The Abbey of St. Albans from 1300 to the dissolution of the monasteries

The Abbey of St. Albans from 1300 to the Dissolution of the Monasteries
THE STANHOPE ESSAY 1911
BY VIVIAN H. GALBRAITH MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY SCHOLAR OF BALLIOL COLLEGE
Oxford B. H. BLACKWELL, BROAD STREET London SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO., LIMITED MCMXI
Growth of St. Albans Legend.
The growth of the St. Albans legend is proof that it was no unconscious greatness the members enjoyed. In the eleventh century, when the monastery had become ‘the school of religious observance for all England’ arose the idea of a miraculous origin; it received final consecration in the narrative of Matthew Paris. Henceforth, it was sober history that King Offa founded the Abbey on August 1st, 793, when the ground opened miraculously, revealing the body of the martyr himself with a golden band around his forehead inscribed with his name. From this point its history was made to run on without a break; the names of successive abbots were given with the dates of their reigns, and the acquisition of existing possessions attributed to various of them by a method hidden from us. From a great deal of tradition little more can be deduced than that the Abbey was of royal foundation and exempt from episcopal jurisdiction, that it was early endowed with a wide franchise, and, by analogy, that morals and discipline would be by no means strict in Anglo-Saxon times.
Effect of the Conquest.
Decay of the Monastery.
The disfavour incurred by the attempt to retain the manorial system was increased when the organisation itself began to show signs of decay. The decline of religious fervour was followed by a gradual relaxation of monastic discipline, and comparative luxury invaded the cloister. After the death of John of Berkhamstead in 1301 the extent of the falling off began to be apparent. For the next generation the convent was in an unhealthy condition. But though weakened, the organisation was far from being destroyed. At times like this the traditional routine was invaluable. The writing of history, for instance, was continued, and the period is still known to us by the works of John de Trokelowe and Henry de Blaneford, contemporary chroniclers.