GLASTONBURY ABBEY. 105 
of the Lord Abbot. The last Saxon abbot, Ailnoth, 
or Eglenoth, being one of the principal men in the 
nation at the time of the Norman conquest, was 
deposed A. p. 1077, and carried by the con- 
queror into Normandy. At this time the wealth 
and power of the abbot of Glastonbury were enor- 
mous; a mere list of his numerous manors, if 
read here, would tax your patience to no small 
extent. His privileges and immunities, derived 
from royal charters, were such as perhaps no other 
subject has ever enjoyed. He was exempted from 
episcopal jurisdiction,—held his lands as free as 
the king held his own,—no subject could enter his 
distriet without his permission, and he was first in 
rank among the abbots of England, that dignity 
having belonged to Glastonbury until it was trans- 
ferred to St. Albans by Pope Adrian A.n. 1154. 
"The fatal event of the battle of Hastings, and the 
accession of the Norman conqueror to the throne 
of England, which exerted so disastrous an in- 
fluence upon the freedom and fortunes ofthe Saxon 
inhabitants of this country, appear to have been 
severely felt by the church of Glastonbury. The 
list ofits manors soon after the conquest, shews a 
lamentable deficiency; nor was the diminution 
of their property the greatest evil which befel the 
monks in consequence. In place of the Saxon 
abbot, Ailnoth, Thurstin, a rapacious Norman, 
was forced upon them by the conqueror, who 
squandered and alienated their possessions, and 
pP 
