Abbot of Crowland
Encyclopedia
The Abbot of Crowland was the head of Crowland Abbey, an English monastery built up around the shrine of Saint Guthlac
by King Æthelbald of Mercia, and refounded as a Benedictine
house circa
948. The last abbot was John Wells (also called John Bridges), who handed the monastery over to royal control and dissolution in 1539.
Saint Guthlac
Saint Guthlac of Crowland was a Christian saint from Lincolnshire in England. He is particularly venerated in the Fens of eastern England.-Life:...
by King Æthelbald of Mercia, and refounded as a Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
house circa
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
948. The last abbot was John Wells (also called John Bridges), who handed the monastery over to royal control and dissolution in 1539.
List of Benedictine abbots of Crowland
| Abbots of Crowland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Incumbent | Dates | Notes |
| Thurcytel Thurcytel Thurcytel was abbot of Crowland and perhaps also of Bedford Abbey.Thurcytel of Crowland is known from the unreliable history of Crowland Abbey attributed to Pseudo-Ingulf, an account full of anachronisms including the claim that Thurcytel was Lord Chancellor of England... |
ca 948—ca975 | According to the History of Ingulf, the abbey was reformed and refounded in 948, with Thurcytel leaving the service of King Eadred to become its first new abbot. The same claims he died in 975. |
| Ægelric I | fl. late 10th century | Ægelric was, according to Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis Orderic Vitalis was an English chronicler of Norman ancestry who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th and 12th century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The modern biographer of Henry I of England, C... , Thurcytel's nephew. |
| Ægelric II | fl. late 10th century/ early 11th century |
Like Ægelric I, Ægelric II was supposedly a relative of Thurcytel. |
| Osketel | fl. ca 1012 | Supposedly died on a 7 October. |
| Godric | fl. early 11th century | Orderic Vitalis gives his death as 19 January. |
| Wulfgeat | fl. early-to-mid-11th century | According to Orderic Vitalis, he was Abbot of Peakirk and had permission from Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066.... to hold both abbeys at once. Died on a 7 JUly. |
| Leofric of Peterborough | fl. mid-11th century | According to the Peterborough Chronicle Peterborough Chronicle The Peterborough Chronicle , one of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, contains unique information about the history of England after the Norman Conquest. According to philologist J.A.W... Leofric held Crowland along with four other abbeys. |
| Wulfketel | ca 1061—1085x6 | Orderic claims that he appointed abbot by Edward the Confessor and Abbot Leofric, and that he was abbot for 24 years. He died at the Gloucester Gloucester Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham.... Christmas court of William the Conqueror William I of England William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II... , in either December 1085 or January 1086. |
| Ingulf | 1085x6—1109 | Died 16 November, probably in 1109, as he was said to have been abbot for 24 years (see Wulfketel & Geoffrey d'Orleans notes). |
| Geoffrey d'Orleans | 1109—ca 1124 | Orderic says he was born at Orleans, was prior of St Évroult Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche The Abbey of Saint-Evroul or Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche is a former Benedictine abbey in Normandy, located in the present commune of Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois, Orne, Basse-Normandie... in Normandy Normandy Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:... , being appointed abbot of Crowland in 1109, holding for 15 years before dying on 5 June (probably 1124). |
| Waltheof | ca 1126—1138 | According to Orderic, he was the "brother of the nobly born Englishman Gospatric", thought to mean that he was the son of Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria Gospatric, Earl of Northumbria Gospatric or Cospatric , , was Earl of Northumbria, or of Bernicia, and later lord of sizable estates around Dunbar... (the brother being Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian Gospatric II, Earl of Lothian Gospatric II was Earl of Lothian or Earl of Dunbar in the early 12th century.He was the son of Gospatric I, sometime Earl of Northumbria... ). |
| Godfrey | 1138x9—1143 | Prior of St Albans, electet abbot of Crowland in December 1138 or soon after, and died on 6 April 1143. |
| Edward | 1143—1173 | Died on 19 January 1173; after death, the abbey was vacant until sometime after 8 July 1175. |
| Robert | 1175—1189x90 | Monk of Reading Abbey Reading Abbey Reading Abbey is a large, ruined abbey in the centre of the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. It was founded by Henry I in 1121 "for the salvation of my soul, and the souls of King William, my father, and of King William, my brother, and Queen Maud, my wife, and all my ancestors... , became prior of Leominster Priory Church, Leominster -External links:* *... , and was appointed abbot of Crowland in the second half of 1175, allegedly remaining abbot for 15 years. His last historical appearance is 3 September 1189, and died on either 17 March or 24 March 1190. |
| Henry de Longchamp | 1190—1236 | William de Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, he held the abbey for 46 years, dying in 1236. |
| Walter de Weston | el. 1236 | Monk of Crowland, receives royal consent to hold abbey on 28 September 1236, but was elected against church rules and election was quashed. |
| Richard | 1236—1248 | He was the cellarer of Bardney Abbey Bardney Abbey Bardney Abbey in Lincolnshire, England, was a Benedictine monastery founded in 697 by King Æthelred of Mercia, who was to become the first abbot. The monastery is supposed to have been destroyed during a Danish raid in 869... before being appointed to abbey by Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste Robert Grosseteste or Grossetete was an English statesman, scholastic philosopher, theologian and Bishop of Lincoln. He was born of humble parents at Stradbroke in Suffolk. A.C... , Bishop of Lincoln, who had authority from the Church to make such an appointment. He died 17 June 1248. |
| Thomas de Welle | 1248—1254 | A monk of Crowland, sometime sub-prior, he was abbot after Richard's death and held abbey for 6 years, dying on either 8 October or 15 October 1254. |
| Ranulf de Merche | 1254—1280 | Another monk of Crowland, after becoming abbot he ruled for 26 years. |
| Richard de Crowland | 1280—1303 | Monk of Crowland, elected 27 October 1280, election quashed but appointed anyway by the Bishop of Lincoln, Oliver Sutton Oliver Sutton Oliver Sutton was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln, in England.Sutton was the nephew of Henry of Lexington, Bishop of Lincoln from 1253 to 1258. He was Dean of Lincoln before 30 June 1275.... . |
| Simon de Luffenham [Suthluffenham] | 1303—1324 | He was another abbot from the Crowland monks. He held the abbey for 21 years, notably attending the Council of Vienne Council of Vienne The Council of Vienne was the fifteenth Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church that met between 1311 and 1312 in Vienne. Its principal act was to withdraw papal support for the Knights Templar on the instigation of Philip IV of France.-Background:... in 1311, and dying sometime in 1324. |
| Henry de Casewick | 1324—1359 | He was prior of Crowland before becoming abbot in 1324. The abbey suffered from great poverty during his abbacy, coming under the supervision of the crown, the Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group... and the Earl of Northampton Earl of Northampton Earl of Northampton is a title that has been created five times.-Earls in for the Honour of Huntingdon, first Creation :*Waltheof *Maud, Countess of Huntingdon** m. Simon I de Senlis** m... . He died early in 1359. |
| Thomas de Barnack | 1359—1378 | A monk of Crowland, he was elected for presentation to the bishop of Lincoln and confirmed by the latter in 1339. After a 14 year abbacy, he died on 12 March 1378. |
| John of Ashby | from 1378 | He became abbot in 1378. |
| Thomas of Overton | from 1392 | He became abbot in 1392. |
| Richard Upton | from 1417 | He became abbot in 1417. |
| John Litlington | from 1427 | He became abbot in 1427. and founded the Benedictine Benedictine Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict... hostel of Cambridge which was to become Magdalene College Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary Magdalene... . |
| John of Wisbech | from 1470 | He became abbot in 1470. |
| Richard Crowland | from 1476 | He became abbot in 1476. |
| Lambert Fossdyke | from 1484 | He became abbot in 1484. |
| Edmund Thorpe | from 1485 | He became abbot in 1485. |
| Philip Everard | from 1497 | He became abbot in 1497. |
| William Gedding | from 1504 | He became abbot in 1504. |
| Richard Bardney | from 1507 | He became abbot in 1507. |
| John Wells (alias John Bridges) |
1512—1539 | Wells was the last abbot, holding the abbey from 1512 until he handed it over to the king in 1539, after the Second Act of Dissolution Second Act of Dissolution The Second Act of Dissolution , also known as the Act for the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries, was an Act of the Parliament of England passed in 1539 in the reign of Henry VIII which provided for the dissolution of 552 Catholic monasteries and houses remaining after the Dissolution of the... . |