III. THE FOUNDING OF THE PRIORY.
Some writers have represented St. Martin's Priory at Dover as being a continuation of the religious house originally established at the Castle by King Eadbald and transferred by King Withred to the bank of the Dour; but although that first change, in Saxon times, was merely a change in location for the sake of convenience, the change in early Norman days was the establishment of another Order in a new house supported by the revenues of the old one. The Priory was first projected by Archbishop William Corboil in the year 1124, when he told Henry I. that the Canons of Dover had added to the crime of lewdness, worldly cares, temporal pursuits and dissipation; that they could not be cited to answer in any Court, and that the K-ng, who was their patron, was answerable to God for all their sins. These serious allegations were frequently repeated, and eventually in the year 1131 the King gave the Archbishop his desire embodied in a Charter, as follows : —
Henry, King of the Angles, to the Archbishojis, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, Barons and all sons of the Holy Church in England settled, greeting : Know ye that I have given and granted in alms to God anil William Archbishop of Canterbury and the Church of Christ at Canterbury and to all their successors canonically appointed (for the salvation of the souls of my parents and for the safety of my Kingdom) the Church of St. Martin at Dover with all things belonging to the same, in Land and Sea, in Toll and all other ap])urtenances, for constituting an Order of Canons Re.;;ular in the same Church at Dover, and that the Abbot of the sime order may be therein appointed by Canonical Election of the Chajiter itself with the Assent and Examination of the Arcl bishop ; which church shall be in the proper hands, government and protection of the Archbishop as his Dcmense is. Nor may it hereafter be changed into any other religious order. Therefore, this, my gift and grant made, and by all the underwritten approved, I confirm and strengthen by my royal authority and the power by God to me delivered to remain entire and unshaken.
Witness all the underwritten persons, in whose hearing this was made and confirmed, to wit. Thurstan, Archbishop of York, Hugh, Archbishop of Rouen ; Roger, Bishop of Salisbury ; Henry, Bishop of Winton ; Gilbert, Bishop of Eondon ; William, Bishop of Exon ; Robert, Bisho[) of Hereford; Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln; Simon, Bishop of Worcester; Elbronius, Bishop of Norwich; Godwin, Bishop of Bath; GeofTry, the Chancellor, Robert de Sigill ; Isegellas, the Bishop's grandson ; R. Earl of Gloucester ; William, Earl of Warren ; Ranulph, Earl of Chester ;R. Earl of Legr ; Brian, son of the Earl ; Hugh Bigot ; Humphrey dc Boun ; Milo dc Gloucester ; Paganus, son of John ; Richard, son of Gilbert ; Robert dc Vcre ; Robert d'Essex; Richard Baset ; Albric de Vere ; and many others at Northampton, given granted, but at Westminster confirmed in the celebrated General Council, in the year of our Lord 1131, happily held in Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
The Charter of Dover Priory was confirmed by Innocent, Pope of Rome, as follows : —
Innocent, servant of the servants of God to our Reverend Brother William, Archbishop of Canterbury, and his successors canonically to be appointed for ever. The desire, which is evidcntally for the interest of religion, and the salvation of souls is without delay to be complied with, and whenever anything is requested of us which is known to be agreeable to reason, it becomes us willingly to grant it. We therefore. Reverend Brother, out of the accustomed Benevolence of the Apostolic see allow your reasonable petition, and confirm to you and the Church at Canterbury, and through you to your successors for ever, the Church of St. Martin at Dover, by our most dear son Henry, the illustrious King of the Angles, to you and the Church at Canterbury granted and fully confirmed, with all things which, at present it lawfully possesses, or which, b} the liberality of Kings or Princes, or proceeds of the faithful, or any other just means it may hereafter gain. And at the request of our said son. King Henry, we decree that in the aforesaid Church of St. Martin, an order of Canons according to the rule of St. Augustine be instituted and inviolably preserved in time to come, and the Abbot, who shall j)reside over the Brethren, shall be chosen according to the same in the aforesaid Church. Whoever, therefore, shall endeavour rashly to subvert this, our decree, let him be deprived of his honour and office and be punished with excommunication, unless he duly atone for his presumption. But let those who keep it obtain from the Father of Mercies, and the God of all comfort a perpetual crown and the favour of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul.
Thus the Church of St. Martin's Dover, and all that belonged to it was given by Henry I. to the Archbishop of Canterbury in the presence of the heads of the Church and Realm before written, to found an order of regular Canons according to the rule of St. Augustine, and the same was solemnly blessed by the Pope. But in spite of the Royal grant, the Papal confirmation and the array of high and mighty witnesses, the spoliation of the Canons of Dover brought a legacy of trouble on all who subsequently took part in it.
The proposal of Archbishop Corboil to e.stabli.sh at Dover a house of Canons Regular after the Order of St. Augustine (the Order to which he had belonged) was fiercely opposed by the Prior and monks of Christ Church, Canter- bury. To avoid opposition, the Archbishop kept his scheme secret as long as {)ossihle, and hastened the building of the new house in the fields at Dover ; and before it was finished (for the cloisters and other buildings were completed later) in the year 1134 Archbishop Corboil fell sick, and being anxious to introduce the Canons Regular of his Order at Dover without delay, he commissioned two Bishops and the Archdeacon of Canterbury for that purpose, but when they attempted to instal the Augustine Canons in the new Dover Priory, a Monk of Canterbury objected, contending that the King had not given the new Priory to the Archbishop, but to the Priory of Christ Church. The two Bishops had no authority to refute that claim, for Henry I. was then at the point of death in Nf)rmandy, and as the Monks of Canter- bury appealed to the Pope, nothing was done. Within a few days, Archbishop Corboil died, leaving the object on which his heart was set unattained. The times were not favourable for an equital)le settlement. Soon after the affairs of Dover Priory were left in thi> unsettled state King Henry J. died; Corljoil, the Archbishop, was dead; and Stephen, the grandson of William the Conqueror, and Matilda, the daughter of Henry I., immediately commenced a civil war to decide w'ho should wear the Crown. During this state of things the Monks of Christ Church took possession of the Priory, with WilHam de Longville as their Prior, and they appear to have held their ground during the reign of Stephen, who died at Dover Priory on the 25th October, 11 54. King Stephen's presence there implied sanction of the existing state of things, and the new Archbishop Theobald .^ approval of the Benedictines gave them additional security Never- theless, the Monks of Canterbury knew the defects of their title to the Dover Priory. There was the express provision in the Charter of Henry I. that it was always to be held by Canons Regular of the Order of St. Augustine, and that the members of the Dover Priory were to elect the Prior from amongst themselves. Soon after Henry H. came to the Throne, a new Charter in favour of the Benedictines was obtained from the King, as follows: —
Hcnrv, KinK of England, {greeting : " Know ye that I have granted and cfinfirmed for an alms and a perpetual possession to God and the Cliurrh of Christ at anterbury, and to the Archbishop Theobald and his successors, the Church of St. Martin, Dover, and all things thereunto belonging, in land and sea, and in toll, with the old toll of herrings and the new tvthe of fishery, uliic h the Burgesses of Dover have given and offered u})On the aUar, and with all other its appurtenances which it at present possesses, or may in future justly acquire, for the souls of myself and my parents and for the remission of my sins, and for the state and safety of my kingdom ; and chiefly for the soul of King Henry, my grandfather, the first giver of the same church. I, therefore, appoint, and by my royal authority, command that the Monastic Order instituted in the Church of St. Martin by the authority of Pope Innocent of blessed memory, and Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury ; according to the rule of St. Benedict, be for the future inviolably preserved for ever, nor may it be lawful for any man further to change the said church to any other Order. I also will, and by my royal authority, command that the aforesaid Church of St. Martin shall always remain in the hands and power of Theobald, the Archbishop, and all the Arch- bishops succeeding him, and shall have none but the Archbishop of Canterbury as Disposer, and Director of Exteriors and Interiors." Witnesses : — Roger, Archbishop of York ; N. of Ely ; Robert of Lincoln Bishop, Thomas the Chancellor ; John, Treasurer of York ; Regevius, son of the Earl of Gloucester; Richard Peccat ; Archdeacon Froi^'ern : Archdeacon Nicholas de Hamtune ; Earl Regenald ; Earl Hugh ; Henrv d'Essex, Constable ; Richard de Hamlet ; Robert de Dunstanville ; Manaster Biset, Steward ; \Vi!liam de Bekamp ; Henry de Pomeray ; John Mareschal, at Dover.
It will be ob.served that the last document, while it gives the Dover Priory to the Order of Benedictines, does not give the Monks of Christ Church, Canterbury, the right to nominate the Prior of Dover; and the Archbishop Theobald, to gratify the Monks of Canterbury, carried the matter a step further by himself granting a Charter to the Prior and Chapter of Chri.st Church, Canterbury, providing that the Prior of Dover should always be taken from the Convent of Canterbury and from no other place; but the " Monastican Anglicanum " states that that Charter was made without the consent of the King.
In that irregular way, the Monks of Canterburj' obtained the entire control of the temporalities and the internal government of the Dover Priory from the beginning of the reign of Henry II. down to the thirteenth year of the reign of Edward I., a period of more than 140 years. During that time its revenues and endowments were squandered by a succession of nineteen Priors, nominated by the Monks of Christ Church, Canterbury, the last of whom, Asceline. the sub-Prior of Canterburv, was appointed Prior of Dover in 1275. In the year 1284 this Prior was deprived for dilapida- tions, whereupon the Monks of Dover Priory, by presenting a petition to the King, once more claimed their ancient right to elect their Prior from amongst themselves, and it appears from the " Monastican Anglicanum," Vol. II., page 2, that the Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, was summoned to show cause why he made claim to nominate the Prior of Dover from his Monastery. This matter was heard in the King's Council, and his decree, after examining the Charter granted by Archbishop Theobald, was that that Archbishop, having exceeded the will of the donor, the Archbishops Charter was of no validity, therefore the nomination of the Prior ot Dover should be taken into the King's hands, and that the j\rchbishop for the time being should receive the Prior of D.tver nominated by the King, into whose hands the advowson had lapsed. So the arrange- ment stood from the thirteenth year of Edward I. until the beginning of the reign of Edward II., when the Prior of Canterbury again claimed the nomination. Hearing after hearing took place in the Court of Chancery, the litigation being dragged along by a succession of Kings, Priors and Monks for 220 years. Both in the spirit and the letter of the law, the Monks of Dover were always in the right, but the Monks of Canterbury pugnaciously held on to the richly endowed Church of St. Martin until the thirtieth year of Edward III., when, owing to so many years of expenditure, the Monks of Dover were unable to continue the contest ; and, finally, the nomination of the Prior of Dover, contrary to all three of the Charters, was allowed to be in the hands of the Prior of Canterbury. So it remained until the dissolu- ion of the Dover Priory in 1535. The whole period of the existence of the Priory — in round numbers, 400 years — may be divided into two equal parts ; the first 200 years were spent in continual strife and wasteful expenditure, and the last 200 years in penury ; a very miserable picture compared with the 400 years of valuable mission work carried on by their }>redecessors, the Canons of Dover. The Dover Priory might have done more for Dover if its revenues had not been wasted; but, on the other hand, its comparative impotence, especially towards the close of its career, left freer .scope for religious work and for the development of municipal government outside its walls.