The dissolution of the monasteries : $b As illustrated by the suppression of the religious houses of StaffordshireHibbert, Francis Aidan
History
The dissolution of the monasteries : $b As illustrated by the suppression of the religious houses of Staffordshire
Hibbert, Francis Aidan
Great Britain -- History -- Henry VIII, 1509-1547; Monasteries -- England -- Staffordshire; Monasteries and state
The original Summary in _Valor Ecclesiasticus_ appears in its
place[71] but is superseded by another which is written on a separate
paper attached to the parchment.[72] The second is made authoritative
by a note appended at the foot of the first survey under the following
circumstances. The gross income having been stated to be £356 16s. 3½d.
and the expenses £89 2s. O½d. (leaving a balance of £267 14s. 3d.), the
tithe would, therefore, be under ordinary circumstances £26 15s. 5d.
But the amount is stated to be £41 4s. 6d., with the explanatory note:
“_Plus oneratur pro xiiii^{li.} ix^{s.} i^{d.} per billam domini
cancellarii_.” On referring to the second survey we find it is
signed by the Chancellor, Thomas Audley, and gives the gross income as
£501 7s. 0½d. It allows the correctness of the expenditure as stated in
the other survey, and when this is deducted from the revised total the
net income becomes £412 5s., the tithe from which is that previously
noted, namely £14 9s. 1d. more than was due according to the first
survey.
The problem raised by the existence of the two surveys is interesting,
and may be compared with a similar one which arises in the early
history of the same Abbey. There is no mention in Domesday Book of
the bulk of the territory of the Manor and Parish of Burton-on-Trent,
some 6,000 acres, which the Abbey possessed and in the midst of which
it stood. Although the land lay in two counties and should have been
surveyed by two distinct sets of Domesday officials, no trace of any
report of either has been found, and the final summary is silent.
Whether the Abbot in the eleventh century procured the suppression by
tampering with both sets of commissioners, or whether he evaded the
survey of both by playing off one against the other, or whether he was
specially exempted by the Crown, cannot be known.
In the case of Henry VIII’s survey there is much the same uncertainty.
External history tells us nothing, and little can be gleaned from the
summaries themselves. The following table is an attempt to exhibit
a comparative analysis of the two surveys. The income, temporal and
spiritual, is arranged according to its sources and character. It must
be borne in mind that here we have to deal with the items as they are
detailed and not with the official totals as those are given, sometimes
wrongly, in _Valor Ecclesiasticus_. The totals shown in the table
do not, therefore, always agree with the figures which appeared in the
table on page 64. (See Notes following that table.)
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