis say, “An. 1289. Rex Edwardus declinans monachos Eveshamiae, tanquam immunditias, apudOffenham fecit moram.” Angl.Sacr.tom.i. p. 510. In 1291, the campanile of Evesham Abbey fell down. “Anno D. 1291. Campanile Evesham cum tanta vi et impetu violento [con- cussum est] quo max. pars ejusdem campanilis, tain de materia quam de plumbo, cecidit.” Lei. Collect, tom. i. p. 248. According to a pas¬ sage in a previous page, it had been repaired in the 7thof Edward the First. Ibid. p. 246- 0 Leland. Collect.tom.i. p. 249, says, “A.D. 1319. Hoc anno obiit Henricus Lathomus,qui sub venerabili viro Joanne quondam ab- bate Evesham capitulum, dormitorium, refectoriura, aulam abbatis, et coquinam artificiose composuit.” T Compare Tindal, Hist. Evesh. p. 261. s See Num. XXXII.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30455832_0001_0024.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)