Friday, May 30, 2014

Annaghdown Diocese and the battle with the Archdiocese of Tuam

Annaghdown Diocese and the battle with the
Archdiocese of Tuam

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

For much of the medieval period the diocese of Annaghdown, Co. Galway fought to maintain its independence from the aggression of successive Archbishops of Tuam who tried to have it as part of the diocese of Tuam. This article hopes to capture some of that struggle in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The centre of the diocese was at the cathedral of Annaghdown which was in the village of the same name on the shores of Lough Corrib. 

Site and location

The ecclesiastical site of Annaghdown lies on the eastern shore of Lough Corrib in County Galway, a few miles north of Galway and to the west of the Galway to Ballinrobe road. Annaghdown is on the north shore of a small inlet from Lough Corrib with Annaghdown Castle on the southern shore. The marshy ground in the area is reflected in the name of Annaghdown which is Eanach Dúin or ‘marsh of the fort’. The fort was possibly owned by the king of Magh Seola who at some time gave the site to the church.[1]

The cathedral of Annaghdown is at the south end of the ecclesiastical site. The cathedral in its present state is mostly fifteenth century but includes elements from earlier times like the twelfth century doorway and a window. To the north of the cathedral is an earlier church of eleven or twelfth century date with later additions. Further north again is another church from medieval times. About a hundred west of the cathedral is the nunnery of St. Mary of the Arroasian order, founded as a dependent of Clonard in 1195. South of the nunnery was an Augustinian abbey, founded in the mid twelfth century with its own abbey church. It is unclear if the canons and the nuns used the same church.[2]    

Foundation of Annaghdown

The first Christian religious building at Annaghdown was a nunnery founded by St. Brendan (died c.578) for his sister, Briga.[3] St. Brendan was one of the greatest of the early Irish saints. Known to historians as St. Brendan of Clonfert, he is better known to the wider world as Brendan the Navigator. The story of his travels was a medieval best seller across Europe and still captures the imagination to this day. St. Brendan came from the Ciarraige Luchra people of Co. Kerry where he received his early education. He later studied under St. Jarlath at Tuam and Clonard. St. Brendan’s first monastery was at Clonfert on the River Shannon. From there he founded monasteries in Counties Kerry, Galway (Annaghdown) and Mayo before establishing additional monasteries along the west coast of Scotland. As a seafarer, St. Brendan placed all these monasteries along the coast or on navigable rivers and lakes.[4]

It is suggested, even stated as fact, by some sources that St. Brendan was given the site of Annaghdown by Aodh, son of Eochu, King of Connacht. As two of the three sources of this information were written in much later times it is difficult to trust their historical accuracy as later writers sometimes re-wrote earlier works to reflect the political climate of their own time. As Aodh son of Eochu was of the Ui Briuin Aoi based in present-day County Roscommon some have concluded that even as King of Connacht that he could not grant away land in another kingdom to his own, i.e. in the kingdom of Ui Briuin Seola.[5]   

Early church history

The surviving annals of Ireland record the important events in early medieval history but they do not cover all the country in detail. There is a notable absence of events recorded for Connacht in the time before the Norman Conquest (1169).[6] The early history of Annaghdown, which is in Connacht, is therefore difficult to construct but we can put some fresh upon the scene. In pre-Christian times the plain between Lough Corrib and Tuam was known as Magh Seola. Annaghdown was on the western side of this plain. The land of Magh Seola formed the core area of the kingdom of Uí Briúin Seola. The first historically recognised king of Magh Seola was Cennfaelad mac Colgan who died in 682 as king of Connacht. After Cennfaelad, the kingdom of Uí Briúin Seola was divided between his two sons. The land in the immediate area around Annaghdown formed the sub-kingdom of Uí Briúin Ratha and included the later parishes of Annaghdown, Claregalway and Lackagh.[7]

About the year 800 there is a reference to a person called Ciarán of Annaghdown. The evidence from other local place-names identifies this person as Ciarán of Clonmacnoise. This would suggest that the monastery at Annaghdown was part of the paruchia of Clonmacnoise and not that of Clonfert. The later aggressor of Annaghdown, church of Tuam, was in the paruchia of Clonfert.[8] Thus the rivals were in different camps from early times.

The cathedral of Annaghdown

Local political map

In the eleventh century the O’Connors of Uí Briúin Ai displaced the O’Flaherty family of Uí Briúin Seola from the plains around Tuam. The O’Flaherty family grouping moved west of Lough Corrib into the land of Delbna.[9] The O’Connors, kings of Connacht, became patrons of Tuam and were the powerful backers that made Tuam an archdiocese in 1152.

The aggression wars made by the O’Connor family made a number of areas in Connacht into disputed lands. The area south of Tuam was much fought over by the different kingdoms that the disputed lands extended beyond the secular world and into the ecclesiastical world. The dioceses of Annaghdown and Tuam both claimed the parishes of Cummer and Belcare as their own.[10]

Diocesan formation in Ireland

In 1111 a synod of the Irish church was held at Raithbreasail, in what is now County Tipperary, to introduce various reforms in the structure of the church. One of the main reforms was to replace the monastic confederation or paruchia with the diocese structure of the rest of Europe. Two archdioceses were created; Armagh with twelve dioceses under it in the north and Cashel with twelve dioceses under it in the south. Some dioceses like Dublin refused to join the system and acknowledged the Archbishop of Canterbury as their head church. Annaghdown was then part of the diocese of Tuam and so under the control of Armagh.[11]

The palls from Rome which gave legal status and formal recognition of an archbishopric were not given to Armagh and Cashel immediately after Raithbreasail. The new archbishopric of Cashel was thus not recognised by Rome and this allowed suffragan bishops of Cashel, like Bishop Gilbert of Limerick, free to recognise the Archbishop of Canterbury as the head church for some Irish dioceses. It would be nearly forty year before the palls came from Rome and then there came four palls not two.[12] In 1152 the synod of Kells acknowledged the four palls of archbishopric for Armagh, Cashel, Dublin and Tuam. The areas covered by the two new archdioceses were carved out of the former two archdioceses. The town of Tuam formed the centre of the archdiocese of Tuam. The suffragan dioceses of Tuam were the old dioceses of Tuam, Cong, Killala, Ardagh and Clonfert. At Kells three additional dioceses were created, namely; Mayo, Achony and Kilmacduagh.[13] Annaghdown was still part of the diocese of Tuam in 1152.

Changing political climate and formation of Annaghdown diocese

In 1169 the political climate in Ireland changed forever with the coming of the Anglo-Normans. As the Anglo-Normans conquered the country so they appointed their own people to the secular and ecclesiastical offices in the areas they controlled. The four archbishoprics were divided into two with Anglo-Norman archbishops at Armagh and Dublin and Irish archbishops at Cashel and Tuam.  

As the old Irish power centres declined in the advance of the Anglo-Normans opportunities of freedom were given to those who lived under some powerful Irish rulers. Rory O’Connor was no longer high king of Ireland and his undisputed control of Connacht was challenged by his subject Irish rulers. The O’Connors were long time patrons of Tuam and its large diocese. Now the O’Connors were too busy with their own survival to watch over their church. Roderic O’Flaherty, king of Delbna (from Galway to Cliften) and Uí Briúin Ratha (east of Lough Corrib, including Annaghdown) saw his chance to break free from the O’Connor overlordship. O’Flaherty placed his chaplain into Annaghdown where he appointed him bishop and formed the lands of his kingdom into a new diocese, lands which were up until that time part of the diocese of Tuam.[14] The clerics at Tuam did not forget this act of independence and for the rest of the medieval period sought to suppress the new diocese and restore the full extent of the Tuam diocese.  


The dioceses of Ireland in the thirteenth century by John Watt

Early bishops of Annaghdown

The first named bishop of Annaghdown was Conn O Mellaigh in 1189 and he was one of three Irish bishops to attend the coronation of King Richard I at Westminster in that same year. Bishop O Mellaigh later attended a great council held by King Richard at Pipewell.[15] It is suggested that Annaghdown, along with the diocese of Dromore, was given official recognition as a diocese at a synod held in Dublin in 1192. The Archbishop of Dublin at the time was also the papal legate (Pope’s ambassador) in Ireland and so had authority to give such recognition.[16] 

In 1202 Bishop Conn O Mellaigh of Annaghdown died. A synod in Connacht of both lay people and clerics was held later that year before the new papal legate. It is not known what representation Annaghdown had at the synod or to what extend its recent separation from the diocese of Tuam was discussed. The next bishop of Annaghdown, Murchadh O'Flaherty, did attend the fourth Lateran Council in 1215 along with the Archbishop of Tuam  and seventeen other Irish bishops and two bishops-elect. One of the main issues at the Council was the increase in the number of Irish dioceses since the synod of Kells. Cardinal Papiron advised that the smaller dioceses, including Annaghdown, be absorbed into larger dioceses.[17] This was first official attack on the independence of Annaghdown. Over the next few years Archdiocese of Dublin annexed the diocese of Glendalough and the Archdiocese of Tuam annexed the diocese of Mayo. The efforts of the diocese of Waterford to annex the diocese of Lismore did not succeed and the two dioceses were not united until 1363 under Bishop Thomas le Reve of Lismore [see article on Thomas le Reve = http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2013/05/thomas-le-reve-first-bishop-of-united.html].

In 1238 one of the last round towers was built in Ireland was erected at Annaghdown.[18] By 1238 the round tower had been replace with the much smaller bell-cote of the gable end of a church. The purpose of this round tower or bell tower was not so much to call the faithful to pray but to establish the antiquity of Annaghdown. Nearly every ancient monastic site in Ireland worth calling itself important had a round tower and there were a few in the County Galway area but significantly not at Tuam. By building a round tower Annaghdown could further show why it had a right to be an independent diocese.

By 1845 no trace of the round tower existed. George Petrie speculated that it could have been a quadrangular design connected to the cathedral but for the political purpose of its construction a traditional round tower is more likely. Local folklore placed the round tower south of the cathedral.[19]  

Annaghdown needed its new round tower to give itself some strength in 1238 as Aedh O’Connor, aided by the English, was advancing against the various peoples of Connacht who had rebelled against him. Aedh O’Flaherty, ruler of Delbna and patron of the Annaghdown diocese, was one of the rebels. With the help of Norman armies entering Connacht through Athlone and up from Munster, Aedh O’Connor, King of Connacht was able to regain control. In 1238 Ruaidhri, son of Aedh O’Flaherty was taken prisoner by the Normans and Aedh O’Flaherty submitted shortly after. Aedh surrendered his island fortress on Lough Corrib and his boats.[20]

Successive bishops struggle for independence

The diocese of Annaghdown survived these wars and continued to have its own bishop to the opposition of the Archbishop of Tuam. In 1241 Bishop Murchadh O’Flaherty of Annaghdown died.[21] The next bishop of Annaghdown was Thomas O Mellaigh who served until his death in 1250. The Annals of Loch Cé give the year 1252 for the death of Bishop O Mellaigh but this is incorrect from other evidence. The chapter at Annaghdown elected a cleric called Conor (or Concord), canon of Annaghdown, as the new bishop and in January 1251 Pope Innocent confirmed the election. The Annals of Ulster say that on 8th May 1251 the royal assent was given for the election even though the election was held without the royal licence. 

Yet government documents dispute this claim. On 27th May 1250 licence was given to the dean and chapter of Annaghdown, by William Brown, to elect a new bishop after the death of Bishop Thomas. The royal assent on 8th May 1251 said the chapter were in future not to elect without royal licence. Although this could be interpreted as saying that no licence was given for Conor’s election we have seen such licence given by way of William Brown. The assent gave a mandate to the new Archbishop of Tuam to “do what is his in this matter” and the Archbishop of ideas of what to do but not to the benefit of Annaghdown.[22]

The diocese of Tuam seeks annexation of Annaghdown

Instead newly elected Archbishop of Tuam, Florence mac Flainn, made strong efforts to annex the diocese of Annaghdown and make it part of the larger diocese of Tuam. Before August 1252 the Archbishop of Tuam wrote to King Henry III concerning the suppression of the diocese of Annaghdown. The Archbishop claimed that the church of Annaghdown was an old parish church and not a cathedral church although two bishops lived there in succession. The Archbishop prayed that Henry III would assent to the reduction of Annaghdown to its former state as a parish church as recommended by certain papal letters.

On 18th August 1252 Henry III wrote to the justiciar of Ireland, John Fitz Geoffrey, to make effective that reduction of Annaghdown from a diocese to a parish. As part of this action John Fitz Geoffrey was to arrange, with the consent of the Archbishop and chapter of Tuam, for the retention of a place in the vill of Annaghdown for a royal castle along with adjacent lands while allowing some buildings near the church to be retained by the management of Annaghdown church. The Archbishop of Tuam was to be compensated with lands elsewhere.

King Henry III asserted that he was the patron of Annaghdown and had consented to the election of previous bishops of the diocese. To show his patronage on 19th August 1252 Henry III issued a letter of unlimited protection, to last for the king’s life, to the abbot and convent of St. John the Baptist at Annaghdown. Yet justiciar of Ireland, John Fitz Geoffrey, was to certify the old patronage of Annaghdown and what land it possessed before a bishop was appointed. The justiciar was then to give the Archbishop of Tuam lands and rents in Annaghdown which the Bishop of Annaghdown held in possession.[23]

Tuam gets Annaghdown

On 30th July 1253 Henry III restored the temporalities of the bishopric of Annaghdown to Florence, Archbishop of Tuam in exchange for the king having the vill of Annaghdown in order that the king may there erect a castle. The Archbishop was to have lands elsewhere in exchange for the lands around Annaghdown retained by the king. A second letter on the same day told the justiciar of Ireland to give all the issues received from the vill of Annaghdown to the Archbishop until an exchange of lands could be made.[24]

The Archbishop of Tuam was particularly favoured by the king about 1252-3. On 27th July 1253 the king allowed the Archbishop to be exempted from any plea at the courts held by the justices in eyre. On 30th July 1253 the king allowed Archbishop Florence to retain the chattels of clerks in the diocese of Tuam who were convicted of felony. The king’s bailiffs had initially seized these chattels believing that bad clerks came under royal jurisdiction. By another letter the king’s bailiffs were restricted from molesting the Archbishop’s tenants.[25]

These letters and agreements should have ensured the suppression of the diocese of Annaghdown and the construction of another royal castle on former church ground. Yet trying to establish control within Annaghdown proved difficult for both sides. For starters it is not recorded if the king did build a castle in the vill of Annaghdown. Detailed financial accounts of the Dublin government do not start until 1270 and thus it is difficult to match aspirational plans with reality on the ground.

The chapter of Annaghdown elect a new bishop

The Archbishop of Tuam also found it difficult to establish authority in the old diocese of Annaghdown. The dean and chapter at some time after August 1252 disregarded the Archbishop and elected a cleric called Thomas as Bishop of Annaghdown. In 1255 Archbishop Florence went to England to get a number of things for his archdiocese of Tuam. The Annals of Loch Cé said the Archbishop returned with all his demands but the diocese of Annaghdown was not or surrender.[26] Bishop Thomas remained bishop of Annaghdown until his death in 1263 after which Christian the clerk went to King Henry III to ask for a licence to elect a new bishop. After ignoring the agreements of 1252 the king granted the chapter of Annaghdown a licence to elect a new bishop.[27]

In 1283 the bishopric of Annaghdown was again vacant yet maintaining a somewhat independent of control from Tuam. The chapter at Annaghdown lost little time in finding a new bishop to keep their independence and elected John de Ufford, archdeacon of Annaghdown. On 16th March 1283 King Edward I gave the royal assent to the election. But John de Ufford felt he needed more than just royal assent and proceeded to Rome for papal approval. It was a previous pope who ordered the reduction of Annaghdown from a cathedral to a simple parish church. On 14th March 1283 Edward I granted de Ufford licence to travel to Rome.

The Archbishop of Tuam would not accept the election and consecrate John as bishop. On 30th August 1284, John, styled bishop-elect, got letters of protection for two years as he travelled to Rome to seek papal confirmation to his election. But John de Ufford could not break the power of Tuam and gave up his attempts to be bishop of Annaghdown when he was made archdeacon of Tuam.[28]   

Annaghdown without a bishop

The diocese of Annaghdown was again without a bishop and without protection. Sometime before May 1297 Philip le Blund destroyed the pontificalia at Annaghdown. Yet still the chapter refused to give up and in 1306 elected Gilbert O Tigernaig, a Friar Minor, as bishop of Annaghdown. The Archbishop of Tuam refused to accept the election but Richard Taaffe on behalf of the Archbishop of Armagh, the primate of Ireland, accepted the election and Annaghdown was a diocese again. The archbishops of Tuam and Armagh had long disputes over which dioceses were within the jurisdiction of each other and in later times called into question Armagh's claim to be primate of Ireland.[29]

The value of the bishopric

In the 1302-6 papal taxation returns recognised the diocese of Annaghdown as a separate diocese yet the visitations of the archdeaconry of Annaghdown were included in the returns for the diocese of Tuam. The revenue of the Bishop of Annaghdown as recorded included goods and rents worth £28 along with the fourth part of nearly every parish church in the diocese. The bishop received from the church of Mecheri (Ballynacourty) 33 shillings 4 pence, Foranmore (Oranmore) church 40s, Roscam church 10s, Galway church 33s, Clardun church 40s, Delgill church 5s, Kellchama church 5s, Letragh church half mark, Killeany church 3s 4d, Kellfinfyt church 7s 6d, Donaghpatrick church 6s 8d, Killower church 5s, Rath-maolid church 6s 8d, Shrule church 20s, Kilkilvery church 5 shillings and Annaghdown parish church 1 mark. This total of £40 5s 6d when the total value of the diocese was £72 19s 8d.[30]

A new group of bishops of Annaghdown

Bishop Gilbert O Tigernaig took the temporalities of Annaghdown in 1308 but found it difficult to operate under the weight of the Archbishop of Tuam. Thus Bishop Gilbert spent much of his time as a suffragan bishop on various English dioceses. Yet Bishop Gilbert did not totally give up on Annaghdown. In 1321 he sent a letter to King Edward II asking for an inquiry into the seizure by the Archbishop of Tuam of the temporalities of Annaghdown without warrant. King Edward and his chief advisers, Walter of Norwich and William de Ayremynne, sent the petition to the Dublin government to enquire about the matter and draw up a report. It is not known if this report was ever acted on or was it just filed away to gather dust. Whichever the case Bishop Gilbert was in too failing health to press the matter and he died before December 1322 when James O Cethernaig was elected bishop but he only stayed less than two years before transferring to the diocese of Connor. 

The former bishop of Clonfert, Robert Petit, then became bishop of Annaghdown and got the temporalities in 1326 but was dead by April 1328. John, the dean of Annaghdown and the chapter wrote to King Edward III for a licence to elect a new bishop and got the licence. The chapter then elected Albertus as the new bishop. Shortly after Bishop Albertus got possession of the temporalities but within a few months the bishop had died or resigned. In this situation of bishops in quick succession and little effective control the richest church in the diocese of Annaghdown, St. Nicholas's Church in Galway, transferred its allegiance to the archdiocese of Tuam.[31]  

The last effective bishop

Thomas O Mellaigh replaced Albertus as the new bishop of Annaghdown. Thomas came from an old family that had held the diocese of previous occasions. Yet ancient lineage counted for nothing with the Archbishop of Tuam and Bishop Thomas had to travel the long road to Rome to get papal approval. Before he left for Rome Bishop Thomas wrote to King Edward III asking the king to write to the pope objecting to the union of the two dioceses of Annaghdown and Tuam. It is not known if the king ever wrote the letter as Edward III was under the control of his mother and her lover at the time. 

King Edward did show favour to the chapter of Mayo in 1328 when they elected a new bishop and complained that the Archbishop of Tuam had occupied the diocese of Mayo for a hundred years. Edward III directed a letter to the pope asking for recognition of the new bishop of Mayo and may have writen in similiar support for Annaghdown. Yet time was against the small diocese. While there at the papal court in Rome, in 1328, Bishop Thomas O Mellaigh of Annaghdown died.[32]

The ruins of Annaghdown and the end of a diocese

The end of the diocese of Annaghdown

Pope John XXII took the opportunity to issue a decree ordering the union of the dioceses of Achonry, Kilmacduagh and Annaghdown with Tuam.[33] Despite this forced union a series of bishops of Annaghdown were elected over the succeeding decades but their efforts to gain control of Annaghdown failed. Many spent their years as suffragan bishops in English dioceses.

In 1393 the then titular bishop of Annaghdown petitioned the king to have leave to recruit 200 archers in England for service in Ireland. The bishop claimed that the malice and power of the king’s enemies made it impossible for him to live in the diocese or even collect its revenues.[34] But he failed in his efforts to wrestle control of Annaghdown from the Archbishop of Tuam. In 1411 the monastery at Annaghdown was burnt down.[35] This fire symbolically marked the end for an independent Annaghdown. Although further bishops were named for Annaghdown the diocese was by 1411 just an archdeaconry within the larger diocese of Tuam.

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[1] Dónall mac Giolla Easpaig, ‘Early ecclesiastical settlement names of County Galway’, in Galway History and Society, edited by Gerard Moran & Raymond Gillespie (Geography Publications, Dublin, 1996), p. 800
[2] Peter Harbison, Guide to National and Historic Monuments of Ireland (Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 1992), p. 143
[3] A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious House: Ireland (Irish Academic Press, Dublin, 1988), p. 312
[4] Daphne D.C. Pochin Mould, Ireland of the saints (Batsford, London, 1953), p. 153
[5] Dónall mac Giolla Easpaig, ‘Early ecclesiastical settlement names of County Galway’, in Galway History and Society, p. 801 
[6] A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious House: Ireland, p. 25
[7] Paul MacCotter, Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2008), pp. 132, 143
[8] Dónall mac Giolla Easpaig, ‘Early ecclesiastical settlement names of County Galway’, in Galway History and Society, p. 801 
[9] Francis J. Bryne, Irish Kings and High-Kings (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2001), p. 230
[10] Paul MacCotter, Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2008), p. 144
[11] A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious House: Ireland, p. 49; Geoffrey Keating, General History of Ireland, edited by Dermod O’Connor (James Duffy, Dublin, 1861), p. 511
[12] Donal O’Connor, ‘Bishop Gilbert of Limerick, Suffragan of Canterbury’, in Decies, No. 69 (2013), pp. 3-5
[13] A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious House: Ireland, pp. 51, 53
[14] Ven. St. John Seymour, ‘The medieval church’, in History of the Church of Ireland from the earliest times to the present day, edited by Walter Alison Philips (Oxford University Press, 1934), p. 80
[15] A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious House: Ireland, p. 60
[16] A. Gwynn & R.N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious House: Ireland, p. 54
[17] The Annals of Loch Cé (2 vols. Stationery Office, Dublin, 1939), vol. 1, pp. 223, 227; Patrick Dunning, 'Irish representatives and Irish ecclesiastical affairs at the Fourth Lateran Council', in Medieval Studies presented to Aubrey Gwynn, edited by J.A. Watt, J.B. Morrall & F.X. Martin (editors, Dublin, 1961), pp. 91-2
[18] The Annals of Loch Cé, vol. 1, pp. 349
[19] Sean Spellissy, The history of Galway City & County (Celtic Bookshop, Limerick, 1999), pp. 255-6
[20] The Annals of Loch Cé, vol. 1, p. 349; Goddard Henry Orpen, Ireland under the Normans (4 vols. in 1, Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2005), vol. 3, p. 161
[21] The Annals of Loch Cé, vol. 1, p. 357; The Annals of Ulster (4 vols. Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, 1901), year 1241
[22] The Annals of Loch Cé, vol. 1, p. 393; The Annals of Ulster, year 1250, note 2; H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland (5 vols. Kraus reprint, 1974), Vol. 1 (1171-1251), nos. 3048, 3131
[23] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), nos. 76, 77, 79; Charles McNeill (ed.), ‘Harris Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis’, in Analecta Hibernica, No. 6 (1934), p. 281
[24] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), nos. 274, 275
[25] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), nos. 268, 276, 277
[26] The Annals of Loch Cé (2 vols. Stationery Office, Dublin, 1939), vol. 1, p. 407
[27] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), no. 738
[28] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland, Vol. 2 (1252-1284), nos. 2066, 2067, 2277; Sean Spellissy, The history of Galway City & County, p. 256
[29] Sean Spellissy, The history of Galway City & County, p. 255; Patrick Dunning, 'Irish representatives and affairs at the Fourth Lateran Council', in Medieval Studies presented to Aubrey Gwynn, p. 100
[30] H.S. Sweetman (ed.), Calendar of Documents relating to Ireland (5 vols. Kraus reprint, 1974), Vol. 5 (1302-1307), pp. 234-236
[31] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishop_of_Annaghdown accessed 31 May 2014; Sean Spellissy, The history of Galway City & County, p. 36; ; Philomena Connolly (ed.), 'Irish material in the class of chancery warrants (C 81) in the Public Record Office, London', in Analecta Hibernica, No. 36 (1995), p. 144; Philomena Connolly (ed.), 'Irish material in the class of ancient petitions (SC8) in the Public Record Office, London', in Analecta Hibernica, No. 34 (1987), p. 63; G.O. Sayles (ed.), Documents on the Affairs of Ireland before the King's Council (Stationery Office, Dublin, 1979), pp. 106-7
[32] The Annals of Loch Cé, vol. 1, p. 609; The Annals of Ulster, year 1328; Philomena Connolly (ed.), 'Irish material in the class of ancient petitions', in Analecta Hibernica, No. 34 (1987), p. 77; G.O. Sayles (ed.), Documents on the Affairs of Ireland before the King's Council, pp. 146-7; ; Philomena Connolly (ed.), 'Irish material in the class of chancery warrants', in Analecta Hibernica, No. 36 (1995), pp. 144-5. This letter to Edward III is often dated to 1330 but if the Annals are correct and Bishop Thomas died in 1328 then the letter to Edward must be 1328 or before. Of course it is possible the Annals are in error. More research is needed.
[33] Sean Spellissy, The history of Galway City & County, pp. 255
[34] A.J. Otway-Ruthven, A history of medieval Ireland (Ernest Benn, London, 1980), p. 325; Philomena Connolly (ed.), 'Irish material in the class of ancient petitions', in Analecta Hibernica, No. 34 (1987), p. 69; G.O. Sayles (ed.), Documents on the Affairs of Ireland before the King's Council, p. 264
[35] The Annals of Loch Cé, vol. 2, p. 137

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Chapel and prebends in Exeter Castle

Chapel and prebends in Exeter Castle

Niall C.E.J. O’Brien

Introduction

Exeter castle was built in about 1070 by Baldwin Fitz Gilbert, a distant kinsman of William the Conqueror. It was built on a volcanic mound within the north angle of the city walls. The great earthwork was strengthened by a towering keep-gatehouse at the southern corner. This was constructed using local red-coloured basalt which gave the castle its name of ‘Rougemont’. The castle was one of the earliest stone built castles in Britain. Such a massive structure was needed because Exeter was not captured by the Normans until two years after the famous Battle of Hastings in 1066.[1]

Baldwin Fitz Gilbert was succeeded by his son Richard who died without issue. The castle was then granted to Richard de Redvers who was created 1st Earl of Devon by Henry I.[2] in 1223 Robert de Courtenay, ancestor of the Courtenay family of Okehampton and the later Earls of Devon, was allowed to pay a fine to the king with expenditure on repairs to Exeter Castle.[3] In 1232 Henry III seized the castle along with many others and gave it to his younger brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall. In 1337 when Edward, eldest son of King Edward III, was created Duke of Cornwall he was given Exeter Castel and the surrounding land.[4] The chapel within Exeter Castle remained with the descendants of Baldwin Fitz Gilbert.

This collegiate chapel of the Holy Trinity (later referred to as the chapel of St. Mary) was founded by Ralph Avenel and his aunt, Adela (daughter of Baldwin Fitz Gilbert), in the time of King Stephen. Many medieval castles had a chapel of which St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle is perhaps the most famous. The chaplain within the castle offered religious comfort to the lord of the castle and his family. The chaplain also provided comfort to the many domestic staff in the castle and the soldiers who formed the garrison.

In the 1274 inquisition post mortem for John de Courtenay of Okehampton it was said that 5 shillings were paid yearly from the manor of Alphington, Devon, to the chapel of Exeter Castle.[5] The chapel at Exeter Castel was said to be in ruins in 1321 but was subsequently repaired. The collegiate chapel was suppressed at the Reformation but the chapel remained in use after the Reformation and was used by the county assizes until it was demolished in 1782.

In this chapel were four prebendaries. These prebends were: Hayes, or Cliston Hayes, in the parish of Broad Clyst; Ash Clyst, in the same parish; Cutton in Poltimore, and Carswell, in the parish of Kenne. William Avenell, son of Ralph, gave the collegiate chapel, with its prebends, to the monks of Plympton. Later the grant was resumed, at least in part, for we find that the prebend of Ash Clyst was given by Robert Courtenay to Tor Abbey. Robert Courtenay was patron of Plympton, and possessor of Exeter Castle.[6] For a broader discussion on the prebend in the medieval church see my article about same at http://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.ie/2014/05/prebends-in-medieval-church.html

In this article we hope to record some information on the chapel and its prebends.

The gatehouse of Exeter Castle from gbtheatrecompany.com

The three and four prebends

In the early days of the Exeter castle chapel there were four prebendaries, named above. Around 1142-1145 William Avenel confirmed the gift of his father and grandaunt of the chapel of Exeter Castle along with its four prebends and the two churches of Alphington and Kenn to Plympton Priory.[7] The chapel and prebends were later recovered and continued under the patronage of the Courtenay family, heirs of Baldwin Fitz Gilbert. In 1262 there were still four prebends as Henry de Esse was described as parson of one-fourth part of the chapel of the then King’s Castle of Exeter. In that year, two brothers and two sisters, tenants of the chapel, unsuccessfully claimed 1½ ferlings of land in the suburbs of Exeter. The court found that land to be part of the prebend of Henry, which was Cutton, and for which Henry paid 5 marks to the four tenants.[8]

In the 1291 papal taxation of Pope Nicholas IV there were four prebends listed, namely; Hayes, Cutton, Ashclyst and Carswell.[9] Yet by 1292 there were just three prebends, namely; Hayes, Cutton and Kerswille (Carswell).[10] The appearance of a reduction in the number of prebends was not because the prebend of Ashclyst was terminated but that it was granted to Torre Abbey and they remained patrons of Ashclyst until the dissolution of the monasteries. The other three prebends continued to be held by the Courtenay family. 

In 1292 the advowson of the chapel of Exeter Castle and the three prebends were held by Hugh de Courtenay, Lord of Okehampton, Devon and son of John de Courtenay of Okehampton (died 1274) and Isabel, daughter of Hugh de Vere, Earl of Oxford. John de Courtenay’s mother was Mary, youngest daughter of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon. Hugh de Courtenay was succeeded by his son, Hugh de Courtenay in 1292 and this Hugh succeeded to the estates of his cousin, Isabel, Countess of Aumale and Devon in November 1293 although he was not recognised as Earl of Devon until some forty years later.[11]
After the death of Hugh de Courtenay in 1292, his widow, Eleanor, daughter of Hugh le Despenser, held the advowson of the church of Ken and the chapel of Exeter Castle along with the three prebends of Hayes, Cutton and Carswell with a number of manors in different counties. In 1315 an agreement was made between Hugh de Courtenay and Stephen de Haccumbe that the manors and prebends held by Eleanor should pass to Stephen and then to Hugh and the children of Hugh in turn, namely; Hugh, Robert and Thomas.[12]

At his death in December 1340, Hugh de Courtenay held the advowson of the chapel of the Blessed Mary in Exeter Castle and the three prebends by grant of Stephen de Haccumbe.[13] In 1377 Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon, held the three prebends of Exeter Castle.[14] At the death of Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, in December 1419 the following inquisition post mortem found that Edward held the advowsons for the three prebends of Hayes, Cutton and Kenn in Exeter Castle. The inquisition also found that the annual value of the prebends was nothing. The three prebends were also worth nothing in an inquisition taken in August 1422 after the death of Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon.[15] The Earldom of Devon then entered into royal custody because the heir, Thomas Courtenay, was underage. A new inquisition conducted in December 1422 found the prebend of Hayes was worth £33 6 shillings 8 pence in annual value, the prebend of Cutton was worth £10, and the prebend of Kenn was worth 40 shillings.[16]  

Prebend of Heighes (Hayes)

The most valuable prebend (£33 6s 8d) according to the 1422 inquisition was that of Heighes, better known today as Hayes. In the papal taxation of 1291 Hayes was valued at £10.[17] The varied value of medieval churches has as much to do with who made the valuation as to the economic situation at the time. In the 1291 papal taxation clerics tried to keep values as low as possible to reduction taxation. The nil value given for Hayes in 1422 by the Courtenay examiners would be to reduce the inheritance tax bill while the high value done by the king’s men later in 1422 was to achieve maximum return of income while the king held the property during the minority of the Courtenay heir.

The prebend was located in the parish of Broad Clyst, just north-east of Exeter. The names Heighes or Hayes is found throughout Devon and means enclosure or farmstead. The Hayes of Broad Clyst is usually referred to as Moss-Hayes or the ‘farm of Moss’. Who was the person called Moss was is unknown but he once held the farm in far off days.[18] Moss Hayes presently lies west of the River Clyst and east of the M5, just south of Broad Clyst village. 

In February 1261 Master Thomas de Wimundesham exchanged the prebend of Ashclyst for that of Hayes. The prebend of Hayes was said to be vacant for some time. Both prebends were under the patronage of Sir John de Courtenay of Okehampton.[19]

In 1262, Master Thomas de Wimundesham was canon of the prebend of Hayes. In that year, Walter de Oyton, a tenant of Hayes prebend, claimed 1½ ferlings of land and 6 acres of meadow in West Clyst. In court Walter de Oyton acknowledged that the land belonged to the prebend and he agreed to hold it from Thomas and his successors for 6 pence in yearly rent. For this Thomas de Wimundesham created the land into a new croft so as to better secure the property against encroachment. This agreement was confirmed by Walter, Bishop of Exeter and John de Courtenay of Okehampton, patron of the prebend. In 1268 Master Thomas de Wimundesham was vicar of Payhembury under the patronage of Forde Abbey. He resigned the living before June 1272.[20]

Around 1274 Robert de Littlebure was prebendary of Hayes under the patronage of Hugh de Courtenay of Okehampton. Elsewhere it is said that Robert was instituted to Hayes in June 1278.[21] It is not clear which year is the correct year.

Sir John Skidmore was prebendary of Hayes in the 1330s and 1340s until his death in 1348. In 1339 the prebend was valued at 40 shillings for which it paid 12 pence in procurations to Exeter Cathedral.[22] On 13th November 1348 Thomas de Courtenay, clerk, was instituted at Chudleigh via his proctor, Simon Devenyshe. Thomas de Courtenay was the second son of the then patron, Sir Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon.[23]

Thomas de Courtenay only kept Hayes for a year before he resigned the prebend in October 1349. At the same time he resigned a number of other prebends including one at the collegiate church of Crediton and another in Exeter Cathedral. The various prebends were merely a source of income as Thomas was a student at Oxford (1347-1349) and underage. He got a papal dispensation in February 1349 to hold any benefice notwithstanding that he was only eighteen years old. In 1381 Thomas’s younger brother, William de Courtenay was made Archbishop of Canterbury. Sir Robert de Pyle, priest, was instituted as next prebendary of Hayes at the bishop’s palace in Exeter in place of Thomas de Courtenay.[24]

It is not clear for how long Robert de Pyle held Hayes. On 18th September 1359 William de Courtenay, chaplain, was instituted as prebendary on the recommendation of Sir Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon. William de Courtenay was the fourth son of Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon and continued to hold Hayes until at least 1366. Yet the prebend was only a start for William’s clerical career.

By 1361 William de Courtenay was rector of Crewkerne, Somerset and a canon at York. After holding a few other canonry’s and prebends William de Courtenay became Bishop of Hereford in 1369. In 1370 William became Bishop of London and in 1381 Archbishop of Canterbury. As Archbishop of Canterbury William de Courtenay challenged Richard II in defence of John of Gaunt and defended the church in Parliament against more taxation. At Canterbury he contributed to the rebuilding of the nave and in 1396 was buried there amidst great ceremony.[25]

On 3rd September 1413 Master Thomas Hendeman was instituted as prebendary of Hayes. Master Thomas Hendeman was a fellow of Oxford University in 1383 and he got an MA from St. John’s College in 1393 and was a doctor of theology by 1395. MasterThomas Hendeman served as chancellor of the University from 1395 to 1397 and again from 1398 to 1400. After Oxford, Master Thomas Hendeman held the position of rector of a number of parishes in the Diocese of Exeter. He became Archdeacon of Exeter in 1410 and in 1417 became chancellor of Exeter.[26]

An old drawing of Exeter Castle 
the chapel of St. Mary was possibly one of the single story buildings

In January 1427-8 Master Thomas Hendeman exchanged the prebend of Hayes with Master Walter Collys, rector of Crewkerne in Somerset. Master Collys was instituted at Dogmersfield in the person of his proctor, Master Peter Stukeley, by John Stafford, Bishop of Bath and Wells. King Henry VI was patron of Hayes at this exchange.[27] Master Thomas Hendeman only held Crewkerne for a few months and died on 2nd January 1433.[28]

Master Walter Collys was of noble birth when in 1413 he was granted licence to study at Oxford. His first parish was as rector of Milton Damerel in Devon before he went on to hold numerous other benefices in a few dioceses. He became precentor at Exeter in April 1437. In 1441 Master Walter Collys was recognised by the government as a good administrator and became a king’s clerk. He held many royal commissions including a brief spell as constable of Bordeaux (1441-1442). He was on the peace treaty team in talks with the French in 1442. By May 1453 Master Walter Collys had died.[29]

Prebend of Cutton

The manor and prebend of Cutton was situated within the parish of Poltimore, Devonshire. The parish of Poltimore lies between Exeter and Broad Clist parish. Cutton means Cotta’s farm and is today located just north of Politmore village.[30]

The prebendary of Cutton was to assist the prebendary of Hayes in the chapel at Exeter Castle, and to say mass once a year in the chapel of St. John at Poltimore.[31] In the papal taxation of Pope Nicholas IV (1288-1291) Cutton was valued at £5 3 shillings 4 pence.[32]

In 1262 Henry de Esse was parson of Cutton. In 1274 Henry de Esse was still prebendary of Cutton which he held of Hugh de Courtenay of Okehampton in return for prayers for Hugh and the new King Edward I.[33] Henry de Esse continued to hold Cutton until at least 1291 in which year he is recorded as prebendary.
In 1322 John Moriz, prebendary of Cutton and rector of Parkham, died. Moriz was rector at Parkham from at least 1309.[34] It is not yet known when he acquired the prebendary of Cutton. In October 1329 Master Walter de Clopton held the prebendary of Cutton along with being rector of Parkham. In that month he was granted papal letters for a canonry and prebendary in Exeter Cathedral.[35]

Sir Walter de Clopton died in 1346 and Master Thomas de Bodruyan succeeded William as rector of Parkham. In November 1346 Thomas de Courtenay, second son of the patron, Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon, was instituted to Cutton in the person of his proctor, Simon Devenyshe.[36] Thomas de Courtenay was only about fifteen years old at the time.

In December 1348, Master Robert de Paston succeeded Thomas de Courtenay as the prebendary of Cutton. Paston did not stay long to collect much income or take part in ceremonies at Exeter Castle as he was replaced in May 1349 by Master Otho de Northwood.[37]

In November 1360 Philip de Courtenay, clerk, was instituted as prebendary of Cutton.[38] It is not clear who this Philip de Courtenay was. The fifth son of Hugh de Courtenay, Earl of Devon was called Philip de Courtenay, later lord of Powderham and ancestor of the present Earls of Devon but he was born about 1355 and so would possibly not be described as a clerk in 1360.[39]

The next prebendary of Cutton was Sir Robert Vaggescombe, a priest of the Diocese of Exeter. In October 1366 Vaggescombe was admitted to Cutton while also rector of Parkham. The prebend of Cutton was worth 8 marks at that time.[40] In 1373 Vaggescombe was succeeded at Cutton by William de Bermingham in the following manner.

By November 1362 Master William de Bermingham had succeeded Adam de Hilton in a prebendary in Exeter Cathedral. On 5th January 1373 Master William de Bermingham exchanged this prebend with Robert Vaggescombe for the prebend of Cutton in the chapel of Exeter Castle.[41] Robert Vaggescombe kept the Exeter Cathedral prebendary until his death in June 1382. In his will of 23rd June 1381 Robert asked to be buried in Exeter Cathedral or ‘wherever God disposes’.[42]

A commission in 1421 into the patronage of Cutton found that the prebendary had a pension of 6 shillings 8 pence and its taxation value was 113 shillings 4 pence. The prebendary of Cutton along with the prebendary of Hayes performed the religious ceremonies in the chapel of Exeter Castle.[43] 

Sometime before June 1421, Sir Richard Dunscombe, the prebendary of Cutton in the prebendal church of St. Mary, died. Sir Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon, nominated Sir Richard Aldryngtone, a canon of Exeter, for the vacancy. Sir Richard was instituted on 14th June in the person of his proctor, Sir John Matheu, rector of Alphington.[44]

Around June 1421, Master Thomas Hendeman, Archdeacon of Exeter (and prebendary of Hayes in Exeter Castle), commissioned an examination into the patronage of the Cutton prebendary. The commission found that Hugh Courtenay, Earl of Devon, presented Master Richard Aldryngtone, canon of Exeter Cathedral, to the prebend so as to fill a vacancy. Earlier Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, nominated Master Richard Dunscombe to be prebendary of Cutton to fill a vacancy cause by the death of the previous prebendary.[45]
Sometime between 1421 and 1438 Sir Robert Felton was appointed prebendary of Cutton. The institution of Felton does not seem to have been recorded. In 1438 Felton died and Sir Thomas de Courtenay, Earl of Devon appointed Sir Richard Beauchamp, chaplain, to the vacant position. Beauchamp was instituted on 25th August 1438 in the person of his proctor, Richard Billion, clerk.[46]

In 1441 Master Richard Beauchamp resigned the prebendary. Sir Thomas de Courtenay, Earl of Devon, replaced him with Master Thomas Bekynton, Doctor of Laws. Bekynton was instituted at Chudleigh in the person of his proctor Thomas Wellywrough.[47] Thomas Bekynton was born in the village of Beckington, three miles from Frome in Somerset, the son of a weaver. He first attended Winchester College before completing his education at Oxford University. Thomas Bekynton began his career as Dean of the Arches and an official at the court in Canterbury. From 1423 he held a number of rector positions and became archdeacon of Buckingham in 1424. In the1430s Master Thomas Bekynton was negotiating peace with the French and by 1438 was the king’s secretary. In 1443 Master Thomas Bekynton was raised to Keeper of the Privy Seal. Shortly after Master Thomas Bekynton was made Bishop of Bath and Wells and held his first mass in the new church of Eton which was so new it still had no roof. This church would form the core of the famous Eton College, then under construction. Bishop Bekynton died in January 1465.[48]

The career of Master Thomas Bekynton from weaver’s son to bishop of once of the wealthiest dioceses in the country shows how the medieval church offered great career prospects that the secular life could not offer the poorer classes. After the resignation of Cutton by Master Thomas Bekynton, Master John de la Bere was appointed by Sir Thomas de Courtenay, Earl of Devon. John de la Bere was instituted at Chudleigh on 31st October 1443 in the person of Sir Simon Chuddeleigh, chaplain, his proctor.[49]

With all these important clerics and minor members of the Courtenay family holding the various prebends belonging to the chapel of Exeter Castle one wonders if the garrison of the castle saw more mass times than religious ceremonies. In other types of prebends, like those attached to a cathedral church, the prebendaries were supposed to hire a vicar to administer to the spiritual needs of the parishioner, in this case the castle garrison. So far I have uncovered no letter to say the garrison were wanting in matters spiritual and so some religious provision must have been provided by the prebendaries who were the ministers of the collegiate chapel.  

In 1448 Master John de la Bere resigned the prebendary of Cutton and Sir Geoffrey Motte, chaplain was appointed by Sir Thomas de Courtenay, Earl of Devon. Like in many other such appointments Sir Geoffrey Motte was instituted to the prebend in the person of his proctor, Master Thomas Bank who also took the oath of canonical obedience.[50]

In 1450 Sir Geoffrey Motte resigned Cutton prebend and Master Walter Copeland was appointed and instituted on 25th April 1450.[51]

After a gap in the records we next encounter Cutton in the Tudor period. In July 1510 King Henry VIII gave the next presentation of Cutton to Richard, Bishop of Winchester. In 1512 King Henry VIII granted the prebendary, chantries and chapels of Hayes, Kenn and Cutton in the chapel of St. Mary in Exeter Castle to Katherine, widow of William Courtenay, Earl of Devon.[52]

In 1547 the prebend of Cutton was valued at £9 4 shillings 4 pence.[53] On 27th October 1565 Oliver Loveley was instituted as prebendary of Cutton. He possibly held the prebendary until his death in December 1566 but there is no certain information to confirm this.[54]

On 10th March 1607 an Act of Parliament was passed making the manor and prebend of Cutton into a maintenance benefice for a preaching minster who would teach in a free grammar school.[55] It is now a sinecure, in the gift of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart

Prebend of Carswell (Ken)

The prebend of Carswell was valued at 50 shillings in the 1291 papal taxation of Pope Nicholas IV.[56] In 1422 the prebendary was worth 40 shillings.[57]

In around 1291 the prebend of Carswell was held by Philip de Dughton, otherwise known as Philip de Dutton.[58] Lady Eleanor de Courtenay was patron of Carswell after the death of her husband, Hugh de Courtenay in 1292.[59]

There are few notices recording the people who held Carswell but it is recorded that Sir John Aleyne held the prebendary before November 1370 when John Southdone was instituted as his replacement. It is not clear if this was the same John Southdone, rector of Farway in 1346.[60]

Prebend of Ashclyst

The prebend of Ashclyst was located in the parish of Broad Clyst, north-east of Exeter. Ashclyst remained the fourth prebend of the Exeter castle chapel until 1291-2. The former prebend of Ashclyst is identified today with Ashclyst Forest, just north of Broad Clyst village.

In February 1261 Master Thomas de Wimundesham resigned the prebend of Ashclyst for that of Hayes. He was replaced by William de Stanfere. Sir John de Courtenay of Okehampton was patron of Ashclyst in 1261.[61]

Sometime before February 1285 Sir William de Wyreplesdone was prebendary of Ashclyst as well as being a canon in Exeter Cathedral.[62]

In the papal taxation of Pope Nicholas IV (1291) the prebend was worth £2 13 shillings 4 pence and was held by the abbot and convent of Torre.[63] Torre Abbey was well known for its hospitality and became heavily burdened. Bishop Peter Qivil of Exeter (1280-1291) noted that the prebend of Ashclyst, which was under the patronage of Torre, was vacant and to help the finances of the abbey, Bishop Qivil gave Ashclyst (February 1285) for their own use with all rights and appurtenances.[64]

No further information on the later history of Ashclyst is known to this writer and so we await some future discoveries to advance the story.

The road from Ashclyst Forest towards Broad Clyst village

Conclusion

Thus we come to the conclusion of this exploration of the chapel and prebends of Exeter Castle. In future articles we may explore the chapels in other castles.

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End of post

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[1] Hugh Meller, Exeter Architecture (Phillimore, Chichester, 1989), pp. 1, 77
[3] Paul Dryburgh & Beth Hartland (eds.), Calendar of the fine rolls of the reign of Henry III (National Archives, London, 2007), no. 8/185
[5] J.E.E.S. Sharp (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. 2, Edward 1 (Kraus reprint, 1973), No. 71 (p. 51)
[7] Robert Bearman (ed.), Charters of the Redvers family and the Earldom of Devon 1090-1217 (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 37, 1994), p. 182
[8] Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines, vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, 1196-1272 (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, 1912), no. 636
[9] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe (A.D. 1257-1280), & Peter Quivil (A.D. 1280-1291) , Bishops of Exeter with some records of Bishop Thomas de Bytton (A.D. 1292-1307), & the taxation of Pope Nicholas IV A.D. 1291 (George Bell, London, 1889), p. 452
[10] J.E.E.S. Sharp (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. 3, Edward 1 (Kraus reprint, 1973), No. 31 (p. 29)
[11] G.E. Cokayne (ed.), The Complete Peerage (Alan Sutton, Gloucester, 1987), Vol. IV, pp. 323
[12] Rev. Oswald J. Reichel, F.B. Prideaux & H. Tapley-Soper (eds.), Devon feet of fines, vol. 2, 1 Edward I-43 Edward III, 1272-1369 (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, 1939), no. 1169
[13] J.E.E.S. Sharp (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. 8, Edward 1 (Kraus reprint, 1973), No. 273 (p. 198)
[14] E.A. Stamp (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. 14 Edward III (Kraus reprint, 1973), No. 325 (p. 320)
[15] J.L. Kirby & Janet H. Stevenson (eds.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. 21, 6 to 10 Henry V  (Public Record Office, London, 2002), Nos. 350, 941
[16] Kate Parkin (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. 22, 1 to 5 Henry VI  (National Archives, London, 2003), No. 207
[17] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 452
[18] J.E.B. Gover, A. Mawer & F.M. Stenton, The place-names of Devon (2 vols. Cambridge University Press, 1932), pp. 129, 574
[19] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 139
[20] Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines, vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, 1196-1272, no. 635; Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 161
[21] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 139; Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines, vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, 1196-1272, no. 671
[22] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1327-1369), part II, 1331-1360 (3 vols. George Bell, London, 1897), p. 907
[23] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1327-1369), part III, 1360-1369 together with the register of institutions (3 vols. George Bell, London, 1899), p. 1369
[24] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, part 3, p. 1399; A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500 (3 vols. Oxford University Press, 1989), Vol. 1, p. 502
[25] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, part 3, p. 1452; A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500 (3 vols. Oxford University Press, 1989), Vol. 1, pp. 502-3
[26] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, Vol. 2, pp. 907-8
[27] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1420-1455), Part 1: the register of institutions (George Bell, London, 1909), p. 108
[28] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, Vol. 2, p. 908
[29] A.B. Emden, A biographical register of the University of Oxford to A.D. 1500, Vol. 1, pp. 465-6
[30] J.E.B. Gover, A. Mawer & F.M. Stenton, The place-names of Devon, p. 444
[32] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 452
[33] Rev. Oswald J. Reichel (ed.), Devon feet of fines, vol. 1, Richard I-Henry III, 1196-1272, no. 636, note 4
[34] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, pp. 417, 421
[35] W.H. Bliss (ed.), Calendar of the Papal Registers relating to Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 2, 1305-1342 (1895), p. 299
[36] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, part 3, pp. 1355,6
[37] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, part 3, pp. 1370, 1386
[38] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, part 3, p. 1458
[40] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, part 3, pp. 1250, 1501
[41] Joyce M. Horn (ed.), Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541, Vol. 9: Exeter diocese (1964), pp. 36, 39
[42] David Lepine & Nicholas Orme (eds.), Death and memory in medieval Exeter (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 47, 2003), p. 113
[43] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter (A.D. 1420-1455), Part 1: the register of institutions (George Bell, London, 1909), p. 14
[44] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, Part 1, p. 9
[45] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, Part 1, pp. 14, 15
[46] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, Part 1, p. 237
[47] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, Part 1, p. 266
[48] Sir H.C. Maxwell-Lyte & M.C.B. Dawes (eds.), The register of Thomas Bekynton, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1443-1465 (Somerset Record Society, vol. 49, 1934), pp. vii-x, xii, xvi 
[49] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, Part 1, p. 281
[50] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, Part 1, p. 332
[51] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Register of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter, Part 1, p. 353
[52] J.S. Brewer (ed.), Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Vol. 1, 1509-1514 (1920), pp. 316, 521
[53] Chantry roll in the Augmentation Office
[54] Nicholas Orme, The minor clergy of Exeter Cathedral Biographies: 1250-1548 (Devon & Cornwall Record Society, New Series, Vol. 54, 2013), pp. 181, 182
[56] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 452
[57] Kate Parkin (ed.), Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Vol. 22, 1 to 5 Henry VI, No. 207
[58] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 452
[59] Rev. Oswald J. Reichel, F.B. Prideaux & H. Tapley-Soper (eds.), Devon feet of fines, vol. 2, no. 1169
[60] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, part 3, pp. 1356, 1618, note 1
[61] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 139
[62] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 478
[63] Rev. F.C. Hingeston-Randolph (ed.), The Registers of Walter Bronescombe, & Peter Quivil, p. 452
[64] Lawrence S. Snell, The suppression of the religious foundations of Devon and Cornwall (author, 1967), p. 41, note 4