Halifax, two hundred years ago, was known as a proud little town". Its inhabitants were noted for their attainments in learning, and many of the parents in the neighbourhood, where they could afford it, sent their sons to Cambridge and Dublin Universities, to get a thorough classical education.

THE HISTORY AND ASSOCIATIONS OF THE ABBEYS AND CONVENTS OF THE VALE OF CONWAY AND DISTRICT.

BY T. ELIAS, ESQ.

(Contributed to the Conway Congress, August 1897).

ISTORY informs us that Henry VIII (in conjunction with Cardinal Wolsey), on the suppression of the monastic institutions of the country, recommended the dismantling of the buildings. This will go far to account for the paucity of extensive ruins. Cardinal Wolsey, in the first place, closed the smaller monasteries, principally those belonging to the friars, which some writers say had become dens of corruption. Many of them were so poorly endowed that their "religious" members must have been little better than paupers. The mendicant and barefooted fraternity were, no doubt, a great burden to the laity, often obtaining relief through working on the superstition of the latter. From these facts we must deduce that dissolution, or partial dissolution, had become a necessity, and that the reform was more a social than a religious matter. It appears that out of two hundred small "houses", fifty-three had a clear income of less than £50 per annum.1 Of the fifty-three, twenty-three had endowments varying from £10 to £20 per annum. It was impossible for such institutions to do much good, and Cardinal Wolsey was to some extent justified in using a portion of those endowments for improving the position of his school and college at Ipswich

1 This would represent a somewhat larger sum than in modern days.

ABBEYS AND CONVENTS OF THE VALE OF CONWAY. 31

and Oxford. Unfortunately Henry VIII resolved on a much more radical policy, and proceeded to dissolve and plunder all the monastic institutions of the realm, commencing with those which were endowed with less than £200 per annum. He sent commissioners to visit religious houses, to inquire into their condition, and to ascertain what lands and revenues they held, and what use was made of the same. The way in which the members of these "commissions" carried out their instructions is historical; and no doubt, in many cases, after satisfying the rapacious king, the members were not unmindful of their own respective interests! In the celebrated "Black-book" compiled by them, and laid before Parliament, they formulated a series of terrible indictments against the monasteries, no doubt partly true and partly false. These disclosures created intense ill-feeling against the monastic orders, which must have resulted in great suffering on their part. In 1536 an order was issued for the suppression of three hundred and twenty-six monastic institutions, having in the aggregate revenues to the extent of £32,000 nominally, but really ten times that amount was granted to the king, together with the furniture, chattels, plate, etc., belonging to them, of the computed value of £100,000. The higher-endowed monasteries extended their hospitality to the expelled members of the smaller houses. It is said that at least 10,000 members of the various monasteries were turned adrift, with the gift of a few clothes, and a trifle each in money. The sufferings of these poor monks must have been terrible. It is possible that some of them became inmates of the continental monasteries. About 1538 the king took the higher-grade establishments in hand, which met the same fate as the smaller monastic institutions. In some cases the lands were granted for founding new bishoprics, but those that benefited most by the plunder were the king and some of his favourites. The latter were not slow in robbing the buildings of all valuable materials, and leaving them utterly dismantled. In many examples of Henry's Charters it is stipulated that this should be done. How sad it is to think of the wholesale destruction, and scattering of

invaluable historical manuscripts, missals, etc., when we are told that each letter of the latter (according to old chroniclers) took hours to paint! Such chronicles, etc., as have survived this outbreak of vandalism-those of Abingdon, of St. Augustine of Evesham, of St. Albans and Malmesbury, the "Roll of Battle Abbey," and many others-bear testimony to the extraordinary industry and learning of the monks of old. An immense number of manuscripts (some say shiploads) were sent off to Holland, Germany, Italy, and other countries. Leland

says:

"Covetousness was at that time so busy, that public wealth was not anywhere regarded. A number of those who purchased these superstitious mansions, the monasteries and abbeys, reserved of the libraries, books, some to scour their candlesticks (&c.), some were sold to the grocers (&c.), and some they sent over the sea to the bookbinders, not in small numbers, but in shipsful; yea, the Universities of the realm are not clear from so detestable a fact. I know a merchant that bought the contents of two noble libraries for 40sh. each a shame it is to be spoken."

The total number of the monasteries suppressed amounted to 645. The abbots of 23 of these had seats in Parliament. Ninety colleges were dissolved, 2374 churches and free chapels, and 110 hospitals or fraternities, also shared the same fate. The total income amounted to £161,000. Many of the magnificent churches and monasteries were simply stripped of their roofs, and of course were soon in a ruinous condition. Many of these interesting relics of the past are still to be found in every county in Great Britain. The poorer inhabitants of the country must have suffered greatly from the suppression of the larger establishments, as not only did the monks administer to their religious wants, but extended a kind of outdoor relief which was a great boon in its way. They also attended to their physical ailments, a great matter in those dark ages. In another way its effects told disastrously on the nobility and gentry, who often provided for their younger sons, or friends and relations, by placing them in the various monastic institutions. In some cases the monastic lands were bought by land-jobbers, who threw them out of

cultivation, and so deprived many labourers of their daily bread. All this created bad feeling against the "reformers", and led to many serious outbreaks on the part of the populace. The monks founded schools, drained marshes, cleared the thick forests, and were invaluable members of society in many ways. Some of the monasteries near the sea coast were strongly fortified, and were often attacked by Danish marauders. In "Hereward the Wake", Kingsley graphically describes a monastery of this description-Crowland Abbey".

A writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, in 1824, says:"Taking the monks as a body, there is no doubt that they were hospitable, promoters of science, and the preservers of literature. Gross ignorance and insensibility could not have been universal in men who preserved through several centuries of the deepest barbarity, the remains of Augustan learning and Attic elegance; who have bequeathed to us many models of architecture unrivalled, who have illuminated missals with lovely colours, not approached since that time."

As a proof of the number of monastic establishments existing in England, I may instance a few names and statistics.

Suffolk-5 abbeys, 24 priories, etc.

Yorkshire (North Riding)—16 abbeys, 5 priories, 8 nunneries. Yorkshire (East Riding)-9 priories, 6 nunneries.

Somerset-7 abbeys, 19 priories, 3 nunneries.

NOTE. Glastonbury Abbey had an annual income of £40,000. The abbot sat in Parliament. (The last Abbot, Richard Whiting, refused to surrender to Henry VIII, and with two other men, was afterwards hanged.)

Stafford-6 abbeys, 13 priories, 7 nunneries.

These statistics are taken from a "Compendium of County History", published in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1823-8.

Many petitions were sent up to Parliament, praying that in the case of the larger establishments the Act of Dissolution might be suspended, but they were of no avail. This fact proved that the good deeds of the monks were greatly appreciated by many people. The Orders most popular were the Benedictines and the Cistercians. By far the greater number of the monas