RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



of Gilbert Folliot bear witness to his reputation 

 for elegant scholarship and wisdom. 1 



He assigned the church of Glasbury, the 

 tithes of Talgarth and those from the lordship 

 of Brecon to the precentor to find parchment 

 and ink to increase the library. 



Between 1163 and 1179 one of the western 

 towers fell while Roger, bishop of Worcester, 

 was celebrating mass, and although the church 

 was thronged with people they all escaped un- 

 hurt. 1 In 1 1 68 the ritual murder of a boy 

 named Harold was attributed to the Jews of 

 Gloucester.* Abbot Hamelin and the monks 

 gave the body honourable burial in their 

 church. 



The house suffered severely from the financial 

 xtortions of John. The chalices and silver 

 vessels had been sold for Richard I's ransom in 

 1194,* and other chalices were sold to meet the 

 king's demands in 1210.* On 28 October, 

 12 1 6, Henry III, then a boy of nine years old, 

 was crowned king of England by Guala, the 

 papal legate, and other bishops, in the great 

 church of the monastery.* A market in the 

 manor of Northleach was granted by Henry III 

 in I222, 7 and in 1227 a fair on the vigil, feast, 

 and morrow of St. Peter and St. Paul. 8 The 

 church of Frocester was appropriated to the 

 house by William of Blois, bishop of Worcester, 

 in 1225 ;* in 1231 2O marks out of the revenues 

 of the church of Newport were assigned to 

 provide wine for the convent. 10 Some of the 

 monastic offices were destroyed in a fire which 

 did much damage in the town in I222. 11 

 Building continued steadily. The central tower 

 was erected under the supervision of Elias 

 the sacrist about I222; 1 * he also made the 

 monks' stalls and constructed an aqueduct. 13 In 

 1232 Henry III granted 100 oaks in the forest 

 of Dean for the work of the church ; u in the 

 following year he gave ten, 1 ' and in 1234 he 

 allowed the abbot to have a horse going to the 

 forest to fetch dead wood to his mill at Rodley, 

 to melt lead for the roof of the church of the 

 monastery, every day from the Feast of the Puri- 

 fication until three weeks after Easter. 14 In 

 1227 the Lady chapel, which had been built and 

 endowed by a benefactor named Ralph de 

 Wilington, was completed. 17 The church was 



i, 1 8. 



' Giles, op. cit. ; Hut. tt Cart. Clout. (Rolls Ser.), 



_ o 



Wharton, Angl. Sacr. \\, 428. 



Hiit. et Cart. GIouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 20, 21. 



Ibid. 23. Ibid. 24. 



Ibid. 



Ibid. 104. 



Chart. R. 1 1 Hen. Ill, pt. i, m. 1 1. 



Hist, et Cart. GIouc. (Rolls Scr.), i, 78. 

 " Ibid. 28. " Ibid. 26. 



11 Ibid. 25. " Ibid. 28. 



11 Cat. ofCIote, 1 6 Hen. Ill, m. 10. 

 "Ibid. 17 Hen. Ill, m. 15. 

 "Ibid. 18 Hen. Ill, m. 31. 

 " Hiit. et Cart. GIouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 27. 



dedicated in 1239 by Walter Cantilupe, bishop 

 of Worcester. 18 



In 1242 the vaulting of the nave, which, 

 possibly from poverty, had been undertaken by 

 the monks themselves, was finished. 19 The south- 

 west tower was begun immediately and com- 

 pleted within a few years. 10 



Yet there are indications of mismanagement 

 and lack of order. In 1239 the convent vainly 

 attempted to deny the right of visitation to the 

 bishop of Worcester," and when Walter Canti- 

 lupe exercised that right in 1242 he removed 

 the prior and other obedientiars from office.** 

 Under the rule of John de Felda (1243-63) the 

 monastery became heavily in debt. The exac- 

 tions of both crown and papacy were felt as a 

 very serious burden by most of the religious 

 houses during those years, but building and the 

 acquisition of land were probably responsible for 

 financial difficulties. In 1246 the old frater 

 was pulled down and a new one was begun.* 1 

 Five years later the house owed 3,000 marks, 

 and the abbot and convent were in such straits that 

 they appealed to Bishop Cantilupe for help,** and 

 he forbade the reception and entertainment of 

 guests. Nevertheless in 1260 the abbot purchased 

 from Laurence de Chandos 55 acres of arable 

 land in Brockworth, 40 acres of meadow, and 

 Buckholt Wood, covering 300 acres.** John de 

 Felda's successor, Reginald de Homme, found a 

 debt of 1500 marks in 1263.** In 1271 John 

 de Breton, bishop of Hereford, allowed the 

 abbot and convent to appropriate the church of 

 Great Cowarne, 27 but the abbot's difficulties were 

 so great that in 1272 he appealed to the crown. 

 On 24 January, 1273, until the king should 

 arrive in England, Reginald de Akele was given 

 the custody of the monastery, which was reported 

 to be decayed.* 8 As was usual in such com- 

 missions he doubtless received the whole of the 

 revenues, made provision for the abbot and con- 

 vent and such servants as were necessary, and 

 used the remainder to pay off the debts. How- 

 ever, on the accession of John de Gamages in 

 1284 the house was again in debt to the amount 

 of 1,000 marks." 



The most interesting event in the abbacy of 

 Reginald de Homme was the foundation in 

 1283 of a college at Oxford for monks of 

 Gloucester by John Giffard, lord of Brimpsfield.* 

 It bore the name of Gloucester Hall, but within 

 a few years other Benedictine monasteries began 



" Ibid. 

 w Ibid. 

 " Jan. 

 " Ibid. 

 Hut. 

 " Ann. 

 K Hi,t. 

 " Ibid. 

 n Cal. 

 " Hiit. 

 " Ibid. 



28. " Ibid. 29. 



29. 3- 



Mon. (Rolls Scr.), iv, 430. 



433- 



et Cart. GIouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 30. 



Mon. (Rolls Ser.), i, 146. 



et Cart. GIouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 65. 

 .31- "Ibid. 



of Pat. I Edw. I, m. 18. 



tt Cart. GIouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 39. 



3*- 



55 



