Dunstable Priory. (Part Eight).

Print of Dunstable Priory.

Published 24 December 1819.

Longman & Lackington & Co

and Joseph Harding, London.

Illustration: THE VIRTUAL LIBRARY

Text from Wikipedia — the free encyclopædia,

unless stated otherwise.

A good deal later than this, in 1283, the apologetic way in which the Chronicler relates how the Prior went out to Dinner with John Durant is sufficient to show that the ordinary Rules and Customs of the Order were not commonly broken.[6]

During the 14th-Century, there were several visitations. There is no notice of any by Bishop Dalderby; but he commissioned the Prior of Dunstable in 1315 to visit the Nuns of Saint Giles-in-the-Wood in his name. 

Bishop Burghersh in 1322 wrote to order the Prior and Convent to take back a Brother who had been on a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and asserted that he did so with the permission of his Superior, and a little later the Prior was cited for refusing to obey this injunction. 

“Magnificat in B Minor - Tertius Noble”.

Dunstable Priory Church Girls’ Choir 

and Priory ATB Exeter Cathedral Tour 2012.

Available on YouTube

HERE

In 1359, Bishop Gynwell, passing by the Priory, noticed “certain insolences and unlawful wanderings” of the Canons, and wrote to reinforce the Rule that none should go beyond the precincts of the Monastery without reasonable cause, nor without the permission of the Prior. He also ordered that such permission should not be too frequently given.

He also reminded them of the Rule that none should eat or drink outside the Monastery, or talk with Seculars, without permission.[6]

In 1379, Bishop Buckingham confirmed an important Ordinance of Thomas Marshall, setting apart certain funds for the education of one of the Canons at Oxford.

The Prior alludes to the poverty of his Priory, which was so great that, were it not for the help of friends, they would not be able to live decently and honestly, and Religion would be diminished. 

Dunstable Priory.

The Priory That Started 

England’s Religious Revolution.

Available On YouTube

HERE

Hitherto, there had not been enough Canons, nor enough money, to set apart one Canon for special study; but the Prior now wished to do so (partly out of the profits of a Chantry established by his own family), “seeing the advantage of learning and the necessity of Preaching, the Priory being a populous place where a great number of people come together.” 

All this certainly points to a satisfactory state of the Priory under Thomas Marshall, and accords well with what we know of his character from other sources.[6]

PART NINE FOLLOWS.