Stained_Glass_kneeling_abbess_at_Llanllugan_church

Llanllugan Abbey was a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Cistercian nuns Cistercian nuns are female members of the Cistercian Order, a religious order belonging to the Roman Catholic branch of the Catholic Church. History The first Cistercian monastery for women, Le Tart Abbey, was established at Tart-l'Abbaye in t ...

, one of only two Cistercian women's monasteries in Wales, located at Llanllugan,

Powys Powys (; ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh succession of states, successor state, petty kingdom and princi ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. An early charter to Llanllugan nunnery was issued by Maredudd ap Rhobert, Lord of

Cedewain Cedewain (or Cydewain) was a medieval cantref in the Kingdom of Powys. It possibly consisted of the commotes (''cymydau'') of Cynan, Hafren and Uwch Hanes. Other sources give the commotes as Cedewain, Eginlle and Ceri. It lay at the south of the ...

, probably some time in the early thirteenth century. Maredudd's charter provided the nuns with their core estates in the township of Llanllugan between the two streams of the Rhiw. The abbey's other estates include Hydan grange in

Castle Caereinion Castle Caereinion ( Welsh: ''Castell Caereinion'') is a small village and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales upon the River Banwy, around 8 miles west of Welshpool, and 4 miles east of Llanfair Caereinion. In 2011 the ward had a populat ...

and Cowney in

Llangadfan Llangadfan is a small village in Powys, Wales, based in the community of Banwy. The village lies on the A458 between Foel and Llanerfyl, from Llanwddyn. Dyfnant Forest is located nearby. The village is said to be known for its country dances. ...

. Llanllugan also received income from appropriated churches, the rectory of

Llanfair Caereinion Llanfair Caereinion is a market town and community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales upon the River Banwy (also known as the River Einion), around 8 miles west of Welshpool. In 2011 the ward had a population of 1,810; the town itself had a popul ...

was granted by Bishop Hugh of

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

in 1239 and Llanllwchairan by Bishop Anian of St Asaph in 1263. It was founded as a dependency of the Cistercian

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s at the Abbey of

Strata Marcella The Abbey of Strata Marcella ( cy, Abaty Ystrad Marchell) was a medieval Cistercian monastery situated at Ystrad Marchell (''Strata Marcella'' being the Latinised form of the Welsh name) on the west bank of the River Severn near Welshpool, Powys, ...

. The former monastery church survives as the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of Llanllugan. However, the site of the abbey buildings remains uncertain: they might have been in a meadow 200 metres to the south of the church. The Princes of Wales founded a number of Cistercian monasteries in that period, which were independent of the ones founded in

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, at a time Norman forces were pushing their way into that region. As a result, these houses were nominally allied with the native Welsh nobility. The abbey is famous in Welsh literature from a poem by the leading poet

Dafydd ap Gwilym Dafydd ap Gwilym ( 1315/1320 – 1350/1370) is regarded as one of the leading Welsh poets and amongst the great poets of Europe in the Middle Ages. Life R. Geraint Gruffydd suggests 1315- 1350 as the poet's dates; others place him a little ...

entitled ''Cyrchu Lleian'' ( en, Wooing a nun):Rachel Bromwich, ''Selected Poems of Dafydd ap Gwilym'', Penguin, 1985, , p 53 In the poem, Dafydd implores his anonymous messenger to travel to 'proud Llanllugan' and entice one of the nuns from the convent to the forest grove. It has been suggested that the abbey was small: only four nuns and an abbess were recorded in 1377. Dafydd's poem (written before the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

) suggests there were some 60 nuns at that time; however the figure should be taken as poetic license, as the two Welsh communities of Cistercian nuns rarely seem to have had more than a dozen members each.

Notes

External links

*CPAT "Montgomeryshire Churches Survey

{{coord, 52.61064, N, 3.39294, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Cistercian nunneries in Wales History of Powys Buildings and structures in Powys Catholic Church in Wales Christian monasteries in Wales Religious organizations established in the 1180s Christian monasteries established in the 12th century 12th-century establishments in Wales