Whethamstede’s first Abbacy.
The first half of the century was singularly barren of incident. The best known Abbot of the time was John Whethamstede (circa 1420–1440), a famous scholar and churchman. Significantly enough he was one of those chosen to represent the English nation at the Councils of Pavia and Basle. He was popular with the convent, perhaps on account of his ardent orthodoxy. The singularly bitter attitude adopted towards Lollards in de la Mare’s time was carefully maintained, and Whethamstede, by means of synods and commissions, extirpated heresy within the Liberty.[64] The Abbot was regarded by the monks as having conferred notable benefits upon them; the chief of these were his acquisition of the Priory of Pembroke (1439), his generosity to the Abbey’s students at Oxford and certain financial innovations.[65] To-day, as one digs him out of the very inferior chronicle of the time, he seems rather wanting in purpose, and somewhat vain and foolish; nevertheless, he certainly had the confidence of the convent, who, after his voluntary retirement for some years insisted upon re-electing him Abbot in 1452. The reason was probably that he was old, experienced, and cautious. At the time these qualities were invaluable; the Abbey was acquiring a political significance, and skilful guidance was necessary to avoid disaster amid the intrigues of Henry VI’s reign, which were threatening to culminate in Civil War. The second abbacy of Whethamstede, within which fell the Wars of the Roses, was therefore an anxious and, as it proved, disastrous time for the monks.
It was maintained by Hallam that the sympathies of Abbot Whethamstede were wholly Lancastrian during the Wars of the Roses. Riley, after a more careful study, affirmed that the reverse was the case,[66] and without doubt he was nearer the mark than Hallam. The great affection consistently displayed for Humphrey Duke of Gloucester (a lavish patron of the Abbey), and the attempt in the chronicle to clear his memory, in themselves indicate with which party the Abbot’s sympathies lay. Further proof is supplied by florid verses, strongly Yorkist in tone, from the Abbot’s own hand; and finally, there is the fact that the Abbey was pillaged by the Lancastrian troops in 1461. But the question is of the slightest importance.[67] As a matter of fact, the Abbey enjoyed the full favour of Henry VI. as much as of Edward IV; it was only in the actual fighting that its political proclivities affected its fortunes.
Henry VI was a frequent visitor at St. Albans, and bestowed, among many other marks of his favour, a notable extension of the franchise. The seignorial jurisdiction of the Abbot over the Hundred of Cashio, which was based on a charter of Henry II, had gradually been diminished by the encroachments of neighbouring Lords. In 1440 the King granted a new interpretation of the words of Henry II’s Charter, by which the Abbot’s authority was restored to its full limit, if not rendered greater than ever before.[68] In order to obtain such a grant it is obvious that the Abbot must have been in high favour with Henry VI, who indeed is always mentioned in these chronicles in terms of respect.
Nevertheless, when in 1455 the Yorkist party triumphed at the first battle of St. Albans, only the fact that the direction of the Abbey’s sympathies was well known can have saved it from being plundered.[69]
Second Battle of St. Albans.
The continual fighting in its neighbourhood reduced the Abbey to dire straits, and the next six years were among the darkest in its history. Its troubles culminated in the disaster of 1461, when, after a Lancastrian victory at the second battle of St. Albans, the Northern troops plundered the Abbey and horribly ravaged the surrounding country. The Queen even condescended to rob the Abbey of its most precious jewels and treasures.[70] The result was sheer famine; the convent were dispersed, and the Abbot retired to his native town. Thus for the only time in its history the continuity of conventual life at St. Albans was broken. The final triumph of Edward IV in the same year ensured such amelioration of the Abbey’s fortunes as was possible. The battle had taken place in February, and by November the convent had re-assembled, to enter upon the last stage of its existence with a fresh grant of privileges. A complicated jurisdiction, which far exceeded the grant of 1440, was bestowed upon the Abbey.[71]
Hostility of Bishops in 15th Century.
The unsoundness of the Abbey’s economic practice and the consequent increasing financial embarrassment were at the root of all its troubles in the fifteenth century. Its poverty weakened its independence, and was at once the cause of the decline of its hospitality and the reason for its growing obsequiousness toward the great. The bishops especially were quick to realise the weakness of the Abbey.[72] Always jealous of exempt houses, they exhibited in the fifteenth century an unusually bitter hostility towards St. Albans. In 1399, Henry Bishop of Lincoln had formally notified the Abbot that he claimed no jurisdiction over the Abbey[73]; this was nothing more than an acknowledgment of an old and undoubted privilege pertaining to St. Albans as an exempt monastery. Only twenty years later, at the Council of Pavia, a new Bishop of Lincoln claimed full jurisdiction over St. Albans, and called for the reform of exempt houses. This was followed by the revival of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s claims to jurisdiction, but these the Abbot was still strong enough to resist. A few years later a dispute concerning the Bishop of Norwich’s jurisdiction over the Cell of Binham broadened out into an organised attack by the English bishops upon the privileges of St. Albans. This was evidently regarded as a test case. Exactly how the struggle ended is not recorded, but probably it left matters in the old uncertain condition. These attempts mark a fresh stage in the growing unpopularity of the Abbey, and it is worthy of notice that the increasing hatred towards exempt houses on the part of the bishops might well of itself have led to the fall of the monastic system in England. As it was, the support of the bishops made it more easy for Henry VIII to carry through the Dissolution.
Decay of the Monastic Spirit (1396 to 1464).