HOUSES OF CISTERCIAN MONKS
5. THE ABBEY OF FURNESS
The abbey of Furness was founded in the
year 1127 by Stephen, then count of Boulogne
and Mortain and lord of Lancaster. (fn. 1) Three
years earlier Stephen had granted to the abbot of
Savigny in his county of Mortain the vill of
Tulketh in Amounderness; and it was from this
place that the Savigniac monks retired to the
deep vale of Bekanesgill. (fn. 2) The new grant comprised the whole of the forest and demesne of
Furness, Walney Island, the manor of Ulverston,
the land of Roger Bristwald, the count's fishery
in the Lune by Lancaster, and Warin the Little
with his land. The land of Michael le Fleming
in Furness was excepted, but this limitation to
the completeness of the abbot's sway in the
peninsula was removed early in the reign of
Henry III. From the first the abbey, a bulwark
of the honour of Lancaster, was under the special
protection of the crown. Its rights and privileges were confirmed and enlarged by nearly
every king from Henry I to Henry IV. (fn. 3) The
earlier royal and papal confirmations illustrate
also the rapid increase in the possessions of the
house during the twelfth century. (fn. 4) Throughout
the thirteenth the abbey slowly rounded off its
possessions in Lancashire and Yorkshire, and this
process, if hindered, was not ended by the statute
de Religiosis. The isolation of Furness increased
rather than checked a power possessed by few
religious houses in the north; and the abbot
ruled vast territories with feudal independence
and social advantage.
The historical importance of the abbey springs
from this feudal ascendancy. As a religious
house it left no great monument of learning or
piety, and trained no great man. Its documents
are feudal deeds; its instruction was confined to
the children of the demesne; its internal history
must be written on the basis of legal disputes;
on the other hand, its independent lordship over
a large self-contained tract gave political importance to the abbey for more than two centuries.
So far as England was concerned Furness was
like an island; (fn. 5) the abbot's relations with
Scotland were, as will be seen, those of a border
baron; (fn. 6) for long he took a responsible share in
the conflict of north and south, of lay and
ecclesiastical influences, which gave significance
to the Isle of Man. Ireland was his granary in
times of need, (fn. 7) his granges of Beaumont and
Winterburn were stations on the way to York
and the south; his messuage in Beverley gave
shelter to his bailiffs as they mixed with the
traders of the east. It is this combination of
solitary base and wide-spread connexion which
gives meaning to the frequent but not very clear
or well-defined appearance of the abbot and his
convent upon the political stage.
Until the settlement of England under the
strong rule of Henry II, the new abbey was
busied in maintaining its precarious position in
the north. But the political storms of the period
were at first less embarrassing than the problems
raised by its relations with the monastic world.
The events which led to a settlement of Savigniac monks in the domain of Stephen are not
known; perhaps we can trace the first settlers
by the Ribble in the enthusiasts who helped to
arouse the reform party at York to retire to
Fountains. (fn. 8) In any case the abbey was certainly
of Savigniac origin, (fn. 9) and soon became involved
in the disputes to which the union of Savigny
and Citeaux gave rise. Savigny was surrendered
five years after King Stephen confirmed his
original grant of Furness, and in 1148 thirteen
English abbeys joined the Cistercian order. (fn. 10)
Furness did not submit without a struggle.
Ignoring the charter of subjection to Savigny,
the fourth abbot, Peter of York, hurried to
Rome to appeal against the new order. According to the abbey tradition he procured a confirmation from Eugenius III of the existing state
of things, but upon his return was detained at
the mother house, and forced to give up his
position. 'He entered Savigny, where he stayed,
a most excellent monk, learning the Cistercian
rule. Thence he was promoted to be fifth abbot
of Quarr.' (fn. 11) The records of Savigny tell a more
authentic story. Peter returned from Rome with
letters appointing a commission to decide the case
in Normandy. He succeeded in getting the date
of the trial postponed, but failed to appear upon
the day fixed. Whether he was detained at
Savigny or was contumacious cannot be decided.
The judges, after waiting in vain for the missing
abbot, went into the case. The abbot of Savigny
showed that Furness had been built and maintained at the expense of his monastery. Peter
was forced to submit, and his fellow monks,
under their new abbot, Richard of Bayeux, a
learned monk of Savigny, joined in the transfer
of their house to the Cistercian order. (fn. 12)
Although the authority of Savigny could not,
in the nature of things, last very long or retain
much force, (fn. 13) the decision had important results.
The English abbey had to find its place in the
Cistercian ranks. A dispute, finally settled in
1232, arose with Waverley about the right of
precedence in the two orders. (fn. 14) As the middle
ages wore on, our scanty authorities seem to
show that Furness maintained the high position
which it then secured. (fn. 16) But the event of most
immediate importance to Furness was the loss of
all possible influence at Byland. The story of
the first colony at Calder, of its failure, repulse
at Furness, and settlement at Byland must be
sought elsewhere. The prosperity of the new
abbey caused the older to claim superiority.
The claim was disregarded, and Furness was
rejected in favour of Savigny. A general council
deputed the case to Ailred of Rievaulx, who called
a large assembly of abbots and monks. The
immediate tie between Savigny and Byland was
confirmed. (fn. 16)
Meanwhile the abbey passed through troublous
times in the north. In the days of King Stephen
Furness was thrown violently into the conflict
which made the whole of Northumbria and
Cumbria a battle-ground between the scarcely
defined nations. The sympathies of the monks
themselves were as much Scottish as English.
The Furness historian Jocelin wrote under the
patronage of Scottish and Irish prelates the lives of
northern saints. Pilgrims from Furness journeyed
to their shrines. (fn. 17) As late as 1211 an abbot of
Furness was consecrated at Melrose by a bishop
of Down. (fn. 18) And when Carlisle was handed over
to King David of Scotland, Furness must early
have been included in a sphere of influence
which embraced the barony of Skipton and the
honour of Lancaster itself. (fn. 19) The abbey did
not share in the peace which the Scottish king
gave to more northern parts of England. In
the year 1138, some months before the battle of
the Standard, David's nephew, William Fitz
Duncan, invaded Yorkshire and cruelly wasted
Craven, where his own honour of Skipton lay;
the lands owned there by the abbey of Furness
were not spared. (fn. 20) A few years later the monks
suffered from the tyranny of a man whose strange
career stands out in history in a light only too
fitful and puzzling. Among the earliest disciples
of the new abbey was a youth named Wimund.
He was of humble birth, but a lad of ready mind
and strong memory, of noble presence, and with
a latent power of stirring speech. He began his
career as a copyist for some monks, and entered
the abbey of Furness, where he soon made his
mark, and when it was needful to send men to
manage the affairs of the abbey in the Isle of
Man, Wimund was chosen as leader. He won
such favour with the islanders that they begged
for him as their bishop, and bishop he became.
The exercise of authority revealed his powers of
speech and leadership; his desires and ambitions
grew apace. Throwing aside his episcopal
duties he collected a host, equipped a fleet, and
sailed for the shores of Scotland. For long he
was a terror to the people, and a thorn in the
side of King David. David at last handed over
to his care the province of which the monastery
of Furness was lord. The raids ceased, and
Wimund ruled over the scene of his earlier and
less worldly life with the power of a king and the
insolence of a bandit. The people rose, with
the ready consent of the lords of the district;
and one day, as the warrior followed his host on
foot, they burst out upon him. Blinded and
mutilated 'pro pace regni Scottorum,' Wimund
ended his life at Byland, an object of curiosity to
visitors, confident and boastful to the end.
'Even then he is said to have exclaimed, that if
he had but the eye of a sparrow, his enemies
would have small cause to rejoice over their
work.' (fn. 21)
If we accept William of Newburgh's account
of Wimund's youth, (fn. 22) we must date his mission
to the Isle of Man soon after 1134, when the
important connexion between the abbey and
island began. In that year King Olaf granted
land in the island for the foundation of a daughter
house. The grant had apparently first been
made to Rievaulx, but was not acted upon, nor
indeed was the abbey founded until a century
later. (fn. 23) In the. same charter Olaf gave to the
abbey the control of elections to the new
bishopric of Sodor and Man; and this curious
privilege was exercised by Furness with papal
approval, but with growing opposition until the
end of the thirteenth century. (fn. 24) Wimund was
hardly a happy choice, and the popular feeling
which, we are told, caused his election was not
always in such accord with the desires of the
monastic patron. Early in the thirteenth century Nicholas of Argyll was elected by the clergy
and people in spite of the loud protests of the
monks, and his successor Nicholas of Meaux, the
abbot of Furness himself, was never able to hold
ground against the rival bishop Reginald. (fn. 25) The
quarrels between Olaf II and his brother, king
Reginald, no doubt produced this discord; the
bishopric was a pawn in the game played between the two, a game in which the forces
of north and south, of popes and kings,
were called into play. (fn. 26) In 1244 came a fresh
papal confirmation of the right, but in 1247
Laurence was elected without reference to Furness, and although he was not accepted, his
successor was appointed by the archbishop of
Trondhjem. (fn. 27) After the subjection of Man to
the king of Scotland, the abbot of Furness made
a vain attempt to recover his right of election.
The king received him with smooth words, but
secretly forbade the clergy and people of Man to
receive any of his elect, under pain of severe
punishment (1275). (fn. 28) In the next century
William Russell and John Duncan were elected
by the islanders; the former was abbot of
Rushen and the abbot of Furness only interfered
so far as to give his consent as father superior. (fn. 29)
During all this time the abbey maintained less
contentious relations with the island. It was
appropriator of the ancient churches, Kirk
Michael and Kirk Maughold. In the isle the
monks found a market; in the abbey the kings
and bishops could find a burying place. (fn. 30) Once,
under Edward I, the abbot appears as warden
of Man. (fn. 31)
The external history of the abbey from the
accession of Henry II to the Dissolution is scanty.
There is reason to believe that the monks,
availed themselves of the power of John during
King Richard's absence to drive out the upstart
family of Lancaster from the Furness fells; (fn. 32)
and John, when he became king, bestowed his
usual attentions of privilege and extortion upon
the abbey. (fn. 33) In 1205 the abbot incurred the
large fine of 500 marks in a plea of the forest. (fn. 34)
The thirteenth century saw a quiet accumulation
of privileges and estates. The Scottish wars
brought a change. The abbot of Furness placed
political before ecclesiastical questions in 1297,
and received special protection in return for his
help against the machinations and invasions of
the Scots. (fn. 35) A few years later the abbey felt
the effects of the general distress so much that it
fell into debt, and a royal bailiff was appointed
to apply the revenues of the house to the discharge of its obligations. (fn. 36) In 1316 the Scots
devastated Furness, and carried off much plunder
and many captives. (fn. 37) Six years later Robert
Bruce made a more elaborate invasion. Cope
land and Cartmel were wasted, and Furness was
only saved from a second disaster by the persuasions of the abbot, who went out to meet the
invader, and entertained him at the abbey. (fn. 38)
Next year the abbot was ordered to deliver the
peel of Fouldrey to the sheriff of Lancaster,
when required, and to cause it to be garrisoned
and guarded. (fn. 39) After this we hear of no more
troubles of this sort. The fort was maintained
in repair until the days of Abbot John of Bolton,
who caused it to be thrown down. Local
opinion held that its maintenance was necessary
in virtue of Stephen's grant of Walney, and a
protest resulted in the seizure of the island by
the royal escheator. The officer was removed
by Henry IV after an inquiry, but the peel was
restored. (fn. 40)
It is in casual official references and commands
that the part played by the abbot of Furness best
appears. As a member of the Cistercian order
he is of course found at the general chapters, and
as a visitor at daughter abbeys. (fn. 41) He assisted in
negotiation with the king upon financial matters. (fn. 42)
He received special protection from the pope
against the infringement of Cistercian liberties, (fn. 43)
and was entrusted with commissions by pope and
archbishop. (fn. 44) The situation of his house made it a
fit prison for offending monks. In 1533 Gawyne
Boradalle, a monk of Holm Cultram, accused of
poisoning his abbot, was sent to Furness while it
was decided how to proceed against him. He
was a masterful man and caused the abbot some
trouble. Roger asks Cromwell how he shall
keep him; at present he is put in the prison at
night, and in church during the day, where he
'melleth with no person' except the prior. (fn. 45)
The abbot was an important person at court
when the king came north. (fn. 46) He collected
subsidies, (fn. 47) assisted the royal officers and judges, (fn. 48)
and acted as arbitrator. (fn. 49) He appears in the judicial
records as the creditor of royal clerks and distant
merchants. (fn. 50) From early days his wool was sent
from the fells of Lancashire and Yorkshire to the
markets of the East Riding. (fn. 51) King Edward III
used the ships in his harbour. (fn. 52)
The power of Furness outside prepares us for
the fulness of monastic authority within its
borders. From the first it was privileged as a
tenant of the honour of Lancaster. Stephen's
foundation charter had granted the usual powers
of jurisdiction; Count John protected the abbey
from defending its demesne lands elsewhere than
in the court of the honour; Earl William had
granted freedom from tolls and customs in the
port of Wissant; this was extended by Henry II,
and King Richard 'de rebus ad usos proprios'
to freedom in the whole kingdom, by land and
sea. Henry III confirmed all the grants of his
predecessors. The abbey paid dearly for this
renewal of their charters and the grant of
Michaell Fleming and his land; but the price
was not too high for the first explicit definition
of its judicial rights. (fn. 53) From the Fleming fief,
as from its other Furness lands, the sheriff was to
be excluded. The abbot's bailiffwas conservator
of the peace. (fn. 54) Before the end of the century
custom had established complex immunities on
the basis of these charters. In 1292 the justices
at Lancaster heard an elaborate plea in answer
to the writ of quo warranto. (fn. 55) The abbot
vindicated his right to the proceeds of assizes of
bread and ale, to freedom from attending the
courts of county and wapentake, (fn. 56) to market and
fair. He had rights of wreckage (fn. 57) and waif,
could take cognizance of thieves and erect his
gallows in Dalton. In two cases the claim of
the abbot was not allowed. He was found to
be liable to common fines and amercements;
and he was deprived of any control he had
exercised in the sheriff's tourn. This had,
according to the jurors, been first held in 1248, (fn. 58)
and as no sheriff entered Furness was held by
the coroner. The coroners had apparently been
somewhat lax in making records and accounts;
and this perhaps gave rise to the authority
claimed as a right for the abbot's bailiff. Three
years later the rights and proceeds of the tourn
were handed over to Earl Edmund, and in 1336
Earl Henry of Lancaster, with the royal assent,
gave it formally to the abbey. (fn. 59) The abbot now
asserted that if he could hold a tourn, he could
deal with cases of bloodshed. This privilege
also was granted in 1344. (fn. 60) A second obvious
deduction from the right of sheriff's tourn was
the grant of a local coroner. The royal officer
was now so shorn of his powers, and the sands
were so dangerous, that the local courts might
be entrusted with the election of their own. So
in 1377 Edward III consented to save many
valuable lives by granting the right to appoint a
coroner for the return of all royal writs. (fn. 61) A
formal return to a writ for the election of a
coroner which is preserved (fn. 62) gives some idea
of the attendance at a full court of the
abbot. The lord of Kirkby was there, and the
descendants of the Bardseys, Boltons, Boyvills
and the rest who appear so often in the
early deeds of the abbey. Up to our own days
the lords of the manors of Dalton and Hawkshead have preserved the old forms. (fn. 63) In quieter
times, indeed, suit at the abbey court was the
most burdensome part of the service paid by the
great tenants. The abbot was exempt from all
feudal dues, except in Aldingham and Ulverston, (fn. 64) and did not press very hardly upon those
below him. At the same time the more powerful vassals often chafed against the constant
presence of a lord who never died, and disputes
between the abbey and its feudatories were
frequent. In Ulverston as early as 1224
William of Lancaster III maintained with
success his right to erect gallows in Ulverston
and to attend the superior court only by special
summons. (fn. 65) In 1292 it was found that the
bailiffs of Ulverston and Aldingham could claim
a court for the trial of assizes of bread and ale;
the lords of these manors also had control of
thieves. In 1320 John of Harrington acquired
freedom from all tolls for his men of the same
manors except in the abbey demesne; John's
court, moreover, acquired jurisdiction over
offences which did not involve the shedding of
blood. (fn. 66) Before Aldingham came to the Harringtons it had been the subject of several
disputes as to the right of wardship between
the abbot and the families of Fleming and
Cancefield, who contested his claim to custody
on the ground that they did not hold by military
service. After two lawsuits the abbot's right was
in 1290 fully recognized. (fn. 67) In public opinion at
least, however, the victory of the convent was
in reality the price paid by William of Cancefield for the murder of a monk by one of his
followers. (fn. 68) Hence in an assize two years later,
the jury refused to regard the case of Aldingham
as conclusive evidence of the general custom of
the barony; and the abbot failed to secure the
custody of John of Kirkby. (fn. 69) But here also
the corporate body overcame the single person
in the long run. (fn. 70)
In the case of Pennington (fn. 71) and Kirkby (fn. 72) there
was a further quarrel about services; like the
rest, their lords attended the abbot's court every
three weeks and paid annual money service.
But just as they wished to be free from the burdens of military tenure on the one hand, so on
the other they fought against the customary
dues which were probably paid in less important
parts of Furness.
All this was but a small part of the disputes
to which the abbey was party. Some of these
only illustrate the ordinary history of a great
fief. We have the usual list of charges against
persons who detained cattle and set up or
broke down inclosures or failed to render their
accounts. There are the usual suits and agreements about right of way, the usual endless
series of quarrels about lands and houses. These
were often complicated by acts of violence.
Thus in 1338 the abbot accused Abbot Thomas
of Jervaulx, together with some of his brethren
and other evildoers, of breaking down his
fences at Horton in Ribblesdale, and of carrying
away goods to the value of £2,000. They had
made a night assault with swords and staves,
bows and arrows. (fn. 73) And there are graver episodes
in the domestic history of Furness, dark tales of
murder and wanton assault. In 1282 brother William Pykehod was accused of aiding in the murder of Walter Morsel, in Cumberland. (fn. 74) The
Scottish wars provided a good opportunity to
settle old scores without the delay of courts.
When William of Pennington returned from
the wars in 1315, he found his lands untilled,
because Abbot Cokesham had forcibly impounded
the plough-beasts; his tenants were too impoverished to pay rent or service. (fn. 75) Some
years later it was the abbot's turn. Alexander
of Kirkby took advantage of the king's absence
in 1336 to go and ride around the abbey by day
and night plotting to kill the abbot. He and
his companions seized provisions coming to the
abbey, hunted without licence in the chase of
Ireleth and Dalton, and carried off the deer;
men and servants were assaulted, 'so that the
abbot dare not go out of the chace of the abbey
nor can he find any to serve him.' (fn. 76) But perhaps most exciting is the arrest (1357) of
Thomas of Bardsey in Ulverston. One day,
when Roger Bell the bailiff went to perform his
duties, Thomas seized and beat him. The hue
and cry was raised; and Roger Bell went with
a company, including Abbot Alexander, to
avenge the insult. Thomas took refuge in the
house of his father Adam; doors and windows
were closed and barred. Bailiff, monks, and
the rest made a grand assault, the door was
forced, and Thomas carried off to gaol in
Dalton. So in this case justice and might went
together. (fn. 77)
As time went on the local importance of the
abbey grew, and its domestic economy became
more elaborate. An exhaustive writ of 13
Henry VII, if it is not of a formal nature, shows
that the abbot had availed himself of his
judicial independence to take over the whole
process of legal activity. (fn. 78) There is but little
to say about the more definitely religious side
of monastic life. The relations between Furness
and the neighbouring religious houses seem to
have been as friendly as territorial interests
would admit. The foundation of Conishead
caused some opposition in early times, but a
lasting settlement was arranged. (fn. 79) In Yorkshire there were lawsuits with convents who shared
the privileges or bordered upon the lands of the
Lancashire abbey; (fn. 80) and the fishery in the
Lune produced considerable friction with the
priory of St. Mary at Lancaster. (fn. 81) The usual
problems of tithes had to be settled, (fn. 82) and the
position of the churches in the gift of the abbey
decided. (fn. 83) Its internal history is equally scanty.
In the church a chaplain who celebrated
daily for the souls of the faithful departed
was supported by the proceeds of a messuage
and six shops in Drogheda. (fn. 84) The occasional
visit of a Scottish bishop would remind the
monks in pleasanter fashion than did the approach of the Scottish kings of their proximity
to the northern kingdom. (fn. 85) A more striking
witness to the extra-national character of Furness
is the long list of indulgences, granted by fiftyone Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Manx, as well as
English bishops, to penitents who should make
a pilgrimage to or endow the monastery or any
of its churches and chapels. (fn. 86)
The charters of the abbey illustrate several
interesting elements in the Fur ness economy.
In the Yorkshire moors and dales the monastic
granges, Winterburn the most important, were
the centre of a busy pastoral life. The great
slopes of Whernside and Ingleborough were
dotted with sheep belonging to the abbey; and
many a powerful baron of Lancashire and
Yorkshire gave them protection on their way
from pasture to pasture, or shelter when sick or
astray. (fn. 87) Along the shore of Morecambe Bay
vassals of Furness dug turf and dried salt. (fn. 88) In
the fish booth at Beaumont Grange the abbot's
bailiffs stored the fish dragged from the waters of
the Lune. Beaumont Grange was, indeed, a
large and important colony. We hear of an
abbot's court for the neighbourhood. (fn. 89)
The monks shared the fishing with the
priory of St. Mary at Lancaster. In St.
Mary's pot the Lancaster monks had every third
throw, elsewhere every other throw. When
the priory passed to the convent of Syon, the
latter house made over the whole fishing rights
to Furness. A few years before the Dissolution
the tenants of Skerton complained that Abbot
Alexander had 'edified' a fish-yard of such
great height and strength that the water was
stopped and did great damage to the town and
highway. (fn. 90)
In the Furness peninsula the monastic occupation made great changes. At the Dissolution
the woods of High Furness fed three smithies,
and its streams turned five water-mills. (fn. 91) The
abbot had his boats for fishing on Coniston Lake
and Windermere from very early times. (fn. 92) He
hunted and hawked on the hills between his
manor of Hawkshead and the lands of Ulverston; at Hawkshead was a grange, half manorhouse, half cell, with private chapel for the
monks, and gallows for misguided tenants. (fn. 93)
In Furness High and Low were commons and
woods kept for the maintenance of the monks'
cattle. (fn. 94) In the course of time these had been
inclosed, like many other woods and pastures of
the abbey, to the great annoyance of the
tenantry. (fn. 95) In Low Furness activities were
still more varied; here too mills and smithies
were kept in the hands of the brethren. (fn. 96) The
abbey cattle were pastured on Angerton Moss. (fn. 97)
The Duddon and other streams provided fish.
The little borough of Dalton was six times in
the year the scene of a busy fair, which
brought distant merchants to quicken trade and
gave dues to the abbey. (fn. 98)
Few of the men who gave and took all these
benefits have left more than their names. In 1314
Thomas, bishop of Whithern, granted forty days'
indulgence to those who prayed for the soul of
brother Elias of Egremont, the cellarer. (fn. 99) In
1349 John of Collesham desired reconciliation;
he had left his order, because he had been
refused leave to visit Rome in the jubilee year. (fn. 100)
Fortunately our knowledge of the tenantry is
more definite. The isolation of Furness, together with the supremacy of the abbey, gave
that independence of tenure which has been
so characteristic of the district. The villeins
rose out of their servile condition easily; (fn. 101) and
early in the sixteenth century the customs of
High and Low Furness could be put down
definitely in writing. (fn. 102) Apart from the large
freeholders who only paid suit and annual
services, with no tithes, the tenants were customary, holding by tenant-right. The only
copyholders seem to have been the burgesses of
Dalton, who paid a relief of 3s. 4d. on the burgage and provided six men for the defence of
the abbey. (fn. 103) The customary tenants agreed
with Queen Elizabeth to pay a relief equal to
two years' rent. This was perhaps traditional,
but the usual payment had only been the formal
'God's penny.' They provided fifty-four men. (fn. 104)
The customs of tenure were kept up by tradition
and proven by inquest. Old men in the days of
Elizabeth, when John Brograve, the attorneygeneral of the duchy, sought (1582) to restore
the old provisions for which the commissioners
had substituted a small annual rent, could remember the picturesque days of their childhood.
However burdensome feudal obligations were in
neighbouring districts, (fn. 105) the abbey repaid its
sustenance with many privileges. Robert Wayles
told how he used to visit a kinsman who was a
yeoman (fn. 106) of the convent kitchen, and saw
tenants come with twenty or thirty horses to
take away the weekly barrels of beer, sixty in
all, each containing ten gallons, and with each
barrel went a dozen loaves. He also saw thirty
or forty carts, called corops, which took away
dung to manure the tenants' fields in Newbarns
and Hawcoat; and another witness could remember carting it to the fields of a certain
widow. Robert used to visit his father-in-law's
smithy at Kirkby, and remembered how clott
iron, called livery iron, was brought to be melted
for their ploughs by the tenants. It was asserted,
too, that every tenant having a plough could
send two persons to dine one day in every week
from Martinmas till Pentecost. Children and
labourers could go to the abbey for meat and
drink; one witness had been in the abbey
school, which contained both a grammar and a
song school. The tenants could send their
children to this school, who were allowed to
come into the hall every day, either to dinner or
supper. Apt boys might be elected monks or to
some office within the monastery. Perhaps it
was from this school that the scholars, of whom
we hear, went up to Oxford. (fn. 107) When, again,
the dykes of Walney were broken by the sea,
the abbot took his carts and men to renew them;
and any tenant could take wood for his necessities, and gather whins and brakes for baking his
oatmeal cakes. The abbey also had special
clients. Thirteen poor men were kept as almsmen; and every year bread and meat were
given at the gates. In Roger Pele's rental eight
widows appear, who have the food of eight
monks, amounting to £12 a year. (fn. 108) Sometimes
a bargain was struck. More than one grant was
given in return for a robe in time of need. (fn. 109)
Alan, the son of the parson of Clapham, gave
two oxgangs of land to the abbey in return for a
promise to receive him as a monk if sickness or
old age were to drive him to this course. In
the meantime he was to be received at the abbey
or its granges, and provided with food and drink
for himself and his horse sicut unus eorum conversus.
While he was in the world he was to receive
twice a year at Winterburn a measure of corn.
In addition to all this, the abbey was to receive
one of his sons as servant, and if he desired it
and was worthy, as a lay brother. (fn. 110) In 1264
Adam of Merton made a similar bargain full of
curious details. (fn. 111)
During the fifteenth century the abbey took
no share in public affairs. It was still in the
days of Henry VII the most important place in
north Lancashire, and the Earl of Lincoln thought
its port a suitable landing-place in 1487. He
had little success, and it was probably at this
time that Innocent VIII's bull against insurrection was ordered to be read in the abbey. (fn. 112)
As time went on, the prestige of the abbey seems
to decline. There are complaints of cruel and
malicious attacks, while on the other side are
suspicious acts of favouritism and intrigue, which
are the customary signs of weakness. The tendency becomes marked in the abbacy of Alexander Banke, who seems to have descended to
the shelter of legal expedients. The privileges
of the abbey did not escape question in the
larger world. In 1530 William Tunstall gave
information that the abbot had kept back £250
of a subsidy which he had collected, and also
spoiled the king of harbour dues and the rents of
the sheriff's tourn. (fn. 113) Disputes arose with the
local gentry. (fn. 114) Since the gentry were becoming
independent, and the influence of the new nobility was exerted everywhere, the monasteries
had resort to favour. Annuities were paid to
the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, to the Earl
of Wiltshire, to Cromwell both as Master of
the Rolls and Master Secretary, to the chancellor of the Duchy, to Sir Thomas Wharton,
and by royal mandate to Mr. Thomas Holcroft. (fn. 115)
In several pleadings it was asserted that the abbot
or his monks had connived to defeat or thwart
justice. There are ugly stories how a murderer
had been pardoned at the instance of his kinsman
the abbot; (fn. 116) how valuable deeds were kept from
the owners in a locked casket; (fn. 117) how a monk,
Hugh Brown, broke open a chest which contained the common seal of the abbey and sealed
blank parchments upon which leases were afterwards made of its Yorkshire manors to the Earl
of Cumberland. (fn. 118) This last episode, which was
afterwards admitted by Hugh Brown in 1542,
occurred just after the death of Alexander.
After robbing the dead abbot's bedroom of gold
and silver, he and others got a smith to break
open the chest where the seal was. Afterwards
the Earl of Cumberland sent to procure the confirmation of the lease from Roger Pele and the
convent. The earl affirmed that he had got it
from Alexander on his death-bed; but the plea was
unavailing. The forgers were imprisoned, and
the lease disallowed. The case throws light
upon the inner and outer relations of the abbey
just before the Dissolution, and it is not surprising that it shared in the contempt with which
the new gentry and officials regarded spiritual
dignities. (fn. 119) Roger Pele, the last abbot, adopted
the futile policy of keeping up a constant correspondence with Thomas -Cromwell. In 1528
his predecessor had incurred the blame of Wolsey
for negligence in attending to the minister's
commands, (fn. 120) and there is evidence that Alexander's tenure of office was by no means smooth
or even unbroken. (fn. 121) Roger secured himself by
paying £200 for his admission and granting Cromwell a yearly pension. His good relations with the
powerful secretary were needed to protect him from
recalcitrant neighbours and importunate nobles. (fn. 122)
One Seton, farmer of Aldingham church,
entered information against the abbot for restoring certain wines brought to Furness by an
Ipswich merchant. (fn. 123) 'I give him yearly £6 by
patent that he should be gentle to me and our
monastery; yet he goes daily about to do us
displeasure.' (fn. 124) The Earl of Cumberland clamoured for the lordship of Winterburn. (fn. 125) The
deputy of Ireland forbad the Irish tenantry to
pay their rents to the monastic officers, (fn. 126) the
king was induced to desire letters of presentation
to the parsonage of Hawkshead. This last
demand caused much uneasiness. Hawkshead,
the abbot wrote, had never been a separate benefice, and was the peculiar property of the abbey;
presentation would mean the undoing of the
abbey, which would be compelled to give up
hospitality. Roger sent a special present to
Cromwell in order to be excused to the king. (fn. 127)
Such a man could not stand a storm. His
servility lost him the respect of his brethren and
the reverence of his tenants. The letters about
the Borradalle case show that he was prepared to
betray the visitors of the order to the centralizing
policy of Cromwell. (fn. 128) The monks were insubordinate; Roger writes that he had been
forced to put one, Dan Richard Banke, in prison. (fn. 129)
It is suggestive that Doctors Legh and Layton
singled him out for their unpleasant criticism. (fn. 130)
The district of Furness, moreover, was ablaze with
the ardour of the Pilgrimage of Grace. (fn. 131) Robert
Legate, a friar who had been put into the
monastery by the visitors to read and preach to
the brethren, sent accounts of the violent speech
and deeds which led to the surrender of the
house. When the northern insurrection broke
out, 3,000 men collected from the fells to the
north and east of the abbey. (fn. 132) Most of them
desired to get rid of real feudal grievances, (fn. 133) but
they also gave expression to the feeling against
the royal supremacy. Several of the monks
desired to join the commons, and a coarse prophecy was current among them: 'In England
shall be slain the decorat Rose in his mother's
belly,' or in other words, 'Your Grace shall die
by the hands of priests, for their Church is your
mother.' (fn. 134) During the last months of 1536
words became more definite. John Broughton
laid a wager with Legate that in three years all
would be changed, and the new laws annulled.
The bishop of Rome, he said, was unjustly put
down. (fn. 135) Henry Salley, when overcome with
ale, used to say that no secular knave should be
head of the church; he was afterwards clapped
into prison at Lancaster. (fn. 136) And Christopher
Masrudder even heard one of the brethren say
that the king was not right heir to the crown,
for his father came in by the sword. (fn. 137) Legate
could not get a hearing for his lectures of Holy
Scripture. (fn. 138) On All Hallows' Eve the crisis
came. Four brethren, Michael Hammerton,
the cellarer, Christopher Brown, the master of
the fells, William Rigge, and the plain-spoken
Broughton had been sent to the rebels. They
took with them over £20, came to terms, and
returned to Dalton for recruits. The captain of
the rebels, a man named Gilpin, was to meet the
tenants at Furness. The monks advised their
men to agree as they had done. Alexander
Richardson, the bailiff of Dalton, testified that
the monks encouraged the commons, and urged
that now or never was the time,
for if they sit down, both you and Holy Church is
undone; and if they lack company, we will go with
them, live and die with them to defend their most
godly pilgrimage.
When arguments failed, threats were used.
Brian Garner, the prior, and a fellow monk
commanded the tenants to meet the commons in
their best array, on pain of death and the pulling
down of their houses. The vicar of Dalton fled
into the woods to escape them. The abbot also
fled. He had tried in vain to keep a middle
course. When John Broughton uttered the
prophecy about the king, he had said, 'Dan
John, this is a marvellous and a dangerous word.'
Three or four days afterwards he told the
brethren that he could not stay there till the
rebels came, or it would undo both himself
and them. So on the eve of All Saints he and
William Flitton, the deputy steward, put out in
a little boat and came to Lancaster. Thence
they escaped to the Earl of Derby at Lathom.
According to Christopher Masrudder, he bade
the monks ere he departed do their best for the
commons. (fn. 139) The danger from the rebels did
not last long, (fn. 140) but the abbot's difficulties grew
greater rather than less. He is said to have
written to his brethren from Lathom that he
had taken a way to be sure both from king and
commons. This may have seemed easy at
Lathom, but it was impossible at Furness.
When Roger returned he was met with a request to sign certain articles. What these were
is not stated, but perhaps something may be
gathered from the words of John Green, spoken
on the Friday after St. Martin's Day, that the
king should never make them an abbot, but they
would choose their own. (fn. 141) The monks shared
in the hopes nursed by the commons during this
winter. Dr. Dakyn, the vicar-general of Richmond, hoped to get money from Furness. (fn. 142) The
speech of the brethren was as unguarded as ever;
only three took the king's part, and the abbot
was so fearful that he 'durst not go to the
church this winter alone before day.' (fn. 143) The
royal officers began to arrive on the scene, and
Roger in alarm insisted upon a strict observance
of the statutes and of the visitors' injunctions.
This was on the first Sunday in Lent. Three
weeks later he heard that either Legate or the
bailiff of Dalton had put in letters of complaint. (fn. 144)
The commissioners, the Earls of Derby and
Sussex, came to the abbey about the middle of
March, (fn. 145) but they could learn very little. On
the previous Sunday Roger had commanded the
brethren in the chapter-house to say nothing,
and threatened to put the younger men in prison
if they were found telling anything outside. (fn. 146)
Even the friar seems to have been silent. On
13 March the bailiff met him on the road between
Furness and Dalton, and asked what would
happen to the monk Salley, now my lords were
come. Legate replied, 'Nothing; I will say
nothing.' (fn. 147) On 21 March Sussex wrote that
the monks of Furness had been as bad as any
other; the king desired that the whole truth
about their disloyalty should be sought out; but
on 10 April Sussex replied that only two had
been committed to Lancaster, 'which was all we
could find faulty.' (fn. 148)
Still the general impression was too strong,
and some damaging depositions had been made.
The abbot saw that he could not hold out much
longer. If the brethren had been united, and
their head less selfish and weak, the abbey might
have lasted till the suppression of the great
houses, since nearly all the evidence referred to
acts and speech done before the general pardon
of the previous autumn. Sussex, in the letter
just quoted, admits that there seemed no likelihood of finding anything further. But he knew
with whom he had to deal, and found a way of
getting rid of the monks, so that the abbey in
his own words 'might be at your gracious
pleasure.' (fn. 149) The abbot was brought to Whalley.
After a futile examination, Sussex himself
'assayed' Roger. Would he be content to surrender his house ? The abbot was very facile,
and thought the convent would not be hard to
manage. (fn. 150) So, on 5 April, he signed his surrender, (fn. 151) Three gentlemen were sent off immediately to take possession. Later in the evening
the justice, Mr. Fitzherbert, came, approved of
the deed, and attested it; he also drew up a formal
surrender, which was signed four days later by
abbot, prior, and twenty-eight monks. (fn. 152) The
earl then made the full examination which has
given us the history of the last few months.
King Henry was much relieved, and at once
made arrangements for the government of the
barony and the dismissal of the monks. The
conduct of affairs at the abbey was left to Sussex'
discretion, since His Majesty knew he would both
look to the king's profit, 'and yet rid the said
monks in such honest sort as all parties shall be
therewith content.' (fn. 153) Sir Marmaduke Tunstall
was appointed deputy to the Lord Privy Seal in
the Lonsdale district, with instructions to execute
justice, exact lawful payments, and reconcile the
tenants to the rule of the royal landlord. (fn. 154) At
the end of the year Sir John Lamplugh was sent
to the abbey with similar commands. (fn. 155) On
23 June Robert Southwell arrived at Furness to
see the monks off the premises. He found them
discontented and excited. Sussex had made large
promises, but fixed nothing; and the brethren
thought 20s. and their 'capacities' too little.
Southwell speaks of them with the utmost contempt. None of them seem to have availed
themselves of the permission to join other monasteries, and the commissioner had to threaten
them with this fate before he could get them to
submit quietly. They complained that they
had been compelled to surrender; so Southwell
had a document prepared which was read in the
hall before 500 persons, and was then signed by
monks and people. When he said that the king
desired them to join other houses, they eagerly
confessed their unworthiness to retain their habit,
and went away with 40s. and their permits.
Southwell says he could give them no less, since
'the traitors of Whalley' had the same, but he
consoles himself and Cromwell with the reflection
that most of it would be spent in the purchase
of their secular weeds, without which he would
not suffer them to depart. Precautions were
taken that they should not wander over the
moors to Shap, where a rebellious bill had been
nailed upon the abbey door; as a last word,
Southwell reminded them of some 'goodly experiments that hangeth on each side of York,
some in rochets, and some in cowls.' So they
departed with much chatter and grumbling, the
victims of their own indecision and selfishness, of
an unworthy abbot, and a spying friar. They
were content to have infirmity to be their cause,
but in no case would have it read in the hall
before their neighbours. The writer wishes
Cromwell could have heard it all.
After I denied them their liberty, and would assign
them to religion, 1 never heard written nor spoken of
religion that was worst, to be worse than they themselves were content to confess. I have not seen in
my life such gentle companions; it were great pity if
such goodly possessions should not be assigned out for
the pasturing of such blessed carcasses. (fn. 156)
Roger Pele became parson of Dalton; and
Cromwell was still mean enough to receive his
petty gifts. (fn. 157)
Southwell valued the temporal possessions of
the abbey; then, after the lead had been melted
down, and the church and steeple dismantled,
the survey of Furness Fells was completed. All
the cattle were sold; and traders came from all
parts of the south to buy in this fruitful isle.
The inhabitants, however, were given the preference for six score milch neat. Throughout
Southwell is kindly to the tenants. They were
loyal, he says, and should not suffer for any
gentleman's pleasure. He asks for allotments
for the beadsmen, and puts in a special plea
for seventy-two tall fellows who occupied
Beaumont Grange. (fn. 158) Perhaps in the many
small grants of the next few years we may
trace the effects of his solicitude. (fn. 159) The later
history of the abbey is bound up with the
general history of Furness, and must be sought
elsewhere. (fn. 160)
The original grant of Stephen to the abbey
contained 20½ plough-lands. (fn. 161) In 1200 it has
been estimated that the monks owned 37 ploughlands, or some 2,000 acres annually under wheat
and other crops. (fn. 162) The difference is due to the
grants made by Robert de Boyville of Kirksanton
and Horrum in Copeland (before 1153); by
Godard de Boyville, of a plough-land in Foss in
the same district; (fn. 163) by Waltheof son of Edmund,
of Newby; by William Greindorge, of Winterburn; and by Richard de Morvill and Avicia his
wife, of Selside (before 1190), (fn. 164) During this
period also the abbey made its well-known agreement with the lords of Ulverston for the partition
of Furness Fells. (fn. 165) They became immediate
lords of the land between the lakes of Coniston
and Windermere, and had fishing rights in the
waters; in later days Hawkshead manor was the
centre of monastic rule in this district. Fordbottle, Crivelton, and Roos were received from
Michael le Fleming in exchange for Bardsey; (fn. 166)
in Amounderness Robert of Stalmine gave a
plough-land which became the nucleus of Stalmine
Grange; (fn. 167) in Copeland, William, the nephew
of David of Scotland, and Ranulf Meschin, earl
of Chester, endowed Calder; and King Olaf
gave the abbey an important position in the Isle
of Man. (fn. 168) Early in the thirteenth century
Alicia de Rumeli, daughter of William Fitz
Duncan, gave all Borrowdale with extensive
rights and free transit through the barony of
Allerdale and Copeland. (fn. 169) Walter de Lacy,
lord of Meath, made a grant in 1234 of land
and rights in Meath. This grant also was the
origin of a valuable property. (fn. 170) King Henry III,
in the eleventh year of his reign, made the
abbot lord of all Furness by giving him the
homage of Michael le Fleming for £10 a year. (fn. 171)
During the next two centuries, especially in
the thirteenth, the abbey strengthened and extended the position gained by these grants.
Small gifts enlarged their holding in the townships about Beaumont Grange. (fn. 172) The pasture
allowed by the Gernets in Halton led to much
litigation. (fn. 173) The origin of Beaumont Grange is
curious. Warin the Little, whom Stephen
had granted with his land, retired with his
wife to the abbey in his old age, leaving to the
monks half a plough-land in Stapelton Terne.
This was converted into a grange. The story
runs that King John saw, on a sojourn, 'that
the grange was too small and poor,' and gave the
whole vill of Stapelton Terne. The monks then
transferred the men of the vill to the grange, and
thus made one large colony. (fn. 174) In 1221 the
rights of Furness in Stackhouse, which had
been granted by Adam the son of Maldred
in the previous century (before 1168), were
upheld. (fn. 175)
In 1250 Alicia of Staveley granted for £600 a
vast pasture in Souterscales on the fells of Whernside and Ingleborough. The monks tried to seize
the neighbouring pasture of Ingleton, which
covered 1,000 acres, and though William of
Twyselton successfully maintained his rights, he
surrendered them in 1316. (fn. 176) Alicia's grant
was quite near the great pasture of Selside and
Birkwith, which was said to comprise 5,000
acres. In 1256 John of Cancefeld quitclaimed
500 acres in Selside. Around the grange of
Winterburn the abbey collected several ploughlands, often oxgang by oxgang. In Hetton, for
example, it held two and a half plough-lands. (fn. 177)
In Eshton the abbey possessed more than a
plough-land. (fn. 178) It had burgages in Lancaster,
York, and Boston, with the rents of some houses
in Beverley. (fn. 179)
In Copeland the lords of Millom added largely
to the privileges of the abbey. (fn. 180) In Furness
proper the monks had in 1292 eleven granges,
and had got into their own hands a great deal of
their vassals' land, including the manors of Bolton
and Elliscales, and the pasture and turbary of
Angerton Moss. (fn. 181) The relations with Ulverston
demand more than a passing word. As William
of Lancaster III died without male heirs the
manor was divided and ultimately came to
William's illegitimate brother Roger, as two
distinct halves. These became definitely separate
in the families of Harrington and Coucy. (fn. 182) It
is perhaps characteristic that the abbey shows a
tendency to claim the service of 30s. from both. (fn. 183)
The Harringtons kept their hold with only the
ordinary experience. (fn. 184) But on the death of
William de Coucy without issue in 1343 the
king entered. William left a brother Enguerrand, but it was asserted that he was a French
subject. It was probably at this time that the
abbey first began to take possession on behalf of
the king. (fn. 185) In 1348, however, Edward included
this half of the manor in his large grant to John
of Copeland and his wife. Abbot Alexander
protested, (fn. 186) and finally received the reversion
for forty marks. An inquest of 1376 uphed
this, but in the next reign, when Enguerrand's
descendant was a niece of the king and wife of
the powerful Duke of Ireland, the abbey's hold
became precarious. Another inquest found the
abbot had been guilty of false allegation, and it
was only after a long suit that the estate was
retained. (fn. 187)
There is no doubt that from the first the two
chief churches in Furness, Dalton and Urswick,
were included in the spiritual possessions of the
abbey. (fn. 188) In 1195 Celestine III confirmed its
rights of appropriation and presentation, and a
few years later it was recognized that the heirs
of Michael le Fleming had no hereditary claim
to the advowson of Urswick. The chapel of
Hawkshead, which belonged to Dalton, was held
separately by the monks. It was claimed as a
chapel of Ulverston by the priory of Conishead,
but the claim was surrendered in 1208, when
Furness in return for certain annual payments
gave up its rights to the churches of Ulverston
and Pennington, which were asserted to be
daughter churches of Urswick. (fn. 189) In the reign
of Henry II, William son of Roger gave to the
abbey the advowson of Kirkby Ireleth. It is
uncertain if the tithes were appropriated; if so,
they were soon lost, since in 1228 Archbishop
Gray retained the church and advowson. (fn. 190) About
the end of the century William son of Hugh
gave to the abbey the church of Millom. The
archbishop took half of this church also, and the
right of appointing vicars to both halves. In
1241 he appropriated the revenues to his chantry
in the chapel of St. Michael the Archangel in
York Minister; and later the abbey got back
the half on condition of maintaining the chaplain
of this chantry. (fn. 191) In 1299 Bishop Mark
granted to Furness the appropriation or the
churches of St. Michael and St. Maughold in the
Isle of Man. (fn. 192) In the diocese of Dublin the
abbot for some time held the prebend of Swords, (fn. 193)
and the convent also had a contingent interest in
a Lancaster chantry. (fn. 194)
From the above account it will be obvious
that Furness Abbey was very wealthy. Not
many monastic houses in the north could
pay £600 for a sheep-walk, or 500 marks for a
charter. But with the exception of two great
records there is little evidence from which to
estimate the total revenues of the house. The
occasional references to subsidies are misleading,
for geographical as well as for more general
reasons. (fn. 195) Its total assessment for tenths about
1300 was rather lower than that of Whalley
Abbey, but included a much larger proportion
of temporals. (fn. 196) In the new valuation of 1317,
made after the Scottish raids, the temporalities
were charged on the basis of 20 marks only.
The Taxatio had fixed the annual value at £176,
but as the monks kept much of their property
in their own hands, this was not all realized.
According to detailed returns of this year (1292)
which are preserved in the Coucher the annual
income was £40 14s. 8d. This included,
besides rentals, the proceeds of live-stock, pleas,
and, most important, of mines. When all expenses had been met this last source gave
£6 13s. 4d. Lonsdale, including the Beaumont
Grange, and Borrowdale sent the largest revenues
from cattle. Since the fisheries, turbaries, dovecotes, and two or three vaccaries were reserved
for the monks' use, these are not estimated. In
1317 the assessment of spiritualities was reduced
from £21 6s. 8d. to £6. (fn. 197) Two documents
preserved in the Coucher give the proportionate
payments of the Cistercian abbeys to certain contributions. Furness, Rievaulx, and Fountains
agreed to pay the same to provincial aids, (fn. 198)
nearly one-third of the aids in all. To a Cistercian contribution of £12,000 Furness is to pay
£44 6s. 8d.; Fountains £66 16s.; Stanley
£68 12s. (fn. 199) For the time of the Dissolution we
have three documents, the official Valor of 1535,
the rental of Roger upon which this is based,
and the survey of the commissioners of 1536.
The survey gives of course a greater value, since
there was nothing to reserve for private use; the
difference between Roger's rental and the Valor
is almost entirely on the debit side, due to the
gifts to great men. Roger accounted for close
on £950, and disbursed about £300 annually.
Beck estimates that the possessions in the
immediate occupation of the monks yielded
£104 15s. 8d. (fn. 200)
The monastic officers, except the master of
the fells, (fn. 201) call for no remark. Of the lay
officers the rentals give a fairly complete list.
The highest of these was the high steward, the
protector of the abbey and its representative in
the lay world. The office never seems to have
been really important, although it was the source
of some disputes at the time of the Dissolution. (fn. 202)
At this time the Earl of Cumberland was steward
of the Winterburn lands, which had needed
special protection throughout. (fn. 203) The rental
mentions eighteen bailiffs, of whom the chief
was the bailiff of the liberty, who received £8
per annum. This officer had originally been
the judicial deputy of the abbot, together with
the coroner, (fn. 204) and probably still performed the
duty, but as the time of danger drew near, the
abbot seems to have bought off opposition by
the increase of offices. (fn. 205) Apart from the
bailiff's fees we read of grants pro custodia sessionum
and pro custodia curie Birelay
(fn. 206)
et Sberyftorne; also
of a general receiver. (fn. 207) A master mason is also
mentioned.
Thirty monks signed the deed of surrender,
and two were in Lancaster gaol. Sussex
mentioned thirty-three. (fn. 208) Beck calculates, very
fairly, that this number implies about one hundred servants in place of conversi. The full
complement of the abbey in its best days is not
known, but perhaps the decrease in 1536 was
not very marked.
The daughter houses of Furness were Calder
(1135) and Swineshead (1134 or 1148) in England; Rushen (1138), in the Isle of Man; and
in Ireland, Fermoy (1170), Holy Cross (1180),
Corcumruadh (1197), and Inislaunaght (1240).
This last was subjected to Furness some time
after its foundation. A Furness colony in Wyresdale removed to Wotheney in Limerick c. 1198. (fn. 209)
The Coucher of the abbey was compiled in
1412 by the monk John Stell, at the command
of Abbot Dalton. A companion, probably
Richard Esk, wrote the verses which relate the
story, and drew up the tabula sententialis. (fn. 210)
Perhaps this John is the monk of Furness who
occupied one of the fellows' chambers in University College, Oxford, in 1400, at a rent of
13s. 4d. (fn. 211) The second part of the Coucher,
which deals with the Lonsdale, Yorkshire, and
Cumberland lands, has not been printed. (fn. 212) The
first and more important part has always been
among the Duchy documents, and has been
edited by Mr. Atkinson. (fn. 213) The Coucher is
based upon deeds, very many of which still exist
and are calendered in the appendices to the
thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth reports of the Deputy
Keeper. In the introduction the compiler of
the Coucher refers to a libellus vetus et de vetusta
littera as his authority for the foundation of the
abbey. (fn. 214) The monastic library also included a
register and chronicles of Ulster. (fn. 216) Celtic
literature, indeed, seems to have been well
known there in the early days. Jocelin, the only
Furness chronicler whose name has come down
to us, wrote lives of St. Patrick and St. Kentigern, under the direction of the archbishop of
Armagh and the bishop of Glasgow. For the
latter his authorities were a life used in the
church at Glasgow, and another codiculum, stilo
Scottico dictatum. The same monk also wrote the
life of St. Waltheof, abbot of Melrose, in which
he reveals a sympathetic knowledge of northern
monastic history. (fn. 216) 'Jocelin is a close imitator
of the style of William of Malmesbury, whose
phrases he often adopts.' (fn. 217) A later Furness
chronicle is based on William of Newburgh, of
whom, together with the Stanley entries, it is
called the Continuation. It is a purely Furness
chronicle from 1263, and seems to have been
written up at intervals from memoranda; perhaps, as Mr. Howlett suggests, in order to fulfil
the king's commands in 1291, when Edward
sent a transcript of the submission of the Scotch
claimants to Furness, with the desire 'quod
eadem faciatis in cronicis vestris ad perpetuam
dei gesti memoriam annotari.' (fn. 218) The chronicle
ends in 1298, and contains several records of
local and monastic interest.
In a heraldic visitation of 1530 the arms of
the abbey are given: Sable, a bend cheeky
argent and azure. Behind the shield is a crozier
through a mitre. (fn. 219) The common seal attached
to the deed of surrender bears the legend,
'Sigillum commune domus beate Marie de
Furnesio.' It represents the Virgin under a
canopy, sublimis inter sidera, holding in her right
hand a globe, while her left supports the infant
Christ. On each side is a shield, dexter with
the arms of England, sinister with those of
Lancaster, suspended from sprigs of nightshade,
and upheld by monks proper. Beneath is a
wyvern, the device of Thomas, second earl of
Lancaster. (fn. 220)
Abbots of Furness
(* According to the Furness custom, only those
abbots were put in the mortuary roll who died as
abbots after ten years' successive rule; Coucher, 10.
These, previous to the date of the Coucher, are marked
with an asterisk. Names not annotated only appear
in the list in the Coucher.)
* Ewan d'Avranches (de Abrincis), 1127 (fn. 221)
Eudes de Surdevalle, occurs 1130, 1134 (fn. 222)
Michael of Lancaster
Peter of York, occurs 1147 (fn. 223)
Richard de Bayeux, (fn. 224) elected c. 1150
* John of Cancefeld, occurs 1152, 1158 (fn. 225)
Walter of Millom, occurs 1175 (fn. 226)
Jocelin of Pennington, c. 1182 (fn. 227)
Conan de Bardonle
* William Black (Niger), occurs 1190, probably ruled c. 1183-93 (fn. 228)
Gerard Bristald, c. 1194 (fn. 229)
Michael of Dalton, c. 1196 (fn. 230)
Richard de St. Quentin
* Ralph of Fletham, ruled c. 1198-1208 (fn. 231)
John of Newby
Stephen of Ulverston
Nicholas of Meaux, consec. 1211, resigned c. 1217 (fn. 232)
* Robert of Demon, elected 1217, alive in 1235 (fn. 233)
Laurence of Acclorne
* William of Middleton, occurs 1246, died 1266-7 (fn. 234)
* Hugh le Brun, elected 1267, occurs 1282 (fn. 235)
William of Cockerham, occurs 1289, 1294 (fn. 236)
Hugh Skyllar, occurs 1297, deposed 1303 (fn. 237)
* John of Cockerham, elected 1303, died 1347 (fn. 238)
* Alexander of Walton, elected 1347, died 1367 (fn. 239)
John of Cokan', elected 1367 (fn. 240)
* John of Bolton, occurs 1389, 1404 (fn. 241)
William of Dalton, occurs 1407, died 1416-7 (fn. 242)
Robert, elected c. 1417, occurs 1441 (fn. 243)
[Thomas or William Woodward] (fn. 244)
John Turner, occurs 1443-60 (fn. 245)
Lawrence, occurs 1461-91 (fn. 246)
Thomas Chamber, elected 1491, occurs 1496 (fn. 247)
Alexander Banke, occurs 1505, 1531 (fn. 248)
John Dalton, occurs 1514-16 (fn. 249)
Roger Pele, elected 1531, surrendered 1537 (fn. 250)