Belvoir Priory facts for kids
 Location in Leicestershire
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| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | 1076 |
| Disestablished | 1539 |
| Mother house | St Albans Abbey |
| Diocese | Diocese of Lincoln |
| Controlled churches |
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| People | |
| Founder(s) | Robert de Todeni |
| Site | |
| Location | Belvoir, Leicestershire, England |
| Coordinates | 52°53′55″N 0°46′54″W / 52.898541°N 0.781701°W |
Belvoir Priory (pronounced Beaver) was a special kind of monastery called a Benedictine priory. It was located near Belvoir Castle in England. A priory is a religious house, usually smaller than an abbey, where monks or nuns live and pray. This priory was active for over 450 years, from 1076 until 1539.
Contents
A Look Back at Belvoir Priory
How Belvoir Priory Started
Belvoir Priory was founded in 1076 by a powerful lord named Robert de Todeni. He was the Lord of Belvoir. He started building it on land close to his castle.
However, Robert de Todeni was very busy with his "secular employments." This means he had many important jobs outside of the church. He couldn't finish building the priory himself.
So, he asked for advice from Lanfranc, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. Following Lanfranc's suggestion, Robert gave the priory to the Abbot of St Albans Abbey. St Albans Abbey was a much larger and more important monastery.
Belvoir Priory then became a "cell" of St Albans Abbey. A cell was like a small branch or outpost that depended on a larger "motherhouse." In return for his generous gift, Robert de Todeni was buried inside the priory's chapter house. The monks there were also asked to pray for his soul.
Life at the Priory
Belvoir Priory was quite small. It usually had only four monks living there at a time. Even though it was small, it received many gifts and support from wealthy people. Many of these people, like the founder Robert de Todeni, chose to be buried inside the priory's church or chapter house.
Some of these gifts included "advowsons." An advowson was the right to choose the priest for a church. For example, William d'Albini gave the priory the advowson for the church at Redmile. Later, in 1308, William de Ros, 1st Baron de Ros gave them the advowson for the church at Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir.
Challenges and the End
Because the priory was so small, it often struggled to make enough money to support itself. It was frequently in debt and faced poverty.
As the time of the Dissolution of the monasteries approached, the priory was no longer in debt. However, it still didn't have enough money to support any monks. The prior, who was the head of the priory, lived there alone. Monks from St Albans Abbey would visit him sometimes.
Belvoir Priory was officially closed down in 1539. This happened as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a big event in England when King Henry VIII closed many religious houses. Belvoir Priory was dissolved along with its motherhouse, St Albans Abbey.
