A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



that of their servants beyond four marks and the 

 produce of four fields (agris) of land, in one of 

 which the priory was situated, so that some of 

 them were compelled, for the support of them- 

 selves and the other nuns, to incur the opprobrium 

 of mendicity and to beg alms after the fashion 

 of friars of the mendicant orders, and for this 

 reason King Richard granted them his patronage 

 of Desborough in order that it might be appro- 

 priated to them, a fitting portion for a perpetual 

 vicar being reserved. ^ 



The sisters rebuilt the priory church during 

 the latter half of the fourteenth century : in 

 1363 Bishop Bokyngham licensed it for cele- 

 brations, though it had not yet been consecrated.' 

 It was not till the year 1379 that we hear of its 

 consecration. The bishop ordered the day, 

 4 July, to be kept as the day of dedication.^ 



Very little is recorded of this small nunnery, 

 and nothing which throws light on its internal 

 condition. The Valor of 1535 shows that it 

 possessed no temporalities other than the site of 

 the buildings and a garden and orchard. The 

 rectory of Desborough produced £10 10s. ^d. ; 

 out of this the outgoings were : ds. 8d. pension to 

 the bishop of Lincoln, 10s. J^d. in synodalsand 

 procurations to the archdeacon, 20s. pension to the 

 vicar of Rothwell, and £2 131. 4.d. in a stipend 

 to the chaplain.* The clear annual value of the 

 house amounted to £$ 19s. 8^^.^. : with the best 

 and most careful management these ladies could 

 hardly have contrived to live had it not been for 

 the offerings and bequests of the faithful, and the 

 ' dower ' probably brought by some of the inmates 

 of the house. Small bequests to each of the 

 sisters of St. John Baptist, Rothwell, are not in- 

 frequent among Northamptonshire wills in the 

 reign of Henry VIII. A quaint bequest to the 

 community occurs in one of 1 52 1,' to the convent 

 off Nunnys a Browne Kowe.' ' 



This nunnery furnishes another case, and there 



are many in the county, of an apostate nun. 

 Bishop Repingdon in 141 4 issued a mandate to 

 the prioress desiring her to re-admit Joan, an 

 apostate canoness, who had retired from the con- 

 vent. The prioress at first declined to receive 

 the delinquent, alleging that she had by her own 

 confession lived for three years with one William 

 SufFewyk. The bishop thereupon cited the 

 prioress for disobedience and enjoined her to 

 receive the penitent Joan, who was to do 

 penance for three years confined with iron 

 chains within the priory ; on Wednesdays her 

 fare should be bread and cheese and pulse, on 

 Fridays bread and cheese only.'' 



The house being of a less yearly value than 

 ;^200 came under the earlier measure for sup- 

 pression of religious houses. The actual date is 

 not given, but Rothwell is entered in a list of 

 monasteries lately suppressed, returned 1 1 Feb- 

 ruary, 1537-8.' The site of the priory and 

 plot of land around it was granted to Henry 

 Lee in 1545.' Bridges states that 'the site of 

 the nunnery was a high ground on that side 

 of the town nearest to Desborough, and was 

 then occupied by a house, the residence of 

 Mr. W. Stevens.' 1° 



Prioresses of Rothwell 



Agnes,'^ died 1305 



Alice of Cravenho,^^ elected 1305, resigned 



1313 

 Amicia of Navesby," elected 13 13 

 Catherine of Isham,'^ elected 1349 

 Catherine Grene,^^ died 1 38 1 

 Millicent of Kybworth,!^ elected 138 1 

 Alice Brimington,^^ died 1395 

 Alice Langton,^* elected 1395 

 Margaret,^^ occurs 1476, died 1479 

 Joan Chase,^" elected 1479 

 Mary LafFenham, elected 1498 

 Margaret Loftus,^^ occurs 1534 and 1535 



HOUSE OF PREMONSTRATENSIAN CANONS 



17. THE ABBEY OF SULBY 



The abbey of Sulby was founded about the 

 year 1155 for canons of the Premonstratensian 

 order by William de Wideville, who gave them 

 the church of Welford and nine carucates of land 

 in the parish of Sulby.^ Their endowments 

 were speedily increased by the gift of the church 

 and manor of Sulby from Sir Robert de Paveley, 

 and many later grants set forth in a confirmation 



1 Ca/. of Papal L. iv. 436. 



2 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo, of Bokyingham, f. lob. 



3 Ibid. f. 182b. 



* Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 302. 



5 Arch. Joum. viii. 128. 



6 Dodsworth MS. cliii. 52. Leland, Cc//. (Hearne 

 ed.), i. 29. 



charter of Edward 11.^^ At the time of the dis- 

 solution the gross annual value of the abbey 



7 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo, of Repingdon, f. 88b. 

 * L. and P. Hen. III. xiii. pt. 2, 1 195. 

 9 Pat. 37 Hen. VIII. pt. 15. 



10 Hisi. ofNorthants, ii. 266. 



11 Line. Epis. Reg. Inst, of Dalderbv, f. 109. 



12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. f. '123. 

 l*Inst. of Gynwell, f. 1 41. 



15 Ibid. Inst, of Bokyngham, i. f. 224. 



16 Ibid. 17 Ibid. ii. f. 180. 18 Ibid. 

 1^ She presented to the ehurch of Desborough in 



that year. Bridges, Hist. ofNorthants, ii. 66. 



20 Line. Epis. Reg. Inst, of Rotheram, f. 54d. 



21 Valor Eccl. (Ree. Com.), iv. 302. 



22 Pat. 9 Edw. II. pt. 2, m. 2 ; given in Dugdale, 

 Mon. vi. 905-5. 



'38 



