28 The Fall of the Friars' Souses and Alien Priories in Wilts. 



the soil of England wont to swell the resources of her rivals in time 

 of peace, her enemies in time of war. The Plantagenet Kings, on 

 discovering this, boldly seized the revenues of these Alien Priories 

 in time of war between England and France. This was first done 

 by Edw. I., and apparently repeated by Edw. II., for we find that 

 one of the early acts of Edw. III. is the restitution of these priories 

 to their owners. The same monarch, however, in 1337 once more 

 seized the revenues of the Alien Priories, and retained them for the 

 long period of twenty- three years, when, on the conclusion of the 

 treaty of Bretigny, they were restored. Richard II. attempted to 

 solve the difficulty by endeavouring, but without success, to induce 

 the foreign abbeys to sell their English possessions ; while his 

 successor, Henry IV., made the arrangement that in time of war 

 these priories should, as a matter of course, pay their revenues to 

 the Crown of England. Henry V., in pursuance of his aggressive 

 policy against France, obtained an Act of Parliament, appropriating 

 the Alien Priories to the king's use, some of the estates, including 

 in this county Ogbourne and Avebury, being assigned to the support 

 of the royal foundation of the College of Fotheringhay. This was 

 confirmed by a charter of Henry VI., who further endowed his 

 foundations of Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, with 

 more of the confiscated estates, while most of the remainder were 

 granted to Archbishop Chichele, for his foundations at Higham 

 Ferrers and All Souls, Oxford. Some few appear to have been 

 given to private persons, chiefly among the nobility, but' as a whole 

 the suppression of the Alien Priories differed from that of the time 

 of Henry VIII. in that the lands, etc., were still devoted to religious 

 uses, including in that term the endowment of educational 

 establishments. The Alien Priories in Wiltshire, so far as I can 

 ascertain, were as follows : — 



Ogbourne (Okebourne). Given by Maud de Walingford to the 

 Abbey of Bee, in Normandy, about the year 1149. The 

 manor was probably given to Fotheringhay, as I find the 

 sale of Barbery leas in Ogbourne S. George as part of the 

 possessions of that college to Sir William Sharmgton. 



