Cromwell, even at this early stage of his career, earned a reputation for unscrupulous harshness, and susceptibility to bribery; but on the whole it is evident that these suppressions were accomplished with the least possible friction. The interests of all who were involved—patrons, monks, servants, tenants, were considered and recognised. And the general results to learning were undoubtedly good.
CHAPTER III
AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL SUPPRESSION
When the assembly, which has gained for itself the name of the Reformation Parliament, met, the air was full of rumours of attacks upon the clergy. The French Ambassador reported: “it is the intention, when Wolsey is dead or destroyed, to get rid of the Church and spoil the goods of both.” Parliament assembled on November 3rd, 1530, and to the Convocation which was called at the same time the heads of the following religious houses in Staffordshire were summoned: Burton, Rocester, Dieulacres, Hulton, Croxden, Tutbury, Stone, St. Thomas (Stafford), Trentham, Ronton, Calwich, and Dudley. Sandwell and Canwell had, of course, disappeared recently. The Bishop of the diocese was Geoffrey Blythe. Archdeacon Strete was one of the Proctors for the clergy.
The Prior of Calwich, who was summoned, died just at this juncture, and the dispute which arose as to the appointment of a successor enabled the Crown to assert its supremacy at the expense of all parties concerned.
Calwich had originally been a hermitage, and had been given by Nicholas de Gresley Fitz Nigel in the twelfth century to the Priory of Kenilworth. It had thus become a cell of that house, and came under the rules of the Austin Canons. A considerable amount of building had been done at Calwich in the latter part of the fourteenth century: in 1391 the Pope granted Indulgences to those who visited the place and made contributions to the fabric on the feast of St. Margaret and certain other days. The history of Calwich illustrates how the dependent “cells” were a source of weakness to the monastic system. Such houses were often unsatisfactory. They were sometimes looked upon as places of banishment for brethren who deserved punishment: a method of discipline akin to the later system of penal settlements like Botany Bay, and as likely to be productive of the very worst results. The very men who needed supervision would be freed from it, and the remedy would intensify the evil. In any case, such small communities would easily become engrossed in secular pursuits: their interests were narrowed, and their occupation small.
Disputes arose between the dependent cells and the parent house, and the inmates of the cells often became unpopular with their neighbours. In 1293 the dependence of Calwich on Kenilworth was made the excuse for depriving its Prior of pasture rights in the Wootton Woods, it being asserted that he was removable at the will of the Prior of Kenilworth. This, indeed, was strikingly shown to be the case in 1334, when the Prior, although duly instituted, was recalled by the Prior of Kenilworth. The Prior of Calwich in 1293 denied that he held such a dependent position, but the local jury, to whom the case was referred, decided against him. Local feeling was hostile to the Canons, much as it was afterwards against the Alien Priories, and Calwich had to forego further rights of gallows and free warren, etc., in the manor of Ellastone. The parent house did not relax its hold or lessen its claims at the bidding of a Staffordshire jury. In 1334 the Bishop inquired into the matter and decided in favour of Kenilworth. This apparently brought matters to a crisis, for in 1349 the four resident Canons pleaded that they could no longer endure the uncertainty of their position and the unpopularity they experienced. They succeeded in having their house declared independent, under the patronage of the original founders, who undertook to pay yearly a sum of sixty shillings to Kenilworth in acknowledgment of its rights.
The house gained nothing by its independence, but rather the reverse. The Prior found his subjection to the lay-patron involved him in litigation, without gaining him protection from the jealousy of neighbours. The house shared in the general decline in wealth and numbers after the Black Death. In 1384 Bishop Robert de Stretton appointed the Prior and Canons of Calwich to be the collectors in the Archdeaconry of Stafford of the Convocation grant, but they petitioned to be excused on the plea of infirmity, poverty, and smallness of numbers (there were only two Canons besides the Prior).
It sank lower and lower. In 1438 the Prior was charged with the forcible detention of ten oxen and eight cows, for which damages to the amount of £20 were claimed. Twenty years after he was troubled by neighbours breaking into his close, cutting down his underwood and letting loose their cattle to graze upon his pastures.
Accordingly, when the Prior died in 1530, the house was a poor place with a bad record. In accordance with the usual practice, the Priory was taken into the royal hands during the vacancy; and the subsequent story affords an interesting illustration of the way in which the attack on clerical privileges which was carried on in the early years of the Reformation Parliament, was supported by irregular movements in detail. It also helps us to see how the great work of the Suppression of the Monasteries was the independent work of the Government. They made use of Parliamentary support and sanction when it was convenient or wise, but the work was in reality their own. The suppression of Calwich was never referred to Parliament. It aroused no feeling and evoked no protest from anyone. It was evidently looked upon as quite a natural exercise of the royal power.
On the Prior’s death there was but one remaining canon, Dr. David Pole, or Powle;[34] and the representative of the original founder of the Priory, Ralf Longford, claimed the right of presentation, and sent an agent, furnished with means, to London to press his claim. Dr. Roland Lee was one of the King’s Chaplains, and Chancellor of Lichfield. Richard Strete, the Archdeacon of Salop, Cromwell’s agent in the district, wrote to Lee in London informing him of the position of affairs at Calwich, on April 6th, 1530, adding that he could find no record of such a right as Longford claimed, and arguing that it should not be allowed. It was convenient now to assert the Bishop’s right of appointment. Lord Shrewsbury also put forward claims in virtue of donations to the house by past members of his family. There were other claimants, and the result was that various persons were recommended for the preferment. All this helped to play into the hands of the enemy. Strete’s conclusion was that it would be well to consult with Cromwell as to what should be done. Later, Strete wrote fully to Cromwell himself, repeating the same information and giving in detail an account of the spoil that might be expected from the house.[35]