597:
319:
386:, with separately housed convents of both men and women, under a common superior, which in the case of the Order of Fontevraud was a prioress. The men had their own male superior, but he was subject to the prioress. At Amesbury and in some other places this model seems to have broken down, and by the beginning of the 15th century Amesbury seems to have become an exclusively women's house, with a small group of priest-chaplains external to the Order.
74:
396:
204:
It seems that for most of its existence
Amesbury Abbey was probably not of particular importance and its overall income was not especially high. It was, like all women's houses in particular, liable to harassment, rustling and other incursions by powerful neighbours, as well as abusive tax exactions.
301:
Things did not go quite as smoothly as this formula suggested, though the accounts may display a natural bias against the existing community. In the event, it was said that scandal was discovered when the bishops of Exeter and
Worcester made their inspection in the octave of the feast of St Hilary,
293:
were to visit the convent and notify the nuns of the need to cooperate. Any nun who declined to join the new Order was to be transferred to another monastery and treated well. The new regime was then to be introduced, and when the commission of bishops decided the moment had come, the abbess and a
106:, but a later tradition claims that some of his relics were brought to Amesbury and sold to the abbess. However, the 12th-century life of St Melor says the nunnery at Amesbury was founded before Melor's relics arrived. The cult of St Melor is commemorated in the dedication of the
248:
As to the
Abbesses of Amesbury, the references are sparse. For the period before the Conquest there is only a retrospective mention much later of Heahpled (?), in the years 979 and 1013, and at the time of the house's re-foundation, of the then incumbent Abbess, Beatrice (1177).
302:
1177. The abbess was deposed and dismissed with a pension. Some of the other nuns were compromised and unrepentant and these were also expelled. Those willing to make amends received the offer to stay on; it seems that there were some 30 nuns and they were all expelled.
420:
Although the later
Amesbury monastery is popularly referred to as an "abbey", it was not one. The first monastery appears to have been truly an abbey, but the Fontevraud daughter house was always a priory. Perhaps the fading memory of historical fact after the
404:
Though it was above all Henry II who over his long reign (1154–1189) introduced the Order of
Fontevraud into England, there seem only ever to have been in the country four houses in all. Apart from Amesbury, these were
629:
478:
628:
The house was designated as Grade I listed in 1953, and is now used as a care home. It stands in pleasure grounds and parkland, in all about 140 acres (56 ha), which are listed Grade II* on the
309:
in
Worcestershire, also a Fontevraud house. The new community was solemnly installed on 22 May in the King's presence by the Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by several other bishops.
305:
The party that Henry II then summoned from
Fontevraud were in the end some 21 or 24 nuns, led not by the Abbess of Fontevraud but by a former subprioress. Some nuns were also brought from
359:, whereby in a federated structure the superiors of subsidiary houses were in effect deputies of the Abbot of Cluny, the head of the Order, and their houses were hence usually styled
1073:
1068:
348:, went to live there. That monastery, founded in 1101, became the chosen mausoleum of the Angevin dynasty and the centre of a new monastic order, the Order of Fontevraud.
524:. Dame Sybil seems in effect to have abolished the system of male priors, though this caused a great upheaval and involved the intervention of the new King,
440:(died 1241), a princess held captive for most of her life for her presumable claim to the English throne, donated her body and was buried here, and in 1268
528:, against the background of his seizure of power from Richard II. Dame Sybil seems to have navigated the rapids and remained prioress, dying in 1420.
1078:
994:
1058:
417:(Bedfordshire), the latter three founded roughly between 1133 and 1164, so before Henry revamped the foundation at Amesbury about 1177.
1083:
1063:
513:
375:. In the analogous case of the Order of Fontevraud, its head was the Abbess of Fontevraud, who at the death of the Order's founder,
541:
482:
107:
970:
942:
884:
714:
The
Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940-1216
379:, in about 1117, already had under her rule 35 priories, and by the end of that century about 100, in France, Spain and England.
756:
The Cross and the Cura monialium: Robert of
Arbrissel, John the Evangelist, and the Pastoral Care of Women in the Age of Reform
622:
490:
456:; Henry III would also order the abbey to have Eleanor and Arthur commemorated as well as the late English kings and queens.
1053:
576:
560:
517:
947:
1043:
700:
549:
545:
437:
429:, explain the use of the word. The choice of the name for the later country house may also have been a factor.
119:
35:
382:
Fontevraud also took up a feature that had appeared sporadically in early centuries, whereby its houses were
1048:
1038:
596:
449:
621:. It has three storeys and attics, and replaced a previous house built in 1660–1661 by John Webb for
614:
580:
138:
appropriate. However, she is now considered not to have been personally responsible for the murder.
625:. The main south front has nine bays, of which five sit behind a portico of six composite columns.
568:
463:
351:
The
Fontevraud monastic reform followed in part the lead of the highly influential and prestigious
278:
1033:
610:
372:
58:
692:
606:
572:
521:
512:
Not half a century later, the prioress was Sybil Montague, a woman well-placed as a niece of
170:
61:
817:
857:
584:
486:
467:
441:
345:
178:
162:
146:
135:
837:
8:
544:, is the former priory church, and this may explain why it was spared at the time of the
525:
459:
422:
376:
341:
290:
264:
43:
274:
130:
in Hampshire. Ælfthryth's motive was long believed to be contrition for the murder of
618:
230:
190:
131:
938:
414:
383:
337:
325:
295:
286:
282:
90:
existed there before the Danish invasions. There may have been an existing cult of
47:
205:
At the £54 and 15 shillings that its income reached, it was admittedly just above
744:
The Royal Abbey of Fontevrault: Religious Women and the Shaping of Gendered Space
506:
453:
410:
406:
356:
306:
258:
214:
51:
498:
494:
352:
218:
206:
198:
277:
issued a bull on 15 September 1176 approving the plan but specifying that the
126:. She founded two religious houses at about the same time, the other being at
1027:
1009:
996:
537:
142:
548:, though the priory and its other buildings were destroyed. The church is a
564:
238:
222:
186:
751:
502:
474:
on 24 or 25 June 1291, and was buried in the abbey on 11 September 1291.
426:
333:
318:
174:
150:
95:
20:
871:
Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, vol. 1
696:
395:
268:
613:, was not part of the nunnery: it was built in 1834–1840 by architect
493:. In 1347, the twice-widowed Maud also entered a nunnery, in her case
477:
From about at least 1343 to her death some time before February 1349,
452:, who was widely believed to have been murdered by Henry III's father
94:
which led Ælfthryth to choose Amesbury. Melor, the son of a leader of
556:
242:
226:
210:
182:
123:
87:
39:
31:
630:
Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest
471:
445:
194:
166:
158:
127:
122:
in about the year 979 on what may have been the site of an earlier
103:
38:
in about the year 979 on what may have been the site of an earlier
27:
779:, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911; George Cyprian Alston,
154:
99:
73:
587:, the Earl's cousin, with whom he had been educated in infancy.
520:. Her election as prioress in 1391 was confirmed by the King,
360:
234:
221:), but it was less than other nunneries in its region, such as
693:"Houses of Benedictine nuns: Abbey, later priory, of Amesbury"
368:
364:
91:
83:
23:
716:, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1963. pp. 702-703.
910:
Amesbury: history and description of a south Wiltshire town
662:
Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina antiquae et mediae aetatis
921:
Albert Frederick Pollard, "Seymour, Edward (1539?–1621)",
509:, also in Suffolk, where she died and was buried in 1377.
134:, another boy-martyr, making the date of 979 given by the
818:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol2/pp148-151
1074:
Christian monasteries disestablished in the 12th century
858:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/beds/vol1/pp403-404
873:, Everington, Salt Lake City, 2nd edition 2001, p. 157.
838:
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol2/pp66-70
425:, the end of links with Rome, and later the inroads of
729:, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1922, p. 455.
1069:
Christian monasteries established in the 10th century
856:, London, 1904, pp. 403–404. British History Online
816:, London, 1971, pp. 148–151. British History Online
968:
937:
882:
555:The Amesbury estate was subsequently obtained from
46:, who founded in its place a house of the Order of
836:, London, 1908, pp. 66–70. British History Online
812:, in J.W. Willis-Bund & William Page (eds.),
448:in suffrage for her soul and that of her brother
1025:
798:Les Plantagenêts: Origine et destin d'un empire,
742:(Paris: Albin Michel, 1986); Gabrielle Esperdy,
703:, Vol. 3 (University of London, 1956) pp.242–259
489:. She was also younger sister of the formidable
481:was Prioress of Amesbury. She was the sister of
432:
263:In 1177 Ælfthryth's foundation was dissolved by
57:The name Amesbury Abbey is now used by a nearby
501:in Suffolk, but in 1364 she transferred to the
830:Houses of Benedictine nuns: Priory of Nuneaton
810:Houses of Benedictine nuns: Priory of Westwood
336:were great benefactors of the mother abbey at
64:built in the 1830s, currently a nursing home.
267:and reconstituted as a house of the Order of
971:"Amesbury Abbey (park and garden) (1000469)"
850:Alien house: Priory of La Grave or Grovebury
814:A History of the County of Worcester, vol. 2
787:, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908.
740:Robert d Arbrissel, fondateur de Fontevraud
933:
931:
885:"Church of St Mary and St Melor (1182066)"
854:A History of the County of Bedford, vol. 1
834:A History of the County of Warwick. vol. 2
727:Medieval English Nunneries c 1275 to 1535
497:, a house of Augustinian canonesses near
145:(1086), the abbey held, as it had had in
748:Journal of International Women's Studies
600:South elevation, Amesbury Abbey, c. 1900
595:
483:Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster
394:
317:
77:Church of St Mary and St Melor, Amesbury
72:
928:
514:William Montague, 2nd Earl of Salisbury
298:were to come to complete the handover.
177:, together with the manor of Rabson in
82:Amesbury was already a sacred place in
1079:10th-century establishments in England
1026:
752:http://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol6/iss2/5
688:
686:
684:
682:
680:
678:
676:
674:
672:
670:
312:
623:William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset
590:
575:, and the eldest son of her brother,
491:Maud of Lancaster, Countess of Ulster
42:. The abbey was dissolved in 1177 by
908:John Chandler & Peter Goodhugh,
577:Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
561:Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford
518:John Montague, 3rd Earl of Salisbury
444:would grant to the abbey a manor of
86:times, and there are legends that a
915:
667:
650:Vita inedita sancti Melori martyris
13:
1059:Benedictine monasteries in England
975:National Heritage List for England
948:National Heritage List for England
889:National Heritage List for England
777:The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12
389:
14:
1095:
1084:1177 disestablishments in England
785:The Catholic Encyclopedia. vol. 4
701:Wiltshire Victoria County History
252:
1064:Benedictine nunneries in England
923:Dictionary of National Biography
800:(Poitiers: Fayard, 2004), p. 152
664:, Brussels, 1901, vol. 2, p. 862
322:Engraving of Robert of Arbrissel
98:and a boy-martyr, was buried at
962:
902:
876:
863:
843:
399:Henry II, founder of the Priory
823:
803:
790:
765:
732:
719:
706:
642:
546:Dissolution of the Monasteries
542:Church of St Mary and St Melor
531:
357:centralized form of government
113:
108:current Amesbury parish church
1:
925:, 1885–1900, Volume 51(1897).
635:
536:It is possible that Amesbury
433:Some women of Amesbury Priory
118:The monastery was founded by
699:, Elizabeth Crittall, eds.,
583:during the minority of King
367:, governed therefore not by
7:
1054:Anglo-Saxon monastic houses
658:Acta Sanctorum, Octobris XI
409:(Worcestershire), Eaton or
10:
1100:
943:"Amesbury Abbey (1131079)"
256:
67:
832:, in William Page (ed.),
581:Lord Protector of England
173:, totalling twenty-seven
1044:Monasteries in Wiltshire
340:in its early years, and
279:Archbishop of Canterbury
271:, a Benedictine reform.
516:(d.1389) and sister of
149:'s time, the Wiltshire
754:; Fiona J. Griffiths,
601:
485:, a great-grandson of
400:
328:
78:
34:, England, founded by
781:Congregation of Cluny
648:Cf. François Plaine,
599:
398:
324:effigy (now lost) at
321:
185:it held Ceveslane in
76:
869:Douglas Richardson,
654:Analecta Bollandiana
468:Henry III of England
346:Eleanor of Aquitaine
179:Winterbourne Bassett
1049:Order of Fontevraud
1006: /
750:6: 2 (2006) 59–80.
619:Sir Edmund Antrobus
479:Isabel of Lancaster
460:Eleanor of Provence
438:Eleanor of Brittany
423:English Reformation
413:(Warwickshire) and
377:Robert of Arbrissel
313:Order of Fontevraud
294:party of nuns from
281:and the bishops of
141:At the time of the
1039:979 establishments
1010:51.1719°N 1.7843°W
969:Historic England.
883:Historic England.
762:83 (2008) 303–330.
656:5 (1886) 166-176;
602:
591:19th-century house
401:
384:double monasteries
329:
275:Pope Alexander III
197:and the church at
79:
725:Eileen E. Power,
231:Shaftesbury Abbey
136:Melrose chronicle
102:and venerated in
1091:
1021:
1020:
1018:
1017:
1016:
1015:51.1719; -1.7843
1011:
1007:
1004:
1003:
1002:
999:
986:
985:
983:
981:
966:
960:
959:
957:
955:
939:Historic England
935:
926:
919:
913:
906:
900:
899:
897:
895:
880:
874:
867:
861:
847:
841:
827:
821:
807:
801:
794:
788:
769:
763:
736:
730:
723:
717:
710:
704:
690:
665:
646:
415:Grovebury Priory
296:Fontevraud Abbey
1099:
1098:
1094:
1093:
1092:
1090:
1089:
1088:
1024:
1023:
1014:
1012:
1008:
1005:
1000:
997:
995:
993:
992:
990:
989:
979:
977:
967:
963:
953:
951:
936:
929:
920:
916:
907:
903:
893:
891:
881:
877:
868:
864:
848:
844:
828:
824:
808:
804:
795:
791:
770:
766:
737:
733:
724:
720:
712:David Knowles,
711:
707:
691:
668:
647:
643:
638:
603:
593:
534:
507:Bruisyard Abbey
435:
411:Nuneaton Priory
407:Westwood Priory
402:
392:
390:Amesbury Priory
330:
323:
315:
307:Westwood Priory
261:
259:Amesbury Priory
255:
215:Chatteris Abbey
120:Queen Ælfthryth
116:
80:
70:
52:Amesbury Priory
36:Queen Ælfthryth
12:
11:
5:
1097:
1087:
1086:
1081:
1076:
1071:
1066:
1061:
1056:
1051:
1046:
1041:
1036:
1034:Amesbury Abbey
988:
987:
961:
927:
914:
901:
875:
862:
842:
822:
802:
789:
764:
738:Jean Dalarun,
731:
718:
705:
666:
640:
639:
637:
634:
611:Amesbury Abbey
609:, also called
594:
592:
589:
563:, a nephew to
550:Grade I listed
533:
530:
499:Wickham Market
495:Campsey Priory
442:King Henry III
434:
431:
393:
391:
388:
355:in adopting a
316:
314:
311:
257:Main article:
254:
253:New foundation
251:
219:Cambridgeshire
207:Wherwell Abbey
199:Letcombe Regis
115:
112:
71:
69:
66:
59:Grade I listed
17:Amesbury Abbey
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
1096:
1085:
1082:
1080:
1077:
1075:
1072:
1070:
1067:
1065:
1062:
1060:
1057:
1055:
1052:
1050:
1047:
1045:
1042:
1040:
1037:
1035:
1032:
1031:
1029:
1022:
1019:
976:
972:
965:
950:
949:
944:
940:
934:
932:
924:
918:
912:(1989), p. 24
911:
905:
890:
886:
879:
872:
866:
859:
855:
851:
846:
839:
835:
831:
826:
819:
815:
811:
806:
799:
796:Jean Favier,
793:
786:
782:
778:
774:
771:Michael Ott,
768:
761:
757:
753:
749:
745:
741:
735:
728:
722:
715:
709:
702:
698:
694:
689:
687:
685:
683:
681:
679:
677:
675:
673:
671:
663:
659:
655:
651:
645:
641:
633:
631:
626:
624:
620:
616:
615:Thomas Hopper
612:
608:
607:country house
598:
588:
586:
582:
578:
574:
570:
569:Queen consort
566:
562:
558:
553:
551:
547:
543:
539:
538:parish church
529:
527:
523:
519:
515:
510:
508:
505:community at
504:
500:
496:
492:
488:
484:
480:
475:
473:
469:
465:
464:Queen consort
461:
457:
455:
451:
447:
443:
439:
430:
428:
424:
418:
416:
412:
408:
397:
387:
385:
380:
378:
374:
370:
366:
362:
358:
354:
349:
347:
343:
339:
335:
327:
320:
310:
308:
303:
299:
297:
292:
288:
284:
280:
276:
272:
270:
266:
260:
250:
246:
244:
240:
236:
232:
228:
224:
220:
216:
212:
208:
202:
200:
196:
192:
188:
184:
180:
176:
172:
168:
164:
160:
156:
152:
148:
144:
143:Domesday Book
139:
137:
133:
129:
125:
121:
111:
109:
105:
101:
97:
93:
89:
85:
75:
65:
63:
62:country house
60:
55:
53:
49:
45:
41:
37:
33:
29:
25:
22:
18:
991:
978:. Retrieved
974:
964:
952:. Retrieved
946:
922:
917:
909:
904:
892:. Retrieved
888:
878:
870:
865:
853:
849:
845:
833:
829:
825:
813:
809:
805:
797:
792:
784:
780:
776:
772:
767:
759:
755:
747:
743:
739:
734:
726:
721:
713:
708:
661:
657:
653:
649:
644:
627:
604:
565:Jane Seymour
554:
535:
511:
476:
458:
436:
419:
403:
381:
350:
334:Plantagenets
331:
304:
300:
273:
262:
247:
239:Romsey Abbey
223:Wilton Abbey
203:
140:
117:
81:
56:
26:of women at
16:
15:
1013: /
605:The nearby
532:Dissolution
503:Poor Clares
427:Romanticism
353:Cluny Abbey
147:King Edward
114:Saxon abbey
96:Cornouaille
50:, known as
21:Benedictine
1028:Categories
998:51°10′19″N
894:27 October
697:Ralph Pugh
660:, p. 943;
636:References
573:Henry VIII
552:building.
522:Richard II
470:, died in
344:'s widow,
338:Fontevraud
326:Fontevraud
269:Fontevraud
171:Maddington
48:Fontevraud
1001:1°47′03″W
585:Edward VI
557:the Crown
487:Henry III
454:King John
291:Worcester
243:Hampshire
227:Wiltshire
211:Hampshire
183:Berkshire
163:Allington
124:monastery
88:monastery
40:monastery
32:Wiltshire
760:Speculum
526:Henry IV
472:Amesbury
446:Melksham
361:priories
342:Henry II
265:Henry II
195:Kintbury
167:Coulston
159:Boscombe
128:Wherwell
104:Brittany
92:St Melor
44:Henry II
28:Amesbury
980:7 March
371:but by
187:Challow
155:Bulford
100:Lanmeur
68:History
954:16 May
773:Priory
540:, the
450:Arthur
373:priors
369:abbots
365:abbeys
363:, not
287:Exeter
283:London
235:Dorset
213:) and
193:, and
191:Fawley
169:, and
151:manors
132:Edward
19:was a
852:, in
783:, in
775:, in
758:, in
746:, in
695:, in
652:, in
237:) or
181:. In
175:hides
84:pagan
24:abbey
982:2023
956:2021
896:2014
617:for
332:The
289:and
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241:(
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