RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



factions and the growth of the town, increasing 

 so rapidly that he felt justified in rebuilding the 

 church on a nobler scale. 1 The stone was pro- 

 cured from the fine quarries of Barnacle, North- 

 amptonshire, which belonged to the abbot of 

 Peterborough, through the direct mandate of the 

 Conqueror, who also ordered that the usual tolls 

 should be remitted for its conveyance. 2 At length 

 the noble church built by Abbot Baldwin and his 

 sacrists, Thurstan and Tolineus, was finished, 

 and on 29 April, 1095, the body of St. Edmund 

 was translated with much pomp to its shrine, 

 Walkelin, bishop of Winchester, being the pre- 

 siding prelate. 



Baldwin died in 1097, and Rufus, following 

 his usual policy of ecclesiastical pillage, prolonged 

 the vacancy for a considerable time. When 

 Henry I came to the throne, he gave the abbacy 

 in 1 100 to Robert, one of the illegitimate sons 

 of Hugh Lupus, earl of Chester. Two years 

 later this Robert was deposed, because he had 

 accepted the office without the consent or the 

 election of the monks. 



Robert II, a monk of Westminster, was elected 

 fifth abbot in 1 102 ; but there was a delay of 

 five years — namely, till 15 August, 1 107 — ere 

 he was consecrated by St. Anselm. He only 

 lived a few weeks after his benediction, for his 

 death occurred on 16 September of the same 

 year. 3 



After an interregnum of seven years — namely, 

 in 1 1 1 4 — Albold, prior of St. Nicasius at Meaux, 

 was elected sixth abbot ; he died in 1119, when 

 there was again a vacancy of nearly two years, 

 till in 1 1 21 Anselm, abbot of St. Saba at Rome, 

 and nephew of Archbishop Anselm, accepted the 

 abbacy. In his days — namely, in 1 132 — Henry I 

 made a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Edmund, 

 in accordance with a vow made during a storm 

 at sea. About the year 1 135, Abbot Anselm, 

 in lieu of making a pilgrimage to St. James of 

 Compostella, built the fine church of St. James 

 within the abbey precincts ; it was consecrated 

 by the Archbishop of Canterbury. At the same 

 time Henry I granted him the privilege of a 

 prolonged fair at St. Edmunds — namely, on the 

 festival of St. James, and on three days before 

 and two days after. 4 



Abbot Anselm died in 1 146, when Ording, the 

 prior of the house, was elected eighth abbot. 

 Four years later a fire occurred which destroyed 

 almost the whole of the conventual buildings, 

 including the chapter-house. The rebuilding 



1 The Domesday returns as to the wealth of the 

 abbey will be found in that section. The annual 

 value of the town ' ubi quiescit humatus S. Ead- 

 mundus rex et martyr gloriosus ' was double that of 

 its value under the Confessor. 



2 ' Reg. Nigrum ' and ' Reg. Sacr.' cited by Battely, 

 49-50. 



5 These dates are usually given wrong ; as to the 

 two Roberts, see Arnold's Memorials, i, p. xxxvi. 

 * Battely, op. cit. 69. 



was accomplished by Helyas, the sacrist, Ording's 

 nephew. This Ording, who was abbot until 

 1 1 5 6, was a homo illiteratus, according to Jocelyn's 

 chronicle, but ruled wisely and obtained an 

 extension of privileges from Stephen. On his 

 death, Hugh, prior of Westminster, was chosen 

 ninth abbot in January, 1 1 56-7, receiving bene- 

 diction at Colchester from Theobald, archbishop 

 of Canterbury. It is said that on that occasion 

 the primate strove to exact future submission to 

 the see of Canterbury. In 1161 a bull of Pope 

 Alexander II sanctioned an appeal to the holy see 

 in certain important matters, 5 and eleven years 

 later the same pope issued a further bull exempt- 

 ing the abbey from the visitation of the archbishop 

 of the province, even though coming as legatus 

 natus." 



Hugh's somewhat lax rule, on which Jocelyn 

 descants at the beginning of his chronicle, came 

 to an end in 11 80 in the twenty-third year of 

 his abbacy. He was making a pilgrimage to 

 St. Thomas of Canterbury, when he fell from 

 his horse at Rochester on 9 September and 

 severely injured his knee. He was brought back 

 to St. Edmunds in a horse-litter, but died on 

 15 November. 



A year and three months elapsed before royal 

 assent could be obtained to proceed with a new 

 election, and when the king's letters at last 

 arrived it was laid down that the prior and twelve 

 of the convent were to appear before him to make 

 choice of an abbot. When the chapter met they 

 charged the prior, at the peril of his soul, con- 

 scientiously to choose twelve to accompany him, 

 from whose life and conversation it might be 

 depended that they would not swerve from the 

 right. The prior thereupon nominated six from 

 one side of the choir and six from the other, 

 his choice ' by the dictation of the Holy Ghost ' 

 being commended by all. The chapter, how- 

 ever, were not disposed to leave the matter 

 entirely in the hands of the thirteen ; they chose 

 six other of their number of the best reputation, 

 who went apart, and, with their hands on the 

 Gospels, selected three men of the convent most 

 fit to be abbot. The names of the three were 

 committed to writing, sealed up and given to 

 those who were to go before the king. If thev 

 found they were to have free election of one of 

 their own house, then they were to break the 

 seal and present the three names to the king for 

 his election. They were further instructed, in 

 case of necessity, to accept anyone of their own 

 convent nominated by the king, but to return to 

 consult the chapter if the king named an out- 



6 Arnold's Mem. iii, 78-80, gives the full text of 

 this bull. 



6 Shortly afterwards, in Archbishop Richard's time, 

 the abbey was exempted from the visitation of even a 

 legate a latere. On the visitation exemptions of the 

 abbey see Rokewood's edition of Joielyn , i Chronicle 

 (1840), 108-9. 



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