ABSTRACT
In this snapshot of St Albans over a fairly short period of not much more than half a century, the importance of the inherited position of the abbots, the monastery’s fourteenth-century rulers, is paramount. Foundation charters, an exceptional series of papal privileges granting and confirming exemption from the diocesan bishop, correspondence between the abbey and the crown, chronicle sources and recent archaeological evidence all combine to add to the cumulative picture of the special status
enjoyed by St Albans as the premier English abbey. From the mid-twelfth century, the claim of this house to be first amongst all the Benedictine abbeys of England was acknowledged in return for the annual payment to the papacy of an ounce of gold. That St Albans was seen from Rome as a highly significant monastery is clear from the abbot’s exceptional right to wear episcopal regalia and to walk in procession immediately after the bishops. Indeed, as one of the three largest abbeys in the land in terms of numbers of monks, St Albans also possessed one of the largest groups of satellite priories. The abbey’s continual hard fight to secure independence from the diocesan bishop of Lincoln simply reinforced the determination, at the beginning of the fourteenth century, to retain its exempt status from the king’s escheator on the occasion of a vacancy. Such jealously-guarded status brought great freedom for an abbey eager to control its own affairs without outside intervention. The possession of the bones of Alban, the protomartyr, and its considerable reputation as a centre of historical writing, greatly assisted the abbey in creating its own propaganda as a powerful and prestigious institution. The artistic embellishments and ambitious building campaign bear witness to the image which it was desired to create. The abbey’s physical position, within a day’s journey of London, was also crucial while the small urban centre that grew up around the monastery depended on good relations with its great neighbour. The abbey was also conveniently situated for influential visitors travelling north from court as well as travellers, visitors and pilgrims to the newly-reconstructed shrine and Lady Chapel. This access was to prove especially valuable for the abbey chroniclers who could report with authority on national and political events through the abbot’s attendance at parliament and at the Chapters of the Black Monks. The abbot of St Albans was thus ensured a position right at the heart of the political life of England as well as of the Benedictine life of the period.
