St Albans

Who holds it

Name

John de Cella

Title

Abbot of St Albans

Since

Elected 20 July 1195

Confidence

high

A Paris-trained scholar of high reputation (Matthew Paris calls him a Priscian in grammar, an Ovid in verse and learned in medicine); prior of Wallingford, a cell of St Albans, from 1191. As abbot he rebuilt the refectory and dormitory and began an ambitious new west front that money troubles forced him to finish in a simpler form. Dies 1214.

What it holds

• The hundred of Cashio, the liberty of St Albans: St Albans, Redbourn, Sandridge, Abbots Langley, Watford, Rickmansworth, Aldenham, Ridge, Chipping Barnet and East Barnet, with the abbot's hundred court
• Outlying manors attached to the liberty: Codicote, Shephall and Norton (from Broadwater hundred), Hexton and St Paul's Walden (from Hitchin hundred); when each joined it is not pinned
• St Albans town and its market, under the abbot
• The liberty of Tynemouth: Tynemouth priory's land at the mouth of the Tyne (Tynemouth, Chirton, Preston, Whitley, Monkseaton), confirmed by Richard I's charter of 1189, with its coal, rents and produce
• Other cells, among them Wallingford, Binham, Belvoir and Hatfield Peverel

How it was acquired

The abbots traced their privileges to King Offa's foundation of 793; by the 12th century the liberty worked as a separate unit within Hertfordshire. Adrian IV gave the abbot precedence among English abbots in 1154. Robert de Mowbray gave Tynemouth to St Albans about 1090; Durham's claim to it was settled for St Albans in 1174.

How things stand that morning

Held by John de Cella; no royal challenge to the liberty.

Wealth

Pilgrims to the shrine of Alban, the first English martyr; St Albans market; manorial rents; at Tynemouth, coal, fish and the produce of the shire.

Threats

• The townsmen's ambitions
• The cost of the abbot's building programme
• Tynemouth's exposure to Scottish raids

Advocates and rivals

The townsmen of St Albans; the bishop of Lincoln, from whose jurisdiction the abbey is exempt; at Tynemouth, the monks of Durham, old claimants, and the burgesses of Newcastle, jealous of any rival on the river.

Places of note

• St Albans abbey: Shrine of St Alban; premier abbey of England
• Tynemouth priory: Cell of St Albans on a fortified headland at the mouth of the Tyne

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The liberty's later extent is well known and its 12th-century working is attested; Edward I later gave the abbot powers likened to Durham's and Ely's. Which outlying manors were already attached by 1200 is not pinned.

On the map: The Hertfordshire block is a rough trace of the later liberty; the exact line around Elstree, Shenley and Barnet is approximate. Tynemouthshire is drawn as a district round Tynemouth and Whitley.

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.