149-442: Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast , near Buckfastleigh , Devon , England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Savignac , later Cistercian , abbey constructed on the site of the current abbey in 1134. The monastery was largely demolished after its dissolution in 1539. In 1882 the site was purchased by French Benedictines who refounded
298-472: A cardinal by Pope Leo X in 1515 gave him precedence over all other English clergy. The highest political position Wolsey attained was Lord Chancellor , the king's chief adviser (formally, as his successor and disciple Thomas Cromwell was not). In that position, he enjoyed great freedom and was often depicted as the alter rex ("other king"). After failing to negotiate an annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon , Wolsey fell out of favour and
447-577: A grammar school in Ipswich ( The King's School, Ipswich ) and Cardinal College in Oxford (in 1532, after Wolsey's fall, the king renamed it King Henry VIII's College; it is now known as Christ Church ). In 1528 he began to limit the benefit of clergy . He also attempted, as legate, to force reform on monastic orders like the Augustinian canons. Wolsey died five years before Henry's dissolution of
596-530: A "Superior General". Each Benedictine congregation is autonomous and governed by an abbot or abbess. The autonomous houses are characterised by their chosen charism or specific dedication to a particular devotion. For example, In 1313 Bernardo Tolomei established the Order of Our Lady of Mount Olivet . The community adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict and received canonical approval in 1344. The Olivetans are part of
745-469: A Grand-Orgue in the West Gallery (two divisions and pedal). The two spatially-separated instruments can by played antiphonally or together from one or both of the two consoles in the church. The organ contains 5,537 pipes and features a striking Pontifical Trumpet en chamade , which protrudes horizontally from the West Gallery casework. The organ by Ruffati replaced a previous Hele/Walker instrument,
894-567: A few different places, namely the sacristy , which contained books for the choir and other liturgical books, the rectory , which housed books for public reading such as sermons and lives of the saints, and the library , which contained the largest collection of books and was typically in the cloister. The first record of a monastic library in England is in Canterbury . To assist with Augustine of Canterbury 's English mission , Pope Gregory
1043-465: A general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole, active work. An anonymous writer of the ninth or tenth century speaks of six hours a day as the usual task of a scribe, which would absorb almost all the time available for active work in the day of a medieval monk. In the Middle Ages monasteries were often founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey
1192-455: A hoist without serious injury in 1931. Construction continued throughout World War I : some of the monks were of German nationality, but were not sent to an internment camp on condition that they remained confined to the Abbey grounds. Buckfast was formally reinstated as an Abbey in 1902. Boniface Natter was blessed as the new abbot on 24 February 1903. Boniface Natter died at sea in 1906, when
1341-576: A hunting lodge, was officially returned to the Benedictines four hundred years later, in 1928. During the next few years, so-called Prinknash Park was used as a home until it was returned to the order. St. Lawrence's Abbey in Ampleforth, Yorkshire was founded in 1802. In 1955, Ampleforth set up a daughter house, a priory at St. Louis, Missouri which became independent in 1973 and became Saint Louis Abbey in its own right in 1989. As of 2015,
1490-605: A key role in negotiating the Anglo-French treaty of 7 August 1514, which secured a temporary peace between the two nations. Under this treaty, Louis XII would marry Henry's young sister, Mary . In addition England was able to keep the captured city of Tournai and secure an increase in the annual pension France paid. Meanwhile, a turnover of rulers in Europe threatened to diminish England's influence. With Henry's sister, Mary, married to Louis XII on 9 October 1514, an alliance
1639-428: A knowledge of Benedictine monasticism. Copies of Benedict's Rule survived; around 594 Pope Gregory I spoke favorably of it. The rule is subsequently found in some monasteries in southern Gaul along with other rules used by abbots. Gregory of Tours says that at Ainay Abbey , in the sixth century, the monks "followed the rules of Basil, Cassian, Caesarius, and other fathers, taking and using whatever seemed proper to
SECTION 10
#17327987395901788-657: A life of exploitation, others dedicated to the Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament such as the one established by Catherine de Bar (1614–1698). In 1688 Dame Mechtilde de Bar assisted Marie Casimire Louise de La Grange d'Arquien , queen consort of Poland, to establish a Benedictine foundation in Warsaw . Abbeys were among the institutions of the Catholic Church swept away during
1937-425: A monastery on the site. New monastic buildings incorporated the remaining Gothic house. Buckfast was formally reinstated as an abbey in 1902. Work on a new abbey church, which was constructed mostly on the footprint of the former Cistercian abbey, started in 1907. The church was completed in 1938. As of 2020, the abbey has 13 monks. The first abbey at Buckfast was founded as a Benedictine monastery in 1018. The abbey
2086-490: A monastic manner of life, drawing on the Vulgate 's use of conversatio as indicating "citizenship" or "local customs", see Philippians 3:20. The Rule enjoins monks and nuns "to live in this place as a religious, in obedience to its rule and to the abbot or abbess." Benedictine abbots and abbesses have jurisdiction over their abbey and thus canonical authority over the monks or nuns who are resident. This authority includes
2235-600: A position of great secular power paralleled his increasing status in the church. He became a canon of Windsor in 1511. In 1514 he was made Bishop of Lincoln and then Archbishop of York in the same year. Pope Leo X made him a cardinal in 1515, with the titular church of St Cecilia in Trastevere . In 1518 he was appointed as abbot of St. Albans and bishop of Bath. Following the success of the English campaign in France and
2384-401: A reference to ritual purification , which is inspired by Benedict's encouragement of bathing . Benedictine monks have played a role in the development and promotion of spas . Benedictine monasticism differs from other Christian religious orders in that as congregations sometimes with several houses, some of them in other countries, they are not bound into a unified religious order headed by
2533-605: A royal barge on the waterway at the foot of the Cawood property's garden, as a result of which he died at Leicester on 29 November 1530, around the age of 57. Just before his death he reputedly spoke these words: I see the matter against me how it is framed. But if I had served God as diligently as I have done the King, he would not have given me over in my grey hairs. In keeping with his practice of erecting magnificent buildings at Hampton Court, Westminster and Oxford, Wolsey had planned
2682-470: A side altar in the Abbey. In 2017, pipe organs were installed inside the Abbey church. There is a conference and seminar centre, and a restaurant, the Grange. On the west side of the Abbey are two gardens, with plants ranging from herbs used in cooking or medicine to poisonous plants. Behind the public area is an enclosed garden for the monks. A bridge leads over the river to the abbey farm. The main building
2831-523: A substantial portion of Europe and English influence became limited on the continent. But Wolsey managed to assert English influence by other means. In 1517, Pope Leo X sought peace in Europe to form a crusade against the Ottoman Empire . In 1518 Wolsey was made Papal Legate in England, enabling him to realise Leo's desire for peace by organising the Treaty of London . The treaty showed Wolsey as
2980-567: A template for explaining child deaths. According to historian Joe Hillaby, the blood libel of Harold was crucially important because for the first time an unexplained child death occurring near the Easter festival was arbitrarily linked to Jews in the vicinity by local Christian churchmen: "they established a pattern quickly taken up elsewhere. Within three years the first ritual murder charge was made in France." The forty-eighth Rule of Saint Benedict prescribes extensive and habitual "holy reading" for
3129-459: A virgin when she married Henry. Because she opposed annulment and a return to her previous status as Dowager Princess of Wales, the annulment request became a matter of international diplomacy, with Catherine's nephew Charles V pressuring Clement not to annul the marriage. Clement faced a dilemma: he would anger either Charles or Henry. He delayed his decision as long as possible, infuriating Henry and Anne Boleyn, who began to doubt Wolsey's loyalty to
SECTION 20
#17327987395903278-458: A youth worker in one area affected. Following a decision by Police Scotland to attach anti-crime labels to bottles in some areas, the distributor for Great Britain, J Chandler and Co. announced its intention to pursue legal action. Brother Adam, born Karl Kehrle in 1898 in Germany, died in 1996, was put in charge of the Abbey's beekeeping in 1919, and began extensive breeding work creating
3427-428: Is Ora et Labora "pray and work". Although Benedictines do not take a vow of silence, hours of strict silence are set, and at other times silence is maintained as much as is practically possible. Social conversations tend to be limited to communal recreation times. Such details, like other aspects of the daily routine of a Benedictine house are left to the discretion of the superior, and are set out in its customary ,
3576-658: Is represented internationally by the Benedictine Confederation , an organization set up in 1893 to represent the order's shared interests. They do not have a superior general or motherhouse with universal jurisdiction but elect an Abbot Primate to represent themselves to the Vatican and to the world. Benedictine nuns are given the title Dame in preference to Sister . The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Benedict of Nursia c. 529,
3725-414: Is the Grange, built in 1990 as a restaurant and tearooms. The Abbey is self-supporting, with a farm where vegetables are grown and bees, pigs and cattle are kept, a shop which sells wine, honey beeswax, fudge and other items made by religious communities throughout the world, and a gift shop, book shop, and restaurant. The monastery's most successful product is Buckfast Tonic Wine , a fortified wine which
3874-546: Is the large cruciform church of 1906-38, dedicated to St Mary. Its style largely revives that of the late 12th century. This would be similar to the style of the original abbey, as depicted in the Buck Brothers ' 1734 engraving. However, some features, like the tower, the use of vaulting throughout and the triforium, are more elaborate than the original church. Furthermore, the Blessed Sacrament chapel added to
4023-817: The Abbaye Sainte-Marie de la Pierre-qui-Vire [ fr ] was suppressed under a new French law and some of the monks went to St. Augustine's Priory in Ramsgate . The community of Ramsgate gave the French monks use of a property it owned in Leopardstown , Ireland. Learning that the property at Ramsgate was for sale, in 1882 "the whole site was purchased" by the French Benedictine monks for £4,700. On 28 October 1882, six Benedictine monks arrived at Buckfast. Most of Samuel Berry's house
4172-645: The Amicable Grant (1525). This was met with hostility as the Amicable Grant provoked 'full-scale revolt in Suffolk... the most serious rebellion since 1497' ( Cornish rebellion ). As a legal administrator, Wolsey reinvented the equity court, where the verdict was decided by the judge on the principle of "fairness". As an alternative to the Common Law courts, Wolsey re-established the position of
4321-580: The Benedictine Confederation . Although Benedictines are traditionally Catholic, there are also other communities that follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. For example, of an estimated 2,400 celibate Anglican religious (1,080 men and 1,320 women) in the Anglican Communion as a whole, some have adopted the Rule of Benedict. Likewise, such communities can be found in Eastern Orthodox Church , and Lutheran Church . Members of
4470-483: The Benedictine Rule . Rule 38 states that 'these brothers' meals should usually be accompanied by reading, and that they were to eat and drink in silence while one read out loud. Benedictine monks were not allowed worldly possessions, thus necessitating the preservation and collection of sacred texts in monastic libraries for communal use. For the sake of convenience, the books in the monastery were housed in
4619-539: The Congregation of Saint Maur , a prerevolutionary French congregation of Benedictines known for their scholarship: Benedictine Oblates endeavor to embrace the spirit of the Benedictine vow in their own life in the world. Oblates are affiliated with a particular monastery. Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( / ˈ w ʊ l z i / WUUL -zee ; c. March 1473 – 29 November 1530)
Buckfast Abbey - Misplaced Pages Continue
4768-1182: The English Reformation . A stone's throw from Marble Arch , the Tyburn Convent is now the Mother House of the Congregation. Benedictines are thought to have arrived in the Kingdom of Poland in the 11th-century. One of the earliest foundations is Tyniec Abbey on a promontory by the Vistula river. The Tyniec monks led the translation of the Bible into Polish vernacular. Other surviving Benedictine houses can be found in Stary Kraków Village , Biskupów , Lubiń . Older foundations are in Mogilno , Trzemeszno , Łęczyca , Łysa Góra and in Opactwo , among others. In
4917-773: The French Revolution . Monasteries and convents were again allowed to form in the 19th century under the Bourbon Restoration . Later that century, under the Third French Republic , laws were enacted preventing religious teaching. The original intent was to allow secular schools. Thus in 1880 and 1882, Benedictine teaching monks were effectively exiled; this was not completed until 1901. In 1898 Marie-Adèle Garnier, in religion, Mother Marie de Saint-Pierre, founded in Montmartre ( Mount of
5066-634: The Ligurian Alps region of Italy . At the request of the government, Brother Adam helped in restocking the British Isles with his disease resistant Buckfast bees. Today the breeding of pedigree Buckfast bees is regulated by the Federation of European Buckfast Beekeepers (G.D.E.B.) in over twenty-six countries with numerous breeders. Buckfast bees are no longer kept at the Abbey. Instead of commercial beekeeping with nearly 400 hives, today
5215-701: The Maryvale Institute , with the Abbot of Buckfast. It offered distance learning, part-time programmes, summer schools and short courses in theology, philosophy, catechetics, sacred beauty, liturgy and other associated subjects to support the New Evangelisation . The School closed in August 2019 due to a lack of funding. The current Master of the Music is Matthew Searles. The present incarnation of
5364-759: The Middle Ages the city of Płock , also on the Vistula, had a successful monastery, which played a significant role in the local economy. In the 18th-century benedictine convents were opened for women, notably in Warsaw's New Town. A 15th-century Benedictine foundation can be found in Senieji Trakai , a village in Eastern Lithuania . Kloster Rheinau was a Benedictine monastery in Rheinau in
5513-655: The Palace of Westminster as his own main London residence. Wolsey was permitted to remain Archbishop of York. He travelled to Yorkshire for the first time in his career, but at Cawood in Yorkshire , he was accused of treason and ordered to London by Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland . In great distress, he set out for the capital with his personal chaplain, Edmund Bonner . On leaving Cawood, he hit his head boarding
5662-473: The SS Sirio was shipwrecked. His travelling companion Anscar Vonier became the next abbot and pledged to fulfill Natter's dying wish, to rebuild the abbey. The only portion of the medieval claustral buildings which survives is the "much restored", former abbot's tower, which dates from 14th or 15th century. This was incorporated into the abbey's guesthouse, which was constructed between 1982 and 1994, when
5811-628: The Star Chamber in 1528. The result of this venture was further resentment by the nobility and the gentry. From 1515, when he became cardinal, until his death, Wolsey used art and architecture to underpin his positions. He initiated a building campaign on a scale not only unprecedented for an English churchman and Lord Chancellor, but also exceeded by few English kings. In so doing, he brought Italian Renaissance ideas, classical embellishments, and architectural models into English architecture. Scholars generally cite Somerset House in London (1547–52) as
5960-723: The Vatican and to the world. The headquarters of the Benedictine Confederation and the Abbot Primate is the Primatial Abbey of Sant'Anselmo built by Pope Leo XIII in Rome . The Rule of Saint Benedict is also used by a number of religious orders that began as reforms of the Benedictine tradition such as the Cistercians and Trappists . These groups are separate congregations and not members of
6109-502: The Wars of the Roses were still within living memory, leading to the fear of a power struggle after Henry's death. Henry felt the people would accept only a male sovereign, not his daughter Mary . He believed God had cursed him for the sin of marrying the widow of his elder brother, and that the papal dispensation for that marriage was invalid because it was based upon the claim that Catherine
Buckfast Abbey - Misplaced Pages Continue
6258-466: The "White monks". The dominance of the Benedictine monastic way of life began to decline towards the end of the twelfth century, which saw the rise of the mendicant Franciscans and nomadic Dominicans . Benedictines by contrast, took a vow of "stability", which professed loyalty to a particular foundation in a particular location. Not being bound by location, the mendicants were better able to respond to an increasingly "urban" environment. This decline
6407-688: The Abbey Choir at the Conventual Mass on Thursdays during school term time. The Abbey has an organ by the Italian organ builder, Fratelli Ruffati , the first to be constructed in the UK. The organ was installed in 2017 and given its inaugural recital in 2018. The instrument consists of a substantial Quire Organ (four divisions and pedal) located on both sides of the Quire and the upper triforium, and
6556-553: The Abbey Choir was founded in 2009. The choir sings Solemn Mass and Vespers on Sundays, and Mass on Holy Days of Obligation during the week. The choir sings a broad liturgical repertoire, ranging from polyphonic music of the sixteenth century and Masses of the Viennese school, through to music of the French Romantic tradition and contemporary music by James MacMillian , Matthew Martin and Dom Sebastian Wolff OSB. In 2018
6705-693: The Benedictine Confederation. Other specialisms, such as Gregorian chant as at Solesmes in France, or Perpetual Adoration of the Holy Sacrament have been adopted by different houses, as at the Warsaw Convent, or the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre at Tyburn Convent in London. Other houses have dedicated themselves to books, reading, writing and printing them as at Stanbrook Abbey in England. Others still are associated with
6854-414: The Buckfast site changed hands four times, finally falling into the hands of Dr. James Gale in 1872. Ten years later, Dr. Gale decided to sell the property, but was keen to offer it to a religious community. An advert was placed in The Tablet, describing the Abbey as "a grand acquisition could it be restored to its original purpose." Within six weeks of the sale, monks were again living at the abbey. In 1880
7003-407: The Canton of Zürich, Switzerland, founded in about 778. The abbey of Our Lady of the Angels was founded in 1120. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations. Through the influence of Wilfrid , Benedict Biscop , and Dunstan , the Benedictine Rule spread rapidly, and in the North it was adopted in most of the monasteries that had been founded by
7152-404: The Catholic tradition, a notable example of this being The Choir of Westminster Cathedral . The tower contains fifteen bells. There is a ring of twelve bells, with a tenor weighing 41 long hundredweight (with two extra semi tone bells) surrounding the 7.5 ton bourdon bell called Hosanna. In August 2018, the Abbey hosted the Millennium Bell Ringing Festival in celebration of its 1000th year since
7301-405: The Celtic missionaries from Iona. Many of the episcopal sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines, and no fewer than nine of the old cathedrals were served by the black monks of the priories attached to them. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak and homeless. The monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of
7450-407: The Chamber. After the bad harvest of 1527, Wolsey bought up surplus grain and sold it off cheaply to the needy. This greatly eased disorder and became common practice after a disappointing harvest. In 1524 and 1527 Wolsey used his powers as papal legate to dissolve 30 decayed monasteries where monastic life had virtually ceased in practice, some in Ipswich and Oxford . He used the income to found
7599-439: The Crown over the Church. Wolsey appealed to Clement for an annulment on three fronts. First, he tried to convince the Pope that the dispensation was void as the marriage clearly disobeyed instructions in the book of Leviticus . Second, Wolsey objected to the dispensation on technical grounds, claiming it was incorrectly worded. (Shortly afterwards, a correctly worded version was found in Spain.) Third, Wolsey wanted Clement to let
SECTION 50
#17327987395907748-420: The English Congregation consists of three abbeys of nuns and ten abbeys of monks. Members of the congregation are found in England, Wales, the United States of America, Peru and Zimbabwe. In England there are also houses of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation : Farnborough, Prinknash, and Chilworth: the Solesmes Congregation , Quarr and St Cecilia's on the Isle of Wight, as well as a diocesan monastery following
7897-439: The French Abbot of Savigny . This second abbey was home to Savignac monks. In 1147 the Savignac congregation merged with the Cistercian, and the abbey thereby became a Cistercian monastery. Following the conversion to the Cistercian Congregation, the abbey was rebuilt in stone. Limited excavation work undertaken in 1882 revealed that the monastery was built to the standard plan for Cistercian monasteries. At an uncertain point in
8046-656: The French also continued to honour the " Auld Alliance " with Scotland, stirring up hostility on England's border. With peace between France and the Emperor, there was no-one to free the Pope from Charles, who had effectively held Pope Clement VII captive since the Sack of Rome (1527) . There was thus little hope of securing Henry VIII an annulment from his marriage to Charles's aunt Catherine of Aragon . Since 1527, Wolsey's desire to secure an annulment for his master had dictated his foreign policy, and by 1529 none of his endeavours had succeeded. Henry's marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon had produced no sons who survived infancy;
8195-409: The Great gave him nine books which included the Gregorian Bible in two volumes, the Psalter of Augustine, two copies of the Gospels , two martyrologies , an Exposition of the Gospels and Epistles, and a Psalter . Theodore of Tarsus brought Greek books to Canterbury more than seventy years later, when he founded a school for the study of Greek. The first Benedictine to live in the United States
8344-627: The Holy Roman Emperor, King Francis I of France was infuriated. He had invested enormous sums in bribing the electorate to elect him emperor, and thus used the Treaty of London as a justification for the Habsburg-Valois conflict. Wolsey appeared to act as mediator between the two powers, both of which were vying for England's support. Another of Wolsey's diplomatic triumphs was the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. Wolsey organised much of this grandiose meeting between Francis I and Henry VIII, accompanied by 5,000 followers and involving court activities more than military discussion. Though it seemed to open
8493-454: The Martyr ), Paris a Benedictine house. However, the Waldeck-Rousseau 's Law of Associations , passed in 1901, placed severe restrictions on religious bodies which were obliged to leave France. Garnier and her community relocated to another place associated with executions, this time it was in London , near the site of Tyburn tree where 105 Catholic martyrs—including Saint Oliver Plunkett and Saint Edmund Campion had been executed during
8642-414: The Pope at the Treaty of London, was kept waiting for many months in Calais before being allowed to cross the Channel and join the festivities in London in what may have been a display by Wolsey of his independence of Rome. An alternative hypothesis is that Campeggio was kept waiting until Wolsey received his legacy, thus asserting Wolsey's attachment to Rome. Though the English gain from the wars of 1522–23
8791-453: The Rule of Saint Benedict: The Community of Our Lady of Glastonbury. Since the Oxford Movement , there has also been a modest flourishing of Benedictine monasticism in the Anglican Church and Protestant Churches. Anglican Benedictine Abbots are invited guests of the Benedictine Abbot Primate in Rome at Abbatial gatherings at Sant'Anselmo. In 1168 local Benedictine monks instigated the anti-semitic blood libel of Harold of Gloucester as
8940-429: The abbey's precinct was rebuilt. The abbey's former well, which was located in the crypt of the former abbey and which may have dated from Saxon times, was destroyed when the new abbey was built. The Abbey Church was consecrated on 25 August 1932, after most of the building had been completed. Construction of the tower was completed in July 1937, with painting completed in December. In 1968, Dom Charles Norris completed
9089-409: The abbeys of Alpirsbach (1099), Ettenheimm ünster (1124) and Sulzburg ( c. 1125 ), and the priories of Weitenau (now part of Steinen , c. 1100 ), Bürgel (before 1130) and Sitzenkirch ( c. 1130 ). Fleury Abbey in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire , Loiret was founded in about 640. It is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, and possesses
SECTION 60
#17327987395909238-403: The arbiter of Europe, organising a massive peace summit involving 20 nations. This put England at the forefront of European diplomacy and drew her out of isolation, making her a desirable ally. This is well illustrated by the Anglo-French treaty signed two days afterwards. It was partly this peace treaty that caused conflict between France and Spain. In 1519, when Charles V ascended to the throne of
9387-483: The basis of which was installed in 1922 and later added to in successive changes. Important changes to the stop list were made by Ralph Downes , who also rescaled and revoiced the existing pipework in the 1940s and 1950s. Ad Fontes is a record label founded by Buckfast Abbey dedicated to presenting recordings of sacred music. As well as featuring the Abbey's own choirs and organists, the label collaborates with external soloists and choirs to produce recordings of music from
9536-433: The bishoprics of England and Ireland, and, in 1519, encouraging monasteries to embark on a programme of reform, he did nothing to bring about these changes. In spite of having many enemies, Wolsey retained Henry VIII's confidence until Henry decided to seek an annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Wolsey's failure to secure the annulment directly caused his downfall and arrest. It
9685-405: The brethren. Three primary types of reading were done by the monks in medieval times. Monks would read privately during their personal time, as well as publicly during services and at mealtimes. In addition to these three mentioned in the Rule, monks would also read in the infirmary. Monasteries were thriving centers of education, with monks and nuns actively encouraged to learn and pray according to
9834-606: The case of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk , Wolsey adopted a different strategy, attempting to win Suffolk's favour by his actions after the duke secretly married Henry's sister Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France , much to the king's displeasure. Wolsey advised the king not to execute the newlyweds but to embrace them; whether this was out of care for the couple or because of the threat they posed to his own safety remains unclear. The bride, both as sister to Henry and as Dowager Queen of France, had high royal status that could have threatened Wolsey had she so chosen. Wolsey's rise to
9983-570: The cases. Many powerful men who had felt invincible under the law found themselves convicted; for example, in 1515, the Earl of Northumberland was sent to Fleet Prison and in 1516 Lord Abergavenny was accused of illegal retaining. Wolsey also used his courts to tackle national controversies, such as the pressing issue of enclosures . The countryside had been thrown into discord by the entrepreneurial actions of landlords enclosing areas of land and converting from arable farming to pastoral farming, requiring fewer workers. The Tudors valued stability, and
10132-411: The chapter house is in a wing in the south-west corner, instead of in its usual position in the east range. The monastic buildings are in a similar style to the church. The core of the abbey still sits within a walled precinct, with medieval gates to the north and south, and a modern one to the west (built in 1984). To the west of the church is a large 14th century range which now houses the bookshop, but
10281-444: The choir sang Christmas Midnight Mass , which was televised live on BBC One. The choir gives several concert performances each year, and in 2024 this includes the premiere of a new Mass for Corpus Christi composed by Martin Baker . Alongside the Abbey Choir, there is also a line of trebles mainly recruited from the school in Buckfast, St Mary's Catholic Primary School. Established in 2018, the Abbey Choristers sing alongside members of
10430-550: The church he made upwards of £35,000 a year. The Anglo-French War (1512–14) gave Wolsey a significant opportunity to demonstrate his talents in foreign policy. A convenient justification for going to war came in 1511 in the form of a plea for help from Pope Julius II , who was beginning to feel threatened by France. England formed an alliance with Julius, King Ferdinand II of Aragon , and Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor against King Louis XII of France . The first English campaign against France proved unsuccessful, partly due to
10579-416: The code adopted by a particular Benedictine house by adapting the Rule to local conditions. According to the norms of the 1983 Code of Canon Law , a Benedictine abbey is a " religious institute " and its members therefore participate in consecrated life which Canon 588 §1 explains is intrinsically "neither clerical nor lay." Males in consecrated life, however, may be ordained. Benedictines' rules contain
10728-498: The conditions of time and place", and doubtless the same liberty was taken with the Benedictine Rule when it reached them. In Gaul and Switzerland, it gradually supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually entirely displaced the earlier codes. By the ninth century, however, the Benedictine had become the standard form of monastic life throughout
10877-597: The control of the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk , Henry was quick to denounce the Amicable Grant, and began to lose faith in Wolsey. During the relatively peaceful period in England after the War of the Roses, its population increased. With more demand for food and no additional supply, prices increased. Landowners were forced to enclose land and convert to pastoral farming, which brought in more profit. Wolsey's quest against enclosure
11026-690: The daughter of the first Christian King of Kent . Currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns. Five of the most notable English abbeys are the Basilica of St Gregory the Great at Downside, commonly known as Downside Abbey , The Abbey of St Edmund, King and Martyr commonly known as Douai Abbey in Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berkshire, Ealing Abbey in Ealing, West London, and Worth Abbey . Prinknash Abbey , used by Henry VIII as
11175-405: The designs of architect Frederick Arthur Walters . There were never more than six monks working on the project at any one time, although the whole community had repaired the ancient foundations up to ground level. Construction methods were primitive: wooden scaffolding was held together by ropes and no safety protection was worn by the monks. One monk fell 50 feet but survived. Three monks fell off
11324-472: The door to peaceful negotiations with France if the king wished, it was also a chance for a lavish display of English wealth and power before the rest of Europe, through flamboyant celebrations and events such as jousting, with the two kings competing, though not against each other. With France and Spain vying for England's allegiance, Wolsey could choose the ally that better suited his policies. Wolsey chose Charles mainly because England's economy would suffer from
11473-429: The east of the church in 1968 is in a more modern style. To the south of the church are the domestic buildings. These are arrayed around a central cloister , with the refectory in the south range and the monks' cells on the upper floors in the traditional manner. However, there are some discrepancies from the usual plan due to the incorporation of the medieval abbot's tower and the 19th century country house. For example,
11622-495: The east window in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, using the dalle de verre technique where coloured-glass tiles are shaped and formed into mosaics bound with resin. Buckfast receives many visitors. Men are lodged in the guest house belonging to the monastery, and men and women in a restored building. Various tours are offered at the site. The hair shirt of Roman Catholic Saint Thomas More is now preserved at
11771-544: The end, abandoned by the king, Wolsey was charged with treason, but died of natural causes before he could be beheaded. Wolsey made changes to the taxation system, devising, with treasurer of the Chamber John Heron, the "Subsidy". This form of tax was based upon accurate valuations of the taxpayer's wealth, where one shilling was taken per pound from the income. The old fixed tax of 15ths and 10ths meant that those who earned very little had to pay almost as much as
11920-516: The fact that he was not only the first high-profile patron in England to seek out and promote Italian classicism in art, architecture, and magnificence, but also that his contributions endured. Among Wolsey's projects were lavish, classically inspired additions to York Palace in London, the Archbishop of York's residence. He supervised the grandiose temporary buildings at the Field of Cloth of Gold and renovated Hampton Court, which he later relinquished to
12069-675: The final decision be made in England, which, as papal legate, he would supervise. In 1528 Clement decided to allow two papal legates to decide the outcome in England: Wolsey and Campeggio. Wolsey was confident of the decision, but Campeggio took a long time to arrive, and when he finally did, he delayed proceedings so much that the case had to be suspended in July 1529, effectively sealing Wolsey's fate. During his 14 years as chancellor, Wolsey had more power than any other Crown servant in English history. This led to his being hated by much of
12218-405: The first classical building in England, built for Edward Seymour, the first Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector to King Edward VI. But Wolsey embraced Italian-inspired classicism nearly half a century before Seymour, though more theoretically than visually. Wolsey's subsequent disgrace over his failure to garner papal approval of an annulment of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon has clouded
12367-439: The focus at the Abbey's apiary is educational such as beekeeping courses, workshops, and honeybee experience days with their 4 hives. From 1967 until 1994, the abbey ran a prep school for boys and girls aged 7 to 13, but was obliged to close it as the school became financially non-viable due to dwindling numbers of boarders. Two former monks were later convicted and imprisoned for sexually abusing boys during this period. With
12516-698: The form of the Subsidy or benevolences. They also resented the Act of Resumption of 1486, by which Henry VII had resumed possession of all lands granted by the crown since 1455. These lands had passed onto his heir, Henry VIII. Many nobles resented the rise to power of a low-born man, whilst others simply disliked that he monopolised the court and concealed information from the Privy Council. When mass riots broke out in East Anglia , which should have been under
12665-416: The formulation of his Rule. Benedict's sister, Scholastica , possibly his twin, also became a religious from an early age, but chose to live as a hermit . They retained a close relationship until her death. Despite being called an order, the Benedictines do not operate under a single hierarchy but are instead organized as a collection of autonomous monasteries and convents, some known as abbeys . The order
12814-479: The foundation of the monastery. The bells were cast in 1935 by John Taylor and Co. and were donated by a local benefactor, Sir Robert Harvey . They are hung in the traditional change ringing style, and have an Ellacombe chiming apparatus for single-handed ringing, though this is currently out of use. Buckfast still followed the Rule of St. Benedict, as the Cistercians also live by that Rule. Monastic life
12963-609: The honeybee now known as the Buckfast bee . Brother Adam had to replenish the bee colonies, as 30 of the monastery's 46 colonies had been wiped out by a disease known at the time as the Isle of Wight Disease , but later called Acarine . All the bees that died were of the Old British Black bee, a now extinct British strain of the A. m. mellifera . The 16 hives that survived were descended from A. m. ligustica queens from
13112-411: The king to act as a careful administrator like his father. Henry soon appointed to his Privy Council men more sympathetic to his own views and inclinations. Until 1511, Wolsey was adamantly antiwar, but when the king expressed his enthusiasm for an invasion of France, Wolsey adapted his views to the king's and gave persuasive speeches to the Privy Council in favour of war. Warham and Foxe, who did not share
13261-649: The king's enthusiasm for the French war , fell from power (1515/1516), and Wolsey took over as the king's most trusted advisor and administrator. When Warham resigned as Lord Chancellor in 1515, probably under pressure from Wolsey, Henry appointed Wolsey in his place. Wolsey made careful moves to destroy or neutralise other courtiers' influence. He helped cause the fall of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham in 1521, and in 1527 he prosecuted, unsuccessfully, Henry's close friend William Compton and Henry's ex-mistress Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon , for adultery. In
13410-474: The king's secretaries, middle-ranked officials, and JPs; and who promulgated decisions himself had largely shaped, if not strictly taken. Operating with the king's firm support, and with special powers over the church given by the Pope as legate, Wolsey dominated civic affairs, administration, the law, the church, and foreign policy. He was amazingly energetic and far-reaching. He built a great fortune for himself and
13559-400: The king. A factor in Wolsey's rise was the young Henry VIII's relative lack of interest in the details of government during his early years. The primary counsellors Henry VIII inherited from his father were Richard Foxe ( c. 1448–1528, Bishop of Winchester 1501–1528) and William Warham ( c. 1450–1532, Archbishop of Canterbury 1503–1532). They were cautious and conservative, advising
13708-671: The king. In April 1508, Wolsey was sent to Scotland to discuss with King James IV rumours of the renewal of the Auld Alliance . Wolsey's rise coincided with the accession in April 1509 of Henry VIII, whose character, policies and attitude to diplomacy differed significantly from his father's. In 1509 Henry appointed Wolsey to the post of almoner, a position that gave him a seat on the Privy Council and an opportunity to attain greater prominence and establish personal rapport with
13857-545: The king. Wolsey's use of architecture as a symbol of power, along with his introduction of Italian classical ornamentation, set a trend continued by Henry VIII and others. Wolsey oversaw tombs for Henry's VIII's parents at Westminster Abbey and negotiated contracts for Henry VIII's tomb as well as one for himself. If these works had been completed as planned, they would be among Europe's largest, most elaborate, and grandest tombs. The college originally founded and planned by Wolsey and refounded by Henry VIII ( Christ Church ) remains
14006-578: The largest and grandest of all Oxford colleges. As well as his State duties, Wolsey simultaneously attempted to exert his influence over the Church in England. As cardinal and, from 1524, lifetime papal legate, Wolsey continually vied for control over others in the Church. His principal rival was William Warham , the Archbishop of Canterbury , who made it more difficult for Wolsey to follow through with his plans for reform. Despite making promises to reform
14155-422: The late 12th or 13th centuries the church was extended with aisles added to the presbytery . The buttressed chapel at the east end was probably a 14th century addition, and may have been a Lady Chapel . This would be unusual in a Cistercian abbey, as normally the entire church was dedicated to St Mary . In medieval times the abbey became rich through fishing and trading in sheep wool. By the 14th century Buckfast
14304-957: The latter part of the tenth century. Between 1070 and 1073 there seem to have been contacts between St. Blaise and the Cluniac Abbey of Fruttuaria in Italy, which led to St. Blaise following the Fruttuarian reforms. The Empress Agnes was a patron of Fruttuaria, and retired there in 1065 before moving to Rome. The Empress was instrumental in introducing Fruttuaria's Benedictine customs, as practiced at Cluny, to Saint Blaise Abbey in Baden-Württemberg . Other houses either reformed by, or founded as priories of, St. Blasien were Muri Abbey (1082), Ochsenhausen Abbey (1093), Göttweig Abbey (1094), Stein am Rhein Abbey (before 1123) and Prüm Abbey (1132). It also had significant influence on
14453-484: The loss of the lucrative cloth trade industry between England and the Netherlands had France been chosen instead. Under Wolsey's guidance, Europe's chief nations sought to outlaw war among Christian nations. Garrett Mattingly , who has studied the causes of wars in that era, found that treaties of non-aggression such as this one could never be stronger than their sponsors' armies. When those forces were about equal,
14602-428: The management of domestic affairs, for which Wolsey had grand plans. Historian John Guy explains Wolsey's methods: Only in the broadest respects was [the king] taking independent decisions. ... It was Wolsey who almost invariably calculated the available options and ranked them for royal consideration; who established the parameters of each successive debate; who controlled the flow of official information; who selected
14751-417: The mid 1300s, there were few left to maintain the buildings, some of which collapsed. By the mid 1400s, the abbey again flourished. The 19th century excavations suggested that there was major rebuilding work at this time, of which the tower attached to the abbot's house is the sole upstanding survival. By the 16th century, the abbey was in decline. Only 22 new monks were tonsured between 1500 and 1539, and at
14900-584: The minions began to undermine him again. Consequently, Wolsey devised a grand plan of administrative reforms, incorporating the notorious Eltham ordinances of 1526. This reduced the members of the Privy Council from 12 to six, removing Henry's friends such as Sir William Compton and Nicholas Carew . One of Wolsey's greatest impediments was his lack of popularity amongst the nobles at court and in Parliament. Their dislikes and mistrusts partly stemmed from what they saw as Wolsey's excessive demands for money in
15049-522: The monasteries began. Wolsey's power depended on maintaining good relations with Henry. He grew increasingly suspicious of the "minions"—young, influential members of the Privy chamber —particularly after infiltrating one of his own men into the group. He attempted many times to disperse them from court, giving them jobs that took them to the Continent and far from Henry. After the Amicable Grant failed,
15198-482: The monks began making in the 1890s. In 1927, the Abbey lost its licence to sell wine and as a result, the Abbot allowed wine merchants to distribute on behalf of the Abbey. At the same time, the recipe was changed to be less of a patent medicine and more of a medicated wine. Its perceived links to violent anti-social behaviour – especially in Scotland – have been a controversial issue for the abbey which has employed
15347-415: The nobility, who believed that power should be theirs. The king protected him from being attacked. As long as he was in the king's favour, Wolsey had great freedom in domestic matters, and had his hand in nearly every aspect of them. For much of the time, Henry VIII had complete confidence in him, and as Henry's interests inclined more towards foreign policy, he was willing to give Wolsey free rein in reforming
15496-598: The oldest of all the religious orders in the Latin Church . The male religious are also sometimes called the Black Monks , especially in English speaking countries, after the colour of their habits . Not all Benedictines wear black, however, with some like the Olivetans wearing white. They were founded by Benedict of Nursia , a 6th-century Italian monk who laid the foundations of Benedictine monasticism through
15645-531: The outbreak of World War II , Plymouth -based St Boniface's Catholic College evacuated its pupils to Buckfast Abbey between 1941 and 1945. The school later named one of its Houses "Abbey" in memory of this period in their history. The School of the Annunciation was a place of learning for adults and was a charitable company based in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey. It was founded in 2014 by Dr Petroc Willey, Dr Andrew Beards, and Dr Caroline Farey, who had left
15794-608: The papacy, Wolsey was strictly Henry's servant. Though the Treaty of London was an elaboration on Pope Leo's ambitions for European peace, it was seen in Rome as a vain attempt by England to assert her influence over Europe and steal some papal thunder. Furthermore, Wolsey's peace initiatives prevented a crusade to the Holy Land , which was the catalyst for the Pope's desire for European peace. Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio , who represented
15943-515: The peace negotiations that followed, Wolsey's ecclesiastical career advanced further: in 1523 he became Bishop of Durham , a post with wide political powers, and thus became known as Prince-Bishop of Durham. In 1529 he moved on from the bishop position in Durham to become the Bishop of Winchester. With his roles in the church came great wealth and estates. With the accumulation of his different roles in
16092-418: The places where they were founded or their founders centuries ago, hence Cassinese , Subiaco , Camaldolese or Sylvestrines . All Benedictine houses became federated in the Benedictine Confederation brought into existence by Pope Leo XIII 's Apostolic Brief " Summum semper " on 12 July 1893. Pope Leo also established the office of Abbot Primate as the abbot elected to represent this Confederation at
16241-503: The power to assign duties, to decide which books may or may not be read, to regulate comings and goings, and to punish and to excommunicate , in the sense of an enforced isolation from the monastic community. A tight communal timetable – the horarium – is meant to ensure that the time given by God is not wasted but used in God's service, whether for prayer, work, meals, spiritual reading or sleep. The order's motto
16390-456: The prerogative courts of the Star Chamber and the Court of Chancery . The system in both courts concentrated on simple, inexpensive cases, and promised impartial justice. He also established the Court of Requests (although this court was only given this name later on) for the poor, where no fees were required. Wolsey's legal reforms were popular, and overflow courts were required to attend to all
16539-510: The relics of St. Benedict. Like many Benedictine abbeys it was located on the banks of a river, here the Loire . Ainey Abbey is a ninth century foundation on the Lyon peninsula. In the twelfth century on the current site there was a romanesque monastery , subsequently rebuilt. The seventeenth century saw a number of Benedictine foundations for women, some dedicated to the indigent to save them from
16688-660: The resulting mass urban migration represented a serious crisis. Wolsey conducted national enquiries into enclosures in 1517, 1518 and 1527. In the course of his administration, he used the Court of Chancery to prosecute 264 landowners, including peers, bishops, knights, religious heads, and Oxford colleges. Enclosures were seen as directly linked to rural unemployment and depopulation, vagrancy, food shortages and, accordingly, inflation. This pattern repeated in many of Wolsey's other initiatives, particularly his quest to abolish enclosure. Despite spending significant time and effort investigating
16837-414: The ruins demolished, constructing a Gothic style "castellated Tudor" mansion house, and a wool mill on the site in 1806. The Gothic house was constructed on the site of the abbey's former west cloister. The only pieces of the former abbey to escape demolition were some of the outer buildings – which were retained as farm buildings – and the tower from the former abbot's lodgings. Over the next eighty years,
16986-460: The same community), and to adopt a "conversion of habits", in Latin, conversatio morum and obedience to the community's superior. The "Benedictine vows" are equivalent to the evangelical counsels accepted by all candidates entering a religious order . The interpretation of conversatio morum understood as "conversion of the habits of life" has generally been replaced by notions such as adoption of
17135-535: The same lineage. For instance the American-Cassinese congregation included the 22 monasteries descended from Boniface Wimmer. A sense of community has been the defining characteristic of the order since the beginning. To that end, section 17 in chapter 58 of the Rule of Saint Benedict specifies the solemn vows candidates joining a Benedictine community are required to make: a vow of stability, to remain in
17284-554: The service of King Henry VII . Wolsey benefited from Henry VII's introduction of measures to curb the power of the nobility; the king was willing to favour those from more humble backgrounds. Henry VII appointed Wolsey royal chaplain . In this position Wolsey served as secretary to Richard Foxe , who recognised Wolsey's ability, dedication, industry and willingness to take on tedious tasks. Wolsey's remarkable rise to power from humble origins attests to his intelligence, administrative ability, industriousness, ambition, and rapport with
17433-481: The sick. During the English Reformation , all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, forcing those who wished to continue in the monastic life to flee into exile on the Continent. During the 19th century English members of these communities were able to return to England. St. Mildred's Priory , on the Isle of Thanet , Kent , was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by
17582-420: The son of Robert Wolsey of Ipswich and his wife, Joan Daundy. Widespread traditions identify his father as a butcher; his modest origin became a topic of criticism later, when he amassed wealth and power that critics thought more befitting a member of the high nobility . Wolsey attended Ipswich School and Magdalen College School before studying theology at Magdalen College, Oxford . On 10 March 1498, he
17731-527: The state of the countryside and prosecuting numerous offenders, Wolsey freely surrendered his policy during the parliament of 1523 to ensure that Parliament passed his proposed taxes for Henry's war in France. Enclosures remained a problem for many years. Wolsey used the Star Chamber to enforce his 1518 policy of Just Price , which attempted to regulate the price of meat in London and other major cities. Those found to be charging too much were prosecuted by
17880-980: The time of his death in 1887, Wimmer had sent Benedictine monks to Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Illinois, and Colorado. Wimmer also asked for Benedictine sisters to be sent to America by St. Walburg Convent in Eichstätt , Bavaria. In 1852, Sister Benedicta Riepp and two other sisters founded St. Marys, Pennsylvania . Soon they would send sisters to Michigan, New Jersey, and Minnesota. By 1854, Swiss monks began to arrive and founded St. Meinrad Abbey in Indiana, and they soon spread to Arkansas and Louisiana. They were soon followed by Swiss sisters. There are now over 100 Benedictine houses across America. Most Benedictine houses are part of one of four large Congregations: American-Cassinese, Swiss-American, St. Scholastica, and St. Benedict. The congregations mostly are made up of monasteries that share
18029-527: The time of the abbey's dissolution in 1539, there were only 10 monks in residence. However, it was still one of the richer abbeys in the country, being assessed at £466 in the Valor Ecclesiasticus survey of 1535. The last Abbot, Gabriel Donne (d.1558), surrendered the abbey on 25 February 1539 to Sir William Petre , acting as agent for King Henry VIII. At the time of dissolution there were nine other monks in residence. On 26 April 1539 Gabriel
18178-399: The treaties typically widened the conflict. That is, diplomacy could sometimes postpone war, but could not prevent wars based on irreconcilable interests and ambitions. What was lacking, Mattingly concludes, was a neutral power whose judgements were generally accepted either by impartial justice or by overwhelming force. The Treaty of London is often regarded as Wolsey's finest moment, but it
18327-423: The unreliability of the alliance with Ferdinand. Henry learned from the mistakes of the campaign and in 1513, still with papal support, launched a joint attack on France with Maximilian, successfully capturing two French cities and causing the French to retreat. Wolsey's ability to keep a large number of troops supplied and equipped for the duration of the war proved a major factor in the English success. He also had
18476-488: The wealthy. With the new income tax the poorer members of society paid much less. This more progressive form of taxation enabled Wolsey to raise enough money for the king's foreign expeditions, bringing in over £300,000. He also raised considerable capital through other means, such as " benevolences ", and enforced loans from the nobility, which yielded £200,000 in 1522. Ultimately, Wolsey's fiscal policy became increasingly disliked- his forced loans and benevolences culminated in
18625-539: The whole of Western Europe, excepting Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, where the Celtic observance still prevailed for another century or two. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane , it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire. Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium. As
18774-456: Was Chamberlain of the Household to Cardinal Wolsey . Following dissolution, the abbey site and its lands were granted by the crown to Sir Thomas Denys (c.1477–1561) of Holcombe Burnell , near Exeter, who stripped the buildings and "reduced them to ruins". The abbey site was subsequently used as a stone quarry. In 1800, the site was purchased by local mill owner, Samuel Berry. Berry had
18923-888: Was Pierre-Joseph Didier. He came to the United States in 1790 from Paris and served in the Ohio and St. Louis areas until his death. The first actual Benedictine monastery founded was Saint Vincent Archabbey , located in Latrobe, Pennsylvania . It was founded in 1832 by Boniface Wimmer , a German monk, who sought to serve German immigrants in America. In 1856, Wimmer started to lay the foundations for St. John's Abbey in Minnesota. In 1876, Herman Wolfe, of Saint Vincent Archabbey established Belmont Abbey in North Carolina. By
19072-470: Was a bitter blow. Wolsey then proposed an alliance with Spain and the Holy Roman Empire against France. The death of Ferdinand II of Aragon , Henry VIII's father-in-law and England's closest ally, in 1516 was a further blow. Ferdinand was succeeded by Charles V , who immediately proposed peace with France. After Maximilian I's death in 1519, Charles was elected in his stead; thus Charles ruled
19221-451: Was a major benefactor of arts, humanities and education. He projected numerous reforms, with some success in areas such as finance, taxation, educational provision and justice. From the king's perspective, his greatest failure was an inability to get a divorce when Henry wanted a new wife to give him a son who would be the undisputed heir to the throne. Historians agree that Wolsey was a man dogged by other men's failures and his own ambition. In
19370-667: Was abandoned within a year. Wolsey developed links with Charles in 1520 at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. At the Calais Conference Wolsey signed the Secret Treaty of Bruges (1521) with Charles V, stating that England would join Spain in a war against France if France refused to sign the peace treaty and ignored the Anglo-French treaty of 1518. Wolsey's relationship with Rome was also ambivalent. Despite his links to
19519-439: Was an English statesman and Catholic cardinal . When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner . Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figure in virtually all matters of state. He also held important ecclesiastical appointments. These included the Archbishop of York —the second most important role in the English church—and that of papal legate . His appointment as
19668-484: Was believed to be founded by either Aethelweard (Aylward), Earldorman of Devon, or King Cnut . This first monastery was "small and unprosperous", and the exact site is uncertain. Archaeological evidence suggests the monastery may have been located nearby at what is now Holy Trinity church in Buckfastleigh. In 1134 or 1136, the abbey was established in its current position, King Stephen having granted Buckfast to
19817-464: Was formed, but Louis was not in good health. Less than three months later, he died and was succeeded by the young and ambitious Francis I . Queen Mary had allegedly secured a promise from Henry that if Louis died, she could marry whomever she pleased. Following Louis's death, she secretly married Suffolk, with Francis I's assistance, which prevented another marriage alliance. As Mary was the only princess Henry could use to secure marriage alliances, this
19966-499: Was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910. The abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of Saint Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, through appointed priors. One of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald , who founded the Camaldolese community. The Cistercians branched off from the Benedictines in 1098; they are often called
20115-416: Was fruitless in terms of restoring economic stability. The same can be said for Wolsey's legal reforms. After he made justice accessible to all and encouraged more people to bring cases to court, the system was abused. The courts became overloaded with incoherent, tenuous cases, which would have been far too expensive to have rambled on in the Common Law courts. Wolsey eventually ordered all minor cases out of
20264-483: Was further exacerbated by the practice of appointing a commendatory abbot, a lay person, appointed by a noble to oversee and to protect the assets of the monastery. Often, however, this resulted in the appropriation of the assets of monasteries at the expense of the community which they were intended to support. Saint Blaise Abbey in the Black Forest of Baden-Württemberg is believed to have been founded around
20413-624: Was granted an annual pension of £120. The other monks, who all co-signed the deed of surrender, received smaller pensions. After the dissolution 1.5 tons of gold, gilt and silver was taken from the abbey to the Tower of London . The site was granted to the King who later granted it to others, including William Petre , the Secretary of State, and Sir Thomas Denys (c.1477–1561) of Holcombe Burnell in Devon. Denys had married Donne's sister Elizabeth and
20562-574: Was met with even more hostility, and ultimately led to his downfall. In 1525, after Charles V had abandoned England as an ally, Wolsey began to negotiate with France, and the Treaty of the More was signed, during Francis I's captivity, with the Regent of France—his mother, Louise of Savoy . The closeness between England and Rome can be seen in the formulation of the League of Cognac in 1526. Though England
20711-461: Was minimal, their contribution certainly aided Charles V in his defeat of the French, particularly in 1525 at the Battle of Pavia , where Charles's army captured Francis I. Henry then felt there was a realistic opportunity for him to seize the French crown, to which the kings of England had long laid claim. Parliament, however, refused to raise taxes. This led Wolsey to devise the Amicable Grant , which
20860-496: Was not part of it, the League was organised in part by Wolsey with papal support. Wolsey's plan was that the League of Cognac, an alliance between France and some Italian states, would challenge Charles's League of Cambrai . This was both a gesture of allegiance to Rome and an answer to growing concerns about Charles's dominance over Europe. The final blow to this policy came in 1529, when the French made peace with Charles. Meanwhile,
21009-602: Was one of the wealthiest abbeys in the south-west of England. It had come to own "extensive sheep runs on Dartmoor, seventeen manors in central and south Devon, town houses in Exeter , fisheries on the Dart and the Avon , and a country house for the abbot at Kingsbridge ". At Kingsbridge the abbey had the rights to a weekly market and an annual fair, leading to the growth of the town. The Black Death killed two abbots and many monks. By
21158-680: Was ordained as a priest in Marlborough , Wiltshire, and remained in Oxford, first as the Master of Magdalen College School, and soon the dean of divinity. From 1500 to 1509, Wolsey held a living as rector of St Mary's church , Limington , in Somerset . In 1502, he became a chaplain to Henry Deane , archbishop of Canterbury, who died the following year. He was then taken into the household of Sir Richard Nanfan , who made Wolsey executor of his estate. After Nanfan's death in 1507, Wolsey entered
21307-573: Was originally the guest hall. It was twice its present height and width, but was reduced in size following the Dissolution. At right angles to it is a smaller 16th century range, which is better preserved, with an original roof. Next door is a small Methodist chapel, an unlikely bedfellow with the Catholic abbey, which was built in 1881, the year before the monks returned. Adjoining the Northgate
21456-473: Was remodelled and incorporated into new claustral ranges which were begun in 1882. A temporary church was constructed to the south of these new buildings, with the current abbey church constructed between 1906 and 1938, mostly on the footprint of the Cistercian Abbey. The east-end does not follow the original plan. The new abbey church was built in the "Norman Transitional and Early English" styles, to
21605-478: Was restored at Buckfast in 1882; it became an abbey, under the direction of an abbot, in 1902. Benedictine The Benedictines , officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( Latin : Ordo Sancti Benedicti , abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB ), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict . Initiated in 529 they are
21754-406: Was rumoured that Anne Boleyn and her faction convinced Henry that Wolsey was deliberately slowing proceedings; as a result, he was arrested in 1529, and the Pope decided that the official decision should be made in Rome, not England. In 1529, Wolsey was stripped of his government office and property, including his magnificently expanded residence of Palace of Whitehall , which Henry took to replace
21903-480: Was still a virgin after her first husband's death. Henry argued that Catherine's claim was not credible, and thus the dispensation must be withdrawn and the marriage annulled. His motivation has been attributed to his determination to have a son and heir, and to his desire for Anne Boleyn , one of his wife's maids-of-honour . Queen Catherine had no further pregnancies after 1519; Henry began annulment proceedings in 1527. Catherine, however, maintained that she had been
22052-403: Was stripped of his government titles. He retreated to York to fulfil his ecclesiastical duties as archbishop, a position he nominally held but had neglected during his years in government. He was recalled to London to answer to charges of treason—charges Henry commonly used against ministers who fell out of his favour—but died from natural causes on the way. Thomas Wolsey was born in about 1473,
22201-470: Was the first of the dozen monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino . There is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. When Monte Cassino was sacked by the Lombards about the year 580, the monks fled to Rome, and it seems probable that this constituted an important factor in the diffusion of
#589410