HOUSES OF BENEDICTINE MONKS
1. THE PRIORY OF LUFFIELD
The priory of Luffield was probably the
first house of this order in Buckinghamshire, (fn. 1)
and was dedicated to the honour of St. Mary;
the name of the founder, Robert de Bossu,
Earl of Leicester, shows the date of foundation to have been earlier than 1133. (fn. 2) Gifts
of land for the support of the monastery were
confirmed by Henry I. and the Empress
Maud, and also by bulls of Eugenius III. and
Alexander III.: (fn. 3) there is no well-known
name among its benefactors except that of
Hamo son of Meinfelin. (fn. 4) The endowments
in the twelfth century were not extensive, and
no considerable gifts were added at any
later time, so that the number of monks must
always have been small. The house seems to
have been reckoned almost from the first as a
royal foundation, and the royal patronage was
of real advantage in at least one case of need.
For we are told by the chronicler of Dunstable (fn. 5) that in the year 1244 a band of fiveand-twenty robbers burst into the monastery
while the monks were singing vespers, and
carried away all the portable ornaments of
the church, with everything else they could
lay hands on, not even sparing the sacred
vessels: whereupon the king not only consoled the monks with kind words, but sent
them three new chalices and the necessary
vestments for three chaplains, as well as £15
in money. In November 1286 the debts of
the house had become so serious that Edward I. took the priory under his protection
and appointed a royal clerk, Richard de
Rothewell, to the custody of the temporalities
during his pleasure. (fn. 6) The house is here described as being of the patronage of the king.
As pertaining to his prerogatives the king
exercised the right of imposing boarders,
and on 20 August, 1316, John de Ditton,
clerk, obtained letters to the prior and convent entitling him to receive the pension they
were bound to grant to one of the king's clerks
by reason of the new creation of a prior. (fn. 7)
Some years later, in February 1333-4, Robert
de la Chapelle was sent to the house to receive
such maintenance as John Close, deceased,
had had. (fn. 8)
Not much is known of the external history
of the priory, though the names of the priors
are found in regular succession both in the
episcopal registers and the patent rolls.
There is no record even of any important lawsuit connected with this house. Finally, in
the year 1493, when the number of inmates
was reduced to three, King Henry VII. petitioned Pope Alexander VI. to allow him to
suppress the house and apply its revenues, the
yearly value of which was estimated at 260
florins auri de camera, to the chapel and
chantry which he had founded next to St.
George's, Windsor, together with a hospital
for the poor and other 'miserable persons' in
the town of the same. The Bull which
granted this request describes the monastery
as situated in a deserted place, and inhabited
for some time past by a prior with only two
monks, who had not even been professed in
the house: the buildings had fallen into almost irreparable ruin through the neglect of
those who had charge of them. (fn. 9) A subsequent Bull of Julius II. allowed the king to
apply the revenues of the priory to his new
chapel at Westminster instead of to Windsor, (fn. 10)
and this plan was carried into effect four or
five years later.
Archbishop Peckham visited the priory
early in 1280 and found the conduct of the
prior, William de Esteneston, so bad that he
absolved him from office. (fn. 11) The monks obtained leave to elect, and on 8 March, 127980, the king signified his assent to the election
of Adam de Hanred or Henred. (fn. 12) The archbishop wrote to Oliver Sutton, then bishopelect of Lincoln, forbidding him to assign any
pension or portion to the late prior of Luffield
beyond the common share, unless he should
think fit to send him to do penance for his
excesses in another monastery, stating that in
the face of his express prohibitions and on the
very day of the archbishop's departure the
prior had admitted women into the cloister
of the monastery and had wasted the goods of
the house on them. (fn. 13) Archbishop Peckham
visited the priory again in the autumn of 1284,
and found that William de Esteneston had
prevailed on his diocesan to grant him the
usual privileges of a retired superior for so
long as he should behave himself honestly and
regularly. This indulgence the archbishop
found he had grossly abused, and on 15 November Peckham issued a decree that brother
William de Esteneston should be deprived of
the special chamber assigned to him in the
infirmary, which should henceforth be restored for the use of the sick, that he should
take his meals with the monks in the refectory,
and share the food of the ordinary brothers,
should sleep in the dormitory and attend the
day and night offices in the church unless
obviously ill, should receive the same treatment in the infirmary if he should fall ill as
any other brother, and that his servant (garcio)
should lodge with the other servants of the
community and not within the cloister. The
archbishop, in order to prevent the abuse
spreading, ordered that the door leading from
the chamber occupied by the late prior into
the orchard should be locked and the key kept
by the prior until a wall could be built round
the orchard. After that the sick should have
liberty to go in and out of the orchard until
sunset, when the door should be locked and
the key placed in the custody of the prior.
If the culprit refused to adhere to these regulations he was to be separated from the
community and kept in seclusion according to
their rule until he rendered humble obedience. If he should show signs of apostasy,
as was to be feared, or attempt to renew his
crimes, he was to be placed in close custody. (fn. 14)
There was much discord in the house at the
close of the century, which showed itself in
several successive elections. In 1285 Bishop
Sutton deprived the brethren of their right
of election, because of the dissensions which
arose at the resignation of the prior: and
finding no one in the house whom he thought
capable of holding office, he on his own
authority re-appointed Adam de Hanred, the
monk who had just resigned. (fn. 15) In 1287 Adam
again resigned, and on 26 May a licence to
elect having been obtained, the brethren
elected Richard de Silveston. The royal
assent to his election was signified on 18 June,
but on that day a messenger arrived from the
convent bearing the resignation of brother
Richard and requesting another licence to
elect. (fn. 16) This having been obtained, the
choice of the priory fell on a brother from
another monastery—John of Houghton, from
the priory of Daventry. (fn. 17) He in his turn resigned two years later, and became a Friar
minor: the monk elected in his place resigned
the office, (fn. 18) and Peter of Saldeston or Shalstone
was finally appointed. (fn. 19) In 1294 the bishop
visited the house, and deposed Peter of Shalstone, (fn. 20) because he would not obey the injunctions then given as to the management
of the property of the convent, and William
of Brackley was elected. After this the house
must have enjoyed greater peace, for William
ruled it nearly twenty years, and his successor
twenty-eight years.
The only other recorded visitation of this
monastery was in 1311, by order of Bishop
Dalderby (fn. 21) ; its results are not entered in the
episcopal registers. In 1347 the prior was
enjoined to receive back an apostate monk,
who wished to resume the habit of religion. (fn. 22)
The death of the prior is recorded in the year
of the Great Pestilence, and it is stated that
all the monks died of the plague. (fn. 23) It may
be that, like many other small houses, the
priory of Luffield never fully recovered its
original numbers or prosperity after this year.
The last prior, Thomas Rowland, on the suppression of the house in 1494, retired to the
abbey of Abingdon, of which he died Lord
Abbot in 1504. (fn. 24)
The original endowment of the priory consisted of the demesne land at Luffield, with
other parcels of land in Thornborough, Shalstone and Evershaw in this county, at 'Flechamsteda' in Warwickshire, and at Dodford
in Northamptonshire; with the churches of
Thornborough, Beachampton and Water
Stratford and the Chapel of Evershaw. (fn. 25) The
total value of temporalities in 1291 was
£24 19s. 17½d. (fn. 26) ; the spiritualities could not
have amounted to much, as the churches of
Thornborough and Water Stratford were
both of less than £10 value, and vicar's portions had to be paid out of this.
In 1316 the prior of Luffield was returned
as holding half the vill of Shalstone, half the
vill of Evershaw, and one third of Thornborough. (fn. 27) In 1346 he held the same portion
of Thornborough, and shared with the abbot
of Biddlesden one eighth of a knight's fee in
Evershaw. (fn. 28)
The value of the house, as stated in the bull
of Alexander VI. for its annexation, is stated
to have been 260 golden florins.
Priors of Luffield
Mauger, (fn. 29) first prior, occurs before 1133
William, (fn. 30) occurs 1151
Ralf, (fn. 31) occurs 1174
John (fn. 32)
William, (fn. 33) before 1218
Roger, (fn. 34) died 1231
William de Brackley, (fn. 35) elected 1231
Ralf de Silveston, (fn. 36) elected 1263, resigned
1275
William de Esteneston, (fn. 37) elected 1275, resigned 1279-80
Adam de Hanred, Henred or Heured, (fn. 38)
1279-80, resigned 1284
William de Brackley, (fn. 39) elected 1284-5, election annulled
Adam de Hanred, Henred or Heured (fn. 40) reappointed 1285, resigned 1287
Richard de Silveston, (fn. 41) elected 1287, resigned same time
John de Houghton, (fn. 42) elected 1287, resigned
1289
Gilbert de Merse, (fn. 43) elected 1289, resigned
same time
Peter de Saldeston or Shalstone, (fn. 44) elected
1289, deposed 1294
William de Brackley, (fn. 45) elected 1294, resigned 1316
John de Westburg, (fn. 46) elected 1316, died
1344
William de Skelton, (fn. 47) elected 1344, died
1349
William de Horwood, (fn. 48) elected 1349, resigned 1383
John Pirye, (fn. 49) elected 1383
John Horwood, (fn. 50) elected 1396
John Hals, (fn. 51) elected 1420, died 1444
John Pinchbeck, (fn. 52) elected 1444, resigned
1468
William Rogers, (fn. 53) elected 1468, resigned
1488
Thomas Rowland, (fn. 54) elected 1488, resigned
the house 1494 (fn. 55)
Seal: A pointed oval seal (fn. 56) of the thirteenth century represents the Virgin seated
on a throne, a sceptre in her right hand, the
Holy Child on her left knee with cruciform
nimbus, lifting up the right hand in benediction and holding a book in the left. In the
upper part of the seal is the representation of
a church, in base a prior is kneeling in prayer.
Legend: S' COMMVNIS: SAMCTE: MARIE:
D'LVFFEITT.