Coggeshall Abbey, situated south of the town of

Coggeshall Coggeshall ( or ) is a small town in Essex, England, between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road Stane Street and the River Blackwater. It has almost 300 listed buildings and a market whose charter was granted in 1256 by Henry III. ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, was founded in 1140 by

King Stephen of England Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 unti ...

and

Matilda of Boulogne Matilda (c.1105 – 3 May 1152) was Countess of Boulogne in her own right from 1125 and Queen of England from the accession of her husband, Stephen, in 1136 until her death in 1152. She supported Stephen in his struggle for the English throne ...

, as a

Savigniac The monastic Congregation of Savigny (Savigniac Order) started in the abbey of Savigny, situated in northern France, on the confines of Normandy and Brittany, in the Diocese of Coutances. It originated in 1105 when Vitalis of Mortain established a ...

house but became

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

in 1147 upon the absorption of the order.

History

In 1216 an incident was recorded that "King John's army violently entered the abbey and carried off twenty-two horses of the bishop of London and others." It is also known that the reigning abbot in 1260 was travelling abroad as the

envoy Envoy or Envoys may refer to: Diplomacy * Diplomacy, in general * Envoy (title) * Special envoy, a type of diplomatic rank Brands *Airspeed Envoy, a 1930s British light transport aircraft *Envoy (automobile), an automobile brand used to sell Bri ...

of the King. By 1370 the monastery was reported to be very poor, partly due to excessive spending and other mismanagement. Furthermore, during the so-called

Peasants Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

of 1381, the abbey was broken into and raided. On the eve of the suppression of the monastery many, possibly false, charges were made against the abbot, William Love, and in 1536 he was relieved of his duties. The abbey was heavily in debt by the time of its closure in 1538, following which the site was sold to

Sir Thomas Seymour Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, KG, PC (20 March 1549) was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of King Henry VIII. With his brother, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector of England, he vied for control of ...

. The abbey church was rapidly ransacked and demolished. A house was built in 1581 on part of the monastery site and still stands. The abbey gate chapel survives restored as 'St. Nicholas Chapel', which hosts a monthly Sunday service. The will of

John Sharpe (courtier) Sir John Sharpe (died 1518) of Coggeshall in Essex was a courtier ( gentleman usher) to King Henry VII (1485–1509). He was present at the king's death-bed as is evident from a drawing of the event by Sir Thomas Wriothesley (died 1534), Garter ...

, dated 1518, indicates that he held a lease of "mansion and lodgings at Coggeshall Abbey". A similar later lease survives for Clement Harleston, granted in 1528, and shows that these buildings were next to the infirmary.

References

* 'Houses of Cistercian monks: Abbey of Coggeshall', A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 125–29. * Anthony New. 'A Guide to the Abbeys of England And Wales', p117-18. Constable. {{Authority control 1538 disestablishments in England Religious organizations established in the 1140s Cistercian monasteries in England Monasteries in Essex Grade I listed churches in Essex Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 1140 establishments in England Grade I listed monasteries Coggeshall Stephen, King of England

History

See also

References