Part 6 (2/2)
He was succeeded by =Arwinus= (1055-1057), a monk of the house, but he resigned the government in two years. Next came =Leofric= (1057-1066), a very eminent man, said to have been of royal descent. He was nephew to Leofric, Earl of Coventry. In the time of this abbot, William of Normandy invaded England, and Leofric was for some time with the English army. But in consequence of ill health he was obliged to leave it and return to his monastery, where he died the same year. He is highly praised in the Chronicle as ”_pulcherrimus Monachorum, flos et decus Abbatum_.”
=Brando= (1066-1069), succeeded, and greatly offended King William by applying to Edgar Atheling for confirmation of his appointment. He was uncle to Hereward, the Saxon patriot, and created him knight. At his death a Norman was appointed, =Turold=, of Fescamp (1069-1098); but ”he neither loved his monastery, nor his convent him.” During the interval between Brando's death and Turold's arrival, a partial destruction of the monastery took place. This has been already described. Some account for Hereward's share in the attack and in the carrying off of the treasures by supposing that he meant to restore them when the rule of the Norman Abbot came to an end. When Turold arrived at Peterborough he brought with him a force of 160 well-armed Normans. Joining the forces of Ivo Taillebois he attacked the Camp of Refuge near Ely. The attacking party was repulsed by Hereward, and Turold taken prisoner, and only liberated upon paying a heavy ransom. Soon afterwards the Abbot is said to have received into the monastery two monks from beyond sea, ”who secretly stole away, and carried many of the Church Goods with them.” At length he was made Bishop in France, and the monastery trusted they had seen the last of him. But he was ignominiously expelled in four days, and was permitted, upon paying a large sum of money to the king, to resume his abbacy.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Rose Windows and Details of West Front.]
Another uncle of Hereward's, =G.o.dric= (1099-1103), brother of Brando, became the next abbot. The monks had purchased from the king the right to elect their own abbot; and G.o.dric, being considered by this transaction to have committed simony, was (with the neighbouring abbots of Ely and Ramsey) deposed by a council held under the presidency of Archbishop Anselm.
=Matthias= (1103-1105), was brother of Geoffrey, the Chief Justice, who was drowned at the foundering of The White s.h.i.+p, when Prince William, the King's son, was lost. After the death of Matthias there was a vacancy of three years, until =Ernulf= (1107-1114), Prior of Canterbury came. He became Bishop of Rochester, and died in 1124.
=John de Sais= (1114-1125), probably came from Sees, in Normandy; though he is sometimes called John of Salisbury. In 1116 nearly the whole town was consumed by a fire that lasted nine days. It began in the bakehouse of the monastery and completely destroyed the church and most of the abbey buildings, the Chapter House, Refectory and Dormitory alone escaping. In March 1118 (or, as then written, 1117), the commencement was made of the building that now exists. Abbot John died in 1125; and again the King kept the abbey in his own hands for more than two years.
=Henry of Anjou= (1128-1133), where he was Abbot, was a kinsman of the King. He had numerous preferments abroad; and after five years here was forced to resign and to betake himself to Anjou.
=Martin de Vecti= (1133-1155), had been Prior of S. Neots. Gunton considers he came originally from the Isle of Wight, Vectis; Dean Patrick thinks he derived his name from Bec, in Normandy. He was a great builder, and was very industrious in repairing the abbey, and especially the church.
=William of Waterville= (1155-1175), was chaplain to King Henry II. He devoted himself to the building of the church, and the portion attributed to him has been indicated in a previous chapter. He was also very attentive to the management of the estates of the monastery, and to acquiring new ones; but his business capacity seems to have brought him into some disrepute and to have raised some enemies, who accused him to the King; and by the King's order he was deposed in the Chapter-house, as Dean Patrick relates[32] ”before a mult.i.tude of abbots and monks; being neither convicted of any crime, nor confessing any, but privily accused to the Archbishop by some monks.” It is recorded that he appealed to the Pope against the sentence of deprivation, but without success.
=Benedict= (1177-1193), was Prior of Canterbury; and, towards the end of his life, Keeper of the Great Seal. He had a heavy task at the beginning of his rule in restoring discipline, which had become lax, and in reforming many evil customs that had crept into the house. He was an author, and produced a work on the career of S. Thomas of Canterbury, whose murder had taken place only seven years before Benedict came to Peterborough. He gave many ornaments and vestments to the church, and brought several relics; and in particular some of Thomas a Becket (and those we can certainly believe were more authentic than most relics), among which are mentioned his s.h.i.+rt and surplice, a great quant.i.ty of his blood in two crystal vessels, and two altars of the stone on which he fell when he was murdered. He was, as might be expected, very zealous in completing the chapel at the monastery gate which his predecessor had begun to raise in honour of the martyred Archbishop. Dean Stanley[33]
speaks of Benedict's acquisition of the relics as ”one of two memorable acts of plunder ... curiously ill.u.s.trative of the prevalent pa.s.sion for such objects.” He says Benedict was probably the most distinguished monk of Christ Church, and after his appointment to Peterborough, ”finding that great establishment almost entirely dest.i.tute of relics, he returned to his own cathedral, and carried off with him the flagstones immediately surrounding the sacred spot, with which he formed two altars in the conventual church of his new appointment, besides two vases of blood and part of Becket's clothing.” Benedict, though a member of the house and probably within the precincts, was not actually present at the Archbishop's murder. Besides his building operations (he built nearly all the nave of the church) he was very attentive to the landed property of the house, successfully recovering some estates which had been alienated.
=Andrew= (1193-1201) had been Prior. He was ”very mild and peaceable, and made it his endeavour to plant and establish peace and tranquillity in his flock.” Several fresh acquisitions of land were made in his time, and the monastery was very flouris.h.i.+ng.
=Acharius= (1201-1214) came here from S. Albans, where he was Prior. He devoted himself entirely to the administration of his office, managing the affairs of the monastery with the greatest care and judgement. He left behind him a reputation for ”order, honesty, kindness and bounty, that from him posterity might learn how to behave themselves both in the cloister and in the world.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: Tomb of an Abbot, possibly Abbot Andrew, 1201.]
=Robert of Lindsey= (1214-1222) succeeded. This was four years after the death of his predecessor, during which period King John had kept the monastery in his own hands. This expression, which is of frequent occurrence, must be understood to mean that the king took possession of all the revenues belonging to the Abbot, and probably much more from the property of the monastery, the expenses of which would be materially lessened by the mere fact of there being no Abbot. Robert had been Sacrist here, and when he was advanced to the highest office he effected many improvements in the furniture and ornaments of the church, and in the buildings, not only of the monastery itself, but also of the manors and farms belonging to it. One alteration he effected is worth special mention; many of the windows of the church previously stuffed with reeds and straw, were glazed. The civil wars in this reign brought desolation to many religious houses: but we do not read that Peterborough suffered.
Robert is said to have written a history of the monastery. He died in 1222. He had attended the fourth Lateran Council at Rome, in 1215; and had fought in person for King Henry III. at Rockingham.
=Alexander of Holderness= (1222-1226), the Prior, was next appointed.
Dean Patrick gives, from Swapham, an account of a noteworthy agreement that was made for mutual benefit between this Abbot and the Abbot of S.
Edmunds Bury. The convents ”by this league were tied in a bond of special affection, for mutual counsel and a.s.sistance for ever. They were so linkt together, as to account themselves one and the same convent: so that if one of the abbots died, the survivor being desired was immediately to go to his convent; and there before him they were to make a canonical election; or if already made, they were to declare it in his presence. If the friars of either place were by any necessity driven from their monastery, the other was to receive them, and afford them a familiar refuge and aid: with a place in their Quire Chapterhouse and Refectory, _secundum conversionis suae tempus_.” This abbot is said to have been much beloved by the monks. He died in 1226.
=Martin of Ramsey= (1226-1233), one of the monks, was chosen to succeed Alexander. He remained only six years. After his death another monk, =Walter of S. Edmunds= (1233-1245), was elected. He was a great builder.
It was during his time that the minster was solemnly re-dedicated. This abbot made no less than three visits to Rome. On the third occasion he was summoned in consequence of some irregularity in an appointment to the living of Castor; but he seems to have managed his case very adroitly, and to have escaped all censure by a.s.signing an annuity of 10 a year to the Pope's nephew. Another account, however, represents the abbot as being so distressed at the indignities he suffered at the Papal Court, that, being unwell before he went there and his infirmities being increased by his journey, he died very soon after his return to England.
”He left the abbey abounding in all good things; stored with horses, oxen, sheep and all cattle in great mult.i.tudes, and corn in some places for three years.” He died in 1245.
=William de Hotot= (1246-1249), another monk of the house, succeeded Walter. He held the office only three years, when he resigned and was a.s.signed a residence at the manor of Cottingham, afterwards exchanged for one at Oxney, a few miles only from Peterborough. It is said that his resignation was caused by complaints being made of his enriching his own kinsfolk, ”whereof he had great mult.i.tudes swarming about him,” at the expense of the monastery. But the injury he did could not have been very considerable, for his body was brought to Peterborough to be buried, and he had an honourable commemoration in the Church's calendar.
=John de Caleto= (1249-1262), that is, of Calais, came here from Winchester, where he was prior. He was related to the queen. As one of the Chief Justices he went on circuit. But he seems to have taken the side of the Barons in the civil war, and is said to have held the office of treasurer to them for the last two years of his life. He was seldom in residence at Peterborough, but appointed a very efficient deputy, who afterwards succeeded him as abbot.
=Robert of b.u.t.ton= (1262-1274) fought in the battle of Northampton against the king. The king, coming to a.s.sault the town, ”espied amongst his enemies' ensigns on the wall the ensign of the Abbey 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, to Prince Edward 60, to the Lord Souch 6, 13s. 4d.” When the fortune of war changed and the Barons were victorious at Lewes, ”then did the other side fleece the Abbot of Peterburgh for his contribution to the king.” After Evesham again the king repeated his exactions, and the unfortunate abbot had to pay enormously. The total amount that he paid on these several occasions is put down at a sum which seems almost impossible, being upwards of 4320. This abbot attended the Council of Lyons in 1273, and died abroad as he was returning to England. He was buried abroad; his heart, being brought to Peterborough, was interred before the altar in one of the chapels in the south transept.
=Richard of London= (1274-1295) is said to have been born in the parish of S. Pancras. He was a monk of the house, and while sacrist had erected the Bell-tower and given two bells. A great deal of litigation was carried on in his time, and he and the abbey were fortunate in having in one of the monks, William of Woodford, a man of great skill and judgement, to conduct the different cases before the courts. So uniformly successful was he and so wisely did he act as coadjutor of Richard when he became very old and infirm, that he was elected to the abbacy on the death of Richard of London in 1295.
=William of Woodford= (1295-1299) only lived four years after he became abbot. After him came =G.o.dfrey of Crowland= (1299-1321), the celerarius of the monastery. He is very highly praised in the chronicles for the various services he rendered to the abbey. More than once he was at the heavy charge of entertaining the king and his court, and he contributed largely to the expenses of the war with Scotland.
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