This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Wherwell Abbey and its cartulary Bucknill, Rhoda Pamela The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 09. Oct. 2021 WHERWELL ABBEY AND ITS CARTULARY A THESIS PRESENTED TO KING'S COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON in fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Rhoda P. Bucknill July 2003 C*). (ft ABSTRACT The core of the thesisis a study of the fourteenth-centurycartulaiy of the nunnery of Wherwell Abbey which survivesin a singleunedited manuscript in London, BL Egerton2104A. Although documentsfrom the cartularyhave been noted by scholarssuch as N. Vincent and M. J. Franklin in their compilationsof the Episcopal Acta VIII &D for the dioceseof Winchester,and by D. Coldicott in Hampshire Nunneries (1989), there is no substantialstudy basedon the manuscript. Part I reconstructsthe history of Wherwell, from its birth in the late Anglo- Saxonperiod, through to the fourteenth century. Alter examiningthe contentsand structureof the cartulary,Chapter 2 goeson to discussthe origins and developmentof this little known royal foundation, with specialreference to the organisationof its prebends. Chapter3 analysesthe economichistory of the abbey. The people of Wherwell are the focus of Chapter4. Wherwell had two abbessesof exceptional vigour: Matilda de Baillieul (? 1174-1213)and her niece,Euphemia de Walliers (1213- 1257). There is interestingevidence concerning the abbey's stewardsand prominent local families as well as some of the abbey's smallertenants. Finally, Chapter 5 is devotedto an accountof the abbey's struggleto maintain its rights in regardto tithes, clerical patronageand the forest. What emergesis a picture of a significantreligious and agrariancommunity, fully integratedinto the socialworld of its region, in whose history is reflectedsome of the major eventsof the period: the wars of Matilda and Stephen;the impact of the famine and plagueof the fourteenth century, and the Hundred Years War. Part II forms an extendedAppendix. It presentsa transcriptionof the full Latin text of the Table of Contents(ff. 3r-13v), which providesuseful summariesof all the documents. The largestsection of Part II, however, comprisesa selectEnglish calendarof thosecharters and documentswhich are cited in the discussionsin Part I. (it( ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It was Diana Coldicott, who first introduced me to the Wherwell Cartulary, BL Egerton 2104A, and without her initial enthusiasm and encouragement, this preliminary effort at editing the Wherwell Cartulary would never have been launched. We share the privilege of living within a few miles of Wherwell. The problem of transcribing and translating the texts of the 500 or so documents has been daunting, and would have been quite impossible without the help of Prof. David Carpenter and Prof. Anne Duggan; in addition to this, as my supervisors, they have constantly enlarged my understanding of the material before me. Leslie Wynne-Davies was also generous with her time as I struggled to master the hand. Dr. Elizabeth Danbury was particularly helpful with regard to interpretation of the later texts, and Dr. Paul Brand gave invaluable help with the French documents. It has been a great pleasure to find that my work on the unedited Wherwell documents has coincided with archaeological work on the site of Wherwell Abbey by Dr. Kate Clark and Mr. Edward Roberts, and they have both have shared their fmdings, and welcomed my own work. Others to whom I am grateful for encouragement and advice include Prof. Barbara Yorke, Dr. Nicholas Vincent, Prof. Jinty Nelson, Mr. Jim Bolton, Dr. Sarah Lewin, Dr. Michael Hicks, and Mr. Richard Eales. Without the friendship and support of numerous fellow students over the years, both at King's and at the IHR, this would have been a heartless task. To all, therefore, I extend my thanks. Back home, I have been very fortunate to be able to enjoy the friendship of Margaret Ross, who with great skill, has helped me compile my Illustrations. Finally, I would like to record the unfailing loyalty, faith and support of my husband David, who has patiently stood by me throughout the project. IV CONTENTS Page Title Page i Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Contents iv-vi Abbreviations vii-ix PART I -- Introduction 1 1. THE CARTULARY 1. THE BOOK, ITS PROVENANCE & CONTENT 8 2. COMPILATION 10 3. ARRANGEMENT OF THE DOCUMENTS 16 4. THE SACRIST' S CHARTERS 26 5. USE & USAGE. 27 2. THE ORIGINS. FOUNDATION & DEVELOPMENT OF THE ABBEY 1. THE EVIDENCE OF THE CARTULARY 39 2. THREE CONFLICTING STORIES 43 3. TRACING THE WHERWELL SOURCES 49 4. EARLY WHERWELL 57 5. THE 1347/8 ENQUIRY & THE EARLY CANONS 63 6. THE LATER CANONS 73 7. DEVELOPMENTS IN THE PARISH STRUCTURE 81 8. WHERWELL HUNDRED 87 V 3. THE ABBEY'S WEALTH 1. FROM THE FOUNDATION TO DOMESDAY 91 2. ACQUISITIONS OF THE NORMAN & ANGEVIN PERIOD 95 3. LOCAL ACQUISITIONS OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY 109 4. EXPANSION IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY 113 5. THE NATURE OF THE ABBEY'S LANDS 116 6. PATTERNS OF TENURE 123 7. MANAGEMENT DECISIONS 134 8. PRIVILEGES 146 8. ASSESSING THE CREDITS & DEBITS 153 4. THE PEOPLE OF WHERWELL. WITHIN & WITHOUT THE CLOISTER 1. THE ABBEY & ITS ABBESSES BEFORE 1257 169 2. THE ABBEY'S STEWARDS 189 3. THE WAYTE FAMILY 191 4. THE FORESTER & SUTTON FAMILIES 209 5. MEN OF THE VILLS 218 6. CHARITY 228 7. WIDER CONNECTIONS 233 5. DEFENDING THE ABBEY'S INTERESTS 1. CONFLICTS OVER TITHES 242 2. DE INSOLENCIA CLERICORUMROMANORUM 249 3. THE STRUGGLE OVER THE FOREST 278 vi PART II List of illustrations 299 ILLUSTRATIONS, MAPS & TABLES 300 Editorial method 322 List of errors & editorial notes on the Table of Contents 324 TRANSCRIPTION OF THE TABLE OF CONTENTS 325 SELECT CALENDAR OF DOCUMENTS 358 BIBLIOGRAPHY 752 V;;) ABBREVIATIONS AB Analecta Bollandiana. AM AnnalesMonastici ed. H. R. Luard, 5 Vols. RS 36. ANTS Anglo NornnanText SocietyPublication. ASC Anglo Saxon Charters. ASChron. Anglo Saxon Chronicle. ASE Anglo Saxon England. Book of Fees Liber Feodorum: Testa de Neville Part I 1198-1242; 111242-1293 (London, 1920-23) CCR Calendar of Close Rolls. CChR Calendar of Charter Rolls CFA Calendar of Feudal Aids CIPM Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem CIM Calendar of Inquistions Miscellaneous CLR Calendar of Liberate Rolls CPL Calendar of Entries in the Papal Register relating to Great Britain & Ireland: Papal Letters, 9 vols., ed. W. H. Bliss (London, 1893-1912) CPP Calendar of Entries in the Papal Register relating to Great Britain & Ireland: Petitions to the Pope, ed. W. H. Bliss, (London, 1896). CR Close Rolls Chatteris The Cartulary of Chatteris Abbey ed. C. Breay (Woodbridge, 1999) Chron. Maj Matthaei Parisiensis Monachi Sancti Albani, Chronica Majora ed. H. R. Luard, 7 vols, RS 57 (London, 1884-89). CPR Calendar of Patent Rolls C&Y. Canterbury& York SocietyPublications. DB Domesday Book 4, Hampshire, ed. J.Munby (Chichester, 1968). Drokensford Calendar ofRegister ofJohn Drokensford, Bishop of Bath & Wells, 1309-39 (Somerset Record Society I, 1887). EcHR Economic History Review EEA English Episcopal Acta EHD English Historical Documents EHR English Historical Review (Vii; ) Fasti Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300, ed.D. E. Greenway, 6 vols. (London 1968-1999). Flores Flores Historiarum ed. H. R. Luard, 3 Vols. RS 95 (London, 1890) Gesta Regum William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum ed. R. A. B. Mynors, R. 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PRS Pipe Rolls Society Publications. RB Revue Benedictine. Reg. d'Inn Registres d'Innocent IV, ed. E. Berger (Paris, 1921). Reg. Edington Register of William Edington, Bishop of Winchester 1346-66, ed. S.F. Hockey, 2 Vols., HRS 7 (1986-87). Reg. Gand. Registrum Simons Gandavo, 2 Vols., ed. M. C. B. Dawes (C &Y XL, 1934). (o Reg.Mart. Registrum Rogeri Martival Episcopi Sarisbriensis ed. K. Edwards (C &Y LV, 1960).