A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



the patronage of Cranbourne and Tewkesbury 

 passed to the crown. 1 About 1087, by the 

 advice of Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury, 

 and Osmund, bishop of Salisbury, William 

 Rufus appointed Gerald, a Norman monk of 

 Winchester, as abbot of Cranbourne. In the 

 same year he gave the honour of Gloucester to 

 Robert Fitzhamon, a Norman lord. The 

 possessions of the priory of Tewkesbury con- 

 sisted of lands at Stanway, Toddington, Leming- 

 ton, Great Washbourn, Fiddington, Natton, and 

 Stanley Pontlarge. 8 It has been conjectured 

 that some of these possessions were the gift of 

 Duke Oddo, who built the Saxon chapel at 

 Deerhurst in 1056, and was a great benefactor 

 of the church. 8 Under the influence of his 

 wife Sibilla, Robert Fitzhamon began to build a 

 new church and monastic offices at Tewkes- 

 bury, and he greatly increased the endowment. 4 

 In 1 1 02, Gerald, abbot of Cranbourne, and his 

 monks entered the new monastery at Tewkes- 

 bury, leaving only a prior and two monks at 

 Cranbourne, which became a dependent cell. 6 

 In 1105, with the advice and consent of Robert 

 Fitzhamon, Abbot Gerald divided the posses- 

 sions of the house and endowed the offices of 

 cellarer, chamberlain, sacrist, precentor, and 

 almoner.* There were at that time fifty-seven 

 monks, 7 these with the prior of Cranbourne and 

 his two brethren making sixty, probably the 

 full complement. The gift of the manor 

 of Ampney Crucis was confirmed in 1 1 o i . 8 

 '' In 1106 Henry I granted a charter confirm- 

 ing the possessions of the monastery, which 

 already included many churches of which a 

 number were afterwards appropriated.' Tewkes- 

 bury profited by the conquests of Norman 

 lords in Wales and received before 1 1 03, 

 amongst other benefices, the parish church of 

 St. Mary of Cardiff with eight dependent 

 chapels. 10 



In 1109 Abbot Gerald resigned and returned 

 to Winchester. 11 In 1123 the church was dedi- 

 cated by Theulf, bishop of Worcester. 18 About 

 1137, Robert, earl of Gloucester, founded the 

 priory of St. James at Bristol as a dependent 

 cell to Tewkesbury, 13 and he is also said to have 

 been the founder of the cell at Cardiff. 14 

 Learning and literature probably flourished 

 under Abbot Alan (1186-1202), who had been 

 prior of Canterbury. He himself wrote one of the 

 lives of St. Thomas of Canterbury and made a 



1 Dugdale, Man. ii, 60. 



' Dom. Bk. (Rec. Com.), 163$. 



* Briit. and GIouc, Arch. Soc. Trans, xxv, 8 1 . 

 4 Dugdale, op. cit. ii, 60. 



4 Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), i, 44 ; Dugdale, op. cit. 

 ii, 60. 



* Dugdale, op. cit. ii, 81. ' Ibid. 



8 Ibid. 65. Ibid. 66. 10 Ibid. 67. 



11 Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), ii, 43. " Ibid, i, 45. 



13 Dugdale, op. cit. iv, 333 ; ii, 70. 



14 Ibid, iv, 632. 



62 



collection of his letters. 16 His successor, Walter, 

 found the house in debt to the amount of 700 

 marks, 16 but was able to restore its finances to a 

 flourishing condition. 



Abbot Peter was engaged in a number of law- 

 suits in defence of the rights of the house. 17 In 

 1 22 1 owing to disturbances in Wales, he was 

 obliged to recall the monks from the cell of 

 Cardiff and let the priory on lease for some 

 years. 18 The Irish lands at Dungarthan held 

 of the gift of John, brought no profit and were 

 sold for j8o to the bishop of Dublin in 1224. 

 There were several disputes with the bishops 

 of. Worcester. 20 In 1231, in virtue of a papal 

 privilege of I22I, 21 several of the monks of 

 Tewkesbury entered into possession of the 

 vacant church of Fairford with the object of 

 appropriating it for the monastery. 22 They were 

 expelled by the nominee of Bishop William of 

 Blois and the whole convent was excommuni- 

 cated. Early in 1232 the abbot died and was 

 buried within the church. The bishop ordered 

 his body to be cast out as he was still under 

 sentence of anathema, 23 and as the monks re- 

 fused he again excommunicated them. He 

 then attempted to hinder their right of freedom 

 of election which they obtained from Hubert 

 de Burgh as the guardian of Richard de Clare, 

 the patron of the house. 24 On I May he 

 absolved the convent, 26 and a week later the prior, 

 Robert of Forthampton, was elected. He was 

 an able and vigorous abbot, bent on maintaining 

 the rights of the monastery against both 

 episcopal and lay encroachments, and in de- 

 veloping its resources in all directions. There 

 was no saint's shrine to which the report of 

 miracles attracted pilgrims and their offerings, 

 but Tewkesbury possessed a number of relics, 

 and accordingly the feast of the Holy Relics was 

 celebrated on 2 July, and a number of miracles 

 are said to have occurred in 1232 26 and I25O. 27 

 At the second dedication of the church, 1 8 June, 

 1239, Walter Cantilupe, bishop of Worcester, 

 granted an indulgence to those who visited it 

 during the feast of the dedication and its octave 

 and on the feast of the Relics. 88 He subjected 

 the house to a very strict visitation in 1251 29 

 and again in 1253,' but on each occasion it was 

 triumphantly recorded in the annals that he 

 found nothing amiss. 



" Hardy, Catalogue of Materials (Rolls Ser.), ii, 322 ; 

 Materials for the Hist, of Thomas Becket (Rolls Ser.), ii. 



16 Ann. Man. (Rolls Ser.), i, 56. 



17 Ibid. 64, 65, 70. '" Ibid. 65. " Ibid. 67. 

 80 Dugdale, op. cit. ii, 79 ; Cat. Papal L. i, 95 ; 



Ann. Man. i, 68. 

 31 Cal. Papal L. i, 8 1. 

 " Ann. Man. i, 82. 

 Ibid. 83, 84. 



" Dugdale, op. cit. ii, 8 1. " Ibid. 80. 



" Ann. Mart. (Rolls Ser.), i, 84-6. 

 37 Ibid. 141. "Ibid. 112. 



"Ibid. 146. '"Ibid. 152. 



