THE FENLAND MONASTERIES DURING THE REIGN OF KING STEPHEN Ethan George Birney A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St Andrews 2019 Full metadata for this thesis is available in St Andrews Research Repository at: http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this thesis: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/17856 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 The Fenland Monasteries During the Reign of King Stephen Ethan George Birney This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of St Andrews December 2018 Candidate's declaration I, Ethan George Birney, do hereby certify that this thesis, submitted for the degree of PhD, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for any degree. I was admitted as a research student at the University of St Andrews in September 2014. I confirm that no funding was received for this work. Date Signature of candidate Supervisor's declaration I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. Date Signature of supervisor Permission for publication In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand, unless exempt by an award of an embargo as requested below, that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that this thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use and that the library has the right to migrate this thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. I, Ethan George Birney, confirm that my thesis does not contain any third-party material that requires copyright clearance. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: Printed copy No embargo on print copy. Electronic copy No embargo on electronic copy. Date Signature of candidate Date Signature of supervisor Underpinning Research Data or Digital Outputs Candidate's declaration I, Ethan George Birney, hereby certify that no requirements to deposit original research data or digital outputs apply to this thesis and that, where appropriate, secondary data used have been referenced in the full text of my thesis. Date Signature of candidate Abstract This thesis considers the experience of the Fenland houses during the reign of Stephen, 1135- 1154. It particularly focuses on wrongs committed against the houses during those years and the degree to which prelates helped or hindered their houses’ well-being. The primary source materials are narrative histories produced at the houses and documents concerning house lands and rights that were principally preserved in monastic cartularies. The thesis is divided into four chapters that progress largely chronologically. The two central chapters focus on Stephen’s reign. The first and last chapters present the preceding and succeeding years to ensure that Stephen’s reign is set in context. While episodes from the Fens regularly illustrate studies of the twelfth century, no in-depth study has examined the Fenland houses during the years of Stephen’s reign. This thesis will focus on the documentary evidence concerning the houses and the more subjective house histories in order to provide a fuller picture of how what the houses endured and how they remembered Stephen’s reign. Although the specific turmoil they experienced cannot exemplify Stephen’s reign in England or even the general monastic experience of those years, it does provide a focused study of what monastic houses in a particular area underwent. Many of the problems are in no way unique to the Fens. Concerns over possession of lands, differences between prelates and monks, and violence intruding from the outside world were common to religious houses throughout England during the mid twelfth century. This study will use the extant records of the mid-to-late twelfth century to question the reality of suffering under Stephen and the role of prelates in affecting their houses’ experiences. This examination will ultimately shed some light on the situation in England more generally during that troubled time. Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………i Abbreviations………………………………………………………………………………..iii Introduction……………………………………………………………….….………………1 The Fenland Houses..………………………………………………….………………2 Primary Sources……………………………………………………….………………4 Historiography……………………………………………………………………….10 House Histories………………………………………………………………11 The twelfth-century Church………………………………………………….14 King Stephen…………………………………………………………………19 Anarchy and the Baronage…………………………………………………...22 Chapter One: The Fenland Houses Before Stephen……………………………………...26 The Fenland Houses in Domesday…………………………………………………...27 Abbots………………………………………………………………...………...……43 Acquisitions …………………………………………………………………….……40 Gifts…………………………………………………………………………..41 Lands and Money…………………………………………………………….45 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………50 Chapter Two: Wrongs During Stephen’s Reign………………………………………….52 Geoffrey de Mandeville……………………………………………………………...52 Other Well-documented Cases……………………………………………………….62 Woodwalton, Huntingdonshire………………………………………………62 Over, Cambridgeshire………………………………………………………..64 Stetchworth, Cambridgeshire………………………………………………...65 Offenses by Earls…………………………………………………………………….68 Other Knights and Barons……………………………………………………………77 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………85 Chapter Three: Prelates and their Houses………………………………………………..87 Disruptions at Ely and Ramsey…………………………………………..…………..87 Aspects of Normal Prelatial Activity………………………………………………...93 Divisions Between the Prelates and Monks……………………………...…..93 Nigel’s Divisions at Ely……………………………………………….……..94 Grants to the Obedientiaries…………………………………...……………..97 Nigel’s Confirmation of Grants to Ely…………………...…………………107 Acceptable Alienation of Lands and Churches ………….…………………109 Lawsuits…………………………………………………………….………116 Criticism of Prelates…………………………………………………………...……119 Absence………………………………………………………..……………120 Misusing Resources…………………………………………………………121 Granting Lands without Monastic Consent…………………………………125 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………..…130 Chapter Four: The Fenland Houses after Stephen……………………………………...132 The Heads of Houses……………………………………………………………..…133 Writs and Charters of Henry II……………………………………………………...139 Confirmation………………………………………………………………..140 New Abbots…………………………………………………………………143 Specific Confirmations……………………………………...………………144 Problems Predating Stephen’s Reign……………………………………….150 Time of War………………………………………………………………...156 Problems Possibly Dating to Stephen’s Reign……………………………...160 Problems Probably Postdating Stephen’s Reign……………………………165 Longstanding Rights………………………………………………………..169 Themes in Henry II’s Writs and Charters……………………………..……170 Conclusion of Henry II Writs and Charters………………………...………173 Gifts to the Houses…………………………………………………………………173 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………176 Overview……………………………………………………………………………176 Historiographical Themes…………………………………………………………………..178 Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………………179 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………….183 Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge the assistance and advice received from numerous people whilst I researched and wrote this thesis. Professor John Hudson has provided wise and consistent supervision to my work. His advice has helped me to complete a project that often seemed insurmountable. I am deeply grateful for his time and guidance. The Department of Mediaeval History at St Andrews and the wider St Andrews Institute of Mediaeval Studies has provided an ideal community in which to work on a PhD. Weekly seminars have stimulated me academically. I was able to help organize conferences through the generous support of both the School of History and the Institute of Mediaeval Studies. Numerous members of staff have been encouraging through everyday contact. Finally, I have benefitted greatly from the expert Latin teaching of Dr Peter Maxwell-Stuart. In addition to formal academic support, personal friendships have helped sustain my resolve. This list can in no way comprehend all those who have helped me, but I must thank Dr Vittorio Mattioli, Dr Fran Trzeciak, Dr Sarah Greer, Dr Anna Peterson, Dr Lydia Hayes, Dr Sarah White, Tim Owens, and Maria Merino Jaso. I have benefitted from the postgraduate community’s weekly seminars, which encouraged me to think about new topics and in new ways. I am grateful to Audrey Wishart and Dorothy Christie, the department secretaries. They not only manage daily business with unparalleled competence, but also interest themselves in being kind to us transient scholars. They have been good to me and my family. I also wish to thank the staff of Cambridge University Library’s Manuscript Reading