Editing Gisborough Priory (section)

===Establishment===

Guisborough was well-established at the time of the priory's founding; the town's name refers to the fortified place of a Scandinavian called Gigr, who may have taken over a site established by the [[Anglo-Saxons]] or [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] who lived in the vicinity before the arrival of [[Vikings]] in the 8th and 9th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|title=Guisborough before 1900|last1=Harrison|first1=B.&nbsp;J.&nbsp;D.|last2=Dixon|first2=Grace|publisher=G. Dixon|year=1981|isbn=095078270X}}</ref> A priest, church and mill were recorded in 1086 in the ''[[Domesday Book]]'' which refers to the town as "Ghigesburg". Following the [[Norman Conquest]], [[William the Conqueror]] gave lands in the area to the [[Count of Mortain]]. He passed them to his friend Robert de Brus, Lord of [[Skelton-in-Cleveland|Skelton]], one of the largest landowners in the north, owning more than {{convert|40000|acre|km2}} in [[Yorkshire]] alone.<ref name="Whellan187">{{harvnb|Whellan|1859|page=187}}</ref> William's [[Harrying of the North]] left the region in a severely depressed and depopulated state. There were few monasteries north of the [[River Humber]] and opportunities existed for new agricultural and religious developments.<ref name="Coppack21">{{harvnb|Coppack|1993|page=21}}</ref> The Augustinian order came to England at the start of the 12th century and established houses in England, including major ones at [[Bridlington]], [[Nostell]] and [[Kirkham, North Yorkshire|Kirkham]].<ref name="Coppack20">{{harvnb|Coppack|1993|page=20}}</ref> They were communities of [[Canon (priest)|canons]] living under the rule of [[Augustine of Hippo|St. Augustine]], wearing dark robes that earned them the name the "Black Canons".<ref name="NHL" />

According to the priory's founding charter, Robert de Brus "founded a certain Monastery of a religious order in Gysburne {{sic}}, to the honour of God, and the holy Virgin Mary". He gave "to the same Church and the service of God in it, all Gysburne, with all things pertaining thereto it".<ref name="Ord176">{{harvnb|Ord|1846|page=176}}</ref> The gift included lands amounting to twenty [[carucate]]s and two [[oxgang]]s (roughly equivalent to about {{convert|2500|acre|km2}}), churches, mills and other possessions, and grants from others. The charter started that the endowment was to provide "material for ever for their buildings, and all other necessities of their house".<ref name="Ord177">{{harvnb|Ord|1846|page=177}}</ref> The foundation was authorised by Pope [[Calixtus II]] and [[Thurstan]], [[Archbishop of York]]. De Brus may have been emulating his peers in Yorkshire, who had founded monastic institutions for their religious obligations.<ref name="Blakely122">{{harvnb|Blakely|2005|page=122}}</ref> The date of the foundation is unclear. The 14th-century canon and historian [[Walter of Guisborough]] gives it as 1129, but a charter of confirmation from Pope Calixtus dates to the period of his pontificate between 1119–24.<ref name="Coppack21" /> The priory may have had two foundation charters, a shorter one dating possibly to 1119 and a detailed one dating to 1129 that may have been the definitive document.<ref name="Coppack21" /> Robert de Brus appointed his younger brother, William de Brus, to be the first Prior of Gisborough and the Brus family continued to be the primary patrons of the priory and have a strong influence there.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/gisborough-priory/history/ | title=History of Gisborough Priory | accessdate=27 May 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Gisborough Priory seal.jpg|right|thumb|Chapter seal of Gisborough Priory, 1538. The seal depicts the Virgin Mary with the infant Christ, sitting under a canopy in the shape of a church.]]
The rights and privileges of the prior and canons grew over the centuries added to by royal grants. [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] granted the rights of [[Soke (legal)|soc and sac]], [[thol and theam]] and [[infangtheof]]. He established a Monday market at Guisborough and the right to hold an annual three-day fair to mark the [[Assumption of Mary|feast of the Assumption]] (15 August). The proceeds and fees from these events supported the priory. The prior and canons were granted [[Warren (free)|free warren]] in the lands around Guisborough and several nearby villages which was extended to more [[demesne]]s by [[Edward III of England|Edward III]], who permitted them to convert {{convert|80|acre|m2}} of land into a deer park (now Park Wood). [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]] gave them the twice-yearly right of [[frankpledge]], the right of [[waif and stray]] and the return of briefs and writs which gave the priory a steady income from rents, fines, licences and other fees. The canons of Guisborough owned 4,000 sheep, mostly in [[Eskdale, North Yorkshire|Eskdale]], in the 13th and 14th century.<ref name="Blakely167">{{harvnb|Blakely|2005|page=167}}</ref>

The priory became known for its strict observance of the Augustinian rule and religious precepts. Its reputation for ''ducentes canonicam vitam'' ("living a canonical life") attracted [[Saint Malachy]] from Ireland who, as Saint [[Bernard of Clairvaux]] had a long and close involvement with Gisborough.<ref name="Watt">{{harvnb|Watt|2005|page=26}}</ref><ref name="Flanagan">{{harvnb|Flanagan|2010|page=122}}</ref> The canons were closely associated with the [[Cistercians]] who, like the Augustianians, had a reformist outlook. One Gisborough canon, William of Newminster, moved to the Cistercian [[Fountains Abbey]] to become its abbot.<ref name="Coppack23">{{harvnb|Coppack|1993|page=23}}</ref> The priory was supported by the local people and records survive of numerous small grants, related to the [[almonry]] (the place or chamber where [[alms]] were distributed to the poor) and to support building work. The canons leased, bought and sold land and loaned money using property grants as collateral to benefit the priory's building fund.<ref name="Coppack25">{{harvnb|Coppack|1993|page=25}}</ref> As the priory became more wealthy, discipline among its canons slipped and the Archbishops of York found it necessary to take corrective action in the late 13th century. A number of canons were sent to Kirkham and Bridlington for correction and Gisborough in turn took in disobedient canons from other places.<ref name="Coppack26">{{harvnb|Coppack|1993|page=26}}</ref> The priory also became embroiled in a dispute with a local landowner, [[Robert de Thweng]], who raided its properties and [[tithe barn]]s in 1232 under the alias of "Will Wither", in the course of a dispute with the priory over the advowson of [[Kirkleatham]] parish church.<ref name="Tees">{{cite web
|url=http://www.teesarchaeology.com/downloads/documents/Medieval_Booklet.pdf
|date=11 June 2012
|title= Medieval Teesside
|publisher=Tees Archaeology
|access-date=10 August 2015}}</ref>

On 16 May 1289, the priory suffered a catastrophic fire. According to an account by Walter of Guisborough, a plumber soldering the lead roof forgot to put out his fire, causing the roof timbers to catch fire and molten lead ran down into the church below. Much of the building was destroyed and many effects, costly books, chalices and vestments were lost. The canons sought to raise funds for rebuilding. They petitioned the king to grant them the [[advowson]]s of the parish churches of [[Barnham, Suffolk|Barnham]], [[Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire|Easington]] and [[Heslerton]], and in 1309 and 1311 the Archbishop of York and the Bishop of Durham rewarded the priory's donors with [[indulgence]]s granting remission of temporal punishment for sins.<ref name="Coppack27">{{harvnb|Coppack|1993|page=27}}</ref> Most of the [[nave]] and [[chancel]] was rebuilt with the support of the de Brus family, whose coat of arms was displayed on its buildings.<ref name="Greene99">{{harvnb|Greene|2005|page=99}}</ref>

Rebuilding probably took around a century to complete. Work was slowed by high costs and civil unrest in the early 14th century, when Scottish raiders repeatedly plundered the north of England. The priory's lands were reduced in value by the raids, diminishing its income.<ref name="Macmillan">{{harvnb|Macmillan|2007|page=x}}</ref> Its wealth was tapped by [[William Melton|Archbishop Melton of York]] to make good his own losses in 1319, and in 1320 it had to take in refugees from monastic houses that had been forced to disperse to escape the raiders.<ref name="Leyland38">{{harvnb|Leyland|1892|page=38}}</ref> Probably as a consequence of the troubles, in 1328 the priory petitioned the king to be exempted from the "clerical tenth" (a 10% tax on clerical property) and in 1344 it was granted permission to fortify its buildings. By 1380 its staff had diminished to 26 canons and two lay brothers.<ref name="Butler238">{{harvnb|Butler|Given-Wilson|1979|page=238}}</ref>

The Yorkshire line of the de Brus family died out with the death of the childless Peter IV de Brus in 1272 but the priory was still patronised by the local nobility. The [[Baron Fauconberg|Fauconberg]] and Thweng families, who married Peter's sisters Agnes and Lucia, took over the patronage which continued for several centuries. Many prominent local nobles were buried there, as was the Scottish [[Robert de Brus, 5th Lord of Annandale|Robert V de Brus]], grandfather of King Robert the Bruce. At least nine patrons and their families were buried in the priory between 1295 and 1411.<ref name="Stöber128-29">{{harvnb|Stöber|2007|page=128–29}}</ref> The priory received substantial financial support from its patrons; in 1381 [[William Latimer, 4th Baron Latimer|William, Lord Latimer]] provided funds to complete the north nave and donated £333&nbsp;6s&nbsp;8d (roughly equivalent to £1.6&nbsp;million today) for a new [[bell tower|belfry]]. He left the priory cattle from his manor at [[Ugthorpe]], bequeathed a range of religious items, and made arrangements for his body to be interred there on his death.<ref name="Stöber90-91">{{harvnb|Stöber|2007|page=90–91}}</ref>