16. #Geoffrey of Gorham# (1119-1146). This Abbot came from Maine, where he had been born. He had been invited to take charge of the monastery school, but did not arrive in time, so he opened a school at Dunstable. On one occasion, when a miracle play was being performed by his scholars, he borrowed some vestments of the Abbey; these were unfortunately destroyed in a fire; unable to pay for them, he offered himself as a sacrifice and became a monk. He was unanimously elected Abbot on the death of his predecessor, but at first was reluctant to accept the office, though finally his reluctance was overcome. He made a most energetic ruler. He increased the allowances to the kitchen, cellars, and almonry. He ordered that the revenues of certain rectories should be used for providing ornaments, for a fabric fund, and for the infirmary. He founded and endowed the leper hospital of St. Julian on the London Road, and established the nunnery of Sopwell (see Appendix) for thirteen sisters. He built the guest hall, the infirmary, and its chapel. He also began to construct a new shrine for the relics of the saint, but after spending L60 on it discontinued the work to give himself breathing time, and never went on with it again. He felt himself constrained to sell some of the materials he had collected for this purpose, to obtain money for the relief of the poor during a famine. A long description is preserved of the decoration of the shrine. Among other precious things worked into it was an eagle with outstretched wings, the gift of King Ethelred. Although it was not quite finished, it was sufficiently so as to be ready to receive the bones of the martyr. The remains were examined in the presence of Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, and sundry Abbots in 1129. The genuineness of the relics, so it is said, was established by appearances of the saint to divers persons as well as by miracles. One shoulder blade was missing; but this, as it afterwards appeared, had been given by a former Abbot, at the request of King Canute, to the reigning duke of some foreign land, who had founded a cathedral church on purpose to receive so precious a relic. A long list is given of the valuable gifts this Abbot made to the monastery and church. During his time lived the hermits Roger and Sigur, and the recluse Christina, whose story has been told in Chapter III. At this time also Henry I. granted to the Abbots the Liberty of St. Albans, which gave them the power of trying minor offences, which had hitherto been tried in the civil courts of the hundred and the shire. There are only two faults that are recorded of this Abbot: first, he gave some of the Abbey tithe to the support of the church that he had rebuilt; and, secondly, he was too easy in business dealings and allowed himself to be imposed upon.