A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK 



appear to have been well discharging their re- 

 ligious and social duties at the very time of their 

 forcible dispersion. 



ABBOTS OF BURY ST. EDMUNDS x 



Uvius, 1020-44 



Leofstan, 1044-65 



Baldwin, 1065-97 



Robert I, 1100-2 



Robert II, 1102-7 



Albold, 1114-19 



Anselm, 1121-46 



Ording, 1146-56 



Hugh I, 1157-80 



Samson, 1182-1211 



Hugh II, 1215-29 



Richard, 1229-34 



Henry of Rushbrook, 1235-48 



Edmund of Walpole, 1248-56 



Simon of Luton, 1257-79 



John of Northwold, 1279-1301 



Thomas of Tottington, 1302-12 



Richard of Draughton, 1312-35 



William of Bernham, 1335-61 



Henry of Hunstanton, 1361 



John of Brinkley, 1361-79 



John of Timworth, 1379-89 



William of Cratfield, 1390-1415 



William of Exeter, 1415-29 



William Curteys, 1429-46 



William Babington, 1446-53 



John Bohun, 1453-69 



Robert Ixworth, 1469-74 



Richard Hengham, 1474-79 



Thomas Rattlesden, 1479-97 



William Cadenham, 1497-1513 



John Reeve, 1513-39 



The first seal (twelfth century) of the abbey 

 is a pointed oval bearing St. Edmund seated on a 

 throne with a curved footboard crowned, with 

 sceptre in right hand and orb in left. Legend : 



SIGILLUM SANCTO HAD 



CIS 



IRIS/ 



Legend : 



TELIS : CONFODITUR : EADMUNDUS : ET : ENSE : 

 FERITUR 



BESTIA : QUEM : MUNIT : DEUS : LUME : 



A large fourteenth-century seal shows the 

 abbey church of elaborate design, with two small 

 circular openings with busts in the upper part. 

 The lower part has three niches ; in the impres- 

 sion (Cott. Ch. xxi, 7) the centre is wanting, but 

 there is a crowned king on each side. Legend : 



SIGILL . . . CONVENTUS. ECCLES .... MUNDI . 

 REGIS. ET MARTIR. 



The reverse bears a cross of St. Andrew, in 

 base the Martyrdom of St. Edmund, a wolf 

 guarding the head ; above, the Almighty holding 

 a crown between two angels ; on the cross two 

 angels receiving the martyr's soul in a cloth. 



1 This list of abbots is taken in the main from that 

 given in Lakynhethe's Register (Harl. MS. 743), 

 but it has been collated with several other lists, and the 

 dates slightly amended. 



' Engraved in Yates, Hist. pt. i, 37. B. M. Cast, 

 1m, 90. 



CELESTIB 



' 3 



A beautiful privy seal of the thirteenth cen- 

 tury bears the martyrdom of St. Edmund. The 

 king is represented tied to a tree and pierced with 

 many arrows ; on the left are three archers, and 

 on the right two archers shooting at the king. 

 In the base, under an arch, is the decapitation of 

 the saint by a swordsman, and on the right a 

 wolf bearing away the head. Legend : 



SIGNUM : SECRETUM. CAPl'l : AEDMUNDI : 



REGIS : ET : MARTIRIS. 



The reverse bears St. Edmund crowned and 

 seated on a throne between two bishops, each 

 holding a crozier. Legend : 



AGMINE : STIRPATUS : SEDET : ED : REX : 

 PONTIFICATUS 4 



Impressions of the seals of Abbots Samson, 

 Richard de Insula, Simon de Luton, and John 

 Reeve are also extant. 



2. THE PRIORY OF EYE 



The Benedictine priory of Eye, dedicated in 

 honour of St. Peter, was founded by Robert 

 Malet, in the time of the Conqueror, as a cell to 

 the abbey of Bernay. The very liberal foundation 

 charter gave to the monks of Eye a portion of the 

 founder's burgage in the town of Eye, together 

 with the tithe of the market, and the church, 

 all the churches which then existed or might 

 subsequently be erected in the town of Dunwich, 

 the tithes of that town, and a three days' fair on 

 the feast of St. Lawrence, and also the schools 

 (scolai) of Dunwich ; the churches of Bading- 

 ham, ' Benseya,' Benhall, Burgh, Bedfield, 

 Brundish, Denston, ' Helegleya,' ' Helegistow,' 

 Laxfield, Mells, Playford, ' Pelecoth,' Sedge- 

 brook, Stradbroke, Stoke, Sutton St. Margaret, 

 Tattingstone, Thorndon, Thornham, Welbourn, 

 and Wingfield ; tithes and portions in several 

 other parishes ; the vills of Stoke and Badfield ; 

 land in Badingham, Fressingfield, &c. ; and 

 several mills and fisheries. After specifying his 

 own donations at length, the founder confirmed 

 various other donations made to the priory by 

 his barons and other persons holding under him 

 by military service. Among these gifts were 

 two parts of his tithe in Huntingfield, Linstead 

 and ' Benges,' by Roger de Huntingfield ; the 

 church of St. Botolph, Iken, and two parts of 

 his tithe in ' Clakesthorp ' and ' Glenham,' by 

 William de Roville ; the church and vill of 

 Brome, by Hugh de Avilers ; half the church 

 of Gislingham, by Godard de Gislingham and 



* Dugdale, Man. iii, pi. 1 7. 

 4 Yates, Hist, v, pi. 37. 



