Event detail for site: Grace Dieu

1232: Trouble

The abbot and his monk companion were held captive by Welshmen.

According to a contemporary account which may even have been written at Grace Dieu, there was trouble in 1232 when the abbot of Grace Dieu and a monk companion crossed the River Usk with the deacon of Usk to make peace ‘with the descendents of Arthen’. It is not known who precisley these men were or why the abbot wished to speak with them but it likely concerned the disputed lands on which Grace Dieu was built; indeed the following year the same sons of Arthern burnt and sacked the abbey claiming that John had founded his monastery on land he had appropriated unjustly from others.

The party intended to effect a reconciliation but met with violence and was seized by ‘the sons of Belial’ who took the abbot and his monk captive and detained them at the River Taff for fifteen days; the monk was in fact wounded in the skirmish. The reason for their seizure was seemingly connected with the abbey's founder, John of Monmouth, for the captors promised the abbot his freedom if he negotiated their peace with Lord John. The abbot duly sent for the monk William of Strigoil to replace him as hostage but the Welsh men then rescinded on their word and although they let the injured monk companion return, retained both William and the abbot. The pair managed to escape by bluffing their captors: they took off their cowls and filled them with hay and grass so that it looked as if they were praying and then made their escape.

Bibliographical sources

Printed sources

Harrison, J., 'The troubled foundation of Grace Dieu Abbey', The Monmouthshire Antiquary, 14 (1998) pp. 26-27

Archival sources

Trinity College Dublin, 'Margam Chronicle', (Document),[E.4.23], fos 2r-13v (View website)

Other events in the history of this site