HOUSES OF CISTERCIAN MONKS
8. THE ABBEY OF BIDDLESDEN
The Cistercian abbey of Biddlesden was
founded in the year 1147 (fn. 1) by Arnold de Bois
(or de Bosco), steward to the Earl of Leicester,
and one of the keepers of the royal forest.
The traditional account of its foundation, if
true, does not reflect much credit upon Arnold. For the lands with which he endowed
it were a gift from the Earl of Leicester, to
whom they had escheated during the civil
war by the failure of the former tenant,
Robert of Meppershall, to do the homage and
service due for them (fn. 2) ; and it is said that
Arnold de Bois determined to found an abbey
there in order to avoid the difficulty of a disputed tenure. When peace was restored,
Robert did indeed lay claim to the lands, and
impleaded Arnold; but the monks paid him
ten marks, and persuaded him to grant them
a charter of confirmation. Matthew Paris
however speaks of Arnold as strenuus, facetus
et optimis moribus adornatus, so perhaps his
motives in founding the abbey have been
misrepresented. At any rate he received all
the honours of a founder, and was buried in
the conventual church before the high
altar. (fn. 3)
The first monks of Biddlesden were probably sent from the abbey of Gerondon in
Leicestershire, for the earliest charters were
made out to the abbot of that house; but
after the custom of Cistercian foundations, it
became an independent abbey almost at once.
The original endowment was confirmed by
Robert, Earl of Leicester, by Stephen and
Henry II., by Theobald of Canterbury, and
Robert of Lincoln. (fn. 4) Many well-known names
in this county are reckoned amongst the benefactors of Biddlesden: William and Ralf de
Cheinduit, Roger and Miles de Bray, Roger
Foliot, Ralf de Pinkeney, Thomas de St.
Waléry, and Beatrice, wife of the younger
William de Beauchamp. Their gifts were
bestowed for the most part during the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries. The church of
Ebrington in Gloucestershire was granted to
the abbey as late as 1378. (fn. 5) But it was not a
wealthy house at any time, and its revenue
never rose much above £100.
Little is known of its external history. In
1260 the vicar of Thornborough complained
to the abbot that he did not receive tithes
from the monastic lands in his parish; and
the abbot, for the sake of peace, granted him
three acres out of these, being careful however
at the same time to assert the Cistercian pri
vilege of exemption, and to explain that he
and his convent did this of their own free will. (fn. 6)
In 1276 the same abbot was involved in a suit
with his tenants of the manor of Boycott on
the subject of feudal customs. (fn. 7) In 1280 he
had to complain of trespasses and injuries done
to him in his house in London, (fn. 8) and at about
the same time he was distrained for scutage
for his property in Maryland, but it was
finally proved that none was really due. (fn. 9) In
1302 the abbey was taken under the king's
protection, and as it was greatly burdened with
debt, John of Tingewick, rector of Wappenham, was appointed custodian of the house,
to aid the monks by his counsel, and to superintend the administration of its revenues. (fn. 10)
It seems however that John took base advantage of his position, for in 1308 (fn. 11) a suit was
brought by the abbot and convent against
him and many others, for breaking down their
enclosures in Syresham and depasturing the
corn that grew there. In 1325 Abbot Roger
de Gotham acknowledged a debt of £200,
which however he contrived afterwards to pay
off. (fn. 12) In 1392 the house seems to have recovered its prosperity a little; for the abbot
and convent were in a position to take over the
cell of Weedon Pinkeney from the Abbot of St.
Lucien near Beauvais in France, at a pension of
12 marks a year, afterwards commuted for a
payment of 300 marks in full quittance. (fn. 13) The
purchase of Weedon Pinkeney however involved the monks of Biddlesden in a long dispute with the rectors of Wappenham, in whose
parish part of the property of the late priory
lay. Two or three attempts were made to
settle the question of tithes, but it was not
finally arranged until 1406. In this year the
rector agreed not to molest the monks in
future in respect of any property that had
belonged to St. Lucien; and received in compensation two acres of cornland, with two
lambs and two cheeses yearly. The final
agreement was ratified by Bishop Repingdon
and the Archbishop of Canterbury. (fn. 14)
Of the internal history of the house nothing
whatever is known until just before the dissolution. An abbot was deposed in 1192, (fn. 15)
but his offence is not recorded. The house
was exempt from episcopal visitation, like all
Cistercian monasteries, so that the Lincoln
registers throw no light upon its condition
from its foundation to its surrender. As its
yearly income was under £200, it would naturally have been dissolved with the smaller
monasteries in 1536. In this year the local
commissioners reported that there were eleven
monks in the house, of whom nine were priests,
and none guilty of any immorality. There
was a former abbot living in the house, with a
pension of £13 6s. 4d. for his maintenance,
and there were as many as fifty-one servants
attached to the monastery, of whom twentyfour were 'hinds' or farm labourers, thirteen
did the work of the house, nine were children
(possibly servers at mass), and four were
women who came in by the day. (fn. 16) The commissioners stated further that only one of the
monks desired a capacity to depart to another
house of religion, but this does not seem very
consistent with the fact that they petitioned
for the monastery to be continued, and actually paid as much as £133 6s. 8d. for this privilege. (fn. 17) The house was not surrendered till
25 September, 1538. The form of the surrender is not of the ordinary type, and is in
English. As it has been more than once
printed in full, there is no need to reproduce
it here verbatim. (fn. 18) It has received the more
attention because it is not, like so many others,
a merely formal declaration that the surrender is quite voluntary and that there are many
excellent but unnamed reasons why it should
be made; but it contains a certain amount
of vague self-accusation. Summed up, it is
a confession that the 'manner and trade of
living' of the monks of Biddlesden and others
of their 'pretensed religion' for many years
past did most principally consist in 'dumb
ceremonies': that they had been exempt
from their own ordinaries and diocesans and
subject to 'forinsecal potentates' such as the
bishops of Rome and abbots of Citeaux,
'which never came here to reform such discord of living and abuses as now have been
found to have reigned amongst us': and that
they had never been taught in the true knowledge of God's laws, but now had happily
discovered by the study of the gospel that it
was most expedient for them to be ruled by
their Supreme Head the king. Even if this
document had been composed by the monks
themselves and not merely handed to them
to sign, it would prove very little against
them, and over against it may be set not only
Dr. London's approval of the house (fn. 19) —which
might be a poor compliment—but the favourable report of the local commissioners.
The abbot received a pension of £40; the
cellarer, £6; the rest, eight in number,
£5 6s. 8d. each; and the old abbot, Richard
Benet, apparently kept his original pension of
twenty marks. (fn. 20) One of the monks, Richard
Taylor of Northampton, was still living in
1552 as Vicar of Thornborough, and had
never married. (fn. 21)
The original endowment of the abbey included the vill of Biddlesden, 5 virgates in
Whitfield, and the manor of Maryland in
Syresham, Northants, as well as the advowson
of half the church of Houghton, Northants,
with lands and a mill in the same parish. (fn. 22)
The manors of Charwelton and Preston Capes
in Northants were granted by William and
Ralf de Cheinduit at the end of the twelfth
century (fn. 23) ; the manor of Boycott, Oxon, was
the property of the abbey early in the thirteenth. (fn. 24) In 1379 the church of Ebrington,
Gloucestershire, was granted to the monks by
William la Zouche of Harringworth in memory of his kinsman, William de Bosco (fn. 25) ; and
Sir Richard Corbett relinquished his rights
in the same church on condition that a certain number of masses should be said for his
soul. (fn. 26) In 1284 the Abbot of Biddlesden held
three fourths of a knight's fee in Dodford and
a share in one half of Thornborough (fn. 27) ; in
1302 he was returned as holding Dodford and
Stowe with the Abbot of Osney, and half the
village of Evershaw (fn. 28) ; in 1316 his lands were
the same as in 1302, with the addition of one
third of Thornborough. (fn. 29)
In 1291 the temporalities of the abbey
amounted to £66 9s. 3d. (fn. 30) The Valor Ecclesiasticus estimates its revenues at £125 4s. 3d. (fn. 31) ;
the local commissioners in 1536 at £130 4s. 3d.
or £138 7s. 6d. (fn. 32) ; the Ministers' Accounts
of 1538 at £164 1s. 7d., including the manors
of Boycott, Oxon, and Dodford, Bucks, with
Charwelton, Preston and Gorall, Northants;
and the church of Ebrington. (fn. 33)
List of Abbots (fn. 34)
Richard, (fn. 35) occurs 1151
Alexander, (fn. 36) occurs 1157 and 1166
Richard, (fn. 37) died 1192
William, (fn. 38) deposed 1198
Adam of Bath, (fn. 39) elected 1198, occurs till
1209
Maurice, (fn. 40) occurs 1219 and 1222
Henry, (fn. 41) occurs 1226, died 1228
Thomas, (fn. 42) occurs 1230 and 1232
Giffard, (fn. 43) resigned 1236
Walter, (fn. 44) occurs 1238 and 1240
Henry Mallore, (fn. 45) occurs 1241
Philip, (fn. 46) occurs 1245 to 1250
William, (fn. 47) occurs 1254 to 1257
Roger, (fn. 48) occurs 1259 and 1262
William Bisham, (fn. 49) occurs from 1264 to 1286
John Thornborough, (fn. 50) occurs from 1290
to 1296
Walter, (fn. 51) elected 1296, occurs till 1300
John of Salisbury, (fn. 52) occurs 1301 to 1307
Thomas of Buckingham, (fn. 53) elected 1308,
occurs till 1315
John, (fn. 54) elected 1317, occurs till 1321
Thomas of Buckingham, (fn. 55) occurs 1324
Roger of Gotham, (fn. 56) occurs 1325 to 1332
Griffin, (fn. 57) occurs 1341
William of Loughborough, (fn. 58) occurs from
1346 to 1357
Peter, (fn. 59) occurs from 1378 to 1396
John, (fn. 60) occurs from 1397 to 1400
Stephen, (fn. 61) occurs 1428
John, (fn. 62) occurs from 1469 to 1480
William, (fn. 63) occurs 1481
Richard Benet, (fn. 64) occurs 1495, resigned 1535
Richard Green, (fn. 65) last abbot, elected 1535
Seal of St. Mary and St. Nicholas of
Biddlesden:
A pointed oval seal (fn. 66) of the late twelfth
century, creamy white, imperfect. The obverse is wanting, the reverse represents a
sinister hand and vested arm issuing from the
left and holding a pastoral staff in pale.
The legend, of which only a part remains,
runs: +SIG . . . S DE BETLESD.'
A very similar one, (fn. 67) light brown in colour,
representing a hand and vested arm issuing
from right, grasping a pastoral staff in pale.
Legend: +SIGILLVM DE BEHTLESDENA.
A dark green pointed oval seal or counterseal, 1264-1286, (fn. 68) represents a dexter and
vested arm issuing from the right and holding
a pastoral staff in pale. In the field on the
left a crescent enclosing an estoile. Legend:
[C]ONTRA S' ABB'IE DE BETLESDENE.
A pointed oval seal or counterseal, pale
yellow in colour, and imperfect, attached to
a charter bearing date. 1275, (fn. 69) represents a
dexter hand and vested arm issuing from the
right, holding a pastoral staff with large crook
in pale. In the field on the left two crescents
and an estoile. The legend is defective:
[C]ONTRA S' . . . ESDEN . . .
A very small green pointed oval seal attached to a charter of 1265. (fn. 70) The impression, which is very imperfect, represents a
crescent enclosing an estoile of many points.
Legend: AVE MARIA GRA.
Later seal of the fourteenth century. (fn. 71) Two
partial impressions, one containing the upper,
the other the lower part of a pointed oval seal,
represents a saint standing in a canopied
niche. In base a shield of arms: a fesse
and quarter: ERNALDUS DE BOSCO, founder.
Legend: SIG ... NT' DE.
Seal of Abbot Giffard 1228-1236. (fn. 72) Pointed
oval, dark green, represents Minerva helmeted, in profile to the left holding a spear.
Legend: +VIVE: VT: PLACEAS: DEO.
Seal of Abbot Thomas about 1238-1240. (fn. 73)
Pointed oval, opaque yellow in colour, the
impression is fine but very imperfect, represents the abbot full length, in his right hand
a pastoral staff, in his left a book. Legend:
. . . BATIS . . . TO NICHOL . . .
Seal of Abbot Philip 1245. (fn. 74) Pointed oval,
dark green, represents the abbot standing
on a platform, holding in his right hand a
pastoral staff, in his left a book. Legend:
+ SIGILL': ABATIS: DE: SANCTO: NICHOLAO.
Seal of Abbot William 1264-1286. (fn. 75) Similar to seal of Abbot Philip. Another seal of
Abbot William, a pointed oval, represents the
Virgin half length, the Holy Child on her left
knee. In base under an arch the abbot half
length in prayer. (fn. 76) Legend: [M]ATER DEI
[MEM]ENTO ME[I].
Another seal of Abbot William, (fn. 77) oval, impression of a bust couped at the neck, in profile to right, wearing a double tiara. Legend:
IHESV: MERCI.
Seal of Abbot John Sarum. (fn. 78) A pointed
oval seal attached to a charter dated 1304, the
impression is very fine but imperfect. It
represents the abbot standing on a carved
corbel under a trefoiled canopy supported on
either side by a slender shaft, in his right
hand a pastoral staff, in his left hand a book.
Legend: . . . I . . . BVTLESDENE.
Only a fragment remains of the seal attached to the Deed of Surrender. (fn. 79)