and side by side with the papal letter is the
official declaration of the prioress that ' A.'
had actually been fifteen years professed, had
been precentrix in the choir, and had lived
all the time ' as a nun among nuns ' ; with a
mandate to the dean and archdeacon of Lin-
coln and the Archbishop of Canterbury to
excommunicate ' A.' and a certain W. de
Bidun, who had aided and abetted her. The
story serves to show how even in the twelfth
century, when the religious houses of England
were in their first fervour, there were cases of
unfaithfulness to the religious ideal ; further,
in what a serious light apostasy was regarded ;
and again, the tremendous ecclesiastical ma-
chinery that might be brought to bear upon
one insignificant nun.
Bishop Burghersh issued a commission in 1338 [1] for the visitation of this monastery, both head and members, to correct, punish and reform in all points needed. The entry is merely formal, and the results are not given. In 1382 Bishop Bokyngham excommunicated a nun of Ankerwick for leaving the monastery by night, and all those who aided her in any way : as well as certain who had carried away goods belonging to the priory. [2]
In 1441 in the course of his general visita- tion Bishop Alnwick came to this house, and called all the sisters, according to custom, into the chapter house. The prioress, Dame Clemence Medford, had no complaint to make, except that the nuns were given to eat and drink between meals, contrary to the rule of St. Benedict ; the sub-prioress answered Omnia bene ; but the other sisters had a good deal to say. Dame Margery Kirby declared that the house was ruinous, that a barn had been lately burnt down, and that the prioress kept the convent seal in her own hands and disposed of the goods of the priory without consulting her sisters at all. Dame Julian Messenger said that the prioress wasted the goods of the monastery, often invited guests of her own but would never let the other nuns invite any one, and was very austere in her dealings with them generally : she also said that the novices had no informatrix to in- struct them in the rule and in the choir office. Another sister, who had been ill, complained that she had not proper coverings for her bed nor warm clothes for herself, nor such food as might make her strong enough to ' endure the burden of religion.' There were three others of tender age and much simplicity (perhaps these were the novices) who said nothing at all.
The bishop passed over the minor com- plaints probably he had heard the like else- where and simply ordered the prioress to consult her sisters as to the disposal of pro- perty ; the common seal was to be in the custody of two sisters, of whom Dame Mar- gery Kirby was to be one : two keys were to be made, one for the prioress and the other for a sister who should be elected by the rest of the convent.[3]
In 1519 Bishop Atwater visited the priory.[4] Two cases of apostasy were recorded : one who had worn the habit four years had for- saken her monastery ; another had not only left the monastery, but had married, and was living in sin [5] in the house of a relative. There were two novices at this time in the priory, of whom one was Magdalen Downes, after- wards prioress ; and the unhappy examples she saw before her at this time may have left their mark upon her. For she has the unen- viable distinction of being the only nun in Buckinghamshire who married after the dis- solution of the house she was still living in 1552 and drawing her annual pension.[6] The note affixed to her name in the pension list ' Is married and so remains ' whatever it may really be intended to convey, [7] has cer-
- ↑ Linc. Epis. Reg. Memo. Burghersh, 332.
- ↑ 1 Ibid. Memo. Bokyngham, 247.
- ↑ Visitations of Bishop Alnwick, in the episcopal registry at Lincoln. Margery Kirby occurs as prioress two years after this visitation (Dugdale, iv. 230, from Browne Willis) : if her complaints were dictated by a true zeal for the religious life, and not by any desire to find fault with her superior, her election may have brought a change for the better.
- ↑ Ibid. Visitations of Atwater.
- ↑ The report says in adulterio : it was of course the marriage that was the sin. It might be won- dered how it would be possible for a nun at that time to find a priest who would perform the mar- riage ceremony for her : but one who would leave her monastery for this purpose would probably not scruple to conceal the fact that she was a nun.
- ↑ Exch. Mins. Accts. Bdle. 76, No. 26.
- ↑ The phrase is at any rate unique. The record in which it occurs is of great interest : it is a list drawn up in 1552, for the diocese of Lincoln, of all the pensioned monks, nuns, and cantarists still living ; it gives their present abode, their means of livelihood, and states in every case whether they have married or not. The ordinary phrase is simply nunquam nuptus(or nupta) or est nuptus, without qualification. The names of monks who married will be given in connection with their own monasteries. Magdalen Downes is the only mar- ried nun in this county. There were several nuns of Elstow in Bedfordshire (one who was professed at sixteen and only twenty-three at the surrender) and of other monasteries, living in the same neigh- bourhood ; all entered as nunquam nupta. Fifteen married nuns in all are mentioned in the counties of Bedford, Buckingham, Hertford and Lincoln,
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