Editing Margam Abbey (section)

==History==
[[File:Margain Abbey, Glamorganshire.jpeg|thumb|left|Margam Abbey ruins 1805]]
The [[abbey]] was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of [[Clairvaux Abbey|Clairvaux]] by [[Robert, Earl of Gloucester]], and was dedicated to [[Mary, mother of Jesus|the Blessed Virgin Mary]].  Early Christian crosses found in the close vicinity and conserved in the nearby [[Margam Stones Museum]] suggest the existence of an earlier [[Celtic Christianity|Celtic monastic community]].  The founding abbot was William of Clairvaux. The third abbot, Conan, enjoyed the praise of [[Giraldus Cambrensis]], whom he appears to have entertained prior to his official visit with [[Baldwin of Forde]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], to preach the Crusade in 1188. Conan (or Cunan) contributed to [[Patristic literature]], as he is credited with the ''[[Pilcrow|capitula]]'' or chapter-headings prefixing each section of [[Bernard of Clairvaux|St. Bernard]]'s ''Sermons on the Song of Songs'', one of the works for which that author was titled a [[Doctor of the Church]].<ref>{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=St. Bernard of Clairvaux}}</ref>

The ''[[Annales de Margan]]'' are a contemporary chronicle in Latin, beginning with the death of [[Edward the Confessor]] in 1066 and ending with [[Henry III of England|Henry III's]] quarrel with [[Hubert de Burgh, 1st Earl of Kent|Hubert de Burgh]] in the year 1232. The chief source for the earlier portion was likely [[Historia Regum Britanniae|William of Malmesbury's history]]. The text gives accounts of the purported discovery of the bones of [[King Arthur]], and of the alleged murder of [[Arthur I, Duke of Brittany|Prince Arthur]] by [[John, King of England|King John]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Luard|first=Henry Richards|url=http://archive.org/details/annalesmonastici01luar|title=Annales monastici|date=1864|publisher=London : Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green|others=PIMS - University of Toronto}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=British Library|url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/murder-of-prince-arthur-in-chronicle-of-margam-abbey|access-date=2021-08-05|website=www.bl.uk}}</ref>

Sir John Buchanan-Jardine (third baronet [[Buchanan-Jardine baronets|Buchanan-Jardine]]) recounts a tradition that Margam Abbey kept a pack of hunting hounds donated to them by a continental Abbey (which he takes to be the [[Abbey of Saint-Hubert]]).<ref>Buchanan-Jardine, J. (1937), Hounds of the World.</ref>

The abbey was [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolved]] by King [[Henry VIII of England]] in 1536 and sold to Sir [[Rice Mansel]]. Significant holdings of the monastery library appear to have survived this event, including the manuscript of the annals. At this time, only 12 [[monk]]s were living in the monastery.  From the [[Mansel family]] the abbey eventually passed to their descendants in the female line, the Talbot family.  In the 19th century, C R M Talbot constructed a mansion at [[Margam Castle]] which overlooks the abbey ruins.  The nave of the abbey continued in use as the [[parish church]], as it does to this day. It is Anglo-Catholic in its churchmanship.<ref>Blagdon-Gamlen, P. E., ed. (1973) ''The Church Travellers Directory''. London: Church Literature Association; p. 86</ref>