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120-551: White Ladies Priory (often Whiteladies Priory ), once the Priory of St Leonard at Brewood , was an English priory of Augustinian canonesses , now in ruins, in Shropshire , in the parish of Boscobel , some eight miles (13 km) northwest of Wolverhampton , near Junction 3 of the M54 motorway . Dissolved in 1536, it became famous for its role in the escape of Charles II of England after

240-616: A Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict , as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Bernard of Clairvaux , known as the Latin Rule . They are also known as Bernardines , after Saint Bernard, or as White Monks , in reference to the colour of their cowl , as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines. The term Cistercian derives from Cistercium,

360-406: A nave of five bays, and a chancel of three bays. The transepts were small and without chapels. Today, the lay-out of the building is still easy to discern, although little remains of either transept, and only the north wall of the nave and chancel is fairly intact. There is a fine, round-headed Romanesque arch leading into the north transept, through which the residents would have passed to reach

480-402: A complicated series of lawsuits, including a fine of lands , to transfer to the convent a very small rent (a ninth of the sheaves on three carucates of land) and small piece of land for a weir . This involved settling any competing claim that might come from Wombridge Priory. Some small transfers represented the dowries of canonesses on their admission to the community. Bartholomew Terret gave

600-609: A disaster not only for the Cistercians. Some historians believe that the suppression of the English monasteries may have stamped out an industrial revolution. The reformed Congregation of the Feuillants spread widely in France and Italy in the 16th century. The French congregation of Sept-Fontaines (1654) also deserves mention. In 1663 Jean de Rancé reformed La Trappe (see Trappists ). In

720-548: A distraction from piety, and the builders of the Cistercian monasteries had to adopt a style that observed the numerous rules inspired by his austere aesthetics. However, the order itself was receptive to the technical improvements of Gothic principles of construction and played an important role in its spread across Europe. Cistercian architecture embodied the ideals of the order, and was in theory at least utilitarian and without ornamentation. The same "rational, integrated scheme"

840-400: A fine, a licence for the alienation in mortmain was issued on 18 May from Stirling , where the king was besieging the castle . In July 1315 his son Hugh also secured an inquest into a proposed grant of 30 acres of wood. The inquest found the land to be worth 5 shillings per year. On 1 November, the day he licensed the appropriation of Tibshelf church, Edward II also permitted, for a fine of £5,

960-591: A future Abbot of Clairvaux (to be appointed in 1243), Stephen was one of the outstanding figures in 13th-century Cistercian history, having founded the College of St. Bernard in Paris in 1244. He found his life threatened as a result of the Irish visitations: his representatives were attacked and his party harassed, while the three key houses of Mellifont, Suir and Maigue had been fortified by monks to hold out against him. However, with

1080-699: A large number of men from knightly families, and when King Alfonso VII began looking for a military order to defend the Calatrava , which had been recovered from the Moors a decade before, the Cistercian Abbot Raymond of Fitero offered his help. Lay brothers were to be employed as "soldiers of the Cross" to defend Calatrava. The initial successes of the new order in the Spanish Reconquista were convincing, and

1200-458: A lease of 61 years. It was almost certainly Skeffington who built a house on the site of White Ladies, probably incorporating some of the prioress's residence. When he died in 1550, it would have passed to his wife, Joan, who subsequently married Edward Giffard, son of Thomas Giffard of Chillington, the former seneschal. It is unclear whether Skeffington or Joan or Giffard paid off the Whorwoods, but

1320-464: A letter of 28 May 1536 to Ralph Neville, 4th Earl of Westmorland , this was already earmarked by George Blount , the uncle of the king's illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy . However, White Ladies would do as a substitute, as it would be cheap at only £40 per annum, if "in great decay." Stafford was at Stafford Castle again in March 1537, when Lutcote, a royal household official, was sent with papers dissolving

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1440-739: A new order called the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance , abbreviated as OCSO. The Cistercians who remained within the Order of Cistercians are called the Cistercians of the Common Observance (OCist). In 1098, a Benedictine abbot , Robert of Molesme , left Molesme Abbey in Burgundy with around 20 supporters, who felt that the Cluniac communities had abandoned the rigours and simplicity of

1560-495: A notable form of medieval architecture , and the Cistercians were the main force of technological diffusion in fields such as agriculture and hydraulic engineering . Over the centuries, education and scholarship came to dominate the life of many monasteries. A reform movement seeking a simpler lifestyle began in 17th-century France at La Trappe Abbey , and became known as the Trappists . They were eventually consolidated in 1892 into

1680-560: A servant of the house, who sent for Richard Penderell , who lived in a farm house nearby, and for their elder brother William, who was at Boscobel. After failing to cross the River Severn , Charles returned to the estate on 6 September and spent the day in the grounds of Boscobel House hiding in the famous Royal Oak . Frances Cotton, née Giffard, died shortly after these events, and both White Ladies and Boscobel passed via her daughter, Jane Cotton, who had married Basil Fitzherbert in 1648, to

1800-459: A settlement of her dower in 1256 by suing the prioress for a third part of 100 acres. John de Belmeis petitioned Edward I for permission to grant the priory ten acres of land and ten of wood in Donington and the king ordered an inquest on 1 May 1304. The inquest found that the land was part of a much larger estate John held of Alan la Zouche and that it was worth 3s. 4d. per year. After payment of

1920-585: A small estate at Rudge, near Pattingham but within Shropshire, some time before 1292 as in that year Prioress Sarra (Sarah) sued William de Rugg, the lord of the manor for denying her use of common pasture . Unlike some of the other cases brought to court, this was not a fictitious issue intended to create a record. The jury found that William had contravened his tenants' historic rights and deprived them of pasture they required for their animals through enclosures designed to improve his estate. He counter-sued

2040-425: A time of inflation. In 1521 it was found that, although the priory was actually not in debt, the prioress, probably Margaret Sandford, did not know how to render account and two canonesses claimed they were still owed their monthly incomes. In 1524 the dormitory was reported to be in bad repair. In 1535, White Ladies Priory was reported to have revenues of only £31 1s. 4d. Expenses came to £13 10s. 8d, including £5 for

2160-682: A tract of wild, afforested land known as a refuge for robbers, forty miles east of Troyes , to the order. Bernard, 25 years old at the time, led twelve other monks there, and they founded the Abbey of Clairvaux . The abbey soon attracted zealous young men. At this point, Cîteaux had four daughter houses: Pontigny , Morimond , La Ferté and Clairvaux. In the 1130s and 1140s, the Cistercians expanded into "an order of immense size" by incorporating independent religious communities. The most foundations made by any Cistercian monastery came from Clairvaux. Rein Abbey

2280-500: A virgate in Lawley as dowry for his sister Gundred. Richard de Harley and his wife Burga went to considerable trouble and expense to donate property and rights to the priory, the most important being the advowson of Bold church, which was in southern Shropshire and part of the Diocese of Hereford . On 11 May 1309 Bishop Swinefield asked the dean and chapter of Hereford Cathedral to approve

2400-523: Is based on the list given in the Victoria County History account of the priory. Priory In pre-Reformation England , if an abbey church was raised to cathedral status, the abbey became a cathedral priory. The bishop , in effect, took the place of the abbot, and the monastery itself was headed by a prior. Priories first came to existence as subsidiaries to the Abbey of Cluny . Many new houses were formed that were all subservient to

2520-506: Is now accepted that the priory belonged to the Augustinian order. John Leland was commissioned in 1533 by Henry VIII to investigate the libraries of religious houses in England. As part of his duties, he visited White Ladies shortly after its dissolution in 1536. He originated the false idea that White Ladies was a Cistercian house. Certainly Cistercians wore a white habit, while the color of

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2640-527: The Battle of Worcester in 1651. The name 'White Ladies' refers to the canonesses who lived there and who wore white religious habits . The origins and exact date of foundation of the priory are not known: the latter part of the 12th century is generally accepted as the period of establishment. The surviving ruins show work typical of the late 12th century, and the first documentary evidence dates from 1186 or earlier. In it, Emma, daughter of Reynold of Pulverbatch, in

2760-456: The Black Monks . Cistercian influence more than kept pace with the material expansion. St. Bernard had become mentor to popes and kings, and in 1145, King Louis VII 's brother, Henry of France , entered Clairvaux. That same year, Bernard saw one of his monks elected pope as Pope Eugene III . Eugene was an Italian of humble background, who had first been drawn to monasticism at Clairvaux by

2880-506: The Cârța Monastery . By the end of the 13th century, the Cistercian houses numbered 500. In this period, the monks performed pastoral tasks in and outside of the monastery and began preaching and teaching, even though their movement originally forbade schools and parishes. At the order's height in the 15th century, it would have nearly 750 houses. It often happened that the number of lay brothers became excessive and out of proportion to

3000-511: The Dukes of Burgundy , working out a deal with Duke Odo I of Burgundy concerning the donation of a vineyard ( Meursault ) as well as materials for building the abbey church, which was consecrated on 16 November 1106 by the Bishop of Chalon sur Saône . On 26 January 1108, Alberic died and was succeeded by Stephen Harding, the man responsible for carrying the order into its crucial phase. Harding framed

3120-538: The Premonstratensians , and the military orders distinguish between conventual and simple or obedientiary priories. Priory is also used to refer to the geographic headquarters of several commanderies of knights . Cistercian The Cistercians ( / s ɪ ˈ s t ɜːr ʃ ən z / ), officially the Order of Cistercians ( Latin : (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis , abbreviated as OCist or SOCist ), are

3240-610: The Rule of St. Benedict . Chief among Robert's followers included Alberic , a former hermit from the nearby forest of Colan, and Stephen Harding , a young monk from England. Stephen had experienced the monastic traditions of the Camaldolese and Vallombrosians before joining Molesme Abbey. On 21 March 1098, Robert's small group acquired a plot of marshland just south of Dijon called Cîteaux ( Latin: "Cistercium". Cisteaux means reeds in Old French ), given to them expressly for

3360-550: The Zbraslav abbey (Latin: Aula Regia , "Royal Hall"), founded in 1292 by the King of Bohemia and Poland , Wenceslas II . The order also played the main role in the early Gothic art of Bohemia; one of the outstanding pieces of Cistercian architecture is the Alt-neu Shul , Prague. The first abbey in the present day Romania was founded on 1179, at Igris (Egres) , and the second on 1204,

3480-461: The Zouche family, who were also associated with White Ladies. However, there is no documentary evidence connecting any known figure to the founding of White Ladies: only clues in the historical context. No lay person claimed the right to nominate or approve the appointment of a prioress, or to exploit the estates during vacancies: only the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield ever intervened. The dedication

3600-400: The cloister and the monastery . The windows on the north side are largely intact, making it easy to identify the bays of both nave and chancel. The south wall would have been windowed in the same way. It seems that the stone for the church was obtained locally – perhaps even in a field adjacent to the site, as one of the fish ponds seems to have been created from a quarry scoop. The priory

3720-496: The seneschal , at that time Thomas Giffard drawing a fee of 16s. 8d., and the chaplain, who was paid £5. Generally the convent was autonomous, but this was subject to the inspection and confirmation of the ordinary , in this case the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. Roger Northburgh was a particularly activist bishop, a zealous administrator and intermittently powerful politician. In 1326 Northburgh intervened when two canonesses, Elizabeth la Zouche and Alkice de Kallerhale, left

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3840-534: The transepts for private prayer, and an aisled nave that was divided roughly in the middle by a screen to separate the monks from the lay brothers. The building projects of the Church in the High Middle Ages showed that the era encourage colossal architecture, with vast amounts of stone being quarried; the same was true of the Cistercian projects. Foigny Abbey was 98 metres (322 ft) long, and Vaucelles Abbey

3960-447: The 16th century, White Ladies, like other religious houses, found itself with most of its land on long-term leases at low fixed rents, leaving it barely able to meet outgoings. When the priory property was sold in 1540, some of these long leases were revealed: a lease of 1471 in the reign of Edward IV , was for 99 years, so would not expire until well into the reign of Elizabeth I . Unable to adjust its rents upwards to allow for inflation,

4080-437: The 17th century another great effort at a general reform was made, promoted by the pope and the king of France; the general chapter elected Richelieu to be (commendatory) abbot of Cîteaux, thinking he would protect them from the threatened reform. In this they were disappointed, for he threw himself wholly on the side of reform. A formidable battle ensued, making it clear that Italian and Central European abbeys did not want to go

4200-570: The 18th–19th centuries. The first Cistercian abbey in Bohemia was founded in Sedlec near Kutná Hora in 1142. In the late 13th century and early 14th century, the Cistercian order played an essential role in the politics and diplomacy of the late Přemyslid and early Luxembourg state, as reflected in the Chronicon Aulae Regiae . This chronicle was written by Otto and Peter of Zittau , abbots of

4320-569: The Anglo-Norman invasion gives a rather gloomy impression. Absenteeism among Irish abbots at the General Chapter became a persistent and much criticised problem in the 13th century, and escalated into the conspiratio Mellifontis , a "rebellion" by the abbeys of the Mellifont filiation. Visitors were appointed to reform Mellifont on account of the multa enormia that had arisen there, but in 1217

4440-466: The Archdeacon of Stafford to carry out the installation. When Prioress Alice Wood retired in 1498, she was assigned the income from Tibshelf, about a fifth of the total revenues, as a pension, but Bishop Arundel required that she pay for her own food if she stayed at Brewood. From about that date, serious decline seems to have set in – probably because most of the income came from leases at fixed rents in

4560-449: The Augustinian habit could vary, the primary element being the wearing of a white, linen rochet , similar to that of the canons. However, the register of Richard Swinefield , a 14th-century Bishop of Hereford , clearly refers to transferring rights to prioressse et conventui albarum monialium sancti Leonardi de Brewod, Coventrensis et Lichefeldensis diocesis, ordinis sancti Augustini : "the prioress and convent of St Leonard of Brewood, (in

4680-505: The Cistercian white mantle with the scarlet cross fleurdelisée . Calatrava was not subject to Cîteaux, but to Fitero's mother-house, the Abbey of Morimond in Burgundy. By the end of the 13th century, the knights had become a major autonomous power within the Castilian state, subject only to Morimond and the pope. They had abundant resources of men and wealth, lands and castles scattered along

4800-684: The Cistercians and founded a new order, named the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance. The Cistercians that remained within the original order thus came to be known as the "Common Observance". Cistercian architecture has made an important contribution to European civilisation. Cistercian foundations were primarily constructed in Romanesque and Gothic architecture during the Middle Ages; although later abbeys were also constructed in Renaissance and Baroque . St. Bernard saw church decoration as

4920-468: The East Midlands, the priory held many very small pieces of property, mostly donated by local families, around Brewood and scattered across Shropshire to its south and west. On 6 October 1254, for example, Philip de Beckbury, in response to a fine levied at Westminster , agreed to pay the priory one mark annually as rent for two mills at Beckbury . In 1256 William de Ercall , and Prioress Agnes engaged in

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5040-460: The Elbe. They developed grants of territories of 180,000 acres where they would drain land, build monasteries and plan villages. Many towns near Berlin owe their origins to this order, including Heiligengrabe and Chorin ; its Chorin Abbey was the first brick-built monastery in the area. By this time, however, "the Cistercian order as a whole had experienced a gradual decline and its central organisation

5160-569: The English improved the standing of the Cistercian Order in Ireland with nine foundations: Dunbrody Abbey , Inch Abbey , Grey Abbey , Comber Abbey , Duiske Abbey , Abington, Abbeylara and Tracton . This last abbey was founded in 1225 from Whitland Abbey in Wales, and at least in its earliest years, its monks were Welsh-speaking . By this time, another ten abbeys had been founded by Irishmen since

5280-593: The Fitzherbert family of Norbury Hall , Derbyshire. Part of the house was still standing in 1791, as shown in a sketch by Edward Williams, vicar of St Mary Magdalene's Church, Battlefield . The estate and Boscobel were sold to Walter Evans, a Derbyshire industrialist, in 1812, but the Fitzherbert family retained the White Ladies site. In 1884, the head of the Fitzherbert family became Lord Stafford , and in 1938 Edward Fitzherbert, 13th Baron Stafford placed White Ladies in

5400-455: The Giffard family, living at different places in the neighbourhood and caring for some houses such as White Ladies Priory and Boscobel House , which is about a mile away. Charles Giffard, a cousin of Frances, escorted King Charles to White Ladies Priory early on 4 September 1651, after riding through the night after the Battle of Worcester the previous day. They were admitted by George Penderell,

5520-728: The Irish-establishment of Abbeyknockmoy in County Galway was founded by King of Connacht , Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair , who died a Cistercian monk and was buried there in 1224. By 1152, there were 54 Cistercian monasteries in England, few of which had been founded directly from the Continent. Overall, there were 333 Cistercian abbeys in Europe, so many that a halt was put to this expansion. Nearly half of these houses had been founded, directly or indirectly, from Clairvaux, so great

5640-458: The Latin name for the locale of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was here that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098. The first three abbots were Robert of Molesme , Alberic of Cîteaux and Stephen Harding . Bernard helped launch a new era when he entered the monastery in the early 1110s with 30 companions. By the end of the 12th century,

5760-488: The Rhineland. On one occasion the abbot of La Trinité at Vendôme loaned a monk named John to the Bishop of Le Mans , Hildebert de Lavardin , for the building of a cathedral; after the project was completed, John refused to return to his monastery. However, the monks did not construct their edifices alone. As early as 1133, St. Bernard was hiring workers to help the monks erect new buildings at Clairvaux. An illustration from

5880-480: The Rule of St. Benedict and never required a vow of silence . In the year of 1113, a charismatic young Burgundinian nobleman named Bernard arrived at Cîteaux with 35 of his relatives and friends to join the monastery. As Bernard's fame grew, the Cistercian movement grew with it. A supremely eloquent, strong-willed mystic, Bernard was to become the most admired churchman of his age. In 1115, Count Hugh of Champagne gave

6000-607: The Welsh stock-rearing economy. In Yorkshire , Rievaulx Abbey was founded from Clairvaux in 1131, on a small, isolated property donated by Walter Espec , with the support of Thurstan , Archbishop of York . By 1143, three hundred monks had entered Rievaulx, including the famous St Ælred . It was from Rievaulx that a foundation was made at Melrose , which became the earliest Cistercian monastery in Scotland . Located in Roxburghshire , it

6120-528: The West Midlands. There were also properties in Calverton and Tibshelf. The demesne and other lands around Brewood brought in £10 9s. 6d. Mountford was very valuable, bringing in £8, and it was followed by Tibshelf, worth £5 6s. 8d., and Calverton, £2. A small property at Highley was the only other property worth more than a pound: £1 10s. 8d. The church building was a simple cruciform , sandstone structure, with

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6240-616: The abbey of Cluny and called Priories. As such, the priory came to represent the Benedictine ideals espoused by the Cluniac reforms as smaller, lesser houses of Benedictines of Cluny. There were likewise many conventual priories in Germany and Italy during the Middle Ages , and in England all monasteries attached to cathedral churches were known as cathedral priories. The Benedictines and their offshoots ( Cistercians and Trappists among them),

6360-410: The abbey would find its grounding. Robert had been the idealist of the order, and Alberic was their builder. Upon assuming the role of abbot, Alberic moved the site of the fledgling community near a brook a short distance away from the original site. Alberic discontinued the use of Benedictine black garments in the abbey and clothed the monks in white habits of undyed wool. Alberic forged an alliance with

6480-529: The abbot refused their admission and had lay brothers bar the abbey gates. There was also trouble at Jerpoint, and alarmingly, the abbots of Baltinglass, Killenny, Kilbeggan and Bective supported the actions of the "revolt". In 1228, the General Chapter sent the Abbot of Stanley in Wiltshire , Stephen of Lexington , on a well-documented visitation to reform the Irish houses. A graduate of both Oxford and Paris , and

6600-507: The arrangement was approved by the General Chapter at Cîteaux and successive popes; the Knights of Calatrava were given a definitive rule in 1187, modeled upon the Cistercian rule for lay brothers, which included the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience ; specific rules of silence; abstinence on four days a week; the recitation of a fixed number of Pater Nosters daily; to sleep in their armour ; and to wear, as their full dress,

6720-489: The borders of Castile, and feudal lordship over thousands of peasants and vassals. On more than one occasion, the Order of Calatrava brought to the field a force of 1200 to 2000 knights – considerable in medieval terms. Over time, as the Reconquista neared completion, the canonical bond between Calatrava and Morimond relaxed more and more, and the knights of the order became virtually secularized, finally undergoing dissolution in

6840-533: The boundaries of Brewood parish. The priory was in an extra-parochial area , and its location gives no clues to the identity of its founder. The priory acquired the church and some tithes at Montford very early in its history. So it is possible that the Lacy family or the FitzAlans, who succeeded them as holders of the manor of Montford with Forton, may have been important in its founding. William FitzAlan, Lord of Oswestry

6960-464: The care of the Office of Works , a government department. Whilst the priory is now gone, the remains of its medieval church and the 19th-century boundary wall of the small graveyard still remain and are currently under the care of English Heritage . The graveyard was used by Catholic families until 1844, when St Mary's church at Brewood was consecrated. The following list, which is inevitably incomplete,

7080-506: The chaplain. The next year's figures were almost identical. This brought White Ladies well under the threshold of the Suppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 , which dissolved all houses worth less than £200 per annum, clear of expenses. Local magnates and speculators began to manoeuvre for the property before the priory was dissolved. Lord Stafford really wanted Ranton Priory , close to his own residence at Stafford, but, as he explained in

7200-445: The church: essentially taking over the tithes and employing a vicar to serve the church and its congregation. In order to obtain a licence from Edward II to appropriate the church into mortmain , the prioress and convent had to part with a fine of £10, a very large sum for the priory at any stage in its history. The licence was duly granted on 1 November 1315. Evidently the details of the transaction took some time to work out, as it

7320-546: The control of royal forest officials. Another relatively distant possession of White Ladies was the church at Tibshelf in Derbyshire , the advowson of which must have been granted early in the history of the priory. In 1291 the Taxatio Ecclesiastica of Pope Nicholas IV assessed the rectory as worth £8 but also recorded £1 going to the nuns of Brewood. Early in the following century the priory moved to appropriate

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7440-452: The diocese of Coventry and Lichfield,) of the Order of St Augustine." Leland's mistake led William Dugdale and some subsequent authors to include it among the houses of that order. The white habit made it easy to distinguish between the canonesses of St Leonard's Priory and the black-clad nuns of the Benedictine house that lay a short distance to the east in Brewood parish, Staffordshire, which

7560-591: The dissolution, the Valor Ecclesiasticus reported Tibshelf bringing in £5 6s. 8d. However, to continue holding the rectory, the priory was required to pay a pension of 20 shillings a year to the vicars of Lichfield cathedral, a condition not mentioned in Langton's ordinance but in force by 1402 at the latest, as in that year the Archdeacon of Stafford 's court passed an ordinance on its payment. Beside its holdings in

7680-449: The election of Alice de Harley to replace Joan. He cancelled the election and, having heard of the suitability of Alice for the post, re-appointed her on his own authority and mandated his own chaplain to induct her. Northburgh also instigated a canonical visitation of White Ladies while Alice de Harley was prioress, probably in 1338. She was censured for expensae voluptariae , expenditure on pleasure, relating to her extravagant dress and

7800-445: The end they prospered. Already by 1152, Fountains had many offshoots, including Newminster Abbey (1137) and Meaux Abbey (1151). In the spring of 1140, Saint Malachy , the archbishop of Armagh, visited Clairvaux, becoming a personal friend of Abbot Bernard and an admirer of Cistercian life. He left four of his companions to be trained as Cistercians, and returned to Ireland to introduce Cistercian monasticism there. Mellifont Abbey

7920-423: The full observance of the Cistercian way of life, safeguard monastic properties, initiate a regime of benign paternalism to train a new generation of religious, isolate trouble-makers and institute an effective visitation system." The arrangement lasted almost half a century, and in 1274, the filiation of Mellifont was reconstituted. In Germany the Cistercians were instrumental in the spread of Christianity east of

8040-431: The future course of western monachism . From one point of view, it may be regarded as a compromise between the primitive Benedictine system, in which each abbey was autonomous and isolated, and the centralization of Cluny . The Cistercians maintained the independence of individual houses: each abbey had its own abbot, elected by its own monks, and its own property and finances administered without outside interference. On

8160-438: The grant of 30 acres to the priory by Hugh de Beumeys. The priory, like other monastic houses, was not immune from the changes in the economic climate and generally sought to adjust. For example, the expanding population and rising market of the 13th century meant that pasture land was brought under increasingly close management, which posed dangers for small landholders and tenants, like White Ladies. The priory must have acquired

8280-440: The help of his assistants, the core of obedient Irish monks and the aid of both English and Irish secular powers, he was able to envisage the reconstruction of the Cistercian province in Ireland. Stephen dissolved the Mellifont filiation altogether, and subjected 15 monasteries to houses outside Ireland. In breadth and depth, his instructions constituted a radical reform programme: "They were intended to put an end to abuses, restore

8400-410: The initiative passed to the mendicant orders , in Ireland, Wales and elsewhere. Relaxations were gradually introduced into Cistercian life with regard to diet and simplicity of life. Also, they began accepting the traditional sources of income that monks in comparable orders used: like rents, tolls, and benefices. The agricultural operations were blessed by success. Wealth and splendour characterized

8520-421: The invasion, bringing the total number of Cistercian houses in Ireland to 31. This was almost half the number of those in England, but it was about thrice the number in each of Scotland and Wales. Most of these monasteries enjoyed either noble, episcopal or royal patronage. In 1269, the Archbishop of Cashel joined the order and established a Cistercian house at the foot of the Rock of Cashel in 1272. Similarly,

8640-534: The keeping of canes venatici , greyhounds or other hunting dogs , in the convent, and for a general laxity of discipline. She was warned not to admit more nuns than the house's revenues could support and to cut out unnecessary expenditure. Alice died in 1349, shortly after the initial onset of the Black Death, and the chapter agreed to submit the election of her successor, Beatrice de Dene, to Northburgh. On 29 July he issued an ordinance appointing Beatrice and ordering

8760-454: The magnetism of Bernard. At the time of his election, he was Abbot of Saints Vincenzo and Anastasio outside Rome. A considerable reinforcement to the Order was the merger of the Savigniac houses with the Cistercians, at the insistence of Eugene III . Thirteen English abbeys, of which the most famous were Furness Abbey and Jervaulx Abbey , thus adopted the Cistercian formula. In Dublin ,

8880-480: The manor of Blymhill , which neighboured the priory demesne . The situation changed greatly after the agrarian crisis of 1315–22 and even more so after the onset of the Black Death in Shropshire during Spring 1349. The overall result was to encourage leasing of demesnes, a trend that affected monastic estates as much as those of lay landholders. This persisted for more than a century and, when prices began to rise in

9000-401: The monasteries, so that by 1300, the standard of living in most abbeys was comparable, if not higher, than the standards middling nobles enjoyed. Two important papal bulls tried to introduce reforms: Clement IV's Parvus fons and Benedict XII's Fulgens sicut stella matutina . The General Chapter continued to battle against abuses. In Ireland, the information on the Cistercian Order after

9120-464: The north wall of the church. Charles II commissioned a painting of the later house around 1670, and details of the painting suggest that it may have incorporated parts of the prioress' residence, which must have stood west of the main priory buildings and cloister. The priory normally supported five canonesses and a prioress, although there would also have been some servants, both lay and clerical, resident and non-resident. Chief among these in 1535 were

9240-464: The order accepted developed land and relocated the serfs elsewhere. The outlines of the Cistercian reform were adumbrated by Alberic, but it received its final form in the Carta caritatis ( Charter of Charity ), which was the defining guide on how the reform was to be lived. This document governed the relations between the various houses of the Cistercian order, and exercised a great influence also upon

9360-596: The order had spread throughout most of Europe. The keynote of Cistercian life was a return to literal observance of the Benedictine Rule. The reform-minded monks tried to live monastic life as they thought it had been in Benedict 's time; at various points they went beyond it in austerity. They returned to manual labour, especially agricultural work in the fields. The Cistercians made major contributions to culture and technology: Cistercian architecture has been recognized as

9480-544: The original version of the Cistercian constitution, soon to be called the Carta Caritatis ( Charter of Charity ). Although it was revised on several occasions to meet contemporary needs, from the outset it emphasised a simple life of work, love, prayer and self-denial. The Cistercians soon came to distinguish themselves from Benedictines by wearing white or grey tunics instead of black; white habits are common for reform movements. Much of Cistercian reform took place against

9600-695: The original vertical descent of authority produced "a system of centralized national control" much closer to that of the Premonstratensians or mendicants . The first Cistercian house to be established in Britain, a monastery at Waverley Abbey , Surrey, was founded by William Gifford, Bishop of Winchester in 1128. It was founded with 12 monks and an abbot from L'Aumône Abbey , in the South of France. By 1187 there were 70 monks and 120 lay brothers in residence. Thirteen Cistercian monasteries, all in remote locations, were founded in Wales between 1131 and 1226. The first of these

9720-649: The other half subsequently by Prioress Cecilia, also at 5 shillings. White Ladies must have held 12 bovates of land at Calverton in Nottinghamshire from early in its history but in 1212 a charter of King John removed all secular demands and obligations stemming from it. Issued during the Interdict , this demonstration of the king's piety was witnessed by a group of notables, headed by a favourite, William d'Aubigny, 3rd Earl of Arundel . This foothold in Sherwood Forest

9840-459: The other hand, all the abbeys were subjected to the General Chapter , the constitutional body which exercised vigilance over the order. Made up of all the abbots, the General Chapter met annually in mid-September at Cîteaux . Attendance was compulsory, with the abbot of Cîteaux presiding. He was to enforce conformity to Cîteaux in all details of monastic observance, liturgy, and customs. Cîteaux

9960-424: The prioress and others for breaking down his fence. However, Sarah and the other tenants won their cases. It seems that White Ladies was dogged in defending common pasture. In 1305 the prioress of the time, possibly still Sarah, arraigned an assize of novel disseisin to assert her rights against William Wycher, who seems to have been particularly aggressive in enclosing commons after taking control through marriage of

10080-711: The priory had little left to pay for repairs and the condition of the buildings suffered. By the Dissolution, White Ladies had lands, property or rights at Brewood, Bridgnorth, Beckbury, Berrington , Chatwall (in Cardington ), Donington, High Ercall, Clee St. Margaret , Humphreston (in Donington), Ingardine (in Stottesdon ), Highley , Rudge, Haughton (probably in Shifnal ), Sutton Maddock, Tong , Shrewsbury, Montford and other villages in

10200-478: The priory with Archbishop Hubert Walter . Eyton thought the priory a Cistercian house, which is now known to be incorrect, but his documentary research still gives the earliest known date by which it must have been founded. Emma's grant placed the priory in Brewood , which is in the neighbouring part of Staffordshire , not Shropshire: it was simply the nearest village of any size and the priory has never lain within

10320-511: The priory, but he considered the asking price too high for all interested parties and wrote to Thomas Cromwell restating his interest in Ranton. There were still four canonesses in residence early in 1538. By May, however, the dissolution was complete, and in July the king's grants included several relating to White Ladies. A pension of £5 went to the prioress, Margaret Sandford (rendered as Stamford), while

10440-421: The priory. He arranged for a notice to be read in churches, making clear that they should, when found, be admonished to return within ten days and threatening both them and their abettors with excommunication . It is possible that there were problems with leadership in the priory, as Prioress Joan de Hugford resigned in 1332. On 29 May Northburgh intervened again when he discovered that there had been informality in

10560-514: The process of giving land to Haughmond Abbey near Shrewsbury , mentions that she has already granted a virgate of land in Beobridge to the white nuns of Brewood. The publication of this information by the important Shropshire historian Robert William Eyton in 1856 directly contradicted his own conviction, published only a year earlier, of a date in the reigns of Richard I of England or John , as well as casting into doubt older traditions linking

10680-464: The property certainly became part of the Giffard family's estates. After Edward, White Ladies passed to his son, John, who extended the old farm buildings north of the priory site to create Boscobel House about 1630. In 1651, it belonged to John Giffard's daughter, Frances Cotton, at that time a widow. The Giffards were Catholics and the most important Recusants in the area. They were strong supporters of

10800-431: The purpose of founding their Novum Monasterium . During the first year, the monks set about constructing malodging areas and farming the lands of Cîteaux, making use of a nearby chapel for Mass . In Robert's absence from Molesme, however, the abbey had gone into decline, and Pope Urban II , a former Cluniac monk, ordered him to return. The remaining monks of Cîteaux elected Alberic as their abbot, under whose leadership

10920-478: The resources of the monasteries, there being sometimes as many as 200, or even 300, in a single abbey. On the other hand, in some countries, the system of lay brothers in course of time worked itself out; thus in England by the close of the 14th century it had shrunk to relatively small proportions, and in the 15th century the regimen of the English Cistercian houses tended to approximate more and more to that of

11040-771: The reversion not just the site and demesne of the priory, but those of a number of other former White Ladies estates and other monastic property in the region. These included some on 21 and 31 year leases, granted by the Crown in 1538 but some much on much earlier, very long leases at low rents. In 1471 Prioress Joan Shirley had let a messuage in Overton, Shropshire for 99 years at a rent of 6s. 8d., while in 1484 she had let another at Humphreston in Albrighton for 81 years at 7s. 8d. Prioresses Margaret Cowper had in 1499 let property at Rudge for 70 years and as late as 1529 Margaret Sandford had granted

11160-440: The rivalry with the famous Benedictine abbey of Cluny, where wealth and excess were said to have set in. Harding acquired land for the abbey to develop to ensure its survival and ethic. As to grants of land, the order would normally accept only undeveloped land, which the monks then developed by their own labour. For this they developed over time a very large component of uneducated lay brothers known as conversi . In some cases,

11280-546: The royalist cause in the English Civil War . Their servants too were all Catholic. White Ladies was not occupied by Frances Cotton during the escape of Charles II . It was being run by housekeepers and servants. Among the tenants of the estate were five brothers called Penderell. (There had been six but one was killed at the Battle of Edgehill .) The Penderell family were small farmers but the sons seem to have worked part of their time as woodmen, farm servants and retainers of

11400-650: The scene of violence and destabilization following Martin Luther 's efforts to gain independence from the Vatican. Many abbeys lost scores of monks, as these left religious life in order to marry. Monastic property was confiscated by nobles who saw an opportunity to proift from the chaos. During the English Reformation , Henry VIII 's Dissolution of the Monasteries saw the confiscation of evey single monastery in that country,

11520-441: The site went to William Skeffington (also Skevington) of Wolverhampton and a number of the smaller estates were leased. The reversion was sold to in 1540 William Whorwood and his wife, Margaret. Whorwood was then Solicitor General but soon to be appointed Attorney General . This made the Whorwoods the effective owners of White Ladies, but Skeffington retained the 21 lease at an annual rent of £10 9s. 6d. The Whorwoods purchased

11640-487: The strength of the order which derived from this uniformity declined. Wars, amon them the Hundred Years' War , and a lack of leadership did damage. Many of the monasteries were controlled by dynasties who appointed their relatives to leadership positions, and pocketed the abbeys' profits. The system of placing abbeys in commendam was widespread and led to the spiritual and material decline of many abbeys. Germany became

11760-399: The transfer of the advowson from Harley to White Ladies. He issued an ordinance to this effect on 3 August. As it involved an alienation in mortmain, the transfer required royal approval, and this could only be secured through payment of a fine. Edward II's licence was issued on 6 August, permitting the transfer of a messuage and half a virgate of land at Bold, in addition to the advowson. This

11880-481: The two Savigniac houses of Erenagh and St Mary's became Cistercian. It was in the latter case that medieval Dublin acquired a Cistercian monastery in the very unusual suburban location of Oxmantown , with its own private harbour called The Pill. For a hundred years, until the first quarter of the 13th century, the Cistercians supplanted Cluny as the most powerful order and the chief religious influence in western Europe. But then in turn their influence began to wane, as

12000-521: The way of the Trappists. Civic politics also played a role in the conflict. The Protestant Reformation , the ecclesiastical policy of Emperor Joseph II , the French Revolution , and the revolutions of the 18th century almost wholly destroyed the Cistercians. But some survived, and from the beginning of the last half of the 19th century there was a considerable recovery. In 1892, the Trappists left

12120-430: The world. In 1133, Heiligenkreuz Abbey was founded near Vienna by Morimond monks; it is (as of 2024) the largest men's abbey in Europe. The order entrusted the oversight of the English, Welsh and (intermittently) Irish abbeys to two or more abbots-commissary, thereby abrogating the famous Cistercian system of filiation: not the mother abbeys, but the abbots-commisary had full powers of visitation. This variation on

12240-479: Was Tintern Abbey , which was sited in a remote river valley, and depended largely on its agricultural and pastoral activities for survival. Other abbeys, such as at Neath , Strata Florida , Conwy and Valle Crucis became among the most hallowed names in the history of religion in medieval Wales. Their austere discipline seemed to echo the ideals of the Celtic saints , and the emphasis on pastoral farming fit well into

12360-454: Was 132 metres (433 ft) long. Monastic buildings came to be constructed entirely of stone, right down to the most humble of buildings. In the 12th and 13th centuries, even Cistercian barns consisted had stone exteriors. The Cistercians acquired a reputation as masters in administering ecclesial construction projects. St. Bernard's own brother, Achard , is known to have supervised the construction of many abbeys, such as Himmerod Abbey in

12480-411: Was St Bernard's influence and prestige. He later came popularly to be regarded as the founder of the Cistercians, who have often been called Bernardines. Bernard died in 1153, one month after his pupil Eugene III. In 1153, the first King of Portugal, D. Afonso Henriques (Afonso, I), founded Alcobaça Monastery . The original church was replaced by the present construction from 1178. The abbey's church

12600-462: Was a powerful marcher lord , closely associated with the cause of Empress Matilda during the Anarchy , who was a prominent and generous supporter of Shropshire's Augustinian houses. He was closely associated with the founding of Haughmond Abbey, while Wombridge Priory was founded by his vassals with his support. He was also a benefactor of Lilleshall Abbey . The advowson of Lilleshall Abbey belonged

12720-404: Was always to be the model to which all the other houses had to conform. Cistercian monks and nuns have a reputation of cultivating solitude and silence; the great monastics have explained silence as "the language of liberation, enlightenment, or union with God." Some observers deduced, incorrectly, that Cistercians take a vow of silence. Watching over one's tongue is, however, a general theme in

12840-497: Was built in 1136 by King David I of Scotland , and completed in less than ten years. Another important offshoot of Rievaulx was Revesby Abbey in Lincolnshire . Fountains Abbey was founded in 1132 by discontented Benedictine monks from St. Mary's Abbey, York , who desired a return to the austere Rule of St Benedict. After many struggles and great hardships, St Bernard agreed to send a monk from Clairvaux to instruct them, and in

12960-578: Was consecrated in 1223. Two further building phases followed in order to complete the nave, leading to the final consecration of the medieval church building in 1252. As a consequence of the wars between the Christians and Moors on the Iberian Peninsula , the Cistercians established a military branch of the order in Castile in 1157: the Order of Calatrava . Membership of the Cistercian Order had included

13080-466: Was enlarged, at least in value, by John's son, Henry III . On 8 December 1232, while visiting Shrewsbury , he granted the priory the right to assart , enclose and cultivate an acre and a half in the woods near Calverton. In 1241 he allowed the priory to assart and cultivate as they wished a further three acres of land which they already held but were half covered in dead oaks . These areas were enhanced in value by being taken out of waste and exempted from

13200-855: Was founded in County Louth in 1142 and from it daughter houses of Bective Abbey in County Meath (1147), Inislounaght Abbey in County Tipperary (1147–1148), Baltinglass in County Wicklow (1148), Monasteranenagh in County Limerick (1148), Kilbeggan in County Westmeath (1150) and Boyle Abbey in County Roscommon (1161). Following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 1170s,

13320-561: Was founded in 1129 from Ebrach Abbey in Bavaria, which had been founded from Morimond Abbey in France. In 1129 Margrave Leopold the Strong of Styria granted the Bavarian monks an area of land just north of what is today the provincial capital Graz , where they founded Rein Abbey . At the time, it was the 38th Cistercian monastery founded; as of 2024, it is the oldest surviving Cistercian house in

13440-462: Was known in contradistinction as Black Ladies Priory . White Ladies benefited considerably from royal generosity in the reign of John. He visited Brewood on at least three occasions and it was possibly on one of these that he gave the priory a weir called Withlakeswere on the River Severn near Bridgnorth , which would create fishing rights. This was later rented out to a local man, Henry FitzRobert, half by Prioress Alditha in 1225 at 5 shillings, and

13560-496: Was more suited to a community involved with parish life. Many Augustinians were canons regular , who operated mainly outside the walls of a religious house, and are often confused with the Augustinian friars . As opposed to abbeys of "secular canonesses", these lived largely enclosed lives, in a manner similar to that of nuns, and the residents of White Ladies fell into this category. The conventual buildings are long-gone, and may have been timber-framed, but appear to have stood against

13680-411: Was not until 7 July 1319 that Bishop Walter Langton was able to issue an ordinance defining the vicar's allotment of land and directing that he be paid 40 shillings annually, divided into equal payments at Easter and Michaelmas . This was reinforced by a papal ordinance, which erroneously attributed to the priory a dedication to St Lawrence. Evidently Tibshelf proved a good long-term investment: before

13800-508: Was noticeably weakened." In 1335, the French cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, was elected and consecrated Pope Benedict XII . He was devoted to reducing the culture of nepotism at the Vatican. He promulgated a series of regulations to restore the spirit of reform in the Cistercian Order. By the 15th century, however, the Cistercians had fallen on dark days. The General Chapter lost virtually all its power to enforce its decrees, and

13920-480: Was occupied by canonesses regular of the Augustinian Order. Strictly, they were not nuns , but the term was used of them in the Middle Ages and still is. Although named after Saint Augustine of Hippo , the Rule of St. Augustine is actually a brief medieval document setting out guidelines for a religious life. It allowed its followers more access to the outside world than the stricter Benedictine Rule , and

14040-445: Was probably to provide a dowry for Alice de Harley, who later became prioress. In the longer term, the value of Bold declined greatly, probably as a result of declining population, and the income proved insufficient to maintain a priest, prompting Bishop Thomas Mylling to issue an ordinance on 10 October 1481, amalgamating the church with that of neighbouring Aston Botterell . Although a pension of ten shillings, payable each Michaelmas,

14160-464: Was promised to White Ladies, Bold was bringing in only 6s. 8d. in 1536. The Belmeis family, closely involved in the foundation of Lilleshall Abbey during the 12th century, turned their generosity to White Ladies in the 13th and 14th. It seems that the priory already had substantial holdings in the Belmeis manor of Donington by the mid 13th century, as Joanna, widow of Walter de Belmeis was forced to seek

14280-401: Was to Leonard of Noblac , a French saint associated with the liberation of prisoners, who was extremely popular after a number of alleged miracles earlier in the 12th century. The dedication is attested fairly early in the history of the priory: for example, a 1212 charter of King John says it is a confirmation monialibus Sancti Leonardi de Brewud – to the nuns of St Leonard at Brewood. It

14400-410: Was used across Europe to meet the largely homogeneous needs of the order. Various buildings, including the chapter-house to the east and the dormitories above, were grouped around a cloister , and were sometimes linked to the transept of the church itself by a night stair. Usually Cistercian churches were cruciform, with a short presbytery to meet the liturgical needs of the brethren, small chapels in

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