Bury St Edmunds

Who holds it

Name

Samson of Tottington

Title

Abbot of Bury St Edmunds

Since

Elected 21 February 1182

Confidence

high

Born in 1135 at Tottington in Norfolk, so about 64. Master of arts at Paris, schoolmaster at Bury, sent to Rome on the abbey's business in 1160 and imprisoned on his return by Abbot Hugh; professed monk by 1166, then sub-sacrist, guestmaster, prior and master of novices. As abbot he paid off the abbey's debts, regained the right to choose the town's bailiffs jointly, gave the townsmen market rights against his monks' wishes and helped them to a charter, rebuilt the choir and towers, and founded the hospital at Babwell and a free school.

After the massacre of Jews at Bury in 1190 he expelled the Jews with Richard's written leave, arguing that everyone in the town was St Edmund's man. A papal judge-delegate since Lucius III; on the royal council he opposed William Longchamp's attacks on Benedictine rights. His monk Jocelin of Brakelond's chronicle (to 1202) portrays him. He dies in 1211.

What it holds

• The eight and a half hundreds of West Suffolk: Thingoe, Thedwastre, Lackford, Risbridge, Blackbourn and Babergh (both double hundreds) and the half hundred of Cosford; the abbot's steward acts as sheriff within them
• The town of Bury and its banleuca: the abbot's own town, where crimes come before his court alone and royal officers are not admitted
• The town's bailiffs, chosen jointly by abbot and town; the market
• The shrine of St Edmund and the abbey's manors in Suffolk and Norfolk

How it was acquired

Edward the Confessor granted the eight and a half hundreds to the abbey in 1043 or 1044. William I appointed the first steward of the liberty, Ralph; the stewardship became hereditary (later with the de Windsors) from 1115.

How things stand that morning

Samson rules firmly. The liberty is not under challenge from the crown.

Wealth

Offerings at St Edmund's shrine; Bury's market; rents of the abbey's manors; the profits of justice in eight and a half hundreds; the market towns of the liberty.

Threats

• The townsmen's ambitions
• Royal demands for scutage and knights on the abbey's fees, and the crusade fortieth
• At Samson's death the liberty would pass to the king's keepers until a new abbot is chosen

Advocates and rivals

The hereditary steward of the liberty; the townsmen of Bury, who want more self-government; the bishop of Norwich, from whom the abbey is exempt; the bishop of Ely next door; the monks themselves, who resist Samson's control of their revenues.

Places of note

• Bury St Edmunds abbey: Abbey and shrine of St Edmund, with the Hall of Pleas in the precinct

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Jocelin of Brakelond's chronicle gives an unusually close view of Samson's rule; the liberty's extent equals the later administrative county of West Suffolk.

On the map: Traced along the boundary of the later administrative county of West Suffolk, which was the liberty; the eastern line is approximate.

Primary sources for England

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of Jocelin of Brakelond, Jocelin of Brakelond (about 1198 to 1203). An inside account of Bury St Edmunds under Abbot Samson, written while the events were fresh. Read online
• Chronicle of Melrose, Anonymous (monks of Melrose abbey) (about 1173 to 1270, in many hands; the 1200 entries are near contemporary). The main Scottish annal for the year, kept at a Cistercian house on the Tweed. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• Chronicle; Deeds of the Kings, Gervase of Canterbury (Chronica about 1188 to 1199; Gesta Regum about 1199 to 1210). The Chronica stops in 1199, so for 1200 the witness is the briefer Gesta Regum, which notes John's peace with Philip, the coronation of Isabella at Westminster on 8 October 1200, and matters touching Canterbury: the archbishop Hubert Walter as chancellor, the cathedral priory's quarrel with him, and the Lambeth college dispute lately settled by the pope. Read online
• English Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, Ralph of Coggeshall (about 1200 to 1224, in stages). Short but independent entries for 1200 from a Cistercian house in Essex: John's levy on the Cistercians and the carucage, the peace with Philip, the king's new marriage and the queen's coronation, and the death of Hugh of Lincoln. Read online
• Flowers of History, Roger of Wendover (about 1220 to 1235 at St Albans). For 1200 Wendover is mostly Howden rewritten, so he is a second witness only where he adds St Albans material: a long account of Hugh of Lincoln's last months, death and funeral, and anecdotes about John's conduct toward the Cistercians and his new queen. Read online
• Images of History, Ralph de Diceto (about 1188 to 1202). A London view of the year from the dean of St Paul's, who knew the justiciar and the bishops personally. Read online

22 more in the sources library for The British Isles.