The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall: Divers Sketches and StudiesTaylor, Thomas
History
The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall: Divers Sketches and Studies
Taylor, Thomas
Cornwall (England : County) -- Church history
A very interesting and convincing example of the conversion of a purely
Celtic monastic house to English uses is supplied by St. Kew. On
linguistic grounds alone Professor Loth arrived at the conclusion that
Docco, the monastery where St. Sampson made the acquaintance of St.
Winniau, was St. Kew. An examination of the various forms under which
the church is described in the Episcopal Registers revealed the forms
Landoho, Lanho and Lanow. A Patent Roll of 1307 furnished the following
statements, viz. that King Edgar (958-975) gave to the canons of
Plympton two carucates of land, 100s. of rent in Landoho and the church
there for the support of two canons celebrating divine service there and
dispensing alms and hospitality to the poor, to pilgrims and other
guests, that in a case tried before John de Berewyk and other justices
(circa 1300) it was shown that the prior and convent of Plympton had
failed to fulfil the above conditions and that, taking into account all
the circumstances, the King now (1307) grants to the prior and convent
the right to substitute a secular vicar and chaplain for the two canons
at Landoho.
An examination of the Plympton charters showed that Henry I gave the
church of Tohou to William Warelwast, bishop of Exeter, and that he gave
the church to the priory of canons regular which he founded at Plympton
in the year 1121. No one can doubt that Tohou and Docco are variants of
the same word, which is found in Brittany as Tohou and Ohou. It is not
difficult to follow the various acts of spoliation. King Edgar evidently
reduced the patrimony of the Celtic monastery to the amount specified
above while retaining the manor of Landoho, which until the Norman
Conquest embraced the manors of Poundstock and St. Gennys. The three
manors passed as an undivided whole to Earl Harold as demesne lands. By
the Conqueror they were given to the Count of Mortain. Henry I claimed
the remaining revenue of the monks and gave it to the bishop who
transferred it to Plympton priory. Edgar’s gift to Plympton was a legal
fiction which enabled the priory to evade responsibilities which were
implied in the charter of Henry I and explicitly stated in that of Henry
II when canons regular were substituted for secular canons.[94]
In brief, St. Kew was the site of an important Celtic monastery which,
visited by St. Sampson in the days of St. Winniau, despoiled by King
Edgar and stripped bare by Henry I, nevertheless retained some semblance
of its ancient glory until the latter half of the thirteenth century.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account