canons in 1535 [1] ; the final surrender was made by John Otwell in 1538.[2] The abbot received a pension of £50, and the canons annuities ranging from £5 to £7, or else bene- fices in the gift of the monastery.[3] Four of them besides the abbot were still alive and drawing their pensions in 1552.[4]
We have unusually full information as to the internal history of this house, which serves to illustrate a point of interest. There is a modern theory that one chief cause of the de- generacy of the religious houses in England before the dissolution was the exemption of so many among them from episcopal visita- tion ; but this is not supported by any solid basis of facts, and, like some other theories as to the comparative advantage of great and little monasteries, is built rather upon a general idea of what ought to have happened than upon what actually did happen. The whole Augustinian order was subject at all times to episcopal jurisdiction, and none of its abbeys or priories ever obtained any ex- emptions : the episcopal registers survive to witness that the bishops did visit them con- tinually ; and yet it was this order which was solemnly warned of the ' impending ruin of all religion ' among them in 1518 a warning uttered not by their enemies, but by their true friend, Cardinal Wolsey, who did his best to help them in the work of reformation.[5] Of course not all the Augustinian houses were degenerate : some have a quite satisfactory record even at the end [6] ; but Missenden was not one of these. Nevertheless its failure was in no sense due to lack of episcopal super- vision.
The Abbot of Missenden was one of those deposed by Bishop Grossti-te in his severe and searching visitation of 1236[7]; whether for maladministration or for more serious faults does not appear ; but indeed the house seems from first to last to have been singularly unfortunate in its abbots. There is an in- teresting letter of Grosstcte to the monks of Missenden, giving them advice as to the elec- tion of a new superior in 1240, and speaking of the qualifications to be desired in one who was to bear rule in a house of religion. [8] Bishop Sutton had occasion twice to write to the abbot and convent to receive back apostate but repentant canons. [9] It does not appear that in his time there was any laxity in the house, but rather the reverse : for a certain novice cut his own throat in 1297 for fear of discipline. [10] The monastery was visited in 1338 by order of Bishop Burghersh, [11] and in 1343 an inquiry was made into its rights and liberties by Bishop Bek. [12] There was another inquiry made in 1347 to see which of the monks were trying to impede the election of John of Abingdon [13] ; and again in 1348 the bishop had to intervene and collate an abbot after a lapse of six months.[14] In 1361 the scandals connected with Abbot Ralf Mar- shall's attainder brought the house under the notice of Bishop Gynwell, who had to appoint the prior to rule the house for a time. [15] In 1369, when Ralf Marshall returned, he found his position a difficult one, and perhaps tried to enforce his authority by rough measures, for some of the canons complained to the bishop. A commission was sent in 1370 to inquire into their grievances, and the abbot was ordered to take no proceedings against those who had complained [16] ; but in 1372 there was a fresh commission which suggests that the monks and not the abbot were the aggressors. [17]
Bishop Gray visited the abbey between 1431 and 1436, but found no special laxity. The number of monks seem to have been in- sufficient at this time for the due performance of the divine office : they were to be increased as soon as possible, and certain of the conven- tual buildings were to be repaired.[18]
- ↑ P.R.O. Acknowledgment of Supremacy, 87.
- ↑ Lipscomb, History of Bucks, i. 368.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Exch. Mins. Accts., Bdle. 76, no. 26.
- ↑ Cott. MS. Vesp. D, i. f. 64.
- ↑ The three priories of Dunstable, Caldwell and Newnham have a very fair record in the Visitation of Longland, 1530 : this was not noticed in the article on the Religious Houses of Bedfordshire in this series, as those visitations were not then accessible to the writer.
- ↑ Ann. Mon. (Rolls Ser.), iii. 143.
- ↑ Epist. Grossetete (Rolls Ser.), 268. It is not much credit to the abbot then elected (Roger of Gilsburgh) that he was a personal friend of the profane and irreligious Ralf de Cheinduit ; but at any rate he helped him to make his peace with God and St. Alban on his deathbed in 1243. Gesta Abbatum (Rolls Series), i. 320, and Chron. Majora (Rolls Ser.), iv. 262.
- ↑ Linc. Epis. Reg. Memo. Sutton, 109, 127d.
- ↑ Ibid. 173. The fact is noticed merely in connection with the question whether the house needed purification after effusion of blood. It is not stated whether the novice succeeded in killing himself, or whether it was an attempt only.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Burghersh, 333d.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Bek, 56.
- ↑ Ibid. 96.
- ↑ Ibid. Inst. Gynwell, 241. This occurs among the entries during the year of the Great Pestilence.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Gynwell, 99d.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Bokyngham, 90, 91.
- ↑ Ibid. 105d.
- ↑ Ibid. Memo. Gray, 202.
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