HOUSES OF AUSTIN CANONS
10. ROYSTON PRIORY
The priory of St. John Baptist and St.
Thomas the Martyr of Royston seems to have
originated in a chapel built by Eustace de
Merk in his fee of Newsells for three chaplains;
this was enlarged or rebuilt at his request by
his nephew Ralph de Rochester, who placed
there seven canons regular, and gave them in
frankalmoign the site, the green before the
door and wall of the close, 140 acres of arable
land near the precinct and pasture for 120
sheep in his manor. (fn. 1) The licence granted by
Walter Abbot of St. John Baptist, Colchester
(c. 1164-79), (fn. 2) to the poor brothers at Rose's
Cross to build a chapel and consecrate a cemetery in the parish of Barkway (fn. 3) probably relates
to Eustace's house. (fn. 4) The date of Rochester's
foundation is fixed as earlier than April 1184
by the bull of Pope Lucius III, (fn. 5) then directed
to Simon the prior and the canons, taking under
the protection of St. Peter the church of St.
John Baptist and St. Thomas the Martyr (fn. 6) at
Rose's Cross, and ordering the rule of St.
Augustine to be observed there inviolably.
They might receive as brothers any clerks or
laymen who were free and without ties; those
who made profession there must not depart
except to enter a stricter order; the election of
the prior was to be free; during a general
interdict divine service might be celebrated
there with closed doors; there was to be free
burial there saving the rights of other churches;
the convent could present to the parish churches
which belonged to them priests who should
answer to them for the issues; sentence of
excommunication, suspension or interdict was
not to be published against them or their church
without reasonable cause; and interference
with them and their property was forbidden.
The pope also confirmed to them their possessions, among which were specified the churches
of Coddenham (co. Suffolk) and Chesterton
(co. Huntingdon) with certain small tithes and
land given by Eustace de Merk, the grant of
Ralph de Rochester, and land worth 20s., the
gift of Ralph Walensis.
From the charter of Richard I to the priory
in November 1189 (fn. 7) it appears that Eustace de
Merk's endowment included also the church of
Owersby (fn. 8) (co. Lincoln) and land in 'Lagefare,'
'Haclinges,' Owersby and Thornton, and that
the canons had acquired from other donors
small pieces of land in 'Ruyt,' possibly Reed,
and Barley (co. Herts.), Melbourn, Bassingbourn and Kneesworth (co. Camb.), 'Halsewic,' probably Alswick in Layston, and
'Wanlinton,' perhaps Wallington. The king
confirmed these to the convent and granted
them a fair at Royston throughout the
week of Pentecost and a weekly market
according to the custom of the canons of
Dunstable; he gave them sac and soc, tol and
team, infangthef and utfangthef and murder;
freedom for them and their men and tenants
from all scot and geld, aids, hidage, danegeld,
shires and hundreds, wardpenny and burghpenny, works of castles; and acquittance of
all toll in fairs and markets and crossing of
bridges throughout the kingdom; the canons
were to have the chattels of thieves and all
forfeitures which occurred in their lands or
those of their men, and they were not to be
impleaded as to their property except before
the king and his chief justice. The charter
was confirmed in February 1272 (fn. 9) and several
times afterwards, (fn. 10) and the important privileges
it conferred were claimed by the prior and
allowed in 1277. (fn. 11)
Improvements were being made to the house
in December 1225, for the king then gave the
prior leave to inclose the road beneath the west
wall of the priory for its enlargement, (fn. 12) and
granted him timber to build a chamber for
himself. (fn. 13)
For the rest, information about the priory
during the 13th century relates either to difficulties with other religious bodies (fn. 14) over conflicting liberties or to its additions of property.
The canons obtained in 1242 a second fair at
Royston to be held on the vigil and feast of
St. Thomas the Martyr, (fn. 15) and in 1254 a weekly
market and annual fair at Chesterton. (fn. 16) Part
of the manor of Hamerton was acquired
c. 1221-2 (fn. 17) ; before 1251 they received the
manor of Eriswell in Suffolk from William de
Rochester, (fn. 18) their patron, (fn. 19) who gave them
besides land in the neighbourhood of Royston (fn. 20) ;
from Peter de Rochester they had the mill of
'Beriton' with multure and fishery in Eriswell and
Coclesworth (fn. 21) and a holding in Lakenheath, and
from two others land in East and West Reed;
and c. 1255 a carucate of land in Chesterton
from Giles de Merk. (fn. 22) Houses in Fleet Street,
London, were bequeathed to them in 1290 by
Richard de Staunford, clerk of the Exchequer,
to maintain a chantry in their church, (fn. 23) a rent
of £4 14s. in Royston was alienated to them
in 1292 by Isabella de Harleston, (fn. 24) and land
and rent in Coddenham in 1293 by Geoffrey
Lenvyse. (fn. 25)
The priory was not badly off compared
with most religious houses in the county,
but its resources were perhaps hardly equal to
its responsibilities, judging from the constant
disturbances within its area of administration. (fn. 26)
Some men of Bassingbourn about 1269 knocked
down the walls of Royston and broke the gates (fn. 27) ;
and business at the Whitsuntide fair in 1292
was suspended by rioters, among whom was
the lord of Newsells' steward. (fn. 28) Some of the
convent indeed about 1308 came to close
quarters with a gang of robbers. (fn. 29) The prior
and sub-prior, Robert de Bernwell, on this
occasion were set upon near Royston; Bernwell ran to the town, collected a band of men,
headed the pursuit and took an active part in
the affray, during which one robber was killed
and others wounded and captured. Without
any dispensation for this bloodshed, Bernwell
continued to exercise his priestly functions, and
was sent by the Bishop of London in 1308 to
the pope for absolution.
The spirit of violence had infected the cloister.
At the same visitation the bishop found that
Ralph de Ashwell, another canon, in the course
of a quarrel had badly wounded Bernwell,
'causing great scandal in many parts of
England.' Ashwell had also to go to the pope. (fn. 30)
John de Waldene confessed that he had
raised his hand against the late prior, and,
although he was thereby excommunicate, had
celebrated mass, and he therefore begged to be
sent to the papal court to obtain dispensation. (fn. 31)
The bishop, however, suspected that Waldene
would have preferred the journey to the penance
already imposed for other misdeeds, so refusing
his request he sent him, as he had intended, to
the abbey of St. Osyth, there to be kept in prison
and to fast on bread and water twice a week. (fn. 32)
These cases give point to some of the episcopal injunctions, (fn. 33) viz., plotting among the
canons, revelation of the secrets of the house,
insults and quarrels were to be sharply checked
by the prior without respect of persons, and a
prison was to be built in a safe place in the house
for the punishment of delinquent canons. The
others, as might be expected, indicate general
carelessness and slackness in discipline, religion
and management. Money in lieu of clothes
was not to be given to the canons; the sick
were to be provided with suitable food; silence
was to be kept according to the rule; the
decrease in the number of the convent must be
remedied as soon as possible; the prior on pain
of deprivation was to enforce a better observance
of the injunctions of the Archbishop of Canterbury and of the Bishop of London; canons were
not to wander about the town or enter the
houses of laymen without good cause, the prior's
leave being first obtained, nor eat and drink
except in the refectory, infirmary or the prior's
room; women, especially those of the neighbourhood, were not to eat within the precincts
nor enter the cloister and other places reserved
to the convent, unless the prior gave permission
in the case of women of good repute coming with
a proper escort; the brothers were to eat and
sleep together and be present at the services
day and night; no office was to be committed
to a canon not instructed in his rule; obedientiaries and those receiving the goods of the
house must render accounts at least once a year,
and the prior must make known the state of
their affairs and consult the most experienced
of the convent about expenditure.
In 1310 another canon had to seek papal absolution for celebrating service while excommunicated for violence. (fn. 34) This man, Walter de
Kelishulle, had behaved like one frenzied: he had
assaulted the prior and a clerk so as to draw blood,
attacked one of the convent with drawn sword
in the church, and dragged the sub-prior about
the room, tearing his clothes off his back. In
September he was consigned by the bishop to
St. Osyth's, (fn. 35) with directions that he was to be
last in quire, cloister, chapter, refectory, and
dormitory, attend all the services, and celebrate
mass daily; and except at the most important
festivals he was to have only bread, soup and
ale on Thursdays and Saturdays. The punishment in this instance appears light for the
offence, and it would be interesting to know all
the circumstances. It is evident that Bishop
Baldock considered the prior most unsatisfactory.
Geoffrey Hakoun seems to have had a special
faculty for surrounding himself with undesirable familiars and servants. By an injunction
of 1308 Robert Cook was to be removed from all
office. Later (fn. 36) the prior was ordered to avoid
the company of John Loth, who was to be
deprived of office after rendering account, and
to remove the warden of Eastwood, putting in
his place a trustworthy person with the convent's
consent. He himself was forbidden under pain
of deprivation to alienate property without
urgent necessity, as he had done, or contract
heavy loans without the convent's assent; and
in future he must neither receive nor spend
the issues of the priory save in the presence of
a canon deputed by the rest.
In 1311 Hakoun practically set the bishop at
defiance by procuring from the general chapter
of the order the reversal of his commands about
John de Waldene and the administration of
the conventual property, (fn. 37) and in April 1313
was threatened with excommunication and
deprivation by the bishop if he did not observe
his injunctions, hitherto utterly neglected. (fn. 38)
What happened in the end is not known.
Bishop Baldock died shortly afterwards,
and Hakoun remained in possession until
November 1314 and then resigned, (fn. 39) possibly
under pressure, for the choice of a canon from
another house to succeed him hints at reform. (fn. 40)
Surrounding conditions probably made maintenance of discipline and management of property particularly difficult here. The prior
complained in 1313 that the gates and doors of
the priory had been broken and the bailiff of
his market assaulted, (fn. 41) and in 1314 that his
goods had been carried off. (fn. 42)
The house continued to add to its possessions.
The manor of Reed was bought in 1303 from
Adam de Twynham (fn. 43) ; in 1354 land and rent
in Cockenhatch and Reed were acquired from
William de Norton (fn. 44) and 70 acres in Cockenhatch from Michael de Spayne the next year (fn. 45) ;
and grants of land in West Reed, Royston and
Buckland were made to the convent by Thomas
Palfreyman between 1358 and 1368, (fn. 46) partly to
maintain a lamp at the high altar of their
church and to endow a chantry and obit. The
prior and convent also received from William
Slyng and his wife Maud in 1363 a messuage in
Holborn worth 8s. a year to find a candle at
high mass on Sunday before the high altar. (fn. 47)
In 1385 they obtained licence to acquire property in mortmain to the annual value of £10, (fn. 48)
and in 1386 William Koo gave them messuages
in Royston to half the amount. (fn. 49) Edmund
Earl of March, their patron, (fn. 50) bequeathed
40 marks to the house in 1382-3 that a daily
mass might be celebrated for his soul for a
year. (fn. 51)
William Pynchbek, who had been made prior
in March 1398-9, (fn. 52) was accused with two of the
canons, John Burgh and Walter Adam, in 1401
of having procured his election through secular
power and simony. (fn. 53) They denied the charge,
and cleared themselves before the bishop's
commissary by bringing beneficed clergymen to
testify to their life and conduct.
Except as regards its temporal jurisdiction, (fn. 54)
very little is heard of the house for a century.
In 1517 two changes were made at the priory
by Bishop Fitz James at the request of Robert
White, the prior. (fn. 55) To replace more easily the
service books now worn out, the adoption of
the Sarum use was authorized instead of that
of Bangor. The feast of the dedication of the
conventual church was at the same time transferred from 22 June to 19 October, because the
former date came too near St. John Baptist's
Day, the festival of the place.
The church was then undergoing repairs,
which must have extended over some time, for
Thomas Gery in 1517 left 40s. for that purpose,
and in 1527 a bequest of £10 was made by
William Lee to complete the chancel roof. (fn. 56)
When White died on 1 April 1534 (fn. 57) a difficulty arose between the convent and the Earl of
Oxford, who as owner of Newsells believed he
had a voice in the selection of the prior. Richard
Bretten, one of the canons, he told Cromwell,
was canvassing the gentlemen and yeomen of
the district ostensibly to have a free election,
but really to get the post for himself (fn. 58) ; and
in Cromwell's statement that the king was
founder he could only see the result of Bretten's
intrigues. (fn. 59) But Bretten was right on both
counts. The patronage of the priory had long
since passed from the lords of Newsells, and
belonged to the king as heir of the Mortimers (fn. 60) ;
and the choice of the prior rested with the
convent. The congé d'élire was given on
14 May, (fn. 61) Richard Bretten was chosen, and
the king assented on 12 June to his election. (fn. 62)
The affair, however, was evidently not yet
settled. Bretten appears to have been absent
when the acknowledgement of the royal
supremacy was made by the house, 1 July
1534, (fn. 63) and although he was styled prior in
October, when he borrowed 20 marks for his
monastery 'in his great necessity,' (fn. 64) the royal
assent was given a second time in December. (fn. 65)
The Earl of Oxford had called him unthrifty
and unfit for rule, and declared that he would
ruin the house, but his opinion is too biased to
be trustworthy, and the available evidence is all
in Bretten's favour. The commissioners who
received the surrender of the priory in 1537
pronounced the convent to be of very good
report and name and the building in very good
repair. (fn. 66)
At the dissolution of the house on 9 April
1537 Bretten received an annual pension of
£16 13s. 4d., but the other six canons were
dismissed with a small present. (fn. 67)
The goods were worth £132 13s. 6d. (fn. 68) and the
plate £30 3s. 2¼d. (fn. 69) ; the lead was valued at
£28 and the three bells at £29. (fn. 70) The income
of the priory in 1291 was about £61 (fn. 71) ; in 1535
it was reckoned at £89 16s. net, (fn. 72) perhaps a low
estimate, as its gross revenues in 1537 were at
least £133. (fn. 73)
Priors of Royston
Simon, occurs April 1184 (fn. 74)
W., occurs October 1229 (fn. 75)
Osbert, occurs 28 October 1254 (fn. 76)
Richard, occurs 1290 (fn. 77) and 1294 (fn. 78) ; Richard
de Leccinton died c. 1297 (fn. 79)
Thomas, occurs May 1302 (fn. 80)
Geoffrey, occurs 1313, (fn. 81) resigned 1314 (fn. 82)
John de Broome, (fn. 83) elected 1314 (fn. 84)
John de Beauchamp, occurs 1339 (fn. 85)
Thomas, occurs 1346 (fn. 86)
John de Arneburgh, occurs 1354, (fn. 87) 1361 (fn. 88) and
1362, (fn. 89) and died 25 July 1369 (fn. 90)
John West, elected 9 August 1369 (fn. 91) ; John
occurs 25 November 1383 (fn. 92)
John Adam, died 10 March 1398-9 (fn. 93)
William de Pynchbek, elected 21 March
1398-9, (fn. 94) occurs October 1401 (fn. 95)
Walter (Adam), occurs 15 October 1413 (fn. 96)
Richard, occurs 24 October 1427, (fn. 97) 1434, (fn. 98)
February 1439, (fn. 99) died 24 December 1441 (fn. 100)
George Wright, elected 23 February 1441-2 (fn. 101)
John Borough, occurs 30 November 1451, (fn. 102)
died 26 April 1484 (fn. 103)
John Kyrkeby, occurs temp. Henry VII (fn. 104)
Robert White, occurs 1517, (fn. 105) September 1521, (fn. 106)
August 1532, (fn. 107) died 1 April 1534 (fn. 108)
Richard Bretten, elected 1534, (fn. 109) surrendered
March 1537 (fn. 110)
The seal of this priory, of 15th-century date, (fn. 111)
is vesica-shaped, with a design of two niches
with elaborate canopies and having tabernacle
work at the sides; in the one on the right stands
St. Thomas of Canterbury with mitre and
crozier, blessing with his right hand; in that
on the left is another saint, presumably St. John
Baptist. Below under the round-headed arch
supporting the niches is a little figure of a prior
praying. Legend: SIGILL[um] . COMMUNE . [p]ORAT
. . . DOMUS . . . [..] · THOME · DE · RO . . .