A HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



demesne lands of the family wherever situated, 

 together with the advowson of the parish church. 

 This endowment was slightly increased by Robert 

 de Pinkney, son of Henry, but with his gift the 

 whole emoluments of the priory came to an end.^ 

 Little is recorded of this alien house beyond entries 

 in the diocesan registers recording the presentation 

 of priors by the abbey of St. Lucien and their 

 admission by the bishop of Lincoln ; these, how- 

 ever, are of a somewhat varied nature owing to 

 the vexed question of the right form of presenta- 

 tion to the ordinary on the part of alien houses. 

 The rule of heads of this dependent cell was in 

 most cases short, and terminable by the superiors 

 of the parent house. In 1265 Matthew Pressour 

 resigned within a year of his appointment,^ an 

 inquiry was held by the dean of Brackley into his 

 administration, and he was found to have brought 

 the priory into debt. On the resignation through 

 illness of Walter Glayne in 1286 Thomas de 

 Compendio was presented by the parent house ; 

 the form of presentation, however, was not found 

 correct, and he was admitted to the custody of 

 the priory only as a simple monk till another had 

 been procured ; ^ he held the office for a year, 

 when Thomas de Sancto Marcello was appointed ; 

 the bishop in this instance refused to admit the 

 newly-appointed prior until he had received the 

 resignation of Thomas de Compendio.* In 1291 

 we read that Hugh de Patay was appointed (re- 

 voking the previous presentation of Thomas de 

 Marcello) on the resignation of Prior Thomas.' 



Thus it is not surprising to find some con- 

 fusion occasionally arising as to the head of the 

 priory. In 1293 Hugh de Tyenloy appeared 

 with letters of presentation to the bishop, but 

 found that Hugh de Tilloy had been already 

 admitted.* It is recorded of Hugh de Tyenloy 

 that he was eventually instituted by Bishop Sutton 

 on the promise thai he would keep residence, but 

 that he speedily left for foreign parts.'' He was 

 succeeded by Peter de Ayion in 1302,^ who was 

 summoned to resign in 1 31 5 and Thomas de 

 Neufville appointed to succeed him ;' nevertheless, 

 Peter contrived to evade the order of his superior, 

 and retained his post till the year 1322, when he 

 was called on to resign under pain of ecclesiastical 

 censure.^" 



The insignificance of its endowment and the 

 long continuance of the war with France made 

 this priory of so little value to the monks of St. 

 Lucien that they sought and obtained licence in 



' From the chartulary of the abbey of Biddlesden, 

 Bucks. Harl. MS. 4714, cited by Dugdale, Mon. vi. 

 1018. 



- Line. Epis. Reg. Roll of Gravesend. 



3 Ibid. Roll of Sutton. * Ibid. 



5 Ibid. Inst, of Sutton, f. 48. * Ibid. f. 34d. 



7 Ibid. Memo, of Sutton, f. 216. 



s Ibid. Inst, of Dalderby, f. lo4d. 



a Ibid. f. I28d. 

 '0 Ibid. Inst, of Burghersh, f. 168 



1378 to assign it to the Cistercian abbey of Bid- 

 dlesden, at a yearly rent of ;^8 to the king so long 

 as the war should last. On 6 May, 1386, 

 Richard II. presented William West to the living 

 of Pinkney, as the priory was at that time in the 

 king's hands owing to the war with France.'^ 



Although a licence was obtained for the con- 

 veyance of the priory to Biddlesden in 1378, the 

 transfer was not legally executed until fourteen 

 years later. By deed dated 30 May, 1392, the 

 abbot and convent of St. Lucien conveyed to the 

 abbot and convent of Biddlesden at perpetual farm 

 the priory of Weedon Pinkney with all spiritual 

 and temporal possessions and rights, to hold on 

 either of the two following conditions at their 

 choice — (l) That whenever England and France 

 should be at peace they should pay to the abbot 

 of St. Lucien ^^8 as a yearly pension for ever on 

 the feast of St. John Baptist in the church of 

 St. Mary, Calais, and should also pay ^^66 13^. 4^. 

 at the Nativity of St. John Baptist next ensuing 

 in the church of St. Donatian at Bruges, and a 

 further sum of £22, 6j. 8d. on the feast of St. 

 Peter ad Vincula, 1393 ; or (2) they should hold 

 the priory free of any pension, provided they 

 would be ready to pay ;^200 in two instalments, 

 to be completed on the last-named feast. Thomas 

 Ludlowe, prior of Weedon, was a witness to the 

 deed.'^ 



The purchasers adopted the first of the two 

 alternatives, but the total acquisition did not re- 

 main long in their hands, and in 1440 they had 

 to surrender the manor of Weedon to the warden 

 and scholars of All Souls, Oxford, to whom it had 

 been granted, inter a/ia, by the crown for royal 

 chantry purposes." The abbey still retained the 

 rectory and advowson of the vicarage with certain 

 rents. The Valor of 1535 shows that the college 

 of All Souls held the manor of Weedon of the 

 annual value of £ig, from which 6s. 8d. was 

 deducted for their steward, and 5;. for their bailiff; 

 at the same time Biddlesden Abbey received yearly 

 rents from Weedon Pinkney to the value of 

 ;^i n gd. and ^^13 6s. 8d. from the rectory. 



Even the site of this priory was unknown as 

 far back as the time of Bridges. Another name 

 for the priory and parish was Weedon Lois, Loys 

 or Lees, from its association with the abbey of 

 St. Lucien, the apostle of Beauvais. His shrine 

 was the great attraction of the abbey, and some 

 of the relics appear to have been brought by the 

 monks to Northamptonshire and deposited in the 

 parish church of Weedon Pinkney. When a 

 vicarage was ordained early in the thirteenth 

 century, the vicar was assigned a fourth part of 

 the altarage, but special exemption was made of 

 the offerings to the relics in the church of Weedon, 



11 Pat. 9 Ric. II. pt. 2, m. 16. 



13 Harl. MS. 4714, f. 250. 



13 Dugdale, Mon. vi, 1018, from Pat. 18 Hen. VI. 

 pt. 2, m. II. Confirmed in 1 461 ; Pat. I Edw. IV. 

 pt. 5. m. 10. 



i8j 



