Abbeys and Priories of Medieval Wales

by Janet Burton, Karen Stöber

Overview

This volume is a comprehensive, richly illustrated guide to the religious houses of Wales from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries. It offers a thorough introduction to the history of monastic orders in Wales, including the Benedictines, Cluniacs, Cistercians, and many others; in addition, it provides detailed accounts of almost sixty communes of religious men and women. Descriptions of the extant remains of the buildings, as well as maps, ground plans, and traveler information make this not just a work of scholarship, but an indispensable guide for pilgrims as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781783161799
Publisher:	University of Wales Press
Publication date:	05/15/2015
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Janet Burton is professor of medieval history at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in Lampeter, Wales.



Karen Stöber is a lecturer in medieval history at the University of Lleida, Spain.

Read an Excerpt

Abbeys and Priories of Medieval Wales

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By Janet Burton, Karen Stöber

University of Wales Press

Copyright © 2015 Janet Burton and Karen Stöber
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78316-180-5

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CHAPTER 1

ABERCONWY

(LATER MAE NAN) CISTERCIAN ABBEY

Dedication: St Mary

Diocese: Bangor (Maenan: St Asaph)

Grid reference: SH7816377526 (Maenan: SH7897365683)

Old county: Caernarfonshire

Local authority: Conwy

Ownership and access: public access to the church, which is in the ownership of the Representative Body of the Church in Wales (Maenan: no remains; site now occupied by a hotel)

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HISTORY

THE BRUT Y TYWYSOGION notes that in 1186 a colony of monks was sent from Strata Florida to found a monastery at Rhedynog Felen near Caernarfon, in the lordship of Arfon. The founder may well have been Rhodri ab Owain Gwynedd (d. 1195), who was lord of Arfon at the time of the foundation and who was married to a daughter of the Lord Rhys, patron of Strata Florida. Such a connection could well explain the choice of Strata Florida as mother house of the new colony. Rhodri's nephew, Gruffudd ap Cynan, was also a benefactor of Aberconwy; he was buried at the abbey, having taken the habit there before his death in 1200. His son, Hywel, was similarly afforded the privilege of interment (1216). The site was not occupied for long before (by 1192) the community moved to Aberconwy, at the mouth of the River Conwy. Rhedynog Felen was retained as a grange of the abbey. The most significant benefactor was Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, Llywelyn Fawr (d. 1240), who took the habit at the abbey and was buried there. His stone coffin may now be seen in Llanrwst church. Llywelyn's second son and successor, Dafydd, was also buried at the abbey (1246) and two years later the abbots of Aberconwy and the mother house of Strata Florida journeyed to London to ask King Henry III for the body of Llywelyn's elder son, Gruffudd, who had been killed while trying to escape from the Tower of London. He too was interred at Aberconwy. It may have been the close connection between the abbey and the house of Gwynedd that led to the burning and looting of the monastery by the forces of Henry III in 1245, though Henry did subsequently offer financial recompense and took the community into his protection. Certainly the close relationship between the rulers of Gwynedd and their Cistercian abbey continued under Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (Llywelyn the Last), who rewarded the monks' loyalty with grants, and they in turn gave him £40 for his kindness. In 1280 the General Chapter of the entire Cistercian Order, at the request of the abbot of Aberconwy, admitted Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd, and Dafydd's wife Elizabeth, into the special prayers and confraternity of the order. It was at the abbey that Llywelyn surrendered to Edward I of England in 1277, and in 1283, in his final campaign in Wales, Edward used the abbey as his headquarters. He decided that the site was just what was needed for his new castle and borough – symbols of his conquest of Gwynedd – and the monastery, except for the church, was demolished. This became the parish church of the borough in 1283/4 (see figure 1).

The monastic community was relocated to a site in the valley of the River Conwy and henceforth known as Maenan. The General Chapter of the order gave its consent, but stipulated that inspectors appointed by it should approve the site and resources that had been offered. Building seems to have been well underway when Edward I and his queen visited in March and again in October 1284, and we may suggest that their visits were connected with the beginning of conventual life at Maenan. Shortly afterwards Maenan, along with other Cistercian abbeys, was compensated for damages sustained in the wars, in Maenan's case to the tune of £100. Edward seems to have taken a personal interest in the abbey, making further gifts – nearly £77 in 1291 – for the completion of the building work. The monks were also in possession of substantial estates, including arable granges on Anglesey. However, the abbey seems to have been frequently in financial difficulties in the fourteenth century. In 1344, for instance, it was in debt to Italian merchants from Florence, and in 1346 to the Black Prince. At the time of the 1379 Poll Tax there were just an abbot, a prior, and four monks.

It is clear that the abbey was implicated in the revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Abbot Hywel was outlawed in 1406 for siding with the rebels, though pardoned in 1409, and as late as 1448 and 1449 the abbey was claiming still to be suffering the consequences of the aftermath of rebellion, with chalices, ornaments, books, and vestments depleted or lost. The monks must have made their case, for they were excused payments due to the English king. A little is known of the later abbots of Aberconwy. Reginald ap Gruffudd ap Llywelyn ap Gruffudd occurs in 1458, and nearly thirty years later, in 1482, the General Chapter appointed two English abbots to enquire into the yearly pension allegedly paid to his son, Dafydd, and into a certain house belonging to the abbey, which Dafydd's mother enjoyed. In 1484 headship of the abbey was disputed between Abbot David Winchcombe, who went on to be abbot of Cymer and then of Strata Florida, and Abbot David Lloyd, who seems to have had the support of King Richard III and who was successful in taking the post at Maenan. Lloyd may have been the abbot who was killed falling from his horse in 1490; certainly he was the subject of poems by two of the Welsh bards, who praised his learning and his generosity. Another man named Dafydd, Dafydd ab Owain, previously abbot of Strata Marcella, became bishop of St Asaph in 1503 and was allowed to hold his bishopric with the abbacy of Aberconwy. Two brothers ruled the house in the sixteenth century: Huw ap Rhys between 1526 and 1528, and Richard ap Rhys as last abbot from 1535 to 1537. The house was dissolved in March 1537. Written evidence suggests that the buildings were swiftly demolished, materials being used, for instance, for repairs of the castle and others buildings in Caernarfon.

BUILDINGS AND MONUMENTS

The site of the abbey was a restricted one, encircled by the River Conwy, the coast, and the mountains. The former abbey church of Aberconwy assumed parish status as the church of St Mary, Conwy, after the removal of the monks to Maenan. It was largely rebuilt in the late thirteenth century to contain a nave of four bays, a south transept, an aisleless chancel, and tower. Some fabric of the former monastic church is preserved in the east and west walls. It is possible that the present church represents only the nave of the Cistercian church, though Lawrence Butler suggested that it contains the complete original church. Robinson has demonstrated that the current parish church is similar in length to the nave of Strata Florida, mother house of Aberconwy, and inclines to the view that the parish church may indeed be the successor to the nave of the Cistercian church, though with the patronage of the rulers of Gwynedd it is unlikely to have remained incomplete until the 1280s. There are scant remains of the monastic buildings.

There are now no standing remains at Maenan. A house was built over the west range after the closure of the abbey, and this was replaced by a mansion in the mid-nineteenth century, which subsequently became a hotel. Excavations to the south and south-west of the hotel in 1968 recovered something of the ground plan of the late thirteenth-century church.

Bryan 1999; Burton 2007; Burton and Kerr 2011; Butler 2004; Hays 1963; Robinson 2006a; Stephenson 2002, 2013; Williams, D. 1990, 2001.

CHAPTER 2

ABERGAVENNY

BENEDICTINE PRIORY

Dedication: St Mary

Diocese: Llandaff

Grid reference: SO30091411

Old county: Monmouthshire

Local authority: Monmouthshire

Ownership and access: public access to the church, which is in the ownership of the Representative Body of the Church in Wales

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HISTORY

THE PRIORY OF St Mary, Abergavenny, was one of a number of Benedictine houses in South Wales to be founded in the wake of the coming of the Normans. Its origins lay in a grant made by Hamelin de Ballon (Barham) to the French abbey of St Vincent du Mans. Hamelin had been granted the lordship of northern Gwent, including the castle of Abergavenny, by King William II, and with his brother, Winebald, lord of Caerleon, he exercised considerable power in the region. It was not until the reign of William's successor, Henry I (1100–35), however, that Hamelin granted to the monks of Le Mans 'from the subsistence with which he has been endowed by his lords William and Henry, kings of the English, in England and Wales', tithes and lands, 'his castle called Abergavenny, with the church and chapel of the castle'. Thus it was that from its very beginning the priory of Abergavenny was closely associated with the castle of the Norman lords. To make clear how sacred his gift was Hamelin placed his charter on the very altar of the abbey church of Le Mans. In addition to the castle chapel, which would have housed the monks while their monastery was in the process of construction and which they were probably intended to serve, Hamelin granted land for the monks' dwelling places, a bourg (township), water for a mill, and rights to fish in the river, as well as a church. Hamelin and Winebald added further churches and tithes, making Abergavenny's endowment a considerable one. Despite the part played by both brothers it was Hamelin whom later generations of monks regarded as their founder.

At first the small monastic settlement established at Abergavenny functioned as a cell of the French abbey, that is, there would only have been a few monks there to administer the local property on behalf of Le Mans. However in the reign of Henry II (1154–89) the then lord of Abergavenny, William de Braose, further increased the endowments of the monks so that full conventual life could be sustained there. His generosity to the monks meant that he and later patrons could expect a more substantial number of monks – usually thirteen – to carry out the round of liturgical services, rather than just being an economic unit. In 1195 Henry, prior of Abergavenny, was elected as bishop of Llandaff. Despite this distinction, the priory continued to be a dependency of Le Mans, and the Abergavenny monks were required to pay the mother abbey the yearly sum of £5 7s as a mark of their dependent status. The abbot of Le Mans, or a proxy appointed by him, would have been expected to visit the priory from time to time in order to ensure that the standards of observance were being maintained. From 1204, when the county of Maine was lost to the English king, this would have been more difficult.

It was not just the abbot of Le Mans who would have been concerned about the state of monastic life at Abergavenny. This was also of considerable interest to Abergavenny's patron (since a poorly run monastery might reflect badly on a patron) and to local churchmen. John de Hastings, the priory's patron, took action when in 1319 he discovered things that troubled him. So concerned was he that he requested Pope John XXII to instigate reform at the priory. And so the following year Bishop Adam de Orleton of Hereford was appointed to conduct a visitation. On his arrival, accompanied by the bishop of Llandaff and other clergy, Bishop Adam summoned the prior and monks to appear before him for questioning. He found that there was a considerable discrepancy between the size of convent that the priory's resources (around 240 marks, or just over £158) could sustain – which he estimated would be thirteen monks – and the actual number, which was just five. Such a fall in numbers could not be excused in terms of finance.

What made matters worse was that the bishop was informed that numbers had rarely exceeded that number in the previous four decades. Adam reprimanded the monks for neglect and mismanagement: the priory was in a ruinous state and the monks had squandered their resources. He was also gravely concerned that the monks wandered freely outside the priory even at night – disregarding their vow of stability; some allegedly consorted with laymen and prostitutes, played dice and other games instead of celebrating divine office, failed to observe silence in the cloister and refectory, and ate meat in the refectory even though this was prohibited (meat-eating was usually confined to a special room called a misericord). There were further, and even more questionable, activities. Allegations were made that the monks would put on straw crowns and process from their dormitory naked, with arms outstretched, in imitation of the Crucifixion. This, evidently, was intended as entertainment for their friends. Bishop Adam uncovered evidence of other more serious scandals but thought it wiser not to commit these to writing; thus the nature of these alleged offences remains unknown. However, there was no such reticence about the misconduct of the prior, Fulk Gastard. Even before the visitation took place Prior Fulk had been accused of perjury and had fled before the bishop arrived, taking with him silverware, garments, relics, and books belonging to the house. The enquiry declared the prior guilty of incontinence and adultery, agreed that his presence undermined the priory's reputation, and removed him from office in 1320. Richard of Bromwich, a monk of Worcester, was appointed as the new prior of Abergavenny. Bishop Adam stipulated that in future there should be twelve monks and a prior, and that whenever there was a vacancy the monks of Abergavenny, rather than the abbot of St Vincent du Mans, should elect the new prior. He may have hoped that giving the daughter house more control over the election of its head would instil a sense of responsibility for standards at the house. However, despite this thorough reform, potential scandal surfaced about twenty years later, in 1343, when it was rumoured that the prior of Abergavenny had fled to France taking with him the monastery's jewels and money. Whatever the truth of these allegations, the prior was certainly back in office the following year with two sureties from Southampton to guarantee the payment of his debts.

During the Hundred Years War between France and England (c.1300–1450) life became difficult for those houses, like Abergavenny, that were dependent on French mother houses. Already there had been indications of the ambiguity of their situation, for John de Hastings, patron of the house, had insisted that monks of French nationality should be replaced by Englishmen. The monks of Le Mans did not react well to his intervention but took legal action against John, who died in 1325 before the case was settled. John evidently found favour with the Abergavenny monks, however, for they offered him burial in their church. The prior of Abergavenny clearly had to work hard to maintain his independence of action.

In 1339 he paid £20 as an initial payment followed by an annual sum of £8 to be allowed to retain control of his house, although the sum was reduced to £6 13s in 1351 because of the poverty brought in the wake of the Black Death. The replacement of French monks at this early date, however, proved to be an advantage in the longer term. In 1414 the Crown confiscated a number of alien priories, and later still in 1440 the commission set up to deal with the alien priories, granted some of them to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and to Henry VI's college at Eton, in order to augment their endowments. Abergavenny, however, was not affected by these changes since its monks were English rather than French. Instead, the priory gained independent status and, like Chepstow, Monmouth, and Goldcliff, became a native priory with an independent English community.

Abergavenny was not a large house, but it was reasonably prosperous, although like most houses it suffered peaks and troughs in its fortunes. In 1291 its estimated income was just under £52, and it held 240 acres and two mills. Like other Benedictine priories most of this sum – about £38 – came from the income from churches and tithes. However, around 1405 it suffered badly: during the revolt of Owain Glyn Dwr the priory was burnt and its books and ornaments destroyed. It was claimed that even the service books that the monks used for the performance of the liturgy were lost. These had come from Le Mans, and followed the form of service in use there; after their loss the monks had permission to follow the 'Use of Sarum', an English form of service, rather than the French one to which they were accustomed. Some of the monks were so disillusioned at being attacked that they left Abergavenny and returned to France, but in 1411 Prior William sought royal permission to bring three monks from the mother house to restore numbers. The next prior, Richard Eton, who had come from Christchurch, Canterbury (c.1417), further enhanced Abergavenny's fortunes and in the following decade the monks were clearly engaged in rebuilding part of the church, for the pope, Martin V, granted an indulgence to all those who visited the church on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (14 September) and gave alms towards the project. In 1535 Abergavenny's income was assessed for the Valor ecclesiasticus at £129. As its income was under £200 per annum it was classed as a 'lesser monastery', and dissolved on 5–6 September 1536. At this time there were four monks living at Abergavenny with their prior, William Marley, who was awarded a pension.

(Continues...)

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of maps

List of images

Abbreviations

Introduction

Foreword to Gazetteer

Gazetteer of Abbeys and Priories

Glossary

Bibliography