CHAPTER THE THIRD. THE Cathedral of Bristol is dedicated to the holy and undivided Trinity; and is the remains of an abbey or monastery of considerable splendour, which was dedicated to St. Augustine. This monastery, founded and endowed by one of the ancestors of the noble family of Berkeley, ranks many of that illustrious house among its benefactors. It was also denominated the monastery of the black regular canons of the order of Saint Victor, who are mentioned by Leland as the black canons of Saint Augustine without the city walls.* The erection of the monastery was begun in 1140, and was finished and dedicated in 1148, as we are informed by the inscription on the tomb of its founder, Robert Fitz-harding, who is buried * Leland's Itinerary, Vol. V. in this cathedral, and has a monument in the chapel of the Elder Lady, adjoining the north aisle. This monument is surrounded with iron rails, and near it is a plain marble table bearing the following inscription: The Monument of ROBERT FITZ-HARDING, This Lord of BERKELEY, descended from This Monument was Repaired From the said ROBERT FITZHARDING, Lord of Historians are not agreed in many particulars which have been recorded of the founder of this monastery. Some historians represent him as a citizen of Bristol of very considerable wealth; they add, that he resided in Baldwin-Street, and was a merchant of great enterprise and success. He is generally represented as a younger son or grandson of the King of Denmark; and he is thus characterized in the inscription over the abbey gateway, which calls him filii regis Daciæ, a son or descendant of a King of Denmark. Leland says, that he derived his origin from the royal race of the kingdom of Denmark, that he resided in Bristol in the year 1069, and was afterwards created Lord of Berkeley.* In a pedigree in Berkeley castle, he is mentioned as descended from the royal line of the King of Denmark; and it is added, that having accompanied William the First from Normandy, he was present at the battle of Hastings. As these pedigrees cannot refer to the founder of the monastery, they probably relate to an ancestor, and the following account from an ancient pedigree preserved in the British Museum, and given by Mr. Barrett, may be admitted as genuine: "Hardinge Dane, inhabitant and mayor of Bristol, (to whom Maud the Empress, gave the castle, town, and barony of Berkeley) was of the * Leland's Itinerary, Vol. VI. Camden says, " he was of the blood royal of Denmark, an alderman of Bristol, and was so great with King Henry, that by his favour, Maurice his son married the daughter of the Lord de Barkley, from whence his posterity, who flourished in great state, are to this day called Barons of Barkley." Gibson's Camden, p. 74. line of the King of Denmark, and of great wealth and possessions in both counties of Glocester and Somerset: he married Lyvida, a noble woman, and had by her issue three sons and two daughters; his eldest son was Robert Fitzharding, first Lord of Berkeley, by gift of Henry the Second."* In the season of youthful ardour, before the simplicity of nature is contaminated by the artificial distinctions of wordly policy, Robert Fitzharding became the friend of Henry, the son of the Empress Maud: this friendship, which was first formed at the school of Mathews in Bristol, continued uninterrupted through the lives of each, and formed the basis of the fortunes of the illustrious house of Berkeley. One of the first acts of Henry the Second was to confer the honour of knighthood upon the friend of his youth, and soon after he made him heir to the estate of Roger, Lord of Berkeley and Dursley, which had been confiscated, because that nobleman had espoused the party of Stephen, in opposition to the claims of the Empress Maud, in behalf of her son. After having enjoyed all the favours royal friendship could bestow, he formed the resolution of renouncing the honours and pleasures of the world, and was determined to seek happiness in the shade of retirement, from * Barrett's History, page 248. + Baker's Chronicle. |