Miles Salley (died 1516) was a late 15th-century

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

Eynsham Abbey Eynsham Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Eynsham, Oxfordshire, in England between 1005 and 1538. King Æthelred allowed Æthelmær the Stout to found the abbey in 1005. There is some evidence that the abbey was built on the site of an ea ...

and

Abingdon Abbey Abingdon Abbey ( '' " St Mary's Abbey " '' ) was a Benedictine monastery located in the centre of Abingdon-on-Thames beside the River Thames. The abbey was founded c.675 AD in honour of The Virgin Mary. The Domesday Book of 1086 informs ...

and an early 16th-century

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of ...

. Salley was Abbot of Eynsham in Oxfordshire in the 1490s. He was appointed Bishop of Llandaff, where he is remembered for his building work at the Bishop's Palace in

Mathern Mathern ( cy, Matharn; older form: ''Merthyr Tewdrig'') is a historic community (parish) and village in Monmouthshire, south east Wales, about south west of the town of Chepstow, close to the Severn estuary, the Bristol Channel and the M48 mot ...

in Monmouthshire. He also rebuilt the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

and south

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

of The Gaunt's Chapel, Bristol, and donated the reredos.

Biography

Salley was a monk in

during the 1480s, and probably entered the decade before as a youth. In 1486, he was caught delivering money to supporters of John de la Pole's Rebellion against Henry VII. Salley was ordered to forfeit all goods and was imprisoned for a time. He was pardoned in 1492, and by 1496 he was acting as

almoner An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '. History Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...

and in charge of the kitchen at Abingdon, effectively the fourth most senior monk there. He was elected as abbot of

in 1498, and around that time he was given the title of

by the king. In this role, he was able to sit in parliament, was given a house in The Strand, as well as one in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He attended state occasions, such as the funeral of Henry VII, and

Thomas Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's Lord High Almoner, almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the ...

's appointment as cardinal.

Legacy

Salley died in December 1516. His heart and bowels were buried at the high altar in St Tewdric's Church and his body was buried in The Gaunt's Chapel, Bristol, where a fine

chest tomb Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...

surmounted by his effigy exists on the north wall of the chancel. In his will, he left items and money to a number of organisations including

Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Pet ...

, Mathern church,

and St Mark's hospital

Sources

Parker, W.R., St Mark's or The Mayor's Chapel, Bristol (Formerly Called the Church of the Gaunts), Bristol, 1892
pp. 163–165

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salley, Miles Abbots of Eynsham Bishops of Llandaff 16th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth missing 15th-century births 1516 deaths 15th-century English clergy People of the Tudor period