A HISTORY OF GLOUCESTERSHIRE 



their own. In 1342 the abbot and his followers 

 imprisoned several of the townsmen by pretext 

 of their suit 'until they made very grievous fines 

 for their ransoms.' In 1343 twenty men of 

 Cirencester were summoned to Westminster and 

 swore to the truth of the bill of complaint. They 

 declared that the king was the patron of the 

 parish church, but that since the reign of John 

 the abbot and convent had taken possession of it. 

 They also administered the hospitals of St. John 

 and St. Laurence to their own advantage. Other 

 encroachments on the rights of the crown were 

 enumerated ; but the townsmen put forward a 

 monstrous claim on their own behalf. They 

 swore that Henry I gave a charter to the bur- 

 gesses of Cirencester granting them the same 

 liberties as the burgesses of Winchester. They 

 had only a copy of that charter to produce, 

 because they alleged that in 1292 the abbot 

 bribed the burgess who had the custody of it, 

 got possession of it and burnt it. The charter 

 was a forgery, though it is possible that it was 

 first produced when the abbot purchased the 

 manor from Richard I and the burgesses of 

 Cirencester were fined for false presentment. 

 The case was several times adjourned. Finally 

 the abbot compounded with the king for 300 

 and obtained a charter in 1343 confirming and 

 defining his franchises. 1 Abbot Hereward had 

 other claims on the gratitude of the canons 

 besides the victory over the townsmen. 3 He 

 freed the convent from the heavy load of debt 

 with which it was burdened at the time of his 

 election in 1336. In the first ten years of his rule 

 a new nave was built, and houses within the 

 precincts and on the manors were erected at 

 great cost. In 1346 he made provision for the 

 maintenance of a chaplain to sing mass daily in 

 the Lady Chapel, and for the keeping of his 

 anniversary. Thus shortly before the Black 

 Death the monastery was very prosperous. 

 There is no record of the mortality among the 

 canons or in the town of Cirencester. Bishop 

 Wulstan de Bransford died on 8 August, 3 and 

 only a week afterwards the prior of Worcester 

 began to exercise his right of visiting the diocese 

 during the voidance of the see. 4 In October he 

 proposed to visit Cirencester, but the abbot and 

 convent declined to receive him on the plea that 

 they were only subject to visitation by a papal 

 legate, the metropolitan, and the bishop of the 

 diocese.' They were supported by the official 

 of the court of Canterbury. However, an agree- 

 ment was made shortly afterwards strictly de- 

 fining and limiting the prior's rights. He might 

 only inquire whether the mass of the Virgin was 

 celebrated daily with devotion, and whether a 

 chapter was held each day. He might only 



'Cart. R. 17 Ed. Ill, No. 13. 



1 Wore. Epis. Reg. Bransford, fol. 1 1 o d. 



3 Ibid. 



4 Wore. Reg. SeJe Vac. (Wore. Hist. Soc.), 250. 

 " Ibid. 253-5. 



enter the house with one monk and one secular 

 clerk. His procuration was fixed at 4 marks, 

 he had no right to any hospitality, and he could 

 not lodge in the monastery with his household 

 and carriages. It is probable that the discipline 

 of the house was lax, Abbot Hereward was an 

 old man, and in 1350 Edward III exempted 

 him from attendance at Parliament on account 

 of his age and infirmity. 6 In 1351 Thoresby, 

 bishop of Worcester, wrote to him grieving that 

 there were evil reports of the canons, and that 

 he did not do his duty as abbot. 7 Thoresby 

 told him to reform the convent by his own 

 power without appealing to the bishop for help. 

 He ought to forbid the canons to leave the 

 kingdom on any business without permission, 

 and to see that, unless they were fulfilling the 

 duties of their office, they remained within the 

 cloister. He should compel the officers to render 

 a yearly account of their receipts and expendi- 

 ture. Abbot Hereward died soon afterwards, 

 and his successor, Ralph of Estcote, was elected in 

 May, I352. 8 Owing to the scarcity of labour 

 the abbot and convent had, perhaps, unusual 

 difficulty in exacting the services of the towns- 

 men of Cirencester. In 1370 they obtained an 

 exemplification under the great seal of the record 

 of 1225, in which the services of tenants of the 

 manor were defined. 9 



Lack of governance and discipline characterized 

 the rule of Nicholas of Ampney when Bishop 

 Wakefield visited the monastery in 1378. 10 

 William Tresham held the office of sub-prior, 

 treasurer, and keeper of the parish church. The 

 bishop ordered that another keeper should be 

 appointed because in the discharge of that office 

 he was often outside the monastery. Within 

 six days the abbot was bidden to choose another 

 canon to act as treasurer with William Tresham. 

 The whole of the revenues from manors, 

 churches, and other sources were to be paid to 

 the treasurers instead of to any other officers. 

 The almoner was to be removed from office on 

 account of the scandal caused by his maladminis- 

 tration. The precentor was also to be removed. 

 Within six days the abbot was to make new 

 appointments to the offices of almoner, precentor, 

 and keeper of the parish church, with the advice 

 and consent of the older and wiser canons. The 

 bishop found that the bread was badly baked, 

 and that the beer was weak. He enjoined the 

 abbot to see that the cellarer provided good 

 bread, fish, and beer. The conduct of some of 

 the canons had given rise to grave scandal, 

 among them the keeper of the parish church of 

 Cheltenham, who was to be deprived of his 

 office. The abbot was ordered to see that these 

 disobedient brethren did not go beyond the 



6 Cal. of Pat. 24 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 29. 



'Wore. Epis. Reg. Thoresby, fol. 49. 



8 Ibid. fol. 46. 



'Brlst. and Ghuc. Arch. Soc. Trans, ix, 330-1. 



10 Wore. Epis Reg. Wakefield, fol. 132. 



82 



