A HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE 



In 1 30 1 the abbot was feeble, and on 28 

 January he received a letter from the king, 

 because ' of his debility,' nominating as his 

 attorneys for three years two of his fellow canons, 

 Thomas de Catering and Roger de Wautz.* 

 The abbot's name is not given, but it is evident 

 that it was John de Novo Castro, who had been 

 abbot for forty years. 



In 1309 the Abbot of St. Mary's complained 

 that ' Roger ' the Abbot of St. Agatha's, Robert 

 de Latton, Hugh de Laton, Thomas de Cateryk, 

 William de Langeton, John de Byscopton, and 

 John Belle, canons of St. Agatha's' with many 

 others, carried away his goods at Bolton, 

 ' Hereford,' and ' Apelby,' co. York, whilst he 

 was under the king's protection.* 



There must have been a change in the abbacy 

 soon after this, for on 12 May 1313 'A. Abbot 

 of St. Agatha's' is one of a number of witnesses 

 named in a royal confirmation of one of the 

 charters of Egglestone.' This ' A ' does not occur 

 in any list of the heads of the abbey. There 

 seems at this time to have been a considerable 

 amount of unrest and change in the headship of 

 the house." In fact, in the year 131 1 there were 

 living the Abbot William Burelle and three ex- 

 abbots, Richard de Bernyngham, William de 

 Ergom, and Roger de Walda. This we 

 know from a very curious story related by 

 Whitaker.' In 131 1 Robert de Eglisclive, 

 who, with his father and grandfather, had long 

 detained from the abbot and canons 220 acres 

 of moorland in Barden, on examining the abbey 

 charters acknowledged the wrong and made 

 restitution. The dispute had continued during 

 the time of five abbots, the four above-named 

 and John de Novo Castro. Eglisclive sought 

 and obtained absolution, but he was anxious for 

 the souls of his ancestors, and he persuaded the 

 abbot and the three ex-abbots to go to the graves 

 of his father, his grandfather, and his mother 

 (Emma), and pronounce the sentence of absolu- 

 tion over them all. In consideration of this 

 gracious act, Eglisclive released to the abbey the 

 moorland in question according to the boundaries 

 set forth in the charter. 



In 1316 and 1 3 1 7 ^^ * protection ' was again 

 granted to the abbot, and in 1320 he was 

 appointed one of several to audit the accounts of 

 the collectors of a ' tenth ' for the Scotch war, 

 which had been levied in the tenth year of the 

 king's reign and ' paid to the Scots ' by reason of 

 the truce entered into with them.^"^ 



' Pat. 29 Edw. I, m. 31. 



' This would be Clarkson's additional abbot 'ante 

 131 1 ' {Richmond, sj^). 



' Pat. 3 Edw. II, m. 30 d. 



' Ibid. 6 Edw. II, pt. ii, m. 10. ' See list fosiea, 



' Rkhmondskire, i, 1 1 1 ; Egerton MS. 2827, ^ol- 239. 



" Pat. 9 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 10 ; II Edw. II, pt. i, 

 m. 34. 



"Ibid. 13 Edw. II, m. gd. 



246 



Some time before the reign or Edward III 

 Thomas de Burton, the lineal descendant of the 

 founder Roald, sold his patrimony to Henry, 

 Lord Scrope of Bolton," and with it passed the 

 patronage of the abbey, the Lords Scrope being 

 afterwards the reputed founders." 



During the reign of Edward III, c. 1330, the 

 donations previously conferred upon the abbey 

 received the royal confirmation. These donations 

 included the gifts of the founder, of Roger de 

 Mowbray, Alan Bygod, the Scropes, and many 

 others." In 1380 licence was granted to 

 Richard le Scrope to concede to the canons his 

 manor of Brompton-on-Swale," and then in 

 1392 or 1393 (16 Richard II)" the community 

 was considerably enlarged by the same benefactor, 

 who received the king's licence to bestow upon 

 the house an annual rental of j^ 150. This bene- 

 faction was made for the purpose of maintain- 

 ing ten additional canons and two secular priests, 

 and they were to celebrate divine service for the 

 good estate of the king and his heirs during their 

 lives, &c., and also to support twenty-two poor 

 men in the said abbey for ever." 



Just before this donation the famous armorial 

 controversy of 1385-90 had been waged between 

 the Scropes and the Grosvenors. During an 

 expedition into Scotland in 1385 Lord Scrope, it 

 appears, carried his accustomed arms, 'azure a 

 bend or,' when to his amazement he found the 

 same arms borne by Sir Robert Grosvenor. 

 Scrope challenged Grosvenor's right, and a suit 

 was commenced, at first before the Lord High 

 Commissioner, and afterwards before John of 

 Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. The evidence 

 brought forward throws much light on the 

 history of the times, and it gives us a glimpse 

 inside the monastic church. One of the chief 

 witnesses was the Abbot John,"" whose evidence 

 was very valuable to the cause of Lord Scrope.'" 



At first it was decided that Grosvenor was to 

 diflFerence the arms by the addition of a silver 

 border." This Sir Robert refused to do, and 



" ^ssoe. jirchit. Soc. Rep. 1853, p. 321. In the 

 Monasticon this transaction is said to have taken place 

 during the reign of Edw. III. The writer of the 

 Assoc. Society's paper is very emphatic that it was 

 before (see p. 312). See also vol. for 1869, p. 60. 



" Lawton, Relig. Houses, 96. 



" Ibid. Clarkson, Richmond, 349 ; Pat. 3 Edw. Ill, 

 pt. i, m. 6. 



" Pat. 3 Ric. II, pt. ni, m. 1 7. 



" 1392, Jssoc. Archit. Soc. Rep. 1853, p. 322. 



" Clarbon, op. cit. 355 from Pat. 16 Ric. II, pt. 

 iii, m. 10. 



"'Another important witness was the Abbot of 

 Selby. The famous stained glass shield which he 

 mentioned as existing in his abbey : azure a bend or, 

 and which played such a prominent part in the settle- 

 ment, has recently been identified. It is in a 

 curiously confused condition. 



" Assoc. Archit. Soc. Rep. 1853, pp. 324-5, 



" Longstaffe, Richmondshire, 30. 



