Abbeys and priories · Kingdom of England · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Ramsey

Ramsey, the great fen abbey founded in 969, is sole lord of its island banlieu, the abbot's petty kingdom on the Huntingdonshire border, and has held the whole hundred of Hurstingstone at fee farm from the crown since about 1155.

Within it lies St Ives, whose Easter fair, granted by Henry I, is one of the leading fairs of England.

Who holds it

Name
Robert Trianel
Title
Abbot of Ramsey
Since
1180
Confidence
medium

Abbot from 1180. He dies during 1200 (date not pinned) and is followed the same year by Eudo (1200-1202), then Robert of Reading (1202-1207); John later kept the abbey vacant for some seven years.

What it holds

  • The banlieu of Ramsey: the abbey's island and fens under the abbot alone
  • The hundred of Hurstingstone at fee farm from the crown (about 1155): Bury, Wistow, Upwood, the Raveleys, Warboys, the Riptons, Woodhurst, Old Hurst, Pidley, Somersham, Bluntisham, Holywell, Needingworth, Houghton, Wyton, Little Stukeley, Broughton and Slepe with St Ives
  • The abbot's baronial court at Broughton, views of frankpledge in many vills, and gallows
  • St Ives fair: eight days from the Tuesday of Easter week, granted by Henry I (1110), one of the abbey's greatest sources of income
  • Manors in Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Norfolk

How it was acquired

Founded in 969; the fair from Henry I; the hundred at fee farm from about 1155, a grant King John confirmed in 1200.

How things stand that morning

Held by Abbot Robert Trianel in the last months of his rule.

Wealth

St Ives fair, with merchants from England and abroad; fen fisheries and eels; grain from the upland manors.

Threats

  • The abbot's death during 1200 and a short vacancy
  • Royal interference in elections and in the fair

Advocates and rivals

The bishop of Ely, whose manor of Somersham lies inside the hundred; the borough of Huntingdon; the merchants at the fair; neighbouring fen houses. Overlapping courts left tenants owing suit to several at once.

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)Abbot Robert Trianel dies and Eudo is elected the same year.Depends on: His natural death. Stopped by: Nothing likely.
  2. During 1200 (not pinned)John confirms the abbey's fee farm of Hurstingstone hundred.Depends on: The abbey seeking and paying for the confirmation. Stopped by: A quarrel with the king.

Places of note

  • St Ives fair: The abbot's Easter fair, granted by Henry I in 1110
  • Ramsey abbey: Benedictine abbey on its fen island

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Victoria County History (Huntingdonshire) documents the hundred, the banlieu and the fair; the exact date of the 1200 change of abbot is not pinned.

On the map: Traced around the hundred of Hurstingstone with the banlieu; the bishop of Ely's Somersham lies inside under the abbot's hundred jurisdiction.

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.

Sources and studies

  1. Abbey of Ramsey (VCH Huntingdonshire vol. 1, british-history.ac.uk)
  2. The hundred of Hurstingstone: introduction (VCH Huntingdonshire, british-history.ac.uk)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.