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Bury St Edmunds Abbey
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Bury St Edmunds Abbey
The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England, until its dissolution in 1539. It is in the town that grew up around it, Bury St Edmunds in the county of Suffolk, England. It was a centre of pilgrimage as the burial place of the Anglo-Saxon martyr-king Saint Edmund, killed by the Great Heathen Army of Danes in 869. The ruins of the abbey church and most other buildings are merely rubble cores, but two very large medieval gatehouses survive, as well as two secondary medieval churches built within the abbey complex.
In the early 10th century the allegedly incorrupt (i.e. not decomposed) body of the martyred king, St Edmund, was translated from Hægelisdun to Beodricsworth, afterwards known as St Edmundsbury, a site that had probably had a monastery founded by St Sigeberht some three centuries earlier. At this time the early shrine was guarded by a group of secular priests, but in c. 1020, under the auspices of King Cnut and Ælfwine, the then Bishop of Elmham, they were replaced by monks from St Benet's Abbey and a Benedictine Abbey of St Edmundsbury was founded. Two of the monks from St Benet's Abbey became Bury's first two abbots: Ufi, prior of Holme, (d. 1044), who was consecrated abbot by the Bishop of London; and Leofstan (1044–65). After Leofstan's death, the king appointed his physician Baldwin to the abbacy (1065–97). Baldwin rebuilt the church and reinterred St Edmund's body there with great ceremony in 1095. The cult made the richly endowed abbey a popular destination for pilgrimages.
The abbey church of St Edmund was built in the 11th and 12th centuries on a cruciform plan, with an apsidal east end. The shrine of St Edmund stood behind the high altar. The abbey was much enlarged and rebuilt during the 12th century. At some 505 ft (154 m) long, and spanning 246 ft (75 m) across its westerly transept, Bury St Edmunds abbey church was one of the largest in the country. It is now ruined, with only some rubble cores remaining, but two other separate churches which were built within the abbey precinct survive, having always functioned as parish churches for the town. St James's Church, now St Edmundsbury Cathedral, was finished around 1135. St Mary's Church was first built around 1125, and then rebuilt in the Perpendicular style between 1425 and 1435.
Abbey Gate, opening onto the Great Courtyard, was the secular entrance which was used by the Abbey's servants.
The Cloisters Cross, also referred to as the "Bury St Edmunds Cross", is an unusually complex 12th-century Romanesque altar cross, carved from walrus ivory. it is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The sculptor is not known. Thomas Hoving, who managed the acquisition of the cross while he was Associate Curator at The Cloisters, concluded that it was carved by Master Hugo at the Abbey. There is no certain evidence to suggest that the cross was even made in England, however, although this is accepted by most scholars, and other places of origin such as Germany have been proposed.
In 1327 the Abbey was destroyed during the Great Riot by the local people, who were angry at the power of the monastery, and it had to be rebuilt. The Norman Gate dates from 1120 to 1148 and was designed to be the gateway for the Abbey Church and it is still the belfry for the Church of St James, the present cathedral of Bury St Edmunds. This four-storey gate-hall is virtually unchanged and is entered through a single archway. Abbey Gate is an impressive 14th-century stone gatehouse, designed to be the gateway for the Great Courtyard. One of the best surviving examples of its type, this two-storey gate-hall is entered through a single archway which retains its portcullis. The Crankles was the name of the fishpond near the river Lark. The vineyard was first laid out in the 13th century. There were three breweries in the Abbey as each monk was entitled to eight pints a day.
The Abbey's charters granted extensive lands and rights in Suffolk. By 1327, the Abbey owned all of West Suffolk. The Abbey held the gates of Bury St Edmunds; they held wardships of all orphans, whose income went to the Abbot until the orphan reached maturity; they pressed their rights of corvée. In the late 12th century, the Abbot Adam Samson forced the Dean Herbert to destroy the new windmill he had built without permission. Adam said: "By the face of God! I will never eat bread until that building is destroyed!"
The town of Bury St Edmunds was designed by the monks in a grid pattern. The monks charged tariffs on every economic activity, including the collecting of horse droppings in the streets. The Abbey even ran the Royal Mint. During the 13th century general prosperity blunted the resistance of burghers and peasants; in the 14th century, however, the monks encountered hostility from the local populace. Throughout 1327, the monastery suffered extensively, as several monks lost their lives in riots, and many buildings were destroyed. The townspeople attacked in January, forcing a charter of liberties on them. When the monks reneged on this they attacked again in February and May. The hated charters and debtors' accounts were seized and triumphantly torn to shreds.
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Bury St Edmunds Abbey
The Abbey of Bury St Edmunds was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England, until its dissolution in 1539. It is in the town that grew up around it, Bury St Edmunds in the county of Suffolk, England. It was a centre of pilgrimage as the burial place of the Anglo-Saxon martyr-king Saint Edmund, killed by the Great Heathen Army of Danes in 869. The ruins of the abbey church and most other buildings are merely rubble cores, but two very large medieval gatehouses survive, as well as two secondary medieval churches built within the abbey complex.
In the early 10th century the allegedly incorrupt (i.e. not decomposed) body of the martyred king, St Edmund, was translated from Hægelisdun to Beodricsworth, afterwards known as St Edmundsbury, a site that had probably had a monastery founded by St Sigeberht some three centuries earlier. At this time the early shrine was guarded by a group of secular priests, but in c. 1020, under the auspices of King Cnut and Ælfwine, the then Bishop of Elmham, they were replaced by monks from St Benet's Abbey and a Benedictine Abbey of St Edmundsbury was founded. Two of the monks from St Benet's Abbey became Bury's first two abbots: Ufi, prior of Holme, (d. 1044), who was consecrated abbot by the Bishop of London; and Leofstan (1044–65). After Leofstan's death, the king appointed his physician Baldwin to the abbacy (1065–97). Baldwin rebuilt the church and reinterred St Edmund's body there with great ceremony in 1095. The cult made the richly endowed abbey a popular destination for pilgrimages.
The abbey church of St Edmund was built in the 11th and 12th centuries on a cruciform plan, with an apsidal east end. The shrine of St Edmund stood behind the high altar. The abbey was much enlarged and rebuilt during the 12th century. At some 505 ft (154 m) long, and spanning 246 ft (75 m) across its westerly transept, Bury St Edmunds abbey church was one of the largest in the country. It is now ruined, with only some rubble cores remaining, but two other separate churches which were built within the abbey precinct survive, having always functioned as parish churches for the town. St James's Church, now St Edmundsbury Cathedral, was finished around 1135. St Mary's Church was first built around 1125, and then rebuilt in the Perpendicular style between 1425 and 1435.
Abbey Gate, opening onto the Great Courtyard, was the secular entrance which was used by the Abbey's servants.
The Cloisters Cross, also referred to as the "Bury St Edmunds Cross", is an unusually complex 12th-century Romanesque altar cross, carved from walrus ivory. it is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The sculptor is not known. Thomas Hoving, who managed the acquisition of the cross while he was Associate Curator at The Cloisters, concluded that it was carved by Master Hugo at the Abbey. There is no certain evidence to suggest that the cross was even made in England, however, although this is accepted by most scholars, and other places of origin such as Germany have been proposed.
In 1327 the Abbey was destroyed during the Great Riot by the local people, who were angry at the power of the monastery, and it had to be rebuilt. The Norman Gate dates from 1120 to 1148 and was designed to be the gateway for the Abbey Church and it is still the belfry for the Church of St James, the present cathedral of Bury St Edmunds. This four-storey gate-hall is virtually unchanged and is entered through a single archway. Abbey Gate is an impressive 14th-century stone gatehouse, designed to be the gateway for the Great Courtyard. One of the best surviving examples of its type, this two-storey gate-hall is entered through a single archway which retains its portcullis. The Crankles was the name of the fishpond near the river Lark. The vineyard was first laid out in the 13th century. There were three breweries in the Abbey as each monk was entitled to eight pints a day.
The Abbey's charters granted extensive lands and rights in Suffolk. By 1327, the Abbey owned all of West Suffolk. The Abbey held the gates of Bury St Edmunds; they held wardships of all orphans, whose income went to the Abbot until the orphan reached maturity; they pressed their rights of corvée. In the late 12th century, the Abbot Adam Samson forced the Dean Herbert to destroy the new windmill he had built without permission. Adam said: "By the face of God! I will never eat bread until that building is destroyed!"
The town of Bury St Edmunds was designed by the monks in a grid pattern. The monks charged tariffs on every economic activity, including the collecting of horse droppings in the streets. The Abbey even ran the Royal Mint. During the 13th century general prosperity blunted the resistance of burghers and peasants; in the 14th century, however, the monks encountered hostility from the local populace. Throughout 1327, the monastery suffered extensively, as several monks lost their lives in riots, and many buildings were destroyed. The townspeople attacked in January, forcing a charter of liberties on them. When the monks reneged on this they attacked again in February and May. The hated charters and debtors' accounts were seized and triumphantly torn to shreds.
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