The Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond: A Picture of Monastic Life in the Days of Abbot Samson

by active 1173-1215 de Brakelond Jocelin

Stephen of Brockdish, one fourth part of a knight's fee in Brockdish.

Adam of Barningham, one fourth part of a knight's fee in Barningham.

William of Wordwell, in Little Livermere and in Wordwell, one fourth part of a knight's fee.

The total is fifty-two fees and one-half and one quarter.

Now Geoffrey Ruffus, one of our monks, although he deported himself in somewhat too secular a manner, yet was a useful person to us in the keeping of the four manors of Barton, Pakenham, Rougham, and Bradfield, where there had often been heretofore a deficiency in the farms. But the abbot, although hearing of the evil report of his continence, yet winked at it for a long time, most likely because Geoffrey seemed to be serviceable to the community. At length, when the truth was known, the abbot suddenly made a seizure of his chests, put them in the vestry, and caused all the stock of the different manors to be kept most closely, and remanded Geoffrey to the cloister. There was found much gold and silver, to the value of two hundred marks, the whole of which the abbot said was to be laid by for the purpose of making the front of the shrine of St. Edmund.

On the feast of St. Michael it was decreed in chapter that two brethren, not one alone, should succeed to the keepership of the manors, whereof one was Roger of Hingham, who promised before us all that he was willing and able to undertake the charge of the manors and cellary together. The abbot gave his assent thereto, but the convent was reluctant. And Jocell, who had well and carefully managed his office, and for two years had been in charge of the cellary without incurring debt, as other cellarers had used to do, was deposed from the cellary and was made sub-cellarer. But at the end of the year, Roger, on rendering account of his receipts and outgoings, affirmed that he had received sixty marks from the stock of the manors to supply the deficiency of the cellarer. Therefore, upon counsel being taken, it was resolved that Jocell should be restored to the cellary; and Mildenhall and Chebenhall and Southwold were granted to him. The other manors were committed to Roger and Albin, and were divided from the cellary, lest the manors should be ruined by the cellary, or the cellary be ruined by the manors.

Adam of Cockfield being dead, the abbot could have had three hundred marks for the wardship of the only daughter of the same Adam; but because the grandfather of the damsel had taken her away privily, and inasmuch as the abbot was not able to obtain seisin of the damsel, unless by the aid of the archbishop, the abbot granted that wardship to Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the consideration of one hundred pounds. The archbishop, for five hundred marks, granted to Thomas de Burgh, the brother of the King's chamberlain, that same wardship; and the damsel was delivered to him, with her rights, by the hand of the abbot. Thomas, therefore, at once required the seisin of these manors, which we had in our hands after the death of Adam—Cockfield, Semer, and Groton—we believing that we had power to retain all of them in our demesne, or at least two of them, Semer and Groton; both because Robert of Cockfield, being on his deathbed, had publicly affirmed that he could claim nothing by right of inheritance in these two manors, and also because Adam, his son, had re-assigned to us those two manors in full court, and had made his charter thereof, wherein it was contained that he holds those two manors by the permission of the convent during his life only.

Thomas, therefore, suing a writ of recognition thereof, caused the knights to be summoned, that they should come to be sworn before the King at Tewkesbury. Our charter read in public had no force, for the whole court was against us. The oath being administered, the knights said that they knew nothing about our charters, or of any private agreements; but this they said they did believe, that Adam and his father and his grandfather, for a hundred years back, had holden the manors in fee-farm, one after the other, on the days of their respective deaths. Thus we were disseised by the judgment of the court, after much trouble and many charges expended, saving nevertheless our ancient fee-farm rents payable annually.

The lord abbot seemed to be "misled by a certain appearance of right," because, forsooth, the Scripture saith, "I will not give my glory to another." The abbot of Cluny coming to us, and received by us in such wise as he ought, our abbot would not give place, either in chapter or in the procession on Sunday, but he must needs sit and stand in the middle between the abbot of Cluny and the abbot of Chertsey. Wherefore divers thought different things, and many expressed their feelings in various ways.