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CHAPTER VIII
St. Alban's. Willigod.
Bones of St. Alban. Eadmer. Norman Conquest. Paul and
the Scriptorium. Geoffry de Gorham. Brekspere the "Poor Clerk". Abbot Simon and his
"multis voluminibus". Raymond the Prior. Wentmore. Whethamstede. Humphrey,
Duke of Gloucester. Lydgate. Guy, Earl of Warwick.
The efficacy of Good Works was
a principle ever inculcated by the monks of old. It is sad to reflect, that
vile deeds and black intentions were too readily forgiven and absolved by the
Church on the performance of some good deed; or that the monks should dare to
shelter or to gloss over those sins which their priestly duty bound them to
condemn, because forsooth some wealthy baron could spare a portion of his broad
lands or coffered gold to extenuate them. But this forms one of the dark stains
of the monastic system; and the monks, I am sorry to say, were more readily
inclined to overlook the blemish, because it proved so profitable to their
order. And thus it was, that the proud and noble monastery of St. Alban's was
endowed by a murderer's hand, and built to allay the fierce tortures of an
assassin's conscience. Ethelbert, king of the East Angles, fell by the regal
hand of Offa, king of Mercia; and from the era of that black and guilty deed
many a fine monastery dates its origin and owes its birth.
St. Alban’s was founded, as its name implies, in honor of the English
protomartyr, whose bones were said to have been discovered on that interesting
site, and afterwards preserved with veneration in the abbey. In the ancient
times, the building appears to have covered a considerable space, and to have
been of great magnitude and power; for ruins of its former structure mark how
far and wide the foundation spreads.
“The glorious king Offa”, as the monks in their adulation style him,
richly endowed the monastery on its completion, as we learn from the old
chronicles of the abbey; and a succession of potent sovereigns are emblazoned
on the glittering parchment, whose liberality augmented or confirmed these
privileges.
Willigod, the first abbot, greatly enriched the monastery, and bestowed
especial care upon the relics of St. Alban. It is curious to mark how many
perils those shriveled bones escaped, and with what anxious care the monks
preserved them. In the year 930, during the time of Abbot Eadfrid, the Danes attacked
the abbey, and after many destroying acts broke open the repository, and
carried away some of the bones of St. Alban into their own country. The monks
took greater care than ever of the remaining relics; and their anxiety for
their safety, and the veneration with which they regarded them, is curiously
illustrated by an anecdote of Abbot Leofric, elected in the year 1006. His
abbacy was, therefore, held in troubled times; and in the midst of fresh
invasions and Danish cruelties. Fearing lest they should a second time reach
the abbey, he determined to protect by stratagem what he could not effect by
force. After hiding the genuine bones of St. Alban in a place quite secure from
discovery, he sent an open message to the Abbot of Ely, entreating permission
to deposit the holy relics in his keeping; and offering, as a plausible reason,
that the monastery of Ely, being surrounded by marshy and impenetrable bogs,
was secure from the approaches of the barbarians. He accompanied this message
with some false relics—the remains of an old monk belonging to the abbey
enclosed in a coffin—and sent with them a worn antiquated looking mantle,
pretending that it formerly belonged to Amphibalus, the master of St. Alban.
The monks of Ely joyfully received these precious bones, and displayed perhaps
too much eagerness in doing so. Certain it is, that when the danger was past
and the quietude of the country was restored, Leofric, on applying for the
restitution of these “holy relics”, found some difficulty in obtaining them;
for the Abbot of Ely attempted by equivocation and duplicity to retain them.
After several ineffectual applications, Leofric was compelled, for the honor of
his monastery, to declare the “pious fraud” he had practised; which he proved
by the testimony of several monks of his fraternity, who were witnesses of the
transaction. It is said, that Edward the Confessor was highly incensed at the
conduct of the Abbot of Ely.
Norman Conquest. Paul
and the Scriptorium
I have stated elsewhere, that the learned and pious Ælfric gave the
monastery many choice volumes. His successor, Ealdred, abbot, about the year
955, was quite an antiquary in his way; and no spot in England afforded so many
opportunities to gratify his taste as the site of the ancient city of Verulam.
He commenced an extensive search among the ruins, and rescued from the earth a
vast quantity of interesting and valuable remains. He stowed all the stone-work
and other materials which were serviceable in building away, intending to erect
a new edifice for the monks: but death prevented the consummation of these
designs. Eadmer, his successor, a man of great piety and learning, followed up
the pursuit, and made some important accessions to these stores. He found also
a great number of gold and silver ornaments, specimens of ancient art, some of
them of a most costly nature, but being idols or figures connected with heathen
mythology, he cared not to preserve them. Matthew Paris is prolix in his
account of the operations and discoveries of this abbot; and one portion of it
is so interesting, and seems so connected with our subject, that I cannot
refrain from giving it to the reader.
“The abbot”, he writes, “whilst digging out the walls and searching for
the ruins which were buried in the earth in the midst of the ancient city,
discovered many vestiges of the foundation of a great palace. In a recess in
one of the walls he found the remains of a library, consisting of a number of
books and rolls; and among them a volume in an unknown tongue, and which, although
very ancient, had especially escaped destruction. This nobody in the monastery
could read, nor could they at that time find any one who understood the writing
or the idiom; it was exceedingly ancient, and the letters evidently were most
beautifully formed; the inscriptions or titles were written in gold, and
encircled with ornaments; bound in oak with silken bands, which still retained
their strength and beauty; so perfectly was the volume preserved. But they
could not conceive what the book was about; at last, after much search and
diligent inquiry, they found a very feeble and aged priest, named Unwon, who
was very learned in writings literis bene
eruditum, and imbued with the knowledge of divers languages. He knew
directly what the volume was about, and clearly and fluently read the contents;
he also explained the other Codices found in the same library in eodem
Almariolo of the palace with the greatest ease, and showed them to be written
in the characters formerly in use among the inhabitants of Verulam, and in the
language of the ancient Britons.
Some, however, were in Latin; but the book before-mentioned was found to
be the history of Saint Alban, the English proto-martyr, according to that
mentioned by Bede, as having been daily used in the church. Among the other
books were discovered many contrivances for the invocation and idolatrous rites
of the people of Verulam, in which it was evident that Phœbus the god Sol was
especially invoked and worshipped; and after him Mercury, called in English Woden,
who was the god of the merchants. The books which contained these diabolical
inventions they cast away and burnt; but that precious treasure, the history of
Saint Alban, they preserved, and the priest before-mentioned was appointed to
translate the ancient English or British into the vulgar tongue. By the
prudence of the Abbot Eadmer, the brothers of the convent made a faithful copy,
and diligently explained it in their public teaching; they also translated it
into Latin, in which it is now known and read; the historian adds that the
ancient and original copy, which was so curiously written, instantaneously
crumbled into dust and was destroyed for ever”.
Although the attention of the Saxon abbots was especially directed to
literary matters, and to the affairs connected with the making of books, we
find no definite mention of a Scriptorium, or of manuscripts having been
transcribed as a regular and systematic duty, till after the Norman conquest.
That event happened during the abbacy of Frederic, and was one which greatly
influenced the learning of the monks. Indeed, I regard the Norman conquest as a
most propitious event for English literature, and one which wrought a vast
change in the aspect of monastic learning; the student of those times cannot
fail to perceive the revolution which then took place in the cloisters; visibly
accomplished by the installation of Norman bishops and the importation of
Norman monks, who in the well regulated monasteries of France and Normandy had
been initiated into a more general course of study, and brought up in a better
system of mental training than was known here at that time.
But poor Frederic, a conscientious and worthy monk, suffered severely by
that event, and was ultimately obliged to seek refuge in the monastery of Ely
to evade the displeasure of the new sovereign; but his earthly course was well
nigh run, for three days after, death released him from his worldly troubles,
and deprived the conqueror of a victim. Paul, the first of the Norman abbots,
was appointed by the king in the year 1077. He was zealous and industrious in
the interest of the abbey, and obtained the restitution of many lands and
possessions of which it had been deprived; he rebuilt the old and almost ruined
church, and employed for that purpose many of the materials which his
predecessors had collected from the ruins of Verulam; and even now, I believe,
some remnants of these Roman tiles, etc., may be discerned. He moreover
obtained many important grants and valuable donations; among others a layman
named Robert, one of the Norman leaders, gave him two parts of the tithes of
his domain at Hatfield, which he had received from the king at the
distribution.
“This he assigned”, says Matthew Paris, “to the disposal of Abbot Paul,
who was a lover of the Scriptures, for the transcription of the necessary
volumes for the monastery. He himself indeed was a learned soldier, and a
diligent hearer and lover of Scripture”; to this he also added the tithes of
Redburn, appointing certain provisions to be given to the scribes; this he did
out of charity to the brothers that they may not thereby suffer, and that no
impediment might be offered to the writers. The abbot thereupon sought and
obtained from afar many renowned scribes, to write the necessary books for the
monastery. And in return for these abundant favors, he presented, as a suitable
gift to the warlike Robert, for the chapel in his palace at Hatfield, two pair
of vestments, a silver cup, a missal, and the other needful books (missale cum
aliis libris necessariis). Having thus presented to him the first volumes
produced by his liberality, he proceeded to construct a scriptorium, which was
set apart (præelectos) for the transcription of books; Lanfranc supplied the
copies. They thus procured for the monastery twenty-eight notable volumes
(volumina notabilia), also eight psalters, a book of collects, a book of
epistles, a volume containing the gospels for the year, two copies of the
gospels complete, bound in gold and silver, and ornamented with gems; besides
ordinals, constitutions, missals, collects, and other books for the use of the
library”.
Thus blessed, we find the monks of St. Albans for ages after constantly
acquiring fresh treasures, and multiplying their book stores by fruitful transcripts.
There is scarce an abbot, whose portrait garnishes the fair manuscript before
me, that is not represented with some goodly tomes spread around him, or who is
not mentioned as a choice amator librorum,
in these monkish pages. It is a singular circumstance, when we consider how
bookless those ages are supposed to have been, that the illuminated portraits
of the monks are most frequently depicted with some ponderous volume before
them, as if the idea of a monk and the study of a book were quite inseparable.
During my search among the old manuscripts quoted in this work, this fact has
been so repeatedly forced upon my attention that I am tempted to regard it as
an important hint, and one which speaks favorably for the love of books and
learning among the cowled devotees of the monasteries.
Geoffry de Gorham.
Passing Richard de Albani, who gave them a copy of the gospels, a missal
written in letters of gold, another precious volumes whose titles are
unrecorded, we come to Geoffry, a native of Gorham, who was elected abbot in
the year 1119. He had been invited over to England (before he became a priest)
by his predecessor, to superintend the school of St. Albans; but he delayed the
voyage so long, that on his arrival he found the appointment already filled; on
this he went to Dunstable, where he read lectures, and obtained some pupils. It
was during his stay there that he wrote the piece which has obtained for him so
much reputation. Ubi quendam ludum de
Sancta Katarinæ quem miracula vulgariter appellamus fecit, says the Cotton
manuscripts, on the vellum page of which he is portrayed in the act of writing
it. Geoffry, from this passage, is supposed to be the first author of dramatic
literature in England; although the title seems somewhat equivocal, from the
casual manner in which his famous play of St. Catherine is thus mentioned by
Matthew Paris. Of its merits we are still less able to form an opinion; for
nothing more than the name of that much talked of miracle play has been
preserved. We may conclude, however, that it was performed with all the
paraphernalia of scenery and characteristic costume; for he borrowed of the
sacrist of St. Albans some copes for this purpose. On the night following the
representation the house in which he resided was burnt; and, says the
historian, all his books, and the copes he had borrowed were destroyed.
Rendered poor indeed by this calamity, and somewhat reflecting upon himself for
the event, he assumed in sorrow and despair the religious habit, and entered
the monastery of St. Albans; where by his deep study, his learning and his
piety, he so gained the hearts of his fraternity, that he ultimately became
their abbot. He is said to have been very industrious in the transcription of
books; and he “made a missal bound in gold, auro
ridimitum, and another in two volumes; both incomparably illuminated in
gold, and written in a clear and legible hand; also a precious Psalter
similarly illuminated; a book containing the Benedictions and the Sacraments; a
book of Exorcisms, and a Collectaria”.
Geoffry was succeeded by Ralph de Gobiumin the year 1143: he was a monk
remarkable for his learning and his bibliomanical pursuits. He formerly
remained some time in the services of Alexander, bishop of Lincoln, and gained
the esteem of that prelate. His book-loving passion arose from hearing one “Master
Wodon, of Italy, expound the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures”. He from that
time became a most enthusiastic amator
librorum; and collected, with great diligence, an abundant multitude of
books.
The matters in which he was concerned, his donations to the monastery,
and the anecdotes of his life, are all unconnected with my subject; so that I
am obliged to pass from this interesting monk, an undoubted bibliophile, from
sheer want of information. I cannot but regret that the historian does not
inform us more fully of his book collecting pursuits; but he is especially
barren on that subject, although he highly esteems him for prosecuting that
pleasing avocation. He died in the year 1151, in the fourteenth of King
Stephen, and was followed by Robert de Gorham, who is also commemorated as a
bibliophile in the pages of the Cotton manuscripts; and to judge from his
portrait, and the intensity with which he pores over his volume, he was a hard
and devoted student. He ordered the scribes to make a great many books; indeed,
adds Paris the historian, who was himself somewhat of an amator librorum, “more by far than can be mentioned”. From another
source we learn that these books were most sumptuously bound.
During the days of this learned abbot a devout and humble clerk asked
admission at the abbey gate. Aspiring to a holy life, he ardently hoped, by
thus spending his days in monastic seclusion, to render his heart more
acceptable to God. Hearing his prayer, the monks conducted him into the
presence of my Lord Abbot, who received him with compassionate tenderness, and
kindly questioned him as to his qualifications for the duties and sacred
responsibilities of the monkish priesthood; for even in those dark ages they
looked a little into the learning of the applicant before he was admitted into
their fraternity. But alas! the poor clerk was found woefully deficient in this
respect, and was incapable of replying to the questions of my Lord Abbot, who
thereupon gently answered, “My son, tarry awhile, and still exercise thyself in
study, and so become more perfect for the holy office”.
Abashed and disappointed, he retired with a kindling blush of shame; and
deeming this temporary repulse a positive refusal he left his fatherland, and
started on a pilgrimage to France. And who was this poor, humble, unlettered
clerk? Who this simple layman, whose ignorance rendered him an unfit socius for the plodding monks of old St.
Albans Abbey? No less than the English born Nicholas Brekespere, afterwards his
Holiness Adrian IV, Pope of Rome, Vicar-apostolic and successor of St. Peter!
Yes; still bearing in mind the kind yet keen reproof of the English
abbot, on his arrival in a foreign land he studied with all the depth and
intensity of despair, and soon surpassed his companions in the pursuit of
knowledge; and became so renowned for learning, and for his prudence, that he
was made Canon of St. Rufus. His sagacity, moreover, caused him to be chosen,
on three separate occasions, to undertake some important embassies to the
apostolic see; and at length he was elected a cardinal. So step by step he
finally became elevated to the high dignity of the popedom. The first and last
of England’s sons who held the keys of Peter.
These shadows of the past—these shreds of a forgotten age—these echoes
of five hundred years, are full of interest and instruction. For where shall we
find a finer example—a more cheering instance of what perseverance will
accomplish—or a more satisfactory result of the pursuit of knowledge under
difficulties? Not only may these curious facts cheer the dull student now, and
inspire him with that energy so essential to success, but these whisperings of
old may serve as lessons for ages yet to come. For if we look back upon those
dark days with such feelings of superiority, may not the wiser generations of
the future regard us with a still more contemptuous, yet curious eye? And when
they look back at our Franklins, and our Johnsons, in astonishment at such fine
instances of what perseverance could do, and what energy and plodding industry
could accomplish, even when surrounded with the difficulties of our ignorance;
how much more will they praise this bright example, in the dark background of
the historical tableaux, who, without even our means of obtaining knowledge—our
libraries or our talent—rose by patient, hard and devoted study, from
Brekespere the humble clerk—the rejected of St. Albans—to the proud title of
Vicar-apostolic of Christ and Pope of Rome!
Abbot Simon and his “multis
voluminibus”
Simon, an Englishman, a clerk and a “man of letters and good morals”,
was elected abbot in the year 1167. All my authorities concur in bestowing upon
him the honor and praise appertaining to a bibliomaniac. He was, says one, an
especial lover of books, librorum amator
speciales: and another in panegyric terms still further dubs him an amator scripturarum. All this he proved,
and well earned the distinction, by the great encouragement he gave to the
collecting and transcribing of books. The monkish pens he found moving too
slow, and yielding less fruit than formerly. He soon, however, set them hard at
work again; and to facilitate their labors, he added materially to the comforts
of the Scriptorium by repairing and enlarging it; “and always”, says the monk
from whom I learn this, “kept two or three most choice scribes in the Camera
(Scriptorium,) who sustained its reputation, and from whence an abundant supply
of the most excellent books were continually produced. He framed some efficient
laws for its management, and ordered that, in subsequent times, every abbot
should keep and support one able scribe at least. Among the many choice books
and authentic volumes, volumina
authentica, which he by this care and industry added to the abbey library,
was included a splendid copy of the Old and New Testament, transcribed with
great accuracy and beautifully written—indeed, says the manuscript history of
that monastery, so noble a copy was nowhere else to be seen. But besides this,
Abbot Simon gave them all those precious books which he had been for a long
time collecting himself at great cost and patient labor, and having bound them
in a sumptuous and marvelous manner, he made a library for their reception near
the tomb of Roger the Hermit. He also bestowed many rich ornaments and much costly
plate on the monastery; and by a long catalogue of good deeds, too ample to be
inserted here, he gained the affections and gratitude of his fraternity, who
loudly praised his virtues and lamented his loss when they laid him in his
costly tomb. There is a curious illumination of this monkish bibliophile in the
Cotton manuscript. He is represented deeply engaged with his studies amidst a
number of massy volumes, and a huge trunk is there before him crammed with
rough old fashioned large clasped tomes, quite enticing to look upon”.
After Simon came Garinus, who was soon succeeded by one John. Our
attention is arrested by the learned renown of this abbot, who had studied in
his youth at Paris, and obtained the unanimous praise of his masters for his
assiduous attention and studious industry. He returned with these high honors,
and was esteemed in grammar a Priscian, in poetry an Ovid, and in physic equal
to Galen. With such literary qualifications, it was to be expected the
Scriptorium would flourish under his government, and the library increase under
his fostering care. Our expectations are not disappointed; for many valuable
additions were made during his abbacy, and the monks over whom he presided gave
many manifestations of refinement and artistic talent, which incline us to
regard the ingenuity of the cloisters in a more favorable light. Raymond, his
prior, was a great help in all these undertakings. His industry seems to have
been unceasing in beautifying the church, and looking after the transcription of
books. With the assistance of Roger de Parco, the cellarer, he made a large
table very handsome, and partly fabricated of metal. He wrote two copies of the
Gospels, and bound them in silver and gold adorned with various figures.
Brother Walter of Colchester, with Randulph, Gubium and others, produced some
very handsome paintings comprising the evangelists and many holy saints, and
hung them up in the church. “As we have before mentioned, by the care and
industry of the lord Raymond, many noble and useful books were transcribed and
given to the monastery. The most remarkable of these was a Historia
Scholastica, with allegorics, a most elegant book—liber elegantissimus exclaims my monkish authority". This
leads me to say something more of my lord prior, for the troubles which the
conscientious conduct of old Raymond brought upon himself—
Implores the passing tribute of a sigh”.
Be it known then that William de Trompington succeeded to the abbacy on
the death of John; but he was a very different man, without much esteem for
learning; and thinking I am afraid far more of the world and heaven or the Domus Dei. Alas! memoirs of bad monks
and worldly abbots are sometimes found blotting the holy pages of the monkish
annals. Domus Dei est porta cœli,
said the monks; and when they closed the convent gates they did not look back
on the world again, but entered on that dull and gloomy path with a full
conviction that they were leaving all and following Christ, and so acting in
accordance with his admonitions; but those who sought the convent to forget in
its solitude their worldly cares and worldly disappointments, too often found
how futile and how ineffectual was that dismal life to eradicate the grief of
an overburdened heart, or to subdue the violence of misguided temper. The
austerity of the monastic rules might tend to conquer passion or moderate
despair, but there was little within those walls to drive painful recollections
of the outward world away; for at every interval between their holy meditations
and their monkish duties, images of the earth would crowd back upon their
minds, and wring from their ascetic hearts tributes of anguish and despair; and
so we find the writings and letters of the old monks full of vain regrets and
misanthropic thoughts, but sometimes overflowing with the most touching pathos
of human misery. Yet the monk knew full well what his duty was, and knew how
sinful it was to repine or rebel against the will of God. If he vowed obedience
to his abbot, he did not forget that obedience was doubly due to Him; and
strove with all the strength that weak humanity could muster, to forget the
darkness of the past by looking forward with a pious hope and a lively faith to
the brightness and glory of the future. By constant prayer the monk thought more
of his God, and gained help to strengthen the faith within him; and by
assiduous and devoted study he disciplined his heart of flesh—tore from it what
lingering affection for the world remained, and deserting all love of earth and
all love of kin, purged and purified it for his holy calling, and closed its
portals to render it inaccessible to all sympathy of blood. If a thought of
those shut out from him by the monastic walls stole across his soul and mingled
with his prayer, he started and trembled as if he had offered up an unholy
desire in the supplication. To him it was a proof that his nature was not yet
subdued; and a day of study and meditation, with a fast unbroken till the rays
of the morrow's sun cast their light around his little cell, absolved the sin,
and broke the tie that bound him to the world without.
Raymond the Prior
If this violence was experienced in subduing the tenderest of human
sympathy; how much more severe was the conflict of dark passions only half
subdued, or malignant depravity only partially reformed. These dark lines of
human nature were sometimes prominent, even when the monk was clothed in
sackcloth and ashes; and are markedly visible in the life of William de
Trompington. But let not the reader think that he was appointed with the hearty
suffrages of the fraternity, he was elected at the recommendation of the
"king," a very significant term in those days of despotic rule, at
which choice became a mere farce. “Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth
speaketh”; and the monks soon began to perceive with regret and trembling the
worldly ways of the new abbot, which he could not hide even under his abbatical
robes. In a place dedicated to holy deeds and heavenly thoughts, worldly
conduct or unbridled passion strikes the mind as doubly criminal, and loads the
heart with dismay and suffering; at least so my lord Prior regarded it, whose
righteous indignation could no longer endure these manifestations of a worldly
mind. So he gently remonstrated with his superior, and hinted at the
impropriety of such conduct. This was received not in Christian fellowship, but
with haughty and passionate displeasure; and from that day the fate of poor
Raymond was irrevocably sealed. The abbot thinking to suppress the
dissatisfaction which was now becoming general and particularly inconvenient,
sent him a long distance off to the cell of Tynmouth in Northumberland, where
all were strangers to him. Nor could the tears of the old man turn the heart of
his cruel lord, nor the rebellious murmurings of the brothers avail. Thank God
such cases are not very frequent; and the reader of monkish annals will not
find many instances of such cold and unfeeling cruelty to distress his studies
or to arouse his indignation. But obedience was a matter of course in the
monastery; it was one of the most imperative duties of the monk, and if not
cheerfully he was compelled to manifest alacrity in fulfilling even the most
unpleasant mandate. But I would have forgiven this transaction on the score of
expediency perhaps, had not the abbot heaped additional insults and cruelties
upon the aged offender; but his books which he had transcribed with great
diligence and care, he forcibly deprived him of, violenter spoliatum, and so robbed him, as his historian says, of
all those things which would have been a comfort and solace to his old age.
The books which the abbot thus became dishonestly possessed of—for I
cannot regard it in any other light—we are told he gave to the library of the
monastery; and he also presented some books to more than one neighboring
church. But he was not bookworm himself, and dwelt I suspect with greater
fondness over his wealthy rent roll than on the pages of the fine volumes in
the monastic library. The monks, however, amidst all these troubles retained
their love of books; indeed it was about this time that John de Basingstoke,
who had studied at Athens, brought a valuable collection of Greek books into
England, and greatly aided in diffusing a knowledge of that language into this
country. He was deacon of Saint Albans, and taught many of the monks Greek;
Nicholas, a chaplain there, became so proficient in it, that he was capable of
greatly assisting bishop Grostete in translating his Testament of the twelve
patriarchs into Latin.
Roger de Northone, the twenty-fourth abbot of Saint Albans, gave “many
valuable and choice books to the monastery”, and among them the commentaries of
Raymond, Godfrey, and Bernard, and a book containing the works and discourses
of Seneca. His bibliomaniacal propensities, and his industry in transcribing
books, is indicated by an illumination representing this worthy abbot deeply
engrossed with his ponderous volumes.
I have elsewhere related an anecdote of Wallingford, abbot of St.
Albans, and the sale of books effected between him and Richard de Bury. It
appears that rare and munificent collector gave many and various noble books, multos et varios libros nobiles, to the
monastery of St. Albans whilst he was bishop of Durham. Michael de Wentmore
succeeded Wallingford, and proved a very valuable benefactor to the monastery;
and by wise regulations and economy greatly increased the comforts and good
order of the abbey. He gave many books, plures
libros, to the library, besides two excellent Bibles, one for the convent
and one for the abbot's study, and to be kept especially for his private
reading; an ordinal, very beautiful to look upon, being sumptuously bound.
Indeed, so multis voluminibus did he
bestow, that he expended more than 100l. in this way, an immense sum in those
old days, when a halfpenny a day was deemed fair wages for a scribe.
Wentmore. Whethamstede.
Wentmore was succeeded by Thomas de la Mare, a man of singular learning,
and remarkable as a patron of it in others; it was probably by his direction
that John of Tynmouth wrote his Sanctilogium Britannæ, for that work was
dedicated to him. A copy, presented by Thomas de la Mare to the church of
Redburn, is in the British Museum, much injured by fire, but retaining at the
end the following lines:
"Hunc librum dedet Dominus Thomas de la Mare, Albas monasterii S.
Albani Anglorum Proto martyris Deo et Ecclesiæ B. Amphibali de Redburn, ut
fratris indem in cursu existentus per ejus lecturam poterint cœlestibus
instrui, et per Sanctorum exempla virtutibus insignixi."
But there are few who have obtained so much reputation as John de
Whethamstede, perhaps the most learned abbot of this monastery. He was formerly
monk of the cell at Tynmouth, and afterwards prior of Gloucester College at
Oxford, from whence he was appointed to the government of St. Albans.
Whethamstede was a passionate bibliomaniac, and when surrounded with his books
he cared little, or perhaps from the absence of mind so often engendered by the
delights of study, he too frequently forgot, the important affairs of his
monastery, and the responsible duties of an abbot; but absorbed as he was with
his studies, Whethamstede was not a mere
..... Bookful blockhead ignorantly read
With loads of learned lumber in his head.
It is true he was an inveterate reader, amorously inclined towards
vellum tomes and illuminated parchments; but he did not covet them like some
collectors for the mere pride of possessing them, but gloried in feasting on
their intellectual charms and delectable wisdom, and sought in their attractive
pages the means of becoming a better Christian and a wiser man. But he was so
excessively fond of books, and became so deeply engrossed with his
book-collecting pursuits, that it is said some of the monks showed a little
dissatisfaction at his consequent neglect of the affairs of the monastery; but
these are faults I cannot find the heart to blame him for, but am inclined to
consider his conduct fully redeemed by the valuable encouragement he gave to
literature and learning. Generous to a fault, abundant in good deeds and costly
expenditure, he became involved in pecuniary difficulties, and found that the
splendor and wealth which he had scattered so lavishly around his monastery,
and the treasures with which he had adorned the library shelves, had not only
drained his ample coffers, but left a large balance unsatisfied. Influenced by
this circumstance, and the murmurings of the monks, and perhaps too, hoping to
obtain more time for study and book-collecting, he determined to resign his
abbacy, and again become a simple brother. The proceedings relative to this
affair are curiously related by a contemporary, John of Amersham. In
Whethamstede’s address to the monks on this occasion, he thus explains his
reasons for the step he was about to take. After a touching address, wherein he
intimates his determination, he says, "Ye have known moreover how, from
the first day of my appointment even until this day, assiduously and
continually without any intermission I have shown singular solicitude in four
things, to wit, in the erection of conventual buildings, in the writing of
books, in the renewal of vestments, and in the acquisition of property. And
perhaps, by reason of this solicitude of mine, ye conceive that I have fallen
into debt; yet that you may know, learn and understand what is in this matter
the certain and plain truth, and when ye know it ye may report it unto others,
know ye for certain, yea, for most certain, that for all these things about
which, and in which I have expended money, I am not indebted to anyone living
more than 10,000 marks; but that I wish freely to acknowledge this debt, and so
to make satisfaction to every creditor, that no survivor of any one in the
world shall have to demand anything from my successor."
The monks on hearing this declaration were sorely affected, and used
every persuasion to induce my lord abbot to alter his determination, but
without success; so that they were compelled to seek another in whom to confide
the government of their abbey. Their choice fell upon John Stokes, who presided
over them for many years; but at his death the love and respect which the
brothers entertained for Whethamstede, was manifested by unanimously electing
him again, an honor which he in return could not find the heart to decline. But
during all this time, and after his restoration, he was constantly attending to
the acquisition of books, and numerous were the transcripts made under his
direction by the scribes and enriched by his munificence, for some of the most costly
copies produced in that century were the fruits of their labor; during his time
there were more volumes transcribed than in that of any other abbot since the
foundation of the abbey, says the manuscript from whence I am gleaning these
details, and adds that the number of them exceeded eighty-seven. He commenced
the transcription of the great commentary of Nicholas de Lyra upon the whole
Bible, which had then been published some few years. Det Deus, ut in nostris felicem habere valeat consummacionem, exclaims
the monk, nor will the reader be surprised at the expression, if he for one
moment contemplates the magnitude of the undertaking.
But not only was Whethamstede remarkable as a bibliomaniac—he claims
considerable respect as an author. Some of his productions were more esteemed
in his own time than now; being compilations and commentaries more adapted as a
substitute for other books, than valuable as original works. Under this class I
am inclined to place his Granarium, a large work in five volumes; full of
miscellaneous extracts, etc., and somewhat partaking of the encyclopediac form;
his Propinarium, in two volumes, also treating of general matters; his
Pabularium and Palearium Poetarium, and his Proverbiarium, or book of Proverbs;
to which may be added the many pieces relating to the affairs of the monastery.
But far different must we regard many of his other productions, which are more
important in a literary point of view, as calling for the exercise of a refined
and cultivated mind, and no small share of critical acumen. Among these I must
not forget to include his Chronicle, which spreading over a space of twenty
years, forms a valuable historical document. The rest are poetical narratives,
embracing an account of Jack Cade's insurrection—the battles of Ferrybridge,
Wakefield, and St. Albans.
A Cottonian manuscript contained a catalogue of the books which this
worthy abbot compiled, or which were transcribed under his direction:
unfortunately it was burnt, with many others forming part of that inestimable
collection. From another source we learn the names of some of them, and the
cost incurred in their transcription. Twenty marks were paid for copying his
Granarium, in four volumes; forty shillings for his Palearium; the same for a
Polycraticon of John of Salisbury; five pounds for a Boethius, with a gloss;
upwards of six pounds for "a book of Cato," enriched with a gloss and
table; and four pounds for Gorham upon Luke. Whethamstede ordered a Grael to be
written so beautifully illuminated, and so superbly bound, as to be valued at
the enormous sum of twenty pounds: but let it be remembered that my Lord Abbot
was a very epicure in books, and thought a great deal of choice bindings, tall
copies, immaculate parchment, and brilliant illuminations, and the high prices
which he freely gave for these book treasures evince how sensible he was to the
joys of bibliomania; nor am I inclined to regard the works thus attained as “mere
monastic trash”.
The finest illumination in the Cotton manuscript is a portrait of Abbot
Whethamstede, which for artistic talent is far superior to any in the volume.
Eight folios are occupied with an enumeration of the “good works” of this
liberal monk: among the items we find the sum of forty pounds having been
expended on a reading desk, and four pounds for writing four Antiphoners. He
displayed also great liberality of spirit in his benefactions to Gloucester
College, at Oxford, besides great pecuniary aid. He built a library there, and
gave many valuable books for the use of the students, in which he wrote these
verses:
Fratribus Oxoniœ datur
in minus liber iste,
Per patrem pecorem
prothomartyris Angligenorum:
Quem si quis rapiat ad
partem sive reponat,
Vel Judæ loqueum, vel
furcas sentiat; Amen.
In others he wrote—
Discior ut docti fieret nova regia plebi
Culta magisque deæ datur hic liber ara Minerva,
Hic qui diis dictis libant holocausta ministrias.
Et cirre bibulam sitiunt præ nectare lympham,
Estque librique loci, idem datur, actor et unus.
If we estimate worth by comparison, we must award a large proportion to
this learned abbot. Living in the most corrupt age of the monastic system, when
the evils attendant on luxurious ease began to be too obvious in the cloister,
and when complaints were heard at first in a whispering murmur, but anon in a
stern loud voice of wroth and indignant remonstrance—when in fact the
progressive, inquiring spirit of the reformation was taking root in what had
hitherto been regarded as a hard, dry, stony soil. This coming tempest, only heard
as yet like the lulling of a whisper, was nevertheless sufficiently loud to
spread terror and dismay among the cowled habitants of the monasteries. That
quietude and mental ease so indispensable to study—so requisite for the growth
of thought and intellectuality, was disturbed by these distant sounds, or
dissipated by their own indolence. And yet in the midst of all this, rendered
still more anxious and perplexing by domestic troubles and signs of discontent
and insubordination among the monks. Whethamstede found time, and what was
better the spirit, for literary and bibliomanical pursuits. Honor to the man,
monk though he be, who oppressed with these vicissitudes and cares could effect
so much, and could appreciate both literature and art.
Humphrey, Duke of
Gloucester.
Contemporary with him we are not surprised that he gained the patronage
and friendship of Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, to whom he dedicated many of his
own performances, and greatly aided in collecting those treasures which the
duke regarded with such esteem. It is said that noble collector frequently paid
a friendly visit to the abbey to inspect the work of the monkish scribes, and
perhaps to negotiate for some of those choice vellum tomes for which the monks
of that monastery were so renowned.
But we must not pass the “good duke” without some slight notice of his “ryghte
valiant deedes”, his domestic troubles and his dark mysterious end. Old Foxe
thus speaks of him in his Actes and Monuments: “Of manners he seemed meeke and
gentle, loving the commonwealth, a supporter of the poore commons, of wit and
wisdom, discrete and studious, well affected to religion and a friend to
verity, and no less enemy to pride and ambition, especially in haughty
prelates, which was his undoing in this present evil world. And, which is
seldom and rare in such princes of that calling, he was both learned himself
and no less given to studies, and also a singular favorer and patron to those
who were studious and learned”. To which I cannot refrain from adding the
testimony of Hollingshed, who tells us that “The ornaments of his mind were
both rare and admirable; the feats of chivalry by him commenced and achieved
valiant and fortunate; his gratuities in counsel and soundness of policy
profound and singular; all which with a train of other excellent properties
linked together, require a man of manifold gifts to advance them according to
their dignity. I refer the readers unto Maister Foxe’s booke of Actes and Monuments. Only this I ad, that in respect of
his noble endowments and his demeanor full of decency, which he daily used, it seemed
he might well have given this pretty poesy:"
Virtute duce non sanguine nitor.
But with all these high qualities, our notions of propriety are somewhat
shocked at the open manner in which he kept his mistress Eleanor Cobham; but we
can scarcely agree in the condemnation of the generality of historians for his
marrying her afterwards, but regard it rather as the action of an honorable
man, desirous of making every reparation in his power. But the “pride of birth”
was sorely wounded by the espousals; and the enmity of the aristocracy already
roused, now became deeply rooted. Eleanor's disposition is represented as
passionate and unreasonable, and her mind sordid and oppressive. Be this how it
may, we must remember that it is from her enemies we learn it; and if so,
unrelenting persecution and inveterate malice were proceedings ill calculated
to soothe a temper prone to violence, or to elevate a mind undoubtedly weak.
But the vindictive and haughty cardinal Beaufort was the open and secret enemy
of the good duke Humphrey; for not only did he thwart every public measure
proposed by his rival, but employed spies to insinuate themselves into his
domestic circle, and to note and inform him of every little circumstance which
malice could distort into crime, or party rage into treason. This detestable
espionage met with a too speedy success. The duke, who was especially fond of
the society of learned men, retained in his family many priests and clerks, and
among them one Roger Bolingbroke, "a famous necromancer and
astronomer." This was a sufficient ground for the enmity of the cardinal
to feed upon, and he determined to annihilate at one blow the domestic happiness
of his rival. He arrested the Duchess, Bolingbroke, and a witch called Margery
Gourdimain, or Jourdayn, on the charge of witchcraft and treason. He accused
the priest and Margery of making, and the duchess for having in her possession,
a waxen figure, which, as she melted it before a slow fire, so would the body
of the king waste and decay, and his marrow wither in his bones. Her enemies
tried her, and of course found her and her companions guilty, though without a
shred of evidence to the purpose. The duchess was sentenced to do penance in
St. Paul's and two other churches on three separate days, and to be afterwards
imprisoned in the Isle of Man for life. Bolingbroke, who protested his
innocence to the last, was hung and quartered at Tyburn; and Margery, the witch
of Eye, as she was called, was burnt at Smithfield. But the black enmity of the
cardinal was sorely disappointed at the effect produced by this persecution. He
reasonably judged that no accusation was so likely to arouse a popular
prejudice against duke Humphrey as appealing to the superstition of the people
who in that age were ever prone to receive the most incredulous fabrications;
but far different was the impression made in the present case. The people with
more than their usual sagacity saw through the flimsy designs of the cardinal
and his faction; and while they pitied the victims of party malice, loved and
esteemed the good duke Humphrey more than ever.
But the intriguing heart of Beaufort soon resolved upon the most
desperate measures, and shrunk not from staining his priestly hands with
innocent and honorable blood. A parliament was summoned to meet at St. Edmunds
Bury, in Suffolk, on the 10th of February, 1447, at which all the nobility were
ordered to assemble. On the arrival of Duke Humphrey, the cardinal arrested him
on a groundless charge of high treason, and a few days after he was found dead
in his bed, his enemies gave out that he had died of the palsy; but although
his body was eagerly shown to the sorrowing multitude, the people believed that
their friend and favorite had been foully murdered, and feared not to raise
their voice in loud accusations at the Suffolk party; “some said that he was smoldered
betwixt two feather beddes”, and
others declared that he had suffered a still more barbarous death. Deep was the
murmuring and the grief of the people, for the good duke had won the love and
esteem of their hearts; and we can fully believe a contemporary who writes—
Compleyne al Yngland thys goode Lorde's deth.
Lydgate.
Perhaps none suffered more by his death than the author and the scholar;
for Duke Humphrey was a munificent patron of letters, and loved to correspond
with learned men, many of whom dedicated their works to him, and received ample
encouragement in return. Lydgate, who knew him well, composed some of his
pieces at the duke's instigation. In his Tragedies of Ihon Bochas he thus
speaks of him:
Duke of Gloucester men this prince call,
And not withstanding his estate and dignity,
His courage never dote appall
To study in books of antiquity;
Therein he hath so great felicity,
Virtuously him self to occupy,
Of vicious sloth, he hath the mastery.
And for these causes as in his entent
To show the untrust of all worldly things,
He gave to me in commandment
As him seemed it was right well fitting
That I should, after my small cunning,
This book translate, him to do pleasance,
To show the change of worldly variance.
And with support of his magnificence
Under the wings of his correction,
Though that I lack of eloquence
I shall proceed in this translation.
From me avoiding all presumption,
Loudly submitting every hour and space,
My rude language to my lord’s grace.
Anone after I of extension,
With penne in hand fast gain me speed,
As I could in my translation,
In this labor further to proceed,
My Lord came forth by and gain to take heed;
This mighty prince right manly and right wise
Gave me charge in his prudent auyle.
That I should in every tragedy,
After the process made mention,
At the end set a remedy,
With a Lenuoy,
conveyed by reason;
And after that, with humble affection,
To noble princes lowly it direct,
By others falling themselves to correct.
And I obeyed his bidding and pleasance
Under support of his magnificence,
As I could, I gain my penne audience,
All be I was barren of eloquence,
Following mine auctor in substance and sentence,
For it suffice plainly unto me,
So that my lord my making take in gre."
Lydgate often received money whilst translating this work, from the good
duke Humphrey, and there is a manuscript letter in the British Museum in which
he writes—
Righte myghty prynce, and it be youre wille,
Condescende leyser for to take,
To se the contents of thys litel bille,
Whiche whan I wrote my hand felt quake.
Duke Humphrey gave a noble instance of his great love of learning in the
year 1439, when he presented to the University of Oxford one hundred and
twenty-nine treatises, and shortly after, one hundred and twenty-six admirandi apparatus; and in the same
year, nine more. In 1443, he made another important donation of one hundred and
thirty volumes, to which he added one hundred and thirty-five more, making in
all, a collection of five hundred and thirty-eight volumes. These treasures,
too, had been collected with all the nice acumen of a bibliomaniac, and the
utmost attention was paid to their outward condition and internal purity.
Never, perhaps, were so many costly copies seen before, dazzling with the
splendor of their illuminations, and rendered inestimable by the many faithful
miniatures with which they were enriched. A superb copy of Valerius Maximus is
the only relic of that costly and noble gift, a solitary but illustrious
example of the membraneous treasures of that ducal library. But alas! those
very indications of art, those exquisite illuminations, were the fatal cause of
their unfortunate end; the portraits of kings and eminent men, with which the
historical works were adorned; the diagrams which pervaded the scientific
treatises, were viewed by the zealous reformers of Henry's reign, as damning
evidence of their Popish origin and use; and released from the chains with
which they were secured, they were hastily committed to the greedy flames. Thus
perished the library of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester! and posterity have to
mourn the loss of many an early gem of English literature.
But in the fourteenth century many other honorable examples occur of lay
collectors. The magnificent volumes, nine hundred in number, collected by
Charles V of France, a passionate bibliomaniac, were afterwards brought by the
duke of Bedford into England. The library then contained eight hundred and
fifty-three volumes, so sumptuously bound and gorgeously illuminated as to be
valued at 2,223 livres! This choice importation diffused an eager spirit of
inquiry among the more wealthy laymen. Humphrey, the "good duke,"
received some of these volumes as presents, and among others, a rich copy of
Livy, in French. Guy Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, also collected some choice tomes,
and possessed an unusually interesting library of early romances. He left the
whole of them to the monks of Bordesley Abbey in Worcestershire, about the year
1359. As a specimen of a private library in the fourteenth century, I am
tempted to extract it.
“A tus iceux, qe ceste lettre verront, ou orrount, Gwy de Beauchamp,
Comte de Warr. Saluz en Deu. Saluz nous aveir baylé e en la garde le Abbé e le
Covent de Bordesleye, lessé à demorer a touz jours touz les Romaunces de sonz
nomes; ceo est assaveyr, un volum, qe est appelé Tresor.
Un volum, en le quel est le
premer livere de Lancelot, e un volum del Romaunce de Aygnes.
Un Sauter de Romaunce.
Un volum des Evangelies,
e de Vie des Seins.
Un volum, qe p'le des quatre principals Gestes de Charles, e de dooun, e
de Meyace e de Girard de Vienne e de Emery de Nerbonne.
Un volum del Romaunce Emmond de Ageland, e deu Roy Charles dooun de
Nauntoyle. E le Romaunce de Gwyoun de Nauntoyl.
E un volum del Romaunce Titus et Vespasien.
E un volum del Romaunce Josep ab Arimathie, e deu Seint Grael.
E un volum, qe p'le coment Adam fust eniesté hors de paradys, e le
Genesie.
E un volum en le quel sount contenuz touns des Romaunces, ceo este
assaveir, Vitas patrum au comencement; e pus un Comte de Auteypt; e la Vision
Seint Pol; et pus les Vies des xii. Seins.
E le Romaunce de Willame de Loungespe.
E Autorites des Seins
humes.
E le Mirour de Alme.
Un volum, en le quel sount contenuz la Vie Seint Pére e Seint Pol, e des
autres liv.
E un volum qe est appelé l'Apocalips.
E un livere de Phisik, e de Surgie.
Un volum del Romaunce de Gwy, e de la Reygne tut enterement.
Un volum del Romaunce de Troies.
Un volum del Romaunce de Willame de Orenges e de Teband de Arabie.
Un volum del Romaunce de Amase e de Idoine.
Un volum del Romaunce de Girard de Viene.
Un volum del Romaunce deu Brut, e del Roy Costentine.
Un volum de le enseignemt Aristotle enveiez au Roy Alisaundre.
Un volum de la mort ly Roy Arthur, e de Mordret.
Un volum en le quel sount contenuz les Enfaunces de Nostre Seygneur,
coment il fust mené en Egipt.
E la Vie Seint Edwd.
E la Visioun Seint Pol. La Vengeaunce n're Seygneur par Vespasien a
Titus, e la Vie Seint Nicolas, qe fust nez en Patras.
E la Vie Seint Eustace.
E la Vie Seint Cudlac.
E la Passioun n're Seygneur.
E la Meditacioun Seint Bernard de n're Dame Seint Marie, e del Passioun
sour deuz fiz Jesu Creist n're Seignr.
E la Vie Seint Eufrasie.
E la Vie Seint Radegounde.
E la Vie Seint Juliane.
Un volum, en le quel est aprise de Enfants et lumière à Lays.
Un volum del Romaunce d'a Alisaundre, ove peintures.
Un petit rouge livere, en le quel sount contenuz mons diverses choses.
Un volum del Romaunce des Mareschans, e de Ferebras e de Alisaundre.
Les queus livres nous grauntons par nos heyrs e par nos assignes qil
demorront en la dit Abbeye, etc.”
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