Editing Roche Abbey (section)

==Early history==

The abbey was founded in 1147 when the stone buildings<ref>One of the most valuable assets of Roche Abbey was the extraordinary quarry controlled by the Abbey itself. The stone quarried there was so sought-after that it was used in the "groined roof of [[King's College, Cambridge|King's College]] chapel, Cambridge," according to Samuel Lewis in his 1848 ''A Topographical Dictionary of England''.[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51130]</ref> were raised on the north side of the beck. The co-founders of Roche were Richard de Busli, likely the great-nephew<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RVdjrMmpwq8C&dq=%22roche+abbey%22+charter&pg=RA1-PA366 Miscellanea Genealogica Et Heraldica: Fourth Series, W. Bruce Bannerman (ed.), Mitchell, Huges and Clark, London, 1910]</ref> of the first [[Roger de Busli]], the Norman magnate builder of [[Tickhill Castle]], and Richard FitzTurgis.<ref>[http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/graphics/Learning/Archives/Local+Towns+and+Villages/EDSWickersley.htm FitzTurgis of Roche Abbey] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203133325/http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/graphics/Learning/Archives/Local+Towns+and+Villages/EDSWickersley.htm |date=3 December 2008 }}
</ref> According to the Monasticon Anglicanum, the two Richards gave land to the monks on each side of the stream on the understanding that abbey should be built on whichever side was considered most stable for building and that both of them would receive as much credit as the other, with the one whose land was rejected being held to the same level of thanks, regardless of whose side of the stream it was built on.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fletcher |first=J. S. (Joseph Smith) |url=https://archive.org/details/cisterciansinyor00fletuoft/page/60/mode/2up |title=The Cistercians in Yorkshire |date=1919 |publisher=London : Society for promoting Christian knowledge; New York : Macmillan |others=Kelly - University of Toronto |pages=60}}</ref>

When the monks first arrived in South Yorkshire from [[Newminster Abbey]] in Northumberland, they chose the most suitable side of the stream that runs through the valley to build their new [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] [[monastery]].  Twenty-five years later, at the end of the century, the Norman Gothic great church, dedicated to the [[Virgin Mary]], had been finished, as well as most of the other buildings.  The control of the abbey was vested in the [[de Vesci]] family, lords of Rotherham, who in turn subfeuded the land to Richard FitzTurgis, lord of Wickersley (and who took Wickersley as his surname).<ref>[http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/rotherham/Templates/Inner/Inner3_printerfriendly.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2Fgraphics%2FLearning%2FArchives%2FLocal%2BTowns%2Band%2BVillages%2FEDSWickersley.htm%3FWBCMODE%3Dauthor&NRNODEGUID=%7B0A08DC37-25C1-42A0-8632-8F5BC1279082%7D&NRCACHEHINT=Guest&WBCMODE=author Family of FitzTurgis, later Wickersley, Rotherhamgov.uk]{{dead link|date=April 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

From the start, the Abbey of Roche, built for the so-called [[White Monks]], as the Cistercians were known, had an almost otherworldly air. It was, after all, built at the northern end of an area once covered by [[Sherwood Forest]], and it was said that [[Robin Hood]] went to Mass here.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} (A diocesan pilgrimage is still made today on Trinity Sunday.)<ref>[http://www.hallam-diocese.com/history.htm The Marvel of the Monasteries, History of Hallam Diocese, The Catholic Diocese of Hallam, hallam-diocese.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914141549/http://www.hallam-diocese.com/history.htm |date=14 September 2008 }}</ref> At its height it supported a community of around 175 men, of whom about 60 were choir monks, the remainder being lay brothers, a Cistercian innovation.<ref name=guide>{{cite book|last1=Fergusson|first1=Peter|title=Roche Abbey|date=1990|publisher=English Heritage|location=London|pages=10, 25}}</ref>

Eventually, on the death of co-founder FitzTurgis,<ref>One of the earliest appearances of the FitzTurgis name is on a York charter of 1194 which refers to "Turgis, son of Turgis.' [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZwUwAAAAMAAJ&dq=fitzturgis&pg=PA362] The name Turgis is Norman and its origin is the Old Norse ''Þórgísl'' (''Thorgisl'' "hostage of [[Thor]]"). The name FitzTurgis means, when translated, son of (''fils de'' in French) Turgis (still common as a Norman surname nowadays Turgis [http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?numero=0054263&periode=1] and Tourgis [http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?numero=0255691&periode=1], and in place-names such as [[Tourgéville]] (Calvados). Both FitzTurgis and de Busli have been described by one historian as 'two members of the lesser baronage'. The name FitzTurgis was later Anglicised to [[Sturgis (surname)|Sturgis]]/[[Sturges]] and its variants.</ref> control of the abbey passed to his son Roger, now 'de Wickersley',<ref>[http://www.wickersleyweb.co.uk/wickersley/index.htm de Wickersley of Broomhall and Wickersley, wickersleyweb.co.uk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724140740/http://www.wickersleyweb.co.uk/wickersley/index.htm |date=24 July 2011 }}</ref> and then eventually to a granddaughter Constantia, who married [[William Levett (baron)|William de Livet]] ([[Levett]]), a family of Norman origin who were lords of the nearby village of [[Hooton Levitt]] (or Levett).<ref>{{cite book
 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9bcKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA265
 |title=Nicholas de Lyvet, Calendar of the Charter Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office
 |author=H.C. Maxwell Lyte
 |author-link=H.C. Maxwell Lyte
 |publisher=Great Britain Public Record Office
 |year=1906}}</ref> The abbey continued in the [[Levett]] family until 1377, when John Levett sold his rights in the abbey to the London merchant Richard Barry.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36241 The Abbey of Roche, Houses of Cistercian Monks, A History of the County of York: Volume 3, Victoria County History, William Page (ed.), pp. 153–156, 1974, British History Online]</ref> By the time of the dissolution full control of Roche Abbey was held by [[Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland]], who came in for multiple grants at the Dissolution as he was married to the niece of King [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]].<ref>[[James Hobson Aveling]] (1870). [https://books.google.com/books?id=awIhAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22john+levet%22+merchant&pg=RA1-PA126 ''The History of Roche Abbey, from its Foundation to its Dissolution'']. Robert White</ref><ref>Although the Levett family had disposed of their patronage of Roche Abbey by sale to a London merchant in the fourteenth century, a lawsuit was filed in 1534 by 'William Levet v. Henry, Abbot of Roche.' A photograph of the original court roll held in the O'Quinn Law Library at the University of Houston: [http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H8/CP40no1080/aCP40no1080fronts/IMG_6658.JPG]</ref>