RELIGIOUS HOUSES 



damp and unhealthy situation of the monas- 

 tery.^ When the frequent absence of the 

 prior beyond seas at the parent house, and the 

 many occasions on which on his appointment 

 he received letters of protection from the 

 king to last for a period generally of six 

 months, and occasionally of a year, eighteen 

 months or even two years, are taken into con- 

 sideration, it is difficult to discover what 

 opportunity there was for good administra- 

 tion. 



The earliest reference to Bermondsey in 

 the extant original records of Cluny occurs 

 in connection with the chapter general held 

 at Cluny 1237-8.- The financial condition 

 of the house was at that time so deplorable — 

 bordering on bankruptcy — that it was con- 

 sidered advisable to appoint a special 

 delegate to immediately represent them. 

 Brother Geoffrey^ was accordingly commis- 

 sioned by the convent of St. Saviour to state 

 in terms of abject humility and distress that 

 their house for the last three years had been 

 suffering grievously from lessened tithes, 

 seasons of dearth, and every kind of disaster, 

 and to implore aid, as they were at present 

 a spectacle to both king and kingdom and 

 almost utterly consumed by poverty.* It is 

 noticeable that there is an entire absence of 

 scandal in connection with Bermondsey, and 

 that investigation into the causes of this 

 financial distress led to no worse discovery 

 than the lack of government of the material 

 goods of the house and a want of forethought 

 in not discerning that perpetual alienation of 

 property, w^hich so many priors resorted to 

 in order to stave off present difficulties, only 

 rendered the burden more intolerable for 

 their successors. Like other Cluniac founda- 

 tions the house claimed to be exempt from 

 episcopal jurisdiction and was visited by those 

 appointed for the task at the annual chapter 

 general. In 1262 John, prior of Gassicourt, 



Ser.], iii. 446) ; in the year 1222 there died 

 Geoffrey, Odilo, and Hugh, followed in the follow- 

 ing year by the deaths of priors Odilo and Hamon 

 (ibid. 455). In the year 1276 Henry de Monte 

 Mauri resigned, and two of his successors died in 

 the same year (ibid. 465), in 1290 again three 

 priors died in quick succession, John Norman, 

 William de la Charite, and Peter (ibid. 467) ; the 

 death of two heads in one year was no uncommon 

 occurrence. 



1 The Bermondsey annalist mentions that in 

 1228 the hospital of St. Mary Overy, was removed 

 to another site where it could obtain more abun- 

 dant water and better air (ibid. 487). 



2 Duckett, Chart, and Rec. of Abbey of Cluny, ii. 



194-S. 

 3 Ibid. 



« Ibid. 



and Henry, prior of Bermondsey, under the 

 authority of Ives de Poyson, twenty-fifth 

 abbot of Cluny, held a visitation of the 

 English Cluniac houses. It was found on 

 enquiry at Bermondsey that all devotional 

 offices were most properly and becomingly 

 performed, that the rule of silence and the 

 correction of abuses were rigidly fulfilled, and 

 that almsgiving and hospitality were carried 

 out according to established custom. There 

 were thirty-two monks and one lay brother 

 in residence. The debts of the house at that 

 time amounted to 266 marks.^ The number 

 of inmates ® varied very much with the for- 

 tunes of the house ; later the standard number 

 sank much below thirty-two. At the next 

 visitation, 1275-6, the number of the 

 brethren had fallen to twenty ; the debts of 

 the house amounted to 1,000 marks of silver, 

 in addition to an annuity of ^100 to be paid 

 to one of the king's chaplains and his suc- 

 cessors in perpetuity and the alienation of 

 several manors belonging to the priory. 

 With regard to its internal condition the 

 visitors, John, prior of Wenlock, and Arnulf, 

 equerry to the lord abbot, stated that ' before 

 our coming the visitors of the prior of 

 La Charit^ visited and corrected what was 

 amiss.'' In January 1275-6 the custody of 

 the house was committed to the prior of 

 Wenlock during the king's pleasure on 

 account of its inability to meet its debts ; ' 

 this was followed by the resignation of Prior 

 Henry de Monte Mauri and the death of two 

 successors in the same year. The report of 

 the next visitors of the priory shows that 

 matters had become much worse. The prior 

 of Mont-Didier in France and the prior of 

 Lenton, the delegates in 1279, reported that 

 ' the state of this house is simply deplorable.' 

 The number of the brethren, which should 

 have been thirty-two, had sunk to eighteen, 

 and on being asked the reason for this 

 diminution the prior answered that the con- 

 vent was overwhelmed with debt, and on 

 that account, owing to the orders of the 

 diocesan and the wish of the abbot, some of 

 the brethren had been withdrawn. The prior 



5 Ibid. 122. Prior Henry is not given by the 

 Annals under this date, and his may have been an 

 ad interim appointment in the absence of Prior 

 Gwicard. 



6 When Clarembald, fifth prior in succession 

 was elected first abbot of Feversham in 1 148, twelve 

 of the brethren were transferred from the prioiy 

 to the new foundation {Ann. Mon. [Rolls Ser.], ii. 



+38)- 



^ Duckett, Chart, and Rec. of Abbey of Cluny, u. 



p. 124. 



8 Pat. 4 Edw. I. m. 32. 



69 



