Читать книгу The Abbeys of Great Britain - H. Claiborne Dixon - Страница 14

1127, Founded by Stephen, Earl of Morton and Boulogne (afterwards King of England)—1240, The abbey receives benefactions from William de Lancaster—1539, Surrendered by Roger Pyke, last abbot. Annual revenue, £805, 16s. 5d.

To realise fully the important position Furness Abbey held, both in things spiritual and temporal, it must be remembered that the abbot of this monastery possessed not only the power of jurisdiction over the monks, but governed also the wild and rugged region of Lancashire which is divided by an arm of the Irish Sea from the rest of the country and known as Furness. Many viceregal privileges were vested in his high office, and to some extent even the military were under his orders. He held a court of criminal jurisdiction in Dalton Castle, where also he had a gaol; issued summonses by his own bailiffs; while the Sheriff with his officers was prohibited from entering the territory of the abbey under any pretext whatever. The diversity of his offices and responsibilities entailed a keeping of a numerous retinue of servants and armoured followers, a certain number of his vassals being at the service of the Crown according to the feudal system. As in the case of other monasteries, and as time went on, numerous benefactors arose. Many of the wealthy bestowed lands and further privileges on the monks—not a few in consideration of the favour of obtaining a last resting-place in the abbey. They—