A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



churches of Lavendon, Lathbury in this 

 county ; Wootton and Shelton in North- 

 amptonshire ; Stowe, Kirkby, Tombstone in 

 Norfolk ; the place called Snelshall and the 

 chapel of Tattenhoe ; with other parcels of 

 arable land, wood and meadow in the neigh- 

 bourhood. 1 The churches of Wootton, Shel- 

 ton, Kirkby, Stowe and Tombstone, as well 

 as Snelshall and Tattenhoe, passed out of the 

 abbot's hands in the thirteenth century. The 

 churches of Aston near Bozeat (Northants), 

 and Shotwell (Warwicks) were appropriated 

 during the fourteenth century. 2 In 1284 the 

 Abbot of Lavendon answered for half the vill 

 of Lathbury and one sixth of a knight's fee in 

 Lavendon 3 ; in 1302 for half a fee in Willen 4 ; 

 in 1346 for only one quarter of a knight's fee. 6 

 The tem-poralia of the abbey were valued in 

 1291 at 34 4_r. zd. o ; in 1535 its whole re- 

 venue amounted only to 79 13*. 8</. 7 The 

 Ministers' Accounts after the dissolution 

 amount to .90 cxr. 4^., including the rec- 

 tories of Lathbury, Lavendon, Aston and 

 Shotwell. 8 



ABBOTS OF LAVENDON 



David, 13 first abbot 



Austin, 14 occurs 1236 and 1237 



Jordan, 15 occurs 1254 anc * I2 7* 



Philip, 19 occurs 1279 



John of Lathbury, 17 elected 1312 



Richard of Emberton, 18 occurs 1350, died 



1380 



William of Leicester, 19 elected 1380 

 Nicholas of Lathbury, 20 occurs 1413 

 Robert Helmdon, 21 occurs 1478 

 William Curlew, 22 occurs 1491 

 William Gales, 23 last abbot, occurs 1529 



Pointed oval twelfth century seal, taken 

 from a cast at the British Museum, the im- 

 pression of which is imperfect, 24 represents St. 

 John baptizing our Lord. Overhead a tre- 

 foiled arch with a spire capped by a cross. 

 Legend : +SIGILL' . . . BAPTISTS DE LAVEN- 

 DUNE. 



A fragment of a seal still exists attached to 

 a charter dated I375, 25 the colour is creamy 

 white, and it is very imperfect and indistinct. 



HOUSE OF BONHOMMES 



16. THE COLLEGE OF ASHRIDGE. 



The College of Bonhommes at Ashridge, was 

 founded in 1283 by Edmund, Earl of Corn- 

 wall 9 in honour of The Precious Blood, on 

 one of his manors which lay on the Hert- 

 fordshire border, and now forms a part of 

 that county. It was the only house of this 

 order in England, except the small college 

 at Edington in Wiltshire 10 : the rule obeyed 

 by the brethren differed however very 

 little from that of the Austin Canons, 

 though the dress they adopted was more 

 distinctly monastic, consisting of a grey habit 

 and scapulary, with a long grey cloak and 

 cowl." 



The endowment was not at first very 

 large, and provided only for seven brethren 

 who were to be all priests, 12 and were to receive 

 six marks yearly from the Earl's treasury 



Dugdale, Man. vi. 888. 



" Cal. of Pap. Letters, iii. 264, and v. 73. 



Feud. Aids, i. 73, 74. 



4 Ibid. 106. * Ibid. 131. 



Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.). 



' Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 242. 



8 Dugdale, Man. vi. 888. 



a Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), iii. 305. 

 1 Founded in 1345. Walsingham, Hist. An- 

 gliae (Rolls Ser.), i. 266. 



" Todd, History of Ashridge, 13 ; from the Rule. 

 Ibid. IJ. 



386 



for their support. 26 The chronicler of Dun- 

 stable tells us that there was at the time 

 little hope that the house would continue, 

 as the foundation was so insufficient, and 

 some of the brethren had not at first a very 

 good character, in spite of their name. 27 The 

 founder however seems to have been satisfied 

 with his work ; the conventual church was 

 dedicated in 1286 by Bishop Sutton, 28 and 

 enriched by a very valuable relic a phial 

 containing a portion of the Precious Blood, 

 bought in Germany by Richard King, of the 

 Romans and divided between this house 

 and the Abbey of Hailes. 29 In 1 290, Edward I. 



i" Bracton's Note Book (ed. Maitland), ii. 497. 

 4 Feet of F. 20 Hen. III. No I, 21 Hen. III. 

 No. 2. 



15 Ibid. 39 Hen. III. No. 27, and 56 Hen. III. 

 No. 8. 



16 Close, 7 Edw. I. m. gd. 



17 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo. Dalderby, 236d. 



18 Cal. of Pap. Letters, iii. 369. 



19 Line. Epis. Reg. Memo. Bokyngham, 207. 

 30 Ibid. Memo. Repingdon, 105. 



" Dugdale, Man. vi. 888. 



Ibid. 



" L. and P. Henry VIII. iv. 6047. 



B. M. Seals, lix. 87. 



Add Chart. 19,917. 



" Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), iii. 305. 



' Ibid. Ibid. 326. 



39 Todd, History of Ashridge, 2-3. 



