Augustinians at Merton

English Henry of Uppsala

1151/52 Henry accompanies Nicholas Breakespeare, Papal Legate, to Scandinavia.

1153 Consecrated Bishop.

1155 Henry accompanies King Eric The Holy on a Crusade to Finland.


1156 Henry murdered. Henry's thumb with the bishop's ring on it fell into the snow. This ring was found the following summer and is now kept in Turku's Court of Justice. Henry's bones are now in the National Museum, Helsinki.

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Cirencester Abbey Norman Arch.
The future of the only remaining original structure of the Abbey is being debated this year. A decision will be taken to sell or not to sell. The present owner is Cirencester Town Council who as Cirencester Urban District Council were gifted it in the 1960s. ..................................................

Origins of the abbey:-

"1117- HENRY I BEGAN TO BUILD A NEW ABBEY IN CIRENCESTER. 1131 -AUGUSTINIAN CANONS REGULAR ENTERED UNDER THEIR NEW ABBOT, SERLO. THE LINKS WITH MERTON ARE CONFIRMED IN THE INTRODUCTION TO THE TRANSCRIPTION OF THE CARTULARY AND IN THE RECORDS OF MERTON PRIORY." ...................................... August 1121 AD. THE CHARTER of Royal Foundation was granted by King Henry 1:-

In the name of the Holy and undivided Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. In the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and twenty one and of my reign the twenty-second; I Henry, by the Grace of God Almigh, .....have given in perpetuity, and have granted my Crown Ville, viz. Mereton, in the county of Surrey, to the Canons Regular now and hereafter living (viventibus et victuris) in that place, for the building of a church in honour of the ... Virgin Mary ...... I constitute and confirm this Ville to be absolutely free from all earthly power, vexation and inquietude as when it belonged to the Crown ... and also the church and the things which are placed there or may hereafter be conferred, I retain under the royal protection, and as though my own property; and I undertake for its like defence by my royal successors so that no secular power shall be lawful to release it from that hold, nor to inflict any injury or disturbance; saving the Episcopal rights of the Bishop of the church of Winchester in whose diocese it is known to be situated.
Signed by:-
The Queen
Two Archbishops
The Chancellor
14 Bishops
2 Abbots
5 Earls
2 Archdeacons and 1 Dean


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Chronological Events at Merton Priory



1114Dec. Canons arrive from Huntingdon to found new monastery.
1117 Site removed to River Wandle with the founder, Gilbert the Norman, overseeing.
May 3 Inaugural procession with consecrating bishop present.
1118 Queen Matilda visits the new foundation with Prince William.
1120 Nov. White Ship disaster. Prince William drowned.
1125 July 26 Founder dies and body brought to Merton for burial. Nicholas Breakspeare arrives from St Albans to later become an Augustinian Canon.

Daughter monasteries founded by Merton canons.
1120 Taunton(Guy)
1131 Dover.....failed
1121 Plympton (Geoffrey) 1132 St. Lo, Normandy
1122 Holyrood (Alwin) 1149 Twinham (Christchurch)
1123 St. Gregory, Canterbury 1162 Newnham
1124 Bodmin (Guy)
1253 Bilsington
1131 Cirencester (Serlo)

1130 Priory built in stone. Gilbert Becket sends son Thomas to the school.
c1155 Chancellor Becket persuades Henry 11 to complete the building of the church.
1162 Becket elected Archbishop, returns to Merton, chooses Canon Robert as his confessor.
1193 Hubert Walter made canon of Merton following his election as archbishop.
1196 Enlarged Priory completed.
1202 King John visits priory, Richard de Morins, canon of Merton, becomes Prior of Dunstable.
1217 Sept. 18 Peace conference at Kingston between Henry111 (age10) and Dauphin of France.
Priory used for accommodation. The Annals of Merton record that all were present. 1218 Convocation (church council) held at Merton
1222 Tower of Merton fell down in storm. (Annals of Dunstable. III 76)
1228 Priory supplying books to students
1230 Dec. King Henry at Merton. Elias consecrated bishop of Llandaff
1232 Hubert de Burgh sought sanctuary at Merton
1233 King Henry at Merton
1236 Jan.King and nobles present when the Statutes of Merton were formulated.
1237 King at Merton
1239 Ordination at Merton
1240 Stone memorial erected outside precincts to mark death of John Warenne,Earl of Surrey. 1241 New silver seal of monastery introduced. Merton recorded as possessing its own quarry. (H. 106)
1242 Merton holding over 200 estates in 16 English counties
1243 June Severe tempest "as had not been seen at Merton for many years before." (H. 112).
1245 King at Merton
1246 King at Merton
1249 King at Merton
1252 Priory assists Walter de Merton to set up college. (H. 124).
1253 Merton supporting the Arts. Secures a new cope and silver statue.William de Campesete, canon, becomes first prior of Bilsington.
1255 King staying at Merton.
1256 King at Merton. 600 marks bequeathed to priory to build chantry chapel. (H. 130)
1257 King at Merton. Convocation held.
1258 Convocation held at Merton. King's chamber repaired. (H.133)
1258 Merton Priory writes to Pope supporting the canonisation of Edmund Rich (1170-1240)
Gallows erected in Merton
1263 Murderer claimed sanctuary at Merton.
1264 Armed militia of London came to Merton to destroy chancellor Wtr de Merton's property. 1265 Prior summoned to attend Parliament. (H.142) Priory releases advowson of Malden church to Walter de Merton for the House of Scholars of Merton. (H. 143)
1267 Important exchange of properties with Valle abbey, Normandy, giving Merton certain churches in Devon and Cornwall and releasing a church in Caen. (H.147)
1273 Robert Kilwardly consecrated archbishop at Merton (H.154)
1275 Robert Burnell consecrated bishop of Bath and Wells at Merton.(H.156)
1276 General chapter of Augustinian Order held at Leicester under the presidency of the prior of Merton 1280 Over 1500 swine were owned by the Priory in Derbyshire. (H 163)
1282 Commendations of Merton by the archbishop to the Pope "amongst the best of the religious in his Province." (H165)
1300 Golden chalice and ciphus sold for £450 which was paid to pope for the king's debts. (H186)
1301 Edward I borrows £50 from the priory. Merton sells over 200 quarters of grain from Eyton Grange to raise money for subsidy required by Boniface VIII for the Holy Land (H 187)
1305 Visitation made to Merton. Prior Edmund forced to resign but given a place of residence in the precincts.
1306 Convocation held at Merton.
1307 Ordination at Merton (H217) 1310 Merton pleads that it is "manifestly oppressed with poverty". (H202)Merton accused by Pope of making excessive grants and leasing in perpetuity. (H204)
1314 Bishop of Winchester issues injunctions to Merton (H212/3)
1316 Ordination at Merton (H217)
1318 Apostolic Nuncio threatens excommunication's of the Property.
1335 Visitation made. (H232)
1336 Merton owning property ij 22 counties of England. (H239)
1346 King attends a play at Merton (Archaeology xxxi p.43)
1356 Priory provides 52 oaks from its woods near Reading for round table at Windsor (H254)
1376 William of Wykeham seeks refuge at Merton
1387 Bishop issues further injunctions
1393 Nave of church and the Lady Chapel needing repairs
1394 Dormitories require repairs
1395 John de Yakesley, canon, nominated Prior of Reigate, not approved by Pope. (H288)
1412 Privy Council held at Merton
1437 Henry VI crowned at Merton
1485 Cellarer occupying an upper chamber near the dormitory. (H305)
1509 Visitation held at Merton (H318) The Prior is defamed with divers women as specified by name, between whom and him is sprung up no little suspicion (H319)
1522 Forced loan made on all ecclesiastical revenues. The prior of Merton is assessed at 133 other assessments were Reigate 320 Tanridge 320 9h3290
1525 Prior fined at manorial court from grazing an excessive num ber of horses on Wimbledon common. (Wimbledon Court Roll)
1535 Sept. 29 Commissioner Thomas KLeigh at Merton to question brothers as to worthiness.
1536 Mar. 10 Prior affirms that Henry is supreme head, next after God, of the church of England.
(Ecclesie Anglicane immediate post Deum supremo capiti)
1536 The "Valor Ecclesisticus" shows the value of Merton as £9957-19-41/2 p.a.
1538 Apr. 16 Official surrender document signed.
H= A. Heales Records of Merton Priory 1898



Supporting information

1125 Nicholas Breakspeare d 1159

In 1114 Gilbert the Norman founded Merton Priory which attracted many worthy men, and from its early days was able to provide a sound basic education. The father of Breakspeare was a clerk in the King's chamber involved with finance, and no doubt would have known Gilbert who was sheriff of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Surrey.

The suggestion that Nicholas received his early education at Merton was first made by R.L.Poole in 1925.
He refers to a letter of John of Salisbury when he was petitioning Pope Adrian on behalf of the canons of Merton. John, who was virtually the Pope's confessor, reminded him of conversations when Nicholas was a canon at St. Rufus, Avignon and "the sweet savour of the Merton canons reached him and he often reminded John his servant." Nicholas did not make his profession as an Augustinian canon until he was at Avignon but would have been influenced by his early associations with Merton.

1236 The Statutes of Merton - Magna Carta formalised some fundamental freedoms but the written constitution had to wait for the Statutes of Merton (1236) The Provisions of Oxford (1258) and the Provisions of Westminster(1259) The laws made at Merton have always been recognised as the first statute and they apprear as such at the head of the printed Statutes of the Realm.
Footnotes1 R.L.Poole. "The early lives of Robert Pullen and Nicholas Breakspeare" in essays presented to T.F.Tout (ed. A.G.Little and F.M.Powicke) 1925 pp61-702 Letters of John of Salisbury 1 p87
3 A.Harding England in the thirteenth century CUP 1993 p281







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May 1998. The first Nones after the Dissolution.
On 3rd May 1998 at 3p.m. in the presence of 24 invited guests and led by a Roman Catholic priest the first service since 1538 was held in Merton Priory.

St. Mary's Priory, Merton, closed on 16th April 1538. The stones of the Priory were used to construct Nonsuch Palace and since its demise they have been used all over the South of England. The site was eventually built on and a railway from London to Brighton passed through.

Since the 1980s however these buildings have been pulled down and as the railway had come to an end in the 1970s the area was bought and is now under one ownership, which opens up great possibilities.
Since January this year every effort has been made to promote the history of this nationally important site. The Canons Regular of St. Mary's founded ten daughter houses within the first fifty years of their entering into the Priory on May 3rd 1117, a very good record for just fifteen Canons. The Priory was also one of the best schools in England, to which Thomas a Becket was sent because of the excellent teaching of Guy of Merton. Thomas wore the habit of the Canons of Merton when he was Archbishop.
Many men who were involved with the Priory at Merton were giants in their day; Walter de Merton of Merton College Oxford, Nicholas Brakespeare the only English Pope and a great reformer, and Hubert Walter, Justiciar during Richard 1 8217s absence and than Chancellor under King John.
The Medieval floor of one of the buildings is in an unusually rare state of preservation. Hopefully as the importance of Merton Priory becomes more widely known more of the site can be opened up and the history of Merton which is a major part of the history of England will also become as widely known as Stonehenge or Canterbury.


It is truly remarkable that the first service to be held at St Mary's Priory Merton should have been held at the same time, on the same day as the actual first service in 1117. The canons of Merton first entered their new priory on Sunday May 3rd and their first service is the one we use every year.

Merton Priory People

Nicholas Brakespeare

C1100 Born near St.Albans

1125 Arrives at Merton.

1130 Nicholas arrives at St.Rufus Augustinian Priory,Avignon.

(Merton priory built of stone.)

Friend of John of Salisbury, who wrote of conversations he had with Nicholas about the Canons of Merton. Nicholas - ;The sweet savour of the canons of Merton still reaches me.

1137 By now Abbot of St. Rufus Pope Eugene III removed him as being too strict; and made him a Cardinal.

1146 Bishop of Albano.

1152 The Pope created a post for him to fulfil his many gifts and he became a Papal Legate to Scandinavia. His work in Norway and Sweden earned him sainthood among the Scandinavians.

Built cathedral at Hamar and reconstructed the church.

1154 Unanimously elected Pope.

1156 Confirms Martock to the Abbey of Mont St. Michel.

1157 Confirmed a grant of Chelsea Old Church with all its pertinencies to the Abbot and Monastery of Westminster.

1159 Died at Anagni and buried in the Vatican where his tomb may still be seen.



We are assuming that St. Rufus is the son of the man who carried the Cross on Good Friday.

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WALTER DE MERTON founder of Merton College Oxford.

Walter de Basing, the King's " beloved clerk" lived in the first half of the 13th century. He was born near Basingstoke, probably in the parish of St. John's, with the surname Coq or Cook. He was connected with Merton Priory in the County of Surrey [see Lon.Top.Nov. 1999] through links that Basingstoke already had with Merton. He may have been educated there. By the late 1230s he was in Holy Orders and from 1236 he was known as Walter de Merton in the Merton Priory Records.

Circa 1240A.D. he acquired certain manors, the most interesting for this article being the one mentioned in the 1086 Doomsday Book, at Malden. Malden is an ancient Christian site, five miles from Merton Priory, set on a Hill { dune.} It is in Greater London with a Kingston post code -KT4. The Manor House which stands today is known to have 17th century parts. It is reasonable to assume that it is near or on the site of Walter's inherited Manor.

The continuing story of Walter de Merton is next. This article was written for a local magazine and for the 3rd Nones, 2000. Our story begins at the Cross. Moves to Egypt where Christianity was accepted readily and then moves north to Rome with the Christian Theban Legion, arriving in the Rhone Valley in the winter of AD285-286.

It is at this point that our mutual story begins. The Theban Legion, lead by Maurice, were massacred by their fellow Romans as they refused to act towards their Emperor as if he were a God. (All this and their influence throughout Europe may be found on the Internet).

In 515 AD the Abbey of St. Maurice was founded on the site of the massacre where the Body of Christ has been remembered continually since. It is the oldest continually active monastery in Europe. ( A century after the massacre a small Basilica had been built on the site and visited by Martin of Tours in AD397. He valued his relics of the Theban Legion which he was given).

The Abbey of St. Maurice has had a tremendous influence on the Christianity of Europe. Laon adopted the style of worship used at St. Maurice (which came originally from Constantinople). Chartres, Notre Dame and Rheims Cathedrals are built on the plan of Laon. St. Riquier on the Normandy coast also adopted this form of worship.

In the 6th Century St. Vigor, the first Bishop of Bayeaux, founded his Monastery in Cerisy la Foret circa 510. As a friend of St. Vaast (who taught Clovis Christianity) the two have an important part to play in the spread of Christianity. St. Vigor's bones now rest in the monastery at St. Riquier.

After 1066 Pamber Priory was founded from St. Vigor by a member of the de Port family. Cerisy and Port en Bessin, where the de Port family come from, are both in the diocese of Bayeaux. This family are mentioned often between 1186 and 1198 in the Merton Priory Records, sometimes witnessing to signing of deeds connected with St. Maws (St. Maur). [see below]. It could be that the de Port family owe their Christianity to the preaching of St. Vigor, one of the first evangelists of the Bessin area (see guide to St Vigor.)

When William came to England in 1066 he brought with him many Knights from Normandy. William de St. John, from a small village opposite the Mont St. Michel, Hugh de Port, de Harcourt and many others. Their families intermarried and maintained their links with Normandy. In 1132 Merton sent canons to St. Lo (near Cerisy and the Mont St. Michel) to help revitalise it as they owned property in the area. In 1267 a " Thomas de St. Vigore" is mentioned in the Merton Priory Records at the same time as negotiations were being made to exchange property in Valle, near Caen with property in Cornwall.

In 1117 Gilbert the Knight, from Normandy and Godson of the Queen, founded Merton Priory. By the time the Charter (1121) was written the Queen had died and the King, William's son Henry, had married Adeliza of Louvain. (Adeliza came from a Christian family, her father, Geoffrey the Bearded, is remembered in Louvain for his refusal to shave until he had won back his lands. Some of this reclaimed land he gave to an Augustinian group of Religious called the Premonstratentions. Adeliza was therefore familiar with the Augustinian Order)
Merton Priory took the Augustinian Rule (not Premonstratention) which is based on letters written by St. Augustine of Hippo. By this time (1128, AFTER the founding of Merton) St. Maurice in the Rhone Valley was also Augustinian. Of this Rule and its use, results and consequences we are all inheritors. It is on this Rule that Walter de Merton based his own for the ordering of his Scholars at Merton, Oxford.(1274) and is the basis of our collegiate system. The buildings at Oxford that Walter used are still standing. It is under the influence of this Rule that in 1236 the Statutes of Merton (the working out of Magna Carta) were written. It is this Rule that produced the reformer Nicholas Breakespeare and the martyr St. Thomas a Becket.

Basing is mentioned at this period several times in the Merton Priory Records and it is clear that there was much communication between Merton and Basing and Merton looked to Basing for its Canons. Pamber is where the King had his wine cellars so it is no surprise that Brother Henry de Basinges, elected Prior of Merton in 1231 was a sub-cellerar. Brother Henry was Prior of Merton while Magna Carta was discussed and formulated into the eleven Statutes of Merton (still to be seen in the House of Lords) and also when Henry 111 and his Queen were crowned at Merton.

Walter de Merton, a member of the Kluk, (Kuk? or Cook?) family came from the area of Basingstoke, probably Sherborne St. John, the King's " beloved clerk" they had probably met for the first time at Merton where King Henry had his own apartments. Henry stayed at Pamber frequently with his Queen where he may also have had apartments. Later in 1432 Thomas Shirfield also became Prior, at the time when Henry VIth was crowned at Merton.

Pamber is not Augustinian but the links are too many to ignore and the lives of the people who knew both Pamper and Merton, were, in those days inextricably linked. Members of the de Port family [see above] are mentioned in the Merton Priory Records between 1186 and 1198 and three were witnesses in 1198, John de Port, Adam de Port both mentioned in Moira Grant's article on the Alien Benedictine Priory of Monk Sherborne 2002 and Robert de Port. William de Port is mentioned elsewhere.

When the K-BIS Theatre School comes on Saturday 30th March, Easter Saturday, to perform T S.Eliot's " Murder in the Cathedral" at Pamber Priory we shall all be remembering the Cross and its influence on our history, first through the Theban Legion, then St. Augustine of Hippo, Thomas a Becket and then Walter de Merton of Basing, Merton Priory and Oxford University. The life changing power of the same cross in T.S.Eliot's life is seen through the play " Murder in the Cathedral". He studied at Merton College almost exactly eight centuries after Thomas a Becket had trained at Merton. It is fitting that Pamber should be the link between them all.

S.F. on the links between Pamber Priory, Hampshire, and Merton Priory, Surrey. Main source:-The Merton Priory Records. A.Heales. pub. OUP 1898
became so important to the history of Oxford it would be worthwhile doing a thorough archaeological search of this area so as to ascertain exactly where the House of Scholars of Merton originally stood. Much of the surroundings are still as they were in Walter's day and owned by his college at Oxford. They retain the right to appoint the Vicar to St. John the Baptist Parish Church next door.

In 1262 he assigned the management of his Surrey estates to Merton Priory. The money raised was to support his kinsmen and young men from the Winchester diocese in their studies at Oxford. He was Chancellor of all England in 1258 and again in 1260 and thus was in a perfect position to build up his many foundations.

In 1264 he set apart his estate in Malden to support 8 young kinsmen who were to study at Oxford. Henderson notes that the "foundation" was in two parts:- the Domus in Surrey
the Congregatio of the Scholars of Merton at Oxford.

In the Domus lived the Custos, Warden, Fratres, Stewards and Ministers of the Altar. Any problems were to be referred to the Bishop of Winchester in whose Diocese it and Merton Priory lay.
The Domus was to be used for the benefit of qualifying importune students for life. Scholars of passing ill-health were to be cared for by his own hospital in Basingstoke.
From 1265 onwards Walter began to purchase buildings in Oxford to be a permanent site for his scholars. The Surrey Domus was eventually removed to Oxford in 1274 were it became part of Merton College.

I was told when I visited St. John's Malden that all paths led to Merton Priory. I would like to think that this was the case but have been unable to find evidence of this. Again this could be a profitable subject for research.

The sixth service to be held at Merton Priory will be on Sunday 4th May 2003 at 3pm and the focus is on Guy de Merton and Adeliza of Louvain with representatives coming from each area of their influence.

Bibliography.

A History of Basingstoke, F.J. Baigent and J.E.Millard. 1889
History of Merton College. B.W.Henderson 1899
Early Rolls of Merton College, J.R.L.Highfield 1964
The School of Pythagoras { Merton Hall} James Graham- Campbell 1968
The Church on the Hill, Rev. P. Welsh { 1986?]
Merton priory records. OUP 1898 Major Heales.
Parish church of St. John the Baptist, Malden, W. Rowley 1979
Merton College, A. Bott 1993.
Notes by Barbara Webb 2000

General interest links

www.gplslc.free.fr


www.johnnewton.org



Web: www.allhs.org.uk



www.saint-laurence.com website of a "daughter church".




http://chi.gospelcom.net/index.php

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