Peterborough

Who holds it

Name

Probably vacant: Abbot Andrew (from 1194) died in 1199; Acharius, prior of St Albans, became abbot in 1200

Title

Abbot of Peterborough

Since

Andrew 1194-1199; Acharius 1200-1210

Confidence

medium

Abbot Benedict (1177-1193/4), Becket's biographer and briefly keeper of the great seal, cleared the abbey's debts. Andrew, prior of Peterborough, followed (1194-1199), then Acharius, prior of St Albans (1200-1210). The exact dates of Andrew's death and of Acharius's appointment are not pinned; if Andrew died before 1 January the abbey and the Soke are in the king's keeping that morning. After Acharius died John kept the abbey vacant and took its revenues for about four years (1210-1214).

What it holds

• The hundred of Nassaburgh (the Soke): Peterborough and about thirty parishes north of the Nene, under the abbot's hundred court
• Peterborough town and market
• The Barnack stone quarries, worked for the fen abbeys' building
• Manors outside the Soke in Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire and Huntingdonshire

How it was acquired

Founded as Medeshamstede in the 7th century and refounded in the 960s with royal grants; the abbots held the hundred and its court from before the Conquest, and the Soke kept a jurisdiction separate from Northamptonshire into modern times.

How things stand that morning

Probably vacant, with the king's keepers taking the revenues until Acharius is appointed during 1200 (dates not pinned).

Wealth

Barnack stone; fen fisheries and turf; the Peterborough market; relics, notably the arm of St Oswald.

Threats

• Royal exploitation of the vacancy
• Boundary quarrels in the fens

Advocates and rivals

The sheriff of Northamptonshire; the neighbouring fen abbeys of Thorney, Crowland and Ramsey over fen boundaries; the abbey's knightly tenants; the king, who profits from every vacancy.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. During 1200 (not pinned)Acharius, prior of St Albans, is made abbot of Peterborough.Depends on: John agreeing to fill the abbey, whose revenues he takes while it is empty. Stopped by: John keeping the vacancy open, as he later did at Peterborough from 1210 to 1214.

Places of note

• Peterborough abbey: Benedictine abbey church, its west front then being built

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Soke's liberty is well attested; the succession of abbots across 1199-1200 is known only to the year.

On the map: Follows the boundary of the later Soke of Peterborough; the parts of modern Peterborough south of the Nene were Huntingdonshire and are left out.

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.