A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



part in the disputes between Prdmontri and the 

 English province that it will be well to give a 

 brief summary of those events. The Abbot 

 General of Pr^montr^ claimed under the rule of 

 St. Norbert to occupy a like position of those of 

 Citeaux and Cluny over their respective congre- 

 gations of reformed Benedictines. National 

 complications and jealousies materially interfered 

 with the smooth working of this foreign headship 

 in the case of the White Canons. From the 

 English canons Pr^montrd made three claims : 

 (i) attendance of the abbots at the general annual 

 chapter at the mother-house, (2) the appointment 

 of a visitor to report to the abbot-general, and 

 (3) the taxing of the houses for the benefit of the 

 order in general and of Prdmontr^ in particular. 

 The last claim was the cause of many disputes. 

 A quarrel of this nature came to a head when 

 Adam de Crecy was abbot of Premontrd 

 (1304-1327). The English abbots, in obedience 

 to a royal proclamation of 1306 against making 

 payments to foreign superiors, had been de- 

 faulters for some time when they were summoned 

 by the abbot-general, in 1 3 10, to a general 

 chapter at Pr^montr^, and ordered to bring with 

 them the arrears of tallage. Thereupon the 

 English abbots met and sent a joint letter to 

 their superior informing him that they were un- 

 able to obey, as Parliament had prohibited their 

 leaving the kingdom, and if they disobeyed they 

 would certainly be outlawed and unable to return 

 to their houses. 



Two, however, of their number were deputed 

 to cross the seas and attend the general chapter to 

 explain more fully their position. The choice 

 of the convention fell on Abbot William of Lang- 

 don, and Abbot Henry of Sulby. The two 

 abbots proceeded to Premontr^ as proctors for 

 their brethren, but their statements made no im- 

 pression on the general chapter. Their excuses 

 were rejected, and sentence of excommunication 

 was pronounced on all English abbots who had 

 not paid the customary dues by the following 

 Easter. Moreover, the abbots of Langdon and 

 Sulby were ordered, under heavy penalties, to 

 publish this sentence of the chapter-general in 

 every English house before the end of the year. 

 Consequently on 18 October, 1 3 10, the two 

 abbots summoned a general chapter of the 

 English province to be held on i December at 

 Lincoln, at which each house was expected to be 

 represented by a delegate among the canons as 

 well as by the abbot. Meanwhile Edward II. 

 issued letters, on 10 November, absolutely pro- 

 hibiting the levying or sending any subsidy or 

 tallage to Pr^montrd ; the king also warned the 

 abbots of Langdon and Sulby of the grave penal- 

 ties they would all suffer if they ignored the 

 statute of the realm of 30 Edward I. Sheltering 

 themselves behind this royal letter, the represen- 

 tatives of the English Premonstratensians, when 

 they met at Lincoln, boldly denied that the 

 superior or chapter-general could legally claim 



this tallage. They admitted previous payment, 

 but claimed that they had only done that in a 

 spirit of brotherly charity. A spirited protest 

 was forwarded to Prcmontr^, stating that they 

 were appealing to the Holy See for protection 

 against excommunication. Proctors were ap- 

 pointed to carry out the appeal, and victory for 

 the most part lay with the English. Eventually, 

 at the general chapter held in 1316, a final 

 agreement was arrived at to terminate the pro- 

 tracted dispute, whereby the English abbots were 

 to be represented at the annual chapter at Pr^- 

 montrd by certain delegates, and the question of 

 apport or tallage to the mother-house was held 

 over until the law of England should be 

 changed.' 



Bishop Redman was nominated in 1475 by 

 the abbot of Pr^montr^ his vicar in England. 

 He was abbot of the small house of White Canons 

 at Shap, Cumberland, and allowed to retain that 

 office when consecrated bishop of St. Asaph in 

 147 1, and afterwards when translated to Exeter 

 in 1496, and to Ely in 1 501. From 1475 up 

 to his death in 1505 he held the post of vicar to 

 the abbot of Premontr^, and was hence the 

 visitor of the English Premonstratensians. This 

 duty Redman discharged with exemplary dili- 

 gence, visiting, as a rule, each house about every 

 three years. 



Sulby Abbey was visited eight times by Bishop 

 Redman, as recorded in his register preserved at 

 the Bodleian. It will be noted that on one of these 

 occasions real scandals came to light, whilst in 

 one or two other cases there was need for 

 individual penance. 



Redman first visited Sulby on 19 June, 1475, 

 arriving there from Leicester at the dinner hour ; 

 he left Sulby on 21 June, dining that day at 

 Northampton at the expense of the Sulby House. 

 He found no occasion to make any other entries 

 save that John Halley was abbot, John Howden 

 prior, and Robert Bredon sub-prior, and that 

 there were five other canons then in residence 

 and one novice. 



At the visitation of 1478 the number of 

 churches in the abbey's gift is entered as six, all 

 served by curates, and it is stated that the house 

 was founded in 1 155. There were then, in 

 addition to the chief officers, seven canons in 

 residence and one novice. 



The visitation of Sulby in 1482 produced 

 fuller notes. The bishop inspected the repairs 

 and rebuilding of half of the whole cloister 

 from floor to roof. He found that two great 

 antiphonars had been provided for the two sides 

 of the quire, as well as five bells of one accord, 

 and many other praiseworthy things too long to 

 be recited by a single pen. Between the abbot 

 and the brethren mutual charity abounded, there 

 was a happy lack of abuses, and the only in- 



1 Gasquet, Coll. Angk-Fremomt. i. citing document 

 from Ashm. MS. 15 19. 



140 



