King's Langley Priory facts for kids
.jpg)
King's Langley Priory was a special kind of monastery for Dominican friars in Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, England. It was built right next to the Kings Langley Royal Palace, which was a home for the Plantagenet kings of England.
Contents
History of the Priory
How it Started
The priory at Langley was started in 1308 by King Edward II. He had made a promise to build it when he was in danger. On December 1st, the king promised the friars £100 a year. A few weeks later, he gave them his garden and some land near the church for building. He also gave them a place called 'Little London' to live in until the priory was built. The first leader, called a prior, was John de Warefeld, who had worked for Edward for some time.
In March 1312, the king gave the friars 700 marks to help with building. That summer, their church was officially opened and a cemetery was blessed. It seems the church might not have been fully finished yet. This is because the body of Piers Gaveston, a close friend of the king who was killed around that time, was not buried there until late 1314. His funeral was a very grand event, with the Archbishop of Canterbury and four bishops attending.
Royal Support and Challenges
In October 1311, the king increased the priory's yearly income to £150. This was to support fifteen new friars who had joined. He also gave the friars a house and some land in his manor of Langley in June 1315. They were allowed to take wood for fires and other needs from Chipperfield Wood. During times when food was scarce, the king even gave them corn.
However, the king felt that relying on money from the Exchequer (the royal treasury) was not ideal. He wanted to give them a permanent source of income. Since friars could not own property directly, he thought about starting a house of Dominican nuns. These nuns would hold lands in trust for the friars. In 1318, he sent two friars to the Pope to get permission for this idea.
The friars sometimes struggled because the payments from the Exchequer were not regular. In 1345, they complained to King Edward III that they didn't have enough money to live, continue their building projects, or pay their debts. The king then gave them money that was owed to him by a foreign monastery called Harmondsworth.
Edward III was also very interested in the priory. In 1346, he gave the friars permission to use stone from a quarry for their buildings. In 1347, he let them make the ditch around their property wider. He also gave them fishing rights in his water at King's Langley in 1358. They could also build a weir (a small dam) and enter and leave it through his park. He even gave them the source of a stream in Abbots Langley to build an underground water pipe to their house. In 1361-2, he gave them £20 a year for their new building work.
Founding of Dartford Priory
King Edward II's wish to have nuns hold land for the friars finally happened in 1349. A house of Dominican sisters was founded at Dartford in Kent. This new nunnery was meant to support the friars at King's Langley. In December 1356, the prioress (leader of the nuns) and the nuns were allowed to buy property worth £300. This money was for their own support and for the friars of King's Langley.
In October 1363, the king granted the priory, which had twenty brothers, 200 marks a year. In March 1371, he ordered that this money should come from the income of a foreign priory called Burstall.
In 1374, the church of Langley was given to the nuns of Dartford. This was part of a new plan. In October 1376, Edward III gave several manors (large estates) in Kent to John Duke of Lancaster and others. These lands were meant to be held in trust for the priory at Langley. From 1382, the friars were allowed to use these lands for forty years. The idea was that after this time, the lands would be given to them permanently.
However, the friars faced problems with these lands. In 1383-4, they told King Richard II that the rent was very late. They asked for the lands to be given to them permanently, as King Edward II had wanted. This did not happen. In 1386, the king gave them the income from another foreign priory, Ware, instead of the Kentish manors.
Finally, on April 24, 1399, King Richard II officially gave the manors to the nuns of Dartford. They were to hold them for the friars of King's Langley. The king felt that the house at King's Langley was "not yet sufficiently built and endowed." Five years earlier, the friars had also gained control of the churches of Willian and Great Gaddesden in Hertfordshire.
Royal Burials
When King Richard II died in February 1400, he was first buried at Langley Priory. Later, King Henry V ordered his body to be moved to Westminster Abbey. However, the priory church at Langley still had a link to the royal family. It held the tomb of Edmund of Langley, Duke of York, who was buried there in 1402. His wife, Isabella, the daughter of King Peter of Castile, was also buried there.
Kings Henry IV (in 1399) and Henry V (in 1413) confirmed the grants made to the friars. This helped the friars prove their right to the Kentish manors. Later kings, including Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and Henry VIII, also confirmed these grants.
Richard Wycherley
The priory now had a steady and good income. This is why Richard Wycherley, a former prior who had become a bishop, asked to be appointed prior again around 1497. He wanted the job for life. He promised to follow the rules of the order, give his own money to the priory, and live simply. He also said he would keep proper records of the priory's money.
He got the job, but his successor (the next prior) said it didn't help the priory much. After four years, he owed the priory £64. When he was very ill, he wanted this money to be paid back. He also left his crozier (a bishop's staff) and mitre (a bishop's hat), worth £40, to the priory. After he died, his executors (people who carry out his will) sued the priory for some of his belongings. The friars said these items belonged to the priory and the bishop had only borrowed them.
Richard Yngworth and the Dissolution
In 1533, the priory faced problems with its rights and property from someone named Verney. Thomas Cromwell, a powerful minister, helped them. Richard Yngworth, the prior, sent Cromwell a gift of apples in December. He thanked Cromwell for his help to the provincial superior (a leader in the Dominican order), John Hilsey. This help allowed Yngworth to do his work peacefully.
Yngworth was very loyal to Cromwell, hoping to advance his own career. In April 1534, he traveled to eastern England to make sure friars accepted King Henry VIII as the supreme head of the English Church. The friars at Langley, of course, made this official declaration.
Yngworth's hard work was noticed. When Hilsey became a bishop, people suggested that Yngworth should become the provincial leader. He had to wait, but in December 1537, he became a Suffragan Bishop of Dover. He probably stopped being Prior of King's Langley at that time.
In February 1538, the king ordered Yngworth to visit all friaries in England. In May, he was told to secure their goods and make lists of them. This was clearly in preparation for closing them down. Langley Priory was given up to the Crown later that year. Many of the friars were very old and poor, but it's not clear if they received any support.
Yngworth immediately asked for the priory building. In February 1540, he was given the priory and most of its lands. This was to be held until he received church jobs worth £100 a year. In 1535, the priory was valued at about £122 a year. At the time of the Dissolution (when monasteries were closed), its total yearly value was about £130.
It's hard to know exactly how many friars lived at the priory at any time. Edward II wanted it to hold a hundred friars, but there's no proof it ever did. In 1311, the king's extra allowance for fifteen brothers suggests there were forty-five friars then. Edward III allowed the nuns of Dartford to support forty sisters and sixty friars. However, the king's direct support for Langley only covered twenty friars, which later increased by twenty more.
Refounded and Final Closure
The priory of King's Langley was reopened in June 1557 by King Philip and Queen Mary. It became a house for Dominican sisters, specifically for seven nuns who had been at Ingress Abbey in Kent. The prioress and nuns were made an official group, able to own property and take part in legal matters. They were given the old friary buildings and land.
In September 1558, the king and queen also granted the prioress and nuns of Langley some properties in Dartford. It's thought that the nuns might have moved back to Dartford at this point. However, the convent did not last long. Queen Mary died in November 1558. An Act passed by Elizabeth's first Parliament cancelled all monasteries that had been reopened since the death of Edward VI. Their possessions were then taken by the Crown.
What Remains Today
In the early 1900s, the property was bought by Margaret Cross, who turned it into a school. Today, it is part of the Rudolf Steiner School Kings Langley, which closed in March 2019. It is connected to the nearby site of Kings Langley Palace.
Other Burials at the Priory
- Anne de Mortimer
- Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall
- Thomas Plantagenet, the twelfth child of King Edward III
- Ralph Stafford (died 1385)
Priors of King's Langley
Elizabeth Cressener was the only prioress of Langley. The priors (leaders) of King's Langley were:
- John de Warefeld, 1308–15
- Robert de Duffeld, appointed 1315, mentioned in 1316 and 1319
- Roger de Woderowe, mentioned in 1329 and 1340
- John de Dunstable, died around 1343
- John Woderowe, mentioned June 9, 1356
- Thomas Walsh, mentioned in 1374
- John, mentioned October 1384
- William Syward, mentioned January 1394-5
- Philip Boydon, mentioned in 1426
- John Henle, removed before May 1427
- John de Hunden, D.D., resigned in 1458 to become Bishop of Llandaff
- William Wignale, S.T.D., mentioned July 16, 1458
- Thomas Welles, mentioned July 14, 1466
- Richard Wycherley, resigned to become Bishop of 'Olivence'
- Thomas Powel or Poynes, mentioned 1494 around 1498
- Richard Wycherley, Bishop of 'Olivence,' appointed 1498-9, died around 1502-3
- Robert, mentioned around 1502-3
- Thomas Cowper, S.T.B., mentioned in 1519
- Robert Mylys or Miles, mentioned in 1522
- Richard Yngworth, S.T.P., mentioned in 1530 and December 1537
Priory Seals
The priory used special seals to make official documents.
A 15th-century seal was shaped like a pointed oval. It showed the Annunciation (when the angel Gabriel told Mary she would have Jesus) in a fancy carved space. Below it, the royal founder (King Edward II) was kneeling in prayer. On either side of him were shields, but they showed the arms of France and England, not Edward II's personal arms. Only two letters of the writing around the edge remain.
A later seal, also a pointed oval, showed God in majesty. At the bottom, under a carved arch, was the king kneeling, just like in the older seal. The inner edge had a wavy pattern. The writing around it said: SIGILLUM : COVUNE : FRATRUM : PREDIB : DE : LANGELEYE (which means "Seal of the Community of Friars Preachers of Langley").
A 16th-century seal, a bit larger and also oval, showed the coronation of the Virgin Mary in a carved space with a two-arched roof. On each side, there was a smaller carved space. The one on the left showed St. Margaret, crowned, standing on a dragon and holding a long cross and a book. The one on the right showed an archbishop with his mitre and crozier. Below them, the founder was kneeling under a carved arch. He held a church, and his crown was on the ground in front of him. The writing around the edge is partly missing. The back of the seal showed two impressions of a shield-shaped signet with a coat of arms. The owner of these arms is not known.
