Cecily Bodenham (before 1511-after 1543), was the last abbess of

Wilton Abbey Wilton Abbey was a Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, England, three miles from Salisbury, probably on the site now occupied by Wilton House. It was active from the early tenth century until 1539. History Foundation Wilton Abbey is first reco ...

. Her tenure as abbess was from 1534 to 25 March 1539, when she surrendered the abbey to the commissioners of King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. She received a generous pension and a property at

Fovant Fovant is a village and civil parish in southwest Wiltshire, England, lying about west of Salisbury on the A30 Salisbury-Shaftesbury road, on the south side of the Nadder valley. History The name is derived from the Old English ''Fobbefunt ...

, where she retired with about ten of the nuns from Wilton.

Religious career

Cecily was born on an unknown date, the daughter of Roger Bodenham of Rotherwas,

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

and Joane Bromwich. She became a nun at Kingston St Michael in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

; eventually becoming the Prioress. In 1511, she was kidnapped by a curate of Castle Coombe, who also robbed the priory.

Kathy Lynn Emerson Kathy Lynn Emerson is an American writer of historical and mystery novels and non-fiction. She also uses the pseudonyms Kaitlyn Dunnett and Kate Emerson. Emerson writes historical mysteries as Kathy Lynn Emerson, historical fiction set in royal ...

, ''A Who's Who of Tudor Women''. Retrieved 6 April 2010 However, she was later released and returned to Kingston St Michael. In 1534, she was nominated by the Court to the vacant post of abbess of Wilton Abbey, replacing

Isabel Jordayne Isabel Jordayne (died c.1534) was an English abbess of Wilton Abbey. She was the penultimate abbess whose election was debated by Cardinal Wolsey and Anne Boleyn before Henry VIII, the abbey's patron, chose her. Life Jordayne's birth and early ...

. Cecily was known to both King Henry and Queen

Anne Boleyn Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...

; and she paid the sum of £100 to

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false char ...

to secure her election as abbess.Emerson As abbess of Wilton, Cecily held an entire barony from the king, which was a privilege shared by three other English nunneries: Shaftesbury, Barking and St. Mary, Winchester. During her tenure, she leased Fuggleston Manor, held by Wilton Abbey, to a relative, Henry Bodenham. She was compliant with the King's policies during the Dissolution of the Monasteries; and when Wilton Abbey suffered the same fate as the other religious houses, she willingly surrendered the abbey to the King's commissioners on 25 March 1539. At the time she claimed to be "without father, brother, or assured friend". A nun at the abbey wrote in her diary complaining of Cecily Bodenham's ready acquiescence to King Henry's Acts with this passage: :"Methinks the Abbess hath a faint heart and doth yield up our possessions to the spoiler with a not unwilling haste...Master Richard Neville, the Sub-Seneschal, informeth me that His Majesty's commissioners do purpose to reward her with a fair house at Foffaunt and a goodly stipend withal." Cecily was amply awarded with a generous pension of £100 and a property at Fovant in Wiltshire, with an orchard, gardens, three acres of meadow and one load of wood per annum from Fovant Woods. About ten of the nuns from Wilton went to live with her at the Manor Home Farm. She paid for the construction of the south aisle of St. George's Church. Cecily Bodenham died sometime after 1543, when her will was made.

Portrait

According to author Elizabeth Dorsey Hatle in her ''Portrait of a Young Woman'', published by Ricardian Register in 2003, the subject of the portrait at the

Minneapolis Institute of Art The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the largest art museums in the United State ...

is Cecily Bodenham.

Notes

References

* House of Benedictine Nuns- Abbey of Wilton, British History Online, retrieved 6 April 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodenham, Cecily English Roman Catholic abbesses 16th-century deaths 16th-century English women 16th-century English landowners 16th-century women landowners Year of birth uncertain