stated that the abbey had suffered severely from the Great Pestilence, and was not able to maintain its wonted hospitality. [1] In 1383 the conventual church was attacked by a band of armed men, who were excommuni- cated in consequence ; nothing more is known of the affair or its causes.[2]
In 1461 the priory of Chetwode and its lands were granted to the canons of Nutley,[3] on condition that they should fulfil all the obligations attached to the suppressed foun- dation. Just before the dissolution the abbey came into the king's hand, on account of the attainder of the Duke of Buckingham, who had been its patron.[4] The last abbot, Richard Ridge, signed the Acknowledgment of Royal Supremacy in 1535,[5] and surrendered his house on 9 December, 1538. The Deed of Surrender is signed by the prior and thir- teen other canons besides the abbot ; it takes the form of an enfeoffment of the house to Dr. London for the king's use.[6] London had been busy in the neighbourhood just before, taking the surrender of Eynsham, and defac- ing various shrines.[7] The pension list for Nutley Abbey, as given by Browne Willis, is to the abbot £100, to the prior £6 13s. 4d., to the sub-prior £6, to Thomas Webb £6, and to twelve others £5 6s. 8d.[8] As the house possessed many churches, it is possible that some of the pensions were commuted for bene- fices. Valentine Bownde, the prior, became chaplain of Long Crendon, [9] and another canon was cantarist of the fraternity of Buckingham until its suppression. [10] The last- mentioned canon was the only one who sur- vived till 1552, when he claimed two pen- sions : £5 6s. 8d. from Nutley, and £4 for the chantry.
The Arrouasian canons had a great reputa- tion for strictness of life at the first foundation of their order ; but there is very little to show us how far this house was faithful to its ori- ginal ideal. The Abbot of Nutley was one of those deprived by Bishop GrosstCte in 1236,[11] a fact which suggests unsatisfactory adminis- tration at that time, if nothing worse. The elections of 1268 and 1271 were both annulled by Bishop Gravesend, not because of the un- fitness of the persons elected, but because of some informality in the procedure. [12] The entry in Bishop Dalderby's register already alluded to does not give us a favourable im- pression of the house in 1300 ; but not enough is known of the circumstances to enable us to judge the matter fairly. [13] A commission was issued by the same bishop a few years later for the visitation and correction of the abbey of Nutley, but no report is preserved. [14] In 1323 an order was given for the readmission of an apostate monk after absolution by the bishop.[15] In 1350 there was certainly no unfriendly feeling between the abbot and his diocesan, for the former was commissioned to examine the election of a prioress of Little Marlow in that year.[16] The first formal report of visita- tion is dated 1379. It does not point to any special laxity, but only to some defects of ad- ministration. It was enjoined that two bursars should be elected annually by the abbot and the ' greater and wiser part ' of the convent, who should receive all moneys and render an account of the same. The officers of the monastery were to be appointed and removed by the abbot with the concurrence of the ' greater and wiser part ' of the breth- ren ; but all should render due obedience to the abbot. No pensions or doles should be given without consent of the abbot and the ' greater and wiser part.' The kinsmen of the abbot or the canons were not to be charge- able to the monastery without consent of the abbot and the ' greater and wiser part.' [17]
The exact value of these injunctions cannot be estimated without more knowledge of the contemporary history of the house. They read like a temporary expedient to check the power of an abbot who had not shown suffi- cient consideration for his brethren, nor con- sulted them duly ; for the stress laid upon the consent of the majority is very unusual. In 1391 an indult was granted by the pope
- ↑ Linc. Epis. Reg. Inst. Bokyngham, i. 412 ; the church of Lillingston was appropriated on this account.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Bokyngham, 267.
- ↑ Pat. i Edw. IV. pt. iv., m. 23. A dole of 2s. 6d. was still paid to the poor every year for the soul of Ralf of Norwich, founder of Chetwode, in 1535. Valor Eccl. (Rec. Com.), iv. 234.
- ↑ L. and P. Henry VIII. iv. 3082.
- ↑ P.R.O. Acknowledgment of Supremacy, 96.
- ↑ P.R.O. Deed of Surrender, 184.
- ↑ Wright, Suppression of Monasteries, 221, 233.
- ↑ One canon is named in the pension list of 1552, as receiving 5 6s. 8d. Exch. Mins. Accts. Bdle. 76, no. 26.
- ↑ Records of Bucks, vi. 292. He died in 1550 in which year his will was proved : but it seems extremely improbable that it was he whose grave was found in Long Crendon Church ; he would not have been buried in his habit and sandals, with rosary and crucifix, in 1550.
- ↑ Exch. Mins. Accts., Bdle. 76, no. 26.
- ↑ Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii. 143.
- ↑ Linc. Epis. Reg. Rolls of Gravesend.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Dalderby, 15.
- ↑ Ibid. 202d.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Burghersh, 109.
- ↑ Ibid. Inst. Gynwell, 243.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Bokyngham, l8ld.
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