A HISTORY OF 
church of Eyworth was unsuccessful.t The 
temporalities of the abbey in 1291 ? (as well 
as in the sixteenth century) lay chiefly in 
the counties of Huntingdon, Hertford, North- 
ampton, Norfolk and Suffolk, and were valued 
then at about the same amount as those of 
Woburn ; these two, with Elstow, Dunstable 
and Newnham, were the richest houses in 
Bedfordshire. 
Abbots of Warden were made commis- 
sioners by the pope to inquire into some 
matters of importance—the election of an 
abbess at Shaftesbury in 1217,? and the case 
of the abbot of Tewkesbury who was under 
suspicion of having forged papal letters in 
1224.* King John also authorised the abbot 
of Warden, with the prior of Dunstable and 
others, to inquire into an election at St. 
Edmunds in 1215.5 A little later, in 1242,° 
Adam, abbot of Warden, was made Bishop of 
Connor in Ireland ; but he returned to his 
old monastery to die in 1244.7 
None of the religious of Bedfordshire 
suffered more severely from the outrages and 
brutal violence of Fawkes de Bréauté than 
did the monks of Warden. They dared to 
dispute with him the ownership of a certain 
grove, and he set upon them with his re- 
tainers, killing one and wounding others ; 
and finally dragged about thirty of them 
‘through the mud’ to his castle at Bedford. 
But even Fawkes de Bréauté was some- 
1 The question here was whether the last 
parson, Nicholas de Trailly, had been presented 
by William de Bussey’s son Bartholomew. The 
jurors found that Walter Espec had given to his 
nephew, Nicholas de Trailly (father of the said 
parson) the advowsons of all his churches south 
of Humber, and that this Nicholas had given 
Heyworth church to his son Nicholas ‘ad se sus- 
tendandum ad scolas.’ The advowson, they held, 
had reverted to the heirs of William de Bussey 
as Walter Espec’s heir. See Bracton’s Note Book, 
iii. 107. (This note is kindly furnished by Mr. 
Round.) 
2 Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.) 
3 Cal. of Pap. Letters, i. 49, 62. 
4 Ibid. i.95. A mandate of Pope Innocent III. 
in 1205 shows that even in the days when the 
rule was strictly kept men sometimes assumed the 
religious habit for their own convenience. A cer- 
tain W. persuaded his wife to retire to a convent, 
and he himself took the habit at Warden. Soon 
afterwards he returned to the world; but when 
she (who had taken no vow) would have come 
back to him, he refused to have her, and treated 
her very badly. The pope however insisted on his 
taking her back (Cal. of Pap. Letters, i. 21). 
5 Rot. Litt. Pat., 16 John, m. 13. 
6 Matth. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Series), iv. 
227. 
7 Ibid. iv. 390. 
BEDFORDSHIRE 
times aware that he had gone too far; not 
long afterwards he submitted to penance in the 
assembled chapter of the monastery, and 
gave up the disputed grove.® At the siege of 
the castle the monks of Warden sustained 
further losses from injuries done to their woods 
by the royal forces ; but these were carefully 
made up to them by the king.® In 1254 the 
abbot (perhaps Alexander de Reynes, whose 
name occurs in 1259,'° or William de Sheld- 
wick, his predecessor) had the courage to 
attack another enemy of the public peace— 
William de Beauchamp, son of the founder 
of Newnham Priory. As many as seventeen 
writs were issued by the abbot against him 
before the justices itinerant at Bedford : and 
when he contemptuously refused to answer 
any of these, the case was carried before 
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, then guardian of 
the kingdom, and William’s barony was 
seized in consequence.'* 
In 1323 the monks began to rebuild their 
church, as many other religious of the neigh- 
bourhood were doing at the same time, but 
with more zeal than discretion ; for before 
they had completed their buildings they found 
themselves at the end of their funds, and had 
to apply to the bishop for a licence to collect 
alms." Although such licences were numer- 
ous at this time,'* they seem to have been 
successful, for the church was apparently 
completed in 1366, when indulgences were 
granted by Bishop Gynwell to pilgrims who 
should visit its various chapels and altars.!* 
Of the history of the house during the 
fifteenth century it is difficult to find any 
trace. The internal history is even more 
obscure. As the Cistercians were exempt 
from ordinary visitations, there is little allu- 
sion to them in the episcopal registers, beyond 
the occasional notice of the benediction of an 
abbot. There are just a few indications of 
the state of this house from time to time. 
Early in the fourteenth century one of the 
Templars was placed by Bishop Dalderby at 
8 Ann. Mon. (Rolls Series), iii. 52. 
® Pat. 8 Hen. III. The care with which all the 
religious who suffered from the violence of Fawkes 
de Bréauté, or in any way helped forward the siege, 
were recompensed is worthy of notice (see the 
histories of Elstow, Caldwell and Newnham). 
10 Add. MS. 2446s, f. 27, 27b. His sister Sibyl 
was lady of Langford. 
11. Ann. Mon. (Rolls Series), iii. 192. 
12 Linc. Epis. Reg., Memo. Burghersh, 108. 
_13 Bishop Bek had to issue a warning against those 
who collected alms without episcopal licence (ibid. 
Memo. Bek, 53); and yet the registers show that 
many licences were issued. 
14 Ibid. Memo. Gynwell, 31. 
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