Editing St Benet's Abbey (section)

==Abbots with connections==
That the abbey continued to have connections to the court may be shown by the fact that the man who became abbot in 1126 was Conrad, who has been identified with the monk who till then had been prior of [[Christ Church Cathedral Priory]], [[Canterbury]], and who had been confessor to [[Henry I of England|King Henry I]].<ref>Sally N. Vaughn, ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan: The Innocence of the Dove and the Wisdowm of the Serpent'',  University of California Press, Berkeley, 1987, p. 318.</ref> Conrad is said to have brought with him two chasubles and a book that had been the property of St [[Dunstan]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], together with a chalice Dunstan himself had made. These objects were conserved at St Benet's as [[relic]]s.<ref name="Snelling and Edwards 1983 p4" />

Later that same century another abbot with even stronger connections to power arrived to govern St Benet's. [[Hugh, abbot of Lagny|Hugh]] was an illegimitate half-brother to [[Cardinal Priest|Cardinal]] [[William of the White Hands]] and to [[Henry I, Count of Champagne|Count Henry I of Champagne]] who was married to [[Marie of France, Countess of Champagne|Marie]], elder daughter of King [[Louis VII of France]]. Hugh's half-sister was [[Adela of Champagne|Adela, Queen of France]] and he was a nephew of [[Stephen, King of England|King Stephen of England]] and of the King's brother [[Henry of Blois]] Henry of Blois, [[Bishop of Winchester]].<ref>Cf. genealogical scheme in Ruth Harwood Cline, ''Abbot Hugh: An Overlooked Brother of Henry I, Count of Champagne'', in ''Catholic Historical Review'' 93:3 (2007) 505.</ref>

Hugh became a knight and was wounded in battle about 1136. Cared for at [[Tironensian Order|Tiron Abbey]] in [[France]], when he recovered he decided to become a monk there. Later he was made  abbot of St Benet's (1146-1150) thanks to his uncle King Stephen (or Henry of Blois),<ref>David Crouch, ''The Reign of King Stephen: 1135–1154'', Routledge, London, 2013, p. 303.</ref><ref>Everett U. Crosby, ''The King’s Bishops: The Politics of Patronage in England and Normandy, 1066–1216'', Palgrave Macmillan, London  2013, pp. 160–161, 182–183.</ref> the appointment receiving  papal confirmation in 1147. To secure this post for Hugh, the previous abbot, Daniel, was deposed.

The story in John of Oxnead's ''Chronicle''<ref>Henry Ellis (ed.), ''Chronica Johannis de Oxenedes'', Longman, London, 1859, pp. 270–271.</ref> is that he was a capable and serious abbot but made powerful enemies who framed him by having a woman slipped into his bed and then sent armed men to punish the supposed crime by castrating him. After the violence, John of Oxnead says, Hugh's uncle King Stephen obtained for him the post of abbot of [[Chertsey Abbey]] (1149-1163) in [[Surrey]] and at St Benet's Abbot Daniel returned to his post. Subsequently, the death of King Stephen lead to a hostile climate in England for the family and Henry of Blois fled from England in 1155. Hugh followed, returning to Champagne and becoming once more a monk of  [[Tironensian Order|Tiron Abbey]]. However, when trouble arose at [[Lagny Abbey]], he was made abbot there (1163-1171). Though an active abbot, for some reason was deposed in 1171 and died shortly afterwards, being buried at the abbey.<ref>Ruth Harwood Cline, ''Abbot Hugh: An Overlooked Brother of Henry I, Count of Champagne'', in ''Catholic Historical Review'' 93:3 (2007) 501-516.</ref>