Walter, Abbot of Evesham or ''Walter de Cerisy'', ''Gauthier de Cerisy'' was an 11th-century abbot and church leader in England under the

Norman conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...

. He is known from the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

and several legal documents.

Name

He is known variously as Walter de Cerisy, or more simply as ''Walter, a monk of

Cerisy Cerisy (; pcd, Çrisin) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Cerisy is a small village in the district known as the Santerre, to the east of Amiens and 12 km from Albert. Cerisy is locate ...

'', a small village to the west of Bayeux in France. It is not known if he was born in the village or had lived in the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

at Cerisy-la-Forêt.

As abbot

Walter succeeded

Æthelwig Æthelwig (–16 February in either 1077 or 1078) was an Abbot of Evesham before and during the Norman Conquest of England. Born sometime around 1010 or 1015, he was elected abbot in 1058. Known for his legal expertise, he administered estates ...

as abbot of Evesham, Worcestershire in 1077. He began the building of the new church, which had been designed by Æthelwig, and increased the number of monks. He incurred disapproval by granting abbey lands and offices to his relatives, especially by instituting a secular

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

and steward, and making the office of steward hereditary within his own family.

Legal cases

Walter is known for his varied legal actions, at a time that the newly established Norman kings were taking lands from the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The character ...

and ecclesiastical estates.

Bishop Wulfstan

There was a court case between himself and Bishop Wulfstan, who

plead In law as practiced in countries that follow the English models, a pleading is a formal written statement of a party's claims or defenses to another party's claims in a civil action. The parties' pleadings in a case define the issues to be adjudi ...

ed before the king and established that "4 hides in

Bengeworth Bengeworth is a locality adjoining Evesham in Worcestershire, England. In 1887 it had a population of 1,311. Today it has a school and an Anglican church. History Bengeworth was an early hamlet in one of the three Anglo-Saxon hundreds (Cuthburg ...

, Worcester, and houses in the city of

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

belonged to his holding, so that the abbot ought to do him service from them like his other tenants". The bishop also argued that

the sake and soke of Hampton, Worcestershire should belong to his hundred of Oswaldslow, so that the people of Hampton should plead there, pay
geld Geld may refer to: * Gelding, equine castration * Danegeld Danegeld (; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was call ...
there, do military service and the other royal services required from these hides, and pay church and burial dues there.

Wulfstan argued that these rights which Walter had refused to provide had been set in the time of Edward the Confessor. The witnesses were called, but before proceeding to trial Walter (on the advice of friends) confessed and accessed to Wulfstan.

Odo of Bayeux

In 1077 Odo of Bayeux, the brother of

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

brought an action against Walter as the Abbot of Evesham Abbey, claiming that certain lands were obtained illegally under the prior

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

, whom he had recently succeeded. Æthelwig had been a deputy of Ealdred, Bishop of Worcester, and, prior to being appointed abbot, Æthelwig had administered estates for Ealdred. Then, as abbot, Æthelwig had worked to recover estates that had been lost to Evesham, as well as acquiring more estates. Although the charge of Æthelwig misappropriating lands is possible, Odo had already been in court actions with Ealdred over occasions where Odo had confiscated of lands held by

, and this action could equally been seen as part of both the ongoing acquisition of estates by Odo and his continuing disagreement with Ealdred. The court cases are part of a large collection of pleadings, at this time, against a process of Normanization that within a decade saw 64% of land in England consolidated into the hands of just 150 individuals, and many of the nobility deprived of their estates.

Urse d'Abetot

Walter appears to have been involved with the dispute between

Urse d'Abetot Urse d'Abetot ( - 1108) was a Norman who followed King William I to England, and became Sheriff of Worcestershire and a royal official under him and Kings William II and Henry I. He was a native of Normandy and moved to England shortly after the ...

Sheriff of Worcestershire This is a list of sheriffs and since 1998 high sheriffs of Worcestershire. The Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the ...

and the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

s Wulfstan and Ealdred, of York. This dispute was also over land, in this case the misappropriation of

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

estates by Urse, in his role as Sheriff.

Historicity

Walter was a witness of a charter wherein Queen Matilda granted three hides at

Garsdon Lea is a village in Wiltshire, England, lying approximately east of Malmesbury. It is part of the civil parish of Lea and Cleverton which includes the village of Garsdon and the hamlet of Cleverton. Garsdon was a separate parish until 1934. ...

in Wiltshire to

Malmesbury Abbey Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, is a religious house dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul. It was one of the few English houses with a continuous history from the 7th century through to the dissolution of the monasteri ...

. He was recorded in the

, where he is listed as a

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, the term ''tenant-in-chief'' (or ''vassal-in-chief'') denoted a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opp ...

of several properties. He was a witness to a charter of

that Bishop Wulfstan should "have fully his sake and soke, his services, and all the customs belonging to his hundreds of Oswaldslow". The Domesday Book seems to indicate that, by 1088, Odo of Bayeux and Urse d'Abitôt had been successful in acquiring the lands they had claimed.'Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Evesham', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 2, ed. J W Willis-Bund and William Page (London, 1971),
pp. 112-127.
/ref>

Death

Walter died in 1104, according to the chronicle ascribed to

Florence of Worcester Florence of Worcester (died 1118), known in Latin as Florentius, was a monk of Worcester, who played some part in the production of the '' Chronicon ex chronicis'', a Latin world chronicle which begins with the creation and ends in 1140.Keynes, "Fl ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walter Abbots of Evesham 11th-century Roman Catholic priests Year of birth unknown 1104 deaths