King John & Dore Abbey
John, born in 1166, was the youngest of the five sons (the eldest dying young) and
three daughters of Henry II, King of England, and Eleanor of Duchess of Aquitaine. As such,
John was not expected to succeed to the throne of the Angevin Empire, which covered
England and Normandy, and indeed more of France than ruled by the French King, Eleanor's
first husband. (They had had two daughters before the marriage was annulled.) He was
nicknamed 'Lackland' by his tactless father, Henry II.
Medieval kings were peripatetic, travelling through their lands and Henry was wellknown as deciding to move on at a moment's notice! He was also known for his vile temper,
said to be a common trait of the Angevin kings, and one of his outbursts led to the martyrdom
of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury. Royal family life became more dysfunctional
as his sons grew to manhood and their father attempted to apportion lands, and advantageous
marriages to heiresses, for them. In practice, though, Henry kept the reins of power firmly in
his own hands and so eventually, when John was 7 years old, his older brothers rebelled
against their father. As John had not been involved, he subsequently became Henry's favourite
and when he was 10 years old he was appointed Lord of Ireland.
John's first visit to administer Ireland, when he was 18 years old, was a fiasco. He
managed to anger everyone, making fun of the long beards of the Irish lords who successfully
fought his forces, and he failed to ally with the Anglo-Normans blaming them for his failure.
The following year his brother Geoffrey was killed, leaving a son Arthur and a daughter. As
their eldest brother had already died, the next in line to inherit was Richard (the 'Lionheart').
However, Richard again rebelled against their father and this time John finally joined him. It
is said that the news of John's disloyalty broke King Henry's heart as he lay on his deathbed.
When Richard succeeded as King in 1189 he tried to buy John's loyalty, creating him
Count of Mortain and allowing him to marry the Countess of Gloucester as arranged by their
father. In this period John had five illegitimate children, then considered scandalous only
because two of his mistresses were noblewomen. When John became king himself, he had this
marriage annulled though he kept the estates, and he married Isabella of Angoulême, by
whom he had five children. John loved hunting and, if she accompanied him, it was Queen
Isabella who would have visited Kilpeck Castle when John visited in 1211, 1212 or 1214. The
sumptuously appointed apartments would have been in one of the baileys and the foundations
have not yet been discovered.
Richard, the heroic king of the Robin Hood stories, was killed besieging a minor castle
in France in 1199. John, the dastardly villain of the stories, succeeded. John was a complex
man and his suspicious nature was fuelled by the warfare among his brothers, and with their
father, when he was a child. He knew you had to fight for what you wanted. Unfortunately, for
him he was not an able commander. King Philip of France took his opportunity to fight to
extend his domains, initially with the support of John's 16 year old nephew, Arthur of Brittany.
Medieval warfare was based around the feudal obligations of the various lords. John was at
first fairly successful in winning a key battle but his treatment of his allies alienated them.
Twenty-two of the leaders died due to the conditions of imprisonment John made them suffer.
In addition, he is recorded as personally killing his nephew Arthur, the rival heir.
Over the following months the alliances and feudal obligations of the Angevin Empire
disintegrated. Loss of land meant also loss of revenue and difficulties in paying for men and
armaments to wage war. By 1204 Philip of France had conquered Normandy, Anjou and
Poitou, leaving John with just Aquitaine. This resulted in hugely disaffected barons who had
owned land on both sides of the channel and who now faced divided loyalties. Most had to
choose whether to give allegiance to England or France. They were not pleased either with
John's methods to augment his revenue from fees. John, perforce, spent more time in England
than his father, or brother Richard, and he proved to be an able advocate of a reformed,
reliable legal system that is the basis for our present judicial system. However, this only really
applied to free tenants who could appeal against their baronial lords. Peasants, subject to the
local power of each manor lord, were rarely considered. The barons too had a far more
difficult time with a vindictive John who simply did not trust them.
John levied taxes for military campaigns that did not happen. He charged huge sums
for the right to inherit lands and castles, for widows not to have to remarry, and sold
appointments. Wealthy Jews had a dreadful time as money was extorted from them. Charters
for towns, markets and for various rights, were sold. A new income tax and import-export
taxes were implemented. If barons could not pay their lands were seized. John even
antagonised William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, considered the epitome of loyalty, though he
appointed him on his deathbed in 1216 to rule England, as head of the Regency Council for
his 9 year old son Henry III.
However, the worst case, considered infamous even in the turmoil of these years, was
that of William de Braose whose power base included Abergavenny, Brecon, Builth, Radnor,
Kington, the Three Castles of Grosmont, Skenfrith and White Castle, as well as lands in
Normandy, Wales and Ireland. He inherited the Monmouthshire lands from his mother,
daughter of the Earl of Hereford. He was hated by the Welsh as he had massacred the Welsh
leaders who had been invited, in peace, to a Christmas feast at Abergavenny Castle in 1175.
He and his wife, Maud, generously supported the Priories of Abergavenny and Brecon,
perhaps through genuine devotion, or as a form of 'religious insurance policy' for their
salvation after death. Although William was an immensely powerful Marcher Lord, he was
still subject to the whims of the king.
William served as Sheriff of Herefordshire, and fought for King Richard and for John
in France. He had actually captured Arthur and was in charge of him when he died. Indeed,
John granted him the tenure of the Three Castles perhaps as reward for his silence concerning
Prince Arthur. Then de Braose's fortunes reversed, probably because of his knowledge of
Arthur's death. Initially, John demanded a colossal, and so unpayable, 40,000 marks from him
[c.£13 million now]. Then he fell out of John's favour so completely that his lands were
sequestered, forcing him to flee to Ireland. Returning, he allied briefly with Llywelyn the
Great against John but again fled, disguised as a beggar to France, dying soon after. His wife
Maud and their eldest son were imprisoned by John dying, it was widely believed, from
starvation. John had shown that his cruelty and vindictiveness knew no constraints and the
appalled barons took careful note for their own safety.
Evidence for King John's religious convictions was considered meagre at the time.
Many people did hold deep religious convictions but, even if one did not, most people felt
obliged to comply with religious duties through fear of the unknown after death. John, though,
was witty at the Church's expense, joking and blaspheming, even questioning doctrine and
avoiding taking Holy Communion. However, although his Church donations were few, he did
make offerings to the poor and it may be that this was why he was a devotee of St. Wulfstan, a
former Bishop of Worcester known for his championing of the poor. It was apposite that John
was to be buried in Worcester Cathedral. It is difficult to be sure whether John was merely
impious or was actually opposed to the Church structure. He did have clerical friends but
many chroniclers were churchmen who viewed John through a prism of anti-clericalism.
Having already unsettled the barons John also fell foul of the Pope. He had had
difficulties with the Papacy over revenues and appointments but these came to a head with the
death of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1205. Pope Innocent III was insistent on his rights.
In a dispute over who should be the new archbishop, John did his best to win even forcing the
monks of Canterbury Cathedral to forgo their own candidate in favour of John's. The Pope
chose neither and appointed Stephen Langton, consecrating him in 1207. A furious John
stopped Langton returning to England and seized the archbishopric property, turning out the
monks. Treating the Pope as an enemy, he seized lands of the clergy and lay people opposed
to him. Common law 'wives' of clergy were imprisoned until fines were paid. Indeed, John
made good money from those willing to negotiate over keeping their possessions and rights.
The Pope responded by placing England under an Interdict in 1208 which meant clergy could
not officiate at Church Services, except for christenings and absolutions for the dying. By
1209 the Pope decided his only recourse was to excommunicate John, but John was not cowed
probably because two of his allies had already been excommunicated. He simply ensured that
he maximised the amount of money he was diverting from the Church to his own coffers.
John's subjects suffered more than he did but as time passed it became clear that many of the
diktats were being undermined anyway. Finally, it was the threat of French invasion that
brought John to a reconciliation in 1213. It had taken about six years.
John surrendered England and Ireland to the Papacy in return for a feudal subsidy.
Langton was enthroned as Archbishop. However, by then many barons had had enough. Rebel
barons captured Lincoln, Exeter and London. John deputed Langton to negotiate and he drew
up the Great Charter, or Magna Carta, now recognised as the basis for later legislation as it
focused on the rights of free men. John sealed it under duress at Runnymede, an island in the
River Thames near Windsor Castle, on 15th June 1215. Among the twenty-eight barons was
Henry de Bohun, Earl of Hereford. It granted the rights of the Church, access to swift justice
while prohibiting illegal imprisonment, limitations for feudal payments, and new taxation
only with the consent of a baronial council. John later appealed to the Pope, now his staunch
supporter, and was permitted to rescind his agreement. The Charter was finally implemented,
slightly abbreviated, by William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke in 1216 when he served as
Regent of England and Ireland for John's young son Henry III. When Marshal reissued it
again in 1217 to build political support, its size meant it became known as Magna Carta.
William Marshal, whose base was Chepstow Castle, was crucial in the continuing history of
Magna Carta. Again reissued as a bargaining tool for new taxes in 1225, it was Edward I
(Henry III's son) who confirmed it as part of statute law in 1295.
This is the context of Dore Abbey's relations with King John. Cistercian abbeys were
not classed as being in England or Wales at the time, though Herefordshire was described as
'Hereford in Wales' in Hereford charters by Richard I in 1189, and John in 1215. Of course
many records are missing but enough has survived to show that John's relations with
individual abbeys were pragmatic, depending more on the personalities involved than with
any other factors. The factors to be considered are John's need and ability to acquire money,
his reaction to the first Abbot Adam of Dore, monastic difficulties over the Interdict, and
John's relations with William de Braose.
Dore Abbey had to pay almost £1,000 for their surviving charters from John's reign, an
exorbitant amount that was about ten times their annual income recorded prior to the 16th
century Dissolution of the Monasteries. In addition, in 1206, Dore had been fined 840 marks
for felling trees for arable or pasture in 500 acres of woodland presumably in Trivel. Dore had
evidently not obtained a license for this.
Dore's surviving charters from these years are:
1) Dore Abbey's Confirmation Charter, 1199 for which Dore paid £333 6s 4d.
2) Grant of land in Trivel [Treville], 15th September 1202. One of the witnesses was William
de Braose, patron of Dore Abbey.
3) Charter to restore land confiscated from Dore Abbey, 30th August 1213. Confiscation of
land from those who supported the Interdict was a normal tactic for John. However,
the only Cistercian monasteries where land was confiscated were Dore and Meaux
in Yorkshire.
4) Re-issue of above, 4th November 1213
5) Grant of land and permission to enlarge a millpond, 30th July 1215 for which Dore paid
600 marks and 10 palfreys [riding horses, especially for ladies] for the charter.
6) Wine given to Dore, 5th October 1215. This was not unique as fourteen Cistercian houses
were sent the same letter.
7) Dore Abbey had to pay 300 marks for the license to allow them to deforest their monastic
land, 28th July 1216.
John himself was a witness to the two charters in 1213, the two in 1215 and the one in 1216.
The king being a witness was standard procedure but it is worth noting that none of these
coincided with his hunting trips to Kilpeck Castle on 11th March 1211, 27th-28th November
1212 and 18th-19th December 1214.
The key to the descension between John and Dore Abbey was Trivel, now spelled
Treville. 'Renowned for haunting woods and streams and greatly delighting in the pleasure of
them, John regularly stayed at Kilpeck Castle to hunt in the forest of Treville. He knew the
forest well and was keenly aware of how his brother Richard's need for money in 1198 and
1199 had been exploited by [Abbot] Adam...' [Hillaby p.111] A forest was an area devoted to
hunting but it also included clearings and houses.
Abbot Adam was very keen to extend Dore Abbey's land holdings. He was one of the
newly ambitious 12th-13th century abbots described by Hillaby as 'not altogether scrupulous.
An aggressive and highly acquisitive landlordism led to widespread social distress... In an
economy based on the system of granges and sheep runs worked by lay brothers the local
peasantry often found themselves disinherited of their small holdings.' [Hillaby p.109] The
policy was to buy land that was contiguous to the abbey estate. Abbot Adam had several
schemes to maximise income including developing the abbey's wool production and
encouraging the influential to pay for burial in the abbey, facilitated by each being made a
monk regardless of gender. He needed the money to rebuild the presbytery and chapter-house.
However, he was also an intellectual. Some of his sermons are preserved. He wrote treatises
and his interest in music led to the introduction of three-part and four-part chanting at Dore.
Clearly Abbot Adam was ambitious for Dore and for his own career.
Trevil was a forest to the north-west of Kilpeck. In 1398 the then abbot was
complaining that 94 'great oaks of the best' had been felled by local lords, which gives an
indication of Trivel's value and appearance. In 1882 Treville House was at approximately
SO425325 and it was an extra-parochial area, shrunken in size but still including the vallets
(an Old English name for woodland that is felled regularly) and Crizeley (from OE leah, a
clearing in a forest). The modern core of the old forest, west of the A465, is the Whitfield
estate and there are still majestic trees in the woods. According to Gerald of Wales, Abbot
Adam, encouraged by one of the local lords, actually journeyed to Aquitaine to petition
Richard I in person. His introduction was to tell the king of a victory over the Welsh. He then
'informed the king of three hundred acres of wild and rough royal domain, adjoining his abbey
lands, which were a peril to the neighbourhood, inaccessible to all save Welshmen and
robbers, to whom it offered a secure refuge. Adam proposed the king give the land to the
abbey, offering in return three hundred marks. The king, unfamiliar with the area wanted more
information; whereupon the abbot bribed a soldier of Hereford serving with the king, Ralph of
Arden, to support him. The king, suitably reassured, granted the land.' (Jenkins p.118-9)
Abbot Adam then proceeded to purchase another 200 acres, with a stream suitable for
a mill described as 'the finest piece of land in all the royal forests' [Jenkins]. In fact 'a 1213
survey shows how large a holding Adam had purchased and established - some 1,200 acres of
the 2,000 acres' [Hillaby] of Trivel. Gerald of Wales criticised the monks for their wholesale
clearance of the timber saying they had reduced 'an oak wood into a wheat field' and acidly
commentated that 'when sold in Hereford for building purposes brought back the 300 marks
more than three times over.' John was clearly made aware of the situation and evidently was
incensed that one of his favourite hunting grounds, and royal chase, had been sold so cheaply.
As soon as he succeeded as king he repossessed the forest.
However, John was pragmatic and if he saw an opportunity to influence a baron who
was a patron of a monastic house he took it. This even applied to the Cistercians who
generally suffered most under King John's monetary system. They had attempted to safeguard
rights they saw as immutable and so angered John. One such baron was William de Braose
while he was in favour with John. De Braose was a patron of Dore Abbey from where he
attempted to found a daughter house in 1204. From 1203 to 1208 he was governing
Glamorgan for the king and the Abbey of Margam was within his jurisdiction. The chapter
houses of Dore and Margam are similar. The Annals of Dore, bound in a copy of Bede
belonging to the abbey, actually records when William de Braose 'father and son' fled to
Ireland showing that he was a person of note for the monks of Dore. It is suggested, therefore,
that the grant to Dore abbey of 15th September 1202 was connected with the patronage of
William de Braose and he was a witness to it. In fact this grant was part of a package of
favours that remitted de Braose's debts and granted him further castles.
Once the immediate crisis abated King John reverted to his dislike of Abbot Adam and
Dore Abbey. Dore evidently had a very difficult time under the Interdict. No wonder the
Annals of Dore carefully recorded on, 2nd July 1214, that the exact length of the Interdict had
'lasted six years, three months and seventeen days'. 'However, on reaching an accommodation
with the Pope in August 1213, John was obliged to return Dore's part of Treville. But the
monks had to pay, and pay heavily - they received no indemnification for John's financial
depredations during those years, and in 1215 he levied a fine of £400 for a charter confirming
the possession of the lands Adam has acquired between Dore and Treville brooks.' [Hillaby].
It was partly due to Abbot Adam and partly to King John's policies and rapaciousness that
Dore Abbey suffered financially. Despite both Adam and John dying in 1216, Dore's financial
difficulties continued. The architectural improvements were delayed and in 1226 Dore had to
pay £433 for another charter to confirm their ownership of their lands in Treville.
© Ruth E. Richardson 2015
References:
David H. Williams, chapter III, and Joe Hillaby, chapter X, in 'A Definitive History of Dore
Abbey', edited by Ron Shoesmith and Ruth E. Richardson, 1997, Logaston Press.
James Hadyn Jenkins, 'King John and the Cistercians in Wales', PhD. thesis Cardiff
University 2012.
Both chapters and thesis are well researched with primary references.
'Herefordshire Field-Name Survey', ed. Ruth E. Richardson, Extra Parochials, Treville etc.
Biographies of King John and William Marshal.