A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



to send students there and to have their own 

 lodging within the college. 1 In 1298 William 

 de Brok, a monk of Gloucester, was the first 

 Benedictine to gain the degree of doctor in 

 theology. The day of his inception, 1 1 June, 

 was made the occason of a great gathering of 

 Benedictines at the college. 3 



Fifty monks, including the priors of the cells, 

 took part in the election of John de Gamages in 

 1 284.' As prior, first of Ewenny, 4 and after- 

 wards of St. Guthlac's, Hereford, 6 he had already 

 gained some profitable experience of administra- 

 tion, and during the twenty-two years of his 

 rule he effected many reforms. The life and 

 management of the monastery satisfied even so 

 stern a visitor as Giffard, bishop of Worcester, 

 had shown himself to be elsewhere. The 

 injunctions 6 sent in 1301 by Winchelsey, arch- 

 bishop of Canterbury after his metropolitical 

 visitation were in great part a confirmation, 

 on the petition of the abbot and convent, of 

 ordinances which they had made. In accord- 

 ance with these, no one might henceforth 

 become a monk, unless he were whole in 

 body and mind, lettered and skilled in song, and 

 of tried character. The abbot's household was 

 strictly limited at home and when he went 

 abroad, and he was not allowed to hold property 

 of his own. The common seal could only be 

 used in the presence of the greater or wiser part 

 of the chapter. The duties of the chamberlain 

 in providing clothes were carefully defined. No 

 pensions or liveries might be granted except for 

 the manifest use of the house and then only 

 with the consent of the bishop of the diocese. 

 No obedientiar might sell lands or grant corrodies, 

 and thus burden his office, without the know- 

 ledge of the abbot and the consent of the 

 chapter. Among the injunctions added by the 

 archbishop was one for a strict yearly audit of 

 the accounts of bailiffs of manors and of the 

 obedientiars of the monastery. He limited the 

 number of dogs kept for the chase, forbade the 

 monks to play draughts, practise the use of the 

 bow, or to enter alone any house in Gloucester 

 or to wander about the countryside. 



Owing to the abbot's watchful care, the 

 manors were well stocked and profitable. 7 The 

 number of sheep was increased to 10,000, and 

 in one year 46 sacks of wool were sold, realizing 

 probably over 550 marks. 8 More land was pur- 

 chased in the manor of Upton, much building 

 went on in the different manors, and included 

 the abbot's chamber at Hartpury, the great 

 granary at Frocester, and new houses at 



1 Brist. and Glouc. Arch. Soc. Trans, xvi, 106. 



2 Hiit. et Cart. Glouc. (Rolls Ser.), i, 34. 



3 Ibid, iii, 26. " Ibid. \, 39. 



* Ibid, iii, 22. 6 Ibid. Ixxxiv-xcii. 



7 Ibid, i, 39. 



8 cf. Cunningham, Growth of English Industry and 

 Commerce, i, 640 (ed. 1905). 



Upleadon. 9 Abbot John de Carnages' gifts to 

 the church included plate and vestments, and 

 an altar in honour of St. Paul was dedicated in 

 I3o6. 10 Among the books which de Gamages 

 added to the library was a ' Legenda Sanctorum ' 

 and a cartulary. 11 It was during his rule that 

 Robert of Gloucester compiled a chronicle in 

 English verse of over 12,000 lines. 13 He wrote 

 the praises of England as the best of all lands, 13 

 and desired that English should be spoken by 

 great folk as well as by low-born men. 14 

 Abbot John de Gamages remembered the loss and 

 damage when the escheators held the lands of 

 the house in the vacancy before his accession, 1 * 

 and in 1306 he obtained from Edward I a con- 

 cession to the prior and convent to retain the 

 custody of the monastery lands during each 

 successive voidance on condition that they ren- 

 dered 200 marks for four months, and if it lasted 

 longer, a further payment at the same rate. 16 



The first dispute with the prior of Worcester, 

 who claimed the right of visitation of the diocese 

 during a vacancy of the see, took place during 

 the abbacy of John de Gamages. On 1 5 March, 

 1302, the prior appeared before the gates of the 

 monastery and was refused admittance, 17 because 

 the house had been visited twice within a year 

 by Bishop Giffard and Archbishop Winchelsey. 

 The prior excommunicated the abbot and con- 

 vent. 18 They at once appealed to Winchelsey, 

 archbishop of Canterbury, against the sentence, 

 and the prior petitioned for the preservation of 

 his lawful jurisdiction. The prior cited the 

 abbot to appear before him on 21 March, 1302, 

 in the parish church of Winchcombe, but as 

 he did not come he was declared contumacious. 

 However, the official of the archbishop inter- 

 vened, inhibited the prior from taking any further 

 proceedings, and summoned him to appear 

 before the Court of Arches. In July he was 

 compelled to absolve the abbot and convent 

 from the sentence of excommunication. 



The quarrel was renewed during the next 

 vacancy of the see. 19 On 20 March, 1308, the 

 prior of Worcester wrote to inform Abbot Thoky 

 that he should visit Gloucester on the vigil of 

 Palm Sunday. The abbot refused to admit the 

 prior, and the controversy continued till 1309, 

 when Winchelsey proposed to arbitrate, and both 

 parties consented. His decision was that the 

 priors of Worcester had had, and ought to have, 



' Hist, et Cart. Glouc. i, 40 (Rolls Ser.). 



10 Wore. Epis. Reg. Gainsborough, fol. 1 1. 



11 Hist, et Cart. Glouc. i, 40 (Rolls Ser.). 



18 Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester (Rolls Ser.). It is 

 probable, though not absolutely certain, that he was a 

 monk of Gloucester, cf. i, v vii, xii-xiv. 



13 Ibid, i, 1-3. " Ibid, ii, 544. 



15 Ibid i, 36. 



16 Cal. of Pat. 34 Edw. I, m. 13. 



17 Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), iv, 551. 



18 Wan. Reg. Sede Vac. (Wore. Hist. Soc.), n, 62. 



19 Ibid. 122-5. 



