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THE KING'S CLASSICS UNDER
THE GENERAL EDITORSHIP OF
ISRAEL GOLLANCZ
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THE CHRONICLE OF
JOCELIN OF BRAKE-
LOND: A PICTURE OF
MONASTIC LIFE IN
THE DAYS OF ABBOT
SAMSON NEWLY EDI-
TED BY SIR ERNEST
CLARKE
ALEXANDER MORING THE DE
LA MORE PRESS 298 REGENT
STREET LONDON W 1903
" A VERITABLE MONK OF BuRY St. EdMUNd's !
WORTH LISTENING TO, IF BY CHANCE MADE VISIBLE
AND AUDIBLE. HERE HE IS ; AND IN HIS HAND A
MAGICAL SPECULUM, MUCH GONE TO RUST, INDEED,
YET IN FRAGMENTS STILL CLEAR J WHEREIN THE MAR-
VELLOUS IMAGE OF HIS EXISTENCE DOES STILL SHADOW
ITSELF, THOUGH FITFULLY, AND AS WITH AN INTER-
MITTENT LIGHT."
Carlyle : Past and Present. Chapter i.
LIST OF CONTENTS
SEAL OF ABBOT SAMSON. Fronthpi
EDITOR'S PREFACE.
Samson and his arch-eulogist — The Chronicle — Previous
Editions of the Chronicle — The Chronicler — The
Central Figure of the Chronicle — Samson in Subordi-
nate Offices — Samson as Abbot — Relations with
Church and State — Samson as an Author — Samson's
Masterfulness — Samson as an Administrator —
Epilogue xv.-xliii.
CHAPTER I.
BURT ABBEY UNDER ABBOT HUGH.
The last years of Abbot Hugh — The monastery under a
load of debt, and in the hands of Jew money-lenders —
Inquiry by the Royal almoner — Caustic comment by
Samson, master of the novices — Exemption obtained
by Hugh from visitation by the Legate — Jocelin's
reflection thereon— The Convent debt — -Entertainment
of strangers — Samson in various offices, but disliked
by the Abbot — Accident to Hugh at Canterbury —
His death — His house despoiled by his servants . 1-11
x CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER II.
THE MONKS DISCUSS THE VACANCY.
Wardens of the Abbey appointed by the King — Culpable
Weakness of the Prior — William the sacrist — Activity
of Samson as subsacrist — Jealousy of him — The
Wardens stop further building operations — Much
discussion by the monks as to the qualifications
needed in the new Abbot — Samson silently notes all
that is said — Jocelin's indiscretion in blurting out his
private opinion 12-23
CHAPTER III.
THE CHOICE OF A NEW ABBOT.
Henry II. orders the Prior and twelve delegates from the
Abbey to attend him to make choice of a new
Abbot — Selection of the twelve — Six electors ap-
pointed to choose three names to be given under seal
to the delegates — The journey to the Court — Gossip
and telling of dreams amongst the monks left
behind — The delegates before the King at Bishop's
Waltham — The sealed paper opened — Samson even-
tually selected — Approval of the King, and his com-
ment on Samson's demeanour . . « 24_35
CHAPTER IV.
SAMSON'S INSTALLATION.
Reception of the news at the Monastery — Samson blessed
by the Bishop of Winchester — He journeys to Bury,
and is welcomed by the Convent on Palm Sunday —
His address in the chapter-house — Answer of Wimer
the Sheriff — Jocelin made Abbot's Chaplain — New
Seal struck with mitre graven thereon — Samson sets
his household in order — General Court summoned —
Demand of aid from his knights . . . 36-42
CONTENTS xi
PAGE
CHAPTER V.
THE NEW ABBOTS REFORMS.
Prepares an estate book — Buildings and repairs — En-
closure of parks — Hunting and dogs — Land im-
provements— Management of manors — General sur-
vey— Makes a kalendar — New regulations made in
Chapter — Amount of the convent debts and their
discharge — Dismissal of William the sacrist — Samson
visits all the Abbey manors — His anxieties about the
debts — His skill and energy in managing the estates —
Appointed judge in ecclesiastical courts — Jocelin's
excuse for Samson's fondness for betaking himself to
his manors — The Abbot's complaint at the burden of
his charge — His dream as a child — His control of
temper — Order for production of convent seals —
Thirty-three given up, all retained by the Abbot,
except the prior's — Entertainment of guests . 43—59
CHAPTER VI.
SAMSON'S PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
His personal appearance — His temperance and diligence —
Abhors liars, drunkards and talkative folk — His
eloquence — Preaches to the people in the Norfolk
dialect — Management of his household — Strict regula-
tion of expenses — Appoints none but fit persons to
office — His treatment of his relatives — Gratitude for
past kindnesses — Provides free lodgings for poor
scholars — Expulsion of Jews from Bury — Purchase
of the Manor of Mildenhall — Giving up of King
Henry II. 's cup and its restoration — Samson'sgenerosity
— The Woolpit living — Samson recounts his visit to
Rome in his early days, and his adventures . 60-75
xii CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER VII.
THE ABBOT AS PEER OF PARLIAMENT.
Dispute with Archbishop of Canterbury as to jurisdiction
over manor of Eleigh — Quarrel with the Bishop of
Ely, the Chancellor — Samson wishes to take the
cross : the King refuses permission — Goes to siege of
Windsor in martial array — Visits Richard I. in Ger-
many— Excommunication by him of a company of
roystering young knights— Embassies to Rome— The
claim of the Earl of Clare to carry the Standard of St.
Edmund in battle — Adam of Cockfield's inheritance
— Herbert the dean and his windmill— Jocelin's New
Year's gift — The Abbot's struggle with his rebellious
knights 76-100
CHAPTER VIII.
THE CASE OF HENRY OF ESSEX.
Excesses of Henry of Essex — His cowardice in Wales —
The wager of battle on the island near Reading —
Henry's vision — His recovery and repentance 1 01-105
CHAPTER IX.
TROUBLES WITHOUT.
The Bishop 01 Ely outwitted as to timber asked for by
him — Dispute as to town bailiffs — Murmurings of the
monks — Toll-right dispute with London merchants —
Dues of the burgesses — Samson grants a charter to the
town 106-117
CHAPTER X.
TROUBLES WITHIN.
Inefficient celiarers — New arrangements criticised — The
Archbishop of Canterbury claims authority to visit
the Abbey as legate — Samson's successful appeal to the
PoPe 118-127
CONTENTS xiii
PAGE
CHAPTER XI.
SAMSON'S CONTESTS WITH KNIGHTS,
MONKS AND TOWNSMEN.
King Richard's levies — The abbot's difficulties in making
his knights comply — Goes to Normandy and arranges
matters with the King — Samson's generosity to the
abbey — He takes the cellarer's department into his
own hands — Consequent discontent — Hamo Blund's
will, and Samson's comments thereon — Riots in the
churchyard — Rioters reduced to submission . 1 28-141
CHAPTER XII.
THE CARES OF OFFICE.
Restoration of the Coventry monks — Samson's hospi-
tality at Oxford — His endowment of the Bury
schools — Abbey improvements — The Abbot withstands
King Richard over the wardship of Nesta of Cock-
field — The King appeased by a present of horses and
dogs 142-149
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CUSTOMS OF THE TOWNSHIP.
Old oppressive customs changed or abrogated by Samson
— The Cellarer's difficulties in collecting rep
silver — The hard case of Ketel — The Cellarer's
dues — Lakenheath eels — Samson's reforms and his
critics 1 50-161
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SHRINE OF ST. EDMUND.
Fire around the shrine — The shrine unhurt — Vain
attempts to hush up the scandal — Samson dreams of
St. Edmund despoiled — The saint's body uncovered —
Samson and certain of the monks view the
sacred relic ...... 162-177
C
XIV
CONTENTS
CHAPTER XV.
THE MONASTERY IN REVOLT.
Death of King Richard— King John visits the Abbey-
Samson supports Ralph the porter against the
monks— He withdraws from the convent— Disturb-
ances in his absence— The monks submit— Reconcilia-
tion—Marshalling of the Knights— Further troubles
about the manors and cellary . • • 178-189
CHAPTER XVI.
ELECTION OF A NEW PRIOR.
Death of Robert the Prior— Herbert the chaplain and
Hermer the sub-prior candidates for the post — Through
the Abbot's influence Herbert is elected— Jocelin
moralizes— The gibes of the unlearned . 190-199
CHAPTER XVII.
THE ABBOTS FOIBLES.
Samson's faults— The dam at Babwell— Trouble with
the Ely monks— The Abbot summoned over sea to the
King— Sets his house in order— His unfulfilled
promises— The story breaks off . . • 200-211
APPENDICES.
I. Samson as an Author .... 215-221
II. Notes to Text of Chronicle . . • 222-256
III. Table of Chief Dates in the History of
the Abbey of St. Edmundsbury, a.d.
870 to 1903 257-278
GENERAL INDEX 279-285
PREFACE
Samson and his Arch-Eulogist. — Abbot
Samson of St. Edmundsbury and his biographer,
Jocelrn of Brakelond, undoubtedly owe such immor-
tality as they possess to their introduction to the
world at large by Thomas Carlyle. Learned his-
torians and commentators of the past had made use
of the dry facts of the Chronicle for their disquisitions
and treatises ; but none had recognized the human
interest of Jocelin's narrative until the Sage of
Chelsea seized upon it as evidence of that theory
of Hero Worship on which he loved to insist.
The whole of the seventeen chapters of Book II.
of "Past and Present," published in 1843, are
devoted to a study of Abbot Samson, and the lessons
which Carlyle thought " our own poor century "
could learn from him.
From that day to this, Samson has been more or
less a household word ; and, as John Richard Green
says in his "Stray Studies" (1876), "In the wander-
xvi PREFACE
ing gossipy pages of Jocelin of Brakelond the life of
the twelfth century, so far as it could penetrate
abbey walls, still glows distinct for us round the
figure of the shrewd, practical, kindly, imperious
abbot who looks out, a little travestied perhaps, from
the pages of Mr. Carlyle."
The Chronicle. — Mr. Green further says : —
" By a rare accident the figure of the silent, indus-
trious Norfolk monk, who at the close of Henry the
Second's reign suddenly found himself ruler of the
wealthiest, if not the greatest, of English abbeys,
starts out distinct from the dim canvas of the annals
of his house. Annals indeed in any strict sense St.
Edmund's has none ; no national chronicle was ever
penned in its scriptorium such as that which flings
lustre round its rival, St. Albans ; nor is even a
record of its purely monastic life preserved such as
that which gives a local and ecclesiastical interest to
its rival of Glastonbury. One book alone the abbey
has given us, but that one book is worth a thousand
chronicles."
The original manuscript of the Chronicle occupies
43 folios (121-163) °f a thick quarto volume on
vellum once in the library of Bury Abbey, afterwards
in the hands of the family of Bacon of Redgrave,
PREFACE xvii
then belonging to Bishop Stillingfleet of Worcester,
and now preserved in the British Museum amongst
the Harleian Manuscripts. The contents of this
Liber Albus (Harl. MS. 1005) are very varied ; and
a complete list of the 144. items in it which relate to
the Abbey will be found on pp. 122-4. °f tne l%21
Edition of the Monasticon. (Another copy of the
Chronicle was in the Cottonian MS. Vitellius dxv.,
burnt in the fire of 1 73 1 .) Three facsimiles of
portions of the MS. are given in the Camden
Society's Edition of the Latin text (to be presently
referred to), and the writing is there ascribed to
the end of the 13th or beginning of the 14th cen-
tury.
Previous Editions of the Chronicle. — In
the year 1840, John Gage Rokewode, F.R.S.
(1 786-1 842), Director of the Society of Antiquaries,
brought out for the Camden Society a thin quarto
book in the familiar green cover, which he entitled
"Chronica Jocelini de Brakelonda de rebus gestis
Samsonis Abbatis Monasterii Sancti Edmundi." It
was this book that attracted the attention of Carlyle,
with the results already stated. Rokewode was a
scion of the distinguished family of Gage of Hen-
grave, near Bury, and took the additional name of
xviii PREFACE
Rokewode on inheriting in 1838 the estates of the
Rookwood family. He was a very learned genea-
logist, and the author of a History of Hengrave and
of the Hundred of Thingoe. His observations on
Suffolk families and topography are therefore to be
relied upon, though subsequent investigation has
corrected some of his notes on historical matters.
Rokewode's text was in the original Latin ; but
to meet the popular demand for the Chronicle caused
by Carlyle's published appreciation of it in " Past and
Present" (1843), a translation into English was made
by Thomas Edlyne Tomlins (1 804-1 872), and
was published in 1844 by Whitaker & Co. in the
" Popular Library of Modern Authors," under the title
of " Monastic and Social Life in the Twelfth Cen-
tury."
Mr. T. E. Tomlins was a nephew of the better
known Sir Thomas Edlyne Tomlins (1 762-1 841),
assistant counsel to the Treasury, who wrote "The
Law of Wills " and other well-known text-books.
The younger Thomas was an attorney, and also
wrote on legal subjects. Tomlins' translation of
Jocelin was issued in the somewhat forbidding form
of a tall paper-covered book of 64 pages of double
columns of small type, without any break from start to
PREFACE xix
finish : the few notes at the end being mostly on
legal points, and none of them of great merit.
It does not appear that Mr. Tomlins had any
special knowledge of his subject; and, as a conse-
quence, his translation contained a quantity of errors,
both of omission and commission. His book has
been used as the ground-work for the present edition,
but the alterations made in the text have been so
numerous and important as to be practically equivalent
to a new translation altogether. The three Appen-
dices (pages 215-278) are wholly new.
The task of rendering the Latin text into
satisfactory and accurate English has been made
easier by the publication in 1890-6 of Mr.
Thomas Arnold's three volumes of " Memorials of
St. Edmund's Abbey" (No. 96 of the Rolls Series).
"Tom" Arnold (1 823-1900) was the second son of
Arnold of Rugby and the younger brother of Matthew
Arnold ; and he undertook a quantity of work for
the Rolls Series, not all of which he was able to carry
through with the completeness that he desired.
Especially with regard to the Annals of St. Edmunds-
bury there was a quantity of material that he could
not deal with in the leisure at his command. But
so far as concerns the Chronicle of Jocelin (which
xx PREFACE
occupies 228 pages of his Volume I.), his edition
of the original Latin text was carefully revised
and annotated.
The Chronicler.— Of Jocelin of Brakelond very
little is certainly known beyond what he himself tells
us in the Chronicle. There are two streets in Bury
St. Edmunds known as the Long and Short Brack-
land or Braklond, and probably Jocelin took his name
from his place of birth. In the text of the Chronicle,
however, and in other 13th century documents in
which his name is recorded, he appears simply as
Jocelin. He tells us he took the habit in 1 1 73, " the
year when the Flemings were taken captive without the
town" (page 1) ; and that he then came under the
care of Samson, at that time master of the novices,
who told him some of his own experiences by way of
warning against interference with the constituted
authorities (6).
At the time of Samson's election as Abbot, in
^ M82, Jocelin was prior's chaplain, but within four
months he was made abbot's chaplain, "noting many
things and committing them to memory" (39) : for
which all students of English history are eternally
grateful to him. In his capacity as Samson's chap-
lain, Jocelin was " constantly with him by day and
PREFACE xxi
night for six years, and had the opportunity of be-
coming fully conversant with the worthiness of his life
and the wisdom of his rule" (56).
Jocelin evidently starts at first with an admiration
for Samson's vigorous and independent regime (see
especially pages 52-3) ; but later on his faith in his
master seems to have been a little shaken, and Sam-
son's action in practically "jockeying" his favourite
Herbert into the office of prior takes Jocelin's breath
away. The eventful meeting of the chapter over, he
sits down stupefied in the porch of the guest chamber
(he being then hospitarius), and reflects on the situa-
tion (198). He cannot approve, moreover, Samson's
action with regard to John Ruffus and Adam the
Infirmarer, where he more than hints at the Abbot's
acceptance of a bribe (200). The banking up by Sam-
son of the fishpond at Babwell, thus flooding the pas-
tures and gardens of others, he describes as " another
stain of evil doing" (201) : the Abbot's passionate
retort that "his fish pond was not to be spoilt on account
of our meadows," obviously offending Jocelin's sense
of the proprieties. He demurs, moreover, to the
willingness of certain of the monks to strip even the
shrine of St. Edmund himself to obtain an exemption
of the Abbey from episcopal visitation, pointing out
xxii PREFACE
that there might come a time when the convent
might need the control of a bishop, archbishop,
or legate, over a tyrannous or spendthrift abbot
(7).
It is perhaps for these reasons that we find Jocelin,
at a date after Samson's death, on the side of the
party of caution and moderation in the disputes over
the election of a new abbot. The author, whoever
he was, of the interpolated narrative in the Chronicle
relating to Henry of Essex (101 et seq.) refers to
" Master Jocelin our almoner, a man of exalted piety,
powerful in word and in deed " ; and there can
hardly be any doubt that this was our Jocelin. In
the highly complicated story (printed in Mr. Arnold's
second volume) of the preliminaries to the final
approval by King John of Samson's successor, Abbot
Hugh II., Jocelin the almoner took the side of Robert
of Gravelee, the sacrist, who advocated the adoption
of the plan followed when the previous vacancy
occurred, of submitting to the king names from whom
he could make a selection (as indeed John had asked
might be done by letter dated 25 July, 1213), instead
of asking him, as they did, to confirm an election
already made. Jocelin, in a speech delivered in the
chapter-house, seems indeed to have been the first to
PREFACE xxiii
start the view that the convent had made a mistake,
and that it ought to put itself right with the king.
He again insisted on this at a second debate in De-
cember, 1 2 1 3, and took a prominent part in the subse-
quent discussions, his name being recorded in the
division list of June, 12 14, when 30 voted on his side,
and 3 2 for adherence to the claims of the Abbey.
The three delegates, the Abbot of Wardon, the
Prior of Dunstable, and the Dean of Salisbury, who
had been appointed by the Pope on May 18, 12 14, to
inquire into the Bury election, held the last but one of
their numerous sittings on February 12, 121 5, at
which Jocelin was present. At last the delegates an-
nounced on March 10 their judgment confirming
the election, which, with considerable trouble, they
persuaded the sacrist and his party to accept, and to
exchange with the new abbot the kiss of peace.
When, on April 24, 1215, the abbot elect, unsuc-
cessful in obtaining John's favour, and refusing to bribe
the king, though advised to do so by the courtiers,
appointed certain officials to the custody of Abbey
manors, he took the advice, amongst other high
officers, of Jocelin the almoner ; and this is the last
we hear of our Chronicler.
Jocelin himself mentions (23) that he had written a
xxiv PREFACE
book on the many signs and wonders in connection
with the martyrdom by the Jews of the boy Robert,
who was buried in the Abbey Church ; but this work
is not known to be extant. The inaccurate Bale
also ascribes to him the authorship of the tract Super
Election Hugonis (also in the Liber Albus), from which
the above frets as to Jocelin's later life have been
gleaned. But there is no authority for this ; and, as
Mr. Arnold points out (i. lix.), the style of that work
is different from the Chronicle.
Whatever criticisms one might be tempted to pass
on Carlyle's appreciation of Samson, there need be no
dissentient voice to his summing up of Jocelin's
character : —
An ingenious and ingenuous, a cheery-hearted, innocent, yet
withal shrewd, noticing, quick-witted man ; and from under his
monk s cowl has looked out on the narrow section of the world
in a really human manner. . . . The man is of patient, peaceable,
loving, clear-smiling nature; open for this or that. . . . Also he
has a pleasant wit, and loves a timely joke, though in mild,
subdued manner. A learned, grown man, yet with the heart as
of a good child.
The Central Figure of the Chronicle.—
Whatever his other merits, Jocelin's strong point
was certainly not chronological sequence. With the
assistance of the Table of Dates' printed on pages
261-267, the reader will, it is hoped, get some useful
PREFACE xxv
sort of idea of the busy life of Abbot Samson, both
within and without the walls of the monastery, whilst \
it was under his vigorous rule ; and as to his personal
characteristics, virtues and foibles, they are writ large
in almost every chapter of the Chronicle.
He was obviously of humble origin, and his dialect
was that of his native county of Norfolk (62). He
seems to have lost his father early, for we read of his
conferring, soon after he became Abbot, a benefice
upon the son of a man of lowly station who had been
kind to him in his youth and looked after his interests
(66). As a child of nine, he had been taken by his
mother to a pilgrimage to St. Edmund, after a dream
which presaged his future service under that saint
(56). When he was a poor clerk, William, the
schoolmaster of Diss, had given him free admission
to his school : a favour which he requited by giving
Walter, son of William, the living of Chevington (6j).
Similarly, he helped those of his kinsmen who had
recognized him when he was a poor clerk, provided
they were worthy ; but with those who had then held
aloof from him he wished to have no dealings (66).
At some early date Samson went to Paris to study,
a friend who then supported him there by the pro-
ceeds of the sale of holy water receiving afterwards a
XXV1 PREFACE
benefice from him (66). Just as he did not forget
the friends who had helped him in his early struggles
so he remembered past kindnesses shown to him when
he was a poor monk and out of favour with the
authorities. When Hugh, his predecessor, clapped
him into irons, Hugh's cupbearer Elias brought him
some wine to quench his prison thirst (67) ; and
when he needed a night's lodging on his return from
Durham on the business of the Abbey, a resident at
Risby gave him the shelter which a neighbour refused
(68). Neither favour was forgotten when Elias and
William of Risby came before him as landlord.
By 1 1 60 Samson was back from abroad as master
of the schools at Bury, though he did not become a
professed monk till 1 166. Meanwhile he had been
sent on an errand to Rome, with reference to the
church at Woolpit, in which his native wit showed
itself (73, 74). He seems to have been successful in
his mission, getting from Pope Alexander III. a rever-
sion for the monastery of the Woolpit living ; but,
perhaps because he returned too late to prevent
Geoffrey Ridel being appointed by the king (74),
Abbot Hugh banished him, on his return, to Castle
Acre. Here he remained in exile a long time
(74), and he was sent there again after he had
PREFACE xxvii
become a cloister monk, and had spoken up " for
the good of our Church" in opposition to the Abbot
(6).
Samson in Subordinate Offices. — Much
as Hugh disliked Samson, he seems to have been a little
afraid of him ; and, to reconcile matters, he made Sam-
son subsacrist. " Often accused," says Jocelin, " he was
transferred from one office to another, being succes-
sively guest master, pittance master, third prior, and
again subsacrist" (9). But he could not be induced
to fawn on and flatter the Abbot, as other officials t
did ; and Hugh declared that " he had never seen a i
man whom he could not bend to his will, except /
Samson the subsacrist" (10).
When at length Hugh's trying dispensation came
to an end, through his horse accident at Canterbury
in 1 1 80, Samson was, as subsacrist, busy with new
building operations for the Church (14). His superior
officer, the bibulous William Wiardel, the sacrist, was
jealous of him, and persuaded the wardens of the
Abbey to stop any further expense for works during
the vacancy (15). But Samson knew some things to
William's financial and moral discredit, on which he
was later able to base the sacrist's dismissal from
office (4.6-7).
xxviii PREFACE
The gossip amongst the monks as to which of the
brethren should fill Hugh's place is admirably told
by Jocelin (Chap. ii.). Whilst the rest were babbling
at blood-letting season, Samson the subsacrist sat smil-
ing but saying nothing (21). The receipt of
Henry II. 's order or permission to make choice of a
new Abbot put the monastery in a flutter ; and the
selection of the deputation to wait upon the King,
and their interview with their liege lord, is most
naively described in chapter iii. The secret ballot
at Bury for three names was a surprise to the higher
officials (3 1), and they did what they could to diminish
Samson's chances. But after some fencing the Bishop
of Winchester asked the deputation point blank whom
they wanted, and the answer was — Samson : " no one
gainsaying this" (34).
Samson as Abbot. — And so the once oppressed
and obscure monk returned to Bury the absolute ruler
of the foundation, with the king's remark in his ears
when he noted, with apparent admiration at Bishop's
Waltham,how Samson comported himself in the royal
presence : " By the eyes of God, this Abbot elect
thinks himself worthy to govern an abbey !" (35). So
indeed he did, setting to work at once after his
PREFACE xxix
ceremonial installation (37) to institute reforms of all
sorts. As Carlyle says, and his words must suffice in
this place : —
How Abbot Samson, giving his new subjects seriatim the
kiss of fatherhood in the St. Edmundsbury chapterhouse, pro-
ceeded with cautious energy to set about reforming their dis-
jointed, distracted way of life 5 how he managed with his Fifty
rough Milites (Feudal Knights), with his lazy farmers, remiss
refractory monks, with Pope's Legates, Viscounts, Bishops,
Kings ; how on all sides he laid about him like a man, and putting
consequence on premiss, and everywhere the saddle on the right
horse, struggled incessantly to educe organic method out of lazily
fermenting wreck, — the careful reader will discern, not without
true interest, in these pages of Jocelin Boswell.
To tell the story of all this would be to paraphrase
the Chronicle ; and the reader is therefore referred
to the List of Contents for instances of the Abbot's
capacity and resourcefulness in dealing with the com-
plicated interests under his control.
But there is one aspect of his busy life to which
allusion may perhaps here be made, as showing the
influence and importance of the Abbot of St. Ed-
mundsbury outside the monastery walls.
Relations with Church and State. —
Samson's abbacy extended over the pontificates of
five Popes and the reigns of three Kings, by all of
d
xxx PREFACE
whom his strength of character and wisdom of counsel
seem to have been appreciated. Pope Lucius III.,
who had succeeded, in 1 181, Alexander III., to whom
Samson had twenty years before paid a visit on behalf
of the Abbey (72), appointed the new abbot a judge
in the ecclesiastical courts within seven months of
his election (51). Urban III. granted Samson in
1 187-8, the privilege of giving the episcopal benedic-
tion (84) and other concessions. Celestine III.
placed him in 1 197 on the commission for restoring
the expelled monks at Coventry (142) ; and
Innocent III. granted on December 1, 1 198, without
hesitation, on Samson's application, an exemption of
Bury Abbey from episcopal visitation even by a legate
unless he were a legate a latere (124).
King Henry II., who had apparently formed a
favourable opinion of Samson from his demeanour on
his election (35), practically decided in his favour on
February 11, 11 87, in his dispute with Archbishop
Hubert concerning his abbatial jurisdiction over
Monk's Eleigh, where a case of homicide had occurred
(78). In the same year, the king at Clarendon
favourably considered Samson's petition with reference
to the immunity of Bury Abbey from certain taxes
(96). Having taken the Cross on January 21, 1 188,
PREFACE xxxl
Henry II. came to Bury within a month to pay a
pilgrimage to St. Edmund, when Samson endeavoured,
without success, to obtain the king's permission to do
likewise (81).
In the next year Henry died at Chinon (July 6,
1 189), and Samson had to deal with a new sovereign :
at whose coronation on September 3, 1 189, he was
present. One of Richard's earliest acts was the sale of
offices, crown rights, crown property, and royal favours
to fill his military chest ; saying indeed that he would
sell London if he could find a purchaser. Amongst
the bargains of this sort was the sale to Samson of the
manor of Mildenhall for 1,000 marks, after the astute
abbot had offered him half that amount (70). The
queen-mother was entitled by custom of the realm to
100 marks as a perquisite in connection with this trans-
action, and took in lieu thereof a gold cup which had
been given to the abbey by Henry II. This same
cup came back to Bury in exchange for 100 marks
(71), when the 70,000 marks required to ransom King
Richard was being raised in England (147).
When the news of Richard's capture reached England,
Samson rose in his place in the King's Council to ex-
press his readiness to seek the king in Germany, either
in disguise or any other way : " by reason whereof,"
xxxii PREFACE
says Jocelin, "he obtained great approbation" (81).
Later on he did go to Germany, " and visited the
king with many gifts " (82).
Towards the end of Richard's reign, in 1198,
Samson tried to avoid sending four of his knights to
Normandy, in obedience to the King's orders, and
went to see him, with the result that Richard accepted
four mercenaries, and afterwards a hundred pounds
to discharge the obligation (128-30). He brought
back with him on this occasion for the adornment of
the abbey church a golden cross and a valuable copy
of the Gospels (130); and Jocelin records that so
often as he returned from beyond sea on his numerous
visits abroad, he brought back with him some offering
for the church (131), besides making gifts to it on
other occasions.
In 1 198 a serious quarrel took place between
Richard and Samson over the wardship of Nesta of
Cockfield, the daughter of a family whose tenure of
lands from the Abbey is recorded with wearisome
iteration in the Chronicle. Samson would not give
way, despite the threats of the King, which he " very
wisely passed over without notice," and in the end
Richard yielded with a good grace, asking the abbot
if he would send him some of his dogs. The abbot of
PREFACE xxxiii
course complied, and added some horses and other
valuable gifts, in exchange for which Richard sent him
a ring given to him by the new Pope, Innocent III.
(H7-9)-
Just as Samson had "obtained the favour and grace
of King Richard by gifts and money, so that he had
good reason to believe that he could succeed in all
his undertakings, the King died, and the abbot lost
all his labour and outlay " (178). It became therefore
necessary to propitiate Richard's successor. King
John made an early pilgrimage to St. Edmund, but
left in bad odour with the monastery, which had spent
much money on his entertainment, but had only re-
ceived in return thirteenpence offered by the king
at the shrine of the Saint on the day of his departure,
besides a silken cloth borrowed for the occasion from
the sacrist and never paid for (178). John must,
however, have thought highly of the abbot to summon
him over sea in 1203 to confer with him as to the
Pope's letter concerning the dispensation of Crusaders
from their vows (207).
Samson as an Author. — Once when Jocelin
asked why he had been sighing so heavily and was
so wakeful at nights, Samson confided to him how
greatly he felt the burden of his charge ; and on
xxxiv PREFACE
another occasion said that if he had known what it
involved, he would, rather than be abbot and lord,
have preferred to be keeper of the books, " for this
office he had ever desired above all others " (55).
Jocelin hints a polite incredulity ; but there are
evidences that Samson was fond of books, and was
indeed an author. There is a small volume, Titus
A viii. in the Cottonian collection, which includes
in its contents a work in two books, entitled De
Miraculis Sancti Mdmundi. From a number ol
marginal notes, of even date with the fourteenth
century text, and which ascribe to Samson, amongst
other writers, the authorship of various passages in
the great legendary life of St. Edmund in the
Bodleian Library (MS. 240), Mr. Arnold arrived at
the conclusion that " the writer of the work was un-
questionably Abbot Samson." For the evidence the
reader is referred to Appendix I. (pages 215-21); but
it would appear that the work was written before the
date when he became abbot, and perhaps before he
had been appointed to any one of the numerous
offices in the monastery to which he was from time
to time transferred by the capricious Hugh (9).
Whenever any new event was recorded in his
patron saint's honour, Samson caused it to be re-
PREFACE xxxv
corded : hence at his desire the episode of Henry
of Essex, whom St. Edmund had " confounded in
the very hour of battle" (102), was reduced to
writing at Reading, and interpolated by some other
monk in Jocelin's chronicle.
Samson's Masterfulness.— Samson, like his
prototype of Scripture, was a " strong man," and as
such he came into constant conflict with those who
sought to try conclusions with him, usually to their
own regret. From instances innumerable, the fol-
lowing may be selected as typical. At his very first
general court of his knights, Thomas of Hastings
tried to press the claim of his nephew Henry— a
minor — to the hereditary stewardship of the Abbey ;
but Samson said he would consider the matter when
Henry could perform the duties (41). Richard, Earl
of Clare, demanded his guerdon of five shillings for
the office of Standard-bearer of St. Edmund. Samson
retorted that the payment of the money would not
inconvenience the Abbey ; but there were two other
claimants for the post, and Richard must settle first
with them. The Earl said he would confer with Roger
Bigot his kinsman, " and so the matter was put off
even to this day" (86).
Geoffrey Ridel, the Bishop of Ely, sent a blunder-
xxxvi PREFACE
ing messenger to the abbot to ask for timber from
woods at Elmswell, meaning Elmsett. Samson
assented to the request for Elmswell, and meanwhile
sent his foresters to Elmsett and cut down a great
quantity of oaks, branding them as the property of
the Abbey. The bishop overwhelmed his stupid
servant with reproaches, and sent him back to explain.
But it was too late, " and the bishop, if he wanted
timber, had to get it elsewhere" (107).
Herbert the dean erected a windmill upon the
Haberdon, and tried to brazen it out with Samson.
But the abbot bade him begone, and told him
that before he had come to his house, he should hear
what had befallen his mill. Whereupon the trem-
bling dean had the mill pulled down himself, so that
when the servants of the sacrist came to the spot,
they found their work already done for them (90).
In the domestic quarrel with his monks over the
case of Ralph, the gate porter, who had been punished
by Robert the prior with the assent of all the
monastery, Samson upset the proceedings on his
return from London, and, after a violent struggle, got
his own way (179-83).
There is a pleasing affectation of impartiality in
the case of another Herbert, the junior candidate for
PREFACE xxxvii
the office of Prior, on the much-worried Robert's
death in 1 200. The monks were conscious that Sam-
son " would seek the advice of each with great show of
formality," but that the affair would end as he had all
along intended (193). On the day of election the
Precentor was egged on by one of the elder brethren
in an audible aside to nominate Herbert. Samson
behaved as if this was a new light to him, but offered
no objection to receive Herbert if the convent willed.
And so, after a protestation of his unworthiness,
Herbert was elected (196); and Jocelin tried, after
these bare-faced proceedings, to recover his equa-
nimity in the porch of the guest-chamber (197).
Samson as an Administrator. — Samson
seems to have been something of a financial genius ;
he certainly freed the monastery from debt, and
brought its internal affairs and its landed estates from
chaos into order. He was undoubtedly more of an
administrator than an ecclesiastic. He obviously
enjoyed his ceremonial duties as Commissioner for
the King or for the Pope. He went to the siege of
Windsor in 1 193 in martial array, though Jocelin is
constrained to admit that he was " more remarkable
there for counsel than for piety" (82). He appeared
to be in his highest spirits when he went to Coventry
xxxviii PREFACE
m January, 1 198, to help to restore the monks there
who had been ejected by their somewhat truculent
Bishop, Hugh de Nonant. Samson gave magnificent
entertainments at Oxford, where the Commission sat,
and " never in his life did he seem so joyful as at that
time" (143).
He was fond, too, of country life, spending much
time at his manors of Melford and elsewhere, " enclos-
ing many parks, which he replenished with beasts of
chase, and keeping a huntsman with dogs," though
Jocelin is careful to add that he " never saw him take
part in the sport " (43). With some of these dogs
Samson appeased Richard's wrath when he flouted the
king as to a disputed wardship (149). One of the
complaints against him by those who chafed under
his rule was that he was fond of betaking himself to
his manors, and Jocelin's excuse for him is that " the
abbot is more in spirits and in good humour elsewhere
than at home" (53). Jocelin took him to task over
this, but had a text from Ecclesiasticus hurled at his
head, which induced him to " hold his peace hence-
forth" (54).
With broader outlook than his obedientaries, Samson
recognized the necessity of granting greater freedom
to the inhabitants of the town of Bury, and, despite
PREFACE xxxix
the grumbling of his monks, he gave the burgesses a
Charter in 1194(116). The resentment against him
in the monastery ran so high in 1 1 99 that he professed
to be afraid of his life (182). Though matters were
then patched up, the old feeling of indignation against
his concessions W th? t^wasfpjjjLendured? and an occa-
sion for manifesting it arose when, early in 1203,
Samson was summoned by King John to advise him
on a brief sent by the Pope as to the dispensation
of certain Crusaders from their vows. To the un-
disguised astonishment of Jocelin, Samson sought the
advice of the monastery, " a thing he heretofore had
seldom done " (207) ; but he was boldly asked what
he proposed to do to get back the lost privileges of the
Abbey (210). He was then "weakened by infirmity
of body, humbled, and (as was not his wont) timid - '
(207) ; and it must be remembered that he was by
this time not fir short of seventy years of age. He
spoke the monks fair, promised redress, and " that
upon his return he would co-operate with us in every-
thing, and make just order and disposition, and render
to each what was justly his" (211).
Jocelin hints by a quotation from Ovid that there
was some apprehension that this promise would
remain unfulfilled : and then in Carlyle's words —
xl PREFACE
Jocelin's Boswellian narrative, suddenly shorn through by
the scissors of Destiny, ends. Impenetrable Time-curtains rush
down. Monks, Abbot, Hero-Worship, Government, Obe-
dience, Cceur de Lion, and St. Edmund's Shrine, vanish like
Mirza's vision ; and there is nothing left but a mutilated black
ruin amid green botanic expanses.
Epilogue. — As to what happened to Samson after
he returned from the visit to his sovereign, we have
no information whatever from any known source.
Perhaps when he had reached the allotted span of
life, he came to feel that the time had arrived to take
things more easily, and to be less inelastic in his
governance of the Abbey. The last nine years of his
chequered life are an absolute blank so far as the
available records are concerned, if we except his execu-
tion of certain formal documents included in the Suffolk
Feet of Fines. But when at last, at the ripe age of yj,
he died on the 30th December, 1 2 1 1, at twilight (inter
lupum et canem), on the night of the feast of St. Thomas
the Martyr, a tenderer feeling towards him obviously
existed amongst his monks.
The compiler of the Annales Sancti Edmundi (who
from the last phrase but one would seem to have
been a contemporary) thus records his decease : —
On the sixth day of Christmas, at St. Edmund's, died
Samson, of pious memory, the venerable abbot of this place.
PREFACE xh
Who, after he had for thirty years prosperously ruled the Abbey
committed to him, and had freed it from a load of debt, — had
enriched it with privileges, liberties, possessions, and spacious
buildings, and had restored the worship of the church, both
internally and externally, in the most ample manner, bidding
his last farewell to his sons, by whom the blessed man deserved
to be blessed for evermore, while they all were standing by, and
gazing with awe at a death which was a cause for admiration,
not for regret (non mherabilem sed mirabilem), in the fourth year
of the interdict rested in peace (Arnold, ii. 19, 20).
" In the fourth year of the Interdict " : there is a
significance in these words not perhaps immediately
apparent. During the last few years of Samson's life,
public worship in his beloved abbey was stopped ; the
altars were stripped, and the church doors closed, in
view of the interdict hurled at the recalcitrant John
by the Pope in March, 1208. More trying than this
to the feelings of the age was the requirement that the
dead should be buried in silence and in unconsecrated
ground. So Samson was laid by his sorrowing monks
in the bosom of mother earth " in pratello," where
he remained until after the Interdict was removed in
July, 1 2 1 4. The writer of the Electio Hugonis records,
in barbarous Latin (Arnold, ii. 85), that on August 9
of that year the sacrist raised the question as to the
proper interment of Samson " of venerable memory."
xlii PREFACE
The prior (Herbert), the cantor and Master Thomas
of Walsingham, with other high officials, thought
Samson ought, for greater honour, to be buried in the
Abbey church. The sacrist — William of Gravel ee, of
whose uncompromising character we have had a
glimpse before — was alone in resisting this, saying
that so long as he had any power in the matter,
neither Samson nor any one else should be buried in
the church. As the sacrist was the responsible official
this objection could apparently not be got over, and so
on August 12, 1 2 14, the remains of Samson were
exhumed, and reburied in the chapter-house, which
in the days of his life had resounded to that eloquence
of which Jocelin speaks (62).
What happened to the chapter house after the
suppression of the Abbey in 1539 is not known ; but
it seems probable that when the lead of its roof was
stripped off, it was left to crumble to decay by itself,
for some recent excavations in the winter of 1902-3
brought to light quantities of beautifully worked
stone, granite and marble columns, and fragments of
stained glass.
On New Year's Day of this year five stone coffins,
each with a skeleton within, and a sixth skeleton (un-
coffined) were found under the floor of the chapter-
PREFACE xliii
house in the exact positions in which a MS. of circa
1425, now preserved at Douai, records the burial
places of Samson, two of his predecessors, and three
of his successors as Abbots ; and there can be no
reasonable doubt therefore that those who, like myself,
were privileged to be associated with these excavations,
have gazed upon the mortal remains of one of the
grandest and most picturesque figures of Angevin times.
I am indebted to many friends for hints and
suggestions in the preparation of the Notes in Appen-
dix II., especially to Lord Francis Hervey, Dr.
Montague R. James, and Mr. Francis Ford, all three
of whom have intimate personal knowledge of Bury St.
Edmunds and its history. In addition, Dr. James
has been good enough to critically^compare the English
text of the Chronicle with the Latin original, and has
made many valuable improvements, for which my
especial thanks are due to him. Mr. R. W.
Chambers, M.A., Librarian of University College,
has also given me much assistance in the revision of
the text in the compilation of the Index.
13A, Hanover Square, W.
May, 1903.
And to procede ferthcre in this mater,
Yf ye list aduertise in your mynde,
An exaumplaire and a meror cler,
In this story ye shal now seen and fynde.
So as I kan, in soth I will nat spare
But heer in ordre reherse by wrytyng,
Folwyng myn auctours in euery maner thyng,
As in substance vpon the lettre in deede,
To do plesance to them that shal it reede.
John Lydgate.
(Harleian MS. 2278 : lines 417-20, 426-30.
xliv
CHAPTER I
BURY ABBEY UNDER ABBOT HUGH
THAT which I have heard and seen have I taken
in hand to write, which in our days has come
to pass in the Church of St. Edmund, from the year
when the Flemings were taken captive without the
town, at which time I took upon me the religious habit,
being the same year wherein prior Hugh was deposed,
and Robert made prior in his stead : and I have
mingled in my narration some evil deeds by way of
warning, and some good by way of profit.
Now, at that time, Hugh the abbot was old, and
his eyes were somewhat dim. A pious and kind man
was he, a good and religious monk, yet not wise or far-
sighted in worldly affairs ; one who relied too much
on his officers, and put faith in them, rather taking
counsel of others than abiding by his own judgment.
To be sure, the Rule and the religious life, and all
ni
2 THE CHRONICLE OF
pertaining thereto were healthy enough in the cloister,
but outdoor affairs were badly managed ; inasmuch
as every one serving under a simple and already
aged lord did what he would, not what he should.
The townships of the abbot and all the hundreds
were set to farm, the forests were destroyed, the
manor houses threatened to fall, everything daily got
worse and worse. One resource only the abbot had,
and that was to take_up moneys on interest, so that
thereby he might be able in some measure to keep
up the dignity of his house. There befel not a term
of Easter or St. Michael, for eight years before his
decease, but that one or two hundred pounds at least
increased in principal debt ; the securities were
always renewed, and the interest which accrued was
converted into principal.
This laxity descended from the head to the
members, from the superior to the subjects.
Hence it came to pass that every official of
the house had a seal of his own, and bound him-
self in debt at his own pleasure, to jews as well
as to Christians. Oftentimes silken copes and
golden cruetts, and other ornaments of the church,
^were pledged without the knowledge of the convent.
I myself saw a security passed to William Fitz Isabel
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND
3
for one thousand and forty pounds, but I never could
learn the consideration or the cause. I also saw
another security passed to Isaac, the son of Rabbi
Joce, for four hundred pounds, but I know not
wherefore. I also saw a third security passed tqi
Benedict, the Jew of Norwich, for eight hundred and^
eighty pounds ; and this was the origin of that debt.
Our parlour was destroyed, and it was given in
charge to William the sacrist, will he, nill he, that he
should restore it. He privily borrowed from Bene-
dict the Jew forty marks at interest, and gave him a
security sealed with a certain seal, which used to hang
at the shrine of St. Edmund, wherewith the gilds
and letters of fraternity were wont to be sealed : a
seal which later on, but alas ! too late, was broken by
order of the convent. Now, when this debt had
increased to one hundred pounds, the Jew came bear-
ing a letter from our lord the King, touching the debt
of the sacrist ; and then it was that all that had been
secret from the abbot and convent was laid bare.
The abbot waxed exceedingly wroth, and wished
to depose the sacrist, alleging that he possessed a
privilege of our lord the pope, giving him power of
deposing William, his sacrist, whensoever it pleased
him. Howbeit, some one went to the abbot, and
4 THE CHRONICLE OF
excusing the sacrist, so wheedled the abbot that he
permitted a security to be passed to Benedict the Jew
for four hundred pounds, payable at the end of four
years, namely, for one hundred pounds, which had
then already accrued for interest, and also for another
hundred pounds, which the same Jew had advanced
to the sacrist for the use of the abbot. And the
sacrist in full chapter undertook for the whole of that
debt to be paid, and a deed was drawn up and sealed
with the conventual seal : the abbot dissimulating,
and not affixing his own seal, as if that debt was no
concern of his.
But at the end of the four years, there were no
means of discharging the debt ; and then a fresh deed
was executed for eight hundred and eighty pounds,
payable at set terms, at the rate of eighty pounds
a year. Moreover, the same Jew had many other
securities of smaller account, and one which was for
fourteen years ; so this debt alone came to one
thousand and two hundred pounds, besides the interest
that had accrued.
Now R., the almoner of our lord the King,
coming to us, signified to the abbot that such and such
information had reached the King concerning such
and such debts. Thereupon, after consultation had
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 5
between the prior and a few others, the almoner was
conducted into the chapter house, where all of us
being seated, and holding our peace, the abbot said,
" Look you, here is the King's almoner, our and your
lord and friend, who, moved by the love of God
and of St. Edmund, has intimated to us that the
King has heard something wrong of us and you, and
particularly that the affairs of the church, both inter-
nally and externally, are being badly managed ; and
therefore I desire and command that, upon your vow
of obedience, ye state and explain openly how things
really are." Hereupon the prior, standing up and
speaking as one for all, said that the church was
in good order, that the Rule was strictly and
religiously observed indoors, and that matters out
of doors were carefully and discreetly conducted,
save some slight debt, in which ourselves, like
our neighbours, were involved ; but that, in fact,
there was no debt which could embarrass us. The
almoner, hearing this, said he was rejoiced that he
had heard the testimony of the convent concerning
this matter : meaning, what the prior had said.
The very same words the prior upon another occa-
sion used, as did Master GeofFry of Constantine,
speaking on behalf of and excusing the abbot, when
6 THE CHRONICLE OF
Richard the archbishop, in virtue of his office as legate,
visited our chapter, before we had such exemption as
we now enjoy.
I myself, who was at that time a novice, on a con-
venient occasion, talked these things over with the
master who instructed me in the Rule, and to whose
care I was committed,— namely, Master Samson,
who afterwards became abbot. "What is this"
I said, "that I hear? How can you hold your
tongue while you see and hear such things, you who
are a cloistered monk, and desire not offices, and
fear God more than man ? " But he answering, said,
" My son, the newly burnt child dreads the fire ;
so it is with me and many others. Hugh, the
prior, has been lately deprived of his office and sent
into exile; Dennis and Hugh and Roger of
Hengham have but lately returned home from exile.
Even I, in like manner, was imprisoned, and after-
wards sent to Acre, because we spoke for the good of
our church, in opposition to the abbot. This is the
hour of darkness ; this is the time when flatterers
rule and are believed, and their might is strengthened,
and we can do nothing against it ; these things must
be borne with for a time. ■ Let the Lord look
upon it and judge.'"
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 7
Now a rumour reached Abbot Hugh that
Richard, Archbishop of Canterbury, proposed com-
ing to make a visitation of our church by virtue
of his authority as legate ; and thereupon the abbot,
after consultation, sent to Rome and sought a ^
privilege of exemption from the power of the afore-
said legate. On the messenger's return from Rome
there was not wherewith to discharge what he had
promised to our lord the pope and the cardinals,
except, indeed, under the special circumstances of the
case, the cross which was over the high altar, the f
little image of the Virgin, and the St. John (which
images archbishop Stigand had adorned with a vast
quantity of gold and silver, and had given to St.
Edmund).
There were certain of our convent who, being
on terms of intimacy with the abbot, said that
the shrine of St. Edmund itself ought to be stripped,
as the means of obtaining such a privilege. But these
persons did not consider the great peril that the
possession of such a privilege might entail ; for if
there should hereafter be any abbot of ours who chose
to waste the possessions of the church, and to despoil
his convent, then there would be no one to whom
the convent could complain touching the wrongs
8 THE CHRONICLE OF
done by an abbot, as he would have no reason to
fear a bishop, archbishop, or legate, and his impunity
would lend him the courage to transgress.
In these days the cellarer, as well as other
officials, borrowed moneys^axjnterest from jurnet the
Jew (without apprising the convent), upon a security
sealed" with the above-mentioned seal. Now, 'when
that debt had mounted up to sixty pounds, the
convent was summoned to pay the cellarer's debt.
The cellarer was deposed, although he said it was
hard to deal thus with him, stating that for three
years he had entertained in the guest-house by the
abbot's orders, whether the abbot were in residence
V\ or not, all the guests which the abbot ought himself
to entertain, according to the rule of the abbey.
Master Dennis was made cellarer in his stead, and
by his circumspection and good management he
reduced the debt of sixty pounds to thirty pounds ;
towards which debt we applied those thirty marks
which Benedict of Blakenham gave to the convent
for holding the manors of Nowton and Whepsted.
But the securities of the Jew have remained with the
Jew even to this day, wherein are contained the
twenty-six pounds of principal and interest of the
cellarer's debt.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 9
Now, on the third day after Master Dennis
became cellarer, three knights with their esquires were
received in the guest-house that they might there
be refreshed, the abbot then being at home, and
abiding in his inner chamber ; all which, when this
great-souled Achilles had heard, not willing to pay
toll in his own domain, as the others had done,
he rose up and took the key of the cellar, and taking
with him those knights to the abbot's hall, and
approaching the abbot, said, " My lord, you well
know that the rule of the abbey is, that knights and
lay folk should be entertained in your hall, if the
abbot be at home. I neither will nor can receive
those guests whom it belongs to you to entertain ;
else take back the keys of your cellar, and appoint
some other cellarer at your good pleasure." The
abbot hearing this, nill he, will he, entertained
those knights, and ever afterwards entertained knights
and lay folk according to the ancient rule, and so
they are still received when the abbot is at home.
Once upon a time, Abbot Hugh, wishing to con-
ciliate Master Samson, appointed him sub-sacrist ; and
he, often accused, was often transferred from one
office to another. At one time he was appointed
guest-master, at another time pittance-master, at
io THE CHRONICLE OF
another time third prior, and again sub-sacrist ; and
many were then his enemies who afterwards flattered
him. But he, not acting as the other officials did,
never could be induced to turn flatterer ; whereupon
the abbot said that he had never seen a man whom he
could not bend to his will, except Samson the sub-
sacrist.
In the twenty-third year of his abbacy, Abbot Hugh
bethought him that he would go to St. Thomas for
the purpose of performing his devotions. He had
nearly got to the end of his journey, on the morrow
of the nativity of the Blessed Mary, when, near
Rochester, he most unhappily fell from his horse,
so that his knee-pan was put out and lodged in
the ham of his knee. The physicians came about
him, and sorely tormented him, but they healed
him not. He was brought back to us in a horse-
litter, and received with great attention, as was
most fitting. What more ? His leg mortified, and
the disorder mounted to his heart. The pain brought
on a tertian fever, and on the fourth fit he expired,
and rendered his soul to God on the morrow of
St. Brice.
Ere he was dead, everything was snatched
away by his servants, so that nothing at all remained
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND n
in the abbot's house except the stools and the tables,
which could not be carried away. There was hardly
left for the abbot his coverlet and two quilts, old
and torn, which some, who had taken away the good
ones, had placed in their stead. There was not even
a single article of a penny's worth that could be
distributed among the poor for the good of his soul.
The sacrist said it was not his business to have
attended to this, allgeing that he had furnished the
expenditure of the abbot and his household for one
whole month, because neither the firmars who held the
vills would pay anything before the appointed time,
nor would creditors advance anything, seeing that he
was sick even unto death.
Luckily, the farmer of Palgrave furnished us with
fifty shillings to be distributed among the poor, by
reason that he entered upon the farm of Palgrave
on that same day. But those very fifty shillings were
afterwards again refunded to the King's bailiffs, who
demanded the whole farm-rent for the King's use.
THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER II
THE MONKS DISCUSS THE VACANCY
HUGH the abbot being buried, it was ordered in
chapter that some one should give intelligence
to Ranulf de Glanville, the justiciar of England, of
the death of the abbot. Master Samson and Master
R. Ruffus, our monks, quickly went beyond seas,
to report the same fact to our lord the King, and
obtained letters that those possessions and rents of the
monastery, which were distinct from those of the
abbot, should be wholly in the hands of the prior and
convent, and that the remainder of the abbey should be
in the hands of the King. The wardship of the abbey
was committed to Robert of Cockfield and Robert
of Flamville, the steward, who forthwith put by
gage and safe pledges all those servants and relatives
of the abbot to whom the abbot had, after the
commencement of his illness, given anything, or who
had taken anything away belonging to the abbot, and
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 13
also the abbot's chaplain (a monk of the house),
whom the prior bailed. Entering into our vestiary,
they caused all the ornaments of the church to be ^ n
noted down in an inventory.
During the vacancy in the abbacy, the prior, above
all things, studied to keep peace in the convent, and to
preserve the honour of the church in entertaining
guests, being desirous of irritating no one, of not
provoking anybody to anger ; in fact, of keeping all
persons and things in quietude. He nevertheless
winked at some acts in our officials which needed
reformation, and especially in the sacrist, as if he cared
not how that officer dealt with the sacristy. Yet
during the vacancy, the sacrist neither satisfied any
debt nor erected any building, but the oblations and
incomings were foolishly frittered away.
Wherefore the prior, who was the head of the
convent, seemed by the greater part to be highly
censurable, and was said to be remiss ; and this
thing our brethren called to mind among themselves,
when it came to the point of making choice of an
abbot.
Our cellarer entertained all guests, of whatsoever
condition they were, at the expense of the convent.
William the sacrist, on his part, gave and spent as
1 4 THE CHRONICLE OF
he chose, kind man ! giving alike what he should and
should not ; " blinding the eyes of all with gifts."
Samson the sub-sacrist, being master over the
workmen, did his best that no breach, chink, crack or
flaw should be left unrepaired so far as he was able ;
whereby he acquired great favour with the convent,
and especially with the cloister monks. In those
days our choir was erected by Samson's exertion ; and
he arranged the order of the paintings, and composed
elegiac verses for them. He also made a great draught
of stone and sand for building the great tower of
the church. Being asked whence he procured
the money for his work, he answered that certain of
the burgesses had privily given him moneys for
building and completing the tower.
Nevertheless, certain of our brethren said that
Warin, a monk of our house and keeper of the shrine,
together with Samson the sub-sacrist, had conspired to
remove some portion of the offerings to the shrine, in
order that they might disburse the same for the neces-
sary purposes of the church, and in particular for
the building of the tower ; being the more ready to
believe this when they saw that the offerings were
expended for extraordinary purposes by others, who,
to speak plainly, stole them. And these before-
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 15
named two men, in order to remove from themselves
the suspicion of any such pious theft, made a
certain hollow trunk, with a hole in the middle or
at the top, and fastened with an iron lock. This
they caused to be set up in the great church,
near the door without the choir, where the com-
mon people usually pass, so that persons should put
their contributions therein for the building of the
tower.
Now William the sacrist had a jealousy of his
companion Samson, as had many others who took
part with the same William, Christians as well as
Jews ; the Jews, I say, to whom the sacrist was said
to be father and protector, whose protection they
indeed enjoyed, having free ingress and egress, and
going all over the monastery, rambling about the altars
and by the shrine while high mass was being cele-
brated. Moreover, their moneys were kept safe in
our treasury, under the care of the sacrist, and, what
was still more improper, their wives with their little
ones were lodged in our pittancy in time of war.
His enemies or opponents having, therefore, con-
sulted together how they might suddenly over-
come Samson, they conferred with Robert of
Cockfield and his colleague, who were wardens of
1 6 THE CHRONICLE OF
the abbey, and persuaded them to this — that they
should, on behalf of the King, forbid any one to
erect any fabric or building so long as the abbacy
was vacant ; but that, on the other hand, the moneys
from the offerings should be collected, and kept for
the purpose of discharging some debt.
And thus was Samson beguiled, and his " strength
departed from him," nor could he from thenceforth
labour as he had desired. Indeed, his opponents were
able to delay, but not annul, his purpose ; for having
regained his strength, and " pulled down the two
pillars," that is, having removed the two wardens
of the abbey, upon whom the malice of others
relied, the Lord gave him, in process of time, the
means of fulfilling his desire of building the aforesaid
tower, and of finishing it even as he wished. And
so it was, as if it had been said to him from above,
" Well done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee
ruler over many things."
During the time that the abbacy was vacant we
oftentimes, as was our duty, besought God and the holy
martyr St. Edmund that they would vouchsafe to us
and our church a meet shepherd, thrice every week sing-
ing the seven penitential psalms prostrate in the choir,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 17
after going forth from chapter. There were some
amongst us who, had it been known who was to
be abbot, would not have prayed so devoutly.
As concerned the choice of an abbot, assuming the
King gave us free election, divers men spoke in
divers ways — some publicly, some privately ; and "so
many men, so many opinions."
One said of another, "That brother is a good
monk, a likely person ; he is well conversant with the
Rule and custom of the house ; although he may
not be so perfect a philosopher as certain others, he
would make a very good abbot. Abbot Ording was
not a learned man, and yet he was a good abbot, and
governed this house wisely : we read, too, in the fable,
that it had been better for the frogs to have chosen
a log for a king, upon whom they might rely, than
a serpent, who venomously hissed, and after his
hisses devoured his subjects."
Another would answer, " How may this be ? How
can an unlearned man deliver a sermon in chapter, or
to the people on festivals ? How can he who does not
understand the Scriptures attain the knowledge ot
' binding and loosing ' ? seeing that the cure of souls
is the art of arts and science of sciences. God forbid
that a dumb image should be set up in the Church
c
1 8 THE CHRONICLE OF
of St. Edmund, where many learned and studious
men are well known to be."
Also said one of another, " That brother is a good
clerk, eloquent and careful, strict in the Rule ; he has
much loved the convent, and has undergone many
hardships in respect of the possessions of the church :
he is worthy to be made abbot." Another answered,
" From good clerks, Good Lord, deliver us : that it
may please Thee to preserve us from the barrators
of Norfolk, we beseech Thee to hear us, good Lord."
Moreover, one said of another, " That brother is a
good manager, which is proved from his department,
and from the offices which he has well served, and by
the buildings and reparations which he has performed.
He is able to travail for and defend the house,
and is, moreover, something of a clerk, although
' much learning has not made him mad ' : he is
worthy to be made abbot." Another answered, " God
forbid that a man who can neither read nor chant,
nor perform Divine service — a wicked and unjust
man, and a grinder of the faces of the poor — should
be abbot."
Also said one of another, " That brother is a kind
man, affable and amiable, peaceful and well-regu-
lated, open-hearted and liberal, a learned man and an
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 19
eloquent, a proper man enough in looks and de-
portment, and beloved by many, indoors as well as
out ; and such a man might, with God's permis-
sion, become abbot to the great honour of the
church." The other answered, " It is no honour,
but rather a burden, to have a man who is too nice
in his meat and drink ; who thinks it a virtue to
sleep long ; who is expert in spending much, and yet
gets little ; who is snoring when others are awake ;
who always is desirous to be in plenty, nor yet
cares for the debts which increase from day to day,
nor considers the means of discharging expenses ;
hating anxiety and trouble ; caring for nought so
long as one day comes and another goes ; a man
cherishing and fostering flatterers and liars ; a man
who is one thing in name and another in deed.
From such a prelate defend us, O Lord ! "
Also said a certain one of his fellow, " That man is
almost wiser than all of us put together, both in
secular and ecclesiastical matters ; a wonderful counsel-
lor, strict in rule, learned and eloquent, and of proper
stature ; such a prelate would do honour to our church."
The other answered, " True, if he were of known
and approved reputation. His character is question-
able ; report may lie, or it may not. And although the
2o THE CHRONICLE OF
man you mean is wise, of lowly carriage in chapter, de-
vout in psalmody, strict in the cloister whilst he is
in the cloister, yet it is mere outward show with him.
What if he do excel in any office ? He is too scornful,
lightly esteems the monks, is closely intimate with
secular persons ; and should he be angry, scarcely
returns an answer with a good grace to any brother,
or to one even asking a question of him."
I heard in like manner one brother disparaged by
some, because he was slow of speech ; of whom it
was said that he had paste or malt in his mouth when
he was called upon to speak. And as for myself, being
at that time a youth, " I understood as a youth, I
spoke as a youth ; " and said I never could con-
sent that any one should be made abbot unless he
knew somewhat of dialectics, and knew how to
discern truth from falsehood. Again, a certain
person, who in his own eyes seemed very wise, said,
" May the almighty Lord bestow on us a foolish and
simple shepherd, so that it should be the more
needful for him to get help from us ! "
I heard in like manner a certain studious and
learned man, and honourable by the nobility of his
family, disparaged by some of our seniors merely for
this reason — because he was a novice. The novices,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 21
on the other hand, said of the elders, that old men
were valetudinarians, by no means fit to govern a mon-
astery. And thus many persons spoke many things,
" and each was fully persuaded in his own mind."
I observed Samson the sub-sacrist as he was sitting
along with the others at blood-letting season (at
which time monks are wont to reveal to each other
the secrets of the heart, and to talk over matters
with each other). I saw him, I say, sitting along
with the others, smiling and saying nothing, but noting
the words of each, and after a lapse of twenty years
calling to mind some of the before-written opinions.
In whose hearing I used to reply to these critics,
that if we were to put off the choice of an abbot until
we found one who was above disparagement or fault,
we never should find such a one, for no one alive is
without fault, and " no estate is in all respects blessed."
Upon one particular occasion I was unable to
restrain myself, but must needs blurt out my own
private opinion, thinking that I spoke to trusty ears.
I then said that a certain person who for-
merly had a great regard for me, and had conferred
many benefits upon me, was unworthy of the
abbacy, and that another was more worthy ;
in fact, I named one for whom I had less regard.
22 THE CHRONICLE OF
I spoke according to my own conscience, rather
considering the common weal of the church than my
own advancement ; and what I said was true, as the
sequel proved. And, behold, one of the sons of
Belial disclosed my saying to my friend and bene-
factor ; for which reason, even to this day, never
could I since, neither by entreaty nor good offices,
regain his goodwill to the full. " What I have said
I have said." "And the word once spoken flies
without recall."
One thing remains, that I take heed to my ways
for the future ; and if I should live so long as to see
the abbacy vacant, I shall consider carefully what, to
whom, and when I speak on such a matter, lest
I either offend God by lying, or man by speak-
ing unreasonably. I shall then advise (should I last so
long), that we choose not too good a monk, nor
yet an over-wise clerk, neither one too simple nor too
weak ; lest, if he be over wise in his own conceit, he
may be too confident in his own judgment, and contemn
others ; or, if he be too boorish, he may become a
byword to others ; I know that it has been said,
" In the middle you will be safest," also that " Blessed
are they who hold a middle course."
Perhaps, after all, it may be the best course to
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 23
hold my peace altogether, and say in my heart, " He
'that is able to receive it, let him receive it."
The abbacy being vacant, Augustine, the Arch-
bishop of Norway, took up his abode with us, in the
house of the abbot, receiving by the King's precept ten
shillings a day from the revenues of the abbey. He
was of considerable assistance in obtaining for us
our free election, bearing witness of what was well,
and publicly declaring before the King what he
had seen and heard.
At that time the holy child Robert suffered
martyrdom, and was buried in our church ; and
many signs and wonders were wrought among the
people, as we have elsewhere written.
H THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER III
THE CHOICE OF A NEW ABBOT
ONE year and three months having elapsed since
the death of Ahhpt Hno-h, the King com-
manded by his letters that our prior and twelve of
the convent, in whose mouth the judgment of our
body might agree, should appear on a certain day
before him, to make choice of an abbot. On the
morrow, after the receipt of the letters, we all of us
met in chapter for the purpose of discussing so
important a matter. In the first place the letters of
our lord the King were read to the convent ; next
we besought and charged the prior, at the peril of his
soul, that he would, according to his conscience,
name twelve who were to accompany him, from
whose life and conversation it might be depended
upon that they would not swerve from the right ;
who, acceding to our charge, by the dictation of the
Holy Ghost named six from one side and six from
<t
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 25
the other side of the choir, and without gainsaying
satisfied us on this point. From the right-hand choir
were named — Geoffrey of Fordham, Benedict, Master
Dennis, Master Samson the sub-sacrist, Hugh the
third prior, and Master Hermer, at that time a
novice ; from the left-hand side — William the
sacrist, Andrew, Peter de Broc, Roger the cellarer,
Master Ambrose, Master Walter the physician.
But one said, "What shall be done if these
thirteen cannot agree before our lord the King in the
choice of an abbot ? " A certain one answered
that that would be to us and to our church a per-
petual shame. Therefore, many were desirous
that the choice should be made at home before the
rest departed, so that by this forecast there should be
no disagreement in the presence of the King. But
that seemed a foolish and inconsistent thing to do,
without the King's assent ; for as yet it was by no
means a settled thing that we should be able to obtain
a free election from the King.
Then said Samson the sub-sacrist, speaking by the
spirit of God, "Let there be a middle course, so
that from either side peril may be avoided. Let four
confessors be chosen from the convent, together with
two of the senior priors of the convent, men of
26 THE CHRONICLE OF
good reputation, who, in the presence of the holy
relics, shall lay their hands upon the Gospels, and
choose amongst themselves three men of the convent
most fit for this office, according to the rule of
St. Benedict, and put their names into writing.
Let them close up that writing with a seal, and so
being closed up, let it be committed to us who are
about to go to the court. When we shall have come
before the King, and it shall appear that we are
to have a free election, then, and not till then, shall
the seal be broken, and so shall we be sure as to the
three who are to be nominated before the King.
And let it be agreed amongst us, that in case
our lord the King shall not grant to us one of
ourselves, then the seal shall be brought back intact, and
delivered to the six under oath, so that this secret of
theirs shall remain for ever concealed, at the peril
of their souls." In this counsel we all acquiesced,
and four confessors were then named ; namely,
Eustace, Gilbert of Alveth, Hugh the third prior,
Anthony, and two other old men, Thurstan and
Ruald. Which being done, we went forth chanting
" Verba mea," and the aforesaid six remained behind,
having the rule of St. Benedict in their hands ; and
they fulfilled jhat^business as it had been pre-ordained.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 27
Now, whilst these six were treating of their matter, we
were thinking differently of different candidates, all of us
taking it for granted that Samson would be one of the
three, considering his travails and perils of death in his
journey to Rome for the advancement of our church,
and how he was badly treated and put in irons and
imprisoned by Hugh the abbot, merely for speaking
for the common weal ; for he could not be induced to
flatter, although he might be forced to hold his
tongue.
After some delay, the convent being summoned
returned to chapter ; and the old men said they had
done as they were commanded. Then the prior
asked, " How shall it be if our lord the King
will not receive any of those three who are nom-
inated in the writing ? " And it was answered
that whomsoever our lord the King should be willing
to accept should be adopted, provided he were
a professed monk of our house. It was further
added, that if those thirteen brethren should see
anything that ought to be amended by another
writing, they should so amend it by common assent
or counsel.
Samson the sub-sacrist, sitting at the feet of the
prior, said, " It will be profitable for the church if
2 8 THE CHRONICLE OF
we all swear by the word of truth that upon
whomsoever the lot of election shall fall, he should
treat the convent according to reason, nor change the
chief officers without the assent of the convent, nor
surcharge the sacrist, nor admit any one to be a monk
without assent of the convent." And to this
we all of us assented, holding up our right hands
in token of assent. It was, moreover, provided, that
if our lord the King should desire to make a stranger
our abbot, such person should not be adopted by the
thirteen, unless upon counsel of the brethren remain-
ing at home.
Upon the morrow, therefore, those thirteen took
their way to court. Last of all was Samson, the
purveyor of their charges, because he was sub-sacrist,
carrying about his neck a little box, in which were
contained the letters of the convent — as if he alone
was the servant of them all — and without an esquire,
bearing his frock in his arms, and going out of
the court, he followed his fellows at a distance.
In their journey to the court, the brethren
conversing all together, Samson said that it would
be well if they all swore that whosoever should be
made abbot should restore the churches of the
lordships belonging to the convent to the purposes
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 29
of hospitality ; whereto all agreed, save the prior, who
said, " We have sworn enough already ; you may so
restrict the abbot that is to be, that I shall not care to
obtain the abbacy." Upon this occasion they swore
not at all, and it was well they did so, for had they
sworn to this, the oath would not have been observed.
On the very day that the thirteen departed we
were all sitting together in the cloister, when William
of Hastings, one of our brethren, said, " I know that
we shall have one of our convent to be abbot." And
being asked how he came to be so certain of this, he
replied, that he had beheld in a dream a prophet
clothed in white, standing before the gates of the
monastery, and that he asked him, in the name of
God, whether we should have an abbot of our own.
And the prophet answered, " You shall have one of
your own body, but he shall rage among you as a
wolf" ; of which dream the interpretation followed
in part, because the future abbot cared more to be
feared than loved, as many were accustomed to say.
There also sat along with us another brother,
Edmund by name, who asserted that Samson was
about to be abbot, and told a vision he had seen the
previous night. He said he beheld in his dream
Roger the cellarer and Hugh the third prior, standing
30 THE CHRONICLE OF
before the altar, and Samson in the midst, taller by
the shoulders upward, wrapt round with a long
gown down to his feet, looped over his shoulders, and
standing as a champion ready to do battle. And, as
it seemed to him in his dream, St. Edmund arose
from his shrine, and, as if sickly, showed his feet and
legs bare. When some one approached and desired to
cover the feet of the saint, the saint said, " Approach
me not ; behold, he shall veil my feet," pointing
with his finger towards Samson. This is the
interpretation of the dream : By his seeming to be a
champion is signified that the future abbot should
always be in travail ; at one time moving a con-
troversy against the Archbishop of Canterbury,
concerning pleas of the Crown, at another time
against the knights of St. Edmund, to compel them to
pay their escuages in full ; at another time with the bur-
gesses for standing in the market ; at another time
with the sokemen for the suits of the hundreds ;
even as a champion who willeth by fighting to over-
come his adversaries that he may be able to gain the
rights and liberties of his church. And he veiled the
feet of the holy martyr when he perfectly completed
the towers of the church, commenced a hundred years
before.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 31
Such dreams as these did our brethren dream,
which were immediately published throughout the
cloister, afterwards through the court lodge, so that
before the evening it was a matter of common talk
amongst the townsfolk, they saying this man and
that man are elected, and one of them will be abbot.
At last the prior and the twelve that were with
him, after many fatigues and delays, stood before the
King at Waltham, the manor of the Bishop of
Winchester, upon the second Sunday in Lent. The
King graciously received them ; and, saying that he
wished to act in accordance with the will of God
and the honour of our church, commanded the
brethren by prolocutors — namely, Richard the Bishop
of Winchester, and Geoffrey the chancellor, after-
wards Archbishop of York — that they should nom-
inate three members of our convent.
The prior and brethren retiring as if to confer
thereupon, drew forth the sealed writing and opened
it, and found the names written in this order —
Samson, sub-sacrista ; Roger, celerarius ; Hugo,
tercius prior. Hereupon those brethren who
were of higher standing blushed with shame ; they
also marvelled that this same Hugh should be at once
elector and elected. But, inasmuch as they could
32 THE CHRONICLE OF
not alter what was done, by mutual arrangement
they changed the order of the names ; first naming
Hugh, because he was third prior ; secondly, Roger
the cellarer ; thirdly, Samson, thus literally making
the last first and the first last.
The King, first inquiring whether they were born
in his realm, and in whose lordship, said he knew
them not, directing that with those three, some other
three of the convent should be nominated. This
being assented to, William the sacrist said, " Our
prior ought to be nominated because he is our head,"
which was directly allowed. The prior said,
" William the sacrist is a good man M ; the like was
said of Dennis, and that was settled. These being
nominated before the King without any delay, the
King marvelled, saying, "These men have been
speedy in their work ; God is with them."
Next the King commanded that, for the honour of
his kingdom, they should name three persons of other
houses. On hearing this, the brethren were afraid,
suspecting some craft. At last, upon conference,
it was resolved that they should name three, but
upon this understanding, that they would not receive
any one of those three, unless by assent of the con-
vent at home. And they named these three — Master
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 33
Nicholas of Waringford, afterwards (for a season)
Abbot of Malmesbury ; Bertrand, Prior of St. Faith's,
afterwards Abbot of Chertsey ; and Master H. of
St. Neot's, a monk of Bee, a man highly religious, and
very circumspect in spiritual as well as temporal affairs.
This being done, the King thanked them, and
ordered that three should be struck off of the nine ;
and forthwith the three strangers were struck off,
namely, the Prior of St. Faith's, afterwards Abbot of
Chertsey, Nicholas, a monk of St. Albans, afterwards
Abbot of Malmesbury, and the Prior of St. Neot's.
William the sacrist voluntarily retired, two of the five
were struck out by command of the King, and, ulti-
mately, one out of the remaining three. There then
remained but two, the prior and Samson.
Then at length the before-named prolocutors of
our lord the King were called to the council of the
brethren : and Dennis, speaking as one for all, began
by commending the persons of the prior and
Samson, saying, that each of them was learned,
each was good, each was of meritorious life and
good character. But always in the corner of his
discourse he gave prominence to Samson, multiply-
ing words in his praise, saying that he was a man
strict in life, severe in reforming excesses, and ready
D
34 THE CHRONICLE OF
to work hard ; heedful, moreover, in secular
matters, and approved in various offices. The Bishop
of Winchester replied, " We see what it is you wish
to say ; from your address we gather that your prior
seems to you to have been somewhat remiss, and
that, in fact, you wish to have him who is called
Samson." Dennis answered, " Either of them is
good, but, by God's help, we desire to have the
best." To whom the bishop, " Of two good men
the better should be chosen. Speak out at once ;
is it your wish to have Samson ? " Whereupon several,
in fact the majority, answered clearly, " We do wish
Samson." No one gainsaid this, though some
studiously held their peace, being fearful of oifending
either one or the other.
Samson was then named to the King, and after a
brief consultation with those about him, the King
called all in, and said, " You present to me Samson
I know him not ; had you presented to me your
prior, I should have accepted him, because I know
and am well acquainted with him ; but now I will
do as you desire me. Take heed to yourselves ; by
the very eyes of God, if you have done ill, I shall
call you to severe account." And he inquired of the
prior, whether he assented to this choice and agreed
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 35
thereto ; who replied that he was well content it
should be so, and that Samson was worthy of a
much greater dignity.
Then the elect, falling down at the King's feet
and kissing them, hastily arose, and forthwith went
towards the altar, erect in gait, and with unmoved
countenance, singing " Miserere mei Deus," together
with his brethren.
The King, observing this, said to the bystanders, \fc*
" By the eyes of God, this abbot-elect thinks him-
self worthy to govern an abbey ! "
36 THE CHRONICLE OF
N
CHAPTER IV
samson's installation
OW when the news of the election arrived at
the monastery, it gladdened all_the clqistexjnonks
and some of the officers'also, but only a few. " It is
well," many said, " because it is well." Others said,
" Not so ; verily we are all deceived." The elect,
before Tie" returned to us, received his benediction
from my lord of Winchester, who, at the same time,
placing the mitre on the head of the abbot, and the
ring on his finger, said, " This is the dignity of the
abbots of St. Edmund ; my experience long since
taught me this." The abbot, therefore, keeping
three monks with him, despatched the others
homewards, sending word by them of his intended
arrival on Palm Sunday, and giving charge to certain
of them to provide the things necessary for his day of
festival.
As he returned homewards, a multitude of new
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 37
relations came about him offering to serve him, but
he answered all of them that he was content with
the servants of the prior, nor could he retain others
until he had obtained the assent of the convent.
Nevertheless, he retained one knight who was well
spoken and learned in the law, not so much upon the
score of relationship, but on account of his usefulness,
he being well practised in secular suits.
This knight he took, while he was fresh to the work,
as an assessor in secular controversies ; for he was a
new abbot, and inexperienced in such concerns, as
he himself was free to declare : indeed, before he
received the abbacy, he had never been present where
gage and safe pledge had been given.
With the accustomed honours, and with a proces-
sion, was he received by his convent on Palm Sunday.
The abbot's reception was in this wise : overnight
he lay at Kentford, and we, at the proper moment,
v/ent forth from the chapter-house to meet him
with great solemnity, up to the gate of the cemetery,
with ringing of bells inside the choir and without.
He himself was surrounded by a multitude of men,
and when he espied the fraternity, he dismounted
from his horse outside the threshold of the gate.
Causing his shoes to be taken off, he was received
38 THE CHRONICLE OF
barefooted within the door, and conducted on each
side by the prior and sacrist.
We chanted the responses " Benedictus Dominus,"
in the office of the Trinity, and then " Martyri
adhuc," in the office of St. Edmund, leading the
abbot up to the high altar. This being finished, the
organs and bells were silenced, and the prayer,
" Omnipotens sempiterne Deus miserere huic," was
said by the prior over the abbot, who was prostrate.
An offering was then made by the abbot, and kissing
the shrine, he returned into the choir. There
Samson the precentor took him by the hand and
led him to the abbot's throne at the west end ;
where, the abbot still standing, the precentor straight-
way began, " Te Deum laudamus," and whilst this
was being sung, the abbot was kissed by the prior and
the whole convent in order. This done, the abbot
proceeded to the chapter-house, the whole convent
following him, with many others.
" Benedicite " having been said, in the first place
he gave thanks to the convent that they had chosen
him— who was, he said, the least of them all— to be
their lord and shepherd, not on account of his own
merits, but solely by the will of God. And beseech-
ing them briefly that they would pray for him, he
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 39
addressed his discourse to the clerks and knights,
requiring them that they should assist him
with their advice according to the burden of the
charge entrusted to him. And Wimer the sheriff,
answering for them all, said, " We are ready to stand
by you in counsel and assistance on every occasion, as
we did by our dear lord whom God has called to
his glory, and to the glory of the holy martyr St.
Edmund." And then were the charters of the King
concerning the gift of the abbacy produced and read
in full audience. Lastly, after a prayer by the abbot
himself, that God might guide him according
to his Divine grace, and " Amen " being responded
by all, he retired to his chamber, spending his day of
festival with more than a thousand dinner guests with
great rejoicing.
While these things were taking place I was the
prior's chaplain, and within four months was made
the abbot's chaplain, noting many things, and com-
mitting them to memory. On the morrow of his
feast the abbot called to him the prior and some few
besides, as if seeking advice from others, though he him-
self knew what he would do. He said that a new seal
should be made with a mitred effigy of him, although
his predecessors- had not the like ; but for a time he
i
40 THE CHRONICLE OF
used the seal of our prior, subscribing at the end
of all letters, that he had no seal of his own and
therefore he used for the time that of the prior.
Afterwards, setting his household in order, he
appointed divers servants to various duties, saying that
he had decided to have twenty-six horses in his
courtyard, and that a child must first creep and then
stand upright and walk. He enjoined this to his
servants beyond all things, that they should take heed
that in his new state he be not dishonoured by a lack
of meat and drink, but rather that they in all things
should anxiously provide for the hospitality of the
house. In ordering and appointing these and all
other things, he fully relied upon God's providence
and his own understanding, and judged it beneath
him to require counsel at another's hand as if he were
not able to look after his own affairs.
The monks marvelled, the knights were discon-
tented, accusing him of arrogance, and, in some
measure censuring him at the King's court, saying that
he refused to govern according to the advice of his
own freemen. As for him, he removed from his own
private counsel the heads of the abbey, lay as well as
clerical ; indeed, all those without whose advice and
assistance the abbey, as it seemed, could not be
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 41
governed. By reason of this circumstance, Ranulf de
Glanville, Justiciary of England, at first held him in
distrust, and was less gracious to him than was fitting,
until it was made clear, by good evidence, that the
abbot had been acting with due caution and prudence
in respect of indoor as well as external matters.
A general court having been summoned, all the
barons, knights and freemen appeared to do homage
on the fourth day of Easter ; when, behold, Thomas
of Hastings, with a great multitude of knights, came
introducing Henry his nephew, not yet a knight,
claiming the stewardship with its perquisites, according
to the tenor of his charter. To whom the abbot
replied, " I do not refuse Henry his right, nor do I
wish so to do. If he were competent to serve me in his
own person, I would assign him necessaries for ten men
and eight horses in my own court-lodge, according to
the tenor of his charter. If you present to me a
steward, his deputy, who is competent and able to
perform the duty, I will receive him in the same
manner as my predecessor retained him at the time of
his decease, namely, with four horses and their appur-
tenances. And if this does not content you, I shall
carry the plaint before the King or his chief justice."
Hereupon the business was deferred.
42 THE CHRONICLE OF
Ultimately there was presented to him a simple
and foolish steward, Gilbert by name, of whom, before
he received him into his household, he spoke to his
friends as follows : " If there be a default in the
administration of the King's justice through the un-
skilfulness of the steward, he will be in mercy of the
King, and not I, for this, that he claims the office by
hereditary right ; and therefore I had much rather
receive him for the present than a sharper witted man
to deceive me. By God's assistance I trust I shall be
my own steward."
After receipt of the homages, the abbot sued for an
aid from the knights, who promised each twenty
shillings ; but immediately they took counsel together
and withheld twelve pounds in respect of twelve
knights, alleging that those twelve ought to assist the
other forty in keeping their castle-guards, and for their
escuages, as well as in respect of the abbot's aid. The
abbot, hearing this, waxed wroth, and said to his
intimate friends that if he lived long enough he would
give them turn for turn and wrong for wrong.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 43
CHAPTER V
THE NEW ABBOT'S REFORMS
AFTER these things the abbot caused inquisition
to be made throughout each manor, concern-
ing the annual quit rents from the freemen, and the
names of the labourers and their tenements, and
the services due from each ; and he reduced all into
writing. Likewise he repaired those old halls and
unroofed houses round which hovered kites and crows.
He built new chapels, and likewise inner chambers f
and upper stories in many places where there never
had been any dwelling-house at all, but only barns.
He also enclosed many parks, which he replenished
with beasts of chase, keeping a huntsman with dogs ;
and, upon the visit of any person of quality, sat with
his monks in some walk of the wood, and sometimes
saw the coursing of the dogs ; but I never saw him
take part in the sport.
He cleared much land, and brought it into
tillage, in all things looking forward to the benefit '
44 THE CHRONICLE OF
likely to accrue to the abbey ; but I wish he had
been equally careful in assigning the manors of
the convent. Nevertheless, he, for a time, kept
our manors of Bradfield and Rougham in hand,
making up the deficiencies of the rents by the ex-
penditure of forty pounds. These he afterwards
reassigned to us when he heard that dissatisfaction
was expressed in the convent, on account of his keep-
ing our manors in his own hand. Likewise in
managing these manors, as well as in all other matters,
he appointed keepers who were far more careful than
their predecessors — some monks, some laymen, to look
after us and our lands more carefully.
He also held the eight hundreds in his own hand,
and, after the death of Robert of Cockfield, he took
in hand the hundred of Cosford, all which he com-
mitted to the keeping of those servants who were of
his own table ; referring matters of greater moment
to his own decision, and deciding by means of others
upon matters of lesser import — indeed, wringing
everything to his own profit.
Moreover, by his command, a general survey was
made throughout the hundreds of the leets and suits,
of hidages and foddercorn, of hen-rents, and of other
dues and rents and issues, which, for the greater part,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 45
had ever been concealed by the farmers. He reduced
it all to writing, so that within four years from the
time of his election, there was not one who could
defraud him of the rents of the abbey to the value of
a single penny, whereas he himself had not received
from his predecessors any writing touching the man-
agement of the abbey, except one small schedule,
wherein were the names of the knights of St.
Edmund and the names of the manors, and what
rent was due on each farm. This book he called his
kalendar, wherein also were entered the debts he had
satisfied ; and this same book he almost daily perused,
as if in the same he were beholding the face of his
honesty in a glass.
The first day that he held a chapter, he confirmed
to us, under his new seal, sixty shillings from South-
rey, which his predecessors had unjustly received
from Edmund, surnamed the golden monk, for the
liberty of holding the same vill to farm all the days
of his life. He also proposed, as a general rule, that
from thenceforth no one should pledge the ornaments
of the church without the assent of the convent, as
had been the custom heretofore, nor that any charter
should be sealed with the convent seal, unless in
chapter in the presence of the convent. He appointed
46 THE CHRONICLE OF
Hugh as sub-sacrist, ordering that William the
sacrist should not have anything to do with the
sacristy, either in the matter of receipt or disburse-
ment, unless by his consent. After this, but not
on the same day, he transferred the former keepers of
the offerings to other offices ; lastly, he deposed the
same William : wherefore those who liked William
said, " Behold the abbot ! Lo, here is the wolf of
whom it was dreamed ! See how he rages ! "
And some of them would have entered into a con-
spiracy against the abbot. When this was disclosed
to him, he, not caring to be altogether silent, nor yet
to disquiet the convent, entered the chapter-house
on the morrow, and pulled out a little bag full of
cancelled deeds, the seals yet hanging thereto, con-
sisting of the securities, partly of his predecessor,
partly of the prior, partly of the sacrist, partly of the
chamberlain, and other officials, whereof the total was
three thousand and fifty-two pounds and one mark
without alloy, besides the interest that had accrued
thereupon, the amount of which could never be ascer-
tained. All these he had arranged for within one year
after his election, and within twelve years entirely
discharged. " Behold," said he, " the good manage-
ment of William, our sacrist ; look at the multitude
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 47
of securities signed with his seal, whereby he has pledged
silken copes, dalmatics, censers of silver and books orna-
mented with gold, without the knowledge of the con-
vent, all which I have redeemed and have restored to you."
He likewise added many other things, showing
why he had deposed the said William : howbeit he
suppressed the real cause, not wishing to put him to
open shame. And when he put Samson the pre-
centor in his place, a person approved by us, and
above all objection, everything was quiet again.
Furthermore, the abbot commanded that the houses
of the sacrist in the cemetery should be entirely
plucked up, as though they were not worthy to stand
upon the earth, by reason of the frequent wine-
bibbings, and certain other acts not to be named,
which he, with grief and indignation, had witnessed
while he was sub-sacrist. So completely did he obliterate
the whole that, within a year, upon the spot where a
noble dwelling had stood, we saw beans growing,
and where casks of wine had lain, nettles abounding.
After the end of Easter, the abbot went over
every one of his and our manors, as well as over those
we had confirmed to the farmers in fee, requiring
from all of them aid and acknowledgment, according
to the law of the land. Thus every day he was in-
48 THE CHRONICLE OF
creasing in secular knowledge, and was turning his
attention to the learning and method of ordering out-
door affairs. Now when he had come to Warkton,
where he slept at night, there came to him a voice
saying, " Samson, arise up quickly " ; and, again,
" Get up without delay." Getting up astonished,
he looked around him, and perceived a light in a
necessary house, namely, a candle ready to fall down
upon the straw, which Reiner the monk had care-
lessly left there. When the abbot had put it out,
going through the house, he perceived the door
(which was the sole entrance) so fastened that it could
only be opened by a key — likewise the windows
fastened : so that if a fire had arisen, he, and all with
him, who slept upon that floor, had surely perished,
for there was no place whence they might get out or
escape.
At that timp? w^prpsr^yer ^ nKpot went, there
came about him Jews as well as Christians, demand-
ing~~clebts, and worrying and importuning him so~that
he could not sleep. Thereupon he became pale and
thin, and was constantly repeating, " My heart will
never restjintil_I know ^ the extent of my debts."
The feast of St. Michael being come, he took~all his
manors into his own hand, with but small store of
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 49
live or dead stock ; he freely forgave Walter of Hat-
field nineteen pounds arrears, that he might absolutely
take back four manors which Hugh the abbot had
confirmed to him, namely, Hargrave and Saxham and
Chevington and Stapleford ; Harlow, indeed, the
abbot deferred to take to himself on the present
occasion.
Once on a time, as we passed through the forest in
returning from London, I inquired in the hearing of
my lord abbot, from an old woman passing by, whose
was this wood, and of what town, who was the
lord, and who was the keeper ? She answered that
the wood belonged to the abbot of St. Edmund,
as part of the town of Harlow, and that the name
of the keeper was Arnald. When I inquired further,
how Arnald conducted himself towards the men of the
town, she answered, that he was a devil incarnate, an
enemy of God, and one to flay the poor alive ;
but now, she added, he is afraid of the new
abbot of St. Edmund, whom he believes to be pru-
dent and vigilant, and therefore he treats the men
gently. On hearing this, the abbot was delighted,
and deferred taking to the manor for a season.
At that time there came unexpectedly the news of Q
the death of the wife of Herlewin of Rungton, who
50 THE CHRONICLE OF
had a charter to hold the same town for her life ; and
the abbot said, " Yesterday, I would have given
sixty marks to have freed the manor from this in-
cumbrance, but now God has freed it." And as he
was going thither without delay, that he might take
that town into his own hand, and on the morrow
was going to Tillener, a part of that manor, there
came a certain knight offering thirty marks for the
tenure of that carucate of land, with the appurten-
ances, by the old rent-service, to wit, four pounds,
whereto the abbot could not agree ; and he had
therefrom in that year twenty-five pounds, and the
second year twenty pounds.
These and such like things induced him to hold
everything in his own keeping ; as it is written else-
where, " Caesar was all in all." In the first place, far
from being inert, he commenced building barns and
byres, above all things solicitous to dress the land
for tillage, and watchful in preserving the woods, in
respect whereof, either in giving or diminishing, he
confessed himself to be a very miser. There was but one
manor, and that was Thorpe, which by his charter he
confirmed to one of English birth, a villein, whose
honesty he trusted the more, as he was a good hus-
bandman, and could not speak French.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 51
Scarcely seven months had elapsed since his election,
when, behold ! there were presented to him the letters
of our lord the Pope, appointing him a judge to
determine causes, for the execution of which he was
incompetent and inexperienced, although he was
thoroughly imbued with liberal arts and divinity, as
befitted a man of learning, a literate man, educated in
the schools and a master in them, known and
approved in his own province. Wherefore he
invited two clerks, learned in the law, and associated
them to himself. Of their advice he availed himself
in ecclesiastical matters, employing himself upon the
decrees and decretal epistles, when an opportunity
offered ; so that within a short time, as well by refer-
ences to books as by the handling of causes, he became
reputed a discreet judge, proceeding in every suit
according to form of law ; so a certain person said,
" Cursed be the court of this abbot, where neither
gold nor silver can help me to confound my adver-
sary."
In process of time, becoming somewhat practised
in secular causes, and taught by an inborn common-
sense, he became of so subtle a wit that all marvelled ;
indeed, by Osbert Fitz-Hervey, the under-sheriff, it
was said, " This abbot is a wrangler ; if he goes oa
P
5 2 THE CHRONICLE OF
as he has begun, he will outwit us all, many as we
be." Now the abbot becoming an expert man in
causes of this description, was made a justice errant,
but yet he preserved himself from error and corrup-
tion. But "envy aims at the highest." When his
men made their plaints to him in the court of St.
Edmund, because he was unwilling to give hasty
judgment, or to "believe every spirit," but preferred
to proceed in due course of law, well knowing that
the merits of causes are developed by the allegations
of the parties, it was said of him that he would
not do justice to any complainant, unless by the
intervention of money given or promised.
Because his aspect was acute and penetrating, with a
Cato-like countenance, rarely smiling, it was said that
he inclined to severity rather than kindness. In receiv-
ing amerciaments for any forfeiture, it was said that
"Mercy rejoices against judgment" ; for as it seemed
to many, when it became an affair of receiving money,
he seldom remitted what by law he was entitled to
take.
In like manner as he advanced in wisdom, so did
he advance in thoughtful care, in respect of keeping
and acquiring property, and in creditably regulating
his expenses. But even here many backbiters took
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 53
their ground, saying that he resorted to the sacristy
at his own pleasure, sparing his own purse, letting his
corn lie by for a dear season, and taking to his
manors in other sort than his predecessors did, charging
the cellarer with the entertainment of those guests he
himself was bound to receive ; so that by this craft it
might be said that the abbot was careful and well
stocked at the end of the year ; while, on the other
hand, the convent and officials were to be accounted
careless and improvident. In reply to these back-
bitings, I used to observe, that if he took anything
from the sacrist, he turned it to the good account of
the church, and this none of these slanderers could
deny. And in good truth, greater and more numerous
works were carried out by the help of the offerings
to the sacristy within fifteen years after his election
than in the forty years before it.
To the other objections, that the abbot was fond
of betaking himself to his manors, I was wont to
answer, and did excuse him, saying, " The reason is
because the abbot is more in spirits and in good
humour elsewhere than at home." And this was
true enough, whether it were by reason of the
frequency of suitors who came about him, or from the
tale-bearers, wherefore it frequently happened that
y
54 THE CHRONICLE OF
by the appearance of severity in his face he lost
much favour and grace in the eyes of his guests, not-
withstanding they fared well in eating and drinking.
I noticed this, and took an opportunity, when I was
with him in private, to say, " There are two things in
which I am much surprised at you." When he had
inquired what these things might be, " One is that
in spite of your position you still encourage the
doctrine of the school of Melun, which says that
from a false premiss no conclusion can follow, and
other idle sayings.'*
To which, when he had said his say, I added,
"The other indeed is, that when you are at home
you do not exhibit the same gracious demeanour
you do when elsewhere, nor do you mix in society
with those brethren who have a strong regard
for you, and have chosen you for their lord ; but
contrariwise, you seldom associate with them, nor do
you, as they say, make yourself on sociable terms with
them." Hearing this, he changed countenance, and
hanging down his head, said, " You are a simple-
ton, and speak foolishly ; you ought to know what
Solomon says — ' Hast thou many daughters : show
not thyself cheerful toward them.' I indeed held my
peace from thenceforth, setting a watch on my mouth.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 5 5
On another occasion I said, " My lord, I heard
you this night after matins wakeful and sighing
heavily, contrary to your usual wont." He answered,
" No wonder ; you are partaker of my good things,
in meat and drink, in riding abroad, and such q?
like, but you have little need to care concerning the
conduct of the house and household of the saints, and
arduous business of the pastoral care which harasses
me and makes my spirit to groan and be heavy."
Whereto I, lifting up my hands to heaven, made
answer, "From such anxiety, almighty and most
merciful Lord, deliver me ! "
I have heard the abbot say, that if he could have
been as he was before he became a monk, and
could have had five or six marks of income where-
with he could have been supported in the schools, he
never would have been monk or abbot. On another
occasion he said with an oath, that if he could have
foreseen what and how great a charge it had been to
govern the abbey, he would rather than abbot and
lord have been master of the almonry, and keeper of
the books, for this office he said he had ever
desired above all others. Yet who would credit
this ? Scarcely myself ; and not even myself, except
that being constantly with him by day and night for
56 THE CHRONICLE OF
six years, I had had the opportunity of becoming fully
conversant with the worthiness of his life and the
wisdom of his rule.
He once related to me, that when he was a child
of nine years old, he dreamed that he was standing
before the gates of the cemetery of the church of St.
Edmund, and that the devil, with outspread arms,
would have seized him, had not St. Edmund, standing
by, taken him in his arms ; whereupon he screamed
whilst dreaming in his sleep, "St. Edmund, save
me ! " and thus calling upon him whose name
he had never heard, he awoke. His mother
was alarmed at such an outcry, but having
heard the dream, took him to St. Edmund for the
purpose of praying there; and when they had
come to the gate of the cemetery he said, " See,
mother, this is the place, this is the very same gate
which I saw in my dream when the devil was about
to seize me " ; and he knew the place as well, to use
his own words, as if he had seen it before with his
natural eyes. The abbot himself interpreted this
dream thus : By the devil were signified the pleasures
of this mortal state, which would fain have drawn him
away ; but St. Edmund threw his arms around him
when he made him a monk.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 57
Once when he was told that certain of the convent
grumbled at some act of his, he said to me as I sat by
him, " Good God ! there is need enough that I
should remember that dream wherein it was dreamed
of me, before I was made abbot, that I was to rage
among them as a wolf. True it is that above all
earthly things I dread lest the convent behave in
such a way that I shall be compelled so to rage. But
even so it is, when they say or do anything against
my will, I bring to mind that dream of theirs, and
although I do rage in my own soul, growling and
gnashing my teeth in secret, I do violence to myself
lest I should actually rage in word or deed, and " My
hidden grief chokes me and my heart surges within me."
Although by nature he was quick to wrath, and
easily kindled to anger, yet with a great struggle he
mostly restrained his temper in view of the dignity
he held. Concerning which he sometimes used to
boast, " This and that I saw, this and that I heard,
yet I held my peace." The abbot once said, seated
in chapter, certain words by which he seemed to
eagerly desire the good-will of the monastery. " I do
not wish," he said, " that any one should come to me
to accuse another, unless he is willing to say the same
openly. If any one does otherwise, I will publicly
tv
w
58 THE CHRONICLE OF
proclaim the name of the accuser. I wish also that
every cloister monk shall have free access to me, that
he may speak to me, whenever he chooses, concerning
all things necessary to him." This he said, because
our leaders in the days of Abbot Hugh, wishing that
nothing should be done in the monastery except
through them, had decreed that no cloister monk
should speak with the abbot unless he had first told
the abbot's chaplain what he wished to speak about.
On a certain day he made an order in chapter,
that every one who had a seal of his own should give
it up to him, and so it was accordingly done, and there
were found three-and-thirty seals. He himself
explained the reason of this order, forbidding that
any official should incur any debt above twenty shil-
lings without the assent of the prior and convent, as
had been the custom heretofore. To the prior and
to the sacrist, indeed, he returned their seals, but
kept the rest himself.
At another time he ordered to be delivered up to
him all the keys of the chests, cupboards, and
hanapers, strictly enjoining that thenceforth none pre-
sume to have a chest or anything locked up, unless
by special permission, or otherwise possess anything
beyond what the rule allows. Notwithstanding
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 59
this he gave general licence to every one of us to
have money to the amount of two shillings, if so
much happened to have been given to us by way of
charity ; so that it might be expended upon poor
relations, or for purposes of piety.
On another occasion the abbot said, that he was
desirous of adhering to our ancient custom respecting
the entertainment of guests ; that is, when the abbot
is at home, he is to receive all guests of whatsoever . j
condition they may be, except religious and priests of
secular habit, and except their men who present them-
selves at the gate of the court in the name of their
masters ; but if the abbot be not at home, then all
guests of whatsoever condition are to be received by
the cellarer up to thirteen horses. But if a layman
or clerk shall come with more than thirteen horses,
they shall be entertained by the servants of the abbot,
either within the court-lodge, or without, at the
expense of the abbot. All religious men, even bishops
if they happen to be monks, are to be charged upon
the cellary and at the expense of the convent, unless
the abbot will do any one special honour, and enter-
tain him in his own hall at his own expense.
6o THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER VI
samson's personal characteristics
THE abbot Samson was of middle stature, nearly
bald, having a face neither round nor yet long,
a prominent nose, thick lips, clear and very piercing
eyes, ears of the nicest sense of hearing, arched eye-
brows, often shaved ; and he soon became hoarse
from a short exposure to cold. On the day of his
election he was forty and seven years old, and had
been a monk seventeen years. He had then a few
grey hairs in a reddish beard, and a very few in a
black and somewhat curly head of hair. But
within fourteen years after his election it became as
white as snow.
He was a man remarkably temperate, never slothful,
of strong constitution, and willing to ride or walk till
old age gained upon him and moderated such inclina-
tion. On hearing the news of the Cross being taken,
and the loss of Jerusalem, he began to use under gar-
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 61
ments of horsehair and a horsehair shirt, and to
abstain from flesh and flesh meats. Nevertheless, he
desired that meats should be placed before him at
table for the increase of the alms dish. Sweet milk,
honey and such like sweet things he ate with greater
appetite than other food.
He abhorred liars, drunkards and talkative folk ; for
virtue ever is consistent with itself and rejects
contraries. He also much condemned persons given
to murmur at their meat or drink, and particularly
monks who were dissatisfied therewith, himself
adhering to the uniform course he had practised
when a monk. He had likewise this virtue in him-
self, that he never changed the mess set before him.
Once when I, then a novice, happened to be
serving in the refectory, I wished to prove
if this were true, and 1 thought I would place
before him a mess which would have displeased
any other than him, in a very black and broken dish.
But when he looked at it, he was as one that saw it
not. Some delay took place, and I felt sorry that I
had so done ; and snatching away the dish, I
changed the mess and the dish for a better, and brought
it to him ; but this substitution he took in ill part,
and was angry with me for it.
•/s
62 THE CHRONICLE OF
An eloquent man was he, both in French and
Latin, but intent more on the substance and method
of what was to be said than on the style of words.
He could read English books most admirably, and was
wont to preach to the people in English, but in the
dialect of Norfolk, where he was born and bred ;
and so he caused a pulpit to be set up in the church
for the ease of the hearers, and for the ornament of
the church. The abbot also seemed to prefer an
active life to one of contemplation, and rather com-
mended good officials than good monks. He very
seldom approved of any one on account of his literary
acquirements, unless he also possessed sufficient
knowledge of secular matters ; and whenever he
chanced to hear that any prelate had resigned his
pastoral care and become an anchorite, he did not
praise him for it. He never applauded men of too
compliant a disposition, saying, " He who endeavours
to please all, ought to please none.,,
In the first year of his being abbot, he appeared to
hate all flatterers, and especially among the monks ;
but in process of time it seemed that he heard them
more readily, and was more familiar with them. It
once happened that a certain brother of ours, skilled
in this art, had bent the knee before him, and under
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 63
the pretence of giving advice, had poured the oil of
flattery into his ears. I, standing apart, smiled.
The brother having departed, I was called and
asked why I had smiled. I answered, " The world
is full of flatterers." And the abbot replied, "My
son, it is long that I have known flatterers ; I cannot,
therefore, avoid hearing them. There are many things
to be passed over and taken no notice of, if the peace
of the convent is to be preserved. I will hear what
they have to say, but they shall not deceive me if I
can help it, as they did my predecessor, who trusted
so unadvisedly to their counsel that for a long time
before his death he had nothing for himself or his
household to eat, unless it were obtained on trust
from creditors ; nor was there anything to be
distributed among the poor on the day of his burial,
unless it were the fifty shillings which were received
from Richard the farmer, of Palgrave, which very
fifty shillings the same Richard on another occasion
had to pay to the King's bailiffs, who demanded the
entire farm-rent for the King's use." With this
saying I was comforted. His study, indeed, was to
have a well-regulated house, and enough wherewith
to keep his household, so managing that the usual
allowance for a week, which his predecessor could not
64 THE CHRONICLE OF
make last for five days, sufficed him for eight, nine or
even ten days, if so be that he was at his manors
without any extraordinary arrival of guests. Every
week, indeed, he audited the expenses of the house,
not by deputy, but in his own person, which his
predecessor had never been wont to do.
For the first seven years he had only four courses in
^\ his house, afterwards only three, except presents and
game from his parks, or fish from his ponds. And if
at any time he retained any one in his house at the
request of a great man, or of a particular friend, or
messengers, or minstrels, or any person of that
description, by taking the opportunity of going
beyond sea or travelling afar off, he prudently
disencumbered himself of such hangers-on.
The monks with whom the abbot had been the
Y most intimate, and whom he liked best before
he became abbot, he seldom promoted to offices
merely for old acquaintance' sake, unless they were
fit persons. Wherefore certain of our brethren who
had been favourable to his election as abbot, said
that he cared less for those who had liked him before
he became abbot than was proper, and particularly
that those were most favoured by him who both
openly and in secret had spoken evil of him,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 65
nay, had even publicly called him, in the
hearing of many, a passionate unsociable man,
a proud fellow, and Norfolk barrator. But on the
other hand, as after he had received the abbacy
he exhibited no indiscreet partiality for his old
friends, so he refrained from showing anything
like hatred or dislike to many others according to
their deserts, returning frequently good for evil, and
doing good to them that persecuted him.
He had this way also, which I have never
observed in any other man, that he had an
affectionate regard for many to whom he seldom or
never showed a countenance of love ; according to
the common proverb which says, "Where love is,
there is the regard of love." And another thing T
wondered at in him was, that he knowingly suffered
loss in his temporal matters from his own servants,
and confessed that he winked at them ; but this I
believe to have been the reason, that he might watch
a convenient opportunity when the matter could be
advisedly remedied, or that by passing over these
matters without notice, he might avoid a greater loss.
He loved his kinsmen indifferently, but not less
tenderly than others, for he had not, or assumed not
to have, any relative within the third degree. I
F
*l
66 THE CHRONICLE OF
have heard him state that he had relations who
were noble and gentle, whom he never would in
any wise recognize as relations ; for, as he said, they
would be more a burden than an honour to him, if
they should happen to find out their relationship.
But he always acknowledged those as kinsmen who
had treated him as such when he was a poor monk.
Some of these relations (that is, those whom he
found useful and suitable) he appointed to various
oflices in his own house, others he made keepers of
manors. But those whom he found unworthy, he
irrevocably dismissed from his presence.
A certain man of lowly station, who had man-
aged his patrimony faithfully, and had served him
devotedly in his youth, he looked upon as his
dearest kinsman, and gave to his son, who was a
clerk, the first church that fell vacant after he came
to the charge of the abbey, and also advanced all the
other sons of this man.
He invited to him a certain chaplain who had
maintained him in the schools of Paris by the sale of
holy water, and bestowed upon him an ecclesiastical
benefice sufficient for his maintenance by way of
vicarage. He granted to a certain servant of his
predecessor food and clothing all the days of his life,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 67
he being the very man who put the fetters upon
him at his lord's command when he was cast into
prison. To the son of Elias, the cupbearer of
Hugh the abbot, when he came to do homage for
his father's land, he said, in full court, " I have for
these seven years deferred taking your homage for
the land which the abbot Hugh gave your
father, because that gift was to the damage of the
manor of Elmswell. Now I am overcome when I
call to my mind what your father did for me
when I was in fetters, for he sent to me a portion of
the very wine whereof his lord had been drinking,
and bade me be strong in God." To Master
Walter, the son of Master William of Diss, suing at
his grace for the vicarage of the church of Cheving-
ton, he replied, " Your father was master of the
schools, and at the time when I was a poor clerk he
granted me freely and in charity an entrance to his
school, and the means of learning ; now I, for the
sake of God, do grant you what you ask."
He addressed two knights of Risby, William and
Norman, at the time when they were adjudged to
be in his mercy, publicly in this wise : "When I
was a cloister monk, sent to Durham upon business
of our church, and thence returning through Risby,
X
68 THE CHRONICLE OF
being benighted, I sought a night's lodging from
Norman, and I received a blank refusal ; but going
to the house of William, and seeking shelter, I was
honourably entertained by him. Now, therefore,
those twenty shillings, which are ' the mercy,' I will
without mercy exact from Norman ; but contrari-
wise, to William I give thanks, and the amerciament
of twenty shillings that is due from him I do with
pleasure remit."
A certain young girl, seeking her food from
door to door, complained to the abbot that
one of the sons of Richard, the son of Drogo,
had forced her ; and at length, by the suggestion
of the abbot, for the sake of peace, she took
one mark in satisfaction. The abbot, moreover,
took from the same Richard four marks for licence to
agree ; but all those five marks he ordered forth-
with to be given to a certain chapman, upon the
condition that he should take this poor woman to
wife.
In the town of St. Edmund, the abbot purchased
stone houses, and assigned them for the use of the
schools, so that thereby the poor clerks should be for
ever free from house-rent, towards payment whereof
all the scholars, whether rich or poor, were com-
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 69
pelled twice in the year to subscribe a penny or a
halfpenny.
The recovery of the manor of Mildenhall for one
thousand and one hundred marks of silver, and the
expulsion of the Jews from the town of St. Edmund,
and the founding of the new hospital at Babwell,
are proofs of great virtue.
The lord abbot sought from the King letters
enjoining that the Jews should be driven away from
the town of St. Edmund, he stating that what-
soever is within the town of St. Edmund, or within
the banlieue thereof, of right belongs to St. Edmund :
therefore the Jews ought to become the men of St.
Edmund, otherwise they should be expelled from the
town. Licence was accordingly given that he might
put them forth, saving, nevertheless, that they had
all their chattels and the value of their houses and
lands. And when they were expelled, and with an
armed force conducted to divers towns, the abbot
gave order that all those that from henceforth
should harbour or entertain Jews in the town of St.
Edmund should be solemnly excommunicated in
every church and at every altar. Howbeit it was
afterwards conceded by the King's justices that if the
Jews should come to the great pleas of the abbot to
f
70 THE CHRONICLE OF
demand their debts from their debtors, on such
occasion they might for two days and two nights
lodge within the town, and on the third day be
permitted to depart freely.
The abbot offered King Richard five hundred
marks for the manor of Mildenhall, stating that the
manor was worthy sixty and ten pounds by the
year, and for so much had been recorded in the
great roll of Winchester. And when he had
conceived hopes of success in his application, the
matter rested till the morrow. In the meanwhile
there came a certain person to the King, telling
him that this manor was well worth yearly a
hundred pounds. On the morrow, therefore, when
the abbot urged his suit, the King said, " It is of
no avail my lord abbot, what you ask me ; you
shall either give a thousand marks, or you shall
not have the manor." And whereas the Queen
Eleanor, according to the custom of the realm, ought
to have one hundred marks where the King receives a
thousand, she took of us a great gold cup of the
value of a hundred marks, and gave us back the
same cup for the soul of her lord, King Henry,
who first gave the same cup to St. Edmund.
On another occasion, when the treasure of our
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 71
church was carried to London for the ransom of i^
King Richard, the same Queen redeemed that cup
for one hundred marks, and restored it to us, taking
in return our charter from us as an evidence of our
most solemn promise, that we should never again
alienate that cup from our church upon any occasion
whatever.
Now, when all this money, which was got together
with great difficulty, had been paid, the abbot held a
chapter, and said he ought to have some portion of
the great advantage derivable from so valuable a
manor. And the convent answered that it was just,
and " Let it be according to your wish." The
abbot replied that he could well claim the half part
as his own right, demonstrating that he had paid p.
towards this purchase more than four hundred
marks, with much inconvenience to himself. But
he said that he would be content with a certain
allotment of that manor called Icklingham, which
was most freely granted him by the convent.
When the abbot heard this, he said, " And I <do
accept this part of the land to my own use, but
not that I intend to keep the same in my own hand,
or that I shall give it to my relations, but for the
good of my soul and for all your souls in common, I
72 THE CHRONICLE OF
V give the same to the new hospital at Babwell, for the
relief of the poor, and the maintenance of hospi-
tality." As he said, so it was done, and afterwards
confirmed by the King's Charter.
These and all other like things worthy to be
written down and lauded for ever did the abbot
Samson. But he said he had done nothing, unless
he could have our church dedicated in his lifetime ;
which done, he said he wished to die. For the
solemnization of this act, he said he was ready to pay
two thousand marks of silver, so that the King should
be present, and the affair be completed with the
reverence it demanded.
The abbot was informed that the church of Wool-
pit was vacant, Walter of Coutances being chosen to
the bishopric of Lincoln. He presently convened
the prior and great part of the convent, and taking
up his story thus began : " You well know what
trouble I had in respect of the church of Woolpit ;
and in order that it should be obtained for your
exclusive use I journeyed to Rome at your instance,
in the time of the schism between Pope Alexander
and Octavian. I passed through Italy at that
time when all clerks bearing letters of our lord the
Pope Alexander were taken. Some were imprisoned,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 73
some hanged, and some, with nose and lips cut
off, sent forward to the pope, to his shame and
confusion. I, however, pretended to be Scotch ;
and putting on the garb of a Scotchman, and the
gesture of one, I often brandished my staft, in the
way they use that weapon called a gaveloc, at
those who mocked me, using threatening language,
after the manner of the Scotch. To those that met
and questioned me as to who I was, I answered
nothing, but, « Ride ride Rome, turne Cantwereberei.'
This did I to conceal myself and my errand, and that
I should get to Rome safer in the guise of a Scotch-
man.
" Having obtained letters from the pope, even as I
wished, on my return I passed by a certain castle, as
my way led me from the city ; and behold the officers
thereof came about me, laying hold upon me, and
saying, * This vagabond who makes himself out to be
a Scotchman is either a spy or bears letters from the
false pope Alexander.' And while they examined
my ragged clothes, and my boots, and my breeches,
and even the old shoes which I carried over my
shoulders, after the fashion of the Scotch, I thrust my
hand into the little wallet which I carried, wherein
was contained the letter of our lord the pope, placed
74 THE CHRONICLE OF
under a little cup I had for drinking. The Lord
God and St. Edmund so permitting, I drew out both
the letter and the cup together, so that extending my arm
aloft, I held the letter underneath the cup. They
could see the cup plain enough, but they did not see
the letter ; and so I got clear out of their hands, in
the name of the Lord. Whatever money I had
about me they took away ; therefore I had to beg
from door to door, without any payment, until I
arrived in England.
"But hearing that this church had been given to
Geoffrey Ridel, my soul was heavy, because I had
laboured in vain. Coming, therefore, home, I crept
under the shrine of St. Edmund, fearing lest the
abbot should seize and imprison me, although I
deserved no punishment ; nor was there a monk who
durst speak to me, or a layman who durst bring me
food except by stealth. At last, upon consideration,
the abbot sent me to Acre in exile, and there I
remained a long time.
"These and innumerable other things have I endured
on account of this church of Woolpit, but, blessed be
God, who works all things together, behold ! this very
church, for which I have borne so many sufferings is
given into my hand, and now I have the power of
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 75
presenting it to whomsoever I will, because it is
vacant. And now I restore it to the convent, and I
assign to its exclusive use, the ancient custom or
pension of ten marks, which you have lost for up-
wards of sixty years. I had much rather have given
it to you entire, could I have done so ; but I know
that the Bishop of Norwich might gainsay this ; or
even if he did grant it, he would make it an occasion
to claim to himself such subjection and obedience
from you as it is not advisable or expedient you
should acknowledge. Therefore let us do that which
by law we may ; that is, put a clerk in as vicar, who
shall account to the bishop for the spiritualities, and
to yourselves for ten marks. I propose, if you all
agree, that this vicarage be given to some kinsman
of Roger de Hengham, a monk, and one of your
brethren who was joined with me in that expedition
to Rome, and was exposed to the same perils as my-
self, and in respect of the very same matter."
This said, we all rose and gave thanks ; and
Hugh, a clerk, brother of the said Roger, was nomi-
nated to the aforesaid church, saving to us our pension
of ten marks.
76 THE CHRONICLE OF
e
CHAPTER VII
THE ABBOT AS PEER OF PARLIAMENT
IN that manor of the monks of Canterbury which
is called Eleigh, and is within the hundred of the
abbot, a case of homicide occurred ; but the men
of the archbishop would not permit that those man-
slayers should stand their trial in the court of St.
Edmund. Thereupon the abbot made his plaint to
King Henry, stating that Baldwin the archbishop
was claiming for himself the liberties of our church,
under authority of a new charter, which the King
had given to the church of Canterbury after the
death of St. Thomas. The King hereupon made
answer, that he had never made any grant in deroga-
tion of the rights of our church, nor did he wish to
take away from St. Edmund anything that had ever
belonged to him.
On this intelligence, the abbot said to his most
intimate advisers, " It is the better counsel that
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND jy
the archbishop should have to complain of me
than I of the archbishop. I will put myself in
seisin of this liberty, and afterwards will defend
myself thereupon by the help of St. Edmund, j
whose right our charters testify it to be." Therefore
suddenly and at daybreak, by the assistance of Robert
of Cockfield, there were dispatched about fourscore
men to the town of Eleigh, who took by surprise
those three manslayers, and led them bound to St.
Edmund, and cast them into the body of the gaol
there.
Now, the archbishop complaining of this, Ranulf
de Glanville, the justiciary, commanded that those men
be put by gage and pledges to stand their trial in that
court wherein they ought to stand trial ; and the
abbot was summoned to come before the King's
court to answer touching the violence and injury which
he was said to have done to the archbishop. The
abbot thereupon offered himself several times with-
out any essoin.
At length, upon Ash Wednesday, they stood before
the King in the chapter house of Canterbury, and
the charters of the King on one side and the other
were read in court. And our lord the King said :
" These charters are of the same age, and emanate
(
78 THE CHRONICLE OF
from the same King, Edward. I know not what I
can say, unless it be that these charters contradict
each other." To whom the abbot said : " Whatever
observations may apply to the charters, we are seised,
and hitherto have been ; and of this I am willing to
put myself upon the verdict of the two counties of
Norfolk and Suffolk, if they do allow this to be the
case."
But Archbishop Baldwin, having first conferred with
his advisers, said that the men of Norfolk and Suffolk
greatly loved St. Edmund, and that great part of
those counties was under the control of the abbot,
and therefore he was unwilling to stand by their
decision. The King at this waxed wroth, and in
indignation got up, and in departing said, " He that
is able to receive it, let him receive it." And so
the matter was put off, and the case is yet undecided.
However, I observed that some of the men of the
monks of Canterbury were wounded even to death
by the country folk of the town of Milden, which is
situate in the hundred of St. Edmund ; and because
they knew that the prosecutor ought to make suit to
the jurisdiction wherein the culprit is, they chose to
be silent and to put up with it, rather than make
complaint thereupon to the abbot or his bailiffs,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 79
because in no wise would they come into the court
of St. Edmund to plead there.
After this the men of Eleigh set up a certain
cucking-stool, whereat justice was to be done in
respect of deceits in the measuring of bread or corn ;
whereof the abbot complained to the Lord Bishop of
Ely, then justiciary and chancellor. But he was any-
thing but desirous to hear the abbot, because it was
said that he was smelling after the archbishopric,
which at that time was vacant. Some time after-
wards, when he had come on a visitation, being
entertained as legate, before he departed he made a
speech at the shrine of the holy martyr. The abbot,
seizing the opportunity, said to all present, "My
lord bishop, the liberty which the monks of Canter-
bury claim for themselves is the right of St. Edmund,
whose body is here present ; and because you do not
choose to render me assistance to protect the j
privileges of his church, I place that plaint between
him and you. Let him from henceforth get justice
done to himself." The chancellor deigned not to
answer a single word ; but within a year from that
time was driven from England, and experienced
divine vengeance.
Now when the same chancellor, on his return
80 THE CHRONICLE OF
from Germany, had arrived at Ipswich, and rested the
night at Hitcham, news was brought that he wished
to take St. Edmund in his way, and would hear mass
with us on the morrow. The abbot, therefore, gave
strict injunctions that the offices of the church should
not be celebrated so long as the chancellor was
present in the church ; for he said he had heard at
London that the Bishop of London had pronounced
in the presence of six bishops that the Chancellor was
excommunicate, and had left England excommuni-
cate, particularly for the violence he committed
upon the Archbishop of York at Dover.
Therefore when the chancellor came to us on the
morrow, he found no one, neither clerk nor monk,
who would sing a mass. Indeed, not only the priest
standing at the first mass, and beginning the canon
of the mass, but the other priests standing before
the altars, ceased, remaining with unmoved lips
until a messenger came, saying that he had departed
from the church. The chancellor put up with it at
the time, but did many injuries to the abbot, until
at length, by the intervention of friends, both parties
returned to the kiss of peace.
When King Henry had taken the Cross, and had
come to us within a month afterwards to pay his
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 81
devotions, the abbot privily made for himself a
cross of linen cloth, and holding in one hand
the cross and a needle and thread, he requested
licence from the King to take upon himself the cross.
But this privilege was denied him, upon the suggestion
of John, Bishop of Norwich, who said that it was not
expedient for the country, or indeed safe for the
counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, that the Bishop of
Norwich and the Abbot of St. Edmund should be
both away at the same time.
When the news came to London of the capture of
King Richard and his imprisonment in Germany, and
the barons met to take counsel thereupon, the abbot
started up before them all, saying that he was quite
ready to seek his lord the King, either in disguise or
any other way, until he had discovered where he was,
and had gained certain intelligence of him ; by reason
whereof he obtained great approbation.
When the chancellor, the Bishop of Ely, filled the
office of legate, and in that capacity was holding a
council at London, he proposed __certain decrees
against the black monks, taking notice of their
wandering to St. Thomas and St. Edmund, on the
excuse of pilgrimage, and inveighed against abbots,
restricting them in the number of their horses.
G
82 THE CHRONICLE OF
Abbot Samson replied, " We do not admit any
decree against that rule of St. Benedict which allows
the abbots the free and absolute government of their
monks. I keep the barony of St. Edmund and his
kingdom ; nor are thirteen horses sufficient for me as
they may be for some abbots, unless I have more to
enable me to execute the King's justice."
Whilst there was war throughout England, during
the captivity of King Richard, the abbot, with his
whole convent, solemnly excommunicated all movers
of the war and disturbers of the public peace, not
fearing the Earl John, the King's brother, nor any
other, so that he was styled the "stout-hearted
abbot." After this he went to the siege of Windsor,
where he appeared in armour with certain other
abbots of England, having his own standard, and
retaining many knights at heavy charges, being more
remarkable there for his counsel than for his piety.
But we cloister folk thought this act rather perilous,
fearing lest in consequence some future abbot might
be compelled to attend in person upon any warlike
expedition. On the conclusion of a truce he went into
Germany, and there visited the King with many
gifts.
After the return of King Richard to England,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 83
licence was granted for holding tournaments ; for
which purpose many knights met between Thetford
and St. Edmund. The abbot forbade them ; but
they, resisting, fulfilled their desire. On another
occasion there came twenty-four young men with
their followers, sons of noblemen, to have their
revenge at the aforesaid place ; which being done,
they returned into the town to put up there. The
abbot hearing of this, ordered the gates to be locked,
and all of them to be kept within. The next day
was the vigil of Peter and Paul the apostles. There-
fore, having passed their word and promising that
they would not go forth without permission, they
all dined with the abbot on that day. After dinner, fj
when the abbot retired to his chamber, they all
arose and began to carol and sing, sending into the
town for wine, drinking and then shouting, depriving
the abbot and convent of their sleep, and doing
everything in scorn of the abbot. They spent the
day until the evening in this manner ; and refused
to desist, even when the abbot commanded them.
But when evening was come, they broke open the
gates of the town and went forth by force. The
abbot, indeed, solemnly excommunicated all of them,
yet not without first consulting Archbishop Hubert,
84 THE CHRONICLE OF
at that time justiciary ; and many of them came,
promising amendment and seeking absolution.
The abbot often sent his messengers to Rome, by
no means empty-handed. The first he sent, immedi-
ately after he was consecrated, obtained in general
terms all the liberties and privileges which had been
granted of yore to his predecessors, even in the time
of the schism. Next he obtained, first among the
abbots of England, that he might be able to give
episcopal benediction solemnly, wheresoever he might
happen to be, and this he obtained for himself and
for his successors. Afterwards he obtained a general
exemption for himself and his successors, from all
Archbishops of Canterbury, which Abbot Hugh had
only acquired for himself personally. In these con-
firmations Abbot Samson caused to be inserted
many new privileges for the greater liberty and
security of our church.
There once came a certain clerk to the abbot,
bearing letters of request for procuring a benefice.
And the abbot, drawing forth from his desk seven
apostolic writings, with the leaden seals hanging
to them, made answer : " Look at these apostolic
writings, whereby divers popes require that certain
benefices should be given to divers clerks. When I
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 85
shall have quieted those who have come before you,
I will give you your rent ; for he who first cometh
to the mill ought first to have his grist."
There was a general court summoned for the
hundred of Risbridge, to hear the plaint and trial of
the Earl of Clare, at Witham. He, indeed, accom-
panied by many barons and knights, including the
Earl Alberic and many others, stated that his bailiffs
had given him to understand that they were accus-
tomed to receive yearly for his use five shillings from
the hundred and the bailiffs of the hundred, and that
this was now unjustly detained ; and he alleged that
the land of Alfric, the son of Withgar, who had in
ancient time been lord of that hundred, had been
granted to his predecessors at the conquest of England.
But the abbot, taking thought for his own interest, with-
out stirring from his place, answered, " It is a strange
thing, my lord earl ; your case fails you. King
Edward the Confessor gave, and by his charter con-
firmed, to St. Edmund, this entire hundred ; and of
those five shillings there is no mention made therein.
You must tell us for what service, or for what reason,
you demand those five shillings." And the earl, after
advising with his attendants, replied that it was his
office to carry the standard of St. Edmund in battle,
86 THE CHRONICLE OF
and for that cause the five shillings were due to him.
The abbot answered, " Of a truth it seems a mean
thing that such a man as the Earl of Clare, should
receive such a petty gift for such a service. To the
Abbot of St. Edmund, it is but a slight grievance to
give five shillings. The Earl Roger Bigot holds him-
self as seised, and asserts that he is seised, of the office
of bearing the standard of St. Edmund ; indeed, he
actually did bear it when the earl of Leicester was
taken and the Flemings destroyed. Thomas of
Mendham also claims this as his right. When,
therefore, you shall have proved against these your
right, I will with great pleasure pay you the five
shillings you now seek to recover of me." The earl
upon this said that he would talk the matter over
with the Earl Roger, his kinsman, and so the matter
was put off even to this day.
On the death of Robert of Cockfield, there came
Adam, his son, and with him many of his relations,
the Earl Roger Bigot, and many other great men, and
made suit to the abbot for the tenements of the
aforesaid Adam, and especially for the half hundred
of Cosford, to be held by the annual payment of one
hundred shillings, just as if it had been his hereditary
right ; indeed, they all said that his father and his grand-
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 87
father had held it for fourscore years past and more.
When the abbot got an opportunity of speaking,
putting his two fingers up to his two eyes, he said,
" May I be deprived of these eyes on that day, nay,
in that hour, wherein I grant to any one a hundred
to be held in hereditary right, unless indeed the King,
who is able to take away from me the abbey and my
life with it, should force me to do so."
Explaining to them the reason of that saying, he
averred, " If any one were to hold a hundred as an
inheritance, and he should make forfeit to the King
in any wise, so that he ought to lose his inheritance,
forthwith will the Sheriff of Suffolk and the King's
bailiffs have seisin of the hundred, and exercise their
own power within our liberties ; and if they should
have the ward of the hundred, the liberty of the eight
hundreds and a half will be endangered."
And then addressing himself to Adam, he said, " If
you, who claim an inheritance in this hundred, should
take to wife any free woman who should hold but
one acre of land of the King in chief, the King, after
your death, would possess himself of all that your tene-
ment, together with the wardship of your son, if he
be under age ; and thus the King's bailiffs would enter
upon the hundred of St. Edmund, to the prejudice
88 THE CHRONICLE OF
of the abbot. Besides all this, your father acknow-
ledged to me that he claimed nothing by right of
inheritance in the hundred ; but because his service
was satisfactory to me, I permitted him to hold it
all the days of his life, according as he deserved of me."
Upon the abbot saying thus much, money was
offered ; but he could not be persuaded by words or
money. At last it was settled between them thus :
Adam disclaimed the right which he had by word of
mouth claimed in the hundred, and the abbot con-
firmed to him all his other lands ; but touching our
town of Cockfield, no mention was made of that, nor
indeed is it believed that he had a charter thereof;
Semer and Groton he was to hold for the term of
his life.
Herbert the dean erected a windmill upon Haber-
don. When the abbot heard of this, his anger was
so kindled that he would scarcely eat or utter a single
word. On the morrow, after hearing mass, he com-
manded the sacrist, that without delay he should send
his carpenters thither and overturn it altogether, and
carefully put by the wooden materials in safe keeping.
The dean, hearing this, came to him saying that he
was able in law to do this upon his own frank fee,
and that the benefit of the wind ought not to be
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 89
denied to any one. He further said that he only
wanted to grind his own corn there, and nobody else's,
lest it should be imagined that he did this to the
damage of the neighbouring mills. The abbot, his
anger not yet appeased, answered, " I give you as many
thanks as if you had cut off both my feet ; by the
mouth of God I will not eat bread until that building be
plucked down. You are an old man, and you should
have known that it is not lawful even for the King or
his justiciary to alter or appoint a single thing within
the banlieue, without the permission of the abbot and
convent ; and why have you presumed to do such a
thing ? Nor is this without prejudice to my mills,
as you assert, because the burgesses will run to you
and grind their corn at their pleasure, nor can I bv
law turn them away, because they are freemen. Nor
would I endure that the mill of our cellarer, lately
set up, should stand, except that it was erected before
I was abbot. Begone," he said, " begone ; before you
have come to your house, you shall hear what has
befallen your mill."
But the dean being afraid before the face of the
abbot, by the counsel of his son, Master Stephen, fore-
stalled the servants of the sacrist, and without delay
caused that very mill which had been erected by his
9°
THE CHRONICLE OF
own servants to be overthrown. So that when the
servants of the sacrist came thither, they found nothing
to be pulled down.
The abbot was sued in respect of the advowson
of certain churches, and gained the case. Certain
others he also retained, although his right thereto was
challenged, viz., the church of Westley, of Mer-
ingthorp, of Brettenham, of Wendling, of Pakenham,
of Nowton, of Bradfield in Norfolk, the moiety
of the church of Boxford, the church of Scaldwell,
and the church of Endgate. All these, although the
right was challenged by others, he retained, and he
restored to his own right of patronage three portions of
the church of Dickleburgh, and brought back the tene-
ments belonging to those shares to the frank fee of the
church, saving the service which was due therefrom
to the manor of Tivetshall. But the church of
Boxford being void, when an inquest was summoned
thereupon, there came five knights tempting the abbot,
and inquiring what it was they ought to swear.
The abbot would neither give nor promise to them
anything, but said, " When the oath shall be admini-
stered, declare the right according to your con-
sciences." They, indeed, being discontented, de-
parted, and by their inquest took away from him the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 91
advowson of that church, namely, the last presentation.
Nevertheless, he ultimately recovered it after many
charges, and for a fine of ten marks.
The abbot also retained the church of Honington.
This had not become vacant, but the right was
challenged in the time of Durand of Hostesley,
although he produced as evidence of his right the
charter of William, Bishop of Norwich, wherein it
was specified that Robert of Valognes, his father-in-
law, had given that church to Ernald Lovell.
The moiety of the church of Hopton being void,
a controversy arose thereupon between the abbot and
Robert of Elm ; and a day of hearing being appoint-
ed at Hopton, after much altercation, the abbot being
guided by I know not what sudden impulse, said to the
aforesaid Robert, " Do you but swear that this is your
right, and I will allow that it shall be so." And
since that knight refused to swear, it was by the
consent of each party, referred to the oath of sixteen
lawful men of the hundred, who swore that this
belonged to the abbot as his right. Gilbert Fitz-Ralph
and Robert of Cockfield, lords of that fee, were there
present and consenting thereto.
Thereupon, Master Jordan de Ros, who had the
charter of abbot Hugh, as well as the charter of
92 THE CHRONICLE OF
the aforesaid Robert, starting forward, urged that
whichever of them succeeded in proving his claim to
the church, he (Jordan) might hold the parsonage,
that he was parson of the whole church, and that
the clerk last deceased had been his vicar, rendering
him a yearly payment for that moiety. In proof thereof
he produced the charter of Walchelin the archdeacon.
The abbot, greatly moved and angry with him, never
received him in a friendly manner, until the said
Jordan, in a chapter of the monks at Thetford, at the
abbot's instance, resigned into the hands of the
bishop there present that very moiety, without any
reservation or expectation of afterwards recovering
the same, before a great multitude of clerks. This
done, the abbot said, " My lord bishop, I am engaged
by promise to bestow the rent upon some one your
clerk ; and I now give this moiety of this church to
whomsoever of your clerks you will." Then the
bishop requested that in a friendly manner it should
be given to the same Master Jordan ; and so upon
the presentation of the abbot, Jordan got it back again.
Afterwards a controversy arose between the abbot
and the same Jordan, touching the land of Herard
in Harlow, whether it were the frank fee of the
church or not. And when there was summoned a
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 93
jury of twelve knights to make inquest in the
king's court, the inquest was taken in the court of the
abbot at Harlow, by the licence of Ranulf de Glan-
ville, and the recognitors swore that they never knew
that land at any time to have been separated from the
church, but nevertheless that land owed such service
to the abbot as that to which the land of Eustace,
and certain other lands of laymen in the same town
were subject. At length it was agreed between them
thus : Master Jordan in full court acknowledged that
land to be lay fee, and that he claimed nothing
therein, unless by the abbot's grace. He will there-
fore hold that land all the days of his life, rendering
yearly to the abbot twelve pence for all services.
Since, according to the custom of the English,
many persons gave many presents to the abbot, as !
being their head, upon the day of the Circumcision
of our Lord, I, Jocelin, thought to myself, What can
I give ? And I began to reduce into writing all
those churches which are in the gift of the abbot, as
well of our manors as of his, and the reasonable values
of the same, upon the same principle that they could
be fairly set to farm, at a time when corn is at its
ordinary standard price. And, therefore, upon the
commencement of a new year, I gave to the abbot
94 THE CHRONICLE OF
that schedule, as a gift to him, which he received very
gratefully.
I, indeed, because I then was pleasing in his
sight, thought in my heart, that I should hint to
him that some one church should be given to the
w convent, and assigned for the purposes of hospitality,
just as he had wished when he was a poor cloister
monk : for this same thing he himself had, before
his election, suggested the brethren should swear, that
upon whomsoever the lot should fall, that man should
do it. But while I thought upon these things, I
remembered that some one previously had said the
very same thing, and that I had heard the abbot
reply, that he could not dismember the barony ; in
other words, that he ought not to diminish the liberty
and dignity which abbot Hugh and others his pre-
decessors had had, of giving away churches, which
after all scarcely brought any gain or profit to the
convent. On considering this, I held my peace.
The writing I have alluded to was the following : —
"These are the churches of the manors and socages of the
Abbot : The church of Melford is worth forty pounds ; Chev-
ington, ten marks 5 Saxham, twelve marks ; Hargrave, five
marks ; Brettenham, five marks ; Boxford, one hundred
shillings ; Fornham Magna, one hundred shillings ; Stow, one
hundred shillings 5 Honington, five marks 5 Elmswell, three
marks ; Cotton, twelve marks 5 Brocford, five marks ; Pal-
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 95
grave, ten marks ; Great Horningsherth, five marks ; King-
ston, four marks ; Harlow, nineteen marks; Stapleford, three
marks ; Tivetshall, one hundred shillings 5 Worlingworth cum
Bedingfield, twenty marks 5 Soham, six marks ; the moiety of
the church of Wortham, one hundred shillings ; Rungton,
twenty marks ; Thorp, six marks ; Woolpit, over and above the
pension, one hundred shillings ; Rushbrook, five marks 5 the
moiety of the church of Hopton, sixty shillings ; Rickinghall,
six marks ; three parts of the church of Dickleburgh, each part
being worth thirty shillings and upwards ; the moiety of the
church of Gislingham, four marks ; Icklingham, six marks.
Concerning the church of Mildenhall, which is worth forty
marks, and of the moiety of the church of Wetherden, what
shall I say ? Wendling, one hundred shillings ; the church of
Len, ten marks 5 the church of Scaldwell, five marks •,
the church of Warkton . . .
"These are the churches of the manors belonging to the
Convent : Mildenhall, Barton, and Horningsherth, twenty-five
marks, besides the pension ; Rougham, fifteen marks, besides
the pension ; Bradfield, five marks ; Pakenham, thirty marks ;
Southrey, one hundred shillings 5 Risby, twenty marks ;
Nowton, four marks ; Whepstead, fourteen marks 5 Fornham St.
Genevieve, fifteen marks ; Herringswell, nine marks ; Forn-
ham St. Martin, three marks 5 Ingham, ten marks ; Lackford,
one hundred shillings 5 Elveden, ten marks ; Cockfield, twenty
marks ; Semer-Semer, twelve marks ; Groton, five marks 5 the
moiety of the church of Fressingfield, fourteen marks ; Beccles,
twenty marks 5 Broc, fifteen marks ; Hinderclay, ten marks ;
Warkton, ten marks ; Scaldwell, five marks 5 Westley, five
marks ; the church in Norwich, two marks, over and above
the payment of herrings; and two churches in Colches-
ter, three marks, over and above the pension of four shillings 5
Chelsworth, one hundred shillings ; Meringthorp, four marks ;
the moiety of the church of Bradfield in Norfolk, three marks ;
staffacres and fouracres, and the third part of the tithes of the
lordships of Wrabness, six marks."
96 THE CHRONICLE OF
The two counties of Norfolk and Suffolk were put
in the " mercy " of the King by the justices in eyre
for some default, and fifty marks were put upon
Norfolk, and thirty upon Suffolk. And when a
certain portion of that common amerciament was
assessed upon the lands of St. Edmund, and was
sharply demanded, the abbot, without any delay,
went to our lord the King. We found him at
Clarendon ; and when the charter of King Edward,
which discharges all the lands of St. Edmund from all
gelds and scots, had been shown to him, the King
commanded by his writ that six knights of the
county of Norfolk and six of Suffolk should be
summoned to consider before the barons of the
exchequer, whetheV the lordships of St. Edmund
ought to be quit from common amerciament. To
save trouble and expense, only six knights were chosen,
and these for the reason that they had lands in either
county ; namely, Hubert of Briseword,W. Fitz-Hervey,
and William of Francheville, and three others, who
went to London with us, and on behalf of the two
counties gave their verdict in favour of the liberty ot
our church. And thereupon the justices then sitting
enrolled their verdict.
The abbot Samson entered into a contest with his
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 97
knights — himself against all, and all of them against
him. He had stated to them that they ought to
perform the service of fifty individual knights in
escuages, in aids, and the like, because, as they
themselves said, they held so many knights' fees. The
point in dispute was, why ten of those fifty knights
were to be without performing service, or by what
reason or by whose authority the forty should
receive the help of those ten knights. But they
all answered with one voice, that such had ever
been the custom, that is to say, that ten of them
should assist the Other forty, and that they could not
thereupon — nor ought they thereupon — to answer,
nor yet to implead.
When they were summoned in the King's court to
answer hereupon, some, by arrangement, excused
themselves from appearing, the others cunningly
appeared, saying that they ought not to answer with-
out their peers. On another occasion, those pre-
sented themselves who had first absented themselves,
saying in like manner, that they ought not to answer
without their peers who were joined with them in
the same plaint. And when they had several times
thus mocked the abbot, and had involved him in
great and grievous expenses, the abbot complained of
H
P
K
98 THE CHRONICLE OF
this to Hubert, the archbishop, then justiciary, who
replied in open court that each knight ought to plead
singly, and in respect of his own tenure, and said straight
out that the abbot was clever enough and able enough
to prove the rights of his church against all and every
one of them. Then the earl, Roger Bigot, first of
all freely confessed that, in law, he owed to his
superior lord the abbot his service of three entire
knights' fees, in reliefs as well as in escuages and aids ;
but, so far as concerned his performing castle-guard
at the castle of Norwich, he said nothing.
Next came two of these knights, then three, and
again more, until nearly all of them had come, and,
by the earl's example, acknowledged the same service.
Because such acknowledgment thereupon made in the
court of St. Edmund was not sufficient in law, the
abbot took all of them to London at his own charges,
with the wives and women who were inherited of
the lands so held, that they should make the acknow-
ledgment in the King's court, and they all received
separate charters of the concord thus made. Alberic
de Vere and William of Hastings and two others
were in the King's service beyond sea when this was
done, and therefore the plaint concerning them was
stayed. Alberic de Vere was the last who held out
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 99
against the abbot; but as it was, the abbot seized and
sold his cattle, wherefore it behoved him to come
into court, and answer, as did his fellows. Taking
advice upon it, he at length acknowledged to the
abbot and St. Edmund their right.
The knights, therefore, being all defeated, a great
profit would have accrued to the abbot from this
victory unless he had been inclined to spare some of
them ; for so often as twenty shillings are charged
upon a fee, there will remain twelve pounds to the
abbot, and if more or less are assessed, more or less
will remain over as a surplus to him, according to the
strict apportionment. Also the abbot was wont, as
were his predecessors, at the end of every twenty
weeks to give seven shillings for the guard of the castle
of Norwich out of his own purse, for default of three
knights, whose fees Roger Bigot holds of St. Edmund.
Each of the knights of four constabularies used to give
twenty-eight pence when they entered to perform their
guards, and one penny to the marshal who collected
those pence ; and they were accustomed to give
twenty-eight pence and no more, because the ten
knights of the fifth constabulary ought to assist the
other forty, so that whereas they ought to have given
three shillings entire, they only gave twenty-nine
ioo THE CHRONICLE OF
pence, and he whose duty it was to enter to perform
his guard service at the end of four months, entered
at the end of twenty weeks. But at the present time
all the knights give the full three shillings, and there
remains to the abbot the surplus which accrues beyond
twenty-nine pence, from whence he can re-imburse
himself of the aforesaid seven shillings. It is
apparent what force had the words of the abbot
which he spoke the first day, when he took the
homage of his knights, as aforesaid, when all the
knights promised him twenty shillings, and immedi-
ately revoked what they had said, refusing to give
him more than forty pounds in one sum, alleging
that ten knights ought to assist the other forty in aids
and castle-guards, and all such like services.
There is certain land in Tivetshall of the abbot's fee,
which used to pay to the watchmen of the castle of
Norwich waite-fee, that is, twenty shillings per
annum, payable five shillings on each of the four
Ember fasts. This is an ancient customary pay-
ment which the abbot would well wish to do away
with if he could, but considering his inability to
do so, he has up to now held his peace and closed his
eyes to it.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 10:
CHAPTER VIII
THE CASE OF HENRY OF ESSEX
rTj^OR the purpose of diffusing the knowledge of
|_X/ the blessed King and martyr, we have annexed
this, we hope not irrelevantly, to the foregoing.
Not that I who am so insignificant a person, and of
scarcely any account, should set it forth with a
historical title ; but insomuch as Master Jocelin, our
almoner, a man of exalted piety, powerful in word
and deed, did so begin it at the request and desire of
his superior, I may look upon it as my own work,
because, according to the precept of Seneca, whatever
has been well said by another, I may without pre-
sumption ascribe to myself.
When the abbot came to Reading, and we with
him, we were suitably entertained by the monks of
that place, among whom we met Henry of Essex, a
professed monk, who, having obtained an opportunity
of speaking with the abbot, related to him and our-
selves as we all sat together, how he was vanquished
io2 THE CHRONICLE OF
in duel, and how and for what reason St. Edmund
had confounded him in the very hour of battle. I
therefore reduced his tale into writing by the com-
mand of the lord abbot, and wrote it in these words.
As it is impossible for us to shun evil unless it be
apparent, we have thought it worthy to commit to
historical record the acts and excesses of Henry of
Essex, as a warning and not for imitation. The
warnings that can be enforced by anecdotes are useful
and beneficial. The aforesaid Henry, therefore,
while in prosperity was in high esteem amongst
the great men of the realm, a man of much
account, of noble birth, conspicuous by deeds of
arms, the king's standard-bearer, and feared by all on
account of his power. His neighbours endowed the
church of St. Edmund, the King and martyr, with
possessions and rents ; but he not only shut his eyes to
this fact, but also by force and by injuries, with
violence and evil speaking, wrongfully withheld an
annual rent of five shillings, and converted it to his
own use. Nay, indeed, in process of time, when
a cause touching the rape of a certain damsel
was prosecuted in the court of St. Edmund, the said
Henry came thither, protesting and alleging that the
same plaint by law ought to be decided in his court,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 103
in view of the birthplace of the same damsel, who
was born within his lordship of Lailand ; and by
reason of this pretext he presumed to harass the court
of St. Edmund with journeys and innumerable
expenses for a long space of time.
In the meantime, in these and such like acts,
fortune, smiling upon his desires, suddenly brought
in upon him the cause of perpetual sorrow, and,
under the appearance of a joyful beginning, she
contrived for him a joyless end ; for she is wont to
smile that she may afterwards rage, to flatter that she
may deceive, to raise up that she may cast down.
All at once, there rose up against him Robert of
Montfort, his kinsman and equal in birth and power,
impeaching and accusing him before the princes of
the land, of treason against the King. For he asserted
that Henry, in the war with the Welsh, in the difficult
pass of Coleshill, had traitorously thrown down the
standard of our lord the King, and had with a loud
voice proclaimed his death, and so turned to flight
those who were hastening to his assistance. In point
of fact, the aforesaid Henry of Essex did believe
that the famous King Henry the Second, who had
been intercepted by the stratagems of the Welsh, had
been killed ; and this would indeed have been the
io4 THE CHRONICLE OF
case, if Roger Earl of Clare, illustrious (clarus) by
reason of birth, and more illustrious by deeds ot
valour, had not come up in good time with his
Clare men, and raised the standard of our lord the
King, to the encouragement and heartening of the
whole army. Henry, indeed, strenuously opposed
the aforesaid Robert in a speech, and absolutely
denied the accusation, so that after a short lapse of
time it came to a trial by battle. And they came to
Reading to fight in a certain island hard by the
abbey ; and thither also came a multitude to see
what issue the matter would take.
Now it came to pass, while Robert of Montfort
thundered upon him manfully with hard and frequent
strokes, and a bold onset had promised the fruit
of victory, Henry, his strength a little failing him,
glanced round on all sides, and lo ! on the border of the
land and water he saw the glorious King and martyr,
Edmund, armed, and as if hovering in the air, looking
towards him with a severe countenance, shaking his
head with threats of anger and indignation. He also
saw with him another knight, Gilbert of Cereville,
not only in appearance inferior, but less in stature
from the shoulders, direct his eyes upon him as if
angry and wrathful. This man, by the order of the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 105
same Henry, had been afflicted with chains and
torments, and had closed his days in prison at the
instance and on the accusation of Henry's wife ; who,
turning her own wickedness upon an innocent person,
stated that she could not endure the solicitations of
Gilbert to unlawful love. Therefore, Henry, on
sight of these apparitions, became anxious and fear-
stricken, and remembered that old crime brings
new shame. Becoming wholly desperate, and chang-
ing reason into violence, he assumed the part of one
who attacked, not one who was on the defensive ;
who, while he struck fiercely, was more fiercely struck ;
and while he manfully fought, was more manfully
attacked in his turn. In short, he fell vanquished.
As he was believed to be dead, upon the petition
of the great men of England, his kinsmen, it was
permitted that the monks of that place should give
his body the rites of sepulture. Nevertheless, he
afterwards recovered, and now with restored health,
he has wiped out the blot upon his previous life
under the regular habit, and in his endeavour to
cleanse the long week of his dissolute life by at least
one purifying sabbath, has so cultivated the studies
of the virtues, as to bring forth the fruit of happiness.]
o6 THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER IX
TROUBLES WITHOUT
GEOFFREY RIDEL, Bishop of Ely, sought
from the abbot some timber for the pur-
pose of constructing certain great buildings at
Glemsford. This request the abbot granted, but
against his will, not daring to offend him. Now the
abbot making some stay at Melford, there came a
certain clerk of the bishop, asking on behalf of his
lord, that the promised timber might be taken at
Elmswell ; and he made a mistake in the word,
saying Elmswell when he should have said Elmsett,
hich is the name of a certain wood at Melford.
And the abbot was astonished at the request, for such
timber was not to be found at Elmswell.
Now when Richard the forester of the same town
had heard of this, he secretly informed the abbot
that the bishop had the previous week sent his
carpenters to spy out the wood of Elmsett, and
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 107
had chosen the best timber trees in the whole wood,
and placed his marks thereon. On hearing this, the
abbot directly discovered that the messenger of the
bishop had made an error in his request, and answered
that he would willingly do as the bishop pleased.
On the morrow, upon the departure of the mes-
senger, immediately after he had heard mass, the abbot
went into the before-named wood with his carpenters,
and caused to be branded with his mark not only all
the oaks previously marked, but more than a hundred
others, for the use of St. Edmund, and for the steeple
of the great tower, commanding that they should
be felled as quickly as possible. When the bishop,
by the answer of his messenger, understood that the
aforesaid timber might be taken at Elmswell, he
sent back the same messenger (whom he overwhelmed
with many hard words) to the abbot, in order that
he might correct the word which he had mistaken,
by saying Elmsett, not Elmswell. But before he
had come to the abbot, all the trees which the
bishop desired and his carpenters had marked were
felled. So the bishop, if he wanted timber, had to
get other timber elsewhere. As for myself, when I
witnessed this affair, I laughed, and said in my
heart, " Thus art is deceived by art."
v
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On the death of Abbot Hugh, the wardens of
the abbey desired to depose the bailiffs of the town of
St. Edmund, and to appoint new bailiffs of their own
authority, saying that this appertained to the King,
in whose hand the abbey then was. But we, com-
plaining thereof, sent our messengers to lord Ranulf
de Glanville, then justiciary. He answered, that he
well knew that forty pounds a year ought to be paid
from the town to our sacrist, specially for the lights of
the church ; and he said that Abbot Hugh, of his own
will, and in his privy chamber, without the consent
of the convent, had granted the bailiwick as often as
he chose, and unto whom he chose, saving the forty
pounds payable to the altar. And therefore it was
not to be wondered at if the King's bailiffs required
this same thing on the King's behalf. Speaking in
bitter language, he called all our monks fools for
having permitted our abbot to do such things, not
considering that the chief duty of monks is to hold
their peace, and pass over with closed eyes the
excesses of their prelates ; nor yet considering that
they are called barrators if they, whether it be right
or wrong, contravene their superiors in anything ;
and, further, that sometimes we are accused of treason
and are condemned to prison and to exile. Wherefore
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 109
it seems to myself and others the better counsel to
die as confessors rather than as martyrs.
On the return of our messenger home, and on his
relating what he had seen and heard, we, as being
unwilling and, as it were, under compulsion, resolved,
so far as we were able, that the old bailiffs of the
town should be deposed, as well with the common
consent of the convent, as by the keepers of the
abbey. Samson, then sub-sacrist, was very reluctant
to join in this proposition. However, when Samson
was made abbot, he, calling to remembrance the
wrong done to the abbey, on the morrow after the
Easter following his election, caused to be assembled in
our chapter-house the knights and clerks, and a
number of the burgesses, and then in the presence of
them all, said that the town belonged to the convent
and to the altar, namely, to find tapers for the church ;
and that he was desirous of renewing the ancient
custom, so that in the presence of the convent, and
with the consent of all, some measure should be taken
concerning the bailiwick of the town, and of such like
matters which appertained to the convent.
At that time were nominated two burgesses, Godfrey
and Nicholas, to be bailiffs ; and a discussion taking
place from whose hand they should receive the horn,
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which is called the moot-horn, at last they took it
from the hands of the prior, who, next to the abbot,
is head over the affairs of the convent.
Now these two bailiffs kept their bailiwick in peace
many years, until they were said to be remiss in
keeping the King's justice. On the abbot's suggestion
that greater security should be given to the convent
upon this point, they were removed, and Hugh the
sacrist took the town into his own keeping, appoint-
ing new officers, who were to answer to him con-
cerning the bailiwick. In process of time, I know
not how, new bailiffs were subsequently appointed,
and that elsewhere than in chapter, and without the
concurrence of the church ; wherefore a like or
perhaps greater peril is to be apprehended after the
decease of Abbot Samson than even was after the
death of Abbot Hugh.
One of our brethren, too, fully relying upon the
regard and friendship of the abbot, upon a fit opportu-
nity and with propriety and decency, talked over the
matter with him, asserting that dissatisfaction was
expressed in the convent. But the abbot upon hearing
this was silent for a long time, as if he was somewhat
disturbed. At length he is reported to have said,
" Am not I, even I, the abbot ? Does it not belong
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND in
to me alone to make order concerning the affairs of
the church committed to my care, provided only
that I should act with wisdom and according to
God's will ? If there should be default in the
administration of the King's justice in this town,
I shall be challenged for it ; I shall be summoned ;
upon myself alone will rest the burden of the journey,
and the expenses, and the defence of the town and
its appurtenances ; I alone shall be deemed a fool,
not the prior, not the sacrist, nor yet the convent,
but myself, who am and ought to be their head.
Through me and my counsel, with God's assistance,
will the town be securely preserved to the best of
my ability, and safe also will be those forty
pounds payable annually to the altar. Let the
brethren grumble, let them slander me, let them say
amongst themselves what they will, I am still their
father and their abbot ; so long as I live * I will not
give my glory to another.' " This said, that monk
departed, and reported these answers to us.
I for my part marvelled at such sayings, and argued
with myself in various ways. At length I was com-
pelled to remain in a state of doubt, inasmuch as the
rule of law says and teaches, that all things should be
under the governance of the abbot.
P
ii2 THE CHRONICLE OF
The merchants of London claimed to be quit of
toll at the fair of St. Edmund. Nevertheless many
paid it, unwillingly indeed, and under compulsion ;
whereof a great tumult and commotion was made
among the citizens in London at their hustings.
They came in a body and informed Abbot Samson
that they were entitled to be quit of toll throughout
all England, by authority of the charter which they
had from King Henry the Second. The abbot
answered that were it necessary, he was well able to
vouch the King to warrant that he had never granted
them any charter to the prejudice of our church, or
to the prejudice of the liberties of St. Edmund, to
whom St. Edward had granted and confirmed toll
and theam and all regalities before the con-
quest of England ; and that King Henry had
done no more than give to the Londoners an exemp-
tion from toll throughout his own lordships, and in
places where he was able to grant it ; but so far as
concerned the town of St. Edmund he was not able
so to do, for it was not his to dispose of. The
Londoners, hearing this, ordered by common council
that none of them should go to the fair of St.
Edmund. For two years they kept away, whereby
our fair sustained great loss, and the offering of the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 113
sacrist was much diminished. At last, upon the
mediation of the Bishop of London and many others,
it was settled between us and them that they should
come to the fair, and that some of them should pay
toll, but that it should be forthwith returned to
them, that by such a colourable act the privilege on
both sides should be preserved.
But in process of time, when the abbot had made
agreement with his knights, and as it were slept in
tranquillity, behold again " the Philistines be upon
thee, Samson ! " Lo ! the Londoners, with one
voice, were threatening that they would lay level
with the earth the stone houses which the abbot had
built that very year, or that they would take distress
by a hundredfold from the men of St. Edmund,
unless the abbot forthwith redressed the wrong done
them by the bailiffs of the town of St. Edmund, who
had taken fifteen pence from the carts of the citizens
of London, who in their way from Yarmouth, laden
with herrings, had made passage through our
demesnes. Furthermore, the citizens of London
said that they were quit of toll in every market, and
on every occasion, and in every place throughout all
England, from the time when Rome was first
founded, and that London was founded at the very
i
1 1 4 THE CHRONICLE OF
same time. Also, that they ought to have such an
exemption throughout all England, as well by reason of
its being a privileged city, which was of old time the
metropolis and head of the kingdom, as by reason of
its antiquity. The abbot asked that the matter
might be deferred until the return of our lord the
King to England, that he might consult with him
upon this ; and having taken advice of the lawyers,
he replevied to the claimants those fifteen pence,
without prejudice to the question of each party's right.
In the tenth year of the abbacy of Abbot
Samson, by the common counsel of our chapter, we
complained to the abbot in his own hall, stating
that the rents and issues of all the good towns and
boroughs of England were increasing and augment-
ing, to the profit of the possessors, and the well-thriving
of their lords, all except this our town, which had
long yielded forty pounds, and had never gone
beyond that sum ; and that the burgesses of the
town were the cause of this thing. For they held so
large and so many standings in the market-place, of
shops and sheds and stalls, without the assent of
the convent, indeed from the sole gift of the bailiffs
of the town, who in old time were but yearly renters,
and, as it were, ministers of the sacrist, and were
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 115
removable at his good pleasure. The burgesses,
being summoned, made answer that they were under
the jurisdiction of the King's courts, nor would they
make answer in derogation of the immunity of the
town and their charters, in respect of the tenements
which they and their fathers had holden well and
peaceably for one year and a day without claim.
They also said the old custom had been that the
bailiffs should, without the interference of the
convent, dispose of the places of the shops and sheds
in the market-place, in consideration of a certain rent
payable yearly to the bailiwick. But we, gainsaying
this, were desirous that the abbot should disseise them
of tenements for which they had no warranty.
Now the abbot coming to our council, as if he
were one of us, said to us in private, that he was
willing enough to do us right, according to the best of
his ability, but that he, nevertheless, was bound to
proceed in due course of law ; nor could he, without
the judgment of a court, disseise his free men of
their lands or rents, which they had held for many
years, were it justly or unjustly. If he should do
this, he said, he should fall into the King's mercy by
the assize of the realm. Therefore, the burgesses,
taking counsel together, offered to the convent a
u6 THE CHRONICLE OF
rent of one hundred shillings for the sake of peace ;
and that they should hold their tenements as they had
been wont to do. But we, on the other hand, were
by no means willing to grant this, rather desiring to
put that plaint in respite, hoping, perhaps, in the
time of another abbot, to recover all, or change the
place of the fair ; and so the affair was deferred for
many years.
When the abbot had returned from Germany, the
burgesses offered him sixty marks, and sued for his
confirmation of the liberties of the town, under the
same form of words as Anselm, and Ording, and
Hugh had confirmed them ; all which the abbot
graciously accorded. Notwithstanding our murmur-
ing and grumbling, a charter was accordingly made
to them in the terms of his promise ; and because it
would have been a shame and confusion to him if he
had not been able to fulfil his promise, we were not
willing to contradict him, or provoke him to anger.
The burgesses, indeed, from the period when they
had the charter of Abbot Samson and the convent,
became more confident that they, at least in the time
of Abbot Samson, would not lose their tenements
or their franchises ; so that never afterwards, as they
did before, were they willing to pay or offer the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 117
before-named rent of one hundred shillings. At length,
however, the abbot giving attention to this matter,
discoursed with the burgesses hereupon, saying that^
unless they made their peace with the convent, he
should forbid their erecting their booths at the fair of
St. Edmund.
They, on the other hand, answered that they
were willing to give every year a silken cope, or
some other ornament, to the value of one hundred
shillings, as they had before promised to do ; but
nevertheless, upon this condition, that they were /
to be for ever quit of the tithes of their profits, which
the sacrist sharply demanded of them. The abbot
and the sacrist both refused this, and therefore the
plaint was again put in respite.
In point of fact, we have from that time to the
present lost those hundred shillings, according to the
old saying, " He that will not when he may, when
he will he shall have nay."
n8 THE CHRONICLE OF
i
CHAPTER X
TROUBLES WITHIN
THE cellarers_ quickly succeeded each other,
and every one of them at the year's end
_, -became involved in a great debt. There were
given to the cellarer, in aid, twenty pounds out of
Mildenhall, but this did not suffice. After that,
fifty pounds were assigned to the cellarer each year
from the same manor ; and yet the cellarer used to
say that this was not enough. The abbot, there-
fore, being anxious to provide for his security from
loss and comfort, as well as for our own, knowing
that in all our wants we must have recourse to him
as to the father of the monastery, associated with the
cellarer a certain clerk of his own table, by name
Ranulf, so that he might assist him both as a witness
and companion in the expenses and receipts. And
lo ! many of us speak many things, murmurings
thicken, falsehoods are invented, scandals are inter-
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 119
woven with scandals, nor is there a corner in the
house which does not resound with venomous hissing.
One says to another, " What is this that is done ?
Who ever saw the like ? There never was such an
insult offered to the convent before. Behold ! the
abbot has set a clerk over a monk ; see, he has made
a clerk a master and keeper over the cellarer, as if
he could do no good without him. The abbot
thinks but lightly of his monks ; he suspects his
monks ; he consults clerks ; he loves clerks. ' How
is the gold become dim ! How is the fine gold
changed ! ' " Also one friend says to another, " We
are become a reproach to our neighbours. All of us
monks are either reckoned faithless or improvident ;
the clerk is believed, the monk is not. The abbot
had rather trust the clerk than the monk. Now is
this clerk a whit more faithful or wise than a monk
would be r "
And again, one friend would say to another,
" Are not the cellarer and sub-cellarer, or can
they not be, as faithful as the sacrist or the
chamberlain ? The consequence is, that this abbot
or his successor will put a clerk along with the
sacrist, a clerk with the chamberlain, a clerk with
the sub-sacrists to collect the offerings at the shrine,
izo THE CHRONICLE OF
and so on with all the officials, wherefore we shall be a
laughing-stock and derision to the whole people."
I, hearing these things, was accustomed to answer,
" If I, for my part, were cellarer, I had rather that a
clerk were a witness for me in all my transactions ;
for if I did well he would bear witness of the good.
If, again, I had, at the end of the year, become laden
with debt, I should be able to gain credence and to
be excused by the testimony of that clerk."
I heard, indeed, one of our brethren, a man truly
discreet and learned, say something upon this subject
which struck myself and others very much. "It is
not," he said, " to be wondered at, should the lord
abbot interpose his exertions in the safe conduct of
our affairs, especially as he wisely manages that por-
tion of the abbey which belongs to him, and is
discreet in the disposing of his own house, it being
his part to supply our wants in case of our careless-
ness or inability to do so. But there is one thing,"
he added, " which will prove dangerous after the death
of the abbot Samson, such as has never come to pass in
our days or in our lives. Of a surety the King's
bailiffs will come, and will possess themselves of the
abbey, I mean the barony which belongs to the abbot,
as was done in the past after the deaths of other
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 121
Abbots. As after the death of Abbot Hugh, the King's
bailiffs likewise desired to appoint new bailiffs in the
town of St. Edmund, alleging as their warrant that
Abbot Hugh had done this, in the same way the
King's bailiffs will, in process of time, appoint
their clerk to keep the cellary, in order that every-
thing shall be done therein by him, and under his
discretion. And then we shall be told that they are
entitled to act in this manner because Abbot Samson
did so. Thus they will have the power of inter-
mixing and confusing all the concerns and rents of the
abbot and of the convent ; all which, indeed, Abbot
Robert, of good memory, had, with due consideration,
distinguished in account, and had separated one from
the other."
When I heard these and such like expressions from a
man of great thought and foresight, I was astonished,
and held my peace, not wishing either to condemn
the lord abbot, or to excuse him.
Hubert Walter, the Archbishop of Canterbury and
legate of the apostolic see, and Justiciary of Eng-
land, after he had visited many churches, and
had by right of his legation made many changes
and alterations, was on his way home from his natural
mother, who lived at Dereham and was then dying.
122 THE CHRONICLE OF
He sent two of his clerks over to us, bearing
the sealed letters of their lord, wherein it was
contained that we should give credit to what they
should say and do. These men inquired of the
abbot and convent whether we were willing to
receive their lord, the legate, who was on his way to
us, in such wise as a legate ought to be received, and,
in fact, is received by other churches. If we were
agreed to this, he would shortly come to us, for the
purpose of making order concerning the matters and
affairs of our church according to God's will ; but
if we were not agreed, those two clerks could more fully
communicate to us their lord's behest. Thereupon
the abbot called together most of the convent, and
we came to the decision that we would give a
gracious answer to the clerks thus sent to us, saying
that we were willing to receive their lord as legate with
all honour and reverence, and to send together with
them our own messengers, who, on our part, should
communicate the same to the lord legate.
Our intention was that, in the same way as we
had done to the Bishop of Ely and other legates,
we would show him all possible honour, with a
procession and ringing of bells, and would receive
him with the usual solemnities, until it should
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 123
come to the point, perhaps, of his holding a
visitation in chapter. If he were to proceed in
doing this, then all of us were to oppose him might
and main to his face, appealing to Rome, and stand-
ing upon our charters. And the lord abbot said, " If
at this present time the legate will come to us, we
will do as is aforesaid, but if indeed he shall defer
his arrival to us for a time, we will consult the
lord Pope, and inquire what force the privileges of
our church ought to have, as being those which
have been obtained from him and his predecessors,
against the archbishop who has now obtained power
from the apostolic see over all the privileged
churches of England." Such was our determination.
When the archbishop had heard that we were
willing to receive him as legate, he received our
messengers graciously and with giving of thanks.
And he became favourable and kindly disposed
towards the lord abbot in all his concerns, and for
certain pressing causes deferred his visit to us for a
time. Therefore, without the least delay, the
abbot sent to the Pope the same letters which the
legate had sent to him and the convent, wherein it
was contained that he was about to come to us by
authority of his legation, and by the authority of the
124 THE CHRONICLE OF
Pope, and, moreover, that to him was given power
over all the exempt churches of England, notwith-
standing the letters of exemption obtained by the
church of York or any other.
The abbot's messenger expediting the matter, our
lord the Pope wrote to the lord of Canterbury,
asserting that our church, as his spiritual daughter,
ought not to be accountable to any legate, unless he
were a legate of our lord the Pope sent a latere, and
enjoined him that he should not stretch forth his
hand against us ; and our lord the Pope added as
from himself a prohibition against his exercising
jurisdiction over any other exempt church. Our
messenger returned to us, and this was kept a secret
for many days. Nevertheless, the same was inti-
mated to the lord of Canterbury by some of his
adherents at the court of our lord the Pope.
When, at the end of the year, the legate made his
visitation through Norfolk and Suffolk, and had first
arrived at Colchester, the legate sent his messenger to
the abbot, privately letting him thereby know that
he (the legate) had heard say that the abbot had
obtained letters contravening his legation, and
requesting that he, in a friendly way, would send
him those letters. And it was done accordingly, for
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 125
the abbot had two counterparts of these letters. The
abbot, indeed, did not pay a visit to the legate,
either by himself or by proxy, so long as he was in
the diocese of Norwich, lest it should be thought
that he wished to make fine with the legate
for his entertainment, as other monks and canons
had done. The legate, disconcerted and angry
and fearing to be shut out if he came to us,
passed by Norwich, by Acre and by Dereham to Ely,
on his way to London.
The abbot meeting the legate within the month,
between Waltham and London, on the King's high-
way, the legate censured him for having refused to
meet him, as being justiciary of our lord the King
whilst he was in that country. The abbot answered
that he had not travelled as justiciary, but as legate,
making visitation in every church ; and alleged the
reason of the time of year, and that the passion of our
Lord was nigh at hand, and that it behoved him to
be concerned with Divine services and cloister duties.
When the abbot had opposed words to words, and
objections to objections, and could neither be bent
nor intimidated by threatening language, the legate
replied with scorn that he well knew him to be a
keen wrangler, and that he was a better clerk than
126 THE CHRONICLE OF
he, the legate, was. The abbot, therefore, not
timidly passing by matters inexpedient to allude to,
nor yet arrogantly speaking upon matters that were
to be discussed, in the hearing of many persons
made answer that he was a man who would never
suffer the privileges of his church to be shaken either
for want of learning or money, even if it should
come to pass that he lost his life, or was condemned
to perpetual banishment. However, these and
other altercations being brought to a close, the
legate began to flush in the face, upon the abbot
lowering his tone and beseeching him that he would
deal more gently with the church of St. Edmund,
by reason of his native soil, for he was native born of
St. Edmund, and had been his fosterling. And,
indeed, he had reason to blush, because he had so
unadvisedly outpoured the venom which he had bred
within him.
On the morrow it was communicated to the
Archbishop of Canterbury, that the lord Archbishop of
York was about to come as legate into England, and
that he had suggested many evil things to the Pope
concerning him, stating that he had oppressed the
churches of England by reason of his visitation to the
extent of thirty thousand marks, which he had
/
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 127
received from them. The legate, therefore, sent his
clerks to the abbot, begging him that he would,
with the other abbots, write to our lord the Pope and
justify him.
This the abbot willingly did, and thereby offered
his testimony that the lord of Canterbury had not
been to our church, nor had he oppressed any other
church, speaking according to his conscience. And
when the abbot had delivered those letters to the
messengers of the archbishop, he said before us all
that he did not fear, even if it were the archbishop's
wish to deal deceitfully with those letters. The clerks
answered on the peril of their souls, that their lord
did not contemplate any subtle dealings, but only
wished to be justified. And so the archbishop and
the abbot were made friends.
THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER XI
samson's contests with knights, monks
and townsmen
KING RICHARD commanded all the bishops
and abbots of England that for every nine
knights of their baronies they should make a tenth
knight, and that without delay those knights should
/y go to him in Normandy, with horses and arms, in aid
against the King of France. Wherefore it behoved
the abbot to account to him for sending four knights.
And when he had caused to be summoned all his
knights, and had conferred with them thereon, they
made answer that their jees, which they had holden
of St. Edmund, were not liable to this charge, neither
had they or their fathers ever gone out of England,
although they had, on some occasions, paid escuage by
the King's writ.
The abbot was indeed in a strait ; on one hand
observing that hereby the liberty of his knights
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 129
was in peril, on the other hand. apprehending that he
might lose the seisin of Iiis__barony Tor default in the
King's service, as indeed had befallen the Bishop of
London and many English barons. So he forthwith
went beyond seas to the King ; and though fatigued
with many troubles and expenses, and very many
presents which he gave the King, in the first instance
he could make no agreement with the King by
money. For the King said that he did not want
either silver or gold, but that he instantly required
four knights ; whereupon the abbot obtained four
mercenaries. When the King had got these, he sent
them to the Castle of Eu, and the abbot paid
them thirty-six marks down for their expenses for
forty days.
Now on the morrow, there came certain of the
King's attendants, and recommended the abbot to care-
fully look to what he was about, stating that the war
might possibly last a whole year or more, and that
the expenses of the knights would consequently
increase and multiply, to the endless damage of him
and his church. They therefore advised him that
before he left the court he should make fine with the
King, so that he might be quit in respect of the
service of the aforesaid knights after the forty da)
/s
K
130 THE CHRONICLE OF
were passed. The abbot, having adopted this good
counsel, gave to the King one hundred pounds for
such a quittance. Thus being in favour with his
sovereign, he returned to England, bringing with him
the King's writ, commanding that his knights should
be distrained by their fees to render him that
King's service which he had got performed for
them.
The knights, being summoned, alleged their pov-
erty and manifold grievances, and prevailed upon
their lord to accept two marks upon every shield.
The abbot, indeed, not forgetting that he had that
same year burdened them much, and had impleaded
them to make them render their escuage individ-
ually, was desirous of conciliating their esteem, and
in good part accepted what they with a good grace
offered.
At that time, although the abbot had been put to
great expenses beyond sea, yet he did not return
home to this church empty-handed ; for he brought
with him a golden cross, and a most valuable copy of
the Gospels, of I the value of fourscore marks. On
another occasion when he returned from beyond seas,
sitting in chapter, he said that if he had been cellarer
or chamberlain he would have made some purchase
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 131
which would have been serviceable to his office ; and
since he was abbot, he ought to purchase something
that should beseem him as abbot. After saying this,
he ofFered to the convent a valuable chasuble, and a
mitre interwoven with gold, and sandals with silken
buskins, and the head of a crozier of silver and
well wrought. In like manner, so often as he returned
from beyond sea, he brought along with him some
ornament or other.
In the year of grace one thousand one hundred and
ninety-seven, rprt-nm in^o^ati^wnd alterations took
place in our church, which ought not to be passed over
in silence. Insomuch as his ancient rents were not
sufficient for our cellarer, Abbot Samson ordered that
fifty pounds from Mildenhall should be given by way of
increase to the cellarer yearly by the hands of the prior,
not all at one time, but by monthly instalments, so
that he should have something every month to expend,
and that it should not all be disbursed at one time
of the year.
And so it was done for one year. But the cellarer
with his fellows complained of this, saying that if he
had that money in hand, he would provide himself
and preserve a sufficient stock. The abbot, although
unwillingly, granted his petition. Now, on the com-
132 THE CHRONICLE OF
mencement of the month of August, the cellarer had
already spent all, and, moreover, was in debt twenty
pounds, and a debt of fifty pounds was about to fall
due before Michaelmas.
Hearing of this, the abbot was wroth, and thus
spoke in chapter: "I have often and often threatened
that I will take the cellarership into my own hands on
account of your default and improvidence, for all of you
keep incumbering yourselves with heavy debts. I put
my own clerk with your cellarer as a witness, and in
order that matters should be more advisedly managed ;
but there is neither clerk nor monk who dares to
inform me of the real cause of debt. It is neverthe-
less said that excess of feasting in the prior's house,
by the assent of the prior and cellarer, and superfluous
expenses in the guest-house by the carelessness of the
hospitaller, are the cause of all this. You see," he
continued, " what a great debt is now pressing ;
give me your advice, and tell me how this matter can
be amended."
Many of the cloister folk hearing this, and half
smiling, took what was said in very good part, saying
privily, " All that the abbot says is true enough."
The prior cast the blame upon the cellarer, the cellarer
in his turn upon the hospitaller ; each one justified
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 133
himself. We all of us well knew the truth of the
matter, but we held our tongues, for we were afraid.
On the morrow came the abbot, and said again to
the convent : " Give me your opinion as to the
means whereby your cellar can be better and more
economically managed." But there was no one who
answered, except one, who said that there was no
superfluity at all in the refectory which could occasion
such a debt or pressure. On the third day the
abbot spoke the same words, and one answered,
"That advice ought to proceed from yourself, as
from our head."
Then the abbot said, " As you will not state your
opinion, and as you are incapable of managing your
house for yourselves, the management of the mon-
astery rests solely upon myself as father and supreme
keeper. I take," he said, " into my own hand
your cellar and the charge of the guests, and the
stewardship of everything indoors and out of doors.'*
So saying he deposed the cellarer and hospitaller, and
put in their stead two other monks, under the style of
sub-cellarer and hospitaller, associating with them
Master G., a clerk of his own table, without whose
assent nothing could be done, either in respect of meat
or drink, or in regard to disbursements or receipts.
v
134 THE CHRONICLE OF
The old purveyors were removed from their buy-
ing in the market, and provisions were bought by the
clerk of the abbot, and all deficiencies were supplied
out of the abbot's purse. The guests that ought to
be entertained were received, and the honourable
were honoured ; the officials and monks, all of them
alike, took their meals in the refectory, and on all
sides superfluous charges were retrenched. However,
some of the cloister monks said among themselves^
" Seven, ay seven there were who devoured our sub-
stance, of whose devourings if any one did speak, he
was accounted guilty of treason." Another would
say, stretching forth his hands to heaven, " Blessed be
God, who hath imparted this resolution to the abbot
to correct such excesses » ; and very many of them
said that it was well done. Others would say, " Not
so," they considering that such reform was an abate-
ment of respect ; and they styled the prudence of the
abbot the ferocity of a wolf. Verily, they were
again beginning to call their old dreams to mind,
that the future abbot was to rage as a wolf.
The knights marvelled and the townsfolk marvelled
at the things that came to pass, and some one of the
common folk said, " It is a strange thing that so
many monks and learned men should permit their
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 135
possessions and rents to be confused and mingled
with the possessions of the abbot ; especially as they
have been always accustomed to be kept distinct and
apart from each other. It is strange also that
they take no heed of the peril that may befall
them after the death of the abbot if our lord
the King should find them in such a condition."
Another person said that the abbot was the only
one amongst them who acted wisely in the govern-
ing of external affairs, and that he ought to govern
the whole who has the knowledge requisite to govern
the whole. And there was one who said, " If
there had been but one wise monk in such a large
convent, who knew how to govern the house, the
abbot would not have done as he has." And so we
became a laughing-stock and a scoff to our neighbours.
About this time it came to pass that the anniver-
sary obit of abbot Robert was to be sung in
chapter, and it was ordered that a placebo and
dirige should be sung more solemnly than ordinarily,
namely, with tolling of the great bells, as upon the
anniversaries of abbots Ording and Hugh, on
account of the noble act of the aforesaid abbot
Robert, who made the division between our posses-
sions and rents, and the rents of the abbot. This
1 36 THE CHRONICLE OF
solemnity, indeed, was performed by the advice of
certain persons, so that thus at least the heart of the
lord abbot might thus be stirred up to do what was
right. There was also one who thought that this
was done as a reproach to the abbot, who, it was
said, was desirous of confusing and mingling together
our and his possessions and rents, insomuch as he had
seized the cellarership into his own hands. The
abbot, however, hearing the unwonted noise of the
bells, and well knowing and observing that it was
done against all usage, discreetly ignored the reason
of its being done, and solemnly chanted the mass.
Indeed, on the next Michaelmas day, desiring to
appease the murmurings of certain persons, he ap-
pointed him who had been formerly sub-cellarer to
be cellarer, and he ordered some other man to be
named sub-cellarer ; the aforesaid clerk, nevertheless,
remaining with them, and managing all things as
before. But when that clerk began to exceed the
bounds of temperance, saying, " I am Bu," meaning
the cellarer, when he had exceeded the bounds of
temperance in drinking, and without the knowledge
of the abbot was holding the court of the cel-
larer, taking gages and pledges, and receiving
the annual rents, disbursing them by his own
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 137
hand, he was called by the people the chief cel-
larer.
It was his habit to stroll about the court followed by
a crowd of debtors, rich and poor, and of suitors of all
ranks preferring various complaints, as if he were the
master and high steward. On one such occasion, one
of our officers happened to be standing in the court,
and, upon seeing this, for confusion and shame, he
wept outright, considering that this was a disgrace to
our church, pondering upon the peril consequent
thereon, and realizing that a clerk was preferred
to a monk, to the prejudice of the whole convent.
Therefore some one, who shall be nameless, under-
took, through a third party, that these things
should be intimated to the abbot in a proper
and reasonable manner ; and he was given to
understand that this species of arrogance in the
clerk, which was committed to the disgrace and dis-
honour of the society, was very likely to breed a
great disturbance and dissension in the convent. The
abbot certainly did, when he heard of this, forthwith
summon the cellarer and the aforesaid clerk before
him, and gave orders that thenceforth the cellarer
should consider himself as cellarer in receiving
moneys, in holding pleas, and in all other things,
138 THE CHRONICLE OF
save that the aforesaid clerk should assist him, not as
an equal, but as a witness and adviser.
Hamo Blund, one of the wealthier men of this
town, on his death-bed could hardly be persuaded to
make a will. At last he did, but disposed of only
three marks, and this in the hearing of no one,
except his brother, wife and chaplain. The abbot,
ascertaining this after the man's decease, called
those three persons before him, and sharply re-
buked them, especially upon this point, that the
brother (who was his heir) and his wife would
not suffer any one else to approach the sick man, they
desiring to take all. The abbot said in audience, " I
was his bishop, and had the charge of his soul ; let
not the folly of his priest and confessor turn to my
peril. Insomuch as I could not advise the sick man when
alive, I being absent, what concerns my conscience
I shall now perform, late though it be. I therefore
command that all his debts and his moveable chattels,
which are worth, as it is said, two hundred marks, be
reduced into a writing, and that one portion be
given to the heir, and another to the wife, and the
third to his poor kinsfolk and other poor persons.
As to the horse which was led before the coffin of
the deceased, and was offered to St. Edmund, I order
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 139
that it be sent back and returned ; for it does not
beseem our church to be defiled with the gift of him
who died intestate, and whom common report accuses
of being habitually wont to put out his money to
interest. By the face of God, if such a thing came
to pass of any one again in my days, he shall not be
buried in the churchyard ! " On his saying these
things, the others departed greatly disconcerted.
On the morrow of the Nativity of our Lord, there
took place in the churchyard meetings, wrestlings,
and matches, between the servants of the abbot and
the burgesses of the town ; and from words they came
to blows, from cuffs to wounds and to the shedding
of blood. The abbot, hearing of this, called to him
privately certain of those who were present at the
sight, but yet stood afir oft* and ordered that the
names of the evil-doers should be set down in writing.
All these he caused to be summoned, that they should
stand before him on the morrow of St. Thomas the
archbishop, in the chapel of St. Denis, to answer
therefor. Nor did he, in the meantime, invite to
his own table any one of the burgesses, as he had
been wont to do, on the first five days of Christmas.
On the day appointed, having taken the oaths from
sixteen lawful men, and having heard their evidence,
f
i4o THE CHRONICLE OF
the abbot said, " It is manifest that these evil-doers
have incurred the penalties of the canon latce sententice ;
but because both parties are laymen, and do not
understand what a crime it is to commit such a
sacrilege as this, I shall by name and publicly ex-
communicate them, in order that others may be de-
terred from doing the like : and that in no wise there be
any diminution of justice, I shall first begin with my
own domestics and servants." And it was done ac-
cordingly, we putting on our robes and lighting the
candles. So they all went forth from the church,
and being advised so to do, they all stripped them-
selves, and altogether naked, except their drawers,
they prostrated themselves before the door of the
church.
When the assessors of the abbot had come, monks
as well as clerks, and informed him, with tears in their
eyes, that more than a hundred men were lying down
thus naked, the abbot wept. Nevertheless, making a
show of legal severity both in word and countenance and
concealing the pity he felt, he desired to be persuaded
by his counsellors that the penitents should be absolved,
knowing that mercy is exalted over judgment, and
that the church receives all penitents. Thereupon,
they being all sharply whipped and absolved, they
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 141
swore all of them that they would abide by the judg-
ment of the church for sacrilege committed.
On the morrow, penance was assigned to them,
according to the appointment of the canons ; and
thus the abbot restored all of them to unity of con-
cord, uttering terrible threats to all those who by
word or deed should furnish matter of discord.
Further, he publicly forbade meetings and shows to
be had in the churchyard ; and so all things being
brought to a state of peace, the burgesses feasted on
the following days with their lord the abbot, with
great joy.
142 THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER XII
THE CARES OF OFFICE
A COMMISSION of our lord the Pope had
been directed to Hubert, Archbishop of Can-
terbury, and to the lord Bishop of Lincoln, and to
Samson, Abbot of St. Edmund, touching the refor-
mation of the church of Coventry, and the restoration
of the monks thereto, without any revision of their case.
The parties being summoned to Oxford, the judges
received letters of request from our lord the King,
that this business should be respited.
The archbishop and the bishop, seeming to know
nothing, were silent, as if seeking the favour of the
clerks. The abbot was the only one who spoke out,
and he did so as a monk for the monks of Coventry,
publicly advocating and defending their cause. And
by his means it was so far proceeded with on that
day, that a certain simple seisin was made to one
of the monks of Coventry by delivery of one book.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 143
But corporate institution was deferred for a time, that
so in some degree the abbot might obey the request
of our lord the King.
At that time he entertained in his inn fourteen
monks of Coventry who had appeared there ; and when
the monks were sitting at the table on one side of the
house, and the masters of the schools who had been
summoned thither on the other, the abbot was ap-
plauded as noble and liberal in his expenses. Never
in all his life did he seem so joyful as at that
time, for the reverence he bore towards reform
of monastic rule. The feast of St. Hilary being now
at hand, the abbot journeyed on to Coventry in high
spirits, neither was he overcome by fatigue or charges,
for he said, that even if he had to be carried in a
horse-litter, he would not remain behind. On his
arrival at Coventry, where for five days he was wait-
ing for the archbishop, he kept with him all the
afore-named monks, with their servants, in most
honourable fashion, until a new prior was created, and
the monks had been formally inducted. " He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear," for it is an act worthy
to be had in remembrance.
After this the abbot Samson and Robert of Scales
came to an agreement concerning the moiety of
/
\
144 THE CHRONICLE OF
the advowson of the church of Wetherden, and the
same Robert acknowledged it to be the right of St.
Edmund and the abbot. Thereupon the abbot,
without any previous understanding taking place, and
without any promise previously made, gave that
moiety which belonged to him to Master Roger of
Scales, brother of the same knight, upon this condi-
tion, that he should pay by the hand of our sacrist
an annual pension of three marks to that master of
the schools who should teach in the town of St.
Edmund. This the abbot did, being induced thereto
by motives of remarkable generosity ; in order that as
he had formerly purchased stone houses for the use
of the schools, that poor clerks should be free from
house rent, so now from thenceforth they might be
freed from all demand of moneys which the master
of the school demanded by custom for his teaching.
And so, by God's will, and during the abbot's life,
the entire moiety of the aforesaid church, which is
worth, as it is said, one hundred shillings, was appro-
priated to such purposes.
Now the abbot, after that he had built in his villa
throughout the abbacy many and various edifices, and
had taken up his quarters at his manor houses oftener
and more frequently than with us at home, at length,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 145
as if returning to himself, and as if making good
better, said that he would stay more at home than
he had been used to do ; and would now erect
some buildings within the court for necessary pur-
poses, having regard to internals and externals, and
as if he was aware that " the presence of the master
is the profit of the field." Therefore he gave direc-
tions that the stables and offices in the court lodge
and round about the same, formerly covered with
reeds, should be newly roofed, and covered with tiles,
under the supervision of Hugh the sacrist, so that
thus all fear and risk of fire might be prevented.
And now, behold the acceptable time, the day
of desire, whereof I write not but with great
joy, myself having the care of the guests. Lo !
at the command of the abbot the court lodge re-
sounds with spades and masons' tools, for pulling
down the guest-house ; and now it is almost all
levelled. Of the re-building, let the Most High
take thought ! The abbot built for himself a new
larder in the court lodge, and gave to the convent
the old larder (which was situated, in a very slovenly
fashion, under the dorter) for the accommodation of the
chamberlain. The chapels of St. Andrew and St.
Katherine and St. Faith were newly covered with lead ;
L
i+6 THE CHRONICLE OF
many repairs were also made, both inside the
church and without. If you do not believe, open
your eyes and see. Also in his time our almonry,
which previously was of wood and out of repair, was
built in stone ; whereto a certain brother of ours,
Walter the physician, at that time almoner, contributed
much of what he had acquired by his practice of physic.
The abbot also observing that the silver retable of
the high altar, and many other precious ornaments,
had been alienated for the purpose of the recovery of
Mildenhall and the ransom of King Richard,
was not desirous of replacing that table or such-like
matters, which upon a similar occasion were liable
to be torn away and misappropriated. He therefore
turned his attention to the making of a most valuable
cresting for the shrine of the glorious martyr
Edmund, that his ornament might be set in a place
whence it could by no possibility be abstracted, and
whereon no human being would dare to put forth his
hand.
For indeed, when King Richard was captive in
Germany, there was no treasure in England that had
not either to be given up or redeemed ; yet the
shrine of St. Edmund remained untouched. How-
ever, the question was raised before the justices of the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 147
exchequer, whether the shrine of St. Edmund should
not, at least in part, be stripped for the ransom
of King Richard. But the abbot standing up,
answered, " Know ye of a surety, that this never shall
be done by me, nor is there a man who can
compel me to consent to it. But I will open
the doors of the church : let him enter who will, let
him approach who dare." Each of the justices
replied with oaths, " I will not venture to approach
it." "Nor will I." "St. Edmund grievously
punishes those who are far off as well as those who
are near at hand ; how much more will he inflict
vengeance upon those who take away his vesture ! "
Upon this neither was the shrine despoiled, nor
redemption paid. Therefore passing by other things,
the abbot carefully and advisedly turned his mind
towards the making of a cresting for the shrine.
And now the plates of gold and silver resound be-
tween the hammer and the anvil, and " the car-
penters wield their tools."
Adam of Cockfield dying, left for his heir a
daughter of three months old ; and the abbot gave
the wardship of his fee to whom he would. Now
King Richard, being solicited by some of his
courtiers, anxiously sought for the wardship and the
148 THE CHRONICLE OF
child for the benefit of one of his servants ; at
one time by letters, at another time by messengers.
But the abbot answered that he had given the ward
away, and had confirmed his gift by his charter. Send-
ing his own messenger to the King, he did all he could,
by entreaty and good offices, to mitigate his wrath.
And the King made answer, with great indignation,
that he would avenge himself upon that proud abbot
who had thwarted him, were it not for reverence of
St. Edmund, whom he feared. When the messenger
returned, the abbot very wisely'passed over the King's
threats without notice, and said, " Let the King send,
if he will, and seize the ward ; he has the strength
and power of doing his will, indeed of taking away
the whole of the abbacy. I shall never be bent to his will
in this matter, nor by me shall this ever be done.
For the thing that is most to be apprehended is,
lest such things be made a precedent to the
prejudice of my successors. On this business I will
never give the King money. Let the Most High
look to it. Whatever may befall, I will patiently bear."
Whilst, therefore, many were saying and believing
that the King was exasperated against the abbot, lo !
the King wrote in a friendly way to the abbot, and
requested that he would give him some of his dogs.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 149
The abbot, not unmindful of that saying of the wise
man —
Gifts, believe me, influence both men and gods,
By the offer of gifts Jove himself is appeased —
sent the dogs as the King requested, and moreover, ~
added some horses and other valuable gifts. The
King graciously accepted them, and in public most
highly commended the honesty and fidelity of the abbot.
He also sent to the abbot by his messengers,
as a token of intimacy and affection, a ring of great
price, which our lord the Pope, Innocent the Third,
of his great grace had given him, being indeed the
very first gift that had been offered after his conse-
cration. Also, by his writ, the King rendered him
many thanks for the presents the abbot had sent him,
5o THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER XIII
THE CUSTOMS OF THE TOWNSHIP
MANY persons marvelled at the changes in the
customs that took place by the order or
permission of the lord abbot Samson. From the
time when the town of St. Edmund received the name
and liberty of a borough, the men of every house used
to give to the cellarer one penny in the beginning of
August, to reap our corn, which annual payment
was called rep-silver. Before the town became free,
all of them used to reap as serfs ; the dwellings
of knights and chaplains, and of the servants of the
court lodge being alone exempt from this payment.
In process of time, the cellarer spared certain of the
most wealthy of the town, demanding nothing from
them. The other burgesses, seeing this, used openly
to say that no one who had a dwelling house of his
own was liable to pay this penny, but only those
who rented houses from others.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 151
Afterwards, they all in common sought this ex-
emption, conferring thereon with the lord abbot, and
offering an annual rent as a composition of this de-
mand. The abbot, indeed, considering the undignified
way in which the cellarer used to go through the town
to collect rep-silver, and the manner in which he used
to take distresses in the houses of the poor, sometimes
taking trivets, sometimes doors, and sometimes
other utensils, and how the old women came
out with their distaffs, threatening and abusing the
cellarer and his men, ordered that twenty shillings
should be given every year to the cellarer at the next
portman-moot, at the hand of the bailiff before
August, by the burgesses, who were to pay the rent
to discharge this. And it was done accordingly, and
confirmed by our charter, there being given to them
another quittance from a certain customary payment,
which is called sorpeni, in consideration of four
shillings, payable at the same term. For the cellarer
was accustomed to receive one penny by the year for
every cow belonging to the men of the town for their
dung and pasture (unless perchance they happened
to be the cows of the chaplains or of the servants
at the court lodge). These cows he used to im-
pound, and had great trouble in the matter.
152 THE CHRONICLE OF
Afterwards, indeed, when the abbot made mention
of this in the chapter, the convent was very angry,
and took it in ill part, so much so that Benedict the
sub-prior in the chapter, answering for all, said,
" That man, abbot Ording, who lies there, would
not have done such a thing for five hundred marks
of silver.', The abbot, although he himself felt
angry, put off the matter for a time.
There arose also a great contention between Roger
the cellarer and Hugh the sacrist concerning the appur-
tenances of their offices, so that the sacrist would not
lend to the cellarer the prison of the town for the
purpose of detaining therein the thieves who were
taken in the cellarer's jurisdiction. The cellarer was
thereby oftentimes harassed, and because the thieves
escaped he was reprimanded for default of justice.
Now it came to pass that one holding as a free
tenant of the cellarer, dwelling without the gate, by
name Ketel, was charged with theft, and being
vanquished in a trial by battle, was hanged. The con-
vent was grieved by the offensive words of the burgesses,
who said that if that man had only dwelt within the'
borough, it would not have come to the ordeal, but
that he would have acquitted himself by the oaths of his
neighbours, as is the privilege of those who dwell
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 153
within the borough. Therefore the abbot and the
more reasonable part of the convent seeing this, and
bearing in mind that the men without the borough
as well as those within are ours, and ought all of
them in like manner to enjoy the same liberty
within the jurisdiction, except the villeins of Hardwick
and their like, deliberately took thought with them-
selves how this could be done.
Thereupon the abbot, being desirous of limiting
the offices of the sacristy and the cellary by certain
articles, and of quieting all contentions, com-
manded, as if taking the part of the sacrist, that the
servants of the town bailiff and the servants of the
cellarer should together enter upon the fee of the
cellarer for the purpose of seizing thieves and male-
factors, and that the bailiff should have half the
profit for their imprisonment and safe keeping and
for his pains therein ; and that the court of the
cellarer should goto the portman-moot, and judge the
prisoners in common. It was also ordered that the men
of the cellarer should come to the toll-house with the
others, and there renew their pledges, and should be
inscribed upon the bailiff's roll, and should there give
the bailiff that penny which is called borth-selver,
whereof the cellarer was to have one half part ; but
154 THE CHRONICLE OF
at this time the cellarer receives nothing at all from
this. The intent of all this was, that every one should
enjoy equal privilege. Nevertheless, the burgesses
at this time say, that the dwellers in the outskirts
ought not to be quit of toll in market, unless they
belong to the merchant's guild. Moreover, the
bailiff (the abbot conniving at the matter) now
claims for himself the fines and forfeitures accruing
from the fee of the cellarer.
The ancient customs of the cellarer, which we
have seen, were these : The cellarer had his
messuage and barns near Scurun's well, at which
place he was accustomed to exercise his jurisdiction
upon robbers, and hold his court for ail pleas and
plaints. Also at that place he was accustomed to
put his men in pledge, and to enroll them and to
renew their pledges every year, and to take such
profit therefor as the bailiff of the town was to take
at the portman-moot. This messuage, with the
adjacent garden, now in the occupation of the in-
firmarer, was the mansion of Beodric, who was of
old time the lord of this town, and after whom also
the town came to be called Beodricsworth. His
demesne lands are now in the demesne of the cellarer,
and that which is now called averland was the land
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 155
of his rustics. And the total amount of the hold-
ing of himself and his churls was thirty times
thirty acres of land, which are still the fields of this
town.
The service thereof, when the town was made free,
was divided into two parts, so that the sacrist or
town bailiff was to receive a free annual payment,
namely, for each acre twopence. The cellarer was to
have the ploughings and other services, namely, the
ploughing of one rood for each acre, without meals
(which custom is still observed), and was to have the
folds wherein all the men of the town, except the
steward, who has his own fold, are bound to put
their sheep (which custom also is still observed) ; and
was to have aver-peni, namely, for each thirty acres
twopence (which custom was done away with before
the decease of abbot Hugh, when Gilbert of Elveden
was cellarer).
Furthermore, the men of the town were wont
upon the order of the cellarer to go to Lakenheath,
and bring back a day's catch of eels from Southrey.
They often, indeed, used to return empty-handed, so
they had their trouble without any profit to the cellarer.
It was therefore settled between them that each thirty
acres, from thenceforth, should pay one penny by the
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year, and the men were to remain at home. But, in
fact, at this time, those lands are subdivided into so
many parts, that it can hardly be ascertained by
whom that annual payment is to be made ; so that I
have seen the cellarer, in one year, receive twenty-
seven pence, but now he can hardly get tenpence
halfpenny.
The cellarer was also wont to exercise authority
over the ways without the town, so that it was not
lawful for any one to dig for chalk or clay without his
licence. He also was accustomed to summon the
fullers of the town, that they should furnish cloth
for his salt. Otherwise he would prohibit them
the use of the waters, and would seize the webs
he found there ; which customs are still observed.
Also, whosoever bought corn, or indeed anything from
the cellarer, was accustomed to be quit from toll at the
gate of the town when he went homewards, wherefore
the cellarer sold his produce dearer ; which usage is
still observed. Also, the cellarer is accustomed to
take toll of flax at the time of its carrying, namely,
one truss from each load. Also, the cellarer alone
ought, or at least used to have, a free bull in the fields
of the town ; now many persons have bulls.
Also, when any one surrendered his burgage land in
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 157
alms to the convent, and this was assigned to the
cellarer, or other official, that land used, thenceforth,
to be quit of haggovele, and most especially so to the
cellarer, on account of the dignity of his office, for he
is the second father in the monastery, or even as a
matter of reverence to the convent, for the estate of
those who procure our provisions ought to be favour-
able. But the abbot says that usage is unjust, because
the sacrist loses his service. Further, the cellarer was
accustomed to warrant to the servants of the court
lodge, that they should be quit of scot and tallage ;
but now it is not so, for the burgesses say that the
servants of the court lodge ought to be quit only so
far as they are servants, but not when they hold
burgage in the town, and when they or their wives
publicly buy and sell in the market.
Also, the cellarer was used freely to take all the
dunghills in the street, for his own use, unless it were
before the doors of those who were holding averland ;
for to them only was it allowable to collect dung, and
to keep it. This custom gradually lapsed in the time
of abbot Hugh until Dennis and Roger of Hingham
became cellarers. Being desirous of reviving the
ancient custom, they took the cars of the burgesses
laden with dung, and made them unload ; but a
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multitude of the burgesses resisting, and being too
strong for them, every one in his own tenement
now collects his dung in a heap, and the poor sell
theirs when and to whom they choose.
The cellarer was also wont to have this privilege
in the market of this town, that he and his purveyors
should have pre-emption of all the provisions for the
use of the convent, if the abbot were not at home.
Also, that the purveyors of the abbot, or cellarer,
whichever of them first came into the market, should
buy first, either the latter without the former, or the
former without the latter. But if both were present,
then preference was to be given to the abbot. Also,
in the season when herrings were sold, the purveyors
of the abbot should always buy a hundred herrings
at a halfpenny less than other people, and likewise
the cellarer and his purveyors. Also, if a load of
fish or other provisions should come first into the
court lodge, or into the market, and that load should
not have been discharged from the horse or from the
cart, the cellarer or his purveyors might buy the
whole and take it home with them without paying
toll. But the abbot Samson commanded his pur-
veyors that they should give preference to the cellarer
and his men, because, as he himself said, he had much
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 159
rather himself go without than his convent. There-
fore the purveyors, " in honour preferring one
another," if they find there is any one thing to be
bought which is not enough for both parties, buy it
between them, and divide it, share and share alike,
and so between the head and the members, and the
father and the sons, there remains an agreement in
disagreement.
The poet has said, " Envy aims at the highest," and
it is for this reason that I repeat these words, that when
some one was perusing this narrative, and while he
was reading of so many good acts, he called me
a flatterer of the abbot, and a seeker of favour
and grace, saying that I had silently suppressed
some things which ought not to have been passed
by.
When I inquired which and what sort of acts
they might be, he answered, " Do you not see how
the abbot grants away, at his own good pleasure,
the escheats of land belonging to the demesnes
of the convent, and the female heirs of lands, and the
widows, as well within the town of St. Edmund as
without ? Also, do you not see how the abbot draws
to himself the plaints and pleas of those who demand
by the King's writ lands which are of the fee of the
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convent, and especially those plaints from which
profit arises ; and those from which no gain ensues,
he turns over to the cellarer or sacrist, or other
officials ? " Whereto I answered, as I believe the
fact to be, perhaps rightly, perhaps wrongly, and
said that every lord of a fee whereto there is homage,
ought by right to have an escheat whenever it shall
have fallen within the fee in respect whereof he has
received homage. By parity of reason, there is due
to him general aid of the burgesses, and also the
wardships of boys, and the gifts of widows and girls,
in those fees in respect whereof he has received
homage ; for all these things seem to belong to the
abbot alone, unless by chance the abbey shall be
vacant.
Moreover, in the town of St. Edmund a special
custom has place, by reason of its being a borough,
that the next in blood shall have the wardship of a
boy with an inheritance, until the years of discretion.
Furthermore, I thus answered him concerning the
plaints and pleas, that I had never seen the abbot
usurp jurisdiction that belonged to us, unless in
default of our administering justice ; but nevertheless
he had on some occasions taken money, in order that
by the intervention of his authority plaints and pleas
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should attain their final determination. Also, I have
sometimes seen pleas which belonged to us decided in
the court of the abbot, because there was not any in
the commencement of the suit who would, on the
part of the convent, assert jurisdiction.
1 6z THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER XIV
THE SHRINE OF ST. EDMUND
IN the year of grace one thousand one hundred
and ninety-eight, the glorious martyr Edmund
was pleased to strike terror into our convent,
and to instruct us that his body should be kept more
reverently and diligently than it had hitherto been.
There was a wooden platform between the shrine
and the high altar, whereon stood two tapers, which
the keepers of the shrine used to renew and stick
together, by placing one candle upon the stump
of another in a slovenly manner. Under this plat-
form there were many things irreverently huddled
together, such as flax and thread and wax, and
various utensils. In fact, whatever was used by the
keepers of the shrine was put there, for there was
a door with iron gratings.
Now, when these keepers of the shrine were
fast asleep, on the night of St. Etheldreda, part of
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a candle that had been renewed, and was still
burning, fell, as we conjecture, upon the aforesaid
platform covered with rags. Consequently, all that
was near, above or below, began to burn rapidly,
so much so that the iron gratings were at a white
heat. And lo ! the wrath of the Lord was kindled,
but not without mercy, according to that saying,
" In wrath remember mercy " ; for just then the
clock struck before the hour of matins, and the
master of the vestry getting up, observed and noticed
the fire. He ran at once, and, striking the gong
as if for a dead person, cried at the top of his voice
that the shrine was consumed by fire.
We then, all running thither, found the fire raging
wonderfully, and encircling the whole shrine, and
almost reaching the woodwork of the church. Our
young men, running for water, some to the well,
some to the clock, some with their hoods, not with-
out great labour, extinguished the force of the fire,
and also stripped some of the altars upon the first
alarm. And when cold water was poured upon the
front of the shrine, the stones fell, and were reduced
almost to powder. Moreover, the nails by which the
plates of silver were affixed to the shrine started
from the wood, which had been burnt underneath to
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the thickness of my finger, and the plates of silver
were left dangling one from the other without nails.
However, the golden image of the Majesty in front of
the shrine, together with some of the stonework,
remained firm and untouched, and brighter after the
fire than it was before, for it was all of gold.
It so happened, by the will of the Highest, that at
that time the great beam which used to be over the
altar had been removed, in order to be adorned
with new carving. It also happened that the cross,
the small image of St. Mary and St. John, the chest
with the shirt of St. Edmund, and the reliquaries
and other shrines which used to hang from the same
beam, and other holy things which also stood upon
the beam, had every one of them been previously
taken away. Otherwise all these would have been
burnt, as we believe, even as a painted cloth was burnt
which hung in the place of this beam. But what
would it have been had the church been curtained ?
When, therefore, we had assured ourselves that the
fire had in no place penetrated the shrine, by care-
fully inspecting the chinks and crannies, if there were
any, and had perceived that all was cold, our grief
in a great measure abated : but all at once some of
our brethren cried out with a great wailing, that the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 165
cup of St. Edmund had been burnt. When many
of us were searching here and there for the stones
and plates among the coals and cinders, they
drew forth the cup entirely uninjured, lying in the
middle of the great charred timbers, which were then
put out, and found the same wrapped up in a linen
cloth, half burnt. But the oaken box in which the
cup was usually placed had been burnt to ashes, and
only the iron bands and iron lock were found.
When we saw this miracle, we all wept for joy.
Now, as we observed that the greater part of the
front of the shrine was stripped off, and abhorring
the disgraceful circumstances of the fire, after a general
consultation we sent for a goldsmith, and caused the
metal plates to be joined together and fixed to the
shrine without the least delay, to avoid the scandal
of the matter. We also caused all traces of the
fire to be covered over with wax or in some other
way. But the Evangelist testifies that "there is
nothing covered which shall not be revealed " : for
some pilgrims came very early in the morning to
make their offerings, who could have perceived
nothing of the sort. Nevertheless, certain of
them, peering about, inquired where was the fire
that they had just heard had been about the shrine.
1 66 THE CHRONICLE OF
And since it could not be entirely concealed, it was an-
swered to these inquirers that a candle had fallen down
and that three napkins had been burnt, and that by the
heat of the fire some of the stonework in front of
the shrine had been destroyed. Yet for all this there
went forth a lying rumour, that the head of the saint
had been burnt. Some indeed contented themselves
with saying that the hair only was singed ; but after-
wards, the truth being known, " the mouth of them
that spake lies was stopped."
All these things came to pass by God's providence,
in order that the places roundabout the shrine of His
saint should be more decently kept, and that the
purpose of the lord abbot should be sooner and with-
out delay carried into execution ; which was, that
the shrine itself, together with the body of the holy
martyr, should be placed with greater security, and
with more pomp, in a more dignified position. For
before this aforesaid mishap occurred, the cresting of
the shrine was half finished, and the marble blocks
whereon the shrine was to be elevated and was to rest,
were for the most part ready and polished.
The abbot, who at this time was absent, was
exceedingly grieved at these reports ; and he on his
return home, going into the chapter-house, declared
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 167
that these and the like, nay, much greater perils might
befall us for our sins, more especially for our grumbling
about our meat and drink ; in a certain measure
turning the blame upon the whole body of the
convent, rather than upon the avarice and carelessness
of the keepers of the shrine. To the intent that he
might induce us to abstain from our pittances
for at least one year, and to apply, for at least a
year, the rents of the pittancy, for the purpose of
repairing the front of the shrine with pure gold, he
himself first showed us an example of liberality by
giving all the treasure of gold he possessed, namely,
fifteen golden rings, worth, as it was believed, sixty f
marks, in our presence, towards the reparation of
the shrine.
We, on the other hand, all agreed to give our
pittancy for such purpose ; but our resolution was
afterwards altered, by the sacrist saying that St.
Edmund could very well repair his shrine without
such assistance.
At this time there came a man ot great account,
but who he was I know not, that related to the abbot
a vision he had seen, whereat he himself was much
moved. Indeed, he related the same in full chapter,
with a very bitter speech. " It is indeed true," he
1 68 THE CHRONICLE OF
said, " that a certain great man has seen a vision, to
wit, that he saw the holy martyr St. Edmund lie out-
side his shrine, and with groans say that he was
despoiled of his clothes, and was wasted away by
hunger and thirst ; and that his churchyard and the
courts of his church were negligently kept."
This dream the abbot expounded to us all publicly,
laying the blame upon us, in this fashion : " St.
Edmund alleges that he is naked, because you defraud
the naked poor of your old clothes, and because you
give with reluctance what you are bound to give
them, and it is the same with your meat and drink.
Moreover, the idleness and negligence of the
sacrist and his associates, are apparent from the recent
misfortune by fire which has taken place between the
shrine and the altar." On hearing this the convent
was very sorrowful ; and after chapter several of
the brethren met together, and interpreted the
dream after this fashion : " We," said they, " are the
naked members of St. Edmund, and the convent is
his naked body ; for we are despoiled of our ancient
customs and privileges. The abbot has everything,
the chamberlainship, the sacristy, the cellary ; while we
perish of hunger and thirst, because we have not our
victuals, save by the clerk of the abbot and by his
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 169
ministration. If the keepers of the shrine have been
negligent, let the abbot lay it to his own charge, for
it was he who appointed such careless fellows."
In such wise spoke many in the convent. But
when this interpretation of the dream was communi-
cated to the abbot, in the forest of Harlow, on his
way from London, he was very wroth, and was troubled
in mind, and made answer : " They will wrest that
dream against me, will they ? By the face of God !
so soon as I reach home I will restore to them the
customs that they say are theirs. I will withdraw
my clerk from the cellary, and will leave them to
themselves ; and I shall see the fruits of their wisdom at
the end of the year. This year I have been residing
at home, and I have caused their cellary to be
managed without incurring debt ; and this is the
way in which they render me thanks."
On the abbot's return home, having it in purpose
to translate the blessed martyr, he humbled himself
before God and man, meditating within himself how
he might reform himself, and make himself at peace
with all men, especially with his own convent.
Therefore, sitting in chapter, he commanded that a
cellarer and sub-cellarer should be chosen by our
common assent, and withdrew his own clerk, saying,
iyo THE CHRONICLE OF
that whatsoever he had done he had done it for our
advantage, as he called God and his saints to witness,
and justified himself in various ways.
" Hear, O Heaven ! " the things that I speak ;
" give ear, O earth ! " to what Abbot Samson did.
The feast of St. Edmund now approaching, the
marble blocks were polished, and everything made
ready for the elevation of the shrine. The feast
day having therefore been kept on a Friday, a
three days' fast was proclaimed on the following
Sunday to the people, and the occasion of the
fast was publicly explained. The abbot also announced
to the convent that they should prepare themselves
for transferring the shrine, and placing it upon the
high altar, until the masons' work was finished ; and
he appointed the time and the manner for doing this
work.
When we had that night come to matins, there
stood the great shrine upon the altar, empty within,
adorned with white doeskins above, below, and round
about, which were fixed to the wood by silver nails ;
but one panel stood below, by a column of the
church, and the sacred body still lay in its accustomed
place. Lauds having been sung, we all proceeded to
take our disciplines. This being performed, the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 171
lord abbot and those with him vested themselves in
albs ; and approaching reverently, as it was fit they
should, they hastened to uncover the coffin.
First there was an outer cloth of linen, overwrap-
ping the coffin and all. This was found tied on the
upper side with strings of its own. Within this
was a cloth of silk, and then another linen cloth,
and then a third. And so at last the coffin was
uncovered, standing upon a tray of wood, that the
bottom of it might not be injured by the stone.
Affixed to the outside, over the breast of the martyr,
lay an angel of gold, about the length of a man's foot,
holding in one hand a golden sword and in the other
a banner. Underneath it, there was a hole in the
lid of the coffin, where the ancient custodians of
the martyr had been wont to lay their hands, for
the purpose of touching the sacred body. And
over the figure of the angel was this verse inscribed : —
" Martiris ecce zoma servat Michaelis agalma."
(" Behold the martyr's body St. Michael's image keeps")
At the two heads of the coffin were iron rings, as
there used to be on Danish chests.
So, raising up the coffin with the body, they
carried it to the altar, and I lent thereto my sinful
hand to help in carrying it, although the abbot had
172 THE CHRONICLE OF
strictly commanded that no one should approach un-
less he was called. The coffin was placed within
the shrine, and the panel was put thereon and
fastened down.
Now we all began to think that the abbot would
exhibit the coffin to the people on the octave of the
feast, and would replace the sacred body before all
of us. But we were sadly deceived, as the sequel
will show ; for on Wednesday, while the convent was
singing compline, the abbot spoke with the sacrist
and Walter the physician, and it was resolved that
twelve brethren should be appointed who were
strong enough to carry the panels of the shrine,
and skilful in fixing and unfixing them.
The abbot then said that it had been the object
of his prayers to see his patron saint, and that he
wished to join with him the sacrist and Walter the
physician when he looked upon him ; and there
were also nominated the abbot's two chaplains, the
two keepers of the shrine, and the two keepers of the
vestry, with six others, Hugh the sacrist, Walter the
physician, Augustine, William of Diss, Robert and
Richard. The convent being all asleep, these twelve
vested themselves in albs, and drawing the coffin out of
the shrine, carried and placed it upon a table near
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 173
where the shrine used to be, and commenced un-
fastening the lid, which was joined and fixed to the
coffin with sixteen very long iron nails. When, with
considerable difficulty, they had performed this, all
were ordered to go further away, except the two
forenamed associates.
Now the coffin was so filled with the sacred body,
both in length and width, that even a needle could
hardly be put between the head and the wood or
between the feet and the wood. The head lay
united to the body, somewhat raised by a small pillow.
The abbot, looking attentively, next found a silk cloth
veiling the whole body, and then a linen cloth of
wondrous whiteness, and upon the head a small linen
cloth, and after that another small and very fine
silken cloth, as if it had been the veil of some
nun. Lastly, they discovered the body, wound round
with a linen cloth, and then it was that all the
lineaments of the saint's body were laid open to
view.
At this point the abbot stopped, saying he durst
not proceed further, or view the holy body naked.
Taking the head between his hands, he sighed
and spoke thus : " Glorious martyr, St. Edmund,
blessed be the hour wherein thou wast born ! Glori-
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ous martyr, turn not my boldness to my perdition, for
that I, miserable sinner, do touch thee, for thou knowest
my devotion and my intention !" And proceeding, he
touched the eyes and the nose, which was very
massive and prominent. Then he touched the breast
and arms, and raising the left arm, he touched the
fingers, and placed his own fingers between the fingers
of the saint. Proceeding further, he found the feet
standing stiff up, like the feet of a man who had died
that day, and he touched the toes, and in touching
counted them.
It was then proposed that the other brethren
should be called forward, in order that they might see
these wonders ; and six, being thus called, approached,
and also six other brethren with them, who had
stolen in without the abbot's assent, and saw the
saint's body, namely, Walter of St. Alban's, Hugh
the infirmarer, Gilbert the brother of the prior,
Richard of Hingham, Jocell the cellarer, and
Thurstan the little, who alone put forth his hand,
and touched the feet and knees of the saint. And
the Most High so ordering it, that there might be
abundance of witnesses, one of our brethren, John of
Diss, sitting upon the roof of the church with the ser-
vants of the vestry, saw. all these things plainly enough.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 175
All this being done, the lid was fastened down on
the coffin with the same, and with the same
number of, nails, and in like manner as before,
the martyr being covered up with the same cloths
and in the same order as he was when first
discovered. Finally, the coffin was placed in the
accustomed place, and there was put upon the
coffin, near to the angel, a certain silken bag, wherein
was deposited a schedule written in English, containing
certain salutations of Ailwin the monk, as is believed,
which schedule was found close by the golden angel
when the coffin was uncovered. By the abbot's
order, there was forthwith written another short
memorandum, also deposited in the same bag, in
the following form of words : " In the year of the
incarnation of our Lord, 1198, the abbot Samson,
upon the impulse of devotion, saw and touched the
body of St. Edmund on the night after the feast of St.
Catherine, these being witnesses." And thereto were
subscribed the names of the eighteen monks.
The brethren also wound the whole coffin up
in a suitable linen cloth, and over the same
placed a new and most valuable silken cloth, which [ ^
Hubert, Archbishop of Canterbury, had offered at
the shrine that very year, and they placed lengthwise
1 76 THE CHRONICLE OF
a certain linen cloth doubled under it and next to
the stone, to prevent the coffin or the tray whereon
it stood from being injured by the stone. Afterwards
the panels were brought forth, and properly joined
together on the shrine.
When the convent assembled to sing matins, and
understood what had been done, all who had not
seen these things were very sorrowful, saying among
themselves, " We have been sadly deceived." How-
ever, after matins had been sung, the -abbot called the
convent to the high altar, and briefly recounting what
had been done, alleged that he ought not to call — and
could not call — all of them to be present on such an
occasion. Hearing this, with tears we sang "Te
Deum laudamus," and hastened to ring the bells in
the choir.
On the fourth day after, the abbot deposed the
keepers of the shrine and the keeper of St. Botolph,
appointing new ones, and establishing rules, so that
the holy places should be more carefully and dili-
gently kept. He also caused the great altar, which
heretofore was hollow, and wherein many things
were irreverently stowed away, and that space which
was between the shrine and the altar, to be made
solid with stone and cement, so that no danger from
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 177
fire could arise by the negligence of the keepers, as
had been already the case ; according to the saying
of the wise man, who said,
" Happy is he who learns caution from the danger
of others."
78 THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER XV
THE MONASTERY IN REVOLT
NOW when the abbot had obtained the favour
and grace of King Richard by gifts and
money, so that he had good reason to believe that he
could succeed according to his desire in all his under-
takings, the King died, and the abbot lost his
labour and outlay. However, King John, immediately
after his coronation, setting aside all other affairs,
came down to St. Edmund, drawn thither by his
vow and by devotion. We, indeed, believed that he
was come to make offering of some great matter ;
but all he offered was one silken cloth, which his
servants had borrowed from our sacrist, and to this
day have not paid for. He availed himself of the
hospitality of St. Edmund, which was attended with
enormous expense, and upon his departure bestowed
nothing at all, either of honour or profit, upon the
saint, save thirteen pence sterling, which he offered at
his mass on the day of his departure.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 179
About that time some of our officials made com-
plaint, stating in our chapter that Ralph the porter,
our servant, maintained causes and actions against
them to the damage of the church and to the pre-
judice of the convent. It was ordered by the prior,
with the assent of us all, that he should be punished
according to the custom whereby our servants are
usually punished, that is, by the withholding of
their stipends. It was therefore ordered that the
cellarer should withhold from him, not the corody
which of right belonged to his office according to the
tenour of his charter, but certain additions and per-
quisites which the cellarer and sub-cellarer allowed
him without knowledge of the convent at large.
Now the aforesaid Ralph, accompanied by certain of
the abbot's table, complained to the abbot on his
return from London, that the prior and convent had
disseised him of his corody, whereof he was seised
when the abbot had first come to the abbacy. They
also stated to the abbot that this act was done with-
out his sanction, and to his dishonour, and unreason-
ably, without his advice, and without investigation.
The abbot indeed believed him, and, in other wise
than was either fitting or customary, became excited.
He instantly justified Ralph, and affirmed that he was
180 THE CHRONICLE OF
innocent. Coming into chapter and complaining
thereof, he said that what had been done was to his
prejudice and without his consent. And it was
answered by one of us, the others all joining him,
that this was done by the prior, and with the assent
of the whole convent.
The abbot was confused at this, saying, " I
have nourished and brought up children, and they
have rebelled against me." Not overlooking this (as
he ought to have done) for the sake of peace to
the many, but rather exhibiting his power with a
resolution not to be over-mastered, he openly gave
command to the cellarer that he should restore to
Ralph, fully and wholly, all that had been taken
from him, and that he should drink nothing but
water till he had restored everything. But Jocell
the cellarer, hearing this, chose for that day to drink
water, rather than restore the corody to Ralph
against the will of the convent. When this came to
the abbot's knowledge on the morrow, he forbade
both meat and drink to the cellarer until he restored
all. With these words the abbot immediately
departed from the town, and stayed away for eight
days.
On the same day on which the abbot had departed,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 181
the cellarer arose in chapter, and exhibiting the
precept of the abbot, and holding his keys in his
hand, said that he had rather be deposed from his
office than do anything in opposition to the convent.
And then there began a great tumult in the convent,
such as I had never before seen ; and they said that
the precept of the abbot was not to be obeyed. But
the seniors and more prudent men of the convent,
discreetly holding their tongues, upon being urged
gave it as their opinion that the abbot was to be p
obeyed in everything, except in things manifestly
against God's pleasure ; and intimated that we must
bear with this scandalous behaviour for a time for the
sake of peace, lest worse should befall. Now when the
prior had begun to sing "Verba mea " for all deceased,
as is the rule, the novices withstood him, and with
them nearly the half of the convent ; and raising
their voices, they all cried out in answer, and opposed
it. Nevertheless, the senior part of the convent
prevailed, although they were few as compared with
the rest.
The abbot, although absent, yet by his messengers
terrified some by threats. Some others he drew over
to him byjair^words ;1 and the more influential men
of the convent, as though they were afraid even of his
1 8z THE CHRONICLE OF
garment, he caused to secede from the counsel of the
generality, that that gospel should be fulfilled which
says, " Every kingdom divided against itself is
brought to desolation." Moreover, the abbot said
that he would by no means come amongst us, by
reason of the conspiracies and oaths which, as he said,
we had made against him, that we should kill him
with our knives. However, returning home, and
sitting in his inner chamber, he gave orders to one of
our brethren whom he vehemently suspected, that he
should come to him ; and because he would not
come, fearing to be taken and bound, he was excom-
municated ; and the whole day after he was put into
fetters, remaining till morning in the infirmary.
Three others the abbot also included in a lighter
sentence, in order that the others might fear.
On the morrow it was resolved that the abbot
should be sent for, and that we should humble ourselves
before him, both in word and demeanour, so that his
anger might be appeased ; and it was done accord-
ingly. He, on the other hand, answering meekly
enough, but always alleging his own rectitude, laid
the blame upon us. Yet when he saw that we were
willing to be overcome, was himself fairly overcome.
Bursting into tears, he swore that he had never
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 183
grieved for any one thing as he had upon the present
occasion, as well on his own account as on our account
also, and more especially for the scandal, the evil
report which had already gone abroad concerning our
dissension, to the effect that the monks of St.
Edmund wished to kill their abbot.
And when the abbot had told us how he went
away on purpose till his anger had cooled, repeating
this saying of the philosopher, " I would have taken
vengeance upon thee had I not been angry," he
arose, weeping, and embraced all and every one of
us with the kiss of peace. He wept, and we also
wept. The brethren who had been excommunicated
were immediately absolved ; and thus " the tempest
ceased, and there was a great calm." Yet for all
this the abbot gave private orders that the accustomed
corody should be given without stint to Ralph the
porter, as heretofore ; to which matter, however, we
shut our eyes, being at last made to understand that
there is no lord who will not bear rule, and that
battle is perilous which is undertaken against the
stronger, and is begun against the more powerful
party.
In the year of grace one thousand two hundred a
marshalling took place of the knights of St. Edmund
1 84 THE CHRONICLE OF
and of their fees, whereof their ancestors had been
infeofFed.
Alberic de Vere holds five knights' fees and a half : namely,
in Loddon and in Brome, one knight's fee ; in Mendham and
Preston, one knight's fee 5 in Rede, one knight's fee 5 and in
Cockfield, half a knight's fee ; and in Livermere, two knights'
fees.
William of Hastings holds five knights' fees : to wit, in
Lidgate, and in Blunham and in Harling, three knights' fees ;
and in Tibenham and in Gissing, two.
The Earl Roger holds three knights' fees in Norton and
Brisingham.
Robert Fitz Roger holds one knight's fee in Marlesford.
Alexander of Kirkby holds one knight's fee in Kirkby.
Roger of Eu holds two knights' fees, in Mickfield and in
Topscroft.
Arnald of Charneles and his co-parceners, one knight's fee,
in Oakley, and in Quiddenham, and in Thurston, and Stuston.
Osbert of Wachesham, one knight's fee in Marlingford and
in Wortham.
William of Tostock, one knight's fee in Randestune.
Gilbert Fitz Ralph, three knights' fees : namely, in Thelne-
tham and in Hepworth, one knight's fee ; in Reydon (in
Blithing) and in Gissing, one knight's fee 5 and in Saxham, one
knight's fee.
Ralph of Buckenham, half a knight's fee in Buckenham.
William of Bardwell, two knights' fees in Barningham, and
in Bardwell, and in Hunston, and in Stanton.
Robert of Langtoft holds three knights' fees, in Stow, and in
Ashfield, and in Troston, and in Little Waltham in Essex.
Adam of Cockfield, two knights' fees : namely, in Lavenham,
and in Onehouse, one knight's fee ; and in Lelesey.
Robert Fitz Walter, one knight's fee, in Great Fakenham
and in Sapiston.
William Blund, one knight's fee in Thoj-p (in Blackbourn).
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 185
Gilbert of Peche, two knights' fees : namely, in Waude and in
Gedding, one knight's fee ; in Felsham, and in Euston, and
in Groton, one knight's fee.
Gilbert of St. Clare, two knights' fees, in Bradfield and in
Wattisfield.
Geoffrey of Whelnetham and Gilbert of Manston, one
knight's fee, in Whelnetham and in Manston.
Hubert of Ansty, half a knight's fee in Briddinghoe.
Gervase of Rothing, one knight's fee, in Chipley and in
Rothing.
Robert of Halsted, one knight's fee in Halsted, and half a
knight's fee in Brockley.
Reginald of Brockley, one knight's fee in Brockley.
Simon of Patteshall, half a knight's fee in Whatfield.
Peter Fitz Alan, half a knight's fee in Brockley.
Ralph of Presseni, half a knight's fee in Stanningfield.
Richard of Ickworth, two knights' fees, in Ickworth and in
Wangford.
Robert of Horning, half a knight's fee in Horning.
Walter of Saxham, one knight's fee, in Ashfield and in
Saxham.
William of Wordwell, half a knight's fee in Whelnetham.
Norman of Risby, half a knight's fee in Risby.
Peter of Livermere and Alan of Flempton, one knight's fee
in Livermere and Ampton.
Roger of Morieux, one knight's fee in Thorpe.
Hugh of Eleigh, in Eleigh, and in Preston, and in Bradfield,
two knights' fees.
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 Word-
well, one fourth part of a knight's fee.
The total is fifty-two fees and one-half and one quarter.
1 86 THE CHRONICLE OF
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 forms. 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,
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 187
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 andSouthwold
were granted to him. The other manors were com-
mitted 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 con- *
sideration of one hundred pounds. The archbishop,
for five hundred marks, granted to Thomas de Burgh,
the brother of the King's chamberlain, that same
1 88 THE CHRONICLE OF
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 Tewkes-
bury. 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
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 189
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 differ-
ent things, and many expressed their feelings in
various ways.
90 THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER XVI
THE ELECTION OF A NEW PRIOR
ROBERT the prior was at this time in a dying
state ; but while he was yet alive many opinions
were uttered as to appointing a new prior. Some
one, therefore, related to us, that the abbot sitting in
the choir, and steadfastly beholding all the brethren
from the first to the last, found no one upon whom
his spirit might rest to make him prior, save Herbert
his chaplain. By these and similar acts the will of
the abbot was made apparent to most of us. One of
us hearing this, answered that it was not to be be-
lieved ; asserting " that the abbot, a diligent and
prudent man, to such a man, a youth and almost
beardless novice of twelve years, who had only
become a cloister monk four years ago, not approved
in the cure of souls, nor in doctrinal learning — to
such a one," said he, "he will never give the
priorate."
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 191
Now, when the prior died, the abbot was staying
in London ; and a certain person said, " A month
has scarcely elapsed since the abbot made Herbert
the chaplain, sub-sacrist, and when he committed
that office to him, in the chapel of St. Nicasius,
he promised that if he could, by any means,
make him prior, he would use his utmost exertions
on his behalf." Some one hearing of this, who was
desirous of making himself agreeable to the abbot
and the future prior, most urgently solicited many of
us, seniors and juniors alike, that when the oppor-
tunity presented itself they would nominate Herbert,
at least with some others, for prior. He affirmed
that by this means they would gratify the abbot, for
such indeed was his desire.
There certainly were many of us, as well of the
seniors as the juniors, who asserted that the same
Herbert was an amiable and affable man, and worthy
of much honour. Also, there were some — few in num-
ber, indeed, but whose advice was more respected, and
who belonged to the wiser part of the convent— who
were desirous of promoting Master Hermer the sub-
prior to be prior, as being an experienced, learned
and eloquent man, skilful and expert in the cure of
souls, who at that time had governed the cloister for
1 92 THE CHRONICLE OF
ourteen years in good discipline, an approved sub-
prior, and well known. This man, I say, they were
desirous of preferring, according to that saying of the
wise man, " believe an experienced master."
But the greater number of us secretly grumbled in
opposition, saying that he was a passionate, im-
patient, restless, fussy and fretful man, a litigious
person, and a disturber of peace, deriding him, and
saying, " The discretion of a man deferreth his
anger, and it is his glory to pass over a transgression."
Also, another one said, " This one thing, as being a
scandal, is to be much guarded against, namely, that
if the sub prior be removed, henceforward learned
clerks will not deign to take on them the religious
habit in our house, if it should happen that any
dumb image be set up, and a wooden log be pre-
ferred in such a convent as ours." And the same
brother added somewhat more, saying that a
person to be prior of our convent, should be such a
one that if any question of great importance arose in
the abbot's absence concerning ecclesiastical or secular
affairs, it might be referred to the prior, as being
the highest and most discreet person.
A certain one of our brethren, hearing these and
such like things, said, " What good is it that ye
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 193
multiply so many and such sayings ? When the
abbot comes home, he will do as he pleases about it.
Perhaps he may seek the advice of each of us singly,
and with great show of formality ; but in the end,
by allegations and by plausible reasonings and cir-
cumlocutions, he will at last come down to the ful-
filment of his own desire ; and the affair will end as
he has all along intended."
The abbot, therefore, having returned, and sitting
in chapter, set forth to us amply and eloquently
enough what sort of man ought to be appointed
prior. John the third prior answered, in the pre-
sence of us all, that the sub-prior was a worthy and
fit person. But the greater number immediately
opposed, saying, " A man of peace, let a man of
peace be given us." Two of us, therefore, re-
plied to them, saying that a person should be
appointed who knew how to direct the souls of men,
and to distinguish " between leprosy and leprosy,"
which saying gave great offence, for it seemed to
favour the part of the sub-prior. But the abbot
hearing this uproar, said that he would after chapter
hear what each had to say, and so proceed advisedly
in the business, and upon the morrow would dis-
patch it as he thought fit.
o
i94 THE CHRONICLE OF
In the meantime some one said that the abbot
would go through this formality in order that the
sub-prior should be cautiously shelved from the
office of prior, as if it had been done by the advice of
the convent, not by the desire of the abbot ; and so
he, the abbot, would be held excused, and by this policy
the mouth of them that speak lies should be stopped.
On the morrow the abbot, as he sat in chapter,
wept sorely, saying that he had passed the whole
night without sleep, for sheer anxiety and appre-
hension that he might chance to nominate one who
was displeasing to God. He swore upon peril of his
soul that he would nominate four of us who, accord-
ing to his opinion, were most serviceable and fit, so
that we should choose one from those four. There-
fore the abbot, in the first place, named the sacrist,
whom he well knew to be infirm and insufficient, as
the sacrist himself testified with an oath. Forthwith,
in the presence of all, he named John the third prior,
his cousin, and Maurice his chaplain, and the before-
named Herbert, all indeed young men, of about forty
years old or under, and all of them of moderate
learning, and, so far as respects the cure of souls,
rather requiring to be taught than learned therein,
nevertheless apt to learn.
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 195
These three the abbot nominated and preferred,
passing over the sub-prior, and passing by many
others of the seniors and elders, experienced and
learned men, some who had formerly been masters of
the schools, as well as all others. The abbot dwelt
long in speaking of and commending the person of
John in many respects ; but, nevertheless, on the
other side, alleged that the great number of his re-
lations in this province would lie heavy on his neck
if he were prior.
Now, when the abbot was about to allege the same
thing concerning Maurice (and he could with reason
do it), so that in a roundabout way he should come
to make mention of Herbert, his discourse was inter-
rupted by one of the elders of the convent saying,
" Master precentor, you have the first voice ; name
Master Herbert." " He is a good man," said he.
On hearing the name of Herbert, the abbot stopped
speaking, and turning to the precentor, said, " I have
no objection to receive Herbert if you will." On
this saying, the whole convent cried out, " He is a
good man ; he is a good and amiable man " ; and
this same thing also many of the elders testified.
Immediately hereupon the precentor and some one
in alliance with him, and two others on the other
196 THE CHRONICLE OF
side, arose with all haste, and put Herbert in the
midst.
Herbert, indeed, at first humbly begged to be
excused, saying that he was insufficient to fill such a
dignity, and particularly, as he said, he was not of
such perfect knowledge that he should know how
to make a sermon in chapter in such manner as
would become a prior. Most of those who witnessed
this were amazed, and for very confusion struck
dumb. However, the abbot said in answer many
things to re-assure him, and as it were in dis-
paragement of learned men, saying that he could well
remember and con over the sermons of others, just
as others did ; and began to condemn rhetorical
flourishes, and pompous words, and choice sentences,
saying that in many churches the sermon in convent
is delivered in French, or rather in English, for
moral edification, not for literary ostentation.
After this had been said, the new prior advanced
to the feet of the abbot and kissed them. The
abbot received him with tears, and with his own
hand placed him in the prior's seat, and commanded
all that they should pay him the reverence and
obedience due to him as prior.
The chapter being over, I being hospitaller, sat in
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 197
the porch of the guest-hall, stupefied, and revolving
in my mind the things I had heard and seen ; and I
began to consider closely for what cause and for what
particular merits such a man should be advanced to
so high a dignity. And I began to reflect that the
man was of comely stature and of striking appearance ;
handsome and pleasant looking ; always cheerful ; of
a smiling countenance, be it early or late ; kind to all ;
a man calm in his bearing, and grave in his gait ;
polite in speech, possessing a sweet voice in chanting,
and expressive in reading ; young, strong, of a healthy
body, and always in readiness to undergo travail for
the needs of the church ; skilful in conforming himself
to every circumstance of place or time, either with
ecclesiastics, clerks or seculars ; liberal and social, and
gentle in reproof; not spiteful, not suspicious, not
covetous, not tiresome, not slothful ; sober and
fluent of tongue in the French idiom, as being a
Norman by birth ; a man of moderate understanding,
who, if " too much learning should make him mad,"
might be said to be a perfectly accomplished man.
When I regarded these things I said in my mind,
such a man would become very popular, but " there
is nothing every way blessed," and I wept for joy,
saying that " God hath visited his people ; as the
198 THE CHRONICLE OF
Lord pleased, so it hath been done." But of a sudden
another thought occurred to me : " Be cautious in your
praise of a new man, for honours alter manners, or
rather they show them. Wait and see who and what
sort of men will be his counsellors, and to whom he
will give ear, for each thing naturally draws to its
like. The event will prove his doings, and therefore
be sparing in your praises."
On the same day certain unlearned brethren, as
well officials as cloister-folk, came together, and
" whetted their tongues like a sword that they might
shoot privily at " the learned, repeating the words of
the abbot, which he had that day spoken, as it were
to the prejudice of the learned. Thus they said to
one another, " Now let our philosophers take to their
philosophies : now is it manifest what their philoso-
phies are worth. So often have our good clerks
declined in the cloister that they are now declined.
So much have they sermonized in chapter that all are
driven away. So much have they spoken of discern-
ing between leprosy and leprosy that as lepers they
are all put out. So often have they declined musa,
musae, that all of them are reckoned musards "
(drivellers). These and such like things certain
uttered in ridicule and scandal of others, justifying
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 199
their own ignorance : they condemned the know-
ledge of polite learning, and disparaged learned
men, being very merry, and expecting great things,
which, in all probability, will never come to pass, for
" Hope of good is often deceived in its expectation.
200 THE CHRONICLE OF
CHAPTER XVII
THE ABBOT'S FOIBLES
THE wise man hath said, " No one is in every
respect perfect " ; nor was the abbot Samson.
For this reason let me say this, that according to my
judgment the abbot was not to be commended when
he caused a deed to be made and ordered the same
to be delivered to a certain servant of his, for him to
have the sergeanty of John Ruffus, after the decease
of the same John. Ten marks, as it was said, " did
blind the eyes of the wise." Wherefore, upon Master
Dennis, the monk, saying that such an act was un-
heard of, the abbot replied : " I shall not cease from
doing as I like a whit the more for you than I would
for that youngster." The abbot also did the like thing
in respect of the sergeanty of Adam the infirmarer,
upon payment of one hundred shillings. Of such
an act it may be said, " A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump."
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 201
There is, also, another stain of evil doing, which I
trust in the Lord he will wash away with tears, in
order that a single excess may not disfigure the sum
total of so many good deeds. He built up the bank
of the fish-pond at Babwell so high, for the service of
a new mill, that by the keeping back of the water
there is not a man, rich or poor, who has land near
the water, from the gate of the town to East-
gate, but has lost his garden and his orchards. The
pasture of the cellarer, upon the other side of the
bank, is spoilt. The arable land, also, of the
neighbouring folk has been much deteriorated. The
meadow of the cellarer is ruined, the orchard of the
infirmarer has been flooded by the great flow of
water, and all the neighbouring folk are complaining
thereof. Once, indeed, the cellarer argued with him
in full chapter, upon this excessive damage ; but he,
quickly moved to anger, made answer, that his fish-
pond was not to be spoilt on account of our meadows.
The Dean of London writes thus in his chronicles :
" King Henry the Second, having conferred with the
archbishop and bishops concerning the vacant abbacies,
so far observed the rule of the canons in appointing
abbots, that it was the custom to appoint them upon
votes solicited from other houses ; thinking, perhaps,
^v
202 THE CHRONICLE OF
that if pastors were set up in every place from their
own body," a previously contracted familiarity would
afford impunity to vice, and old acquaintanceship
would give indulgence to wickedness, and thereby too
great remissness would obtain in cloisters. Another
has said : " It does not seem fit that a pastor should
be elected from his own house, but rather from some
other house ; because, if he is taken from elsewhere
he will always believe, according to the greatness of
the monastery which he has undertaken to rule, that
many are good men and true, whose advice he will
seek if he is a good man, and whose honesty he will
fear if he is a bad one. But a servant of the house,
better knowing the ignorance, inability and incompet-
ence of every one, will the more carelessly serve
therein, mixing square with round."
The monks of Ramsey followed this line of reason-
ing ; for in those days, when they were able to choose
one of their own body, on two occasions they chose an
abbot from other houses.
In the year of grace one thousand two hundred
and one there came to us the abbot of Flay, and
through his preaching caused the open buying and
selling which took place in the market on Sundays to
be done away with, and it was ordained that the
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 203
market should be held on the Monday. The like
the abbot brought to pass in many cities and boroughs
of England.
In the same year the monks of Ely set up a
market at Lakenheath, having the permission, as well
as the charter, of the King. Now, we in the first
place, dealing peaceably with our friends and neigh-
bours, sent our messengers to the chapter of Ely,
and, first of all, to the lord Bishop of Ely, letters of
request that he should forbear his intentions ; adding
that we could, in a friendly way, for the sake of peace
and preserving our mutual regard, pay the fifteen
marks that were given as a fine for obtaining the
King's charter. Why make a long story of it? They
would not give way, and then upon all sides arose
threatening speeches, and " spears threatening spears."
We therefore procured a writ of inquest to ascer-
tain whether that market was established to our
prejudice, and to the damage of the market of the
town of St. Edmund. The oath was made, and it
was testified that this had been done to our damage.
Of all which, when the King was informed, he caused
it to be inquired, by his registrar, what sort of charter
he had granted to the monks of Ely ; and it was
made to appear that he had given to them the afore-
204 THE CHRONICLE OF
said market, under such conditions that it should not
be to the injury of the neighbouring markets. The
King, therefore, forty marks being offered, granted us
his charter that from thenceforward there should be
no market within the liberty of St. Edmund, unless
by the assent of the abbot. And he wrote to Geoffrey
Fitz-Peter, his justiciary, that the market of Laken-
heath should be abolished. The justiciary wrote the
same to the sheriff of Suffolk.
The sheriff, being well aware that he could not
enter upon the liberties of St. Edmund, or exercise
any authority there, gave it in charge to the
abbot, by his writ, that this should be performed
according to the form of the royal command. The
steward of the hundred, therefore, coming thither upon
the market day, with the witnessing of freemen, in
the King's name openly prohibited that market, show-
ing the letters of the King and the sheriff ; but being
treated with great abuse and violence, he departed,
without having accomplished his object.
The abbot, on the other hand, deferring this
matter for awhile, being at London, and consulting
the learned thereupon, commanded his bailiffs, that
taking with them the men of St. Edmund with horse
and arms, they should abolish the market, and that
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 205
they should bring along with them in custody
the buyers and sellers therein, if they should find
any. So at dead of night, there went forth nearly
six hundred men well armed, proceeding towards
Lakenheath. But when the scouts gave intelligence
of their arrival, all who were in the market ran
hither and thither, and not one of them could be
found.
Now, the prior of Ely on that same night had
come thither, with his bailiffs, expecting the arrival of
our men, in order that, to the best of his ability, he
might defend the buyers and sellers ; but he would
not stir out of his inn. When our bailiffs had
required from him gage and pledge to stand trial in
the court of St. Edmund for the wrong committed
by him, and he had refused, upon consultation, they
overturned the butchers' shambles and the tables of
the stalls in the market, and carried them away with
them. Moreover, they led away with them all the
cattle, " all sheep and oxen ; yea, and the beasts of the
field," and set off towards Icklingham. The bailiffs
of the prior following them made suit for their cattle,
by replevin within fifteen days : and their suit was
allowed. Within the fifteen days there came a writ,
whereby the abbot was summoned to come before
206 THE CHRONICLE OF
the court of exchequer to answer for such act, and
that the cattle taken should in the meantime be
delivered up without charge. For the Bishop of Ely,
who was an eloquent and well-spoken man, in his
own person had made complaint thereof to the
justiciary and the nobles of England, saying that a
most unheard-of piece of arrogance had been com-
mitted in the land of St. Etheldreda in time of peace ;
wherefore many were highly indignant with the
abbot.
In the meanwhile another cause of disagreement
arose between the bishop and the abbot. A certain
young man of Glemsford had been summoned to the
court of St. Edmund, for a breach of the King's
peace, and had been sought for a long while.
At length the steward of the bishop brought forth
that young man in the county court, claiming the
jurisdiction of the court of St. Etheldreda, and
exhibiting the charters and privileges of his lord ; but
our bailiffs, claiming the jurisdiction of the plaint and
the seisin of such liberty, could not be heard. The
county court, indeed, put that plaint in respite until
the justices in eyre should arrive, wherefore St.
Edmund was ousted of his jurisdiction. The abbot,
on hearing this, proposed to go over to the King ;
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 207
but because he was sick, he decided to defer the
matter till the Purification.
And, behold ! on St. Agnes day there came the
King's messenger, bearing the writ of our lord the
Pope, wherein it was contained, that the bishop of Ely
and the abbot of St. Edmund should make inquisition
concerning Geoffrey Fitz-Peter and William de Stut-
ville, and certain other lords of England who had
taken the cross, for whom the King required
discharge, alleging their personal infirmity, and the
necessity for their advice in the government of his
kingdom. The same messenger also brought letters
from our lord the King, commanding that he,
upon the sight thereof, should come to him to confer
upon the message of our lord the Pope. The abbot
was troubled in his mind, and said, " I am straitened
on every side ; I must either offend God or the
King : by the very God, whatsoever may be the con-
sequence to me, I will not wittingly lie."
Therefore, returning home with all speed, some-
what weakened by infirmity of body and humbled,
and (as was not his wont) timid, by the intervention
of the prior, he sought advice of us (a thing he hereto-
fore had seldom done), as to what course he was to
pursue in respect of the liberties of the church which
208 THE CHRONICLE OF
were in jeopardy, and whence the money was to
come if he took his journey, and to whom the keep-
ing of the abbey was to be committed, and what
should be done for his poor servants who had a long
time served him. And the answer was, that he
might go, and that he was at liberty to take up at
interest sufficient money, to be payable out of our
sacristy and from our pittances, and from our other
rents at his pleasure ; and that he should give the
abbey in charge to the prior, and some other clerk
whom he had enriched, and who could, in the
interval, live upon his own means, that thereby a sav-
ing might take place in the expenses of the abbot, and
that he might give to each of his servants money
proportioned to his length of service.
He, hearing such counsel, was pleased therewith, and
so it was done. The abbot, therefore, coming into
chapter the day before he took his departure, caused
to be brought with him all his books, and these he
presented to the church and convent, and commended
our counsel which we had signified to him through
the prior.
In the meantime we heard certain persons mur-
muring, saying that the abbot is careful and solicitous
for the liberties of his own barony, but he keeps
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 209
silence respecting the liberties of the convent which
we have lost in his time ; namely, concerning the
lost court and liberties of the cellarer, and the liberty
of the sacrist, as regards the appointment of the bailifts
of the town by the convent. Therefore, the Lord
raised up the spirit of three brethren of but indifferent
knowledge, who, having got many others to join
them, conferred with the prior thereupon, in order
that he should speak with the abbot respecting these
matters. On our behalf the prior was to ask him,
at his departure, to provide for the security of his
church in respect of those liberties. On hearing this,
the abbot answered that no more was to be said upon
the subject, swearing that so long as he lived he would
be the master ; but towards evening he talked more
mildly thereupon with the prior.
On the morrow, indeed, sitting in chapter, as he
was about to depart and ask licence so to do, he said
he had satisfied all his servants, and had made his
will just as if he was now to die ; and beginning to
speak concerning those liberties, he justified himself,
saying that he had changed the ancient customs in
order that there should not be a default in the
administration of the King's justice, and threw the
blame upon the sacrist, and said that if Durand, the
p
210 THE CHRONICLE OF
town bailiff, who was now sick, should die, the
sacrist might hold the bailiwick in his own hand,
and present a bailiff to the chapter for approval,
as the custom had been of old, so nevertheless that
this be done with the assent of the abbot ; but the
gifts and offerings to be made yearly by the bailiff
he would in no wise remit.
Now, when we asked him what was to be done in
respect of the cellarer's court which was lost, and
especially of the halfpence which the cellarer was
accustomed to receive for renewing pledges, he be-
came angry, and asked us in his turn by what
authority we demanded the exercise of regal jurisdic-
tion, and those things which appertain to regalities.
To this it was replied that we had possessed it from
the foundation of the church, and even three years
after he had come to the abbacy, and this liberty of
renewing pledges we possessed in every one of our
manors. We stated that we ought not to lose our
right in consideration of a hundred shillings, which he
received privately from the town bailiff every year ;
and we boldly required of him to give us such seisin
thereof as we had had even in his time.
The abbot, being as it were at a loss for an
answer, and willing enough to leave us all in peace
JOCELIN OF BRAKELOND 211
and to depart quietly, ordered that those halfpence
and the other matters which the cellarer demanded
should be sequestrated until his return ; and he
promised that upon his return he would co-
operate with us in everything, and make just order
and disposition, and render to each what was justly
his. On his saying this, all was quiet again ; but the
calm was not very great, for
" In promises any man may wealthy be."
Finis.
APPENDICES :
PAGE
I SAMSON AS AN AUTHOR 215
II NOTES TO THE TEXT OF THE CHRONICLE 222
III TABLE OF CHIEF DATES IN THE HISTORY
OF THE ABBEY OF ST. EDMUNDSBURY
(a.d. 870 to 1903) 257
APPENDIX I
SAMSON AS AN AUTHOR.
Samson having been generally looked upon as a man of
action rather than as a man of letters, it seems desirable to
consider at greater length than is possible in the general
Introduction, his claims to be regarded as a literary character.
In the Bodleian Library at Oxford is a huge codex of 898
pages (MS. 240) in a script of the 14th century. This once
belonged to Bury Abbey, as at the beginning is the note " Liber
monachorum Sancti Edmundi, in quo continetur secunda pars
Historia auree, quam scribi fecit dominus Rogerus
de Huntedoun sumptibus graciarum suarum anno domini
MCCCLxxvii0." Over the title is written on the margin
" Thomas Prise possidet," and in another hand " Io. Anglicus
erat author."
There is considerable difficulty in assigning the exact author-
ship of this work : but that it was compiled at Bury is certain,
and it was no doubt added to as new materials turned up or were
deemed worthy of admission, especially such as were connected
with St. Edmundsbury. Dr. Carl Horstman has published in
the preface to Vol. I. of his Nova Legenda Anglie (Oxf. Univ.
Press, 1 901) a summary of the contents of this book which
throws much new light on its provenance. It is, as he says,
" the depository of documents of Bury Abbey, and not the work
215
216 APPENDIX I
of one individual ; but the joint work, the common concern of
the monastery, for a whole generation."
The MS. contains only the second part of the Historia aurea,
and with an abbreviated text ; and this is followed by a
collection of miscellanies, lives of saints, poetry and documents of
all sorts. Dr. Horstman prints in his second volume the lives
of several saints, scattered through the last half of the codex.
The only one of these lives that need concern us is that of St.
Edmund, which is very long and detailed, and occupies 116
printed pages. This is followed almost immediately by a chapter
De modo meditandi vel contemplandi (including St. Edmund's
prayer, "Gratias tibi ago"), and later by a compilation on
monastic discipline for the novices of Bury Abbey.
This Life of St. Edmund is by far the most complete
extant. It is described as "Vita et passio cum miraculis sancti
Edmundi regis et martiris, excerpta de cronicis et diuersis
historiis seu legendis, de eodem breuiter et sub compendio
compilata." It is doubtless the " Prolixa vita " from which was
compiled the "abbreviata vita" included in Abbot Curteys'
Register (now at the British Museum), and printed in Arch-
deacon Battely's book of 1745 (pp. 25, 149). In the
margins are given the authorities from which it is compiled,
and amongst these are, in addition to the chronicles of Blyth-
burgh, Ely, Hoveden, Hulme, Huntingdon, Malmesbury,
Marianus, Norwich, Sarum, Waringford, and Westminster, the
writers specially identified with Bury Abbey :— Abbo of Fleury,
Herman the Archdeacon, Galfridus de Fontibus, Osbert of
Clare, Jocelin of Brakelond (from whom are taken the
incidents described in chapters viii. and xiv. of this book), and—
Samson.
There are in all eighteen sections of the Life for which
Samson is quoted as the authority. On eight occasions
SAMSON AS AN AUTHOR 217
the word "Sampson" appears in the margin 5 "Sampson
abbas," eight times 5 "Sampson abbas sancti Edmundi," once ;
" Ex libro de miraculis eius Sampson," once (the first occasion
when the name appears) ; and " Ex libro primo miraculorum
Sampson abb." once (the seventh occasion).
Before considering Samson's share in the collection of
materials relative to the history of St. Edmund, a few words
must be said about the earlier writers on the subject.
The first contributor to the tangle of legends and miracles
connected with St. Edmund and his shrine was Abbo, of
Fleury, a great monastery on the Loire above Orleans,
founded in the 7th century. A native of Orleans, Abbo was
sent early to the monastic school at Fleury, where he mastered
five of the seven arts, viz., grammar, arithmetic, dialectic,
astronomy and music. (Migne's Patrologia, vol. 139.) A
deputation coming to Fleury from the monks of Ramsey Abbey,
asking that a man of learning might be sent to them, Abbo was
selected for the office, and he remained two years in England,
when he was recalled. He died from a spear-thrust in
November, 1004. Whilst in England (circa 985) he heard
from Archbishop Dunstan the story of St. Edmund's death, as
related to Dunstan when a youth by an old man who said he
was armour-bearer to St. Edmund on the day of his death (20th
November, 870). At the entreaty of the monks of Ramsey,
Abbo put this story into writing, prefacing it with a dedicatory
epistle to Dunstan in which he says that the work is sent to
the Archbishop because every part of it, except the last
miracle, is related on his authority.
Abbo being " composition master " to the student monks at
Ramsey, he wrote, as Mr. Arnold says (I. xiv.), "with that
freedom with which men whose information is^ scanty, and
their imagination strong, are not sorry to enjoy." Lord
Francis Hervey, in a masterly analysis of the facts and fictions
218 APPENDIX I
of St. Edmund's life in his Notes to Robert Reyce's Breviary
of Suffolk (1902), thus sums the matter with great truth :
"Abbo's treatise, with its declamatory flourishes and classical
tags, is for historical purposes all but worthless."
The copies extant of Abbo's Passio are numerous. (For List,
see Hardy's Catalogue, vol. i, p. 526.) At least four of them
(two in the Cottonian collection, one at the Bodleian, and one
at Lambeth) belonged to Bury Abbey, the earliest being
Tiberius B. ii., which has on fol. \a the words " Liber feretra-
riorum S. Edmundi in quo continentur uita passio et miracula
S. Edmundi." It is a beautiful MS. of the end of the eleventh
or beginning of the twelfth century ; " and the gold enrich-
ment is sometimes splendid" (Arnold I. lxv.), though the
illumination is unfinished. The other Cottonian MS. (Titus
A. viii.) is of the thirteenth century, and has on fol. 65 the
words " Liber monachorum S. Edmundi." (Both these books
will be referred to later.)
The next writer on the subject was Herman the Arch-
deacon, who, at the end of the eleventh century, wrote a treatise
De Miraculis Sancti Eadmundi.
Herman was Archdeacon to Bishop Arfast of Thetford, at
the time when the latter first endeavoured to establish his see
at Bury ; but later he must have become a monk of St.
Edmund, and he manifests in his narrative enthusiastic devotion
to the monastery. In the prologue he explains that he compiled
his work at the request of Abbot Baldwin " felicis memoriae "
(died 1097), partly from oral tradition, partly from an old and
almost undecipherable manuscript " exarata calamo cujusdam
difficillimo, et, ut ita dicam, adamantino." Mr. Arnold has
printed the text of Herman on pp. 26-92 of his vol. I. from
the Cottonian volume Tiberius B. ii. above referred to, which
is composed of Abbo's Passio and Herman's Miracula.
SAMSON AS AN AUTHOR 219
A third writer was Galfridus de Fontibus, who wrote in
the days of Abbot Ording (1146-1156) a short tract, De
Infantia Sancti Eadmundi^ of which only one MS. is known (in
the Cambridge University Library). Further additions to the
legends and miracles were made by Osbert of Clare, prior of
Westminster, who flourished between 1108 and 1140, but
whose writings are not now separately extant, though extracts
from them appear in the manuscripts of other authors.
It would seem that working upon all these records, and
doubtless others which have not descended to us, Samson, at
the period of his life when he was still a subordinate officer of
Bury Abbey, set about compiling a treatise of his own.
His prologue indicates that he was moved to narrate the glorious
miracles of the glorious king and martyr St. Edmund by the
orders of his superiors and the exhortations of his fellow monks.
His work seems, however, to have been mainly that of a
compiler and editor, though the prologue, described by Mr.
Arnold (I., liii.) as " written in a massive and manly style,"
was doubtless of his own composition. The work appears
after Abbo's Passio in the Cottonian MS. Titus A. viii., and con-
sists of two books, Liber I. containing sixteen chapters, and
Liber II. twenty-one chapters. All but four of the chapters
in the first book refer to narratives that had been told before by
Herman, and Samson "has merely re-written them, adding no
new facts, but greatly improving the style." The second book
contains another prologue, followed by a prefatory letter ; and a
hand of the fourteenth or early fifteenth century has written in
the Cottonian MS. " Osberti de Clara prioris Westmonasterii " in
the margin of the prologue, and " Incipit epistola Osberti
prioris Westmonasterii missa con. S. Edmundi de miraculis
ejusdem " in the margin at the beginning of the letter.
Mr. Arnold speaks of the " inflated diction and fantastical mys-
tical interpretations" of this (second) prologue and prefatory
letter, and says that " Samson seems simply to have annexed
220 APPENDIX I
them while making up his own work." As, however, some of
the narratives in this second book are ascribed to Samson himself
in the Bodleian MS. 240, whilst others in the same book are
ascribed to Osbert, it is manifest that some confusion had arisen
in the interval as to the respective shares of responsibility for
the narratives. But this need not prevent us from accepting
Samson as at least the compiler and editor of the work De
Miraculis Sancti Edmundi referred to on page xxxiv. of the
Introduction, and printed in full on pp. 107-208 of Mr.
Arnold's first volume.
If it be the case, as Mr. Arnold thinks (and there seems no
reason against the ascription) that the Prologue of Book I.
was Samson's own composition, it will doubtless be of interest
that it should be reproduced here as a specimen of his literary
style ; and a translation of it is therefore subjoined, which
follows the structure of the original as closely as possible : —
" When we see the deeds of many earthly men extolled in
brilliant writings, which those skilled in letters have handed
down to the memory of posterity, it is to be wondered that we
do not blush that the great works of God, which, through His
servants, have been brought into being almost in this our very
age, should through our sloth be blotted out, and through our
silence be condemned. And although those secular historians,
in the pride of their eloquence, have said very much about
small affairs, and have gained the favour and tickled the ears of
their audience by the sweetness of their speech, yet Christian
simplicity and Catholic plainness, innocent of the leaven of
superstition, are rightly preferred to them all. Indeed, the
greatest faith is to be placed in the account of those who do
not wish, and do not know how, to colour what they have
heard, or, by the grace of their words, to twist matters into one
tortuous path after another.
"Injaying this we do not impudently speak to the discredit
SAMSON AS AN AUTHOR 221
(be that far from us) of Churchmen who, by the divine inspira-
tion, endowed with wonderful eloquence, have with their words,
sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, adorned the deed3 of
our honoured ancestors, as it were a golden tablet ornamented
with most brilliant pearls. But verily those are to be confuted
who are carried headlong by a damnable presumption to that
with which erudition has nought to do, and to which the grace
of the Holy Spirit imparts nought.
"But we (whom the apostle warns lest we should despise the
riches of the goodness of God, and whom he exhorts not to
receive His grace in vain) with a truthful, albeit an unpolished
style, at the command of superior authority and by the exhorta-
tion of brotherly love, have undertaken to tell of the glorious
miracles of the glorious king and martyr Edmund : since,
indeed, it appears impious that we should allow the lantern,
which God lighted and placed upon a candlestick, to be obscured
through our sloth, or should hide it negligently under the
bushel of oblivion. For to this purpose is it placed upon a
candlestick, that it may give light to all who are in the house.
In which matter the victorious champion of God, Edmund,
illuminating the borders, not only of Britain, but also of foreign
lands with the glory of his miracles, gives frequent token of his
merit towards God.
" On behalf of whose merits, Omnipotent God, we pray
That Thou in Thy clemency wouldst purge our inmost heart,
And wouldst infuse the gift which the fostering spirit bestows,
Opening the tongues of speechless babes and making them
eloquent,
That we may be able worthily to tell the praises of the martyr,
His famous acts, his virtues and his triumphs."
APPENDIX II
NOTES TO THE TEXT OF THE CHRONICLE.
[Thejull titles of the works of reference quoted in the pages of this
Appendix as "Arnold," « Battely? " James]' " Rokeivodc,"
•will be found on pages 276 and 277 of Appendix III].
CHAPTER I.
1, 4. The year ivhen the Fleming?, ivere taken captive. On the
1 7th October, 1 1 73, Richard de Lucy, the chief justiciary of King
Henry II., defeated at Fornham St. Genevieve, near Bury St. Ed-
munds, the rebel Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, who had
landed from Flanders at Walton in Suffolk on the 29th
September, 1173, at the head of a force of Flemings. The
chroniclers speak of large numbers of the foreign mercenaries as
being killed at the battle of Fornham. The Earl and Countess
of Leicester were captured, and imprisoned at Falaise till 1174.
For an interesting description of the battle, with many
references to the chronicles, see Miss Kate Norgate's
England under the Angevin Kings, II. 150-1.
1, 10. Hugh the Abbot. Hugh, Prior of Westminster,
succeeded Ording as 9th Abbot of St. Edmundsbury in 11 57.
Gervase records his being blessed by Archbishop Theobald at
Colchester, and his vowing to him canonical obedience. But a
bull obtained at great cost from Pope Alexander III. in 1172
(see p. 7) made the abbey immediately subject to Rome.
222
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 223
Some details of the occurrences during his abbacy are given
in Battely, pp. 78-82.
1, 1 1. Genesis xxvii. 1.
2, 21. Debt.. .to Jews. Whilst the Jews were legally simply
chattels of the king, they were at this time " practically masters
of the worldly interests of a large number of his Christian sub-
jects, and of a large portion of the wealth of his realm"
(Norgate's Angevin Kings, II. 487). There are many instances
besides that of St. Edmundsbury of ecclesiastical property and
furniture being pledged to the Jews, e.g. the sacred vessels and
jewels of Lincoln Minster were in pledge to Aaron, a rich Jew
of that city, for seven years or more before Geoffrey, bishop-
elect, redeemed them in 1173.
3,6. Benedict the Jew. In 1171 "Benedict the Jew, son
of Deodate, was fined xxH for taking certain sacred vestments
in pawn." (Pipe Rolls, Norf. and Suff. 17 Hen. II.) Other
fines on Jews are recorded by Rokewode (pp. 106-7).
3, 9. William the sacrist. From the Gesta Sacristarum
(Arnold II. 291) we learn of this officer, who was once
Samson's superior, afterwards a rival candidate for the abbacy,
and finally Samson's subordinate, " Huic [Schuch] successit
Willelmus cognomento Wiardel ; qui non sine causa a domino
Samsone abbate amotus fuit ab administratione." His evil deeds
recorded by Jocelin appear therefore to have been remembered.
6, 1. Richard the Archbishop. Richard was a Norman by
birth and of humble parentage ; and was prior of Dover when
the question of filling up the primacy was discussed z\ years
after Becket's murder on 29th December, 11 70. There was a
disputed election, but Robert, by the Court influence, won the
day over Odo, Prior of Canterbury ; and eventually his election
was confirmed by Pope Alexander III. on 2nd April, 11 74.
Immediately after his enthronisation (5th October, 11 74)
Richard held a legatine visitation of his province; and as he
rode with a great train, his visits were specially grievous to the
religious houses that had to receive him.
6, 19. Sent to Acre. Castleacre, Westacre, and Southacre,
224 APPENDIX II
in Norfolk, are all described in Domesday book as " Acra."
There were two Priories, one at Castleacre, the other at West-
acre ; but the former was the more famous of the two. As it
was a Cluniac institution, and as the Cluniacs were a kind of
stricter Benedictines, it seems most probable that it was to
Castleacre that Samson was sent as a punishment. Apparently
this was his second banishment there ; for he speaks here to
Jocelin (then a novice, and who joined the monastery in
1 1 73) as though of recent events. (As to his first imprisonment
after his return from Rome about 1161, see page 74 and note
on p. 237.) The Priory of Castleacre was founded about 1084 by
William de Warrenne, created by the Conqueror Earl of Surrey,
and the progenitor of that famous sixth Earl who fought Baliol
and Wallace in Scotland, and who, when called upon by the
King's Commissioners to produce the title by which he held his
possessions, drew his sword and laid it on the table. Some re-
markably beautiful ruins of the Priory, particularly of its west
front and the Prior's Lodge, have happily escaped the ravages
of the village builders, who for centuries used the ruins as a
stone quarry.
6, 24. Exodus v. 21.
7, 4. authority as legate. Mr. Rokewode goes at length
(pp. 107-8) into the documents relative to the claim of the
monks of St. Edmund to exemption under Royal authority from
ordinary episcopal jurisdiction. The Bull of 11 72 which they
obtained from Pope Alexander III^ exempted them from the
jurisdiction of any other ecclesiastical authority than the
Pontift'or his legatus a latere. Shortly afterwards the Monastery
was exempted from the personal interference of Archbishop
Richard as legate a latere.
8> 5* Jurnet the Jeiv. Rokewode quotes (pp. 108-9)
from the Pipe Rolls of Henry II. the following : In 23
Henry II., Jurnet the Jew of Norwich was amerced in mm
marcs; and he stood amerced, in the 31st year of the same
king, in mmmmmdxxv marcs and a half, for which debt
the whole body of Jews were chargeable : and they were to
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 225
have Jurnet's effects and chattels to enable them to pay it. He
gave King Richard mdccc marcs that he might reside in
England with the King's good will.
10,23. morrow of St. Brice. November 15,1180. Hugh was
buried in the Chapter House nearest the door, sixth and last of
the six abbots buried there, as recorded in a MS. at Douai
circa 1425. The other five were: — Ording (1146-1156),
Samson (11 82-1 2 11), Richard of Insula (1 229-1 234),
Henry of Rushbrook (1 234-1 248), Edmund of Walpole
(1 248-1 257). The lidless coffins of these five, with skeletons
within, were discovered January 1, 1903. The coffin of Hugh
had disappeared, but bones which may have been his were found
buried at the spot.
CHAPTER II.
12, 3. Ranulf de Glanville. The famous author of the
oldest of our legal classics, the " Treatise on the Laws and
Customs of England," was of Suffolk stock, and was born at
Stratford St. Andrew, Saxmundham. He succeeded Richard
Lucy as chief justiciary of England, and thenceforward he was the
king's right-hand man (Richard of Devizes called him the
" King's eye "). At the moment of Abbot Hugh's death
Henry II. was in France (he kept that Christmas at Le
Mans), so the monks appreciated the importance of letting
Glanville as justiciary know at once the fact of the vacancy.
Glanville took the cross, and died at the siege of Acre in
1 1 80.
12, 11. wardship of the Abbey. The accounts ren-
dered by the wardens during the abbatiai vacancy have been
fortunately preserved in the returns which Wimer, the Sheriff
of Norfolk and Suffolk, made to the Exchequer for the 27 and
28 Henry II. Mr. Rokewode gives the actual text of them
(pp. 110-1). The rental of the Abbot from Michaelmas,
1 1 80, to Michaelmas, 1181, was £326 izs. \d. : out of which
£56 13*. \d. was paid for corrodies, including £21 for Abbot
Q
226 APPENDIX II
Hugh's expenses for the six weeks before his death, and £35
for the Archbishop of Trontheim.
14, 2. Deuteronomy xvi. 19.
14, 9. paintings. For an interesting discussion as to
these paintings, and the subjects of them, see James, pp. 130
et seq.
14, 11. building the great tower. Samson's work as
subsacrist in connection with this tower is thus described by
James, page 119 : " Samson finished one storey in the great
tower at the west end. This was a western tower occupying a
position similar to that of the western tower at Ely, imme-
diately over the central western door." It was not this tower
(as stated by Rokewode, page in) that fell down on 23 Sept.,
1 2 10, but the central tower (see James, pp. 121-203).
16, 7. Judges xvi. 19.
16, 11. Judges xvi. 29.
16, 18. Matthew xxv. 21.
17, 7. Quot homines tot sententiae. Terence, Phormio,
Act. 2, Sc. 3, 14.
17, 12. Abbot Ording. In the dedication to Abbot Ording of
the Liber de Infantia Sancti Eadmundi by Galfridus de Fontibus,
Ording is said (Arnold, i. 93) to have been " watchful in attend-
ance on the King from his boyhood." Apparently this King was
Stephen (born about 1097), as Henry II., his successor, was not
born until 1 133. At that time Ording would have been on duty at
Bury : for he was already Prior in 1136, when Anselm, then
Abbot, was nominated for the Bishopric of London. Ording
was appointed in 11 38 Abbot in Anselm's place; but as the
latter failed to get his nomination to the See of London con-
firmed by the Pope, he came back to Bury. Ording therefore,
** sive volens sive nolens" had to return to his duties as Prior 5
but when Anselm died in 1 148, Ording was re-elected Abbot, and
held office till he died in 1 156. As to his place of burial, see
note to p. 152, 1. 5, on p. 247.
17, 23. Matthew xvi. 19.
18,9. Barrators of Norfolk. Barrator= an incitor to lawsuits
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 227
(from O. Fr. bareter, to deceive, cheat). The men of Norfolk, were
noted for their litigious propensities (cf. Tusser's rhyming
autobiography : " Norfolk wiles, so full of guiles "). Fuller
in his Worthies says : " Whereas pedibus ambulando is accounted
but a vexatious suit in other countries, here (where men are
said to study law as following the plough-tail) some would per-
suade us that they will enter an action for their neighbour's
horse but looking over their hedge." An Act was passed in
1455 (33 Hen. VI. cap. 7) to check the litigiousness of "the City
of Norwich, and the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk."
18, 17. Acts xxvi. 24, 25.
20, 13. 1 Corinthians xiii. 11.
21, 4. Romans xvi. 5.
21, 6. Blood-letting season (tempore minutionis). At stated
times of the year there was a general blood-letting among
the monks ; and in the same Liber Albus in which Joce-
lin's chronicle appears is a set of Regulations De Minutis
Sanguine (fol. 193). Amongst the servants in the infirmary of
Bury Monastery was Minutor, cum garcione {id. fol. 44). The
effects of the minutio were supposed to last three days, during
which the monk did not go to matins.
21, 17. Nihil est ab omni parte beatum. Horace, Od. i. 16.
22, 8. John xix. 22.
22, 9. Et semel emissum volat irrevocabile verbum.
Horace i. Ep. 18. 71.
22, 23. Medio tutissimus ibis. Ovid, Metamorphoses ii. 137.
23, 1. Matthew xix. 12.
23,3. Archbishop of Norway. In 1 1 80 Eystein (Augus-
tinus) Archbishop of Trontheim, refusing to crown Sverrir, a
successful rebel, who had defeated Magnus, King of Norway,
was driven into exile and came to England. (William de
Newburgh, iii. 16.) Rokewode (p. 113) shows from the
accounts of the Wardens of the Abbey during the vacancy, that
the corrodies allowed to the Archbishop amounted in all to
£94 1 os.
23, ii. Holy child Robert, Nothing is known of the cir-
228 APPENDIX II
cumstances of this boy's death at the hands of the Jews, on
ioth June, 1181, or of Jocelin's account of it (line 16), beyond
the reference made by Bale in his list of Jocelin's writings to
Vita Roberti Martyris.
23, 13. Acts v. 12.
CHAPTER III
25, 12. Jeremiah xxiii. 40.
25, 21. Cf. 1 Corinthians xii. 3.
26, 23. Verba Mea. The 5th Psalm in the Vulgate begins
with these words.
31, 9. Waltham. The interview with Henry II. took place
at Bishop's Waltham, in Hampshire, on the 21st February,
1182.
31, 15. Geoffrey the Chancellor. Geoffrey was a natural son
of Henry II. — it is generally stated as by Fair Rosamond, though
this is now discredited by the facts adduced in the Diet. Nat.
Biog. He was successively Bishop of Lincoln (1173), Chan-
cellor (11 82), Archbishop of York (1191), and after a violent
quarrel with King John, fled the country in 1207, dying in
Normandy in 121 2.
32, 5. Matthew xix. 30; Mark x. 31.
34, 23. By the very eyes of God: "per veros oculos Dei !"
This was a favourite oath of Henry II. In a contemporary
metrical life of St. Thomas of Canterbury, the King is more
than once made to exclaim "Par les oilz Dieu " (Rokewode,
p. 115). William II. used to swear by "the holy Face of
Lucca"; John by "the teeth of God" (Ramsay, Angevin
Empire (1903), p. 414).
35, 7. Miserere meiDeus. Psalm li.
CHAPTER IV
37,24. Threshold of the gate. Samson alighted at what is
now known as the " Norman Tower."
38,4. Martyri adhuc. Rokewode gives on page 115 the
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 229
text (with the musical notes) of this response, the words
of which are : " Martyri adhuc palpitanti, sed Christum con-
fitenti, jussit Inguar caput auferri : sicque Edmundus martyrium
consummavit, et ad Deum exultans vadit." In a MS. (Digby
109) now at the Bodleian Library (which contains also a copy
of Abbo's Passio) this response comes after the 5th lesson of the
office of St. Edmund.
39, 23. John vi. 6.
39, 24. New seal. A representation of this seal is given as
the Frontispiece. It is taken from an instrument in the
Archives of Canterbury Cathedral, dated 6 November, 1200,
being an award in a dispute between the Archbishop of Canter-
bury and the Canons of Lambeth, referred by Pope Innocent III.
to Hugh, Bishop of Lincoln (for whom Roger, Dean of Lincoln,
was substituted), Eustace, Bishop of Ely, and Abbot Samson.
The seal represents Abbot Samson, vested in amice, alb,
tunic, dalmatic, chasuble, rationale, and mitre. He holds a
crozier in his right hand and a closed book in his left. The
mitre is unusually large for the date. The inscription is
broken, but in full reads thus : " Sigillum Samsonis Dei Gratia
Abbatis Sancti Eadmundi." The counterseal (much smaller)
displays the lamb bearing a cross, with the words round tbe
circumference, "Secretum Samsonis Abbatis."
41,9. Thomas of Hastings. Apparently the object of Thomas
in introducing thus early his nephew, Henry of Hastings, to the
notice of Samson, was to secure a recognition by the new Abbot
of the claims of his family to the hereditary stewardship of the
Liberty of St. Edmund. By Charter of William I., Lidgate in
Suffolk, and Blunham in Bedfordshire (where the church is
dedicated to St. Edmund), were given to one Ralph to hold in
fee of the Abbot of St. Edmund by the service of Dapifer or
Steward. Later, between 1 1 1 5 and 1 1 1 9, Abbot Albold granted
the lands, with the office held by Ralph, to Maurice of Windsor
and his heirs, and this grant was confirmed by King Stephen.
Maurice was succeeded by Ralph of Hastings, his nephew, and
Ralph by William of Hastings, his nephew ; and Henry, on
230 APPENDIX II
whose behalf the claim of the stewardship was made to Samson,
was William's son and heir. The Abbot admitted that his
right was indisputable (the original Charters of William I.,
Abbot Albold, Stephen, and Henry II. [two] are quoted by
Rokewode, pp. 1 18-120). But Samson's point seems to have
been that Henry was too young to give personal service as
Steward, and therefore "the business was deferred." Roke-
wode observes (p. 117): " Henry continued a minor in 11 88,
his office being then filled by Robert of Flamville, who held it
at the time of his being one of the Wardens of the Abbey
during the vacancy (see p. 12). In Reece's Breviary of
Suffolk (1902) John of Hastings is given as Lord of the Manor
of Lidgate in 131 5.
CHAPTER V
43, II. Enclosed many parks. At the Abbot's manor at
Meltord was an old deer park of very ancient foundation. It
was called Elmsett or Aelmsethe, or the Great Park, and con-
sisted chiefly of open wood. It was in olden times termed
" Magnus Boscus Domini," and in the surveys of Edward I.
and Henry VI. it is reckoned both as park and wood, the wood
part being in the latter survey 217a. 2r. 34p. The whole
was impaled round and stored with deer. (Parker's Melford,
pp. 310-")-
43,12. beasts of chase. The " Beasts of the Chase" in Angevin
days were the buck, doe and fox : the "Beasts of the
Forest " were the hart, hind and hare : and the " Beasts and
Fowls of the Warren" were the hare, rabbit ("coney"),
pheasant and partridge. The fox was coupled with the wolf in
Canute's Forest Law, No. 27, as "neither forest beasts nor
game." When the fox was made a Beast of the Chase cannot
be ascertained with any precision. The same Law No. 27, protected
"hares, rabbits and roedeer"; the last are not mentioned in
later times. In addition to the animals above named, the otter
was hunted — vide Patent Rolls of Henry III. of 1221. The
badger, polecat or wild cat (catus) and marten are specified as
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 231
beasts which receivers of royal licences might hunt " with their
own hounds " in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. There
appears to be no such charter or licence granting leave to hunt
"the King's great game" (deer) : on the contrary, deer are
often specially reserved.
43, 12. Keeping a huntsman ivitb dogs. The St. Edmund
breed of dogs seems to have been celebrated, as Richard I., when
there was a difference between him and Samson as to the ward-
ship of Nesta of Cockfield, wrote to the Abbot in a friendly
way, and asked him for some of his dogs (page 148). The
hunting dog of old times was probably a light sort of mastiff.
Sometimes a breed was more celebrated for speed or for strength
or for courage, as in the case of the hounds bred by the abbots
of Bury. In the course of time the slighter varieties de-
veloped into the greyhound, and the thicker into the mastiff
of modern times. Canute's Forest Law 3 1 forbade possession of
« the dog which the English call greihounds " to the lower classes.
Henrys II.'s Assize of the Forest, given at Woodstock 11 84,
forbids (Clause 2) any one entering a royal forest with bow,
arrows, dogs or greyhounds, save with special warrant. Clause
14 requires the lawing of mastiffs.
The Wardrobe Account of Edward I. for 1 299-1 300, records
payment for maintenance of twelve "fox dogs." These weie
used to kill foxes in coverts previously netted round, so were
not, probably, "running hounds." On April II, 1279, Ed-
ward I. wrote to Charles of Salerno promising to send the
harriers asked for by the latter : which seems to indicate
that the English harrier had a high reputation at that period.
43, 16. take part in the sport. Strutt, in his Sports and
Pastimes, observes :— " By the game laws of Canute, the digni-
fied clergy were permitted to hunt in the forests belonging to
the Crown ; and their prerogatives were not abrogated by the
Normans. Henry II., displeased at the power and ambition of
the ecclesiastics, endeavoured to render these grants of none
effect by putting in force (1 1 57) the canon law, which strictly
forbade the clergy to spend their time in hunting and hawking."
232 APPENDIX II
Henry III.'s First Charter of 121 7 gave leave to an archbishop,
bishop, earl or baron to take two deer while passing through a
forest " by view of the forester " 5 or in the absence of that
official the sportsman was to blow a horn on killing.
44, 14. The Eight Hundreds. These eight hundreds of
Thingoe, Thedwastre, Blackbourn, Bradbourn, Bradmere, Lack-
ford, Risbridge and Babergh, with the half hundred of Cosford
(see line 18) constituted the Liberty of St. Edmund, as to
which see note on page 238.
44, 15. Robert of ' Cockfield. See note to pp. 86, 1. 18, on page
241, and cf. pages 254-6.
44, 24. Hidages, fodder corn, ben-rents. Hidage was a tax
upon every hide of land ; foddercorn an ancient feudal right
that the lord should be provided with fodder for his horses 5
hen-rents were a common reservation upon inferior tenures.
45, 11. Kalendar. A transcript of this kalendar, which, as
stated in the text (p. 45, I.2) was completed by 11 86), is now in
the possession of Prince Frederick Dhuleep Singh. In the History
of the Hundred of Thingoe (1838) an extract from it relating to
that Hundred is given on pp. xii.— xvii.
46, 1. Hugh the subsacrist. Jocelin says that Samson ap-
pointed Hugh subsacrist to William Wiardel, and shortly after
(p. 47) made Samson the precentor sacrist. But this arrange-
ment was probably short-lived, for the Gesta Sacristarum (Arnold,
ii. 290) says Hugh succeeded William as sacrist, and gives a
lengthy list of the works he carried out in the church. In
1 1 98, when the body of St. Edmund was examined, Hugh was
present, and is described as sacrist (see p. 172).
50, 16. Omnia Caesar erat. Lucan, Pharsaliay iii. 108.
52, 5. Summa petit livor. Ovid, Remedia Amoris, 369.
52, 8. 1 John iv. 1.
52, 18. James ii. 13.
54,9. School of Melun (Meludinensium). John of Salisbury
calls a scholar of Melun " Meludensis." Peter Abelard opened
there, early in the twelfth century, a celebrated school for
teaching Dialectic,
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 233
54, 23. Ecclesiasticus vii. 24.
57, 14. Strangulat inclusus dolor atquc exaestuat intus.
Ovid, Tristia, v. i. 63.
CHAPTER VI
62, 7. Pulpit. This pulpit, from which Samson preached
in his native dialect of Norfolk, was one of the works of Hugo
the sacrist (Arnold, ii. 291).
65, 3. Norfolk Barrator. See^note top. 18, line 9 (pages 226-7).
66, 21. Sale of holy water. Ducange cites the acts of a
synod of Exeter in 1287, that from ancient times the profits
arising from the distribution of holy water had been set apart
to maintain poor clerks in schools.
68, 23. Schools. Samson is usually credited with having
founded a town school in connection with the monastery. This
may very likely have been the case, but I have found no direct
evidence of it. It seems from this passage that at any rate he
provided free lodgings for poor scholars, and from p. 144 that he
endowed the mastership of the schools with half the tithes of
Wetherden. There is a street at Bury St. Edmunds, just outside
the precincts of the monastery, known as School Hall Street.
69, 3. Manor of Mildenhall. Edward the Confessor gave
Mildenhall to St. Edmund's, but when Domesday Book was
compiled it was in the hands of the Crown, being then worth
£jo. Amongst the Crown lands sold by Richard I. immediately
after his accession was this manor, purchased, according to
Jocelin, for 1,100 marks, of which 1,000 marks apparently went
to the King, and 100 marks to Queen Eleanor (see p. 71, 1. 3).
See also note to p. 72, 1. 4, on page 235.
69, 5. Expulsion of the Jews. Arnold (i. 249) expresses the
opinion that, "under the circumstances, this must have been
the most humane course in the interests of the Jews themselves.
All large English towns at this time were imperfectly policed,
and the temper of the populace savage and uncertain. A riot
having once been set on foot, the only hope of safety for the
Jews was in taking refuge in some royal castle. There was no
234 APPENDIX II
castle at Bury ; to the Abbot alone could the survivors [from
the massacre in 1190] look for protection ; and Samson knew
that he had not sufficient force at his command to ensure it to
them."
69, 6. Neiv hospital at Babivell. The ruins of this hospital,
dedicated to the Saviour, still exist in Northgate, beyond the
railway arch. It was originally founded for a warden, twelve
chaplains, six clerks, twelve poor gentlemen, and twelve poor
women, and was the subject of numerous Charters, which will
be found fully described in Chapter II. of the late Sir Wm.
Parker's History of Long Melford (1873). In the Feet of
Fines for Suffolk, 1 John (1 199), there are references to two
deeds entered into by "Walter, Master of the Hospital of
the Blessed Saviour outside the northern gate of St. Edmund's."
The Master of the Hospital had his manor at Melford and held
his courts : which manor remains to the present day, as the
Manor of the Monks in Melford. It was at St. Saviour's Hospital
that Humphrey,Duke of Gloucester, put up when he was arrested,
in February, 1447, by Henry VI., who was in the town for
the Parliament which met in the refectory of Bury Abbey.
70,9. Great roll of Winchester. Domesday Book : the returns
forming the basis of which were transmitted to a board sitting
at Winchester, by whom they were arranged in order and placed
upon record (Lingard, i. 249).
70, 19. Custom of the realm. This custom is described by
Blackstone {Commentaries [1844 ed.] i. 229) as an ancient per-
quisite called queen-gold or aurum reginae, due, in the propor-
tion of 10 per cent., from every person making a voluntary
offering to the King.
71, 1. Ransom of King Richard. Richard wrote to his mother
from Haguenau on the 19th April, 1 1 93, a letter notifying the
70,000 marks demanded for his ransom by the German Emperor
Henry VI. To meet this, the monasteries of England
handed over all their gold and silver to royal commissioners,
and amongst the treasure delivered up by St. Edmund's was
the golden chalice given to the Abbey by Henry II. Queen
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 235
Eleanor's release of it is printed in the Monasticon (1821 ed.),
iii. 154 (see also p. 146 of the Chronicle).
71, 19. Icklingbam. This appears to be the transaction re-
ferred to in a Charter of 1200, granted by Samson (confirmed by
King John 15th March, 1200) :— "We further give and grant
to the said Hospital of St. Saviour, for the maintenance of the
poor folk, £12 in money from our town of Icklingham, to be
annually received through our sacrist." The signatures to this
Charter (given in Parker's Melford, p. 9) are interesting.
They include "Herbert, the prior," " Hermer, the sub-prior "
(see chapter xvi. of this book), and " Jocelin, the almoner"
(our Chronicler).
72, 4. confirmed by the King's Charter. Richard I. signed
at Chateau Galliard on 18th July, 11 98, two charters (1) con-
firming to Abbot Samson the manor and advowson of Milden-
hall 5 (2) placing the manor, except Icklingham, at the disposal
of the sacrist on certain conditions. At the accession of King
John, Samson gave the King £200 for a confirmation of the
first Charter, and especially of Mildenhall (cf. Rokewode, pp.
124-5).
72, 15. Walter of Coutances. The Church at Woolpit was
the first piece of preferment of this famous Archbishop.
Walter apparently succeeded, at Woolpit, Geoffrey Ridel, made
Bishop of Ely in 11 73 (see note on page 237). Rokewode says
(p. 126): "Henry II. obtained from Hugh, Abbot of St.
Edmund's, in free alms, the Church of Woolpit for his clerk,
Walter de Coutances, and in consideration thereof, by charter
dated at Winchester, granted that after the decease of Walter
or his resignation, the Church should be appropriated to the
use of the sick monks" (Reg. Nigr. fol. 104 v.). Walter ob-
tained several other appointments, but seems from the text to
have retained the Church at Woolpit till 11 83, when he was
consecrated Bishop of Lincoln. Next year (n 84) he was
elected Archbishop of Rouen. He took a prominent part in
the troubles of the reigns of Richard I. and John, and died
at Rouen on 16th November, 1207.
236 APPENDIX II
72, 22. Pope Alexander and Octavian. Alexander III.,
elected Pope on 7 September, 11 59, was obliged to leave Italy
in 1 162, on account of the power of the Anti-Pope Octavian,
and did not return until the decease of the latter in 11 64.
Samson's journey to Rome was, therefore, between n 59 and
1 1 62, before he became a professed monk.
73, 3. Pretended to be Scotch. Mr. Arnold gives as the
reason for this that " the Scottish kingdom at this time natu-
rally sided with Octavian, England being in favour of Alex-
ander" (I. xliii.). It has been suggested that " simulavi me
esse Scottum " in the text means that Samson pretended to be
an Irishman, the name Scotus having originally signified Irish,
only acquiring its present meaning with the immigration of
the Scots from the North of Ireland into Argyll, and their
growth into a powerful nation. Bromton, speaking of Ire-
land, says : — " Dicta est eciam aliquando Scotia a Scotis
earn inhabitantibus, priusquam ad aliam Scotiam Britannicam
devenerunt ; unde in Marti rologio legitur : Tali die apud
Scotiam natalis Sanctae Brigidae : quod est, apud Hiberniam
(see Twysden, Historic Anglicance Scriptores X, London 1652 :
vol. I., col. 1072, 1. 11). When therefore this passage was
written (the fourteenth century) it is clear that the usage of
Scot as meaning Irishman was not understood, and was re-
garded as needing explanation. Samson's contemporary, Ralph
de Diceto, following the account of Henry of Huntingdon,
twice explains that the Scots came from Ireland (ed. Stubbs
1876, I. 10 ; II. 34). This explanation again implies that by
the middle and end of the twelfth century the word had come to
mean exclusively "Scotsman." The same opinion is expressed
by Burton : "It is not safe to count that the word Scot must
mean a native of present Scotland, when the period dealt with
is earlier than the middle of the twelfth century" (History of
Scotland, 1873, *• 2°7)- ^n tnat part of the Anglo-Saxon
Chronicle which was compiled during the reign of King Alfred,
Scot regularly means Irishman. In a.d. 903 the death is noted
of Virgil, abbot of the Scots, i.e. Irish : but this appears to be
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 237
the last instance of the use of the word in the Chronicle in that
sense. Between the years 924 and 11 38 the word Scot occurs
fourteen and Scotland twenty-six times in the Chronicle,
always with the modern significance.
73, 6. Gaveloc. Javelin, a word of Celtic origin, but not
specifically Scotch. Matthew Paris speaks of it in 1256 as
a Frisian weapon : " Frisiones cum jaculis quae vulgariter
gavelocos appellant." (Chr. Maj. ed. Luard. v. 550.) In the
Romance of Percival by Chrestien de Troyes, is the couplet,
" Et il, qui bien lancier savoit, De gaverlos que il avoit." (Ed.
Potvin, Tome I. lines 1309-10. (Mons, 1866).
73, 10. Ride, Ride Rome, turn Cantivereberi, This is writ-
ten in English by Jocelin ; and its meaning seems to be " I am
riding towards Rome, turning from Canterbury." Arnold (I. xliii.)
says, "If he had meant to say 'returning to Canterbury,' he
would at once have been taken for an English adherent of
Alexander."
74, 1 2. Geoffrey Ridel. This presentation appears to have
been made (c. 1161) by Henry II., perhaps during Samson's
journey abroad. In 1163 Geoffrey became Archdeacon of
Canterbury in succession to Thomas a Becket, appointed Arch-
bishop,' and for the next eight years was in violent opposition
to his primate, who called him "our arch-devil," and
excommunicated him. On May 1, 1173, Geoffrey was
chosen Bishop of Ely, and died at Winchester, 27 July, 11 89.
As Geoffrey from the chronicles seems to have been of a
masterful and contumacious spirit, it must have given Abbot
Samson peculiar satisfaction to have got the better of him over
the timber referred to on page 106.
74,19. Acre. This was Samson's first imprisonment at
Castleacre (circ. 1161, before he became a monk). His second
imprisonment probably took place about 1173, as on page 6
he speaks of it to Jocelin, then a novice, as something quite
recent. As to Castleacre, see note on page, 223-4.
238 APPENDIX II
CHAPTER VII.
77, 23. Charters of the King. This dispute with the monks
of Canterbury, heard before King Henry II. on the nth
February, n 87, raised the whole question of the Liberty of
St. Edmund, a matter respecting which the Bury monastery
was extremely tenacious. A marginal note in the original
MS. of the Chronicle, against the puzzled phrase of the King
(see page 78, lines 1-3), says : "Our Charter speaks of the
time of King Edward, and of the time of his mother, Queen
Emma, who had eight and a half hundreds as a marriage portion
before the time of King Edward, besides Mildenhall."
According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Confessor, after
his coronation in 1043, seized the possessions of his mother,
" because she was formerly very hard on the King her son, and
did less for him than he wished before he was King, and also
since." The Franchise having thus come into the Confessor's
hands, was granted to the Abbots and Monks of Bury shortly
after his accession. ' Under a Charter of King Edmund granted
about 945, and Charters of Canute and Hardicanute, the juris-
diction of Bury Abbey had been restricted to the town, and the
circuit indicated by the four crosses placed at the distance of a
mile from the extremities of the town : but by the Confessor's
Charter, it was enlarged to a district extending over about
two-fifths of the whole county of Suffolk. (For names of the
8£ hundreds included in the Liberty see note on page 232, 14.)
Edward the Confessor paid a visit to the shrine of St. Edmund
in 1044, and when he had come within a mile of it, dismounted
from his horse and accomplished the rest of the journey on foot.
Herman the archdeacon, who wrote about half a century later,
is the first to relate this fact, and also the grant by the King
to the abbey of the 8£ hundreds : " Qua tunc suffragatorem
reditibus imperialibus honorat, centurias quas Anglice hundrez
vocant, octo et semis sibi circum-circa se donat, regiamque
mansionem nomine Mildenhall his adauget " (Arnold, I. 48).
The original grant of Edward the Confessor gave the abbey jura
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 239
regalia in wide loose general terms. Later, Charters became
gradually more explicit as to the extent of jurisdiction (civil and
criminal) conferred. Later still, the Royal justices in eyre
'supervened. The institution of the circuits and assizes had to
be fitted into the exempt jurisdiction : so the Liberty had its
own assizes, etc., but outside the interior special and inviolable
circuit of the bannaleuca or limits of St. Edmundsbury itself.
Lord Francis Hervey, who has made a special study of the
subject, gives hope on page 250 of his notes to the Breviary
of Suffolk (1902), of his undertaking "a detailed examination of
the history and incidents of the great Liberty of St. Edmund,
which remained in the hands of its monastic rulers till the day
when Abbot Reeve surrendered his Abbey to Henry VHL,
November 4, 1539."
78, 15. Matthew xix. 12.
78, 16. the matter was put off. This dispute between Bury
and Canterbury was not, as a matter of fact, ultimately com-
posed till over 200 years later. Amongst Dr. Yates' manu-
script materials for the never completed Part II. of his History of
Bury is a memorandum (now amongst the Egerton MSS. in the
British Museum) in the following words : —
"The Letters Patent of King Henry 4th the 25th Nov.
1408 confirm and ratify an Indenture of three parts between
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Prior of Christ Church,
Canterbury, and the Abbot of Bury St. Edmund's, by which it ia
determined that the parishes of Hadleygh et Illeygh being
within the eight hundreds and an half called the Liberty or
Franchise of St. Edmund should be subject to the Abbot's
Seneschallus, or High Steward of the Franchise, and that the
return of the writs of the' Seneschal's Great Court with the
rolls fines and other rights and privileges should be regarded in
those parishes in the same manner as in the other parts of the
Liberty. An exemption on the part of the Archbishop having
been claimed, this indenture terminated a dispute that had been
above 160 years [cf. Arnold, III. 188] in agitation. During
this dispute it was agreed that the Sheriff of Suffolk should act
240 APPENDIX II
till its termination as Seneschal of these Parishes. A
patent was addressed to the Sheriff of Suffolk dated 27th No-
vember in the same year, commanding him no longer to
intromit within the Franchise of St. Edmund, but to preserve
inviolate the Liberties and immunities of the Abbot and
Monastery. — Registrum Rubrum in Collect. Burien. : 317 to 328
inclusive."
7S, 16. Et adhuc sub judice lis est. Horace, Arte Poet., 78.
79, 6. Bishop of Ely. This was William of Longchamp
(d. 1 1 97), once described by Henry II. as a "son of two
traitors." He fled the kingdom in 1191 on his fall from
power, came to England in 11 92, but was not permitted to pro-
ceed further than Canterbury, and crossed the seas again. In
1 193 he returned, bearing letters from the Emperor, and met
the Regency at St. Albans. It was on this occasion that he
passed through St. Edmundsbury, as recorded on page 80. In
Normandy, at the instigation of the Archbishop of Rouen, he
had been everywhere received as an excommunicated person
(cf. Rokewode, page 127).
79,10. Archbishopric 'vacant. Archbishop Baldwin died at
Acre, in November, 11 90; his successor Reginald, Bishop of
Bath, was elected in December, 1191, and died after a few days.
Hubert Walter, with whom Samson afterwards came into con-
flict, was elected Archbishop in May, 11 92 (see note on
page 245).
80, 12. Archbishop of York. This was Geoffrey, the half-
brother of Richard I., to whom he had sworn that he would not
return to England without the King's leave. Having returned, he
was, on his landing at Dover in September, 1191, arrested by
Longchamp's orders, and thrown into prison.
80, 24. King Henry had taken the Cross. At the interview
of Henry II. with Philip of France, between Trie and Gisors,
the two Kings took the cross upon the Feast of St Agnes, 21
January, 11 88.
82, 8. War throughout England. After John's return from
France in 11 93, the country was in a state of general warfare 5
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 241
and Windsor was besieged by the Regency with the King's
other castles.
82, 16. His own standard. See note to p. 85, 1. 25, below.
83, 1. Licence for holding tournaments. This was little
more than a device for raising money. In 11 94 Richard
ordered tournaments to be held, in order to practise the knights
in warfare. No one could joust at a tournament without a
licence ; and the price of the licence varied with the rank of
the holder.
85, 12. Withgar. This great thane, who is styled in the
Cartulary of Abbot John of Northwold " the famous Earl," had
the custody for Queen Emma, mother of Edward the Confessor,
of the franchise of the eight hundreds and a half which subse-
quently constituted the Liberty of St. Edmund (see notes on pages
232 and 238). Mr. Rokewode says (p. 129) : "The honour of
Clare was composed chiefly of the great possessions in Suffolk and
Essex of Alfric, son of Withgar or Wisgar {Liber Domesday)."
85, 25. Standard of St. Edmund. In the famous Harleian
MS. 2278, the original book containing the metrical life of St.
Edmund by John Lydgate, presented to Henry VI. by Bury
Abbey after his visit to the monastery in 1433, there is a
pictorial representation of this Standard. It depicts Adam and
Eve on either side of the Tree of Knowledge, and the devil with
a human face and a serpent's body curled round the tree. Above
the tree is a lamb and a cross, with crescents in the background.
The counterseal of Abbot Samson also has the lamb and
cross (see page 229).
86, 6. Earl Roger Bigot. This Earl was son of Hugh, the
rebellious baron. It appears from the text that the Standard of
St. Edmund was carried by him into the fight at the battle of
Jornham, in October, 1 173 (see p. 1).
86, 18. Robert of Cockfield. References to members of this
family of Cockfield, or Cokefield, appear often in the Chronicle.
The dispute as to rights which arose on Robert's death is told
again in greater detail at the end of the Chronicle, by William of
Diss (see pp. 254-6), and the dispute as to the wardship of
R
242 APPENDIX II
the daughter of Adam, son of Robert, on pages 187-8. No-
thing here arises except Samson's denial of Adam's right of
hereditary tenure, in which he was successful.
87, 16. Eight and a half hundreds. See notes to p. 44,1. 14,
and p. 7Jt 1. 23, on the Liberty of St. Edmund (pp. 232, 238).
88, 16. Haberdon. This is a field (still called by the same
name) in the south-east corner of the town, with remains of
earthworks. It was held in monastic times of the sacrist by
the singular tenure, that the tenant should find a white bull as
often as a gentlewoman should visit the shrine of St. Edmund
" to make the oblation of the said white bull," with a view to
secure a favourable answer to her prayers for offspring. On
these occasions the bull was led from his pasture on the
Haberdon through the principal streets of the town in pro-
cession to the Church of St. Edmund.
CHAPTER VIII.
101-105. The whole of this Chapter is obviously an inter-
polation in the Chronicle by some monk other than Jocelin
himself. The story of Henry of Essex is included in the long
and elaborate "vita et passio cum miraculis Sancti Edmundi "
prepared in the fourteenth century in the monastery at Bury, and
now preserved in the Bodleian Library (MS. 240) ; and at the end
of this transcript the compiler adds, " Cuius narracionem Joce-
linus audiens, in scriptis redegit " (Nova Legenda Anglie, ed.
Horstman, 1901, II. 637). It is apparent from the opening
phrase of the text (p. 105) that Jocelin, who most probably went
to Reading in the train of the Abbot, commenced to set down
the story at the bidding of Samson, but left its completion to
some other monk of inferior degree. Perhaps this was William
of Diss, who added at the end of the Chronicle (see pages 254-6)
a declaration as to the lands of Robert of Cockfield.
101, 10. precept of Seneca. Mr. Arnold says: "Many
tilings resembling this sentiment occur in the 109th Epistle of
Seneca 5 but probably the passage is somewhere else in his
works "
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 243
103, 18. thrown doivn the standard. Henry of Essex's act
of cowardice took place in 1 1 57, during an expedition into
Flintshire, when the Welsh made a sudden attack. His drop-
ping the standard brought King Henry II. and the Royal army
into great peril (Gervase, i. 165, Rolls ed.).
104, 1. Roger Earl of Clare. There seems to be an attempt
at punning, at this point, by the monk who wrote the original
story in Latin : " Rogerus comes Clarensis, clarus genere et
militari clarior exercitis, cum suis Clarensibus maturius occur-
risset."
104, 9. trial of battle. This fight between Henry of
Essex and Robert de Montfort took place in 1 1 63 (Ralph
de Diceto, Tmag. Hist. i. 310, Rolls ed.), on an eyot in the
Thames, and is still traditionally remembered at Reading.
CHAPTER IX
106, 6. stay at Melford. The manor of Melford was given
to the monastery in the time of Leofstan (second Abbot) by
Earl Alfric, the son of Withgar (Parker's History of Long Mel-
ford, p. 1). At Long Melford, 13 miles south of Bury,
was a country house belonging to the Abbots of Bury 5 and
at the present Melford Hall there are said to be still some
relics of this occupancy. After Samson died, in 121 1, there
was a dispute that lasted a considerable time as to the validity
of the election of Hugo, his successor ; and the Papal Legate,
Nicholas, Bishop of Tusculum, who tried vainly to eompose it,
stayed for some time at Melford (Arnold, ii. 46). Abbot Simon
of Luton died at his manor of Melford in April, 1279.
108, 8, 13. forty pounds a year from the toivn. Battely
prints (App. xvii. 149) a letter from Pope Eugenius III. (no
date) addressed to Helyas, the sacrist (Ording's nephew), con-
firming Ording's instructions as to the rents of the town being
applied to the service of the Altar.
112, 8. Charter from King Henry the Second. " All the men of
London shall be quit and free, and all their goods throughout
England, and the ports of the sea, of and from all toll and
244 APPENDIX II
passage and lestage and all other customs" (Charter Henry I.).
"All the citizens of London shall be quit from toll and lastage
throughout all England and the ports of the sea" (Charter
of Henry II. — confirmed by Charter of Richard I., 23 April,
1 1 94, and by Charter of John, 1 7 June, 1 199). (Birch's Historical
Charters of the City of London, 1887, pp. 3, 5.)
112, 15. theam (Lat. themus, team). The right of com-
pelling a person in whose hands stolen property was found to
say from whom he received it (Glossary in Stubbs's Select
Charters).
113, 10. Judges xvi. 9.
116, 15. A charter was made. The text of this Charter of
1194, granted by Samson to the Burgesses, will be found in
Battely (App. xxii. 155-6) and in the Monasticon, iii. 153). It
confirms to the town all the customs and liberties which it had
in the times of Henry II. and his predecessors ; and it declares
that with regard to watch and ward and the custody of the
gates, the ancient custom is that the town shall furnish
eight watchmen night by night, all the year round, two for each
ward, and a larger number at Christmas and on St. Edmund's
Day [20 November] •, also that the town should find four gate-
keepers for the four gates, the fifth or eastern gate being in the
custody of the Abbot. Nothing is said in the Charter about
the appointment of the portreeves ; but the right of burgesses
to sue and be sued in their own borough-court (portmannc-mot),
instead of going outside the borough to the hundred-mot or the
shire-mot, is insisted upon. "What is evidently assumed is that
the portreeve is the Abbot's servant, and administers justice in
the Abbot's name" (Arnold, II. xxxix.).
CHAPTER X
119, 10. Lamentations iv. 1.
121, 12. Abbot Robert. This was Robert II. (fourth Abbot),
a monk of Westminster, elected by the convent in 1102, but
not confirmed by Henry I. until 1107. He died shortly after-
wards, on the 16th September, 1107, and, after an interregnum
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 245
of seven years, Albold, Prior of St. Nicasius, at Meaux, succeeded
him in the abbacy. Robert was buried in the Infirmary Chapel
(Douai MS.). For his character and labours, see MS. quoted
in Arnold, i. 356.
121, 20. Hubert Walter. Hubert's father, Harvey Walter,
was descended from Hubert, the first Norman settler, who re-
ceived at the Conquest grants of land in Norfolk and Suffolk.
Hubert is said to have been born at West Dereham, in Norfolk
(Tanner, Not. Monast. Norfolk, xxi.), where lived, as will be seen
from the text (p. 121, 1. 25), his mother Matilda de Valognes
(whose sister Bertha married Ranulf de Glanville). He
was brought up in Glanville's household, and was so much
in his confidence that he was afterwards said to have " shared
with him in the government of England." In 11 86 he became
Dean of York, and in 11 89 Bishop of Salisbury. In 11 90 he
went to the Holy Land, returning in 1 193, in which year he
was elected Archbishop of Canterbury and appointed justiciary.
Richard's departure over sea in 11 94 left him virtual ruler of
England for the next few years. He died in 1205 ; and in
March, 1890, a tomb opened in Canterbury Cathedral was
found to contain his remains.
124, 6. The Pope wrote. This letter of Innocent III. w*s
dated 1st December, 11 98, and was addressed (not to the Arch-
bishop but) to the Abbot and convent of St. Edmund (Migne's
Patrologiciy vol. ccxiv., No. 457 of the Regesta).
CHAPTER XI
134, 13. Tendens ad sidera palmas. Virgil, J£n. i. 93.
135, 18. Anniversary obit of the Abbot Robert. According to
the Liber Albus, fol. 3 5, the anniversary of Abbot Robert was
"xvi Kal. Octobris" (16th September). The anniversaries of
Ording and Hugh, mentioned in line 20, were 31st January
and the 16th November.
139, 20. Chapel of St. Denis. This chapel was at the west
end of the church, probably north of the great western tower,
with a chapel dedicated to St. Faith above it. Abbot Baldwin,
246 APPENDIX II
who commenced the erection of the basilica, was a monk
of St. Denis ; hence, no doubt, the dedication of a chapel to
that saint.
CHAPTER XII
142,5. Church of Coventry. Hugh de Nonant (d. 1198),
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, had a violent dislike to all
monks, and, whenever he could, put secular canons in their
place. He had turned out the monks at Coventry, and Pope
Celestine III. appointed in n 97 a Commission, on which
Samson sat, for restoring these expelled monks. The monks
were re-inducted by Archbishop Hubert Walter on 18th January,
1 198.
144, 1. Church of Wether den. This deed is recorded in the
Feet of Fines for Suffolk, 9 Richard I., No. 49.
144, 9. master of the schools. A perpetual pension of three
marcs, payable from the tithes of Wetherden to " the master of
the school at St. Edmund," was granted in 1198 by John, Bishop
of Norwich, at the request of Samson (Curteyf Register, Brit.
Mus. fol. 1 19).
I45> 24- Chapel of St. Andrew. According to the Gesta
Sacristarum (Arnold, ii. 291) the Chapel of St. Andrew was for
the most part built and finished by the sacrist Hugo under Sam-
son, and seems to have been then connected with the infirmary
(iii. 87). Later on it was removed into the cemetery of the
monks (iii. 187).
145, 25. Chapels of St. Katherine and St. Faith. Two chapels
at the west end 5 St. Katherine to the south, over the chapel of
St. John, St. Faith to the north, over the chapel of St. Denis.
147, 19. Tractant fabrilia fabri. Horace, Ep. ii. 1. 116.
147, 20. Adam of Cockfield. This was the claimant whose
case is reported on pp. 86-8, and again (by William of Diss)
on pp. 254-6. An elaborate pedigree of the Cockfield family
is given by Rokewode on pp. 140-8 of his book. His daugh-
ter's name was Nesta, and, as stated at p. 187, 1. 24, she became,
on her father's death in 11 98, the ward and wife of Thomas de
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 247
Burgh, brother of Hubert the chamberlain, who was afterwards
justiciary and Earl of Kent. Nesta married three times, and
died about 1248.
149, 3. Munera (crede mihi) capiunt hominesque deosque ;
Placatur donis Jupiter ipse datis. Ovid, Arte Amandi, iii. 653.
CHAPTER XIII
151,13. Portman-moot. Borough court. Written in English
in the original Chronicle ("portmane-mot.")
I CI, 18. Sorpeni. Payment for grass for a cow.
152, 5. Ording who lies there. Ording (d. 1156) was one
of six abbots who were buried in the Chapter House, and whose
names are recorded in the MS., circa 1425, discovered by Dr.
Montagu James at Douai (James, p. 180). The original
chapter house of the monastery was built by Godefndus, the
sacrist, about 1107. There was a fire which destroyed all the
convent buildings, and Helyas, the sacrist, Ording's nephew,
"reformavit ad plenum" the chapter house. His uncle was the
first Abbot buried there. Ording's place of sepulture was
nearest to the east end or dais. Hugo and Samson, Ording's
successors, were also buried in Helyas's chapter house :
Samson being, according to the Douai MS. "sepultus in capitulo
75-dus ad pedes Ric. Abb. sub lapidibus marmoreis ut supra-
scriptum est de Abb. Ordingo." About 1220 Richard of New-
port, then sacrist, "vetus capitulum destruxit, et novum a
fundamentis construct." (Arnold, II. 293.) Afterwards
Richard of Insula (1229-34), Henry of Rushbrook (1234-46),
and Edmund of Walpole (1248-56) were also buried in the
chapter house. Its dimensions, according to William of Wor-
cester's measurements in 1479, were 60 paces by 20. In the
course of some recent excavations (1902-3) the coffins of five
of the above Abbots, and much worked stone and marble, have
been found on the site of this chapter house.
152, 19. tenant of the cellarer, by name Ketel. As Ketel
dwelt "without the gate," he was, being "of'^the cellarer's fee,"
subject to the "judicial duel" which William I. had introduced •,
2+3 APPENDIX II
whereas the argument of his fellow-burgesses seems to have
been that if he had dwelt within the borough he would have
been tried and acquitted or condemned by the "oaths of his
neighbours " — the compurgators out of whom our jury system
grew. The monks recognized that the time had come when
the franchise of the town should be extended to the rural
possessions of the Abbey, and all brought under a common
jurisdiction.
153,6. within the jurisdiction. "Infra bannamleucam,"
denned by Ducange as a certain territory by the boundaries of
which the jurisdiction and immunities of any place, whether a
town or^ monastery, were limited. Bannum is here used in the
sense of jurisdiction ; and the amount of territory so enfranchised
was usually reckoned as a league either way, hence banna leuoa
or banlieue. The exempt jurisdiction of Bury Abbey was
limited to the circuit of a mile within four crosses.
x53» 6- Villeins of Hardwick. The Latin word is lancettos,
serfs holding by base services. In one of the cartularies of
St. Edmund, the " Lancetti de Hardwick" were to cleanse the
latrines of the monastery.
154, 23. Beodricsivortb. This is the ancient name of Bury
St. Edmunds. Mr. Arnold says (I. iv.) the name of Beodric
"seems to mean 'a table chieftain,' comp. beod. geneat, a table
companion. But there is some countenance in the MSS. for
Beadricsworth, which would come from beadu-rica, one mighty
in war." Seynt Edmunds Biri is first substituted for Beodrics-
worth in Charters from Edward the Confessor to the Monastery
(cf. page 260 and Battely, App. ix. 134).
155, 14. Aver-peni. The money paid by the tenant in
commutation of the service (avera) of performing any work for
his lord by horse or ox, or by carriage with either.
155, 20. Eels from Soutbrey. ^lgiva, Queen of Canute,
gave to the Monastery yearly four thousand eels, with her gifts
which pertained thereto at Lakenheath. The manor of South-
rey, in Norfolk, with three fisheries, was appropriated to the
cellarer (Rokewode, p. 151).
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 249
157, 2. haggovele. Probably head-tax or hearth-tax.
159, 2. Romans xii. 10.
159, 9. Summa petit livor. Ovid, Rem. Amoris, 369.
CHAPTER XIV
163, 8. Habakkuk iii. 2.
164, 11. Chest ivitb the shirt of St. Edmund. Archdeacon
Herman, in his treatise De Miraculis Sancto Eadmundi
(Arnold, i. 26 et seq.), describes how Leofstan (2nd Abbot)
decided to open the coffin containing St. Edmund's body and
examine the remains. The body was found covered with a
vestment stained with blood and pierced with arrows. This
was taken off and the body wrapped in a linen sheet. In the
continuation of Herman's work, ascribed to Samson himself,
there is an account of another Herman, a monk of Bury, and a
popular preacher, who displayed irreverently certain relics of St.
Edmund. He took the shirt out of its casket, and unfolded it
for the people to kiss. Tolinus the sacrist commented severely
on the occurrence, and on the third day at sunset Herman died.
The " feretrum cum camisia S. Edmundi " was amongst the
relics carried in procession round the Church on Christmas Dcy,
Palm Sunday, Easter Day, and probably other high festivals
(Rituale, Harl. MS. 297, cent, xiv., quoted by James, p. 183).
165, 1. Cup of St. Edmund. To drinking from this cup
various miracles are ascribed : a rich lady cured after long
suffering from fever ; a Dunwich man with dropsy ; a girl
afflicted with a great swelling, who drinks from the cup
thrice in the name of the Trinity 5 a Cluniac monk of St.
Saviour's, Southwark, named Gervasius, whose story is told in
great detail in Samson's De Miraculis (Arnold, i. 202-3). *fc 1S
said that an indulgence toties quoties was granted to pilgrims
who drank from this cup "in the worshippe of God and Saint
Edmund," hence its name of "Pardon Bowl" 5 but I have not
found the original authority for this.
165, 19. Luke xii. 2.
250 APPENDIX II
1 66, 9. Psalm lxiii. 1 1.
170, 4. Isaiah i. 2.
171, 18. verse inscribed. In the Cronica Buriensis (Arnold,
iii. 8) this verse is given in a slightly different form — "Mar-
tyris ecce zoma Michaelis servet agalma," the writer adding,
"Agalma, id est, sacra receptacula divinitatis." "Zoma" is
probably the Greek word " soma," body. But it has also been
translated "garment," and Carlyle's version of the inscription
(Past and Present, ch. xvi.) is, "This is the Martyr's garment,
which Michael's Image guards." Lord Francis Hervey, in his
edition (1902) of Reece's Breviary of Suffolk, says, "Having
regard to the fondness of the mediaeval versifiers for rhyme, I
feel tempted to suggest that the word may have been ' salma,'
a word of unknown origin, which in Italian means corpse. . . .
The verse in question was most probably not home made, and
was not clearly intelligible to the monks themselves."
171, 21. iron rings. This phrase is somewhat obscure:
" annuli ferrei sicut solebat fieri in cista Norensi." Ducange gives
"Norrensis" as an occasional equivalent for Northmannus,
hence Mr. Arnold suggests for cista Norensis "a Norwegian
chest" (i. 31 1).
175, 10. Ailwin the monk. Ailwin, also written Egelwin,
was keeper of the shrine of St. Edmund before the foundation
of the Abbey. In view of the invasion of England by the
Danish chief Turchil, Ailwin fled, in 1010, from Beodricsworth
to London with the body of St. Edmund, returning 10 14. In
1050 Ailwin, then a very aged man, was invited by Abbot
Leofstan to come from Hulme to Bury to identify the body of
the Saint.
176, 18. Keeper of St. Botolpb. There was a chapel (prob-
ably on the south side of the presbytery) dedicated to St.
Botolph, in which was the shrine with the relics of that
Saint.
177,3. Felix, quern faciunt aliena pericula cautum, Erasmus,
Adagia.
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 251
CHAPTER XV
178,6. King John . . . came down to St. Edmuna. John paid
several visits to Bury Abbey during Samson's abbacy : once in
1 1 99, immediately after his coronation, when he made the
miserable offering described by Jocelin on p. 178; a second ft.^l £ f
time in 120 1, when returning from Northumberland ; a third ^^ 77 ,3.
time in 1203, when, according to Rokewode (p. 154), "he made
a pilgrimage to St. Edmund's, at the feast of St. Thomas the
Apostle, and gave the convent ten marcs annually, payable from
the exchequer, for the repairs of the shrine of St. Edmund, in
consideration of the monks giving back to the King, for his
life, a sapphire and ruby, which he had offered to the Saint, and
which were to revert to the convent." In connection with the
disputed question of the nomination of Samson's successor
(which lasted for over two years), John came to Bury on
November 4, 11 14, and meeting the monks in the chapter
house, made them a speech as to his own rights in the matter,
which is recorded in Arnold, II. xv. and 95-6.
180, 7. Isaiah i. 2.
182,3. Matthew xii. 25.
1 83, 9. In te vindicassem nisi iratus fuissem. Cic. Tusc. iv. 36
183, 14. Mark iv. 39.
187, 20. seisin of the damsel. There was another claimant
for the wardship of Nesta of Cockfield, not here mentioned,
viz., King Richard I., who (see pp. 148-9) was defied hY Samson,
but was appeased by a present of some horses, dogs, and other
valuable gifts. "Here you may see what misery followeth the
tenure by Knight's service : if the tenant dieth, leaving his
heir within age, how the poor child may be tossed and
tumbled, chopped and changed, bought and sold like a jade in
Smithfield, and what is more, married to whom it pleaseth
his guardian, whereof ensue many evils" (Rastell : Terms of the
Laives of this Realm, ed. 1579, fol. 98).
189, 6. Decipi quadam specie recti. Horace, De Arte
Poetica, 25.
252 APPENDIX II
189, 8. Isaiah xlii. 8.
189, 9. Abbot of Cluny. This was Hugh, Abbot of Reading
from 1 1 80 to 1 1 99, when he was appointed Abbot of Cluny.
Much information about him may be found in Dr. J. B. Hurry's
admirable History of Reading Abbey, 1901, whence the following
note as to precedence is taken : "Sir Henry Englefield {Archae-
ologist, vol. vi. p. 61) states that the Abbot of Reading took
precedence after the Abbots of Glastonbury and St. Albans.
But it is probable that no such definite order was observed.
... In the Articles of Faith under Convocation, 28 Henry
VIII., the following is the order of signatures — St. Albans,
Westminster, St. Edmunds Bury, Glastonbury, Reading."
CHAPTER XVI.
190, 6. Numbers xi. 26.
191, 1. When the Prior died. Mr. Rokewode assigns
Robert's death to 1200, perhaps because the narrative of the
election of his successor follows in the Chronicle the account of
the visit to the monastery of Hugh, Abbot of Cluny.
192, 9. Proverbs xix. II.
193, 19. Deut. xvii. 8.
196, 19. [Herbert] the neiv prior. This election seems to
have taken place in 1200. After Samson's death in 121 1,
Herbert had a great deal of anxiety arising out of King John's
refusal to accept the choice of Hugh II. (then Prior of West-
minster and afterwards Bishop of Ely) as Abbot ; and the
narrative of the Electio Hugonis takes up 102 pages of Mr.
Arnold's vol. ii. Herbert died in September, 1220, and was
succeeded as Prior by Richard of Insula (afterwards 12th
Abbot).
197, 20. Acts xxvi. 24.
197, 23. Nihil omne parte beatum. Hor. Odes, i. 16.
198, 7. Exitus acta probabit. Ovid, Heroides, ii. 85.
198, 11. Psalm lxiv. 3.
199, 5. Fallitur augurio spes bona saepe iuo. Ovid, Heroides,
xvii. 234.
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 253
CHAPTER XVII.
200, 8. Deut. xvi. 19.
200, 16. Galatians v. 9.
201, 20. Dean of London. This quotation from the Tma-
gines Hhtoriarum of Balph 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. I, 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, 1. 2 3, and p. 78, 1. 1 6)
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 Suf-
folk 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 com-
prised 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
254 APPENDIX II
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 StuPville. These
were important officials, whom John could ill spare. Geoffrey
Fitz-Peter, Earl of Essex (died 121 3) was justiciar, having been
appointed by Richard I. to this high office in 11 98, 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 1 201, and died in
1203.
209, 20. made his will just as if he ivas 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 after-
wards 5 but as to the facts of his latest years we know practi-
cally 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 Roke-
wode and Arnold, is translated below, though it is not by
Jocclin. 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
NOTES TO TEXT OF CHRONICLE 255
Diss gives the evidence against this claim. The succession was :
Lenmere, Adam the first (married Adeliza), Robert (died 1191),
Adam the claimant (died 11 98), 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
256 APPENDIX II
into half a knight's fee, although at first they had been socages
of St. Edmund. 5
" 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
ot twelve pence, where the hall of Adam the first, of Cock-
field, 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 sugges-
tion of the general Editor of the series, I have extended it
backwards and forwards so as to give a rapid aperfu 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 Joceliris 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.].
257 s
258 APPENDIX III
SECTION I
BEFORE THE DATS OF ABBOT SAMSON
870 Nov. 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.
945 Bishop Theodred (II) of Elmham opens St. Edmund's
coffin, finds the body "whole and incorrupt," and
places it in a new wooden "loculus" (Abbo).
945 Charter of King Edmund II (son of Edmund the Elder)
granting lands round Beodricsworth to the clerks
(monasterii familia) who were then guarding St. Ed-
mund'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-
1010 Egelwin, or Ailwin, takes the body of the Saint from
Beodricsworth to London. />. 175.
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 259
1 01 3 Return of Egelwin, with body of St. Edmund, to Beod-
ricsworth.
1014 February. Death of King Sweyn (according to the
chroniclers, at the hands of St. Edmund).
1 020 At the instance of Aelfwin, Bishop of Elmham, the
clerks in charge of St. Edmund'3 shrine are removed,
and twenty monks, headed by Uvius, prior of Huime,
installed at Beodricsworth.
1020 Uvius consecrated 1st abbot of Bury by the Bishop of
London.
1020 New stone church (to replace the wooden one containing
St. Edmund's body) commenced by order of Canute,
in expiation of the sacrilegious behaviour cf his father
Sweyn towards the saint.
1028 Charter 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).
1032 Oct. 18. Consecration of the new stone church by
Egelnoth, Archbishop of Canterbury.
1035 Charter 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 Angliell. 607.)
1038 Oct. Body of the Saint removed to King Canute's new
church.
1044 Visit of Edward the Confessor to Bury. p. 236.
1044 The Confessor grants to Bury abbey jurisdiction over 8^
hundreds in Suffolk, and the manor of Mildenhall,
with freedom to choose their abbot. p. 238.
1044 Death of Uvius (remains in Infirmary Chapel). Leof-
stan appointed 2nd abbot.
1065 Death of Leofstan (remains placed in shrine at foot of
St. Edmund). Baldwin of St. Denis (physician to
Edward the Confessor) appointed 3rd abbot.
26o APPENDIX III
1065 Mint established [at 'Bury under grant of Edward the
Confessor, in which Beodricsworth is called (appa-
rently for the first time) St. Edmundsbury. " Ic
kithe ihu that Ic habbe unnen Baldewine Abbot one
munetere with inneh Seynt Edmunds Biri " (Battely,
p. 134). A 248.
1 07 1 Abbot Baldwin at Rome : receives from Pope Alexander
II a precious altar of porphyry, with special privi-
leges.
1 07 1 Oct. 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
L 344-) , . ,.
1081 May 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.)
1 086 Domesday 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.
1095 Apr. 29. Translation of St. Edmund's body to new
and magnificent basilica built by Baldwin and his
sacrists Thurstan and Tolinus.
1097 Death of Baldwin : buried in the Abbey church, east of
the choir altar.
1098 (circa). Herman the Archdeacon compiles his book,
De Miraculh Sancti Eadmundi. />• 218.
1 1 00 Henry I gives abbacy to Robert, son of Hugh Lupus,
Earl of Chester. Robert (I) deposed 1102.
1101 Attempts of Herbert de Losinga, Bishop of Norwich, to
fix his see at Bury ; finally disposed of 1102.
1 102 Robert II, a monk of Westminster, elected 5th abbot.
Scheme for Abbey church enlarged. Godefridus the
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 261
sacrist a man " of almost gigantic stature, great in
body but greater still in mind." p. 24.J.
1 107 Aug. 15. Robert II consecrated by St. Anselm. Dies
soon after, 16 Sept. 5 buried in Infirmary Chapel.
1 1 14 After seven years' interregnum, Albold, prior of St.
Nicasius at Meaux, elected 6th abbot: died n 19 5
buried in Infirmary Chapel.
1 1 20 Charter of Henry I confirming the Charters of
Canute and Edward the Confessor.
1 121 Anselm, nephew of St. Anselm, elected 7th abbot. In
his days the Norman tower of the Abbey was built.
1 1 32 Henry I pays a pilgrimage to the shrine of St.
Edmund.
1 135 [circa). St. James' Church built by Abbot Anselm,
instead of making a pilgrimage to St. James of
Compostella. Church consecrated by William Cor-
beil, Archbishop of Canterbury.
SECTION II
DURING ABBOT SAMSON'S LIFETIME (11 3 5-1 2 n)
1 1 35 SAMSON born at Tottington, near Thetford.
1 1 44 Samson taken by his mother on a pilgrimage to St.
Edmund. P- 56-
1 1 46 Death of Anselm : buried in Infirmary Chapel.
1 146 Ording, Prior of St. Edmund, appointed 8th abbot.
1 1 50 Fire, 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'
1 1 50 {circa). Galfridus de Fontibus writes the tract Zte /«-
fantia Sancti Eadmundi, dedicated to Ording. p. 218.
1 153 Eustace, eldest son of King Stephen, plunders some of
the lands of the monastery. Dies at Bury.
1156 Jan. 31. Death of Ording: buried in chapter-house.
p. 247.
262 APPENDIX III
1 156 Hugh, Prior of Westminster, elected 9th abbot.
Receives benediction at Colchester from Archbishop
of Canterbury.
1 157 Battle of Coleshill : Cowardice of Henry of Essex.
pp. 103, 243.
1 1 60 (circa). Samson returns from Paris, and made maghtcr
scbolarum or schoolmaster. p. 66.
1 160 (circa). Samson's visit to Rome. pp. 72, 236.
1 161 Jan. 12. Bull of Alexander jl; 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.)
1 1 61 May 22. Brief obtained from Pope Alexander III,
confirming the right of the Abbey to the revenues of
Woolpit. pm 74-
1 163 Abbot Hugh at the Council of Tours, where he usurps
the seat of the Abbot of St. Albans.
1 163 Wager of battle between Henry of Essex and Robert de
Montfort at Reading. pp. 104-5.
1 1 66 S-mson takes monastic orders. p. do.
1 172 Apr. 7. Bull of Pope Alexander III, dated at Tus-
culum, 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.
1173 Jocelin of Brakelond becomes Monk of St. Edmund, p. 1.
1 173 Hugh the Prior deposed : succeeded by Robert. p. 1.
J 1 73 Octobei 17. Battle of Fornham pp. 1, 86, 221.
1 175 (circa). Samson master of the novices. p. 6.
1180 (ante). Samson compiles the work De Miraculis
Sancti Eadmundi. (See Appendix I.) pp. 215-21.
1180 Sept. 9. Abbot Hugh's accident near Rochester.
p. 10.
1 1 80 Nov. 15. Death of Abbot Hugh I. pp. 10, 225.
1 1 80-2 Samson subsacrist and master of the workmen. Re-
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 263
builds choir of Abbey Church, and makes preparations
for building the great tower. it
Il8l June 10. Martyr^ of the boy Robert by the ^Jews;
1 1 8 1 Aug. 9. Arrival at Abbey of Archbishop of Trontheirn
„8a Feb" zJ" Appointment of Samson as Abbot at Bishop
Waltham, with Henry II's approval. „./'*'{
, 18s Feb. 28. Samson receives the blessing of the Bishop of
Winchester, at Merewell. r\i '
1182 MaTz. (Palm Sunday). Samson is solemnly received
„,, Ma\'^"n ca.ls a meeti„g of the convent,' the
Knights and certain bnrgesses as to the election^
,,8, Maf^' Samson sends messengers to Rome for con-
firmation of the Abbey's privileges. ?■ +•
, ,82 Apr. .. Barons, Knights and freemen summoned w^o
„82 Samsontppointed a judge in the ecclesiastical courts, by
Pope Lucius III. 108
1 182 Contests as to town rights and dues. £ '
„ 83 Samson restores the Church of Woolpit * the
84-5 Sa"7nds St. Saviour's Hospital, at BabwelL> 6j
86 Kalendar or general survey of Abbey estates completed.
1186
p. 44-5'
1 187 Victory over Archbishop Baldwin as to jurisdiction^
case of homicide at Monks Eleigh. P- / •
,,87 Tan. SI. Samson obtains from Pope Urban III the
1187 ^privilege of giving the episcopal benediction £J£
Il87 Feb. 11. Dispute as to jurisdiction, between Samson
7 and the Monks of Canterbury, brought before
Henryllin chapter-house at Canterbury. /*• 77,*3»-
1.87 Sept 20. Loss of Jerusalem: Samson's grief. />. 60.
\\% SamsonwaitsuponJ Henry II at Clarendon, to obtain
264 APPENDIX III
a recognition of the immunity of the Abbey from
certain taxes. p. g6_
1188 Jan. 20. General exemption granted by the Pope to
Samson and his successors from the authority of
the Archbishop of Canterbury. p. 84.
1 1 88 Jan. 21. Henry II takes the Cross between Trie and
Gisors. p. 80.
1 1 80 Feb. Henry II at Bury. Samson refused permission
to accompany the King to the Crusades. p. 81.
1 1 89 Sept. 3. Richard I crowned at Westminster; Abbot
Samson present.
1 1 89 Sept. Purchase of the manor of Mildenhall from
Richard I. p. 70#
1 1 89 Nov. Samson appointed one of the arbitrators to settle
the dispute between Archbishop Baldwin and the
Monks of Christ Church at Canterbury.
1 1 90 March 18. Massacre of 57 Jews at Bury. p. 69.
1 1 90 Oct. Conflict as to monastic discipline, at the Council
of Westminster, between Samson and the Bishop of
E1y- />. 81.
1 191 Death of Robert of Cockfield. pp. 86, 255.
1 191 Samson's quarrel with William Longchamp, Bishop of
E1y- p. 79.
1 191 Sept.-Oct. Excommunication of Longchamp, and his
flight from England. pp. 79) 240.
1 1 92 Complaints of the monks to the abbot concerning the
Abbey revenues. p. 11^
1 1 93 Return of Longchamp. Samson refuses to celebrate
Mass before him. p. 80.
1 193 Collection of money for the ransom of King Richard.
pp. 71, 234.
1 1 93 Samson excommunicates the disturbers of the peace, and
appears in arms before Windsor. p. 82.
1 1 93 Samson visits Richard I in his German prison "with
many gifts." /)> 82.
M94 Feb. 4. King Richard released from captivity.
ii97
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 265
1 1 94 Mch. 12. Lands at Sandwich after an absence of 4J
years ; pays, before the end of the month, thanks-
giving visits to (1) Canterbury (2) St. Edmundsbury.
1 1 94 June 28. Samson's contest with turbulent young
knights, who hold a Tournament without his author-
ization. P- %1-
1 194 Samson grants a Charter to the town. pp. 116, 244.
1 1 94 Abbey debts entirely discharged. _ />. 46.
1 1 96 Samson's contest with his fifty knights concerning their
dues: the abbot victorious. p. 97-9*
1 1 96 Samson takes the cellarer's department into his own
hands. P- I31 etse1-
Commission of Pope Celestine III for the restoration of
the Monks of Coventry. pp. i42> 246-
1 1 98 Jan. 14. Samson at Coventry in high spirits, p. 143.
1 198 Jan. 18. Coventry Monks re-inducted by the Arch-
bishop. />• H3-
1 1 98 Samson charges moiety of Wetherden in favour of
schools at Bury. p- H4-
1 1 98 (circa). Archbishop Hubert Walter proposes to visit the
Abbey of Bury. A 122.
1 198 Dispute between King Richard and Samson as to the
wardship of Nesta of Cockfield. pp. 147-9.
1 198 Samson 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.
1 1 98 July 18. Richard I confirms by Charters the Manor of
Mildenhall to the Abbey. pp. 70-2, 235.
1 198 Oct. 17. Fire in the Abbey : shrine of St. Edmund in
danger. p- 162.
1 198 Nov. 23. Shrine transferred to high altar. p. 170.
1 198 Nov. 26. Samson views St. Edmund's body. p. 173.
1 198 Dec. 1. Letter of Pope Innocent III exempting the
Abbey from the visitation even of a legate, unless he
were a legate a latere. pp- i24> 245-
266 APPENDIX III
1 1 99 Reconciliation between Hubert Walter, Archbishop of
Canterbury, and Samson. p. 127.
1 1 99 April 6. Death of King Richard I.
1 199 May 27. King John crowned at Westminster, p. 178.
1 199 King John visits Bury. />. 178.
1 1 99 Violent quarrels between Samson and his monks : he
withdraws from the Abbey for a week : reconciliation
effected. pp. 179-83.
1200 Mar. 15. Ratification by King John of Charter granted
by Samson to St. Saviour's Hospital at Babwell. p 72.
1200 Nov. 6. Samson one of three arbitrators in dispute be-
tween Archbp. of Canterbury and Canons of Lam-
beth, p. 229.
1200 List drawn up of knights of St. Edmund. pp. 183-6.
1200 Hugh, Abbot of Cluny, visits Bury. p. 189.
1200 Death of Prior Robert : Herbert succeeds him. p. 191.
1 201 Eustace, Abbot of Flay, preaches at Bury. p. 202.
1 201 Sept. Samson appointed one of three Commissioners
sent by the Pope to Worcester to investigate the
miracles of St. Wulfstan.
1202 Dispute between the monks of Ely and of Bury con-
cerning the market at Lakenheath. pp. 203-253.
1202 Hugh of Northwold (afterwards abbot) admitted a
monk.
1203 Jan. 31. Samson appointed by the Pope on a commis-
sion concerning the dispensation of Crusaders from
their vows : and summoned over sea to advise the
King on this question. pp. 207-11.
1203 Dec. 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.
1 208 Mar. 24. Interdict comes into force throughout England.
1 210 Sept. 23. Fall of central tower of Abbey Church.
121 1 Dec. 30. Death of Samson: buried in unconsecrated
ground. p. xl.
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 267
1 21 3 July. King John expresses a wish for the vacancy to
be filled : Hugh (II) of Northwold chosen.
1 214 July 2. Interdict solemnly dissolved.
1 214 Aug. 12. Samson's body exhumed and buried in the
chapter-house of Bury Abbey. pp. xlii., 247.
SECTION III
FROM 1 2 14 TO DISSOLUTION IN 1539
1 2 14 Nov. 4. King John at Bury : makes a speech in the
chapter-house asserting his rights over the election of
abbot. />. 251.
1 2 14 Nov. 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 Fs 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).
1 21 5 Mar. 10. Commissioners appointed by the Pope finally
give judgment in favour of Hugh's election as abbo\
1 21 5 June 9. King's approval to appointment of Hugh given
in Staines meadow.
121 5 June 15. Magna Charta signed.
1 21 5-6 Louis, 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, Ips-
wich and Colchester by the barons (Ramsay's Angevin
Empire, 1903, p. 497). Bury St. Edmunds a strong-
hold of the king (Norgate, John Lackland, 1902, pp.
257-8). Louis himself fighting in the south of Eng-
land. No evidence of Louis or his hordes ever being
at Bury.
1 216 Oct. 19. Death of John at Newark. Henry III
succeeds to the throne.
268 APPENDIX III
1220 {circa). Richard of Newport, sacrist, destroys the old
chapter-house and rebuilds it from foundations, p. 247.
1220 Death of Herbert the prior. Richard of Insula (after-
wards 1 2th abbot) succeeds him.
1224 Abbot Hugh at the Royal camp before Bedford Castle,
attended by knights holding manors under St. Ed-
mund.
1225 (circa). Abbot's Bridge built.
1229 Abbot Hugh -II made Bishop of Ely: died August,
1254. Described by Matthew Paris as " flos nigro-
rum monachorum."
1229 Nov. 20. Richard of Insula recalled from Burton and
installed as 12th abbot on St. Edmund's Day.
1234 Abbot 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.
1235 Henry of Rushbrook, prior of Bury, elected 13th abbot.
1235 Royal Charters granted to Abbot Henry to hold two fairs
at Bury and a market at his manor of Melford.
1245 Abbot Henry excused by the Pope, on account of the
gout, from attending the Council of Lyons.
1245 At tne 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.
1248 July 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. (1 901) II. 574.
1 248 Death of Abbot Henry : buried in chapter-house.
Edmund of Walpole, LL.D., appointed 14th abbot.
1250 Henry III takes the Cross: the abbot does the same,
exposing himself togeneral derision (Matt. Par. v. 1 10).
1252 Simon of Luton (afterwards abbot) made prior.
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 269
1254 Richard of Clare, seventh Earl of Gloucester, claims St.
Edmund's manor of Mildenhall : threatened with ex-
communication by the Pope.
1254 Aug. Death of Hugh, Bishop of Ely (Abbot of Bury,
1213-29).
1256 Aug. 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."
1256 Dec. 31. Abbot Edmund died : buried in the chapter-
house. ^'u?47'
1257 Jan. 15. Simon of Luton, prior, elected 15th abbot:
cost of confirmation by the Pope, 2,000 marks.
1263 Nov. 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.
1265 Defeat and death of Simon de Montfort. Many barons
of his party take shelter at Bury, but subsequently
dislodged.
1267 February. Henry III summons the barons who owes
military service to the Crown to meet him at Bury.
1272 Sept. 1. Henry III at Bury on his way to Norwich.
1272 Nov. 16. Death of Henry III (Rishanger says at
Bury).
1275 April 17. Edward I and his Queen come to St.
Edmundsbury on a pilgrimage, « as they had vowed
in the Holy Land."
1275 July 1. Foundation stone of new Lady Chapel laid
by Prior Robert.
1279 April. 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).
27° APPENDIX III
1279 Dec. 28. John of Northwold, guest master of the
abbey, solemnly received in the Abbey Church as
1 6th 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.
1 28 1 A new division between the property of the abbot and
that of the convent, sanctioned by Edward I in con-
sideration of £1,000.
1285 Feb. 20. The King with the Queen and her three
daughters make a pilgrimage to Bury.
1292 April 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.
1292 Dispute between monastery and town. Royal Commis-
sion 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.
1294 Mar. 18. Edward I again at St. Edmundsbury " with
great devotion."
1296 Nov. Edward I holds a Parliament at Bury to obtain
an aid from the clergy and people. Difficulties in its
collection.
1 301 Oct. 29. Death of Abbot John I: buried in the
church before the choir altar.
1 301 Nov. 30. Edward's I's letter giving permission for a
new election.
1302 Jan. 2. Election of Thomas of Tottington (Samson's
birthplace) as 17th abbot.
1305 Further disputes between the convent and the town.
The king's justices impose fines on the aldermen
and burgesses.
1 3 12 Jan. 7. Death of Abbot Thomas: buried in north
aisle of abbey church (part of his memorial brass
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 271
now at Hedgerley church, Bucks). Succeeded by
Richard of Draughton.
i*z6 Edward II spends Christmas at Bury.
i,27 Great 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 do-
mestic buildings burnt : loss of property assessed at
/ 1 40,000. Charter extorted by the townsmen from
the convent. (French text in Arnold III. 302-3 « 7-)
Sept. 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 ol
nine days. ,
Death of Abbot Richard : buried in north aisle of the
church. The sub-prior, William of Bernham, hastily
elected 19th abbot for fear of the Pop^^ interference.
IU< Tan. 24. Completion of Richard of BuvfsPhtlokblon
A A Quarrel between the abbey and Bishop Bateman of
Norwich. Morality and discipline of the abbey
reported bad by diocesan commissioners.
1346 The abbot appeals to the Pope, and also sues Bishop
"4 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 towns-
people in the riots of 1327.
Presentation 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 Tohn Ewell as a matter of favour.
1 161 Death 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.
i33°
1335
1351
272 APPENDIX III
1 361 John of Brinkley appointed as 20th abbot by Pope
Innocent VI.
1 375 Date 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).
1379 Death 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.
1 381 Rebellion in East Anglia under Jack Strawe. Murder
of John de Cambridge, the prior, and Sir John Caven-
dish, the chief justice. Town of Bury outlawed and
fined 2,000 marks.
1383 Richard II and Anne of Bohemia visit Bury and re-
main ten days at the monastery, at an expense of
800 marks.
1384 June 4. Matters having at length been arranged with
the Pope, John of Timworth's election as abbot is con-
firmed (died 1389).
1390 William of Cratfield elected 22nd abbot.
1400 Oct. 1. Thomas of Arundel, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, visits Bury : received as a visitor with much
respect, but without a procession.
1408 Nov. 25. Letters patent of King Henry IV finally
deciding, in favour of Bury Abbey, the disputed ques-
tion as to the jurisdiction of the Liberty of St.
Edmund over Hadleigh and Eleigh. pp. 76-8, 239.
1410 Catalogue of 195 Monastic Libraries (including that of
Bury), compiled by John Boston, monk of Bury.
141 5 June 18. Death of Cratfield. William of Exeter
elected 23 rd abbot.
1424 William Exeter causes the marble tomb of Ording (and
(?) of Samson) in the chapter-house to be renewed.
p. 247.
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 273
1424-33 Building of the present St. Mary's Church on the
site of an older church in S.W. corner of the ceme-
tery of the abbey.
1427 Thomas Beaufort, second son of John of Gaunt, buried
in Abbey Church (coffin discovered and re-interred
1772).
1429 Death of William Exeter. William Curteys or Curtis
elected 24th abbot.
1430 Dec. 1 8. Fall of Southern side of western tower.
1430 Dec. 30. Fall of Eastern side of western tower. Imme-
diate steps taken to contract for a new tower.
1430 Abbot Curteys builds a library for the abbey (see his
regulations for use of books in James^pp. 109-11).
1432 Ruins of tower cleared away. Rebuilding commenced :
estimated cost, 60,000 ducats of gold.
1433-4 Visit 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).
1446 Sept. 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.
1446 Death of Curteys. Succeeded by William Babington
as 25th abbot.
1447 Feb. 10. Parliament at Bury, in the Abbey refectory.
Duke Humphrey of Gloucester present, and arrested
(Feb. 1 8) for high treason.
1447 Nov. 13. Charter of Henry VI confirming the abbey
privileges. (Text in Arnold III. 357.)
1449 Royal Charter granted, freeing the Abbot of all aids to
the King for forty marks a year.
1453 Death of Abbot Babington : John Boon, or Bohun,
appointed 26th abbot.
1462 General pardon granted by Edward IV to the Abbot
and monks, whose sympathies had been Lancastrian.
1462 Nov. 17. A lost Abbey register bought by John
T
274 APPENDIX III
Broughton, and presented by him to the monastery
at the instance of Abbot Boon.
1465 Jan. 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.
1469 Death of Abbot Boon : buried in the Lady Chapel.
Succeeded by Robert of Ixworth as 27th abbot.
1474 Richard of Hengham appointed 27th abbot.
1479 Thomas ofRattlesden appointed 28th abbot.
1479 May. William of Worcester visits the Abbey and
takes measurements of the various buildings.
i486 Visit of Henry VII to Bury.
1497 William of Codenham appointed 29th abbot.
1 513 Death of Codenham. John Reeve of Melford ap-
pointed 30th and last abbot.
1532 Abbot Reeve assists at the funeral of Abbot Islip of
Westminster.
1533 July 21. Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, buried
in great state at the Abbey (subsequently re-interred
in St. Mary's Church).
x535 Nov. 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 proceed-
ings {Compendium Compertorum now at Record Office).
1536 Nov. 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.
1538 Sept. 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
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 275
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 S0^ plate, 6,853 oz* S1^
plate, 933 oz. parcel-gilt plate, 190 oz. white plate.
(Monastic Treasures, 1836). See also under Dec. 2,
IS39-
1539 Nov. 4. Deed of surrender of Bury Abbey signed by
Abbot Reeve, Prior Thomas Denysse of Ryngstede and
^ 41 other monks.
1539 Nov. 7. Sir Richard Rich, Sir A. Wingfield, Ric.
Southwell, Wm. Petre, John Ap Rice, and T. Mild-
may inform Henry VIII of the surrender of the
Abbey : they " have taken the plate and best orna-
ments 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.
1539 Dec. 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
1540 March 30. Death of ex-Abbot Reeve; buried in the
chancel of St. Mary's Church.
1550 The first of the thirty grammar schools founded by
Edward VI established at Bury.
276 APPENDIX III
1560 Feb. 14. Site of Monastery sold by Queen Elizabeth
for ,£412 igs. 4.d. to John Eyer 5 by him transferred
to Thomas Badby.
1578 Aug. 7. Queen Elizabeth at Bury.
1 599 Over a hundred books from Bury Abbey in the hands of
William Smart, a " Postman " of Ipswich. Given by
him to Pembroke College, Cambridge.
1606 Apl. 3. Bury made a Borough by Charter of James I.
(Borough Motto : Sacrarium Regis, Cunabula Legis).
1634 Condition of the site of the Abbey described by William
Hawkins of Hadleigh in his " Corolla Varia."
1644 Publication 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 eglises du comte de Suffolk," refers to
the fact that in those days "les Chretiens faisaient
gloire d'enlever par un devot larcin les reliques des
saints," and says " II est croyable que les Francais
en firent autant de celles de St. Edmond" (cf. 1216,
1256, 1901).
1745 Publication at Oxford by Rev. Dr. Oliver Battely of
Antiquitates 5. Edmundi Burgi ad annum MCCLXXII
perducta, written by his uncle, Dr. John Battely
(died 1708).
1 76 1 Ancient gates of town pulled down by order o
Corporation.
1772 Some excavations on site of Church, made by Mr. King,
and reported in vol. III. of Archaeologia.
1805 Publication 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.'(i76c.-i834).
TABLE OF DATES, a.d. 870-1903 277
1 806 Site of Abbey comes into the hands of the Hervey family,
the present possessors.
1840 Rokewode's Edition of Latin text of Chronicle of Joce-
lin of Brakelond, published by Camden Soc.
1843 Carlyle's Past and Present published.
1843 Publication 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).
1844 T. E. Tomlins' English translation ofjoceliris Chronicle.
1850 S. Tymms' Bury Wills (Camd. Soc).
1865 Papers by Mr. Gordon M. Hills on antiquities of
Bury St. Edmunds in j Journal British Archaeological
Association, vol. xxi. pp. 32-56 and 104-140.
1869 July 20. British Archaeological Association at Bury :
paper on Abbey read by Mr. Alfred W. Morant.
1890 Publication of J. R. Thompson's Records of St.
Edmund [mostly based on Battely and the legendary
chronicles] .
1890 Publication of vol. I. of Memorials of St. Edmund's Abbey
(Rolls series), edited by T. Arnold (vol. II. published
1892, vol. III. 1896).
1893 Publication of St. Edmund King and Martyr, by Rev.
Father Mackinlay, O.S.B. [picturesque and interesting,
but uncritical] .
1895 Publication 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. Pub-
lications No. xxviii.).
1 90 1 Publication 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).
278 APPENDIX III
1 90 1 July 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).
1 90 1 Sept. 5. Letter in The Times showing cause against
these bones being those of St. Edmund.
1 901 Sept. 9. Cardinal Vaughan admits at Newcastle-on-
Tyne that, in view of facts stated, " the relics are not
genuine."
1902 Publication 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.
1903 Jan. 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 (1 1 56-80).
pp. 225,247.
INDEX
Abbo of Fleury : 217.
Acre : 6, 74, 125, 223, 237.
Adam, the infirmarer : 200.
^Elmessethe, see Elmsett.
jElmeswell, see Elmswell.
Ailwin, or Egelwin : 175, 25°.
Alberic, the earl : 85, 98, 184.
Albold, Abbot of St. Edmund:
229, 245, 261.
Alexander II. (Pope) : 260.
Alexander III., Pope : 72, 236.
Alfric : 85, 241.
Alveth, Gilbert of : 26.
Ambli, William of : 255.
Ambrose (monk) : 25
Ampton : 185.
Andrew (monk) : 25.
Anselm, Abbot of St. Edmund s,
116, 255-6, 261.
Ansty, Hubert of : 185.
Anthony (monk) : 26.
Arnald: 49.
Arnold, T., Memorials of St. Ed-
mund's Abbey, xix. and
passim.
Ashfield: 184, 185.
Augustine (monk) : 172.
Augustine, Archbp. of Trontheim :
23, 227.
Averpenny : 155, 248.
Babwell : 69, 72, 201, 234.
Baldwin, Abbot of St. Edmund :
260.
Baldwin, Archbishop : 76-8.
Banham, William of: 255.
Bardwell : 184.
William of: 184.
Barningham : 184, 185.
Adam of: 185.
Barrator : 18, 65, 108 226-7.
Barton- 95, 186, 256.
Battely, Dr. John: 276.
Beasts of chase : 230.
Beccles : 95.
Bedingfield : 95.
Benedict of Blakenham : 8.
Benedict, the Jew : 3, 4, 223.
Benedict, the monk : 25, sub-
prior, 152.
Beodricsworth : 154, 248, 258.
Bigot, Roger, Earl of Norfolk:
86, 96, 98, 99, i84> 241-
Bishop's Waltham : 31, 228.
Blakenham, Benedict of : 8.
Blithing: 184.
Blood letting season : 21, $27.
Blund, Hamo : 138.
William: 184.
Blunham : 184, 229.
Botolph, St. : 176, 250.
Boxford : 90, 94.
Bradfield: 44, 90, 95, 185, 186.
Brakelond, see Jocelin.
Breiton, William of : 255.
Brettenham : 90, 94.
Briddinghoe : 185.
Briseword, Hubert of : 964
Brisingham : 184.
Broc, Peter de (monk) : 25.
Brockdish : 185.
Stephen of : 185.
Brockford : 94, 95.
Brockley : 185.
Reginald of: 185.
Brome ; 184.
280
INDEX
Buckenham : 184.
Ralph of: 184.
Burgh, Thomas de : 187-189.
Canterbury (Christ Church):
77-8, 238, 239.
Canterbury, Archbishops of- —
Baldwin : 76-8.
Hubert Walter : 83, 98, 121-2,
125, 142,-3, 175-6, 187, 240!
Richard : 6, 7, 221, 224.
Carlyle's Past and Present : xv
xxiv., xxix., xl.
Castle Acre : 6, 74, 125, 223 237
Celestine III, Pope : 142, 246
Cellarer, jurisdiction of: 1-54-9
Cereville, Gilbert of: 104.
Chapter House of Bury Abbey •
152, 247, 278.
Chebenhall : 187.
Chelsworth : 95.
Chernelles, Arnald of : 184
Chertsey [BertrandJ Abbot of:
Chevington : 49, 94.
Chiplev : 185.
Clare, 'Richard, Earl of : 8 -=-6
Roger, Earl of : 104, 243.
Clarendon • 96.
Cluny, Hugh, Abbot of : 189, 252
Colchester : 95.
Coleshill: 103.
Constantine, Geoff ry of : 5.
Cosford Hundred : 44, 86, 232,
Cockfield, Adam (1st) of: 255
Adam (2nd) of: 86, 147 i84
187, 246, 254-6.
Adehza of : 255.
Lenmere of : 255.
Nesta of: 187, 246-7, 251, 255.
Odo of: 256.
Robert of: 12, i5( 44) 77> 86;
91,241, 255-6.
Rohesia of : 255.
Cockfield or Cokefield, Town of •
88, 95* X84, 188, 256.
Cotton : 94.
Coventry, the Monks of : 142-3
246. * J'
Coutances, Walter of: ^2 2^
Criketot, Hemfrid: 256.'
Cunegestun (Kingston) : 95.
Curteys, W., Abbot: 273.
His Register: 216.
Dennis, cellarer of St. Edmund :
6> 8, 9, 25, 32, 33, 34, i57
200.
Dereham : 121, 125.
Diceto, Ralph de, dean of London:
201-2, 236, 253.
Dickleburgh : 90 95.
Diss, John of : 174.
Walter of : 67.
William of (the elder) : 67
William of: 172, 242, 253, 254-6.
Dissolution of Bury Abbey
_ (1539) : 274-5.
Dogs, coursing bv, 43, 231.
Presented by Samson to Rich-
ard I : 149, 231.
Durand of Hosteley : 91.
(town bailiff") : 209.
Domesday Book : 70, 234, 260.
Dunstan, Archbishop : 217.
Durham : 67.
Edmund (monk) : 29.
Edmund, the " golden ' monk •
_. 45-
Edward the Confessor : 233, 238,
259.
Egelwm, or Ailwin : 175, 250.
Eleanor, Queen, 70-71/234
Eleigh, Monks : 76-77, 70, 238-9.
Combust: 185. 3 9
Hugh of : 185.
Elias, cup-bearer : 6^
Elm, Robert of: 91!
Elmsett : 106-7, 230.
Elmswell : 67, 94, 106-7.
Elveden : 95.
Gilbert of: 155.
INDEX
281
Ely, Bishops of : —
William Longchamp : 79, 80-2,
240.
Geoffrey Ridel : 74, 106-7,
203-7, 237.
Ely : 125, 203-7, 253.
Endgate : 90.
Essex, Henry of : 101-105, 242.
Etheldreda, St., court of : 206.
Eu, Castle of : 129.
Roger of : 184.
Eustace (monk) : 26.
(tenant) : 93.
Euston : 185.
Fair of St. Edmund : 112-3,
115 -6.
Fakenham, Great : 184.
Felsham : 185.
Fitz-Alan, Peter, of Brockley :
185.
Fitz-Drogo, Richard : 68.
Fitz-Hervey, Osbert : 51.
William : 96.
Fitz-Isabel, William : 2.
Fitz-Peter, Geoffrey: 204, 207*
254-
Fitz-Ralph, Gilbert : 91, 184.
Fitz- Roger, Robert : 184.
Fitz- Walter, Robert: 184.
Flamville, Robert of : 12.
Flav, Eustace, Abbot of : 202-3.
Flemings defeated (a.d. 1173) • *>
86, 222.
Flempton, Alan of : 185.
Foddercorn : 44, 232.
Fordham, Geoffrey of: 25.
Fornham magna : 94.
St. Genevieve : 95 ; battle of :
1, 86, 222,
St. Martin : 95.
Francheville, William of : 96.
Fressingfield : 95.
Galfridus de Fontibus: 218, 226.
Gaveloc (javelin) : 73, 237.
Gedding : 185.
Geoffrey of Constantine : 5.
Geoffrey Archbishop of York :
31, 80, 126, 228, 240.]
(bailiff) : 109.
Germany, Samson's visit to: 82.
Gilbert, Deputy Steward of St.
Edmund : 42.
(monk) : 174.
Gislingham : 95.
Gissing : 184.
Glanville, Ranulf de, Justiciary of
England : 12, 4*. 77, 93. Io8»
225.
Glemsford : 106, 206.
Godfrey (bailiff) : 109.
Godefridus the sacrist : 247, 260.
Great Fornham : 94.
Great Horningsherth : 95-
Green, J. R. (history) xvi.
Groton: 88, 95, 185, 188, 255-
Haberdon, Bury St. Edmund's :
88, 242.
Hadleigh : 239.
Haggovele : 157, 249.
Haglesdun : 258.
Halgestou : 258.
Halsted, Robert of : 185.
Hamo Blund's will : 138.
Hardwick, the villeins of (lan-
cetti) : 153, 248.
Har grave : 49, 94.
Harling : 184.
Harlow : 49, 92-3, 95, l69-
Hastings Henry of: 41, 229.
Thomas of : 41, 229.
William of : 98, 184.
William of (monk) : 29,
Hatfield, Walter of : 49-
Helyas the sacrist : 243, 247.
Hemfrid, Criketot : 256.
Hengham, see Hingham.
Hen-rents : 232.
Henry II, King of England : 4, 12.
Approves Samson's appoint-
ment at abbot, xxviii. :
Dispute between Bury and
Canterbury : 76-8, 238.
282
INDEX
Takes the Cross : 80, 240.
Ruling at Clarendon on Sam-
son's appeal : 96.
Battle of Coleshill : 103, 243.
Charter to Merchants of Lon-
don : 112, 244.
Henry of Essex : 101-105, 242.
Hepworth : 184.
Herard : 92.
Herbert the Dean : 88-qo.
Herbert, prior of St. Edmund:
xlii., 190-6, 197, 235, 252.
Herman the Archdeacon: 218
238, 249.
Hermer (monk) : 25 (sub-prior) :
191-193, 235.
Hernngswell : 95.
Hidages : 44, 232.
Hinderclav : 95.
Hingham,' Hugh of : 6, 75.
Richard of : 174.
Roger of : 6, 75.
Roger of (cellarer) : 157, 186-7
Hitcham • 80.
Honington : 91, 94.
Hopton : 97, 95.
Horning, Robert of : 185.
Horningsherth : 95.
Hostesley, Durand of : 91.
Hubert, Archbishop of Canter-
bury, see Walter.
Hugh, Abbot of St. Edmund
(a.d. 1157-1180) : 1, 2-9,
10, 49, 108, 116, 135, 222
225.'
Prior of St. Edmund : 1, 6
Third Prior of St. Ed-
mund : 25, 26, 29, 51, 32.
The sacrist: 46, no, 145,
152, 172, 232.
TheT-Innrmarer : 174.
Humphrey," Duke of Gloucester :
234, 273.
Hundreds in Liberty of St. Ed-
mund : 44, yy_ 232, 238.
Hunston: 184.
icklingham : 71, 95,. 205, 235.
Ickworth, Richard of: 185.
Illegh or Eleigh (Monachorum)
76-7, 79. 238-9.
(Combust) : 185.
Hugh of: 185.
Ingham : 95.
Innocent III, Pope : 124, 149, 24^.
Interdict: xli.
Ireland : 236.
Isaac, the Jew: 3.
Jerusalem, loss of : 60.
Jews, abbey debts to : 2-4, 15, 48,
223.
Driven from St. Edmundsbury,
69-70, 223.
Joce, Rabbi : 3.
Jocelin of Brakelond : xx.-xxiv.,
1. 6, 23, 39, 56, 03, loi, 14=5,
197-8, 200, 235, 242.
Jocell the cellarer : 174, 186-187.
John, King of England: 82,
228.
Comes to St. Edmundsbury:
xxxiii., 178, 251, 267.
Calls for Samson's advice:
xxxiii., 207, 254.
John, third Prior : 193-5.
Jordan de Ros : 91, 92, 93.
Jurnet the Jew : 8, 224.
Kalendar, Samson's: 45, 232.
Kentford : 37.
Ketel, the case of : 152, 247.
Kingston : 95.
Kirkby : 184.
Alexander of : 184.
Knights of St. Edmund, list of :
183-6.
Lackford : 95.
Lailand : T03.
Lakenheath : 155, 203, 205.
Langtoft, Robert of : 184.
Lavenham : 184.
Lelesey : 184, 255. "
Len : 95.
Lenmere of Cokefield : 255.
INDEX
283
Leofstan, Abbot of St. Edmund :
249. 259-
Liber Albus: xvi.-ii.
Liberty of St. Edmund : 41, 42,
44, 77, 82, 85, 87, 112, 138,
206, 232, 238.
Lidgate : 184, 229.
Lincoln, Bishop of : 142.
Little Waltham =184.
Livermere : 184, 185.
Peter of : 185.
Loddon : 184.
London, Bishop of : 113.
Dean of : 201. 253-
Merchants of: 112, 113, 243.
Longchamp, William : 79, 80-2,
240.
Louis, son of Philip II of France :
267, 276.
Lovel, Ernald: 91.
Lucius III, Pope, 51, 263.
Lydgate, John: xliv, 241.
Malmesbury, Abbot of : 32-3-
Manston : 185.
Gilbert of : 185.
Marlesford : 184.
M^rlingford : 184.
Maurice, chaplain of Abbot Sam-
son, 194.
Melford : 94, 106, 230, 243,
Melun, School of: 54, 232.
Mendham : 184.
Thomas of : 86.
Merchants of London : 112-3,
243.
Meringthorp : 90, 95.
Mickfield : 184.
Milden : 78.
William of-. 255-
Mildenhall : 69-71, 95, "8, 131,
B 146, 187, 233, 235, 238, 259-
Monk Eleigh : 76-7., 79, 238-9.
Montfort, Robert of : 103-4, 243-
Moot-horn : no.
Morieux, Roger of : 185.
Nicasius, St , chapel of : 191.
Nicholas (bailiff) : 109.
Nonant, Hugh de, Bishop of
Coventry : 142-3, 246.
Norfolk, Roger Bigot, Earl of :
86, 96, 98, 99, 184, 241.
Norton : 184.
Norway, Archbp. of : 23, 227.
Norwich, Bishops of: 75, 81, 91.
(City) : 95, 98, 99, 125.
Nova Legenda Anglie: 215-6.
Nowton : 8, 90, 95.
Oakley: 184.
Octavian, the Anti-pope : 72, 236.
Onehouse : 184.
Ording, Abbot of St. Edmund ;
17, 116, 135, 152, 226, 243,
247-
Osbert of Clare : 2T8-9.
Oxford, Alberic de Vere, Earl of
85, 98, 184.
Oxford, Samson at : 142-3.
Pakenham 90, 95, 186.
Palgrave : n, 63, 94.
Richard of : n, 63.
Paris, schools of : 66.
Parks enclosed by Samson : 43,
230.
Patteshall, Simon of: 185.
Peche, Gilbert of: 185.
Portman-moot : 151, 153, 247.
Presseni, Ralph of : 185.
Preston : 184, 185.
" Queen Gold " : 70, 234.
Quiddenham : 184.
Ralph, the porter : 179-
Ramsey, monks of : 202.
Randestune : 184.
Ranulf, Master : 118.
Reading : 101, 243.
Rede: 184.
Reiner, the monk : 48.
Reydon : 184.
28j.
INDEX
Richnrdll1' Kin& of England:
sells Manor of Mildenhall to
Bury: 69, 70, 233, 235.
His j ransom : 71,-* 147, 234.
Licence for holding tourna-
ments: 83, 241.
Imprisonment in Germany •
81, 82, 264-5.
bamson visits him in Germany :
82.
Demands of knights for French
war : 128.
Dispute with Sampson over
wardship of Nesta of
Cockfield : 148-9, 231
__. 251. • '
His death : 178, 266.
Richard, Archbishop of Canter-
bury: 6, 7, 223, 224.
Rickmghall : 95.
Ridel, Geoffrey : 74, 106-7, 203-
_. 7, 237.
Risbridge Hundred : 85
Risby : 67, 95, 185.
Norman of : 67-8, 185
William of : 67-8
Robert II, Abbot of St. Edmund :
_ »«, J35, 244-5.
Pnor of St. Edmund: 1, 13
190-1, 252.
The boy martyred by Jews :
23, 227.
Roger Bigot, Earl of Norfolk:
86, 96, 98, 99, 1S4, 241.
Roger the cellarer : 25, 29 31
32, 152. " '
Rokewode, John Gage: xvii.-
xviii. and passim.
Rome, Samson's visit to : 72-4.
Ros, Jordan de : 91, 92, 93.
Rothing, Gervase of : 185^
Rougham: 44, 95, 186, 255.
Ruald (monk) : 26.
Ruffus, Geoffrey : 186.
John : 200.
R. (monk) : 12.
Rungton : 95.
Herlewin of : 49, 50.
Rushbrook : 95.
Sacristy, offerings to : 53.
St. Alban's, Nicholas of : 32-3.
Walter of (monk) : 174.
St. Andrew, Chapel of : 145, 246.
St. Botolph, Chapel of : 176, 250.
St. Clare, Gilbert of: 185.
St. Denis, Chapel of : 139, 245.
St. Edmund, King and Martyr,
passim.
His Martyrdom : 258.
Life of (Bodl. 240) : 216-21.
Cup of : 165, 249.
Miracles of: 216 ei seq., 249.
Shirt of : 164, 249.
Shrine of : 162, 177, 249-50.
Standard of: 85, 241.
St. Faith, Chapel of : 145, 246.
St. Faith's, pnor of : 33.
St. Katherine, Chapel of : 145,
246.
St. Neot's, H., prior of : 33.
St. Nicasius, Chapel of : 191.
St. Robert, the boy : 23.
St. Sernin, Toulouse : 276.
Samson, Abbot, passim.
As an Author: xxxiii-v.,
215-21.
Sketch of his life : xxiv.-xliii.
Dates of events : 261-6.
His death and burial: xli.-ii.,
247.
His Seal : Frontispiece, 39,
229.
Samson, the Precentor : 38 ; ap-
pointed sacrist : 47.
Sapiston : 184.
Saxham : 49, 94, 184, 185.
Walter of : 185.
Scaldwell : 90, 95.
Scales, Robert of : 143.
Roger of : 144.
Schools at Bury : 68, 144, 233,
246.
Scotland: 236.
Scurun's Well : 154.
Semer : 88, 95, 188, 255.
INDEX
285
Sheriff of Suffolk : 87, 204.
Soham : 95.
Sorpeni : 151, 247.
Southrey : 45, 95, 155, 248.
Southwold: 187.
Standard of St. Edmund : 85-6,
241.
Stanningfield : 105.
Stanton : 184.
Stapleford : 49, 95.
Stephen, King of England : 226,
255-
Stephen, son of Herbert the
Dean : 89.
Stigand, Archbishop : 7.
Stow : 94, 184.
Stuston : 184.
Stutville. William of : 207, 254.
Sutton : 258.
Tewkesbury : 188.
Theam: 112, 244.
Thelnetham : 184.
Thetford : 83, 92.
Thorpe : 50, 95, 184, 185.
Thurstan (monk) : 26, 174.
Thurston : 184.
Tibenham : 184.
Tillener : 50.
Tivetshall : 90, 95, 100.
Tomlins, T., his Translation of
Chronicle (1844) : xviii.-xix.
Topscroft : 184.
Tostock, William of : 184.
Toulouse, St. Sernin : 276.
Tournaments : 83, 241.
Trontheim, Archbishop of : 23,
227J
Troston : 184.
Ulfric of Lelesey : 225.
Urban III. (Pope) : 84, 263.
Uvius, first Abbot of Bury : 259.
Valognes. Robert of : 91.
Vere, Alberic de : 85, 98, 184.
Wachesham, Osbert of : 184.
Walchelin, the Archdeacon : 92.
Walter the physician : 25, 146,
172.
Walter, Hubert, Archbishop of
Canterbury : 83, 98, 121-2,
125, 142-3, 175-6, 187, 240,
245-
Waltham: 125.
Little: 184.
(Bishop's) : 31, 228.
Wangford: 185.
Warm (monk) : 14.
Waringford, Nicholas of : 32.
Warkton : 48, 95.
Wattisfield : 185.
Waude : 185.
Wendling: 90, 95.
Westley : 90, 95.
Wetherden : 95. 144, 246.
Whatfield: 185.
Whelnetham : 185.
Geoffrey of : 185.
Whepstead : 8, 95.
William Wiardel, sacrist of St.
Edmund: 3, 13, 14, 15, 25, 32,
46-7, 223.
William of Worcester : 247, 274-
Wimer, the Sheriff : 25, 39, 225.
Winchester [Richard] Bishop of :
3i, 34, 36.
Windsor, siege of : 82.
Witham : 85.
Withgar : 85, 241.
Woolpit : 72, 74, 95, 235.
Worlingworth : 95.
Wortham: 95, 184.
Wordwell, William of : 185
Wrabness : 95.
Yarmouth : 113.
Yates' History of Bury, 276.
York [Geoffrey] Archbishop of •
31, 80, 126, 228.
Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
862028
BX 2596 .B8 J6 1903 SMC
JOCELIN, DE BRAKELOND,
FL. 1173-1215.
The chronicle of Jocelin
of brakelond : a
AKD-7371 (ab)
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