A HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND 



Some idea of the hardships that houses so 

 near the frontier had endured may be gathered 

 from a comparison of the valuations of the 

 temporalities of the monastery in 1291, just 

 before the outbreak of the Scottish wars, and 

 in 1319, the palmy days of Robert Bruce 

 after the battle of Bannockburn. At the 

 former period the annual revenue was re- 

 turned at 206 5*. iod., and at the later 

 date it amounted only to ^o. 1 This 

 abbey was the wealthiest house in the counties 

 of Cumberland and Westmorland, and owing 

 to its exposed situation it sustained greater 

 losses than any of the others, with the ex- 

 ception perhaps of Lanercost. In I535 2 

 the gross valuation of the temporalities 

 amounted to 370 ijs. od. and the total 

 revenues of the house to 53 5 35. jd. After 

 the deduction of necessary outgoings, the 

 clear net value was taxed at 4.77 19*. %d. 



The abbots of Holmcultram were em- 

 ployed in general affairs and went about the 

 world more than any of the heads of the 

 local religious houses. In the great dispute 

 between the bishop and the priory about the 

 division of the revenues of the church of 

 Carlisle in 1 221-3, the abbot of that date 

 was associated with the prior of Hexham as 

 papal assessor. 3 When differences arose be- 

 tween the Archbishop of York and the Bishop 

 of Durham in 132930 touching the question 

 of jurisdiction and the cognizance of causes, 

 the pope appointed the abbot of Holmcultram, 

 the prior of the friar preachers of Carlisle, 

 and the archdeacon of the same place to act 

 as mediators, but they petitioned to be ex- 

 cused as there were no lawyers thereabouts to 

 consult, the people were ill-disposed, and 

 Carlisle was so far from the diocese of York. 4 

 In 1340 and 1341 the king appointed the 

 abbots of Holme and Calder and three lay- 

 men as collectors of the ninth of lambs, 

 fleeces and sheaves in Cumberland. 5 During 

 the vacancy of the see in 1352, while John 

 de Horncastle was the elect and confirmed 

 but not the consecrated Bishop of Carlisle, the 

 abbot of Holme acted as vicar-general of the 

 diocese and was re-appointed on the accession 

 of Bishop Welton. 8 Again and again safe 

 conducts were issued to the abbot when he 

 wished to attend the chapter general of his 

 order at Citeaux, and the keeper of Dover 



1 Pope Nick. Tax. (Rec. Com.), 320, 333. 



' Valor Ecd. (Rec. Com.), v. 282-3. 



3 Cal. of Papal Letters, i. 81, 91 ; ii. 112, 256. 



1 Ibid. ii. 320 ; Letters from the Northern Reg- 

 isters (Rolls Sen), p. 359. 



Pat. 14 Edw. III. pt. ii. m. 45 ; 15 Edw. 

 III. pt. i. m. 31. 



Carl. Epis. Reg., Welton, MS. f. i. 



1 68 



was instructed to allow him to embark at that 

 port. 7 The daughter house of Grey Abbey 

 and a small property in Ireland brought the 

 abbot from time to time to that country, 8 and 

 the fealty he owed to Melrose as well as his 

 oversight of the grange in Galloway 9 necessi- 

 tated occasional visits to Scotland in time of 

 truce. Though the house is not reckoned 

 among the mitred abbeys of the kingdom, the 

 abbot was summoned to parliament and to the 

 great Councils of State between 1294 and 

 131 2. 10 In days of national mourning the 

 house was selected among the greater monas- 

 teries to celebrate the obsequies of the deceased. 

 The abbot was requested to pray for the soul 

 of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, in 1296, for 

 Joan, Queen of France, in 1305, and for 

 Philip the Fair in 1314." From these cir- 

 cumstances we may conclude that Holmcul- 

 tram occupied a pre-eminent position among 

 the religious institutions of the county. 



Some of the superiors of this monastery 

 attained individual distinction or notoriety 

 from various causes. Everard, the first abbot, 

 ruled the house for the long period of forty- 

 two years from the date of its foundation in 

 1150 till his death in 1192. His name is 

 often found in the records of that time. It 

 was probably at Holmcultram that Huctred 

 son of Fergus executed the deed whereby he 

 gave a carucate of land in Crevequer to the 

 hospital of St. Peter, York, several of the 

 witnesses being local men, such as Everard 

 the abbot, Robert the prior, and William the 

 cellarer of Holmcultram, Robert archdeacon 

 of Carlisle, Ralf clerk of the same place, 

 Robert son of Trute sheriff of the same, 

 Richard his brother, Hubert de Vaux, Peter 

 del Teillos, Christian, Bishop of Whithern, 

 who often visited the house, besides others 

 from Galloway near to the English border. 12 



7 Rymer, Tcedera, ii. 78 ; Close, 15 Edw. II. 

 m. 3od, and passim. 



8 Pat. 5 Edw. II. pt. i. m. 24 ; Reg. of Holm- 

 cultram, MS. ff. 241, 245. 



9 Pat. I Edw. III. pt. i. m. 29. 



10 Par/. Writs (Rec. Com.), i. 26, and passim. 



11 Rymer, Fcedera (new ed.), i. 842, 922, 971 ; 

 ii. 258. 



12 Cal. of Doc. Scot. ii. 422. The date of 

 Everard's promotion to Holmcultram has been 

 doubted. Bishop Stubbs dated his tenure from 

 1175 to 1192, but his error apparently arose 

 from identifying the abbacia de Holme, one of the 

 twelve vacant houses in 1175, with Holme in 

 Cumberland (Benedict Abbas, i. 92, ii. 80). It is 

 clear from the deed of Uctred son of Fergus that 

 it was passed before 1164, the year in which 

 Hubert de Vaux, one of the witnesses, died. 

 The Chronicle of Melrose mentions Everard in 

 connection with the foundation in 1150. 



