RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



condition came to the ears of the bishop of Lin- 

 cohi, Robert Grossetete, he would instantly take 

 into his hands all their goods. The bishop, he 

 added, had shown such rancour towards their 

 order, and was in particular so badly affected 

 towards their house of Daventry, that not one of 

 them dared to go personally before him to acquaint 

 him with their condition.' The letter was for- 

 warded by the hands of William, one of the 

 Northampton monks, who was commended to 

 the kindness of the abbot. The financial con- 

 dition of the priory at this particular date was 

 probably brought to a head by the papal grant 

 of ' three years' tenths ' on all ecclesiastical bene- 

 fices, though, perhaps wisely, the prior refrained 

 from so definite a statement. 



Although exempt by papal authority from 

 visitation and supervision by the ordinary, it is 

 evident that St. Andrew's, like other houses of 

 tlie order, was subject to a certain amount of 

 control or interference by the bishop. In 1228 

 Bishop Wells received a letter from Stephen, 

 prior of La Charitd, asking for confirmation of 

 Thomas de Longa Villa, as prior of St. Andrew's, 

 in place of Ralph, former prior.'' In 1258 Guy 

 was admitted prior by Bishop Gravesend, though 

 not without letters of protest from the mother 

 house.' The confirmation of several succeeding 

 priors is recorded in the diocesan registers. The 

 chronicle of St. Andrew states that in the year 

 1285 Prior Bernard de Kariloco left the house on 

 the first Sunday in Lent and crossed the seas ; 

 and about Easter, with the common consent of 

 their brethren, ten of the monks went to the 

 kmg and represented that the prior had left them, 

 that they were as sheep without a shepherd, 

 and their house was desolate.^ In May, 1285, 

 the temporalities of the priory were restored to 

 Odo or Eudo, formerly prior of Longueville, on 

 the presentation of the mother house of La 

 Charite.* According to the diocesan registers, 

 however, Odo was not admitted prior till 1288, 

 when Bernard, the former prior, is said to have 

 deserted the house. ^ The probable explanation 

 is that the latter represents the date when formal 

 episcopal sanction was obtained, but that Odo 

 had acted previously on royal authority. During 



' Duckctt, CAart. an J Rec. of C/uny, ii. iio, i. In 

 1 243 Pope Innocent IV. issued a mandate to the 

 prior of St. Andrew's to annul whatever was done 

 by the bishops or prelates of England to the preju- 

 dice of the Cistercian monasteries during the voidance 

 of the apostolic see. Ca/. of Papal L. i. 204. 



'' Line. Epis. Reg. Roll of Wells. 



' Ibid. Roll of Gravesend. 



* Corpus Christi Coll. Camb. MS. ccl.xxxi. suh 

 anno. 



' Pat. 1 3 Edw. I. m. 1 8. 



* Line. Epis. Reg. Memo, of Sutton, f. 14. It is 

 here stated that admission to the house was always 

 made by the bishop, as appeared from the registers of 

 Bishops Wells, Grossetete, Lexington, and Graves- 

 end, which were then extant. 



the absence of Prior Odo at a general chapter in 

 1292,' the monks obtained a new water supply 

 by an underground conduit from a spring to the 

 north-east of the town.* Prior Bartholomew, 

 who succeeded to the rule in 1298,' together 

 with the sub-prior, cellarer, and sacrist, was 

 excommunicated by Bishop Dalderby in 131 1 

 for refusing to receive William de Pocklington, a 

 Templar, to do penance within the priory."^ 



The diligence of Sir G. F. Duckett in col- 

 lecting the original records of the Cluniac order 

 in the National Library of France enables us to 

 give various extracts from the visitations of this 

 priory, mostly of an early date. These visita- 

 tions were undertaken not merely for the sake 

 of promoting uniformity in discipline, but also 

 for the purpose of maintaining temporal rights 

 against encroachments, and the prevention of 

 waste and dilapidation. The priory was visited 

 in 1262 by priors John and Henry, of Gassicourt 

 and Bermondsey, under the authority of the 

 twenty-fifth abbot of Cluny. They found that 

 the house had a debt of 272^ marks, that all 

 divine and solemn offices were duly celebrated, 

 that all necessaries for the use of the community 

 were sufficiently provided, and all obligations 

 rightly carried out. In addition to this satis- 

 factory report, it was stated that the number of 

 the brethren was thirty-four.'' During the rule 

 of Prior Bernard de Kariloco, 1272-85, St. 

 Andrew's was honoured by a short visit of Ivo, 

 lord abbot of Cluny ; he arrived on 17 July, 

 1277, and left on the following day.'- In 

 1275-6 the visitation of the English Cluniac 

 houses was undertaken by John, prior of 

 Wenlock, and Arnulf, equerry to the abbot 

 of Cluny. They arrived at Northampton 

 6 January, and found at the priory thirty 

 brethren and a debt of 700 marks. As the 

 priory had been visited just previously by visitors 

 on behalf of the prior of La Charit^, who had 

 corrected everything that required amending, 

 they forbore to make a further report.'^ The 

 priory was next visited in the year 1279 by the 

 prior of Montdidier, in France, and by the 

 prior of the English house of Lenton. The 



' In 1287 Odo absented himself beyond the seas 

 from July to Martinmas, and from July, 1290, until 

 the following Easter. On 26th August, 1292, he 

 obtained safe conduct to go beyond the seas to attend 

 a general chapter of Cluny and La Charite. Pat. i 5 

 Edw. I. m. 6 ; 18 Edw. I. m. 16 ; 19 Edw. I. m. 25 ; 

 20 Edw. I. ms. 5, 8. 



' Ibid. 20 Edw. I. m. i. 



' Pat. 26 Edw. I. m. 8. 



'"Line. Epis. Reg. Memo, of Dalderby, fF. 195, 

 198. 



" Duckett, Visitation of English Cluniac Foundations, 

 p. 13. 



" Corpus Christi Coll. Camb. MS. cclxxxi. sub 

 anno. 



" Duckett, Fistation of EngFish Cluniac Foundations, 

 p. 16. 



105 14 



