OF SELBOBNE. 
429 
resolving to give way to that torrent of envy whicli lie 
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. 
^ 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 
