GLASTONBURY ABBEY. 109 
their churches,) which were assigned by the com- 
missioners appointed by the, Pope, to the bishop 
of Wells and his successors in the see for ever. 
In the year 1295, St. Michael’s chapel on the Tor 
hill was thrown down by an earthquake. Three 
years afterwards, King Edward I and his queen, 
visited Glastonbury, and the bones of Arthur were 
again exhumed. From this time to the reign of 
Henry VIII, the fraternity of Glastonbury seems 
to have flourished under the rule of many excellent 
abbots, among whom John De Taunton, John Kent, 
Geoffry Fromond, Walter De Taunton, John Brem- 
ton, Walter De Monnington, John Chinnock, John 
Selwood, (at whose death, a dispute arose between 
the monks and the bishop, as to the right of nomi- 
nation of the abbot,) and Richard Beere may be 
mentioned as benefactors,—standing high in the 
favour of kings, nobles, and people, and being an 
object of peculiar reverence to all classes. Even the 
disastrous wars of the roses do not appear to have 
impoverished or injured this splendid establish- 
ment, to any great amount; for at the reformation 
we find that its revenues were valued at £3508 
13s 62d, exclusive of plate, jewels, and vestments 
of enormous value. 
Richard Whiting, that high spirited and con- 
scientious abbot, who to the last defended the 
trust reposed in him by the church, equally 
against the threats of Henry, and the temptations 
held out by that monarch, was indeed placed 
