5. THE ABBEY OF MUCHELNEY
The founder of Muchelney Abbey is said to
have been Athelstan, King of England, and one
tradition says that he founded it in expiation of
his complicity in the murder of the Atheling
Edwin in 933, and another that it was founded
as a thank-offering for his great victory at Brunanburgh in 937. A still earlier origin however
has been claimed for the abbey. (fn. 546)
Ine, King of Wessex, lived at the time when the
extension of the Church was very rapid, and the
munificence of kings and nobles very great,
and afterwards when the monks were desirous
to regard their foundation as earlier than that
of Athelstan, it was not strange that they should
have cherished the tradition that the original
founder was not Athelstan but Ine himself;
nor is there any great reason for supposing that
he was not.
The charters of King Ine copied in the cartulary, though forgeries, may contain true history.
Moreover, among the charters is a genuine one
by Kynewulf, in 762, giving certain land between
the Isle and the Earn to the monastery of Muchelney, and this alone proves that Athelstan was
not the original founder, though he may have
been the restorer of the abbey.
During the 9th and early part of the 10th century this district suffered much from the Danes,
and the church life that had begun in the reign
of Ine and had been fostered by the generosity
of Kynewulf may have ceased; and thus, while
we claim Athelstan as being the refounder, there
is no historical argument against the tradition
that the monastery was founded by the earlier
monarch, Ine.
If the charter of Ine is a forgery as it stands
in the cartulary, so also is the charter of King
Athelstan, which describes him as the founder.
The original gift of Muchelney, with its
adjacent islands of Thorney and Middleney, no
longer exists.
In the cartulary there are copies of seven
charters said to be granted by English kings to
Muchelney before the Conquest. Two of Ine,
of which the first is in its present shape clearly
a forgery (dated 725), granting to Frody, the
abbot at 'Mycleneya', 20 mancuses of land, and
the other, which is rather a record than a
charter, is dated 693, in which Ine is recorded
to have granted 37 cassates of land on the banks
of the Isle to this said Frody.
The one genuine charter is that of Kynewulf
who in 762 granted eight cassates of land between
the Isle and the Earn. Then comes the so-called
charter of King Athelstan, granting half the
manor of Curry Rivel to the monastery.
Then there are two transcripts of charters,
of Edgar, one dated 964 granting to 'Miclani' and
the brethren there the right to elect their own
abbot, and in 966 ten cassates of land at Isle.
The last of this group of early royal charters is a
confirmation by King Ethelred in 995 of the
possessions of the abbey at Ilminster, West Camel
and all other lands that they possess.
In the Domesday Survey (fn. 547) the abbey is said to
hold Chipstable, Ilminster, Isle Abbots, Cathanger
in Fivehead, Drayton, Camel (West) and the
three islands of Muchelney, Middleney, and
Thorney.
In 1239 (fn. 548) the rectory of Chipstable was granted
by Bishop Jocelin for the endowment of the
abbey, but how the monastery obtained the
advowson we do not know.
In the Taxatio
(fn. 549) of 1291 the temporalities
were valued at £44.
In the Valor (fn. 550) of Henry VIII the revenues
of the abbey were valued at a net value of
£447 4s. 11d.
Muchelney never was a large foundation. In
995 (fn. 551) King Ethelred speaks of it as a little monastery, monasteriolum, and our first item of
information comes to us through William of
Malmesbury's history of Glastonbury Abbey. (fn. 552)
There we find Muchelney and Athelney seeking
protection under the more powerful monastery
of Glastonbury. (fn. 553)
Bishop Giso's manor of Huish joined the land
of the abbey of Muchelney, and in a dispute
between him and the abbey, Bishop Giso referred the matter to Lanfranc. The Archbishop
of Canterbury therefore took occasion to summon
the Abbot of Muchelney to appear before a
general council of the English Church, (fn. 554) and the
abbot replied that he would answer by command
of the Abbot of Glastonbury in the chapterhouse of Glastonbury and nowhere else, and he
based his answer on the royal privileges which
the abbey had received from Kings Ine, Kentwin
and Edward. We know nothing of the authority
for this assertion, but it is said that the bishop
did appeal in the chapter-house of Glastonbury
and lost his case, and it seems probable that the
action of the abbots of the two smaller houses
was due to some arrangement made by the
ambitious Abbot Thurstin of Glastonbury.
In 1201 (fn. 555) Abbot Richard was induced to
give the church of Ilminster to the cathedral
church of Wells. Bishop Savaric of Bath was
then also Abbot of Glastonbury, and so the Abbot
of Muchelney could not save himself as his predecessor had done more than a century earlier.
Bishop Savaric created a prebend out of the
church of Ilminster, and made the Abbot of
Muchelney for the time being prebendary and
a member of the chapter of the cathedral church
of Wells, and thus while Muchelney did not
benefit by the change, the bishop was henceforth
able to claim the obedience of the abbot, because
the abbot was a member of his chapter at Wells.
Bishop Savaric (fn. 556) seems to have given to the
abbey on account of its poverty certain small
tithes and dues arising out of the church of
Somerton.
In 1315 (fn. 557) Bishop Drokensford appointed
William de Dillington and Richard de Forde
commissaries with final powers of correction to
visit the abbey of Muchelney, but the result of
this visit is not recorded.
In the same year (fn. 558) there is a receipt in the
bishop's register from the Abbot of Muchelney
for the keep of a Knight Templar from Templecombe who had been maintained at Muchelney
for 276 days.
In 1329 (fn. 559) we find Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury
commissioning Canon Walter de Hull, the
rector of Shepton Beauchamp, to go to Muchelney and absolve Henry de Eastcammel, monk.
In 1332 (fn. 560) the bishop writes to the abbot asking
him to grant a corrody or pension to William
le Iressch, a small squire, who seems to have been
an attendant on the bishop, and who was now
too old to perform his customary duties. This
request must be considered with evidence shown
us in the Close Rolls, where we find that for the
last 50 years at least the Crown had been forcing
on the abbey the maintenance of its aged servants.
In 1309 (fn. 561) Richard le Devenish was sent there
to be maintained in the abbey for the rest of
his life. In 1325 (fn. 562) John le Foullere, who had
long served the king and his father, was sent to
occupy the place vacated by the death of Richard
le Devenish. In 1328 (fn. 563) John de Trentham,
the king's harper, was sent because Foullere was
dead. In the next year (fn. 564) however he was
removed to Bath. In 1342 (fn. 565) Thomas Prest of
Twickenham was sent to occupy the place which
his father Thomas Prest (now dead) had enjoyed,
and the elder Prest himself had succeeded to
the corrody granted by Edward I to Peter le
Messayer.
In a monastery that was never large the presence of men like these must have been detrimental to the authority of the abbot, and also
to the observance of the rule of St. Benedict by
the monks themselves.
In 1335 (fn. 566) Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury wrote
to the abbot concerning the comperta of a recent
visitation of his. He says he found the monks
living in luxury and enjoying private privileges
which were quite unauthorized. They were not
content with the simple cubicles in the dormitory but had made themselves larger beds in
the form of tabernacles, which were too ornate
and richly covered. They were in the habit
of leaving the convent without permission and
rode on horseback through the country, and
some were wont to take their meals in private
and not as they should, in common with the
others in the refectory. Secular men, women
and girls were allowed in the cloister area. In
the refectory the utensils were far too costly and
good for the simple life that should be lived
there. All this was to be corrected by the
festival of St. Michael. He forbade the monks
to leave the precincts of the abbey unless they
had obtained the abbot's permission, and if the
abbot was absent, they must obtain the licence
of the prior, and this licence was only to be
granted for very good reasons.
The church of the monastery the bishop had
found in a state of bad repair, and he ordered
that it was to be restored and made good by
that time on pain of a penalty of 100s. which
the abbey would have to pay to the poor. The
letter is dated from Banwell, 10 July 1335.
The visitation to which the bishop here refers
probably took place in the previous year. The
abbey had just lost its head, John de Henton,
who had been abbot for thirty years, and so
prolonged a term of office suggests that the
abbot was of great age when he died, and this
circumstance would account for a weakened
discipline.
His successor, John de Somerton, was a man
of great mark, and much valued by Bishop Ralph.
Hearne says 'he was of great name in his monastery and also elsewhere.' His efforts at reform
clearly had raised an opposition on the part of
the monks who had been accustomed to the easy
rule of his predecessor, Abbot Henton, and in
1338 (fn. 567) the bishop interfered with reference to
John de Worthy, a monk there, who, on account
of his disobedience, was ordered to be kept in
prison in a separate chamber and to have a
limited and prescribed dietary. On feast days
as well as on other days he was bound to say one
psalter a day. The next year, (fn. 568) hearing that
there was some sympathy shown to this monk by
his fellow-monks and even by the abbot, he
writes to forbid the abbot and convent entering
into conversation with him.
Another decade and we find the monastery
visited by the Great Pestilence. John de Codeworth, who had been appointed in 1347, died in
May 1349, and Thomas de Overton succeeded,
and was admitted on 16 June 1349. The new
abbot, like his predecessor, Somerton, had to
receive a royal clerk, and to maintain him until
such time as the monastery could provide him
with a competent benefice.
In 1334 John de Feriby had received this
benefit on the 'new creation' of Abbot Somerton, and now William de Okebourne profited
by the new creation of Abbot Overton. (fn. 569) Unable
however to find a benefice for him they had to
keep him until 1352 when he went to Cirencester. (fn. 570) During his abbotship Overton granted
a corrody to Ralph Drake, (fn. 571) the cantor, whose
duty it was to sing at high mass, and to teach
four boys, and one monk to play the organ.
The intimate relationship (fn. 572) between Abbot
Somerton and Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury is
shown by the perpetual chantry which was
founded in the chapel of St. Martin in the
church of Wells by the convent of Muchelney
for the soul of their late abbot, and it is an instance of the close interconnexion between
these religious foundations in mediaeval times
that, in return, Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury
founded a chantry in the chapel of the hospital
of St. John in Wells on behalf of himself and
Abbot Somerton, on condition that the prior
and brethren of the hospital should pay a chaplain 6 marks a year to celebrate at the altar of
St. Martin in the cathedral church.
It is interesting to note also that in 1433 (fn. 573)
the abbot and convent established a chantry on
behalf of Bishop Nicholas Bubwith, late Bishop
of Bath and Wells, because he had gone to their
aid when they were burdened with debt and had
given them certain valuable vestments.
During the 15th century we know very little
of the history of the monastery. Early in the
century there seems to have been a rebuilding
of the monastic church, and probably of the
greater part of the monastic buildings. (fn. 574)
In the middle of that century, there were
thirteen monks present at the election of Thomas
Pipe in 1463, and in 1489 fifteen monks took part
in the election of William Wyke as abbot. At
the time of the Dissolution there seem to have
been eight monks in addition to the abbot and
prior. The election of the last abbot reveals
the disgraceful pressure that was put upon the
monastery by the ministers of the Crown, and
the extraordinary dishonesty that existed among
them. John Shirborne was induced to resign
on 28 August 1532, (fn. 575) and on 11 June Henry
Thornton wrote to Cromwell that he had received his and the king's letters to the abbot
and convent, and that as soon as the resignation
actually took place he would proceed to carry
out the directions given therein. Inde or Yve
was the ablest monk of the abbey, but he was
young, and it was questionable whether he was
of canonical age. He was certainly the ablest
in wit and learning of the monastery. 'There
are many among his elders who would fain be
abbot, and make friends in these parts as Sir
Nicholas Wadham and others, and so by the
obstinacy of two or three simple monks of the
king's foundation little regard shall be had to the
king's letter. (fn. 576) If they are wilful cleave the
more to the poor monk you have begun withal.'
A few days later (fn. 577) Thornton wrote another
letter to Cromwell, and he adds 'no creature
living shall know what shall be done between
you and me touching Muchelney. I hope that
my Lord Chief Justice will say something for
my truth. I marvel where the fond monks have
comfort; they are so full of cracks. If Dan
Ine obtain it, as I trust he shall, he will prove a
good husband to the monastery.'
Then again on 12 July (fn. 578) he writes:—
Four of the monks are put in comfort to be
abbot, and all their efforts are set against dan
Thomas Ine; so that the bishop, if he can, will
make a monk of another place abbot there, perhaps
from Glastonbury. Divers Canons residing in the
Cathedral Church of Wells say that Ine shall never
'rejoise' that room; but I do not fear them as I
remember your promise. It is necessary that the
King's letter should be speedily sent to the Bishop
of Bath, with another from you before the doctor
comes into these parts. Rather than I should fail
I had liever be where I shall be a thousand years
hence.
On 13 August (fn. 579) he writes again:—
The time of Mr. Dr. Lee is being at Muchelney
he that is vicarie of the same parish is godfather to
dan Thomas Ine. Much labor hath been made by
various monks of the house, especially by dan John
Michell, who would fain be abbot, and has so
laboured with the vicar that he now affirms that Ine
is only 23 years old. The contrary can be proved by
many in the parish of Ilminster, among them by
Thomas Caslyn, his god-father, who are ready to be
examined, who will state that at Christmas last he
was 24 years old.
Then on 16 August (fn. 580) another letter was sent
by Thornton: 'As touching dan Thomas Ine,
monk of Muchelney, unless that your master
cleeve according to my lowly and meek suit
before this made unto you in his favour, he
shall have so much wrong in such a matter as ever
poor religious man had. He is 25 years old,
which can be proved by a hundred besides the
fourteen names I sent you. If Ine fails my
credit will fail also.'
On 19 August 1532 (fn. 581) the licence was issued
by the Crown for the election of an abbot in the
place of John Shirborne. Then shortly afterwards came out the ground for Thornton's
anxiety. He died that autumn, and it appears
that Serjeant Thornton had promised to Cromwell a fee of £40 in the event of Ynde or Ine
being elected, but he had obtained £100 from
Ine to procure his election. (fn. 582) Ine had paid
the money to Thornton, and had to pay again
to Cromwell, and so the revenues of the abbey (fn. 583)
were pledged to provide the illegal bribe.
Cromwell had applied to Dr. Lee to obtain
this, and Ine seeing that he had lost his £100
could only promise to pay again the £40 to
Cromwell 'besechyng you for a tyme to take
hytt yn good worthe.'
On 2 July 1534 (fn. 584) Thomas Ynde, with Robert
Coscob, prior, John Montacute, and eight others,
subscribed to the king's supremacy.
On 3 January 1538 (fn. 585) the monastery was
visited by Thomas Legh:—'When I found the
abbot negligent and of doubtful character;
and ten brethren which all war ignorant and
unlernyd and in manor no servauntes maynteynyd or hospitalite kept and after examynation
withe theym had they all subscrybid to the instrument of their submyssion and surrender and
sealyd the same withe their common seale and delivered the same as their acte to me to thuse and
pleasure of our soverayne lord the kyng, etc.'
The surrender was made in the presence of
Sir Thomas Speke, John Sidenham, William Wittcombe, Nicholas Seger, John Southwood, John
Crosse, Thomas Philippes, and Robert Warmington, (fn. 586) who seem to have sat as a commission of
inquiry for two days previously and had arranged
for the surrender before Legh arrived. The deed
of surrender is no longer in existence, but in
Cardinal Pole's pension list (fn. 587) George Moore and
John Plumber are entered as in receipt of pen
sions of £3 a year. The abbey and its site (fn. 586)
were granted to the Earl of Hertford in the spring
of that year.
Abbots of Muchelney
Frody, 693 (fn. 589)
Edwald, 762 (fn. 590)
Alfwold, 964 (fn. 591)
Leofric, 995 (fn. 592)
Liward, temp. Edward the Confessor (fn. 593)
Eadulf, temp. William II (fn. 594)
Alan, occurs 1159 (fn. 595)
Hugh, occurs 1175 (fn. 596)
Richard, occurs 1198 (fn. 597)
Richard, elected 1235 (fn. 598)
Walter de Cerne, occurs 1237–8 (fn. 599)
John de Barnville, occurs 1251 (fn. 600)
William de Gyvele, 1274 (fn. 601)
Ralph de Muchelney, 1294 (fn. 602)
John de Henton, 1305 (fn. 603)
John de Somerton, 1334–47 (fn. 604)
John de Codeworth, elected 1347, (fn. 605) died May
1349 (fn. 606)
Thomas de Overton, elected May 1349 (fn. 607)
William de Shepton, December 1 1371, (fn. 608) cf.
October 30 1394
Nicholas Strotton, 27 February 1397 (fn. 609)
John Bruton (fn. 610)
John Cherde, 1433 (fn. 611)
Thomas Pipe, 1463 (fn. 612)
William Crokethorne, 1465 (fn. 613)
John Bracey or Bracy, 1470–89 (fn. 614)
William Wyke, 1489–1504 (fn. 615)
Thomas Broke, 21 January 1505 (fn. 616)
John Shirborne, 1522–32 (fn. 617)
Thomas Inde, Ynde or Yve, 1532–8 (fn. 618)
The 14th-century seal of the Benedictine
Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul at Muchelney (fn. 619)
is circular, 2¾ in. in diameter. It shows two
niches with St. Peter, habited as pope in the
left, and St. Paul with his sword and book in the
right. Outside these in smaller niches are two
angels holding shields. That to the left has
the arms of the abbey which were (Argent) St.
Peter's keys crossed with St. Paul's sword (gules);
the shield to the right is charged with a saltire.
Very little remains of the legend.
The seal of an unknown abbot of the 14th
century (fn. 620) is a tiny vesica, 7/8 in. by ¾ in., with a
figure of St. Paul holding his sword and the
model of a church, and the abbot kneeling before
him.
Of this seal also the legend is much broken.