OF SELBORNE. 429 



resolving to give way to that torrent of envy which he 

 knew not how to withstand, withdrew quietly to the Holy 

 Land, where he resided some time. 



At this juncture a very small part of Palestine remained 

 in the hands of the Christians : they had been by Saladine 

 dispossessed of Jerusalem, and all the internal parts, near 

 forty years before ; and with difficulty maintained some 

 maritime towns and garrisons : yet the busy and enter- 

 prising spirit of de Rupibus could not be at rest ; he dis- 

 tinguished himself by the splendour and magnificence of 

 his expenses, and amused his mind by strengthening for- 

 tresses and castles, and by removing and endowing of 

 churches. Before his expedition to the east he had sig- 

 nalized himself as a founder of convents, and as a benefactor 

 to hospitals and monasteries. 



In the year 1231 he returned again to England; and the 

 very next year, in 1232, began to build and endow the 

 PRIORY of SELBORNE. As this great work followed so close 

 upon his return, it is not improbable that it was the result 

 of a vow made during his voyage ; and especially as it was 

 dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Why the bishop made 

 choice of Selborne for the scene of his munificence can 

 never be determined now : it can only be said that the 

 parish was in his diocese, and lay almost midway between 

 Winchester and Farnham, or South Waltham and Farn- 

 ham ; from either of which places he could without much 

 trouble overlook his workmen, and observe what progress 

 they made ; and that the situation was retired, with a 

 stream running by it, and sequestered from the world, 

 amidst woods and meadows, and so far proper for the site 

 of a religious house. 1 



1 The institution at Selborne was a priory of Black Canons of the 

 order of St. Augustine, called also Canons Regular. Regular Canons 

 were such as lived in a conventual manner, under one roof, had a 

 common refectory and dormitory, and were bound by vows to observe 

 the rules and statutes of their order; in fine, they were a kind of 

 religious, whose discipline was less rigid than the monks'. The chief 

 rule of these canons was that of St. Augustine, who was constituted 

 Bishop of Hippo, A.D. 395 ; but they were not brought into England 



