Readiiid iibbep. Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/readirigabbeyOOhurr ®.rme of f^e @.66eg. Fig. I. Frontispiece, Reading Jibbcp. mobile iUu& et regale fiDonaeterium &e iRe&^nge. BY JAMIESON B. HURRY, M.A., M.D. ST. John's college, Cambridge. 5llU0trate^ plans, ti)tews an^ jfacsimiles. LONDON : ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G. MCMI. GETTY CENTER LIBRARY ^ . 141 3. The Leper-house of St. Mary Magdalene^ was closed, because no lepers were forthcoming. 1 41 4. An inquisition was held to examine whether the Abbot had not unjustly kept back the revenues of the hospital called " Redinge Spitel," in which ten lepers were to be maintained, and for the support of which he had 300 acres of land in Spittlefield, Lerket- field, and other places. 1416. Constantia, daughter of Edmund de Langley, Duke of York, son of Edward HI., the wife of Thomas Lord Despenser, Earl of Gloucester, was buried before the High Altar in the Abbey Church. 14 1 7. This year the King kept his Christmas at Kenilworth, and on 1 Wylie, " History of England under Henry IV.," Vol. i., p. 310- 2 " Prize Essays on Leprosy" (New Sydenham Society, 1895), p. 126. 4P Reading Abbey. the morrow after Christmas Day seditious papers, abusing all estates of the Church, were dispersed in almost every great house and hospital of the towns of St. Albans, Northampton, Reading and in other places. 1427. Twenty-nine Articles were read at Reading respecting rules to be observed by the King's Council, the honours to be paid to the Duchess of Bedford, and a declaration of allegiance to the King. 1430. Thomas Henley was appointed Abbot. 1440. The Parliament, which assembled at Westminster on November 12, 1439, was adjourned on December 21 to meet at Reading^ on January 14, 1440, Mr. William Tresham being Speaker. At this Parliament it was ordained that all foreign merchants should lodge with Englishmen, and dispose of their goods and make purchases within the space of six or eight months, paying the person with whom they lodged twopence in the pound for what they bought or sold, except the Easterlings, and that every house- holder who was an alien should pay to the King thirteen pence a year, and every servant alien sixpence. Measures were also taken againt dishonest purveyors. At this Parliament, too, a new rank in the English peerage, viz. that of Viscount," was constituted, John Lord Beaumont being created Viscount Beaumont by King Henry VI. 1445. King Henry VI. granted to the Abbot by patent the permission to erect in the Abbey a perpetual Chantry of three chaplains, to pray for the good estate of the King, with the privilege of holding lands and tenements to the value of /^20, on paying into the Chancery a fine of 40 marks. 1446. John Thorne (1.) was elected Abbot. 1452. Parliament adjourned on November 20 to Reading, on account of the insalubrity of the air at Westminster, but soon after ad- journed to February 11, owing to plague in Reading itself ("de " magna mortalitate in dicta villa de Redyng jam regnante^ "). I ^^3. Parliament was convened on March 6, and met in the Refectory at Reading. " The place^ was probably selected as 1 Stubbs, "Constitutional History," Vol. iii., p. 128. 2 Creighton, " A History of Epidemics in Britain," Vol. i , p. 229. ^ Stubbs {loc. cit.)^ Vol. iii., pp. 167, 400; Rot. Pari, Vol. v., p. 227. The History of the Abbey. 41 ''one free from the York influence, which was strong in London, "and the election of the Speaker showed that the Duke was not " Hkely to have his own way in the assembly. The choice fell on '' Thomas Thorpe, a knight of the shire for Essex and a baron of " the Exchequer, who was strongly opposed to him. The session "was short; little was done beyond granting supplies, the liber- " ality of which seems to show that the pacification was regarded as " satisfactory. A grant of a tenth and of a fifteenth was voted ; " the other taxes, tunnage and poundage, the subsidy on wool, and " the alien tax, were continued for the King's life. " A force of 20,000 archers was, moreover, granted, to be main- " tained by the counties, cities and towns, according to their sub- " stance. These grants were made on March 28, and the Parlia- " ment was then prorogued to April 25, when it was to meet at " Westminster." The following November^ the Parliament again met at Reading, only to be prorogued till the following February. On February 11, 1454^, the assembly was prorogued till the 14th at Westminster. 1464. At the time that the treaty was being made for the marriage of the King with the Lady Bona, sister-in-law of Charles VIL, King of France, a secret marriage was privately celebrated between the King and Elizabeth Woodville, daughter of Jaquet, Duchess of Bedford, and widow of Sir John Grey. This marriage was kept secret for six months. But at a Council of the peers held at Reading on Michaelmas Day, Edward IV. publicly declared Elizabeth^ to be his wedded wife and their lawful Queen. She was then led in solemn pomp by the Duke of Clarence to the Abbey Church, where she received the congratulations of all the assembled nobility. In this year, too, was married, at the Abbey, Lord Maltravers, 1 Stubbs, "Constitutional History," Vol. iii., p. 169. •■^ Stubbs {loc. cit.\ Vol. iii., p. 170. .. x u . 3 Strickland ("Lives of the Queens of England," Vol. n., p. 10) states that a portrait in an illumination at the British Museum (Royal MSS., 15 E. IV.) represents Elizabeth Woodville as she appeared at Reading m her bridal costume. But no evidence for this statement is given, while the details of the picture cannot be reconciled with the topography of Reading Abbey. Reading Abbey. son and heir of William Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, to Margaret, sister to the Queen of Edward IV. 1466. Parliament was adjourned from Westminster to Reading, on account of the prevalence of the plague^ in London. 1467. The third Parliament of Edward IV. assembled at Westminster on July I, but on account of the heat and of the plague, from which several members of the House of Commons had died, was adjourned to November 6, at Reading, where "in a certain "apartment within the Abbey, prepared for the purpose, the King " being seated on a royal throne, and the three estates in full Parlia- " ment assembled, Robert, Bishop of Bath and Wells, Chancellor of " England, declared the said Parliament again prorogued to the fifth "of May next ensuing at Reading^." 1468. The Parliament met accordingly at Reading on May 5^, but was adjourned to May 1 2 at Westminster. 1480. About this year was suppressed the Hospitium of St. John the Baptist. Ibenr^ 1485. In this year the King was probably at Reading, and directed the Hospitium of St. John, which had previously been suppressed, to be converted into a Grammar School^. 1486. John Thorne (II.) was elected Abbot. The Grammar School received the name of Royal Grammar "School of King Henry VII." 1 509. The King paid a visit to Reading, as appears by an entry in the Churchwarden's book of St. Laurence's Church. 1519- Thomas Worcester was elected Abbot. 1520. W\i<^, alias Hugh Cook Faringdon, previously sub-Chamber- lain, was elected thirty-first Abbot. Soon after the election he received a visit from King Henry VIII. 1 Creighton, " A History of Epidemics in Great Britain," Vol. i., p. 230. 2 Stubbs, " Constitutional History," Vol. iii., p. 400 ; Creighton, "A History of Epidemics in Great Britain," Vol. i., p. 230; Coates, "History of Reading," p. 254. ^ Stubbs ("Constitutional History," Vol. iii., p. 210) states that Parliament met at Reading on May 12. ^ Further particulars will be found in Chapter H., p. 19. The History of ^the Abbey, ^53^- Thomas Lord Cromwell, afterwards Earl of Essex, was ap- pointed by the Abbot to the office of Seneschal, or High Steward, of Reading. 1539- Dissolution of the Abbey. Execution of the Abbot, Hugh Cook Faringdon, with two of his monks, John Eynon and John Rugg. 8 C!)apter ib T'he Martyrdom of Hugh Faringdon. HE martyrdom of Hugh Faringdon, the favourite Abbot of King Henry VHI., forms one of the most dramatic incidents in the suppression of the monas- teries. A brief sketch of the man destined for such a cruel fate will be of interest. The Life of Hugh Faringdon. Born of humble parents, Hugh Cook Faringdon, probably so called from the place of his birth, is described by Hall "as a stubborn monke, and utterly without learning^ "; and in a letter to the University of Oxford he even speaks of himself as having no pretensions to be considered learned. Nevertheless, he must have had a taste for literature and study, since he laments that fate had denied him the advantages of a good education, and expresses a desire to join the University of Oxford. Moreover, Leonard Cox, the head-master of Reading School, in 1524 dedicates to him a book entitled The Art or Craft of Rhetorick," as to one who hath allwayes tenderly favoured the profyte of yonge studentes^." Faringdon appears to have been a man of strong character, with 1 " Chronicle containing the History of England," p. 382. 2 " Dictionary of National Biography," sub. " Faringdon." Further evidence of his interest in promising pupils will be found in " Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VHI.," Vol. vii., Nos. 145 1 and 1452. Fig. ix.-@.66of f Amnion. The Martyrdom oj Hugh Faringdon. decided religious convictions, and willing to uphold them even at the cost of his life. Evidence of this will be found in the strict discipline maintained both at Reading and at the dependent Priory of Leominster^, and also in his heroic death a few years later. The only portrait that has come down to us was formerly in a window at Bere Court, near Pangbourne, and shows an erect figure, mitred and robed, with determined face, firm-set lips, long dark, hair, giving the impression of mingled sternness and humour (Fig. IX.). Various letters, signed " Hugh, Abbot of Redynge," are still pre- served in the Record Office, and an illustration of his autograph accompanies the portrait. For many years Faringdon was in high favour, both with the King and with Thomas Cromwell, whose bienveillance he, as many another in those days, did not hesitate to secure by bribes. Nor was he averse to a good table, if we may judge from a letter to his friend Arthur Plantagenet, Lord Lisle^, accepting his offer of ''wine and herring," and asking for "four tuns of red and claret, '' for which your lordship shall be paid," and also "one barrel of " herring for my own eating, how dear soever they be." The blazon of Hugh Cook Faringdon's arms is as follows : Gules, a chevron compony, counter- compony, a^^gent and sable, between three plates^ each cha^^ged with a cinquefoil pu7pure ; on a chief or^ a dove between two columbines, azure, slipt vert (Fig. X.). These arms^ which belong to the family of Cook, were prob- ably passed by Sir Christopher Barker, the Garter King of Arms from 1536 to 1550. Before that he was Norroy King of Arms, but probably when Rouge Dragon, or Richmond Herald, he had passed the Patent by the Garter or Clarenceux of the day, as Kings of Arms alone grant arms, unless by Patent of the Sovereign direct. Faringdon was sub-Chamberlain when Abbot Thomas Worcester 1 " Letters and Papers, Henry VIIL," Vol vii., No. 1449 ; Vol. viii., No. 593. 2 "Lisle Papers," Vol. vii. 4. Lord Lisle, a natural son of Edward IV., had a stepson, James Basset, at the Abbey School (" Letters and Papers, Henry VHI.," Vol. vii., No. 1452). 3 I am indebted to Mr. Everard Green, Rouge Dragon, of the Heralds' College, for these notes on Faringdon's arms, and for the following list of authorities: Barker's "Grants," E.D. N. 56, fol. 47« ; Benolt's "Visitation of Devon and Cornwall in I'^'si," G. 2, fol. loi ; "Arms of Abbeys and Priorys," a MS. painted between 1525 and 1536, L. 10, fol. 74^ ; Ashmole's "Visitation of Berks, 1664-66," C. 12, Part ii., fol. 199. 46 Reading Abbey. died in July, 1520, and in the following November was elected by his brethren to fill the vacancy. After the confirmation of his election, the new Abbot was blessed by the Bishop's suffragan and solemnly installed. Two days later King Henry VIII. paid a visit to the Abbot, from whom he received a goodly present of great pykes, great carps, salmon, "sturgeon and other fish^." Of Faringdon's zeal for the Roman Catholic religion, some proof exists in a letter written in 1530 to the University of Oxford. At that time there happened to be at the Abbey a monk called Dom John Holyman^, who had resigned a Fellowship at New College, Oxford, in order to take the cowl at Reading. Holyman seems to have been a stout adversary of Lutheranism, so much so that when about to take his doctorate, the request is made by Faringdon that the sermon usually delivered before the University may be omitted, and that Holyman may preach in London instead, as that city was infected with Lutheranism, and needed such a popular defender of the faith as Holyman. Faringdon appears to have taken his share in the public work expected of a mitred Abbot, and his name occurs among the Justices of the Peace for Berkshire in 1532'^. The Abbey, too, was well managed under his rule, if we may judge from the following report made in 1535 by the Commis- sioners for the suppression of the monasteries : " They have a gudde lecture in scripture dayly redde in ther chapitour-howse, bothe in Inglyshe and Laten, to the wich ys ''gudde resortt, and the abbott ys at yt hym self*." Again, somewhat later, when his diocesan, Nicholas Shaxton, Bishop of Salisbury, objected to a certain reader at the Abbey called Roger London, on the ground that his teaching was calcu- lated to keep the monks too faithful to the See of Rome, Faring- don wrote to Cromwell, declining the substitute suggested, on the ground that he was married and therefore degraded^ ; and 1 " Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII.," Vol. iii., No. 1008. 2 Gasquet, " Henry VIII. and the Englisii Monasteries," Vol. ii., p. 359. ^ "Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.,'' Vol. v., No. 1694. * " Letters relating to the Suppression of the Monasteries" (Camden Society), p. 226. ^ "Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. xiii., Part i.. No. 147. Fig. X. The Martyrdom of Hugh Faringdon, that, " though learned, he cannot but instil like persuasions of "marriage, and that would be but occasion of slander, the laws ''standing as they do yet." In this dispute, as the subsequent correspondence^ shows, Faringdon was supported by Cromwell, and won his case, the Bishop being sharply rebuked for his meddle- some interference, which was prompted by a wish to obtain prefer- ment for a protegd of his own. In 1530 Faringdon was one of those spiritual lords who petitioned Pope Clement VII. ^ to grant the divorce of Henry VIII. and Catherine. Indeed, at that time he appears to have been on terms of intimate friendship with the King, who used to call him "his own Abbof^," and exchange New Year gifts with him^. Once when the King was hunting in the neighbourhood of Reading, the Abbot sent him presents of fish, probably Kennet trout, and hunting-knives^. On the question of the royal supremacy, Faringdon appears to have been a good Catholic. It is true that in 1536 he signed the articles of faith passed by Convocation at the King's desire, which virtually acknowledged the royal supremacy; but he probably never intended to reject Papal authority in spiritual matters, drawing a distinction, like others in those days, between the Church of England and the Catholic Church. Indeed, a con- temporary witness^ quotes him as having stated that, when sworn to the King's supremacy, he added in his conscience, ''of the "temporal Church, but not of the spiritual"; and further, "that " he would pray for the Pope's holiness as long as he lived, and " would once a week say Mass for him, trusting that by such good 1 "Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. xiii.. Part i., Nos. 264, 571, 572. Cf. also Burnet, " History of the Reformation of the Church of England," edited by Pocock, Vol. iv., p. 314. 2 " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. iv., Part iii., No. 6513. 2 " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. xiv., Part ii., No. 613. 4 On January i, 1532, the King gave him £20 in a white leather purse as a New Year gift, and in 1533 a present of plate (" Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. v., No. 686, and Voh vi.. No. 32). 5 Reading knives appear to have enjoyed some reputation at this period. In 1530, 1 53 1 and 1532, the Abbot of Reading sent a present of them to the King (C/. " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. v., pp. 75i» 75^, 759 ; and Vol. x., No. 709). 6 Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. xiv., Part ii., No. 613. Gasquet, " Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries," Vol. ii., p. 361. 4-8 Reading Abbey. *' prayers the Pope should rise again and have the King's highness " with all the whole realm in subjection, as he hath had in time past." Politically, Faringdon loyally supported the King, for at the time of the great Northern insurrection in 1536 the Abbot of Reading is found on the list of those contributing men to fight against the rebel forces^. The town of Reading itself, on the other hand, appears to have had communications with the rebel leader, Robert Aske, for copies of a letter and apparently his proclamation were put into circulation. Amongst others supposed to be in league with the insurgents was John Eynon, a priest of the Church of St. Giles, Reading, and a special friend of Abbot Faring- don. Three years later this priest was executed with the Abbot, but at the time of the rebellion it is clear that there was no sugges- tion of any complicity on the part of Faringdon, who presided at the examination^ held in December, 1536, to investigate the matter. An unfortunate incident happened in T537, which may have prejudiced Henry VIII. against Faringdon. At this time the nation was strongly opposed to many of the royal schemes, which gave rise to much seething discontent. Meanwhile, the slightest expression of disapprobation was eagerly watched for by the royal spies, ready to construe even idle words into treason. For example, the inadvertent spreading of a rumour of the King's bad health, or, still more, of his death, was liable to be exaggerated into an act of disloyalty. When, therefore, in December, 1537, a report reached Reading that Henry VIII. was dead, and Faringdon wrote to some neigh- bours to tell them of the report^, this act, so natural in itself, was magnified into a grave charge. " For think ye," says a contemporary writer*, ''that the abbat of Reading deserved any less than to be hanged, what time as he " wrote letters of the King's death unto divers gentlemen in " Berkshire, considering in what a queasy case the realm stood in " at that same season and did enough, if God had not " stretched forth his helping hand, to set the realm in as great an 1 "Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. xi., No. 580. 2 Loc. cit., Vol. xi., No. 1231. ^ Loc. cit.^ Vol. xii., Part ii., Nos. 1205 and 1252. * Loc. cit,., Vol. xiv., Part ii., No. 613. The Martyrdom of Hugh Fartngdon. 49 uproar as ever it was, and yet the King's majesty, of his royal clemency, forgave him." Pardon was granted as an act of royal magnanimity, and Faring- don continued in the favour of his King, enjoying all the prestige of a local magnate, of a mitred Abbot, and of a Peer of the realm. But ere long the first mutterings of the coming storm could be heard, and to him, as to many another in those fateful days, might be applied the words : d Altera t yjyq fSiov TeXevT7](ravT kv evea-TOL (J^tXyj, The Martyrdom. By the end of the year 1536 most of the lesser monasteries had been dissolved, as a result of the report of two Royal Commis- sioners, known as the Black Book," which had been laid before Parliament, and had charged the religious houses with all kinds of immorality. The larger houses, which had, on the whole, been better con- ducted, remained intact, for the Act of 1536 only contemplated their passing into the King's hands in the case of voluntary surrender. Even the attainder of an Abbot for treason had not hitherto involved the confiscation of the Abbey over which the attainted superior ruled. But after the Northern rebellion had been sub- dued, this victory was used as a pretext for further suppressions, and the King determined to confiscate the property of a corporation, where its head had been attainted of treason. This was not, strictly speaking, legaP. But in order to meet such cases, a clause was inserted in the Act of April, 1539, covering the illegal suppression of the greater monasteries, and granting to the King all " Abbathies, Priories etc., which hereafter shall happen to be dissolved, " suppressed, renounced, relinquished, forfeited, given up or come *'unto the King's Highness." There is also a parenthesis refer- ring to such others as ''shall happen to come to the King's High- " ness by Attainder or Attainders of Treason." 1 Even Burnet writes : " But how justly soever these Abbots were attainted, the seizing on their Abbey-lands, pursuant to those attainders, was thought a great stretch of law ; since the offence of an ecclesiastical incumbent is a personal thing, and cannot prejudice the Church" ("History of the Reformation of the Church of England," edited by Pocock, Vol. i., p. 382). 9 Reading Abbey. This Act passed the House of Lords without protest on the part of any of the Abbots, although those of Glastonbury, Col- chester and Reading, and others were present. It seems clear, therefore, that at this period there was no suspicion of the storm that was so soon to overwhelm these three great prelates, al- though the Act dealt with the very attainder for treason under which, a few months later, they were executed. From notes in Thomas Cromwell's own handwriting, there can be little doubt that between the passing of the Act in April, 1539, and the following September, these three Abbots had been sounded as to whether they would voluntarily surrender their monasteries. But as neither promises of generous treatment nor threats of violence were of any avail, they were accused^ of loyalty to the Holy See, and thus denying the King's supremacy. This was regarded as equivalent to high treason. The venerable Hugh Faringdon was specially loyal to the Vicar of Christ, declaring that he would " never in his heart accept the King's supremacy, but week by week would offer the holy " sacrifice on behalf of the Bishop of Rome, and call him Pope till his dying day." This man, from whose hands Thomas Cromwell, the King's vicegerent, had recently received the office of High Steward of Reading, was now marked as a victim in the following offhand words : Hang the Abbot of Reading." While Cromwell was preparing his case against the Abbot, another was on the look-out for a share of the rich spoils to be derived from Reading Abbey. This was Sir William Penizon, who actually resorted to bribery to gain his purpose. In the Record Office may still be seen his letter asking for the receivership of the Abbey. " I present," he writes to Cromwell on August 15, ''unto your lordship a diamond^ set in a slender gold ring, meet to be " set in the breast of a George," which, though not of the best, he ^ The links in the chain of documentary evidence are somewhat imperfect, but Gasquet (" Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries," Vol. ii., pp. 348, 368 ; and " The last Abbot of Glastonbury and his Companions ") quotes such authority as remains. Free use has been made of these works in the following account of Faringdon's execution. The Right Rev. F. Aidan Gasquet, O.S.B., D.D., Abbot- President of the English Benedictine Congregation, was in 1900 requested by that Congregation to assum.e the description of "Titular Abbot of Reading." 2 " Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. xiv., Part ii.. No. 49. The Martyrdom of Hugh Faringdon. 51 desires Cromwell to accept, reminding him that he " moved Crom- " well not long agone of the dissolution of Reading Abbey " ; and that the Abbot, preparing for the same, sells sheep, corn, wood, etc, to the disadvantage of the King, and pardy also of the .''farmer." As a Peer of the Realm, Faringdon ought to have been arraigned for treason before Parliament, but no trial under attainder took place, and his execution was over, before Parliament came together. As a matter of fact, no proper triaP of any kind took place, and he was condemned to the death of a traitor as the result of secret inquisitions in the Tower by a tribunal that had no jurisdiction. Indeed, there is evidence that Cromwell, acting as ''prosecutor, judge and "jury," had determined on the Abbots death before he left the prison, for in Cromwell's " Remembrances," written down with his own hand, we read : " The Abbot Redyng (sic) to " be sent down to be tried and executed at Redyng with his "complices^," proving that the ultimate issue had been determined beforehand. Brought down from the Tower to Reading, on his last tragic journey, Faringdon underwent in his own hall of justice what was nothing more than a travesty of justice. But even the prospect of a felon's death could not daunt his heroism^. True to his conscience, he chose death rather than dishonour ; and as we look back through the centuries at the man who laid down his life, a martyr for the cause which he believed to be just, who does not feel a thrill of admiration A traitor's death was accompanied by every ignominy. First came the stretching of the limbs on a hurdle, which was dragged about the town by a horse. Then the last pathetic scene, when Faringdon, standing before the gateway of his stately Abbey, with the rope about his neck, and on the verge of eternity, addressed the crowd that had flocked to witness the execution of the great lord Abbot. 1 The date of the arrest is uncertain, but probably the Abbot was in the Tower by September 17, 1539 (''Letters and Papers, Henry VIII.," Vol. xiv., Part n., No. 187). 2 Loc. cit, Vol. xiv., Part ii., No. 399. ^ ^ r, u t . 3 Hugh Faringdon used as his motto the words from the Te Veum In te Domine speravi." 5^ Reading Abbey. He tells them of the cause^ for which he and his companions were to die, not fearing openly to profess that which Henry's laws made it treason to hold — fidelity to the See of Rome, which he declared was but the common faith of those who had the best right to know what was the true teaching of the English Church." The Abbot's chief counsellor, John Eynon^, or Onyon, who had been particularly vehement in his protestations of innocence, also spoke, admitting his so-called treason, begging the prayers of the bystanders for his soul, and craving the King's forgive- ness, if in aught he had offended. This over, the sentence of hanging^, with its barbarous accessories*, was carried out upon 1 Two different explanations of Faringdon's execution have been given. The above account is mainly based on a document recently discovered in the Record Office, and abstracted in the " Letters and Papers, Henry VIIL," Vol. xiv., Part ii., No. 613. This document gives what is practically Faringdon's dying declaration at the foot of the scaffold. But on the other hand may be quoted Froude, who ("History of England," Vol. iii., p. 241), speaking of the Abbot of Glastonbury, writes: " The Abbot was placed in charge of a guard and sent to London to the Tower to be examined by Cromwell himself, when it was discovered that both he and the Abbot of Reading had supplied the northern insurgents with money." The only authority for this statement appears to be a pamphlet entitled The Pilgrim, A Dialogue on the Life and Actions of King Henry VHI." (written in 1546, by William Thomas, Clerk of the Council to Edward VL, and edited by J. A. Froude in 1861), p. 65. Burnet also writes : "The Abbots of Glastonbury and Reading . . . seeing the storm like to break out on themselves, sent a great deal of the plate and money that they had in their house to the rebels in the north ; which being afterwards discovered, they were attainted of high treason a year after this " ('* History of the Reformation of the Church of England," ed. by Pocock, Vol. i., p. 380). Further references may be found in " Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VHI.," Vol. xv., No. 259, and No. 269; and "Encyclopaedia Britannica," Vol. viii., p. 335. 2 " Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VHL," Vol. xiv., Part ii.. No. 613. This name has been variously spelt, but was really Eynon {Cf. Gasquet, " The Abbot of Glastonbury and his Companions," p. 154). Both Abbot Faringdon and his two fellow-sufferers are included amongst the English martyrs, beatified or venerable, who suffered death in England for the Catholic Faith and for the Primacy of the Roman Pontiff {Cf. the Decree of Beatification published by the Roman Congregation of Rites, May 13, 1895). ^ The date was probably November 15, 1539, although some authorities give November 14. Mrs. CHmenson ("History of Shiplake," p. 183) states that the gallows, 40 feet high, were erected on what is now the site of the Roman Catholic Church in the Forbury. ^ In those days of refined cruelty a condemned traitor was usually hung from the gallows, cut down while still alive and disembowelled, the body being then cut The Martyrdom of Hugh Faringdon. 53 Abbot Faringdon and the two monks, John Eynon and John Rugg. Thus the co-workers during Hfe were linked in death. As for the monks, they were expelled from their well-beloved sanctuary, and cast adrift in the world. There is no record in the Books of the Augmentation Office of any pension^ being granted even to those monks who, from infirmity or old age, were incapable of earning their livelihood. Not until fifteen years later, in the 2nd and 3rd of Philip and Mary, were thirteen pensions and one annuity given to mionks who were still alive and made application. The following are the names of the recipients and the amounts granted^ : Per annum. Annuity ... ... Johannis Jennyns ... ... Johannis Fycas ... . . cj. Johannis Wright ... ... c^. Johannis Harper ... ... Q.s. Johannis Mylles ... ... cj-. Elyzei Surges ... ... vi/?'. Johannis Turner ... ... Qs. Phihppi Mathewe cj. Lucae Whitehorne ... ... Cj-. Thomae Taylor Roberti Raynes iiij//. vi^. viijV. Johannis Southe Ixvij. viij^. Ricardi Purser xU. Ricardi Butts xk Pensions ^61 13 4 Thus falls the curtain on the closing scene of a famous monastic drama. For over four centuries Reading Abbey had been the home of active benevolence and of spiritual worship. Ever at **the sacred gates sat Mercy, pouring out relief from a never- failing store to the poor and suffering ; ever withm the sacred in pieces. In the case of Faringdon the body is said to have been left " rotting on a gibbet near his Abbey Gate" ("Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, ^^"^Thoma's Moyle,^one^^of ' the surveyors of Crown lands had in a le^er to Cromwell suggested 230 a year for pensions ("Letters and Papers, Henry VliL, Vol. xiv.. Part ii.. No. 136). . w 1 • fi.^ n R 2 Cf. Cardinal Pole's Pension Book, fol. 25, in Vol. xxxi. of the Q. K. Miscell. Books (R.O.). 54 Reading Abbey. aisles the voices of holy men were pealing heavenwards in inter- cession for the sins of mankind^" Doubtless during its long history there were at times abuses, superstitious practices and corruptions, such as were rife amongst religious houses ; and on other pages mention is made of mis- managed treasury, and of almoner and Abbot negligent of their duty. Moreover the development of civic independence in Reading was sadly thwarted by the ecclesiastical dominion of the monastery, as will be told in the next Chapter. But, speaking generally, history records little that is discreditable, and Reading will hold in everlasting remembrance that ancient home of religion and learn- ing, whose past is inextricably interwoven with her own. 1 Froude, "The Dissolution of the Monasteries" ("Short Studies," Vol. i., p. 417;. Cfjapter The Struggle between the Abbot and the Guild Merchant. OR two hundred and fifty years raged a bitter struggle between the Guild Merchant of Reading and the ecclesiastical Corporation, over which ruled \}cvdX grand Seigneur ''my Lord of Reading," and the story of the struggle is of singular interest as illustrating the slow progress from serfdom to imperfect liberty made by a town subject to a monastery. A brief historical retrospect will explain the origin of the strife. At the time of the Conquest Reading was a small burgh (or borough) of about thirty homesteads, and belonged directly to the Crown, forming, in fact, a part of the national property. In the words of Domesday Book, " The King holds Reading in demesne," and this relationship conferred on the population concerned special privileges and an exemption from certain public burdens^. When, however, in 1121 King Henry I. founded his Abbey and annexed Reading to it, the burgh was dethroned from the favoured position previously occupied, and henceforward owed fealty to the monastery instead of to the Crown. For many a year the borough lay absolutely at the mercy of the Abbot. He owned its streams, its fisheries, its mills, its very 1 Vinogradoff, "Villainage in England," p. 92. 56 Reading Abbey. soil. He did as he chose with the market, he controlled the trade, and supervised the cloth manufacture. He appointed the Warden of the Guild (Gustos Gilde Mercande, afterwards the Mayor), as well as its inferior officers^. Every guildsman or gildanus paid him a yearly tax of 5d., called chepyn-gavell'^, for the right of buying or selling in the borough, while the admission of new members into the guild was subject to his veto. From a burgher's son was levied an entrance fee of 4s., and from a non-freeman (or foreigner) one half the fine paid as entrance fee. Fines destined for the Abbot's treasury were imposed for every breach of the law, the entire administration of justice being monopolized in his hands. In brief, the magisterial authority of the Warden was nominal when compared with that of the Abbot, before whom alone might be borne the symbols of supremacy, and who merely allowed the Warden to have two tipped staves carried before him on state occasions by the Abbot's bailiffs. For the first hundred years after the foundation of the monastery the Abbot appears to have enjoyed unquestioned supremacy, and to have regarded the Merchant Guild^ with favour, any privileges acquired by the latter being probably purchased^ from the early Abbots, who, at the cost of a strip of parchment, were able to increase their revenue and at the same time promote the material prosperity of the town. But in the reign of Henry HI. broke out a revolt against the dominion of the Abbey, and a struggle, not unaccompanied by violence^, for at least an instalment of that civic independence which other towns were enjoying^. The Abbot, on the one part, 1 Guilding, " Records of the Borough of Reading," Vol. i., p. 281. 2 Chepyn-gavell, or market-tax, from chepinge (O.E. ceping, ceaping, ceapung), act of buying, market; and gavel (O.E. gafol, gaful, gafel), tribute, tax. "The Middle-English Dictionary " (twelfth to 'fifteenth century) by Stratmann, ed. by Bradley. ^ There appear to have been originally five separate companies of traders, who subsequently amalgamated for common purposes, acquired privileges and property, and eventually formed the Guild Merchant (Historical MSS. Commission, Vol. xi., Appendix, Part vii., p. 224; and Ditchfield, "The Guilds of Reading," p. 4). ^ Guilding, " Notable Events in the Municipal History of Reading," p. 2. ^ In 1244 occurred a disturbance at Reading in consequence of certain persons being killed by the servants of the Abbey, but what the origin of the disturbance was is not stated (" Annales de Theokesberia," Rolls Series, p. 134). ^ It is interesting to compare the '* Battle for Freedom" as waged by a town, The Abbot and the Guild Merchant. relied on the various Charters granted by King Henry I. and his successors, as evidence of his prerogatives and jurisdiction. The burghers, on the other part, with self-conscious dignity, pleaded still more ancient privileges and rights of self-government, dating, they maintained, from the reign of Edward the Confessor and the days when Reading was a royal borough. By the year 1253 the dispute had grown so fierce that the burghers actually "lay in wait day and night for the Abbot's "bailiffs," and "assaulted them in the execution of their office." For this offence the townsmen were cited into the Court of King's Bench, and required to justify the privileges they claimed as members of the Guild. Eventually peace was restored by a precept from King Henry HI. to the Sheriff of Berks, disallowing the claims of the burgesses and upholding the supreme authority of the Abbot, the precept being followed by a Charter of Incorporation for their Guild, which the burghers succeeded in obtaining from King Henry HI. at Portsmouth. The provisions of this Guild Charter^ of 1253 are as follows : Henry, by the grace of God, King of England etc., to all ''archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, barons etc., greeting. Know "ye that we will, and command for ourself and our heirs, that all the " burgesses of Reading who belong to the Guild Merchant in " Reading may be for ever free from all shires and hundred courts, "and from all pleas, complaints, tolls, passages, ways, carriage " ways, and that they may buy and sell wheresoever they will "throughout all England, without paying toll, and no one may "disturb them under forfeiture of 10 marks." By this Charter, which is of great importance in the municipal history of Reading, privileges which hitherto had been enjoyed on sufferance, now receive a complete legal sanction. But in the following year (1254) there appear to have been further quarrels, the matters in dispute being laid before the Court of King's Bench at Westminster. The burghers, on their part, accused the Abbot of having (i) dissolved the Guild Merchant; such as Reading, dependent on an abbey, with that waged by towns on Royal demesne or feudal estates (Mrs. Green, "Town Life in the Fifteenth Century," Vol. i., Chaps, vii.-ix.). 1 Ditchfield, " The Guilds of Reading," p 7. 10 58 Reading Abbey, (2) compelled them to plead in his court instead of in their own Guild Hall ; (3) changed the site of the Corn Market ; and (4) exacted services which he had no right to demand. The Abbot, on his part, complained (i) of the contumacious conduct of the burghers, who had driven out and beaten his bailiff and other officers ; (2) that the payment of chepyn-gavell had been refused ; and (3) that the privileges conferred by the Abbey Charters had been violated. As a result a ''Final and endly concord^" was drawn up, by which the burghers secured the right to hold their market in its accustomed place, to own their common Guild Hall, and to main- tain their Guild Merchant as of old. In return for this, amongst other concessions, the burgesses acknowledged the Abbot's right to select one of the guildsmen to be the Custos Gilde or Mayor^, who should take an oath of fidelity to the burgesses as well as to the Abbot. Moreover, the latter might still tallage the town at certain times, and his bailiffs hold their courts in the Guild Hall, and fine the burgesses any reasonable sum for the benefit of the Abbot's treasury. As this agreement left the control of local government, as well as of trade, in the hands of the Abbot, it is no w^onder that in time the restless townsfolk began to clamour for further liberty. Guilding'^ suggests that they were seeking to escape from the jurisdiction of the Abbot's Manorial Court (under the Guild Charter of Henry HI., exempting them from all pleas). At any rate, in the Charter of Edward HI., dated 1344 (which was an Inspeximtis of that of Henry III.), the privilege hitherto enjoyed by the burgesses of being "quit from all pleas" was withdrawn, probably at the instance of the Abbot, to prevent the Guild from evading his jurisdiction. Thereupon the traditional feud broke out afresh, and matters came to a crisis in 1351, the mode of election of constables now being the chief point in dispute. The Mayor and burgesses declared that the Abbot had no rights in the matter, and actually 1 Guilding, " Records of the Borough of Reading," Vol. i., p. 280; Historical MSS. Commission, Vol. xi., Appendix, Part vii., p. 169. 2 The list of Mayors given by Macray (Historical MSS. Commission, Vol. xi.. Appendix, Part vii., p. 227) begins in 1324 (18 Edward II.). ^ Reading Literary and Scientific Society, 1891, p. 8. The Abbot and the Guild Merchant, refused to obey a constable appointed by the Abbot's steward. They further pleaded that they had been accustomed time out of mind to elect a proper and able person to be Mayor of the town, that they had a Guild Merchant, and that the Mayor aforesaid was accustomed to exercise jurisdiction over the burgesses of the town. This agitation continued for many years, the fortunes of the contending parties alternating from time to time. But eventually the question was settled in favour of the town, at any rate for the moment, since we read that in 1417 the Mayor, Robert Morys, elected two constables in the hall of the Guild Merchant, and that these constables were admitted to office by one of the justices of the peace. In 1420 the burghers proceeded to erect a new Guild Hall close to the Hallowed Brook, but when a few years later they went on to build a new slaughter-house for butchers living outside the town, the Abbot saw in it an attempt to limit his own market profits, seized the shambles in 1430^ and denied the right of the burgesses to hold them^. But in spite of occasional rebuffs the Merchant Guild was gradually improving its status and becoming recognised as the symbol of a common municipal life, and the safeguard of municipal freedom. The Mayor, although still appointed by the Abbot, identified himself more and more with the representatives of the town, and led the revolt against the Abbey. Various municipal Charters^ too, were obtained about this time, showing that the Abbot's jurisdiction was being restricted, and the privileges of the Merchant Guild confirmed. Thus Henry VI. gave permission to the Mayor to have a mace carried before him, and in 1459 the mace was actually bought. 1 Gross, "The Gild Merchant," Vol. ii., p. 207. 2 Mrs. Green, "Town Life in the Fifteenth Century," Vol. i., p. 280, con- trasts the civic freedom of Nottingham, a town on royal demesne which received its Charter in 1200 {Cf. Stubbs, "Select Charters," p. 308), with the ecclesiastical bondage of Reading: "A dozen generations of Nottingham burghers had been ordering their own market, taking the rents of their butcheries and fish stalls and storage rooms, supervising their wool traders and mercers, and admitting new burgesses to their company by common consent, while the men of Reading were still trying in vain every means by which they might win like privileges from the Abbot who owned the town." t • a 3 For a summary of these Charters, cf. Guilding, "Reading Literary and Scientific Society," 1891, p. 7. 6o Reading Abbey, This honour, however, was too great to be enjoyed for long, and soon afterwards the King wrote a letter to the Mayor revoking the privilege, on the ground that hit is contrarie to the franchise "and libertees of our said church and monasterie, by our noble " aunciesterees graunted and by us confirmed, you to be called or "here other in name or in signe other wise than as keeper of the " Gilde of Reding, admitted by the abbot of our said monasterie, ''and not by us, for to have any mase, or eny other signe of officer " or office to be born by you or any other man with in the said "town and franchisse of Reding. Savyng oonly two tipped staffs "to be born by the baylif of the abbot of oure said monasterie, "graunted and yeven to the abbot and convent of the same our monasterie at the first foundac'on thereof^." Some years later (in 1480) the payment to the Abbot of chepyn-gavell was abolished, the money henceforth going into the town chest. In 1487 was granted by King Henry VII. an important Guild Charter, Majori et Burgensibus Radingice, this being the first Charter in which the Mayor is alluded to, a fact which shows the influential position he had now acquired. The Charter further conceded the right of electing two Sergeants-at-Mace to attend upon the Mayor of the town, a privilege that had been refused by King Henry VI., and granted the Mayor the right to the survey and correction of all the men employed in the cloth trade, provided that the Abbot received "the fines, pains, forfeitures, "and all other profits arising from such correction." Lastly, the Mayor and burgesses were not to be summoned on Assize, Juries, Attaints, Recognitions or Inquisitions before Justices of Assize and Gaol Delivery, Justices of the Peace, or other Justices outside the borough. This and other provisions of the Charter show what great strides had been made in the independent authority of the municipal body, which at length is allowed to enjoy some fruits of a hard-won victory^. But even now peace was not to last long, for a little later the Abbot absolutely refused for a period of three 1 Harl. MS., 1708, fol. 162^. 2 In 1492 was given the first dinner to the Mayor, costing only ten shilHngs altogether. The Abbot and the Guild Merchant, 6i or four years to appoint any ''maister of the Gilde, otherwise called the Mayre\" and took upon himself to admit "simple and "perjured persons to the office of constable, who in nothing ''regarded the good rule of the town." The result was that mysruled people dayly encresed and contynued, as carders, disers, " hasardes, vacabonds, and mony oder unlawfull gamys were used "as wele by nyght as by day." This roused the wrath of the burgesses, who. in 1498, elected one Richard Cleche as Mayor, and he on his part "desired certain "burgesses to help to see such misruled people punished . . . until " matters were settled with the Abbot." In 1500, however, the inhabitants were again defeated in their efforts to elect their Mayor^, and a fresh appeal was made to the judgment of King's Court. in this appeal the Abbot triumphed, and in 1507, when a decree^ was passed by the Justices of the Common Pleas, declaring the Mayor and burgesses of the Guild Merchant to be corporate, the only power granted is that "the Burgeses of the seide Gylde " shalle name and present iij^ good and able Burgeses of the seid " Gylde to the seid Abbot yerely in the fest of Seynt Mychaelle " th' Archaungell ; . . . and in the same Monastery desyer and " pray the same Abbot, if he be present, or in his seide absens the " Pryour, Chamberer^ or Subchamberer, to chose and admytt one "of the same iij^ persones to be Keper of the seid Gylde." The two constables and the ten wardmen of the five wards might indeed be elected by the Mayor and burgesses, but they must be sworn in before the Abbot. This brief history of a struggle extending over two hundred and fifty years brings us almost down to the dissolution of the Abbey, and illustrates how the galling yoke of a powerful eccle- siastical corporation hampered the development of liberty and of the rights of self-government. But while it is true that the burghers failed to release themselves from the grip of their feudal 1 Historical MSS. Commission, Vol. xi., Appendix, Part vii., p. 212. 2 A few years later Bishop Shaxton actually refers to the Mayor of Reading as "the Abbot's Mayor," thus showing how recognised the dependence was Letters and Papers, Henry VHI.," Vol. xiii., Part i., No. 571). 3 Guilding, "Records of the Borough of Reading," Vol. i., p. 105. ^ i.e. Chamberlain. 62 Reading Abbey. lord, yet some measure of success had been gained, and many of the cherished prerogatives granted to the Abbey at the time of its foundation had been lost during the strife. But it was not until the Abbey had been dissolved and the voice of the Abbot was silenced in death, that the burgesses obtained from King Henry VIII. those privileges so long striven for. Then at length dawns the day of liberty, and in the first Charter of Incorpora- tion of 1542 the Mayor and burgesses are constituted the govern- ing body of the town, with full executive authority and juris- diction. Cfjapter bu The Establishment of the Abbey. HE establishment of the Abbey consisted of the Abbot, the Prior and other officers, of the monks, of lay brethren and of servants, ''the observance of "the order of Cluny"^ being instituted by the seven brethren who, with Peter their Prior, came over from Cluny for the purpose in 1121. The famous Benedictine Abbey of Cluny^ (Fig- XL), near Macon, was founded in 910 by William IX., surnamed the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine, and endowed with his entire possessions. Bernon, Abbot of Gigny, was appointed the first Abbot, and, under his guidance and that of his successors, Cluny ere long attained a degree of influence and prosperity unequalled by any monastic institution of the Middle Ages. Popes received in it their early training, Kings made it their refuge, while its Abbots acquired great prestige in the councils of Church and State. An important event in the history of Cluny was the reforma- tion of the Benedictine Order, carried out more especially during the abbacy of the saintly Peter the Venerable (11 22-1 158), as a result of which Cluny became the head of a large number of dependent houses, subject to one great central house, the Abbot 1 Cf. British Museum, Royal MSS. 8 E. xviii. 2 The arms of the Abbey of Cluny shown in Fig. XI. were : Gules, two keys in saltire wards in chief or, in front of a sword in pale proper, the hilt in base (Woodward, " Ecclesiastical Heraldry," p. 412 ; Plate xxii., 2). 64 Reading Abbey, of which retained authority over the other houses. This reforma- tion, which was decided upon at a general chapter attended by 200 Priors^ of the Order, fundamentally modified what had hitherto been an essential feature of the Benedictine constitution, viz., the right of each house to govern itself and elect its own Abbot, and in its place established the principle of one great central monastery with dependencies spread over many lands. The first Cluniac monastery in England was that of St. Pancras, founded at Lewes in 1077 by William de Warenne, Earl of Surrey, and thus Lewes came to be regarded as the headquarters of the Cluniacs in this country, its Prior being usually appointed the Abbot of Cluny's vicar-general over the whole Order in England and Scotland. Ere long other foundations sprang up, including those of Thetford in Norfolk, of St. Peter and St. Paul of Montacute in Somerset, of Wenlock in Shropshire, and of Ber- mondsey in Surrey^. But all of these were eclipsed by the founda- tion of Reading Abbey in 1 1 2 1. In these English monasteries the stricter code of the Cluniacs was doubtless observed, special stress being laid on fasting and silence, as well as on liturgical splendour. But the peculiar mode of government which characterized most Cluniac foundations was not always adopted in England, and Reading Abbey retained its local independence^, in harmony with the old Benedictine principle of family autonomy^. 1 Duckett, "Charters and Records of Cluni," Vol. i., p, 23. 2 Ibid.^ Vol. i., p. 30. 3 The Foundation Charter directs that, on the death of an Abbot, the possession of the monastery, with its rights and privileges, should remain in the power and disposal of the Prior and monks. ^ On this point the following extract from a private letter received from Mon- sieur Leopold Delisle, editor of " Inventaire des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Nationale ; Fonds de Cluni," is of interest : " II est constant que des moines de Cluni furent appel6s par le roi Henri I. pour introduire a Reading les institutions de Cluni, qui passaient alors pour le type le plus parfait des pratiques de la vie monastique d'apres la regie de Saint Benoit. Mais il ne s'ensuit pas que I'abbaye anglaise ait ete mise sous la jurisdiction de Cluni. Je ne vols pas que les visiteurs de Cluni aient jamais mis le pied a Reading, ni que les abbes de Reading aient ete convoques aux chapitres generaux. " Le tableau general des membres de la grande famille de Cluni, dresse au XV^ siecle, ne comprend pas I'abbaye de Reading. Ce meme tableau indique les maisons anglaises soumises au prieure de Lewes. Reading n'y figure pas. Vous pouvez le voir en consultant la Bibliotheca Cluniacensis, Col. 1748." Zfft^ SLvme of f^e d^BUt of Ceung. Fig. XI. The Establishment of the Abbey. A further peculiarity is the fact that the Cluniac house at Reading is the only one in England dignified from the time of its foundation with the title of Abbey, the other houses being called Priories; even Bermondsey only became an Abbey in 1399, more than 300 years after its foundation. The high rank assumed by Reading from the start is also shown by the fact that its first two Abbots were promoted to it from Lewes, where they had been Priors of St. Pancras. But during its later history Reading ceased to be regarded as Cluniac, and is generally classed among the Benedictine houses, its Abbot taking part in the triennial Chapters, which were enjoined by the fourth General Council of Lateran in 1215I. Indeed, the fifth of these Chapters'^ appears to have been held at Reading in 1228, under the presidency of the Abbots of Westminster and Peterborough. But for nearly a century longer the designation Cluniac is occasionally applied, and even the Pope in 1309 addresses a letter^ to the Abbot and convent of the Cluniac Monastery of Reading." \.—The Abbot. The Abbot of Reading was a mitred Abbot^ as well as a Parliamentary baron, and in that capacity had a place on the roll of English peers and figured in State pageants. i Taunton, " Black Monks of St. Benedict," Vol. i., pp. 35, 38. Dugdale, "Monasticon" (1846), Vol. i., pp. 1, li. In 1294 the Abbot of Redinges is defi- nitely included amongst the priors and abbots of the Benedictine Order (''Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward I.", 1 292-1301, Rolls Series, p. 97). Other Cluniac houses, e.g. Daventry and Monk Bretton, also joined the General Chapters of Benedictines (67. Gasquet, " Henry VIII. and the English Monasteries," A^ol. ii., p. 544). ^ This is an inference from the appointment of the next place of meeting made at the Chapter of 1225 {Cf. Doumside Review , Vol. v., p. 59; Reyner, "Aposto- latus Benedictinorum in Anglia," Vol. ii , p. 38 ; Vol. iii., pp. 58, 98). There is some reason for thinking that a second Chapter was held at Reading between 1271 and 1279. ^ " Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland — Papal Letters," Vol. ii., p. 62. * Mitred abbots were abbots who had received from the Pope the license to wear the mitre and other vestments proper to the episcopal office (Stubbs, " Const. Hist," Vol. iii., p. 460). This license appears to have been granted on September 6, 1288, when the Pope decreed that the Abbot of Reading and his successors "may use the mitre, ring, gloves, dalmatic, tunicle and sandals, according to the indult of Clement III. ; and this both within the monastery on solemn days, and in pro- 1 1 66 Reading Abbey, An illuminated parchment roll is extant in the Bodleian Library^ showing the procession of Abbots, Bishops and Temporal Peers to "The Parleament holden at Westm' the iiii*^' : day off " February, the thride yere off oure Soveraigne lord Kyng ''Henry VI I P^." Above each peer are painted his armorial achievements, and the figures are arranged according to the prece- dency of the estates. On this roll John Thorne (I I.)^ then Abbot of Reading, ranks tenth^ amongst the Abbots, and the accompanying illustration of a portion of the roll (Fig. XII.) gives some idea of the caps and robes worn by Spiritual Peers in those days. The right of electing the Abbot was vested in the Prior and monks, according to the Foundation Charter, but the assent of the Crown^ and the confirmation of the Bishop^ of the diocese were cessions and episcopal synods " (" Calendar of Entries in the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland — Papal Letters," Vol. i., p. 495). The other mitred abbots in England were those of Abingdon, St. Albans, Bardney, Battle, Bury St. Edmund's, St. Augustine's Canterbury, Colchester, Croyland, Evesham, Glaston, bury, Gloucester, St. Benet's Hulm.e, Hyde, Malmesbury, Peterborough, Ramsey- Selby, Shrewsbury, Tavistock, Thorney, Westminster, Winchcombe, St. Mary's York. ^ Ashmole Rolls, No. 45. In the British Museum (Add. MSS. 22,306) is a copy of this roll, which is described in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1832 (Vol. cii.. Part i., p. 524 ; Part ii., p. 200). 2 Sir Henry Englefield {Archceohgia, Vol. vi., p. 61) states that the Abbot of Reading took precedence after the Abbots of Glastonbury and St. Albans. But it is probable that no such definite order was observed. Thus in the " Parliamentary Writs and Writs of Military Summons" (edited by Palgrave, 1827), the Abbot of Reading is sometimes placed as high as fifth, but usually much lower. In the " Remembrance for the Interment of the most Christian Princess, Elizabeth, Queen of England, wife of Henry VII." (British Museum, MSS. Stowe, 583, folio 31), the Abbot of Reading comes first amongst the Abbots, being followed by those of St. Albans, Winchcombe and Stratford. In the Articles of Faith (British Museum, Cotton. MSS., Cleopatra E. 5) under Convocation 28 Henry VIII. the following is the order of signatures : St. Albans, Westminster, Bury St. Edmunds, Glastonbury, Reading. Further illustrations of the relative precedence accorded to abbots will be found in Leland's "Collectanea de Rebus Britannicis " (1774), Vol. iv., PP- 3°5) ; " Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII.," Vol. ii.. Part i., No. 1153; Vol. vii.. No. 391 ; Vol. xii., Part ii.. No. 1060. ^ In the "Calendar of Patent Rolls of the time of Edward I.," 1292-1301 (Rolls Series), p. 409, is found the " Signification to W. Bishop of Salisbury of the royal assent to the election of William de Sutton, chamberlain of Reading, to be abbot." * An interesting petition (1226) to the Bishop of Sarum, presenting the Abbot-elect for confirmation and benediction, and signed by the prior, precentor, Fig. XII.— (J)roce66ton of ^66of0|fo fpavfxamcnt. The Establishment of the Abbey. 67 necessary before the election was valid. Some days later the temporalities^ of the Abbey were handed over to the new Abbot. The office was held for life, except in the case of grave mis- conduct. The ceremony of admission was probably similar to that else- where, and is thus described by the consuetudinary of the neigh- bouring Abbey of Abingdonl The newly elected Abbot, after putting off his shoes at the door of the Church, proceeded barefoot to meet the members of the monastery, who advanced in a procession to meet him. After walking up the nave, he knelt and prayed on the topmost step of the entrance to the choir, into which he was introduced by the bishop or the bishop's commissary, and placed in his stall. The monks, then kneeling, gave him the kiss of peace on the hand, and, rising, on the mouth, the Abbot holding his staff of office. He then put on his shoes in the vestry and held a chapter, the bishop or his commissary preaching a suitable sermon. Both without and within the Abbey did he wield extensive powers. {a) Outside the Abbey. In his capacity of feudal baron, the Abbot was supreme ruler in his own domain, and had the power of judging bondmen and villains, goods and chattels. These rights extended over Reading and the neighbouring district, and included judicial power in all cases of forfeiture, assault, robbery, theft, murder and breach of the peace, to as full an extent as belonged to the monarch. If the Abbot should delay doing justice, the King might inter- pose, yet only so as not to infringe the liberties of the Abbey. Some of these rights were withdrawn during the civil wars of Stephen and Henry II., but they were restored by King John, and confirmed in the Exchequer in the twelfth year of his reign. The sub-prior, sacrista, custos operum and others, will be found in "Charters and Documents illustrating the History of Salisbury" (Rolls Series), p. 171. 1 In the "Calendar of Patent Rolls of Richard II.," 1377-1381 (Rolls Series), p. 193, is given the " Mandate to Gilbert Wace, escheator in the counties of Oxford and Berks, to restore the temporalities of the Abbey of Radyng to Richard Yateleye, monk thereof, abbot elect and confirmed." - " Chronicon Monasterii de Abingdon " (Rolls Series), Vol. ii., p. 336. 68 Reading Abbey. itinerant justices sat in the Abbot's own court, and his seneschal or bailiff sat with them, as appears by a precept of Henry III. There are numerous instances in which the Abbot of Reading claimed and exercised judicial authority. Thus, on one notable occasion, a William Brun found in the act of hunting in Windsor Forest was pursued to Reading and imprisoned by the Abbot, who refused to deliver him up to Galfridus de Pickford, constable of Windsor Castle, a refusal which was upheld by Edward I. Again, in a case of murder Edward I. issued a precept to the Abbot to deliver up the criminals taken at Reading to the Sheriff of the county, but with the express provision that this case should not form a precedent for the future. Another privilege was that of creating knights^, whether clerks or laymen, a privilege which is all the more surprising, as King Henry I. had at the Council of London in 1102^ forbidden Abbots to make knights. But a stipulation was that the Abbot should only admit such as were of mature age and discreet judgment. 1 There is some doubt as to the meaning of the clause " nec faciat milites nisi in sacra veste Christi." The context is as follows (Harl. MS., 1708) : " Terras censuales non ad feodum donet nec faciat milites nisi in sacra veste Christi. In qua parvulos suscipere modeste caveat. Maturos autem seu dis- cretos tam clericos quam laicos provide suscipiat. Nemo de possessione Rading. Monasterii aliquid teneat feodaliter absolutum sed ad censum annuum et servitium abbati et monachis debitum." In another Charter (Add. Ch. 1957 1) Henry I. grants to the Abbey, among other privileges, freedom from scutage (" quieta de denegeldis . . . de scutagiis . . etc.). From these passages it is clear that, while the lands of the larger Abbeys under the Norman Kings were held by knights' service, as is shown by the returns of knights' fees in 11 66, yet Reading was precluded from so granting lands, and was not liable to the money composition paid to the Crown in lieu of active service. Mr. H. J. Ellis, of the MS. Department, British Museum, points out that the Abbey might grant lands to tenants to hold on rents or services to be paid to the Abbey ("servitium debitum "). In that case the words "in sacra veste Christi " would probably mean that the lands were to be held by investiture of the Church. Battle Abbey, which likewise did not owe the Crown any knights' service for its lands, had a similar clause in one of its Charters. For further details reference may be made to "Feudal England" by J. H. Round, and to the " Red Book of the Exchequer " (Rolls Series). In the latter Work, the return made by the Abbot of Middleton, co. Dorset, shows (p. 210) clearly the distinction between the two forms of service, and the importance to the Abbey of the freedom from military service. 2 Stubbs, "Constitutional History," Vol. i., p. 397. 'The Establishment of the Abbey. 69 Patronage ' of the Abbot. The Abbot was patron of a number of benefices^ scattered about the country, and exercised control over several minor monasteries, called cells^. These benefices paid him an annual pension, the proportion of which varied in each case. Some details of the value of these livings as well as of the Abbot's pension will be found in a Record known as Pope Nicholas' Taxation^, which was drawn up about 1291, in connection with a grant by Pope Nicholas IV. to King Edward I. of the tenths of all ecclesiastical benefices for six years, towards defraying the cost of an expedition to the Holy Land. The following are some extracts from the Record, showing the rate of assessment and the tithe levied by the Pope : Taxatio. Decima. £ s. d. £ s. d. Ecciia See Marie Rading'* Abbas Rector Pensio At>t>is in Vicar' ejusdem indeci- 8 0 0 16 0 mabili 3 0 0 6 0 Ecctia Sci Egidii Abbas Rector ... 10 0 0 I 0 0 Vicar' in eadem 4 6 8 8 8 Pensio At»t)is in Vicar' 2 0 0 4 0 Ecciia Sci Laur' cum Vicar' indecimabili Abb' Rector' 5 0 0 10 0 Ecctia de Englefeld 10 13 4 I I 4 Pensio Ati'bis Rading' in eadem Ecctia de ThacHm'^ 13 4 I 4 33 6 8 3 6 8 Pensio AMs Rading in eadem 13 6 8 I 6 8 Ecctia de Compton 13 6 8 I 6 8 1 A description of several of these will be found in Views of Reading Abbey, with those of the Churches originally connected with It," 1805, Vols. i. and ii. Of these cells the most important was the Priory of Leominster, in Hereford- shire, the dean and monks of which the Abbot of Reading had the power of appointing and removing at pleasure. Other cells were the Priory of Rindelgros in Scotland, and the Priory of May, also in Scodand, the brethren of which are spoken of as " ordinem Cluniacensem tenentibus." These priories comprised the usual monastic buildings, viz. church, cloister, chapter-house, refectory, dormitory, etc. On one occasion monks were sent from the Abbey to one of these cells by way of punishment (C/ Monasticon Anglicanum," 1846, Vol. iv., pp. 51-63)- 3 "Taxatio Ecclesiastica P. Nicholai IV." (1802), p. 188, et sparsim. 4 This and the next two entries relate to the three old parish churches in Reading, viz. St. Mary's, St. Laurence's and St. Giles'. 5 Thatcham. Reading Abbey. Taxatio. Decima. £ s- d. £ s. d. Vicar' in eadem ... 4 6 8 8 8 Pensio At>t>is Rading' in eadem ... 8 5I 10 Ecctia de Silhamstede At)t»is ... 5 0 0 10 0 Pensio Attttis Rading' in eadem ... ... 2 0 0 4 0 Ecciia de Pangeburn ... 6 0 0 12 0 Pensio A'btjis Rading' in eadem . . . ... I 12 8 3 34 Ecciia de Purle ... 4 6 8 8 8 Pensio A'btjis Rading' in eadem . . . 2 0 4 Further details will be found in the Record referred to, as well as in the Chapter on the Endowments, Privileges and Revenues, where a schedule is given of the property of the Abbey at the time of the Dissolution. The Abbot was also a landlord and agriculturist, and doubtless took an interest in the welfare of his tenants, in their crops, in their farmhouses and cottages. {b) Inside the Abbey. Inside the Abbey the Abbot was practically omnipotent, the control of affairs resting in his hands. On the one hand, he was, as the word abbot" implies, the father of the monastic family establishment, and had to cultivate the homelike feelings and surroundings which are so characteristic of the Benedictine monastery. On the other hand, he was responsible for discipline, and had to maintain a position of un- questioned authority. Accordingly great deference^ was paid to him by the rest of the community, and implicit obedience enforced. Whenever the Abbot passed, any seated monks rose and bowed. His was the duty of punishing disobedience. At the daily chapter he gave instruction to the community and any directions for the day that might be necessary. With him rested the power of admitting monks, and investing them with the religious habit. The Abbot was not allowed to possess any revenues of his ^ " Domno Abbati, in omni loco, ut dignum est, singularis reverentia defertur. . . . Ad capitulum vel ad collationem fratribus jam considentibus, si ipse inter- venerit postea, non modo assurgunt, sed etiam de scabello pedes ad terram submittunt " (" Antiquiores Consuetudines Cluniacensis Monasterii," D'Achery's "Spicilegium," Vol. i., p. 684). The Establishment of the Abbey. 71 own ; everything must be enjoyed in common with his brethren. Nor might the alms of the monastery be used for the relief of his lay relations ; they must be strictly kept for the poor and for the entertainment of strangers. A large house called the Abbot's Lodging, containing many rooms, was set apart for his use, and here he lived in princely state, and exercised hospitality on a lavish scale to the highest dignitaries both in Church and State. The Abbot of Reading had a country seat at Bere Court, near Pangbourne, which had been bestowed on him by the Bishop of Salisbury in 1230, and which contained some painted glass windows, which are fully described by Ashmole^ In the east window of Sir John Davis' chapel was a figure of Hugh Cook Faringdon, wearing his pontifical robes, and holding his pastoral staff in the right hand. There were probably other country seats belonging to the Abbot at Bucklebury and Whitley, at Cholsey, near Wallingford, and at Burghfield. II. — The Prior and other Officers. The Prior ranked next to the Abbot, and during his absence ruled over the Abbey. As head of the executive, he had the power to inflict penalties and to hold chapters, while exercising a general supervision over the affairs of the Abbey. In the absence of the Prior his duties were performed by the Sub-prior. The other officers (pbedientiarLi) were probably similar to those of other large abbeys. They included a cellarer, who had charge of the provisions for the brethren as well as for the guests ; a sacrist, who had the oversight of the Church ; an almoner, who presided over the almonry and distributed relief to the poor ; a refectory master, who was responsible for the meals ; a chamberlain, who had charge of the dormitory and of the monks' clothes ; an infirmarian, who looked after the infirmary ; a guest-master ; a hospitaller ; a treasurer and a precentor. These need merely be mentioned, as no special information exists in regard to their duties in Reading Abbey. 1 "Antiquities of Berkshire," Vol. ii., p. 333. 12 72 Reading Abbey. \\\.— The Monks, Reading Abbey was originally intended for 200 monks, a number which shows the magnificent scale on which Henry I. planned his foundation. The actual number, however, sometimes fell considerably short of the complement ; in 1305 there were only 65 monks in residence; in 1377, only 100. Little is known in regard to their cloistered life. But the seven first brethren who, with Peter their Prior, came over from Cluny, set before themselves the same lofty standard of piety and bene- volence that characterized the mother abbey, and that drew from William of Malmesbury, a contemporary chronicler, the eulogium already quoted. The daily routine of a monastery has been so often described that the briefest summary must suffice. Seven times in each twenty-four hours^ did the monks perform their devotions, the services and approximate canonical hours being : 1. Matins and lauds .. . ... 12 (midnight). 2. Prime ... ... ... ... ... 6 a.m. 3. Tierce ... ... ... ... ... 9 a.m. 4. Sext ... 12 (noon). 5. Nones ... 2-3 p.m. 6. Vespers or Evensong ... 4 p.m., or later. 7. Compline 7 p.m. As most of the services were performed by daylight, the monks found it convenient to regard the day as co-extensive with the natural day, i.e, with the period of daylight. Hence the exact arrangements varied somewhat at different seasons of the year, and the twelve parts or hours into which the monastic day was divided also varied in length, being longer in summer and shorter in winter. The following is a brief summary of the routine. About mid- night, or somewhat later, the monks were awakened for matins, an office lasting from one and a half to two hours, and ending with lauds ; after which they w^ent back to the dormitory and slept until daybreak, when they went to the lavatory to wash their hands and 1 Duckett, "Visitations and Chapters-General of the Order of Cluni," p. 129; Clark, " The Observances in use at the Augustinian Priory at Barnwell," p. Ixxxii. The Establishment of the Abbey, 73 comb their hair, afterwards assembling in the choir of the Church for prime. This office was followed by the daily chapter, at which con- fession was made for any breach of discipline, and penance done. Moreover, matters of general interest to the community were discussed and arranged. After chapter came the chapter Mass, followed by study or exercise, till the bell summoned to the office of tierce ; this in its turn was followed by the principal act of the day, the sacrifice of the Mass. After Mass came the office of sext, followed in due course by nones, and by vespers about sunset. The last office for the day was compline, after which the monks retired to bed. There were only two meals in the twenty-four hours, both being taken by daylight and in the refectory, ut lumine lucerncB non indigeant^. The first repast was probably after sext, the second one between vespers and compline. The waiting at table was done by the monks in turn, while one of them read the sacred Scriptures aloud. No details have been preserved of the diet of the monks at Reading Abbey, as distinct from that enjoined in the Rule of St. Benedict, but the following corrody granted by the Abbot to John Mawne out of the manor of Leominster indicates that the scale was a liberal one : Know all men . . . that we Thomas, by divine permission ''Abbot of the monastery of Radyng and the convent of the same place, to our chosen in Christ, John Mawne of Asheton, esquire, for the service he has done us, and what he shall do hereafter, have ''granted him maintenance in victuals and drink for his life, in our " manor of Leominster, viz. : While the said John is well, and in "the hall there, he shall be served at dinner and supper, as the " fellow monks are, except on flesh days in Advent, Septuagessima, "Sexagessima and Quinquagessima, on which days he shall be "served as the other esquires are. And if he be sick, or absent "for any reasonable cause, he shall have the same maintenance in " his chamber within our manor, and he shall receive, yearly, during " his life, one robe of the suit of our esquires, and four loads of fue "in our said Manor, a chamber which Wm. Mason, chaplain, "inhabited, and a stable for one horse to be kept with hay only, 1 " Regula," Caput XLT. 74 Reading Abbey. " and we further grant to the said John, that whilst he dwells in the town of Leominster, or elsewhere out of the bounds of the said " Manor, he shall receive every day two white (monks') loaves, and " one wheaten or pricked loaf, one flaggon and a half of the best " ale, one mess and a half of flesh or fish, according to the day ; "provided that in those days he dines in the hall, he shall not ''receive the said allowance, etc." As this corrody was granted to John Mawne on occasions of his being absent from the hall at meal-times, it is probably nearly the same as that ''allowed to the monks, with whom, at other "times, he dined." Further evidence that the diet was not stinted may be found in the following anecdote related by Fuller^ : " King Henry the Eighth, as he was hunting in Windsor " Forest, either casually lost, or, more probable, wilfully losing him- " self, struck down, about dinner-time, to the Abbey of Reading; " where, disguising himself (much for delight, more for discovery "to see unseen), he was invited to the Abbot's table, and passed "for one of the King's guard, a place to which the proportion of " his person might properly entitle him. A sirloin of beef was set " before him (so knighted, saith tradition, by this King Henry), on "which the King laid on lustily, not disgracing one of that place "for whom he was mistaken. 'Well fare thy heart !' quoth the " Abbot ; ' and here in a cup of sack I remember the health of his "grace your Master. I would give one hundred pounds, on the "condition I could feed so heartily on beef as you do. Alas! my "weak and squeazy stomach will hardly digest the wing of a "small rabbit or chicken.' The King pleasantly pledged him, "and, heartily thanking him for his good cheer, after dinner ' departed as undiscovered as he came thither. "Some weeks after the Abbot was sent for by a pursuivant, " brought up to London, clapped in the Tower, kept close prisoner, " fed for a short time with bread and water ; yet not so empty his "body of food, as his mind was filled with fears, creating many "suspicions to himself, when and how he had incurred the King's " displeasure. At last a sirloin of beef was set before him, on " which the Abbot fed as the farmer of his grange, and verified the "proverb that 'Two hungry meals make the third a glutton.' In "springs King Henry out of a private lobby, where he had placed 1 " Church History of Britain," edited by Brewer, Vol. iii., p. 340. The Establishment of the Abbey, himself, the invisible spectator of the Abbot's behaviour. 'My Lord!' quoth the King, ' presently deposit your hundred pounds " in gold, or else no going hence all the days of your life. I have ''been your physician to cure you of your squeazy stomach ; and **here, as I deserve, I demand my fee for the same.' The Abbot ''down with his dust, and, glad he had escaped so, returned to " Reading, as somewhat lighter in purse, so much more merrier in " heart, than when he came thence." The monks' clothing^ consisted of : (a) a loose black tunic or gown, with long wide sleeves ; {b) an upper garment called a scapular^, worn during the time of work ; and (c) a cowl or capuchin, terminating in a point behind. Under these they wore a tight habit made of white flannel, with socks and shoes'^. The monks were not allowed to possess any private property ; they were vowed to poverty, because Christ was poor. In fact, their possessions consisted, apart from their clothes, of a girdle, a knife, a needle, a handkerchief, a steel pen and tablets to write on ; and these articles, like the clothes, were provided by the Abbot. In marked contrast to the poverty of the individual monks was the wealth of the i\bbey in ecclesiastical vestments. Of these a list is given in the Fingall Cartulary^, where we read : The following are under the care of the Cope-Keeper : 109 Copes, of which 14 are embroidered. 2 Blue embroidered Copes. 17 Chasubles. 16 Tunicles. 1 Dalmatic and Tunicle of black camlet, presented by A., the Abbot 2 Embroidered Altar-frontals. 4 Silk Altar-frontals for the high altar. 10 Silk Altar-frontals distributed among the other altars. 2 Gilt Thuribles. 5 Stoles with an equal number of Maniples. 7 Silk Cushions. I Missal, covered (co-opertum) with silver gilt. 1 An illustration of a Cluniac monk is given by Dugdale, " Monasticon " (1846), Vol. v., p. iii. 2 So called because it covered the scapular region. 3 The Cluniac Rule specifies shoes tied with thongs, and allows the monks a cap and gloves when going beyond the precincts of the convent {Cf. Duckett, " Notices on Monastic and Ecclesiastical Costume "). * A reprint will be found in the English Historical Revieiv, Vol. iii., p. 117- 76 Reading Abbey, 1 Orb of silver and gilt. 3 Ivory Combs. 3 Pastoral Staves, of which one belonged to Abbot Simon, and one, with an ivory crook, to Abbot Helias. Also one with a horn crook, w^hich belonged to Abbot Hugh, and two without a crook. 2 Collars, viz. one golden one from the King's Cope, and another silver one from the Cope of the Abbot of Ramsey. 2 Belonging to the Copes of A., the Abbot. 1 Cope of green baldachin, presented by King Henry IH. 2 Blue Copes of silk material, which came with the body of the son of Earl Richard^. 1 Cope of purple baldachin, which came with the body of the daughter of the aforesaid Earl-. The Lord Abbot A. gave one Cope to the Church of Salisbury. One Cope w^as returned to the sacristan, sprinkled with (holy?) oil, by Hugo Bruc'. 2 Pairs of Dalmatics and Tunicles. I White Chasuble, which is placed by the altar of St. Catharine. In regard to the occupations of the brethren at Reading Abbey few details are known. Doubtless the monastic life was similar to that elsewhere, and a vivid picture of it will be found in a con- temporary record of the customs observed at Durham^, an extract from which dealing with the library will be found in Chaper IX. The daily routine was peaceful and uneventful. Little time was left for idleness, the intervals between the services in choir being largely devoted to industry and acts of charity. The transcription and illumination of books for the library and for the offices^ of the Church, the keeping of ledgers, the compiling of the annals of the monastery formed important duties. In the cloister, too, was held the school^ for the novices, where they studied the trivuun (grammar, rhetoric and dialectics) and the quadrivium (music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy). " Their " master had a pretty seat of wainscot adjoining . . . over against "the wall where they sat." While silence was observed in the cloister, conversation and 1 Richard, Earl of Cornwall. 2 His daughter Isabella. ^ " Monuments, Rites and Customs of Durham " (Surtees Society). ^ Duckett, " Visitations and Chapters-General of the Order of Cluni," p. 169, enumerates forty-five different books that were used in the various rites and cere- monies, including the Breviarium, Cantatorium, Confessionale, Epistolarium, Evan- gellarium, Homilarium, Hymnarium, Martyrologium, Missale, Processionale, Regula, Sacramentarium. ^ No school could be opened in Reading without the sanction of the Abbot. The Establishment of the Abbey, recreation were allowed in the common room, where a part of the afternoon was usually spent. In this room during winter a fire was kept burning, at which the monks could warm themselves. V\[ ,—Lay Brethi^e7t. In the Abbey of Cluny^ there were in addition to the regular monks a certain number of lay brethren, or conversi, who may be regarded as an inferior grade of inmates, who took no part in reciting the office in choir, but performed the rougher work of the monastery, and thus allowed the cultured monks more leisure for study and devotional exercises. What number of lay brethren existed at Reading is not known, but there is a casual reference to their existence in connection with the leper hospital, where fifty psalms were recited by the lay brethren, and the same number of prayers and aves by the converts of the monastery. A further reference to them occurs in the Register of Reading Abbey (MSS. Cotton., Vesp. E. v., fol. 38^5), where instructions are given as to how frequently they are to receive from the obedientiaries, i.e, the officers under the Abbot, fresh clothes and other necessaries which were supplied to them by the Abbey. V. — The Abbof s Retinue and Servants. So important a prelate as the Abbot had a great retinue of servants, who with him occupied the Abbot's Lodging, and attended on the visitors he was entertaining. The number varied at different periods of the Abbey's history, but a list has been pre- served, showing the retinue as it existed under Abbot Quappelade, by whom it was reduced, on discovering that the Abbey was in debt. A Committee was further appointed to consider the financial position, and made certain recommendations. One was that there should be a law clerk with whom the Abbot and treasurer might consult, and who should take an oath before the chapter to do his best for the common good. There was also to be a steward elected annually, who should receive a 1 " II y avait a Cluny, comme ailleurs, des le onzieme siecle, a cote des moines profes, des freres lais ou convers, que leur ignorance des lettres reservait aux travaux corporels " (Lorain, "Essai historique sur I'Abbaye de Cluny," p. 224). 78 Reading Abbey, livery such as was worn by the upper servants or armigeri^. His stipend was to be £t 13s. ^d., together with two Hveries for his two attendants, and two horses to be kept at the expense of the Abbey. The clerk of the town was to be chamberlain-in-waiting, as was the custom, and the steward likewise, in the Abbot's hall. Amongst the important members of the household were the Abbot's two chaplains, whose duty was to attend upon the Abbot in Church and assist him at Mass. One of them who celebrated the masses for the Countess of Sarum was also to act as the Abbot's secretary. The Abbot had about forty servants even at a time when great economy was thought necessary, i.e, during the Abbacy of Nicholas de Quappelade : 1. The marshal, or master of the horse. 2. The panterer, who had charge of the napery. 3. The cup-bearer. 4. A janitor, who dined in the Abbot's hall. 5. His page. 6. 7. The master-cook and his boy. 8. The chamberlain of the Abbot, who carved at his table. 9. His boy. 10. A doorkeeper of the Abbot's hall. 11. An under-keeper of the pantry. 12. An under cup-bearer. 13. A hosteller, whose duty it was to receive strangers. 14. A keeper of the wine-cellar, to attend upon the Abbot after dinner in his own apartment. 15. The Abbot's under-cook. 16. The Abbot's third cook, who had the care of the larder. 17. 18, 19. The Abbot's carter, his boy, and the under-carter. 20. The Abbot's huntsman. 21. The prior's cook. 22. The head cook of the Abbey. 23. The chief baker. 24. The under doorkeeper. 25. A servant in waiting on the under-chamberlain. 26. 27. The Abbot's palfrey-keeper and his page. 28, 29, 30. The under-chamberlain's boy, and two other boys to attend the Abbot's company or visitors. 31. The Abbot's running footman. 32. The boy who waited in the refectory. 33? 34» 35j 36, 37- The cook of the infirmary and four attendants. 1 Armiger, or esquire, was a title frequently borne by upper servants. The Establishment of the Abbey. 79 The number appears subsequently to have been still further reduced, for at the time of the Dissolution the following is given as the civil list of the Abbey : per annum. s. d. The marshal, or master of the horse ... The panterer 80 The dean of the chambers ... ... ... ... 80 The porter 80 The pages The cook The scullion 12 The dean of the chambers ... ... ... ... 80 The butler or manciple .. . ... ... ... ... 4 o The second and third ditto ... ... ... ... 4 o The dean of the wardrobe ... ... ... ... 80 The hostler 10 The baker ... 4 o The second and third ditto ... ... ... ... 4 o The first smith 13 4 The second ditto 60 The keeper of the Abbot's palfrey 40 The gardener ... ... ... ••. ••• ••• 4 o The miller 20 with other inferior servants. A comparison of these tv^o lists makes it clear that the number of servants varied considerably at different periods of the Abbey's existence, depending doubtless partly on the number of monks and pardy on the state of its finances. 13 Cj)apter bit The Endowments^ Privileges and Revenues of the Abbey. EADING ABBEY, as appears by the Foundation Charter, was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to St. John the Evangelist, and was richly endowed by King Henry I., as well as by subsequent benefactors. In this Chapter some account will be given of its Endowments, Privileges and Revenues. I. — Endowments, Henry I. annexed to the Abbey the lands of Cholsey^ in Berk- shire, of Leominster in Herefordshire, and Reading^ itself, with all their appendages, woods, arable and pasture lands, meadows, waters, mills and fisheries, together with their churches, chapels, cemeteries, tithes and oblations. His benefaction further included the churches of Thatcham and Wargrave in Berkshire, the church of Hanborough in Oxfordshire, with the confirmation of the Manor 1 The " Index to Charters and Rolls in the Department of MSS. in the British Museum," Vol. i. (Index Locorum), gives references to Cholsey and to other localities mentioned in this Section. 2 At the time of the Domesday Survey the Church of Reading, with an appendage of eight hides of land, was annexed to Battle Abbey. But it was exchanged, ca. 1121, by Henry I. for the Manor of Appledram (Dugdale, " Monasticon," 1846, Vol. iii. , p. 247). The Endowments of the Abbey. 8i of Rokington, or Rowington, in Warwickshire, given by Adelicia de I very, and a grant of a hide and a half in Hocton, or Houghton (Bedfordshire), the gift of Robert, Earl of Leicester; the church of Wychebury in Wiltshire, and some land there which belonged to a monk named Ingelramus, with the lands of Robert the priest, at Hampton in Hampshire, and what Robert de Ferrars possessed in Reading. The second Queen of Henry I., Adeliza, who survived him, and married William de Albini, Earl of Arundel, gave to the Abbey her manor of Eastone or Aston in Hertfordshire (which had been settled upon her as part of her dower), in order to obtain the prayers of the monks for the soul of the late King, for her own soul, the souls of her father and mother, and also for the health of King Stephen and Queen Maud, his wife. She also gave the land of Reginald the forester in her manor of Stanton Harcourt in Oxfordshire, settled on her by King Henry, to the yearly value of I GO shillings, and afterwards the patronage and revenues of the church to supply the expense of a lamp, which was to burn continually before the pix and the tomb of the founder. After the death of William de Albini, Adeliza further endowed the Abbey with the church of Berkley-Harness in Gloucestershire, with all its rights and appendages, with the prebends belonging to the said church and the prebends of two manors, together with the churches of Cham, Erlingham, Wotton, Beverstan and Almodesbury. She also gave to the Abbey too shillings every Christmas Day, to be paid out of a hithe or wharf called Queenhythe, in London, towards the expenses of celebrating the founder's anni- versary. The Empress Maud, daughter of Henry L, gave to the Abbey for the souls of Henry, her father, Queen Maud, her mother, and all her predecessors in perpetual alms, the valuable manor of Blewbery in Berkshire with all its appendages and its tenants in servile tenure. She also gave to the Abbey the manor of East Hendred in Berkshire, the land of Herbert, son of Fulcherius, in Marlborough, the lands of Geoffrey Purcell in Windsor and Catshill, and the manor of Bromesfield ; and confirmed to the Abbey the churches of Berkley- Harness, Stanton and Thatcham. 82 Reading Abbey, David, King of Scotland, gave to the Abbey of Reading the two priories of Rindalgros and May, which, in consequence, became cells to the Abbey. They were, however, soon after restored to the bishopric of St. Andrews, and probably remained attached to it, in spite of efforts on the part of Reading Abbey to recover them. King Stephen at different times confirmed to the Abbey all former Charters, liberties and donations, among which are specified Thatcham and Wargrave ; Rowington in Warwickshire ; the church and manor of Hanborough in Oxfordshire, given by Simon, Earl of Northampton ; the manor of Ingelramus in Wichbury ; the manor of Wigstan in Leicestershire, given by Arnaldus de Bosco, and confirmed to the Abbey by Robert, Earl of Leicester ; with the land in Wigstan, held by William, the King's almoner, after- wards a monk at Reading ; together with some houses and lands in Cambridge and Southampton, reserving only to the Crown out of East Hendred an annual rent-charge of lOO shillings. He likewise confirmed to the Abbey the manor of Aston in Hertford- shire, and the rent-charge of lOO shillings in Stanton, given by Queen Adeliza ; the land of Walter Purcele in Windsor, reserving twenty shillings yearly to his brother Ralph ; the lands in Catshill, another hide of land in Windsor, with the houses and lands in London, given by Algarus the priest, and Baldwin, his brother. Henry H. confirmed all the Charters and donations of Henry L and the Empress Maud ; the grant of Carsewell or Kersewell in Burghfield, by Almericus Fitz- Ralph ; and the manor of Streadey, by William de Mandeville. He gave the Abbey permission to enclose a park in the place called "Cumba," for the use of sick persons, whether monks or strangers ; and confirmed to them the sale of the lands at Whitley by Peter de Cosham, for eighty pounds, and an annual payment of a bezant of gold. Henry H. likewise granted to the Abbey an annual payment at the Exchequer of forty marks of silver, until he could secure to them a revenue of the same value. This he afterwards granted out of the manor of Hoo, by the assignment of Robert Bardolf on the day of the dedication of the Abbey church. He likewise granted to the Abbey the right of importing goods free of duty in all the sea-ports. The Privileges of the Abbey, 83 Richard I. confirmed all the privileges and possessions granted to the Abbey of Reading by former Charters, and likewise the land given by William, Earl of Sussex, at Ouidenham in Norfolk ; that which was given by William, Earl Ferrers, in Stamford ; by Henry Fitzgerald in Sawbridgeworth ; by Michael de Baseville in Lechebroc ; by Ralph de Offinton, and what was held of them in Cambridge, by Lawrence the porter ; the church of Englefield with its appendages ; the manors of Blewbery and Hendred; the church of Berkley- Harness, with all its churches, chapels and appendages; the churches of Stanton and Thatcham. King John recited and confirmed the Charter of his brother Richard, and he likewise assigned to the Abbey a mark of gold to cover the hand of St. James ; and presented to the Abbey the head of St. Philip the Apostle, as appears by a marginal note of some monk in the Fingall Cartulary, fol. 18. This mark of gold was given when he was Earl of Mortain, and confirmed to the Abbey after his accession to the Crown, but it was changed by Henry HI. to ten marks of silver. King John also confirmed his father's grant of forty marks of silver out of the manor of Hoo, and a tenement at Dunwich in Norfolk, purchased of Walter de Westlestun. Henry HI. confirmed the Charters of his predecessors, and was frequendy at Reading, as appears by several patents bearing teste there. He further confirmed the rent-charge of 100 shillings out of the land of Robert de Duddlesfold in Petteworth, with some land at Fernhurst and a mill at Sutton, all in the county of Sussex. Edward H. in his third year confirmed the Abbot's right to farm 40 acres in the New Forest, at the annual rent of forty shillings, paid to Queen Eleanor, to whom the New Forest was granted. And the Queen, by letters patent, ordered that all the catde of the Abbot of Reading should be free from pannage and herbage throughout the year. Subsequent monarchs granted confirmatory Charters, but do not appear to have added to the endowments of the Abbey. H. — Privileges and Imnmnities. In addition to the endowments bestowed on^ Reading Abbey, Henry Beauclerc conferred many privileges and immunities. 84 Reading Abbey. " No person, whether small or great," says the Charter, " may "exact anything, whether as a due or custom, or by violence, from " the men. lands or possessions of the said monastery ; he may not exact military service, nor service on any expedition, nor for con- struction of bridges or castles, nor service of horses, nor of pack- -horses, nor cartage, nor boats, nor labour, nor tribute, nor gifts ; " but let the monks of Reading, with their servants and effects be "free from all gelt^ and toll and every other custom, by land and "by water, in passage qf bridges, and in the sea-ports, throughout " England." Thus the Abbey was highly favoured, and if any of its tenants, or aliens, committed any unlawful act within their possessions, or were taken there, they enjoyed the privileges of the hundred courts, and all manner of pleas, with soc^ and sac"^, toll^ and theam^, infangenthef^, utfangenthef and hamsocna^. A further privilege of no small importance was that of coining money. Details of the mint and of coins struck there will be found in Chapter VIII. The original Charter was followed by a second, dated at West- minster, with some additions, among which is an exemption of all the property of the Abbey, whether lay or ecclesiastical, from dane- geld and all other taxes or aids ; from all county and hundred courts, pleas and suits of law ; from scutage, hidage, stallage, and toll for carriage or horseback ; from finding carriages ; from ship-money, erecting of bridges, building of castles, conveyance of the public money, and from all kind of public labour ; from tribute and customs in fairs and markets ; from tedinpenny^ and tinpenny, that is, 1 "Gelt," an impost. ^ " Soc," the right of holding a court. This and the following privileges were derived from Saxon times, and were bestowed in some degree on every lord or great tenant. ^ "Sac," the right of the lord of a manor to hold a court in cases of trespass among his own vassals. * " Toll," the right of holding a market. ^ " Theam," the right of the lord of a manor to the issue of his bondmen and villains. ^ " Infangenthef," the right of judging a thief caught in a manor by the lord of the manor. " " Utfangenthef," the right of judging a thief caught outside the lord's manor. ^ " Hamsocna," penalty for forcible entry into a man's house. ^ Or tithing-penny, a small tax paid by each tithing to the sheriff for court expenses. The Revenues of the Abbey, 85 money paid to the sheriff by the several tithings or to the tithing- man, by the several divisions of his district ; from all summons to any courts of assize ; from all amercements or forfeitures ; from all assarts or forfeitures for destroying trees and waste of woods. None of the officers of the King were allowed to exercise any right in the Abbot's woods, even when within the limits of the royal forests, the Abbot, monks, and the servants of the Abbey enjoying the same power and liberty in their woods as the King had in his own. Another privilege granted by a special Charter of the founder was that of holding a fair on the day of the festival of St. Laurence and the three following days ; no one was to be disturbed either in coming or going, under a penalty of ten pounds. Henry II. further allowed the Abbot and monks the privilege of holding a fair annually on St. James' and the three following days, and confirmed to them the right of a Sunday market at Thatcham, commanding the inhabitants of the county to attend it, and for- bidding the men of Newbury to do those who frequented it any injury. King John likewise granted them the power of holding a fair on the vigil of the Feast of St. Philip and St. James, on the day of the festival and the two following ones. Henry III. changed the Sunday fair at Leominster, Walling- ford, and other places to a different day for the benefit of the Abbey, and granted the privilege of the right of free-warren on all the estates of the Abbey, with an exemption from lawing of all dogs belonging to them within the royal forests. The lands within certain bounds were exempt from the forest laws. In 1207 Pope Innocent III. confirmed all the privileges of the Foundation Charter to the Abbot and monks of Reading, and added further favours of his own ; and more especially gave leave that, in case of a general interdict of the kingdom, they might, after shutting the gates and keeping out the excommunicated and inter- dicted, and without tolling the bell, celebrate Divine service in a low voice. III. — Revenues. The revenues of Reading Abbey amounted to a large sum. Amongst the sources of income may be mentioned such spiritu- alities as advowsons and parochial tithes, and such temporalities 86 Readi. as tolls, profits on its mint, on grain and fulling mills, fisheries, rents of manors and manor-houses, fines for breaches of the law, and chepyn-gavell, the value of which was more or less definite. More variable sources of profit would come in the form of pro- visions, corn, cattle, wood and presents. Some evidence of the wealth of the Abbey lies in the fact that on several occasions the Sovereign applied to it for a loan. Thus, in 1243 King Henry III. received 100 marks from the Abbey, as an aid on his going into Gascony, and a few years later again attempted to borrow a large sum of money from the principal abbeys, including Reading. In this, however, the King was not successful. Again, in 1337 Edward III. borrowed from the Abbey several valuable gold vessels and jewels^ estimated to be worth £200, and in 1346 he again borrowed ^100. In 1379 ^50 was lent to Richard 1 1.2 But in spite of its wealth and endowments the Abbey was more than once in financial straits, and numbered amongst its creditors the great European financiers of the period, the Lombards and the Caorsini. Sometimes this may have been due to extrava- gance on the part of the Abbot and monks. But a more likely cause was the custom of the King and the nobles of the land to treat the larger monasteries as inns. Not infrequently on their journeys they would spend a week or more at some convenient religious house, and together with their retinue of knights and retainers involve their hosts in heavy expenditure. What can have been more agreeable after the excitements of Court life than to devote a few days to sport or leisure on the fragrant banks of the Kennet or Thames ! For instance, we read that King Henry IV. stayed at Reading Abbey in 1403 from January 9 to 20^ and a large ouday would be inevitable. As early as the third year of Edward I. an Act had been passed in order to check this custom, which never- theless continued in vogue. A further contributory cause is to be found in the corrodies that were from time to time granted by the King to servants, entitling them to maintenance in a monastery. Thus, in 13 10 1 Leland, "Collectanea," Vol. ii., p. 625. 2 "Calendar of Patent Rolls, Richard II.," 1377-1381 (Rolls Series), p. 635. 2 Wylie, " History of England under Henry IV.," Vol ii., p. 288. The Revenues of the Abbey, 87 King Edward II. sent to the Abbot and convent of Reading Robert Pipard, who long served the late Queen Eleanor and the King, and requests them to admit him into their house, and to ''provide him maintenance in food and clothing, according to his " estate, for his lifetime^." Several instances of financial difficulty are recorded. For example, in the 37th year of the reign of Henry 1 1 1, the Abbey was so heavily in debt, that the King issued several precepts addressed to the knights and freemen who held lands under the Abbey, asking them to help to liquidate its debts by making a contribution for the purpose. Again, in 1275 the debts were so onerous that King 'Edward I. took the management of affairs into his own hands and appointed a commissioner, Roland de Harlegh, knight, to administer the affairs of the Abbey^. A few years later, too (1286), Ralph de Brocton, the King's clerk, was appointed by the King keeper of the Abbey of Reading, the manor of Leominster and the other manors of the said Abbey ; to apply its revenues to the payment of its debts, ''saving a reasonable sum for the maintenance of the " monks and the dispensation of alms." Soon after the installation of Abbot Quappelade the Abbey was found in debt to the extent of ^1,227 7s. 8d., and Quappelade at once took measures to reduce the debt by diminishing the number of servants as well as the annual expenses. These periods of financial difficulty were, however, probably exceptional and temporary occurrences ; for the Abbey at Reading was one of the wealthiest in England, as is proved by a valuation of the revenues of the principal religious houses at the time of Henry VIII. Reading ranks sixth in order, as will be seen from the following table^ : lib. s. d. oh. q.^ St. Peter's, Westminster 3^977 6 4 i i Glastonbury 3^508 13 4 i i 1 ''Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward II.," 1307-1313 (Rolls Series), p. 220. Another corrody was granted by Edward II. in 13 10, and another in 13 16. 2 "Calendar of Patent Rolls, Edward L," 1272-1281 (Rolls Series), pp. 81, 128. 3 Fuller, "Church History of Britain," Vol. iii., p. 329. 4 Oh, abbreviation for obolus, and used in connection with £ s. d. to represent a farthing ; q, abbreviation for quadrafis, and used to denote a farthing, or half a farthing (Stanford, "Dictionary of Anglicized Words and Phrases "). 14 88 lib. s. d. ob. q. St. Albans 2,510 6 i i i St. John's of Jerusalem (Middlesex) ... 2,385 19 8 o o St. Edmundsbury ... ... ... ... 2,336 16 o o o Reading 2,116 3 9 o i The various sources of income of Reading Abbey at its dissolu- tion are given in the following Schedule : SCHEDULE OF THE LATE DISSOLVED MONASTERY OF READING, 31st OF HENRY VHP. Cholsey manor and rectory with their appurtenances 201 s. 16 d. 9 Blewbury manor with its appurtenances 121 4 oi East Hendred manor, given by the Empress Maud ... 38 9 Burhidebury manor and rectory 50 0 Thatcham rectory, with Greenham, Midgeham, Crookham and Colethorp lOI 6 6 Pangbourne manor 24 8 4 Basyldon manor 6 5 5 Shyningfield, or Shinfield, tenements and land 9 6 0 Sonning, manor of Bulmershe and lands 7 6 8 Wargrave rectory 30 0 0 Borough of Reading. Rent of assize 2112 5 Customary rents ... ... ... ... ... ... 92 18 4 Mills. Two grain mills and fulling mills, called St. Giles' mills, with the tythes of the same ; a fishery called Tan- lock ; two other mills, and a fulling mill in St. Mary's parish, called Mynster mills, and fishery called Grey's lock 40 o o Reading Deanery. Rents in Tilehurst, Whitley, Coley, Greyshall, Stratfield, Mortimer, Sulhamstead, Beenham, Ufton, Battel (farm)... 130 9 ij The farm of Windsor Underore ... ... ... ... 6 19 io| The manor of Whitley, including the issues from lands in Whitley, Tilehurst, Beyneham, Ufton, Battel and Reading 96 i r 5 Agistment of Whitley Park ... ... ... ... ... 300 Calcot mill and lands in Tylehurst parish ... ... ... 213 4 Fishery of the Kennet .. . ... ... ... ... ... 013 4 Rectory of Beenham ... ... ... ... ... ... 368 Rectories of Tilehurst, Coley and Whitley 2000 1 Ministers' Accounts, 30-31 Henry VIII., No. 85. The Revenues of the Abbey. Town of Reading. Tolls of the fairs Tolls of the market Cheaping-gavel ... Perquisites of courts ... Bailiwick of the Liberty Perquisites of its courts Sussex. Duddlesford manor Warwickshire. Rowington manor and rectory Wilts. Manor of Whitesbury Manor of WindhuU Stanton-Harcourt rectory Lands in Sewell Kent. OXON. London. Divers tenements, particularly one called Redyng-place, in the parish of St. Andrew, near Baynard Castle, reserved to the use of the Abbot Summa ... Sebrightford manor Aston manor . . . Herts. Bedfordshire. Houghton manor . '•" i " Small rents collected by the bailiff, or out-steward, m lygle- hurst and other places Pastures and Meadows. Cowick Estmede, near the road to Caversham s. d. 1 4 7 o 2 II 7 2 2 O 9 lo 12 9 o 73 19 8 38 30 6 5 12 6 36 o o o o o o o o 2 o\ 19 Ili 15 II 13 10 13 4 o o 90 Reading Abbey. £ s. 7 a. ± lllCC llClClb LclllCU. V^IUWIJ llClUj JDUllJClLl} dllQ LIlc vJlOVc tinQ lanHc; rallprl Snifflpfiplrls R 0 A 4 An inn in T?<^arli'nrr r'Cilli^H rrwum Jl\11 iliLl m JXCdU-lliU L-ctllCVJ. LliC V_/HJWiI... ... ... ... 3 0 0 0 "Ta n ciTTi aHp* J. diiliUuolliCLlC ... ... ... ... ... ... I 1 0 0 rrDrrlpn in T.nnrlnn St rallpfl Cavps Orrbarfl T X yj g T^wr* m Accn CI orpc in ^1" T ciiii'Pnr'p'c; T»jincVi X\V\J illCoO Uctj^Ca 111 OL. J-idUl Ciiv^C D ^diloll ... ... A/TACirlnwc in TiciffAl J.V±Ca.U.UWo 111 JJdLLCl ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 1 0 0 j.V±CclU.UWb 111 O u ilia 111 a Led. U. ... ... ... ... ... I 0 0 A fpnPTTipnf rallpH thp TTinrl''; hpafi J. X. L v.. 11 V. lli ^li L C4. 1 1 v.! ClA^ J.J~111\_1 O X1V>CX.\..L ... ... ... ... J 6 8 Tithp^ of TVTofp-hall in Tvclphiirst X 1L11V..O \J L XVXV./LV.' llCXll 111 X y £^1^11 LXl O L ... ... ... ... '7 7 Q Q Tithes of West-wood-row, in the same I 6 8 Tithes in Northcot 2 2 0 Tithes in Whitley O 6 8 Tithes of tenement called Yeld o 2 0 Tithes of tenement called Pepyrs o 6 8 Tithes of two messuages called i^ridays and Renes ... o 5 0 Tithes of two messuages called Fulryches and Sarratts o 6 8 Tithes of meadow near Reading called Frogmarsh ... o 8 0 Tithes of Cowick I 3 4 Possessions of the Office of Almoner. Rents of assize in Reading 6 I 0 Customary rents there... 23 4 Manor of Burghfield ... 15 0 0 Pension from the vicar of St. Laurence's in Reading 5 0 0 Possessions of the Office of Cellarer. Rents of assize in Reading 0 7 5 Customary rents 0 13 4 Rents of assize in Sheffield, Calcot, Wokefield, Caversham and Cold-Norton ... ... ... ... ... 13 8 iii Customary rents in the same ... 7 18 2 A sheepcote and lands in Sewell, and Little Tew in Oxford- shire ... 0 0 0 Pension from the Abbot of St. Augustin, in Bristol 13 6 8 Belonging to the Office of Sacrist. Rents of assize m Readmg I 7 r 0 Customary rents there ... 4 16 0 Pensions from the following Churches. St. Giles', Reading 2 0 0 St. Mary's 2 0 0 Sulhamstead rectory ... 2 0 0 Englefield rectory 0 13 4 The Revenues of the Abbey, 91 Compton vicarage Hanborough rectory Sulham rectory... Purley rectory ... Beenham vicarage Pangbourne rectory Wargrave vicarage Belonging to the Refectory. Rents of assize in Reading Customary rents there Belonging to the Office of Sub-Prior. Rents of assize In Blewbury In Slieepbridge ■ A buiiding in the Market-place Rents of tenants, copyholders... Belonging to the Office of Granetary. Rents of assize ... Customary rents Belonging to the Office of Woodfolder. Rents of assize Customary rents Belonging to the Keeper of the Chapel of the Virgin Mary. Rents of assize... In Burghfield ... In Tilehurst Customary in Reading From the priory of Leominster and its dependent parishes Pensions to the Abbot from rectories Total ... o 9 o 10 034 o 18 o o 13 4 o 13 4 5 18 o o 10 10 1 1 1 1 4 050 13 6 4 o 16 2>\ 030" 006 12 10 8 1)474 17 3j 480 o o 87 12 I 2,042 9 4J The total of these sums amounts to a revenue of ^2,042 9s. 4|^d., nearly equal to the value stated by Speed^ (^2,116 3s. 9^d.). 1 "The Historic of Great Britaine," p. 1043. 92 Reading Abbey, In the ''Valor Ecclesiasticus " (Henry VIII.), Vol. ii., p. 154, the amount is stated as 1,938 14s. 3d., the difference being possibly due to the nominal value being reckoned in one case, and the clear yearly revenue in another. By the account given in at the Augmentation Office the estates did not amount to more than ^1,402 9s. lojd. ; but the site of the monastery and demesne were not included, as being in hand that year. If it is borne in mind that a penny in the reign of King Henry VIII. was nearly equal in value to a shilling at the present time^, it follows that, estimated in modern money, the gross rental of the Abbey was equivalent to nearly ^25,000. 1 Froude, " History of England," Vol. i., p. 26 ; Rogers, " Six Centuries of Work and Wages," p. 539. The Armorial Bearings^ Seals and Coinage of the Abbey. \.—The Ar7ns of the Abbey. HE blazon of the Shield of Arms belonging to the Abbey is azure three escallops or^ and a relief of them in stone may still be seen on the west front of St. Laurence's Church, although in a defaced con- dition (Fig. I.). These arms were granted by the founder of the Abbey, King Henry I., and were borne in honour of St. James the Elder, also called St. James of Compostella, one of its patron saints. Owing doubtless to his legendary travels, St. James is frequendy represented in the habit and with the staff of a pilgrim, wearing in his hat the escallop shell ; and pilgrims to his sepulchre were wont to gather the shells on the sea-shore and wear them in their hoods or hats, as evidence of their pilgrimage. Another association with St. James may be found in the pos- session by the Abbey of his hand amongst its relics, as will be described further on. 1 Authorities: Ashmole, "Visitation of Berks," 1664-1666, C. 12, Part ii., f. 199; "Arms of Abbeys and Priorys " (a MS. Book of Arms painted between 1525 and 1536), L. 10, ff. 65, 74^?; Benolt, "Visitation of Devon and Cornwall in 1531," G. 2, f. loi ; " Vincent MS.," No. 187, p. 49 ; "E.D.N. Royal Badges," p. 13"; King's MS. " Heraldica Miscellanea," Vol. xiii., p. 89. 94 Reading Abbey. II. — The Seals of the Abbey. Reading Abbey had two different seals during its history, one belonging to the twelfth, the other to the fourteenth century. (ct) First Seal. The earliest one (Fig. XIII.), which is preserved in the British Museum, is green, and measures about 3x2 inches. It is thus described in the Museum Catalogue^ : Fig. XIII.— @^66eg ^eaf (i2th Cent.V Pointed oval : the Virgin, with crown and embroidered drapery, seated on a carved throne : on her lap the Child lifting up the right hand in benediction, in the left hand an orb. In the Virgin's right hand a sceptre or lily branch, topped with a dove, in the left hand a model of a church. Legend wanting. 1 " Catalogue of Seals in the Department of MSS., British Museum," Vol. i., p. 713. The Seals of the Abbey. 95 (b) Second Seal. The second Abbey seal, dating from 1328, is round, with a diameter of 3^ inches (Fig. XIV.). The original is attached to a Charter in the Chapter-house at Hereford, but is represented in the British Museum by a sulphur cast, which is thus described in the Catalogue : Obverse : The Virgin, with crown, seated on a throne, the Child on her left knee, and in her right hand an orb ; between St. James the Greater, with pilgrim's cap, staff, book and wallet on the left ; St. John the Evangelist stand- ing on an eagle, in the right hand a scroll inscribed : — in PRiNciPio (John i. i), in the left hand a palm-branch, on the right. Each in a separate niche, carved and ornamented with a canopy of open tracery with ogee arch, crocketed and pinnacled. The corbel carved with foliage. At each side a wavy branch. S' COE • ECCE • COVETVAL' ' RADYNG' • FVDATE • T • HONORE SCE • MARIE • ET • APOSTL'oI^ • IOh'iS • ET • lACOBI^. Inside the edge the date- verse : ANNO : MILLENO • TRICETENO : FABRICAT'. Reverse : King Henry I., with crown, seated, on the right hand a sceptre fleury, in the left hand a model of a church ; between, on the left St. Peter with book and keys, on the right St. Paul with book and sword. Each in a niche as in the obverse. The corbel and branches as in the obverse also. ENS • REX • HENRICVS-^VMME : DEITAT' : AMICUS -^ecvr' : DEGiT entv : dom' : iste : pegit. Inside the edge the following verse, which completes the distich indicative of the date of the seal : siGNv" : BIS : DENG : b' : q%to : consociat ^ : 1 " The common seal of the Conventual Church of Reading, founded in honour of St. Mary and of the Apostles John and James." 2 "The seal was manufactured and adopted in 1328." 15 The Seals of the Abbey. 97 The Legend of the reverse, written out in full, is as follows^: Ens Rex Henricus^summe Deitat/^ amicusv^secur/^^ degito tentuw ; Aomus iste p^regit. The loops show when of the two recurring letters one is omitted ; the italics show the contraction or abbreviations which are to be supplied. The translation is probably as follows : King Henry, being a " friend of the supreme Deity, lived in security ; this man com- ''pleted the possessions of the house." Ens is an imaginary participle of the verb sum; tentum is probably a participle of teiieo — the holding or property ; domus — of the convent. In the original seal the D in Dom' is somewhat injured. It looks like D, but at the same time may be B. Again, the M is indistinct, and may be N. In this case the reading would be Bon' (Bonis), which would require to be taken with Iste — '*this good man " completed the property. [c] Seal of Abbot Hugh II. Another seal of interest is now at Canterbury Cathedral (Fig. XV.), and belonged to the noted Abbot Hugh II. (1180- 1199). It measures 3 x if inches, and is represented in the Museum by a sulphur cast. It is thus described in the Catalogue : Pointed oval : the Abbat, standing on a dwarf-column, in the right hand a pastoral staff, in the left hand a book. ^ SIGILLVM HVGONIS ' RADINGENSIS • ABBATIS. In addition to these, the National Collection contains^ : {a) The Sulphur Cast of a Counter-seal (13th century). {b) The Seal of Abbot Robert de Burgate (1286). {c) The Signet of Abbot John Thorne II. (i493)- {d) The Seal of the Prior (1242). 1 I am indebted to Dr. W. de Gray Birch, Assistant in the Department of MSS. in the British Museum, for this interpretation of the Legend. „ , • 2 "Catalogue of Seals in the Department of MSS., British Museum, Vol. 1., p. 714. Reading Abbey. Amongst these various seals the most beautiful specimen is the Abbey seal of 1328, and doubtless this and the earlier one were used in the legal transactions which extensive property in land involved. Occasionally frauds were attempted by counterfeiting the seal. For instance, in 1290 Isaac de Pulet^, a Jew of London, was arrested *'for counterfeiting the seals of the Abbot and ''convent of Radinges, and sealing with the counterfeits false "writings in the names of the Abbot and convent and certain ''Jews, involving large sums." Again, in 1534 John Redyng^, 98 Fig. XV.-e^e ^t2c^'«>fench ; thirteenth century, first and second halves ; vellum, iif X 8 in., 236 leaves, rubrics, or- namental and illu- minated initials. Latin ; thirteenth century, first half ; vellum, \o\ X 7 J in., 128 leaves, rubrics ; binding, oak boards covered with sheepskin, chain-clasp wanting. Latin; thirteenth and fourteenth cen- turies; vellum, loi X 7 in., 54 leaves, rubrics, coloured initials. Latin ; late thirteenth Notes as to Donor or Owner. On one of the fly- leaves at the end : " Radulfus bathe monachus sacer- dos et professus iurat in verbis sacerdocii quod observabit con- suetudines et statuta ecclesie radingensis. Tes- tante domino iohanne thorne monacho eius- dem loci." On second fly-leaf, "Hunc librum dedit frater Al- wredusdedouera deo et ecclesie beate Marie Ra- ding'." On fly-leaf at be- The Library of the Abbey, iig Press-mark. Contents. Language, Date, Description. Notes as to Donor or Owner. tiarum secundum fratrem Thomam de Alquino. century ; vellum, \2\ X 8J in., 356 leaves, ornamental and coloured in- itials, blue and red border round nrst page; binding, card- board covered with sheepskin stained brown (?) ; strings and chain - clasp wanting. ginning, "Ex dono Willelmi de Boxclaustralibus Radingie cuius anime propicie- tur deus. Amen." Bodl. 397. *t Excerpta Senten- tiarum secundum Magistrum Hugo- nem de Sancto Victore. Excerpta Historiarum Veteris Testament! per eundem. Historia Evangelii per eundem. Latin ; late thirteenth century ; vellum, loj X 7I in., 126 leaves, rubrics, red and blue initials. Bodl. 772 * Commentarii in Psal- terium et Evan- gelium S. Johannis. Latin ; late thirteenth century ; vellum, 9J X 6f in., 116 leaves, rubrics, red and blue initials ; binding, oak boards covered with white sheepskin, strings and chain - clasp wanting. Bodl. 848.* Definitiones quaedam, imperf., viz. Astro- no mi ae, Arith- meticse, Geome- triae,etc. Anselmus Cantuariensis in libro de duabus beatitudinibus et duabus miseriis. Latin ; thirteenth century, late (?) ; vellum, 9x6 in., 197 leaves, rubrics, red and blue in- itials. On Hy-leaf at be- ginning, " Hie est liber sancte Marie de ra- ding' ex dono fratris W. de Wint'." T20 Reading Abbey, Press-mark. Auct. F. inf. I, 2. Bodl. 570.^ Contents. Hugonis de Sancto Vic- tore capita aliquot de Archa Morali. Tractatus Magistri Poriani Alani de modo prsedica- tionis. Nonnulladevitiiscapi- talibus et eorum re- mediis. Tractatus beati Au- gustini de spiritu et anima. (Various other trea- tises, sermons etc.) Thomas Tarent super librum tertium Sen- tentiarum. Richardi Armachani de pauperie Salva- toris libri septem. Libellus sermonum. (Many treatises of St. Augustine and others follow.) Petri Blesensis epis- tolse cxi. Thomse Aquinatis qusestiones 138 super librum secun- dum Sententiarum. Language, Date, Description. Latin ; fourteenth or end of thirteenth century (?) ; vellum, I2jx8| in., 152 leaves, rubrics, blue initials. Latin ; c. 1340-50 ; vellum, 14 J X 9 J in., 401 leaves, blue and red initials ; binding, oak boards covered with white sheepskm, clasps wanting. Latin ; fifteenth cen- tury; vellum, 10x7 in., 228 leaves, rubrics, ornamental border round first page, red and blue initials. Notes as to Donor or Owner. On first fly-leaf : " Precium una Marca quia sic emptus est Oxon." Inside top cover : "Collectariumex dono Domini Thome Erie Ab- batis Claustrali- bus Rading'." On fly-leaf opposite fol. I, " Hunc librum Thomas Staunton Prior Monasterii Ra- dyng' dedit C laustralibus Radyng'. . . ." The Liibrary of the Abbey. 12 1 II. Oxford Colleges. Press-mark. Contents. Language, Date, Description. Notes as to Donor or Owner. Corpus Christi Coll., No. 45- Alexandri Neckham, Verolamiensis, Commentarius in libros Genesin et Ecclesiasten, sive de naturis rerum libri quinque. Latin ; twelfth cen- tury ; vellum, folio, 186 leaves. At the beginning, " Hunc librum dedit frater Ni- cholausdePiche- cote Deoetbeate Virgini Marie et conventui de Ra- dinge." Corpus Christi Coll., Nos. 23, 24. S. Johannis Chrysos- tomi in S. Matthsei Evangelium homi- liae nonaginta. Greek ; written by John Serbopyl^ at the town of Read- ing in the years 1499 and 1500 ; folio, vellum, now divided into two vol- umes, of which the first has 332 leaves, the other 294. (? a Reading MS.) Trinity Coll., No. 19."^ De vita activa et con- templativa liber, praecipue ex S. Gre- gorii operibus con- fectus. Interpretationes He- braicorum nomin- um. Tractatus de spirituali et vera amicitia. Distinctionum liber theologicarum. Commentarius in Canticum Canti- corum . (Many sermons etc. follow.) Latin : twelfth and thirteenth centu- ries ; vellum, small folio, 205 leaves. " Liber S. Marie de Radingis ex dono Radulphi de Symmoc, quondam prioris ejusdem loci ; de quo qui frau- dem fecerit noveritse excom- municatum." 1 This John Serbopoulos came from Constantinople and was copying Greek MSS. at Reading. Gasquet, "The English Bible," p. 318. 122 Reading- Abb Press-mark. Contents. Language, Date, Description. Notes as to Donor or Owner. Queen's Coll.; No. siy.'^t Queen's Coll. No. 323.*! St. John's Coll., No. 21.* St. John's Coll., No. 104.* Magdalen Coll., No. 25. SS. Matthgei et Marci Evangelia, cum glossis. S. Lucae evangelium, glossa marginali, et hie illic interlineari, instructum. Libri Josuae et Judi- cum, glossa in- struct! ordinaria. Liber Moysis, qui vocatur Deutero- nomium, glossa in- structus ordinaria. Compendium theo- logicae veritatis secundum sanctum Thomam (potius Petrum Thomam, minoritam), libris septem comprehen- sum. Latin ; twelfth cen- tury, second half; vellum, folio, 143 leaves. Latin ; twelfth cen- tury, second half ; vellum, quarto, 114 leaves. Latin ; thirteenth cen- tury, second half ; vellum, folio, 85 leaves. Latin ; thirteenth cen- tury, first half ; vellum, small folio, 108 leaves. Latin ; fifteenth cen- tury; vellum, small quarto, 234 leaves, red and blue ini- tials. At the beginning : " Hunc librum ue (ritatis?) dedit frater Willelmus Hendele, prior hujus monasterii Radyng, cujus alienator seu Fraudator anath- ema sit; Amen." The Library of the Abbey. 123 THE FOLLOWING MSS. FORMERLY BELONGING TO READING ABBEY, ARE NOW PRESERVED AT CAMBRIDGE. Press-mark. Contents. Language, Date, Description. Notes as to Donor or Owner. The University Library, Dd. ix. 38.1 Many documents re- lating to Reading and other monas- teries. Among them : Constitutiones de Redyngg. Carta Regis Henrici primi de funda- tione Radyng. Ec- clesiae et libertati- bus, et de donatione ipsius Radyng, Cheals et Leo- menstre, etc. Confirmatio Alexan- dri papae tertii super possession- ibus, ecclesiis et iiuci LaLiuuo iiionas- terio Radyng. col- latis et conferendis. Allocationes Abbatis Radyng. in scac- cario domini Regis. Latin and French ; fourteenth century; vellum, folio. St. John's Coll., No. 22. "^f Bedae Venerabilis Presbyteri liber de Rationibus Tem- porum. With other works by him and Albericus, Quarto, vellum ; no date assigned to MS. in printed catalogue. 1 Further details will be found in the "Catalogue of Manuscripts preserved in the Library of the University of Cambridge," Vol. i., pp. 390-401, where it is entitled " a parchment volume containing books or parts thereof, which formerly belonged to the monastery at Reading ... by various hands in the fourteenth century." 19 124 Reading Abbey. OTHER MSS. FORMERLY CONNECTED WITH READING ABBEY. Another important MS. is that in the possession of Lord FingalP, and known as the Fingall or Woollascot MS. Attached to the fly-leaf is the following memorandum : " This book of the Charters of Reading Abbey was found secreted in a very con- " cealed and unknown corner in my Lord Fingall's house at Shinefield near Reading." The volume comprises 99 folios of vellum, and begins with a table of contents giving a list of the first 3 1 5 Charters, a list of the relics, a full catalogue of the books kept at the Abbey, and an inventory of the vestments. There are also many important Bulls and writs by various Popes, including Calixtus IL, Honorius II., Innocent II., Eugenius III., Adrian IV., Alexander III. and Clement III. As the latest date of the royal Charters entered in this Cartulary appears to belong to the reign of Henry III., the several books enumerated probably formed the library^ at Reading during the thirteenth century, and this explains why only a few of the sur- viving MSS. can be identified with this catalogue. The following two MSS.^, probably associated with Reading Abbey, were discovered a few years ago in a cellar at Bere Court, Pangbourne, which was a summer residence of the Abbot : 1. Horse Beatae Mariae Virginis, cum Calendario," fifteenth century, by an English scribe, ornamented with bordered initial letters and numerous capitals, finely illuminated in gold and colours. 2. Second portion of Wiclifs version of the Bible, with a prefixed calendar. This MS. also contains many bordered initial letters richly illuminated. At the sale of the library of Sir Thomas Phillips^, the " Epistola dementis Pap^ ad Jacobum Hierosolimitanum Epis- "copum," a twelfth-century MS. from the scriptorium of Reading ^ A description of this cartulary by S. Barfield will be found in the English Historical Reviezv, Vol. iii,, p. 113. ^ Loc. cit.^ p. 117. ^ Egginton, Journal of Berks Archaeological and Architectural Society, Vol. i., p. ITO. ^ Berks^ Bucks and Oxon Archceological Journal^ Vol. i,, p. 29. The Library of the Abbey, 125 Abbey, was sold to Mr. Quaritch for ^50. Another MS. " De ''Quantitate Animi " by S. Augustinus, and other tracts, twelfth century, quarto, on vellum, from Reading Abbey, was also sold to Mr. Quaritch. It contained an anthem for St. James' Day, set throughout to music. In addition to the books mentioned above as still existing, one or two in the catalogue of 228 volumes in the Fingall MS. are w^orthy of passing mention. Thus there were four complete Bibles, in addition to various parts of the Bible. Again, the " Consuetudines Cluniacenses," in one volume, is of interest in connection with the Cluniac origin of Reading Abbey. The works of Augustine, De Nuptiis et Concupiscentia " and " De Adulterinis Conjugiis," may be the books sent by Hugh Faringdon^ to Henry VIII., when the King was searching every- where in England and on the Continent for authorities to support his views on matrimonial law. It is not exactly known where the books were kept, but most likely it was in the cloisters. An excellent description of the monastic library at Durham has happily been preserved, and may be taken as a picture of what in all probability the library of Reading Abbey was : "In the north syde of the Cloister, from "the corner over against the Church dour to the corner over " againste the Dorter dour, was all fynely glased, from the hight to "the sole within a litle of the grownd into the Cloister garth. "And in every wyndowe iij Pewes or Carrells, where every one "of the old Monks had his carrell, severall by himselfe, that, when "they had dyned, they dyd resorte to that place of Cloister and "there studyed upon there books, every one in his carrell, all the after nonne, unto evensong tyme. This was there exercise every " daie. All there pewes or carrells was all fynely wainscotted " and verie close, all but the forepart which had carved wourke " that gave light in at their carrell doures of wainscott. And in "every carrell was a deske to lye there bookes on. . . . And ''over against the carrells against the church wall did stande " sertaine great almeries (or cupbords) of waynscott all full of " Bookes^." 1 " Dictionary of National Biography," S2ib. Faringdon. 2 " Rites of Durham " (Surtees Society), p. 70. 126 Reading Abbey. Reading Abbey, like other great abbeys, was occasionally entrusted with the custody of national archives. For example, in 1207 documents relating to the marriage of Louis, Count of Los, and the daughter of Adelheid, Countess of Holland^ were placed there for safe keeping. 1 Gasquet, "The English Bible," p. 59. C|)apter x> The Relics^ Plate and other Treasures belonging to the