A HISTORY OF BEDFORDSHIRE church of Eyworth was unsuccessful. 1 The temporalities of the abbey in 1291 a (as well as in the sixteenth century) lay chiefly in the counties of Huntingdon, Hertford, North- ampton, Norfolk and Suffolk, and were valued then at about the same amount as those of Woburn ; these two, with Elstow, Dunstable and Newnham, were the richest houses in Bedfordshire. Abbots of Warden were made commis- sioners by the pope to inquire into some matters of importance — the election of an abbess at Shaftesbury in 1217, 3 and the case of the abbot of Tewkesbury who was under suspicion of having forged papal letters in 1 224.' King John also authorised the abbot of Warden, with the prior of Dunstable and others, to inquire into an election at St. Edmunds in 121 5. 5 A little later, in 1242, 6 Adam, abbot of Warden, was made Bishop of Connor in Ireland ; but he returned to his old monastery to die in 1244. 7 None of the religious of Bedfordshire suffered more severely from the outrages and brutal violence of Fawkes de Breaut£ than did the monks of Warden. They dared to dispute with him the ownership of a certain grove, and he set upon them with his re- tainers, killing one and wounding others ; and finally dragged about thirty of them ' through the mud ' to his castle at Bedford. But even Fawkes de Breaute was some- 1 The question here was whether the last parson, Nicholas de Trailly, had been presented by William de Bussey's son Bartholomew. The jurors found that Walter Espec had given to his nephew, Nicholas de Trailly (father of the said parson) the advowsons of all his churches south of Humber, and that this Nicholas had given Heyworth church to his son Nicholas 'ad se sus- tendandum ad scolas.' The advowson, they held, had reverted to the heirs of William de Bussey as Walter Espec's heir. See Bracton's Note Book, iii. 107. (This note is kindly furnished by Mr. Round.)
- Pope Nich. Tax. (Rec. Com.)
3 Cal. of Pap. Letters, i. 49, 62. ' Ibid. i. 95. A mandate of Pope Innocent III. in 1205 shows that even in the days when the rule was strictly kept men sometimes assumed the religious habit for their own convenience. A cer- tain W . persuaded his wife to retire to a convent, and he himself took the habit at Warden. Soon afterwards he returned to the world ; but when she (who had taken no vow) would have come back to him, he refused to have her, and treated her very badly. The pope however insisted on his taking her back (Cal. of Pap. Letters, i. 21). 6 Rot. Litt. Pat., 16 John, m. 13. 6 Matth. Paris, Chron. Maj. (Rolls Series), iv. 227. 7 Ibid. iv. 390. times aware that he had gone too far ; not long afterwards he submitted to penance in the assembled chapter of the monastery, and gave up the disputed grove. 8 At the siege of the castle the monks of Warden sustained further losses from injuries done to their woods by the royal forces ; but these were carefully made up to them by the king. 9 In 1254 the abbot (perhaps Alexander de Reynes, whose name occurs in 1259, 10 or William de Sheld- wick, his predecessor) had the courage to attack another enemy of the public peace — William de Beauchamp, son of the founder of Newnham Priory. As many as seventeen writs were issued by the abbot against him before the justices itinerant at Bedford : and when he contemptuously refused to answer any of these, the case was carried before Richard, Earl of Cornwall, then guardian of the kingdom, and William's barony was seized in consequence. 11 In 1323 the monks began to rebuild their church, as many other religious of the neigh- bourhood were doing at the same time, but with more zeal than discretion ; for before they had completed their buildings they found themselves at the end of their funds, and had to apply to the bishop for a licence to collect alms. 12 Although such licences were numer- ous at this time, 13 they seem to have been successful, for the church was apparently completed in 1366, when indulgences were granted by Bishop Gynwell to pilgrims who should visit its various chapels and altars. 14 Of the history of the house during the fifteenth century it is difficult to find any trace. The internal history is even more obscure. As the Cistercians were exempt from ordinary visitations, there is little allu- sion to them in the episcopal registers, beyond the occasional notice of the benediction of an abbot. There are just a few indications of the state of this house from time to time. Early in the fourteenth century one of the Templars was placed by Bishop Dalderby at s Ann. Man. (Rolls Series), iii. 52. • Pat. 8 Hen. III. The care with which all the religious who suffered from the violence of Fawkes de Briaute, or in any way helped forward the siege, were recompensed is worthy of notice (see the histories of Elstow, Caldwell and Newnham). 10 Add. MS. 24465, f. 27, 27b. His sister Sibyl was lady of Langford. " Ann. Mon. (Rolls Series), iii. 192. " Line. Epis. Reg., Memo. Burghersh, 108. 13 Bishop Bek had to issue a warning against those who collected alms without episcopal licence (ibid. Memo. Bek, 53) ; and yet the registers show that many licences were issued. 14 Ibid. Memo. Gynwell, 31. 362
