CHAPTER XVII.

[200], 8. Deut. xvi. 19.

[200], 16. Galatians v. 9.

[201], 20. Dean of London. This quotation from the Ymagines Historiarum of Ralph de Diceto, Dean of St. Paul's, who died about 1202, is interesting, as showing that apparently a manuscript copy of that work was in the possession of Bury Abbey shortly after its compilation. Diceto has often been identified with Diss in Norfolk: and there are evidences that William of Diss had a good deal to do with Jocelin's Chronicle (cf. pages 242, 254). Bishop Stubbs thinks that Diceto is "an artificial name, adopted by its bearer as the Latin name of a place with which he was associated," and this he suggests may be one of three places in Maine.

[202], 16. Mutans quadrata rotundis. Hor. Ep. i. 1, 100.

[203], 16. Pila minantia pilis. Lucan, 1, 7.

[204], 13. By his writ. The same difficulty as to jurisdiction that arose in the case of Monk's Eleigh with Christ Church, Canterbury (see chapter vii. and notes to p. 77, l. 23, and p. 78, l. 16) occurred with the Bishop of Ely; and it lasted an equally long time. In the Excerpta Cantabrigiensia (Arnold, III. 188) is a long account of a "Contentio inter monasterium S. Edmundi et episcopum Eliensum" (Univ. Lib. Ff. 2, 29) respecting the return to writs affecting places within the Liberty of St. Edmund. The Bishop claimed that when a writ came down to the Sheriff of Suffolk referring to a place which, though within the liberty of St. Edmund, belonged to the see of Ely, it was the duty of the sheriff to send that writ for execution, not to the abbot, but to the bishop; and the abbot claimed that the ancient jurisdiction of St. Edmund would thus be infringed. Since the liberty of St. Edmund comprised eight and a half hundreds in the county of Suffolk, within which hundreds the see of Ely possessed many manors, it is obvious that if the charge and execution of writs affecting these manors were withheld from the abbot and given to the bishop, the jurisdiction of St. Edmund would be to that extent impaired and restricted. The Contentio begins with a reference to the King's decision just given (1408) in favour of Bury against the Canterbury monks (see note on page 239), and goes on to describe the efforts made by Abbot Cratfield to stop the encroachments of Bishop Fordham of Ely, with whom he proposes a meeting, from which the bishop excuses himself. The controversy dragged on, with many adjournments and delays, all of which the (Bury) writer lays to the charge of the other side: nor was it concluded at the date (1426 or 1427) when the tract was written (Arnold, III. xviii.-xix.).

[205], 20. Psalm viii. 8.

[207], 7. Geoffrey Fitz-Peter and William de Stutville. These were important officials, whom John could ill spare. Geoffrey Fitz-Peter, Earl of Essex (died 1213) was justiciar, having been appointed by Richard I. to this high office in 1198, on the resignation of Archbishop Hubert Walter. He was confirmed in his appointment by John, who disliked him, but used him for his own ends. William de Stutville had been appointed sheriff of the county of York in 1201, and died in 1203.

[209], 20. made his will just as if he was now to die. The Royal summons to Court was dated 1203, as the brief of Innocent III. is printed in Migne's Patrologia, vol. 214, and is dated 21 January, 1203. Samson lived nearly nine years afterwards; but as to the facts of his latest years we know practically nothing. As to his death and burial, see Preface, pages xl.-xlii.

[211], 9. Pollicitis dives quilibet esse potest. Ovid., De Arte Amandi, 1. 444.

[211]. At the foot of fol. 163 of the Liber Albus, from which Jocelin's Chronicle is taken, is a memorandum by William of Diss, which, as it has been printed both by Rokewode and Arnold, is translated below, though it is not by Jocelin. It is merely an expansion of the story told by Jocelin himself on pp. 86-8. Adam of Cockfield wanted to claim his father's lands by hereditary right; but William of Diss gives the evidence against this claim. The succession was: Lenmere, Adam the first (married Adeliza), Robert (died 1191), Adam the claimant (died 1198), who married Rohesia, and had a daughter Nesta, over whose wardship there was the dispute recorded on page 187.

"Robert of Cockfield acknowledged to my lord abbot Samson, in the presence of many persons—Master W. of Banham, brother W. of Diss, chaplains, William of Breiton, and many others—that he had no hereditary right in the vills of Groton and Semere. For in the days of King Stephen, when the peace was disturbed, the monks of St. Edmund, with the consent of the abbot, granted the aforesaid two vills to Adam of Cockfield, his father, to be held all the days of his life: Semere for the annual payment of one hundred shillings, and Groton by the payment of an annual rent, because Adam could defend the aforesaid towns against the holders of the neighbouring castles, W. of Milden and W. of Ambli, in that he had a castle of his own near to the aforesaid manors, namely, the castle of Lelesey.

"After the death of the aforesaid Adam, they granted the said manors to Robert of Cockfield, son of Adam, at a double rate for Semere, that is an annual rent of ten pounds, so long as the lords abbots and the convent wish. But he never had a charter for it, not even to the end of his life. He had good charters for all the tenements which he held of St. Edmund by hereditary right, which charters I, William, known as William of Diss, at that time chaplain, read, in the hearing of many, in the presence of the aforesaid abbot: that is for the lands of Lelesey, which Ulfric of Lelesey held of St. Edmund in the same township; the charter of the abbot and convent concerning the socages of Rougham, which Mistress Rohesia of Cockfield, once wife of Adam the younger, brought as her dowry; for the lands also which Lenmere, his ancestor, held in the town of Cockfield by hereditary right, and which in the time of King Stephen, with the consent of Anselm, abbot of St. Edmund, were changed into half a knight's fee, although at first they had been socages of St. Edmund.

"He had also charters of the abbot and convent of St. Edmund, for the lands which are in the town of St. Edmund; for the land, that is to say, of Hemfrid Criketot, where the houses of Mistress Adeliza were once situated. They have also a hereditary charter for a great messuage, under a payment of twelve pence, where the hall of Adam the first, of Cockfield, was of old situate, with a wooden tower seven times twenty feet in height. It was confirmed to them as hereditary right by the charter of the abbot and convent, in which charter are specified the length and breadth of that place and messuage, to be held by a payment of two shillings. They also hold a hereditary charter for the lands which Robert of Cockfield, son of Odo of Cockfield, now holds in Barton. But they have no charter for the township of Cockfield, that is, for the portion which pertains to the food of the monks of St. Edmund.

"Then there was one brief of King Henry I., in which he commands Abbot Anselm to allow Adam of Cockfield the first to hold in peace the farm of Cockfield, and others, as long as he pays rents in full; and that brief was sealed only of one part, representing the royal form—against the form of all royal briefs.

"But Robert of Cockfield claimed, in the presence of the lord abbot and the aforesaid, that he believed Cockfield to be his hereditary right on account of his long tenure: because his grandfather, Lenmere, held that manor for a long time before his death, and Adam the first, his son, for the term of his life, and he, Robert, all his life—well-nigh sixty years; but they never had a charter of the abbot or the convent of St. Edmund for the aforesaid land."

APPENDIX III
Table of Chief Dates in the History of the Abbey Of St. Edmundsbury, from a.d. 870 to 1903.

[Editor's Note.—I had originally contemplated printing only the dates included in Section II. of this Table, but at the suggestion of the general Editor of the series, I have extended it backwards and forwards so as to give a rapid aperçu of the history of Bury Abbey from its earliest beginnings up to the present date. The Table may have a use other than for readers of Jocelin's Chronicle, as it brings to a focus a mass of chronological information now scattered over a great variety of books.

For unfortunately there does not exist at present any adequate history of Bury Abbey, one of the most ancient, flourishing and important of the Benedictine institutions in England. There are adequate materials—at any rate for some of the periods of its existence—in the copious manuscripts relating to Bury (many of them formerly belonging to the monastery) now on the shelves of our public libraries and in private hands; and it seems a pity that no one has the courage to undertake a task which, though formidable, has been successfully accomplished in the case of other foundations of less fame.

The names of some of the principal works that may usefully be consulted by students of the history of the Abbey will be found on pp. 276 and 277 at the end of the Table.—E. C.].

SECTION I

BEFORE THE DAYS OF ABBOT SAMSON

870Nov. 20. Martyrdom of St. Edmund. His head is cut off by the Danes and hidden in a wood "in silvam cui vocabulam est Haglesdun" (Abbo, writing 100 years after). [Domesday book (1086) records the existence in Wilford Hundred of a place called Halgestou.] The head being found, is miraculously rejoined to the body, which is buried "in villula Suthtuna [Sutton] dicta, de prope loco martyrizationis" (Herman, writing 200 years after).
903(or later). Relics of St. Edmund removed from the place of burial to Beodricsworth—afterwards called Bury St. Edmunds. The early authorities differ as to this date. Herman says the translation took place in the reign of Athelstan (925-941): the compiler of the Bodl. MS. 240 says a.d. 900 or 906 (Nov. Leg. Angl. II. 590); the Curteys Register (Part I. f. 211) says a.d. 903.
937(circa). According to Abbo, Dunstan, then a youth, hears the story of St. Edmund's death from an old man who said he was the King's standard bearer.
945Bishop Theodred (II) of Elmham opens St. Edmund's coffin, finds the body "whole and incorrupt," and places it in a new wooden "loculus" (Abbo).
945Charter of King Edmund II (son of Edmund the Elder) granting lands round Beodricsworth to the clerks (monasterii familia) who were then guarding St. Edmund's shrine. (Text in Arnold II. 340-1.)p. [238].
985(circa). Dunstan, the Archbishop, tells the story of St. Edmund's martyrdom to others, and Abbo recounts it in his Passio Sancti Eadmundi. (Text in Arnold I. 3-25.)p. [217].
1010Egelwin, or Ailwin, takes the body of the Saint from Beodricsworth to London.p. [175].
1013Return of Egelwin, with body of St. Edmund, to Beodricsworth.
1014February. Death of King Sweyn (according to the chroniclers, at the hands of St. Edmund).
1020At the instance of Aelfwin, Bishop of Elmham, the clerks in charge of St. Edmund's shrine are removed, and twenty monks, headed by Uvius, prior of Hulme, installed at Beodricsworth.
1020Uvius consecrated 1st abbot of Bury by the Bishop of London.
1020New stone church (to replace the wooden one containing St. Edmund's body) commenced by order of Canute, in expiation of the sacrilegious behaviour of his father Sweyn towards the saint.
1028Charter of Canute granting "fundus" or farm at Beodricsworth to be for ever in possession of monks, who were to be free from episcopal jurisdiction. (Text in Arnold II. 340-1).
1032Oct. 18. Consecration of the new stone church by Egelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury.
1035Charter granted to the Abbey by Hardicanute, imposing a fine of "thirty talents of gold" on any one found guilty of infringing the Abbey's franchises. (For privileges granted, see Bodl. MS. 240, printed in Nova Legenda Anglie II. 607.)
1038Oct. Body of the Saint removed to King Canute's new church.
1044Visit of Edward the Confessor to Bury.p. [236].
1044The Confessor grants to Bury abbey jurisdiction over 8½ hundreds in Suffolk, and the manor of Mildenhall, with freedom to choose their abbot.p. [238].
1044Death of Uvius (remains in Infirmary Chapel). Leofstan appointed 2nd abbot.
1065Death of Leofstan (remains placed in shrine at foot of St. Edmund). Baldwin of St. Denis (physician to Edward the Confessor) appointed 3rd abbot.
1065Mint established at Bury under grant of Edward the Confessor, in which Beodricsworth is called (apparently for the first time) St. Edmundsbury. "Ic kithe ihu that Ic habbe unnen Baldewine Abbot one munetere with innen Seynt Edmunds Biri" (Battely, p. 134).p. [248].
1071Abbot Baldwin at Rome: receives from Pope Alexander II a precious altar of porphyry, with special privileges.
1071Oct. 27. Bull of Pope Alexander II, taking the monks of St. Edmund under the special protection of the Holy See, and forbidding that a bishop's see should ever be established at Beodricsworth. (Text in Arnold I. 344.)
1081May 31. Charter of William the Conqueror deciding against the claim of Arfast, Bishop of Thetford, to transfer his see to Bury, and granting exemption from episcopal jurisdiction. (Text in Arnold I. 347.)
1086Domesday Book returns show that the annual value of the Town "ubi quiescit humatus S. Eadmundus rex et martyr gloriosus" was double that of its value under Edward the Confessor, and a larger number of persons were maintained.
1095Apr. 29. Translation of St. Edmund's body to new and magnificent basilica built by Baldwin and his sacrists Thurstan and Tolinus.
1097Death of Baldwin: buried in the Abbey church, east of the choir altar.
1098(circa). Herman the Archdeacon compiles his book, De Miraculis Sancti Eadmundi.p. [218].
1100Henry I gives abbacy to Robert, son of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester. Robert (I) deposed 1102.
1101Attempts of Herbert de Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, to fix his see at Bury; finally disposed of 1102.
1102Robert II, a monk of Westminster, elected 5th abbot. Scheme for Abbey church enlarged. Godefridus the sacrist a man "of almost gigantic stature, great in body but greater still in mind."p. [247].
1107Aug. 15. Robert II consecrated by St. Anselm. Dies soon after, 16 Sept.; buried in Infirmary Chapel.
1114After seven years' interregnum, Albold, prior of St. Nicasius at Meaux, elected 6th abbot: died 1119; buried in Infirmary Chapel.
1120Charter of Henry I confirming the Charters of Canute and Edward the Confessor.
1121Anselm, nephew of St. Anselm, elected 7th abbot. In his days the Norman tower of the Abbey was built.
1132Henry I pays a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Edmund.
1135(circa). St. James' Church built by Abbot Anselm, instead of making a pilgrimage to St. James of Compostella. Church consecrated by William Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury.

SECTION II

DURING ABBOT SAMSON'S LIFETIME (1135-1211)

1135SAMSON born at Tottington, near Thetford.
1144Samson taken by his mother on a pilgrimage to St. Edmund.p. [56].
1146Death of Anselm: buried in Infirmary Chapel.
1146Ording, Prior of St. Edmund, appointed 8th abbot.
1150Fire, which destroys the conventual buildings—Abbot's palace, refectory, dormitory, the old infirmary, and the chapter-house. Rebuilt by Helyas the sacrist, Ording's nephew.p. [247].
1150(circa). Galfridus de Fontibus writes the tract De Infantia Sancti Eadmundi, dedicated to Ording.p. [218].
1153Eustace, eldest son of King Stephen, plunders some of the lands of the monastery. Dies at Bury.
1156Jan. 31. Death of Ording: buried in chapter-house.p. [247].
1156Hugh, Prior of Westminster, elected 9th abbot. Receives benediction at Colchester from Archbishop of Canterbury.
1157Battle of Coleshill: Cowardice of Henry of Essex.pp. [103], [243].
1160(circa). Samson returns from Paris, and made magister scholarum or schoolmaster.p. [66].
1160(circa). Samson's visit to Rome.pp. [72], [236].
1161Jan. 12. Bull of Alexander II, confirming the Abbot and monks of Bury in all their rights and privileges, authorizing appropriation of certain manors to special purposes, etc. Future abbots to be freely elected. In important matters there is to be an appeal to the Holy See. (Text in Arnold III. 78-80.)
1161May 22. Brief obtained from Pope Alexander III, confirming the right of the Abbey to the revenues of Woolpit.p. [74].
1163Abbot Hugh at the Council of Tours, where he usurps the seat of the Abbot of St. Albans.
1163Wager of battle between Henry of Essex and Robert de Montfort at Reading.pp. [104]-5.
1166Samson takes monastic orders.p. [60].
1172Apr. 7. Bull of Pope Alexander III, dated at Tusculum, exempting the Abbey from the visitation of the Archbishop of the Province as legatus natus of the apostolic see (Cf. Rokewode, p. 107).p. [7].
1173Jocelin of Brakelond becomes Monk of St. Edmund.p. [1].
1173Hugh the Prior deposed: succeeded by Robert.p. [1].
1173October 17. Battle of Fornham.pp. [1], [86], [221].
1175(circa). Samson master of the novices.p. [6].
1180(ante). Samson compiles the work De Miraculis Sancti Eadmundi. (See Appendix I.)pp. [215]-21.
1180Sept. 9. Abbot Hugh's accident near Rochester.p. [10].
1180Nov. 15. Death of Abbot Hugh I.pp. [10], [225].
1180-2Samson subsacrist and master of the workmen. Rebuilds choir of Abbey Church, and makes preparations for building the great tower.p. [14].
1181June 10. Martyrdom of the boy Robert by the Jews.p. [23].
1181Aug. 9. Arrival at Abbey of Archbishop of Trontheim on a visit.p. [23].
1182Feb. 21. Appointment of Samson as Abbot at Bishop's Waltham, with Henry II's approval.p. [31].
1182Feb. 28. Samson receives the blessing of the Bishop of Winchester, at Merewell.p. [36].
1182Mar. 21. (Palm Sunday). Samson is solemnly received at St. Edmunds.p. [37].
1182Mar. 29. Samson calls a meeting of the convent, the Knights and certain burgesses as to the election of bailiffs.p. [109].
1182Mar. 31. Samson sends messengers to Rome for confirmation of the Abbey's privileges.p. [84].
1182Apr. 1. Barons, Knights and freemen summoned to do homage.p. [41].
1182Samson appointed a judge in the ecclesiastical courts, by Pope Lucius III.p. [51].
1182Contests as to town rights and dues.p. [108].
1183Samson restores the Church of Woolpit to the monastery.p. [72].
1184-5Samson founds St. Saviour's Hospital, at Babwell.p. [69].
1186Kalendar or general survey of Abbey estates completed.pp. [44]-5.
1187Victory over Archbishop Baldwin as to jurisdiction in case of homicide at Monks Eleigh.p. [76].
1187Jan. 21. Samson obtains from Pope Urban III the privilege of giving the episcopal benediction.p. [84].
1187Feb. 11. Dispute as to jurisdiction, between Samson and the Monks of Canterbury, brought before Henry II in chapter-house at Canterbury.pp. [77], [238].
1187Sept. 29. Loss of Jerusalem: Samson's grief.p. [60].
1187Samson waits upon Henry II at Clarendon, to obtain a recognition of the immunity of the Abbey from certain taxes.p. [96].
1188Jan. 20. General exemption granted by the Pope to Samson and his successors from the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury.p. [84].
1188Jan. 21. Henry II takes the Cross between Trie and Gisors.p. [80].
1188Feb. Henry II at Bury. Samson refused permission to accompany the King to the Crusades.p. [81].
1189Sept. 3. Richard I crowned at Westminster; Abbot Samson present.
1189Sept. Purchase of the manor of Mildenhall from Richard I.p. [70].
1189Nov. Samson appointed one of the arbitrators to settle the dispute between Archbishop Baldwin and the Monks of Christ Church at Canterbury.
1190March 18. Massacre of 57 Jews at Bury.p. [69].
1190Oct. Conflict as to monastic discipline, at the Council of Westminster, between Samson and the Bishop of Ely.p. [81].
1191Death of Robert of Cockfield.pp. [86], [255].
1191Samson's quarrel with William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely.p. [79].
1191Sept.-Oct. Excommunication of Longchamp, and his flight from England.pp. [79], [240].
1192Complaints of the monks to the abbot concerning the Abbey revenues.p. [114].
1193Return of Longchamp. Samson refuses to celebrate Mass before him.p. [80].
1193Collection of money for the ransom of King Richard.pp. [71], [234].
1193Samson excommunicates the disturbers of the peace, and appears in arms before Windsor.p. [82].
1193Samson visits Richard I in his German prison "with many gifts."p. [82].
1194Feb. 4. King Richard released from captivity.
1194Mch. 12. Lands at Sandwich after an absence of 4¼ years; pays, before the end of the month, thanksgiving visits to (1) Canterbury (2) St. Edmundsbury.
1194June 28. Samson's contest with turbulent young knights, who hold a Tournament without his authorization.p. [83].
1194Samson grants a Charter to the town.pp. [116], [244].
1194Abbey debts entirely discharged.p. [46].
1196Samson's contest with his fifty knights concerning their dues: the abbot victorious.pp. [97]-9.
1196Samson takes the cellarer's department into his own hands.p. [131] et seq.
1197Commission of Pope Celestine III for the restoration of the Monks of Coventry.pp. [142], [246].
1198Jan. 14. Samson at Coventry in high spirits.p. [143].
1198Jan. 18. Coventry Monks re-inducted by the Archbishop.p. [143].
1198Samson charges moiety of Wetherden in favour of schools at Bury.p. [144].
1198(circa). Archbishop Hubert Walter proposes to visit the Abbey of Bury.p. [122].
1198Dispute between King Richard and Samson as to the wardship of Nesta of Cockfield.pp. [147]-9.
1198Samson goes to Normandy to settle with King Richard as to the four knights demanded from the Abbey for the war against the King of France.p. [129].
1198July 18. Richard I confirms by Charters the Manor of Mildenhall to the Abbey.pp. [70]-2, [235].
1198Oct. 17. Fire in the Abbey: shrine of St. Edmund in danger.p. [162].
1198Nov. 23. Shrine transferred to high altar.p. [170].
1198Nov. 26. Samson views St. Edmund's body.p. [173].
1198Dec. 1. Letter of Pope Innocent III exempting the Abbey from the visitation even of a legate, unless he were a legate a latere.pp. [124], [245].
1199Reconciliation between Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Samson.p. [127].
1199April 6. Death of King Richard I.
1199May 27. King John crowned at Westminster.p. [178].
1199King John visits Bury.p. [178].
1199Violent quarrels between Samson and his monks: he withdraws from the Abbey for a week: reconciliation effected.pp. [179]-83.
1200Mar. 15. Ratification by King John of Charter granted by Samson to St. Saviour's Hospital at Babwell.p. [72].
1200Nov. 6. Samson one of three arbitrators in dispute between Archbp. of Canterbury and Canons of Lambeth.p. [229].
1200List drawn up of knights of St. Edmund.pp. [183]-6.
1200Hugh, Abbot of Cluny, visits Bury.p. [189].
1200Death of Prior Robert: Herbert succeeds him.p. [191].
1201Eustace, Abbot of Flay, preaches at Bury.p. [202].
1201Sept. Samson appointed one of three Commissioners sent by the Pope to Worcester to investigate the miracles of St. Wulfstan.
1202Dispute between the monks of Ely and of Bury concerning the market at Lakenheath.pp. [203], [253].
1202Hugh of Northwold (afterwards abbot) admitted a monk.
1203Jan. 31. Samson appointed by the Pope on a commission concerning the dispensation of Crusaders from their vows: and summoned over sea to advise the King on this question.pp. [207]-11.
1203Dec. 21. John at Bury, and makes valuable offerings: but prevails on convent to grant him for life the use of the jewels which his mother Queen Eleanor had presented to St. Edmund.p. [251].
1208Mar. 24. Interdict comes into force throughout England.
1210Sept. 23. Fall of central tower of Abbey Church.
1211Dec. 30. Death of Samson: buried in unconsecrated ground.p. [xl].
1213July. King John expresses a wish for the vacancy to be filled: Hugh (II) of Northwold chosen.
1214July 2. Interdict solemnly dissolved.
1214Aug. 12. Samson's body exhumed and buried in the chapter-house of Bury Abbey.pp. [xlii]., [247].

SECTION III

FROM 1214 TO DISSOLUTION IN 1539

1214Nov. 4. King John at Bury: makes a speech in the chapter-house asserting his rights over the election of abbot.p. [251].
1214Nov. 20. The discontented earls and barons meet at Bury (probably on St. Edmund's Day) "as if for prayer." Archbishop Langton reads to them Henry I's charter: and each swears on the high altar to make war on John unless he gives them the liberties contained therein (Roger of Wendover, vol. iii. 293-4).
1215Mar. 10. Commissioners appointed by the Pope finally give judgment in favour of Hugh's election as abbot.
1215June 9. King's approval to appointment of Hugh given in Staines meadow.
1215June 15. Magna Charta signed.
1215-6Louis, son of Philip II of France, invited by the barons to help them in their struggle against John. East Anglian towns sacked—Norwich and Lynn by the French; Cambridge, Yarmouth, Dunwich, Ipswich and Colchester by the barons (Ramsay's Angevin Empire, 1903, p. 497). Bury St. Edmunds a stronghold of the king (Norgate, John Lackland, 1902, pp. 257-8). Louis himself fighting in the south of England. No evidence of Louis or his hordes ever being at Bury.
1216Oct. 19. Death of John at Newark. Henry III succeeds to the throne.
1220(circa). Richard of Newport, sacrist, destroys the old chapter-house and rebuilds it from foundations.p. [247].
1220Death of Herbert the prior. Richard of Insula (afterwards 12th abbot) succeeds him.
1224Abbot Hugh at the Royal camp before Bedford Castle, attended by knights holding manors under St. Edmund.
1225(circa). Abbot's Bridge built.
1229Abbot Hugh II made Bishop of Ely: died August, 1254. Described by Matthew Paris as "flos nigrorum monachorum."
1229Nov. 20. Richard of Insula recalled from Burton and installed as 12th abbot on St. Edmund's Day.
1234Abbot Richard sent abroad on an appeal to Pope Gregory IX. Attacked on his return with mortal illness, and dies at Pontigny. Buried in the chapter-house at Bury, where his skeleton was discovered on January 1, 1903, with skull sawn through and sternum severed (evidently for embalming purposes).p. [247].
1235Henry of Rushbrook, prior of Bury, elected 13th abbot.
1235Royal Charters granted to Abbot Henry to hold two fairs at Bury and a market at his manor of Melford.
1245Abbot Henry excused by the Pope, on account of the gout, from attending the Council of Lyons.
1245At the request of the convent, Henry III calls his newly-born son Edmund (founder of the house of Lancaster). Text of Royal letter in Arnold III. 28.
1248July 5. Bull of Pope Innocent III (signed at Lyons) prescribing the solemn celebration of the feast of the translation of St. Edmund (April 29). Text in Nov. Leg. Angl. (1901) II. 574.
1248Death of Abbot Henry: buried in chapter-house. Edmund of Walpole, LL.D., appointed 14th abbot.
1250Henry III takes the Cross: the abbot does the same, exposing himself to general derision (Matt. Par. v. 110).
1252Simon of Luton (afterwards abbot) made prior.
1254 Richard of Clare, seventh Earl of Gloucester, claims St. Edmund's manor of Mildenhall: threatened with excommunication by the Pope.
1254Aug. Death of Hugh, Bishop of Ely (Abbot of Bury, 1213-29).
1256Aug. Statutes approved by Pope Alexander IV for the governance of the Abbey of Bury, providing inter alia for "two persons watching the body of St. Edmund and two the church treasure and clock night and day."
1256Dec. 31. Abbot Edmund died: buried in the chapter-house.p. [247].
1257Jan. 15. Simon of Luton, prior, elected 15th abbot: cost of confirmation by the Pope, 2,000 marks.
1263Nov. Franciscan friars expelled from Bury, under a rescript from Pope Urban IV, and compelled to migrate to Babwell.
1264(Easter). Serious conflict between the monastery and the burgesses. The abbot complains to the king: fine inflicted on the burgesses.
1265Defeat and death of Simon de Montfort. Many barons of his party take shelter at Bury, but subsequently dislodged.
1267February. Henry III summons the barons who owe military service to the Crown to meet him at Bury.
1272Sept. 1. Henry III at Bury on his way to Norwich.
1272Nov. 16. Death of Henry III (Rishanger says at Bury).
1275April 17. Edward I and his Queen come to St. Edmundsbury on a pilgrimage, "as they had vowed in the Holy Land."
1275July 1. Foundation stone of new Lady Chapel laid by Prior Robert.
1279April. Death of Abbot Simon at Melford: buried in the Lady Chapel, which he had built "at the cost of himself, his parents and his friends" (Leland, iv. 164).
1279Dec. 28. John of Northwold, guest master of the abbey, solemnly received in the Abbey Church as 16th abbot, after having gone to Rome to be blessed by Pope Nicholas III. Cost of his journey, 1,175 marks, his credit from abbey being only 500 marks.
1281A new division between the property of the abbot and that of the convent, sanctioned by Edward I in consideration of £1,000.
1285Feb. 20. The King with the Queen and her three daughters make a pilgrimage to Bury.
1292April 28. The King, with his son and daughters, again at Bury, remaining either at the abbey or the manor of Culford for ten days. Granted charter that none of his justices should sit within the banlieue of St. Edmund.
1292Dispute between monastery and town. Royal Commission of inquiry sent down. The burgesses to present annually an alderman for confirmation by the abbot: the alderman to present four persons to the sacrist as keepers of the four gates.
1294Mar. 18. Edward I again at St. Edmundsbury "with great devotion."
1296Nov. Edward I holds a Parliament at Bury to obtain an aid from the clergy and people. Difficulties in its collection.
1301Oct. 29. Death of Abbot John I: buried in the church before the choir altar.
1301Nov. 30. Edward's I's letter giving permission for a new election.
1302Jan. 2. Election of Thomas of Tottington (Samson's birthplace) as 17th abbot.
1305Further disputes between the convent and the town. The king's justices impose fines on the aldermen and burgesses.
1312Jan. 7. Death of Abbot Thomas: buried in north aisle of abbey church (part of his memorial brass now at Hedgerley church, Bucks). Succeeded by Richard of Draughton.
1326Edward II spends Christmas at Bury.
1327Great riots at Bury: the abbey plundered. The abbot seized and carried off, and eventually deported to Diest in Brabant. The outlying manors ravaged, and nearly the whole of the conventual and domestic buildings burnt: loss of property assessed at £140,000. Charter extorted by the townsmen from the convent. (French text in Arnold III. 302-317.)
1330Sept. 13. Charter of Edward III granting free warren in all demesnes of the Abbey of St. Edmund, and a weekly market at Melford, with an annual fair of nine days.
1335Death of Abbot Richard: buried in north aisle of the church. The sub-prior, William of Bernham, hastily elected 19th abbot for fear of the Pope's interference.
1345Jan. 24. Completion of Richard of Bury's Philobiblon.
1345Quarrel between the abbey and Bishop Bateman of Norwich. Morality and discipline of the abbey reported bad by diocesan commissioners.
1346The abbot appeals to the Pope, and also sues Bishop Bateman in the King's Court, pleading the Charter of Hardicanute (1035): the judges give sentence in the abbot's favour.
1346(circa). Completion of abbey gateway, erected after destruction of a previous gateway by the townspeople in the riots of 1327.
1351Presentation to the abbot of three names for selection of an alderman to have charge of the municipal government of Bury. Admission by the abbot of John Ewell as a matter of favour.
1361Death of Abbot William: buried in Lady Chapel. Henry of Hunstanton elected his successor, and proceeds to Avignon, but dies of the pestilence near that city before obtaining confirmation by the Pope.
1361John of Brinkley appointed as 20th abbot by Pope Innocent VI.
1375Date of last miracle recorded in Bodleian MS. 240 (Symon Broun, nearly lost at sea, vows to St. Edmund and is saved. Nov. Leg. Anglie (1901) vol. II. p. 678).
1379Death of John of Brinkley at Elmswell: buried in the Lady Chapel. John of Timworth, sub-prior, elected by the monks 21st abbot. Urban VI appoints Edmund de Bromfeld instead, and a controversy ensues, lasting five years.
1381Rebellion in East Anglia under Jack Strawe. Murder of John de Cambridge, the prior, and Sir John Cavendish, the chief justice. Town of Bury outlawed and fined 2,000 marks.
1383Richard II and Anne of Bohemia visit Bury and remain ten days at the monastery, at an expense of 800 marks.
1384June 4. Matters having at length been arranged with the Pope, John of Timworth's election as abbot is confirmed (died 1389).
1390William of Cratfield elected 22nd abbot.
1400Oct. 1. Thomas of Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury, visits Bury: received as a visitor with much respect, but without a procession.
1408Nov. 25. Letters patent of King Henry IV finally deciding, in favour of Bury Abbey, the disputed question as to the jurisdiction of the Liberty of St. Edmund over Hadleigh and Eleigh.pp. [76]-8, [239].
1410Catalogue of 195 Monastic Libraries (including that of Bury), compiled by John Boston, monk of Bury.
1415June 18. Death of Cratfield. William of Exeter elected 23rd abbot.
1424William Exeter causes the marble tomb of Ording (and (?) of Samson) in the chapter-house to be renewed.p. [247].
1424-33Building of the present St. Mary's Church on the site of an older church in S.W. corner of the cemetery of the abbey.
1427Thomas Beaufort, second son of John of Gaunt, buried in Abbey Church (coffin discovered and re-interred 1772).
1429Death of William Exeter. William Curteys or Curtis elected 24th abbot.
1430Dec. 18. Fall of Southern side of western tower.
1430Dec. 30. Fall of Eastern side of western tower. Immediate steps taken to contract for a new tower.
1430Abbot Curteys builds a library for the abbey (see his regulations for use of books in James, pp. 109-11).
1432Ruins of tower cleared away. Rebuilding commenced: estimated cost, 60,000 ducats of gold.
1433-4Visit of Henry VI to Bury Abbey from Christmas till St. George's Day. The monastery presents him with a magnificently illuminated Life of St. Edmund, by John Lydgate (now in Brit. Mus. Harl. MS. 2278).
1446Sept. 17. Henry VI writes to Abbot Curteys to ask him to be present at laying of foundation stone of King's College, Cambridge, on Michaelmas Day.
1446Death of Curteys. Succeeded by William Babington as 25th abbot.
1447Feb. 10. Parliament at Bury, in the Abbey refectory. Duke Humphrey of Gloucester present, and arrested (Feb. 18) for high treason.
1447Nov. 13. Charter of Henry VI confirming the abbey privileges. (Text in Arnold III. 357.)
1449Royal Charter granted, freeing the Abbot of all aids to the King for forty marks a year.
1453Death of Abbot Babington: John Boon, or Bohun, appointed 26th abbot.
1462General pardon granted by Edward IV to the Abbot and monks, whose sympathies had been Lancastrian.
1462Nov. 17. A lost Abbey register bought by John Broughton, and presented by him to the monastery at the instance of Abbot Boon.
1465Jan. 20. Abbey Church completely gutted by fire. (St. Edmund's shrine said to have been saved.) Abbot Boon spends and collects large sums for its repair and rebuilding.
1469Death of Abbot Boon: buried in the Lady Chapel. Succeeded by Robert of Ixworth as 27th abbot.
1474Richard of Hengham appointed 27th abbot.
1479Thomas of Rattlesden appointed 28th abbot.
1479May. William of Worcester visits the Abbey and takes measurements of the various buildings.
1486Visit of Henry VII to Bury.
1497William of Codenham appointed 29th abbot.
1513Death of Codenham. John Reeve of Melford appointed 30th and last abbot.
1532Abbot Reeve assists at the funeral of Abbot Islip of Westminster.
1533July 21. Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, buried in great state at the Abbey (subsequently re-interred in St. Mary's Church).
1535Nov. 5. Letter from John Ap Rice to Thomas Cromwell as to the state of morals and worship of relics at Bury Abbey and enclosing compertes of proceedings (Compendium Compertorum now at Record Office).
1536Nov. 26. Grant by the Abbey to Thomas Cromwell and his son Gregory of an annuity of £10.
1538(circa). Visit of Leland the antiquary to Bury, in search of ancient books and records.
1538Sept. Sir John Williams, Richard Pollard, Philip Parys and John Smyth report to Cromwell that they have been to St. Edmundsbury, "where we founde a riche shryne which was very comberous to deface. We have takyn in the said monastery in golde and sylver MMMMM marks and above, over and besydes a well and riche crosse with emereddes, as also dyvers and sundry stones of great value, and yet we have left the churche, abbott and convent very well ffurnesshed with plate of sylver necessary for the same" (MS. Cotton. Cleop. E. iv. 229). The actual amount of plate taken at 'His Majesty's visitation' on this occasion was 1,553 oz gold plate, 6,853 oz. gilt plate, 933 oz. parcel-gilt plate, 190 oz. white plate. (Monastic Treasures, 1836). See also under Dec. 2, 1539.
1539Nov. 4. Deed of surrender of Bury Abbey signed by Abbot Reeve, Prior Thomas Denysse of Ryngstede and 41 other monks.
1539Nov. 7. Sir Richard Rich, Sir A. Wingfield, Ric. Southwell, Wm. Petre, John Ap Rice, and T. Mildmay inform Henry VIII of the surrender of the Abbey: they "have taken the plate and best ornaments of the house" for the King, and have sold the rest. They also ask whether they are "to deface the church or other edifices of the house." The lead and the bells (if the house be defaced) will be worth 4,500 marks.
1539Dec. 2. Indent of Richard Southwell of amount of plate taken from Bury Abbey—150 oz. gilt plate, 145 oz. parcel-gilt plate, and 2,162 oz. white plate, besides a pair of birrall candlesticks (handed to the King), and an ornamented mitre (Monastic Treasures, 1836). [Thus, with the spoils of 1538, 1,553 oz. gold plate (all on the first occasion), and 10,433 oz. silver plate, were taken from the Abbey.]

SECTION IV

FROM THE DISSOLUTION TO 1903

1540March 30. Death of ex-Abbot Reeve; buried in the chancel of St. Mary's Church.
1550The first of the thirty grammar schools founded by Edward VI established at Bury.
1560Feb. 14. Site of Monastery sold by Queen Elizabeth for £412 19s. 4d. to John Eyer; by him transferred to Thomas Badby.
1578Aug. 7. Queen Elizabeth at Bury.
1599Over a hundred books from Bury Abbey in the hands of William Smart, a "Postman" of Ipswich. Given by him to Pembroke College, Cambridge.
1606Apl. 3. Bury made a Borough by Charter of James I. (Borough Motto: Sacrarium Regis, Cunabula Legis).
1634Condition of the site of the Abbey described by William Hawkins of Hadleigh in his "Corolla Varia."
1644Publication at Toulouse of Caseneuve's "Vie de St. Edmond," alleging that the body of the saint was at the basilica of St. Sernin there, and had been brought over by Louis in 1216. Caseneuve describes, misquoting Matthew Paris (II. 663) the alleged pillage by Louis of "Toutes les églises du comté de Suffolk," refers to the fact that in those days "les Chrétiens faisaient gloire d'enlever par un devot larcin les reliques des saints," and says "Il est croyable que les Francais en firent autant de celles de St. Edmond" (cf. 1216, 1256, 1901).
1745Publication at Oxford by Rev. Dr. Oliver Battely of Antiquitates S. Edmundi Burgi ad annum MCCLXXII perductæ, written by his uncle, Dr. John Battely (died 1708).
1761Ancient gates of town pulled down by order of Corporation.
1772Some excavations on site of Church, made by Mr. King, and reported in vol. III. of Archaeologia.
1805Publication of An Illustration of the Monastic History and Antiquities of the Town and Abbey of St. Edmund's Bury, by Richard Yates, D.D., F.R.S. (1769-1834).
1806Site of Abbey comes into the hands of the Hervey family, the present possessors.
1840Rokewode's Edition of Latin text of Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, published by Camden Soc.
1843Carlyle's Past and Present published.
1843Publication of second edition—including fragment of Part II projected in 1805—of Yates' History of Bury (Remainder of Yates' materials amongst Egerton MSS. in British Museum).
1844T. E. Tomlins' English translation of Jocelin's Chronicle.
1850S. Tymms' Bury Wills (Camd. Soc.).
1865Papers by Mr. Gordon M. Hills on antiquities of Bury St. Edmunds in Journal British Archæological Association, vol. xxi. pp. 32-56 and 104-140.
1869July 20. British Archæological Association at Bury: paper on Abbey read by Mr. Alfred W. Morant.
1890Publication of J. R. Thompson's Records of St. Edmund [mostly based on Battely and the legendary chronicles].
1890Publication of vol. I. of Memorials of St. Edmund's Abbey (Rolls series), edited by T. Arnold (vol. II. published 1892, vol. III. 1896).
1893Publication of St. Edmund King and Martyr, by Rev. Father Mackinlay, O.S.B. [picturesque and interesting, but uncritical].
1895Publication of Dr. Montague R. James' two papers on (1) the Library (2) the Church of "The Abbey of St. Edmund at Bury" (Camb. Antiq. Soc., 8vo. Publications No. xxviii.).
1901Publication of Nova Legenda Anglie (Ox. Univ. Press), containing in vol. II. the full "Vita et passio cum miraculis sancti Edmundi," compiled at Bury in the 14th Century (Bodl. MS. 240).
1901July 25. Landing at Newhaven, for the new Roman Catholic Cathedral of Westminster, of bones from Toulouse said to be those of St. Edmund (cf. 1216, 1256, 1644.).
1901Sept. 5. Letter in The Times showing cause against these bones being those of St. Edmund.
1901Sept. 9. Cardinal Vaughan admits at Newcastle-on-Tyne that, in view of facts stated, "the relics are not genuine."
1902Publication of Lord Francis Hervey's Suffolk in the XVIIth Century, containing in Appendix a critical study of the legends about St. Edmund's life and martyrdom.
1902-3(Winter). Excavations on site of chapter-house.
1903Jan. 1. Discovery on the site of the chapter-house of five stone coffins with skeletons, in the positions assigned in a Bury MS. of circa 1425 (now at Douai) to the burial places of Abbots Ording (1146-56), SAMSON (1182-1211), Richard of Insula (1229-34), Henry of Rushbrook (1234-46), and Edmund of Walpole (1248-56). A sixth skeleton (uncoffined) also found in a line with these coffins to the west—doubtless that of Abbot Hugh I (1156-80).pp. [225], [247].