A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE general or the abbess of Fontevraud in England, 1 and had some journeys to take in this capacity, 2 for which he had to seek safe conducts from the king. Both the mother house at Fontevraud 3 and the priory of Almesbury* in England, where the king's mother and daughter had made their profession, 5 were in great poverty at this time, but there is no mention made of poverty at La Grave. Its history in the fourteenth century is a little difficult to trace ; in 1 3 1 6 the manor was stated to be the property of the abbess of Fontevraud, but 'now in the hand of the Princess Mary,' 6 and in 1349 the pope wrote a letter to King Edward III., asking him to allow the abbess and convent to regain pos- session of the house of La Grave, of which they had been despoiled. 7 It seems however to have returned to its original position as a cell of Fontevraud, for it was reckoned in the next century among the alien priories, and granted in 1438 to Eton College; and a few years later, in 1481, its property was 1 Pat. 25 Edw. I. m. l8d. 2 Ibid. ; Pat. 15 Edw. I. m. 4. 3 Pat. 20 Edw. I. m. 28, where it states they had only the blackest of bread to eat on Fridavs. ' Ibid. 21 Edw. I. m. 18.
- Ann. Mon. (Rolls Series), iii. 326 (in the year
1285). 6 The daughter of Edward I. at Almesbury {Feud. Aids, i. 21). 7 Cal. of Pap. Letters, iii. 39-40. transferred to the dean and canons of Windsor. 8 The original endowment of the house was simply the royal manor of Leighton, with land belonging to Walter Pullan, worth 32J. 9 Some smaller gifts of land in Edles- borough, 10 and Stewkley 11 (Bucks) and in Studham 12 were added later. The value of the manor in Leighton in 1 291 was £32 6s. Sd. ; and other temporalities of the priory in the deanery of Dunstable amounted to £2 2s. 2d. 13 In 1302 14 the abbess of Fon- tevraud held one knight's fee in Stewkley ; in 1316 15 the manor of Leighton, and half a fee in Studham; in 1346 19 only half a fee in Stewkley. The names of only two priors remain : — Nicholas, 17 occurs 1258 and 1263; William de Lyencourt, 18 occurs 1283, 1287, 1297 8 Dugdale, Mon. vi. 1085 and Pat. 20 Edw. IV. 9 Dugdale, Mon. vi. 1085. 10 Pat. 9 Edw. I. m. 3. Licence for alienation in mortmain of 6J acres in Edlesborough. 11 Feud. Aids, i. 82. 12 Ibid. 21. " Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.) 14 Feud. Aids, i. 82. '5 Ibid. 21. 16 Ibid. 128. It was at this time that the abbess said she had been despoiled of the priory. » And. Deeds (P.R.O.), D. 222, 331. 18 Pat. 11 Edw. I., 15 Edw. I., 25 Edw. I. 404
