Journey
about 1220 through the Glastonbury Abbey estate
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
In about 1220 Hawysia
Fitz James, sister of Master Henry Fitz James of Glastonbury, went on a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land.[1] This
article records some events that occurred on the Glastonbury Abbey estates in
the year she was away on pilgrimage. The research for this article is greatly
facilitated by the three volumes of The
Great Chartulary of Glastonbury, edited by Dom Aelred Watkin for the
Somerset Record Society (vol. 1 for S.R.S., vol. LIX, 1947; vol. II for S.R.S.,
vol. LXIII, 1952; vol. III for S.R.S., vol. LXIV, 1956). The three volumes
provide a wealth of information on places, events and people across medieval
Somerset and beyond.
Glastonbury
Abbey
From 1200 to 1220
control of Glastonbury Abbey was in dispute between the Abbey and the Bishop of
Bath in which diocese it was situated. In 1198 the election of William Pica was
declared invalid and in 1199 Bishop Savaric of Bath had himself elected as
abbot.[2] In
1200 Bishop Savaric of Bath united Glastonbury Abbey with the see of Bath and
made Glastonbury a cathedral church. The monks of Glastonbury protested against
the union and after the death of Savaric in 1205 King John took up their cause
in the papal court. The Earls and Barons of England along with the Churches of
Bath (the chapter said that Savaric acted against their wishes) and Wells (the
chapter said that Savaric meant well) supported the restoration of Glastonbury.
Pope Innocent III granted the monks leave to rescind the union as soon as a new
bishop of Bath was appointed. But the Interdict of 1208-13 held up matters. In
1215 King John gave Bishop Jocelin of Bath the right to appoint an Abbot to
Glastonbury and the right to have authority over the Abbey in the event of a
vacancy.
In 1218 Pope Honorius
III offered four options to end the union of Glastonbury and Bath. Bishop
Jocelin rejected all four options and imposed his own solution without an
agreement with Glastonbury. On 17th May 1219 Pope Honorius III wrote
to Prior Eustace and the Convent of Glastonbury announcing that the union was
dissolved following a meeting of all parties at Shaftesbury and that
Glastonbury could elect an Abbot but the patronage of the Bishop of Bath was
retained. On 16th February 1227 King Henry III confirmed to Bishop
Jocelin the patronage of Glastonbury Abbey.[3]
Fruits
of the churches dispute 1220
On 25th May
1219 Glastonbury got permission from Pope Honorius to take the whole fruits of
the churches of their advowson for six years because the revenues of the Abbey
were decreased owing to the agreement with Bishop Jocelin. But Richard Poore,
Bishop of Salisbury objected to the workings of this Papal permission.
Both parties came to
Bishop Jocelin of Bath to settle the issue. On 22nd November 1220
Bishop Jocelin decided that the Bishop of the diocese in which the church was
situated should get one third of the fruits, Glastonbury to get half the fruits
and the vicar the remaining sixth. But before this division of the fruits a sum
should be set aside for the ordinary burdens of the church and the vicar was to
manage this fund. Any pensions due to the monks were reserved to them. This
agreement was to hold for six years from the occurrence of a vacancy in each
church and the agreement was to operate in the Dioceses of Bath and Salisbury.[4]
Glastonbury Abbey ruins
The
restored Abbot of Glastonbury
Meanwhile the Pope had
granted permission to elect a new abbot and on 12th June 1219
Brother William of St. Vigor was made the new abbot. He held the position until
his death in September 1223.[5]
After nearly twenty
years without an Abbot, the ancient privileges of Glastonbury were downgraded by
other religious houses. In April 1221 William of St. Vigor was abbot of
Glastonbury when Bishop Jocelin of Bath held a synod. At the synod Robert, the
Prior of Bath, was given precedence over Abbot William. Later in 1221 Prior
Robert wrote to Abbot William to say that the situation did not affect the
rights of either of them.[6]
In September 1223 Prior
Robert was elected the new abbot of Glastonbury with the pressure of Bishop
Jocelin. He was not well received by the monks and more unhappiness continued
until 1234 when Robert resigned as abbot. By then the abbey was in serious
debt. The new abbot, Michael de Ambresbury, slowly restored the standing of
Glastonbury Abbey.[7]
The twenty year battle
for power and money between Glastonbury abbey and the Bishop of Bath, along
with the interdict of Pope Innocent, were possibly contributing factors in the
decline of religious faith among the people in the early thirteenth century. The
pilgrimage of Hawysia Fitz James to the Holy Land rather than just going to
Canterbury or Rome was her way of restoring faith in religion. The interdict of
Pope Innocent was imposed on England in March 1208 as King John fought against
Rome for the control of the English church. The interdict prohibiting clergy
from conducting religious services, with the exception of baptisms for the
young, and confessions and absolutions for the dying. Religious practice was
not restored until 1213.[8]
The
Goldsmith house in Glastonbury
In about 1220 Alfred
the Goldsmith of Ilchester, with the consent of his wife Lucy, and Henry, his
heir, gave to William the Goldsmith of Glastonbury 12d yearly from a house in
Glastonbury provided William paid annually 1lb of cumin to the Abbot and
Convent of Athelney.[9]
Twenty four years later
(c.1244) William the Goldsmith received from Walter the Porter a yearly rent of
18d which Walter received from the holding which was situated near that of
Robert de Grecia. The rent was to be paid before the ninth hour on Hockday and
at Michaelmas. The holding was formerly held by Richard Pasturel. For this
grant William was to give Walter one mark.[10]
This holding and the
documents associated with it take our history back into the twelfth century. Before
1180 William Pasturel, father of Richard, had purchased the holding from
Heruald the Marshal who in turn had received it from Abbot Robert of Winchester.
In about 1180 William Pasturel gave the property to Walter the Porter as a
marriage portion with his daughter, Giliana.[11]
In 1245 Walter the Porter resigned the office of porter to the Abbot of
Glastonbury along with all the property associated with that office.
On 22nd June
1262 William the Goldsmith gave Abbot Robert de Petherton of Glastonbury all
the land, arable and pasture, which he held as part of his office of goldsmith.[12]
Hawysia Fitz James may well have known William the Goldsmith and could have got
a good luck charm from hi before she went on pilgrimage in 1220.
Virgate
in Middlezoy
In about 1220 Adam de
Middlezoy granted to Sir William le Deneys a messuage and virgate in Middlezoy.
The messuage was situated between St. Lawrence churchyard and the highway going
to Weston Zoyland. Sir William gave Adam 5 marks and a robe and had promised to
give 3s to the Abbot of Glastonbury.[13]
In about 1225 William le Deneys granted the messuage south of St. John’s church
and the virgate in Middlezoy to Henry the Carter.[14]
In 1226-7 Edulfus son
of Richard quitclaimed to Henry the Carter a virgate of land in Middlezoy for
which Henry paid Edulfus one mark.[15] It
is not clear if this is the virgate of 1220 or another one. Sometime after
1226-7 Rikilda, daughter of Ralph le Noble quitclaimed all her rights in the
virgate of 1220 in Middlezoy to Henry the Carter which her grandfather held.[16]
In about 1250 Henry the
Carter of Ilchester granted to Hugh le Rous of Ilchester the virgate in
Middlezoy he had from Sir William le Deneys for a rent of 3s to Glastonbury
Abbey and 12d to the Holy Trinity Hospital in Ilchester. In return Hugh le Rous
granted Henry the Carter 5 acres of arable land and 5 acres of meadow in
Ilchester along with 100s.[17]
By 1261-2 Hugh le Rous
held two messuages and eighteen acres of land in Middlezoy which he got from
Thomas son of Robert de Middlezoy and in turn Thomas had the property from his
grandmother, Eva de Sowey. In return Hugh gave Thomas four messuages, one
virgate and eight acres in Middlezoy and Weston.[18]
In about 1269 John, son
of Hugh le Rous, quitclaimed the property to Glastonbury Abbey with the
exception of the marriage portion of Nicholas and Sibilla de Sowy.[19]
In about 1272 Joan de Middlezoy, widow of Hugh le Rous, resigned to Glastonbury
Abbey her one third dower portion of the virgate received from Henry the
Carter.[20]
Going
on pilgrimage
As said above, in about
1220 Hawysia Fitz James went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Medieval
pilgrimage had a religious element but it was also an opportunity for trade and
social contact. Sometimes the social contact was more personal than approved.
Professor Nicholas Orme said on the Time Team excavation on Looe Island in
Cornwall that women getting pregnant with an illegitimate child were sometimes
called ‘going on pilgrimage’ or ‘Going to Jerusalem’.[21] It
is presumed that Hawysia actually did go on pilgrimage and didn’t have an
illegitimate child.
Going on pilgrimage
The
Holy Land in 1220
In 1220, when Hawysia
Fitz James went on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, only part of that country was
under the control of the Crusader kingdoms established after the various
European crusades sent out to free that land from the Islamic states. The
Kingdom of Jerusalem, which included the Holy City, was established in 1099
after the First Crusade captured Jerusalem and the area around it. Over the
next hundred years the Kingdom of Jerusalem expanded and contracted until
finally in 1187 it was virtually wiped out by Saladin.
The Third Crusade, led
by King Richard of England and Philip Augustus of France, retook the coastal
regions of the Holy Land but failed to take Jerusalem. By the Treaty of Ramla
in 1192 Saladin allowed pilgrimages to Jerusalem on condition that after making
their vows the pilgrimages would return home. The Fourth Crusade ended in 1204
with the sack of Constantinople. The Fifth Crusade landed in Egypt in 1218 and
made slow progress and in July 1221 the Crusaders were defeated near Cairo. The
Sixth Crusade finally retook Jerusalem in 1229 without a fight but it was lost
again in 1239 only to be restored to Christian control in 1240.[22]
Thus when Hawysia Fitz
James arrived in the Holy Land in 1220 having travelled overland across Europe
and by ship from Venice or Southern France, Jerusalem was under Muslim control.
The reduced Kingdom of Jerusalem only controlled the coastal areas but here it
was constantly under threat of attack from Damascus or Cairo. After Saladin
took Jerusalem all Christian images and buildings were removed. But by 1219, Al-Mu'azzam,
the Ayyubid ruler of Syria, believed that the city could only be purified by
its complete destruction. In 1219 and 1220 two waves of destruction all but
levelled the city.[23]
Many of the native inhabitants left the city and Hawysia Fitz James would have
seen little of the Holy Places except parts of the Holy Sepulchre.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Hawysia land in Wrington
While Hawysia Fitz
James was away on pilgrimage, her brother, Master Henry Fitz James granted
Thomas, son of Roger de Bourne, one virgate of land at Wrington as the marriage
portion of Henry’s niece Christine. Glastonbury Abbey was to receive 4s per
year from the land and 18d from the larder. If Hawysia returned from her
pilgrimage she was to receive half the virgate. But if Hawysia died on the
journey, Thomas and Christine could retain the whole virgate.[24]
Unfortunately no further documents survive relating to this virgate and thus it
is unknown if Hawysia Fitz James ever returned from her pilgrimage to the Holy
Land.
Wrington was a large
Glastonbury estate lying between Congresbury and Blagdon and mainly situated on
the hills sloping down to the Yeo valley.
Later records show that
the Bourne family were associated with Wrington for many decades after 1220. During
the time of Abbot Michael de Ambersbury (1235-1252) Roger de Bourne held land
in Wrington from Glastonbury and had under-tenants in the Glastonbury rental. The
rental does not mention any Hawysia Fitz James or give any indication of that
any of the tenants are related to her.[25] In
1302-3 William de Bourne granted some property in Wrington and elsewhere to
Robert son of Robert de Brente and Claricia his wife. In 1303-4 William de
Bourne held property there from the Hospital of St. John the Baptist of
Bristol.[26]
Conclusion
The above journey
through the Glastonbury estate in 1220 is only a pin picture of the vast
Glastonbury estate. Many other places were held by the abbey but no documents
survive from these places relating to 1220 when Hawysia Fitz James went on
pilgrimage. Hawysia Fitz James would have known Glastonbury and possibly a
number of the places mentioned. If she ever returned from the Holy Land is
unknown but then medieval people had hopes of going to another place (Heaven)
for fulfilment rather than for ever living on the Glastonbury estate.
==============
End of post
===============
[1]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury (Somerset Record Society, Vol. LXIII, 1952), Vol.
II, p. 546
[3]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury (Somerset Record Society, Vol. LIX, 1947), Vol.
1, pp. 73-94, 188
[4]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. 1, pp. 102, 103
[6]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. 1, p. 8
[9]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 254
[10]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 254
[11]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 250
[12]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 255
[13]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 501
[14]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 501
[15]
Emanuel Green (ed.), Pedes Finium
commonly called Feet of Fines for the County of Somerset, 1196 to 1307
(Somerset Record Society, Vol. VI, 1892), p. 50
[16]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 502
[17]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 497
[18]
Emanuel Green (ed.), Pedes Finium called
Feet of Fines of Somerset, 1196 to 1307, pp. 194, 195
[19]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 498
[20]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury, Vol. II, p. 500
[23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jerusalem_during_the_Crusader_period
accessed on 30 March 2016
[24]
Dom Aelred Watkin (ed.), The Great
Chartulary of Glastonbury (Somerset Record Society, Vol. LXIII, 1952), Vol.
II, p. 546
[25] C.J.
Elton (ed.), Rentalia et Custumaria
Michael de Ambersbury, 1235-1252, et Roger de Ford, 1252-1261, Abbatum
Monasterii Beatae Mariae Glastoniae (Somerset Record Society, Vol. V, 1891),
p. 77
[26]
Emanuel Green (ed.), Pedes Finium called Feet
of Fines of Somerset, 1196 to 1307, pp. 320, 329
