St Augustine's Abbey (founded as the Monastery of Ss Peter and Paul and changed after its founder St Augustine of Canterbury's death) was a Benedictine monastery in Canterbury, Kent, England.Encyclopædia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/42999/Saint-Augustine-of-Canterbury The abbey was founded in 598 and functioned as a monastery until its dissolution in 1538 during the English Reformation. After the abbey's dissolution, it underwent dismantlement until 1848.
Since 1848, part of the site has been used for educational purposes (used as boarding houses and a library by The King's School, Canterbury) and the abbey ruins have been preserved for their historical value."St Augustine’s Abbey" at http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=27. Accessed 13 December 2013.
From founding until dissolution In 597, Augustine arrived in England, having been sent by Pope Gregory I to convert the Anglo-Saxons.England's Christian Heritage: Kent Guide at englandschristianheritage.org.uk, accessed 2 July 2013 The king of Kent at this time was Æthelberht (or Ethelbert). Although he worshipped in a pagan temple just outside the walls of Canterbury to the east of the city, Ethelbert was married to a Christian, Bertha. According to tradition, the king not only gave his temple and its precincts to St Augustine for a church and monastery, he also ordered that the church to be erected be of "becoming splendour, dedicated to the blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and endowed it with a variety of gifts." One purpose of the foundation was to provide a residence for Augustine and his brother monks. As another, both King Ethelbert and Augustine foresaw the abbey as a burial place for abbots, archbishops, and kings of Kent.William Page, ed., 'Houses of Benedictine monks: The abbey of St Augustine, Canterbury' in A History of the County of Kent: Volume 2 (1926), 126-133 at British History Online, accessed 20 July 2013
William Thorne, the 14th-century chronicler of the abbey, records 598 as the year of the foundation. The monastic buildings were most likely wooden in the manner of Saxon construction, so they could be quickly built. However, building a church of solid masonry, like the churches Augustine had known in Rome, took longer.R. J. E. Boggis, A History of St Augustine’s Monastery (1901), 9-10 The church was completed and consecrated in 613. Ca. 624 a short distance to the east, Eadbald, son and successor of Ethelbert, founded a second church, dedicated to Saint Mary which also buried Kentish royalty.S. E. Kelly, "Eadbald (d. 640)," Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004. The abbey became known as St Augustine's after the founder's death.St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury at sacred-destinations.com, accessed 19 November 2013
For two centuries after its founding, St Augustine's was the only important religious house in the kingdom of Kent.Boggis (1901), 19 The historian G. F. Maclear characterized St Augustine's as being a "missionary school" where "classical knowledge and English learning flourished".G. F. Maclear, S. Augustine's, Canterbury: Its Rise, Ruin, and Restoration (Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., 1888). online text. Over time, St Augustine's Abbey acquired an extensive library that included both religious and secular holdings. In addition, it had a scriptorium for producing manuscripts.Judith Roebuck, St Augustine's Abbey (English Heritage, 1997), pp. 4–5.
Dunstan's reform Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury from 959 to 988, influenced a reorganisation of the abbey to conform to Benedictine rule. Buildings were enlarged and the church rebuilt. Dunstan also revised the dedication of the abbey, from the original Saints Peter and Paul, by adding Saint Augustine in 978.Michael Lapidge, 'Dunstan [St Dunstan] (died 988)' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, online edition, ed. Lawrence Goldman, by Oxford University Press. Accessed 28 July 2013. Since then, the abbey has been known as St Augustine's.Alston, George Cyprian. "Abbey of Saint Augustine", The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13333a.htm and http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=27
Invading Danes The invading Danes not only spared St Augustine's, but in 1027 King Cnut made over all the possessions of Minster-in-Thanet to St Augustine's. These possessions included the preserved body of Mildrith (St Mildred). Belief in the miraculous power of this relic had spread throughout Europe, and it brought many pilgrims to St Augustine's, whose gifts enriched the abbey.Robert Ewell, Guide to St. Augustine’s Monastery and Missionary College (Canterbury: Cross and Jackman, 1896), online text
Norman conquest Following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror confiscated landed estates, but he respected Church property.C. Dunkley, ed., The Official Report of the Church Congress Held at Portsmouth on October 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th, 1885 (Bemrose & Sons, 1885), p. 455. At St Augustine's Abbey, the Anglo-Saxon buildings were completely reconstructed in the form of a typical Norman Benedictine monastery. By 1100, all the original buildings had disappeared under a Romanesque edifice. There was further rebuilding as a result of the great fire in 1168.Charles Sandys, F.S.A., A History of Gavelkind and Other Remarkable Customs in The County of Kent (1851) 100. Quoted in Historic Canterbury: St. Augustine's Monastery. http://www.machadoink.com/St%20Augustines%20Monastery.htm The fire's destruction accounts for the paucity of historical records for the preceding period.R. J. E. Boggis, A History of St Augustine's Monastery (1901) 19. Available online at Google Books.
From about 1250 onwards was a period of wealth in which "building succeeded building".Canon W. F. France, St Augustine's, Canterbury: A Story of Enduring Life (SPCK, 1952) 7. Boggis's history calls this period a time of "worldly magnificence", marked by "lavish expenditures" on new buildings, royal visits, and banquets with thousands of guests. In addition, the papacy imposed many levies on the abbey. The large debt that was incurred by these expenditures might have swamped the abbey had it not been for generous benefactors who came to the rescue.R. J. E. Boggis, A History of St Augustine's Monastery (1901) 70, 85, 96, 103. Available online at Google Books.
The cloister, frater (refectory) and kitchen were totally rebuilt. A new abbot's lodging and a great hall were added. In the early 14th century, land was acquired for a cellarer's range (living and working quarters for the cellarer who was responsible for provisioning the abbey's cellarium), a brewhouse, a bakehouse, and a new walled vineyard. A Lady chapel was built to the east of the church.
Fyndon’s Gate The abbey gatehouse was rebuilt from 1301 to 1309 by Abbot Fyndon. It has since been known as the Fyndon Gate or the Great Gate. The chamber above the entrance was the state bed-chamber of the monastery. In 1625, Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria slept in this chamber, following their marriage in Canterbury Cathedral.Fyndon Gate at britainexpress.com, accessed 15 November 2013 In 1660, after the Restoration, Charles II and his brothers, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, stayed in the gatehouse on their way to London.Ewell (1896), 14-15, 19
Fyndon's gate suffered such damage by German bombs during the Second World War that it had to be rebuilt. The gate faces a small square known since the reign of Charles I as Lady Wootton's Green, after the widow of Edward, Lord Wootton of Marley who lived in the palace until her death in 1658. Statues of Æthelberht of Kent and Queen Bertha stand on the green.
St Anne's Chapel In the 1360s, Juliana Leybourne funded the building of the "Countess's Chapel" or more usually "St Anne's Chapel" that was built on the side of the abbey. This was a small square chapel that had its own buttresses. Within the chapel was the tomb of the Abbot of Bourne who died in 1334 and the Abbot of Colwel who died in 1375. Leybourne was buried in the chapel. She gave the manor of Dene in Thanet to the abbey and a chantry to say daily prayers for her after her death.
Dissolution to present Boggis describes the early 16th century leading up to the Dissolution of the Monasteries as "days of decadence". Although the abbey owned estates throughout Kent amounting to 19,862 acres, Boggis holds that "historical evidence proves conclusively that even if Henry VIII had never dissolved them, the English monasteries were already doomed." The "extortionate exactions" of the Papacy would lead to bankruptcy.R. J. E. Boggis, A History of St Augustine's Monastery (1901) 111-118, 122. Available online at Google Books.
However, the English Reformation accompanied by the Dissolution of the Monasteries happened before bankruptcy. The Reformation replaced the Pope (a cleric) with a monarch (a layman). Actions by the Parliament's House of Commons strengthened the power of the laity versus the power of the clergy. These actions were part of the English Reformation's "great transfer" of power, both economic and religious, from ecclesiastical to secular authorities.A. G. Dickens, English Reformation (Pennsylvania State University, 1991), 167.
As part of the "great transfer", Parliament gave King Henry VIII authority to dissolve the monasteries and confiscate the property for the Crown. The rationale given was "that the religious houses had ceased to apply their property to the specific religious uses for which it was originally given."
On 30 July 1538, the King's Commissioners arrived to take the surrender of St Augustine's Abbey. The last abbot and monks complied and left the abbey. The abbey, with its site, its goods, buildings, lands and all other possessions, became the property of the Crown. This dissolution ended over 940 years of monastic presence.Judith Roebuck, St Augustine's Abbey (English Heritage, 1997), 11 and G. F. Maclear, S. Augustine's, Canterbury: Its Rise, Ruin, and Restoration (Wells Gardner, Darton, & Co., 1888) 27.
Dismantling
During the rest of Henry's reign, St Augustine's Abbey was held by the Crown with some of its buildings converted into a royal residence. However, in other parts of the abbey dismantling and sale of material began in 1541.Judith Roebuck, St Augustine's Abbey (English Heritage, 1997), 13. Some of the stone was used in the fortifications of the Pale of Calais, but more of it was sold locally. The library, containing two thousand manuscripts, was destroyed and the treasure plundered.
The royal residence was occasionally used by the monarch as late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, during which the buildings were leased to a succession of noblemen. In 1564, Elizabeth leased the palace to Lord Cobham, and in September 1573 she visited Canterbury and lodged at her palace of St Augustine's. On 7 September, her birthday, she attended a ball at the Archbishop's palace, returning at midnight to St Augustine's.G. F. Maclear, S. Augustine's, Canterbury: Its Rise, Ruin, and Restoration (London: Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., 1888), Chapter IIIEwell (1896), 14 Lord Cobham was a resident of Kent who had served her faithfully as a diplomat and parliamentarian.Henry Cobham I of Sutton at Hone, Kent (1538-92), sometimes known as Henry Brooke. See http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/brooke-alias-cobham-henry-i-1538-92 and http://histfam.familysearch.org/getperson.php?personID=I12612&tree=Nixon On the attainder of Lord Cobham for treason in 1603 under the reign of James I, the residence was granted to Robert Cecil, Lord Essenden.