Everdon Priory was a priory in

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The village of

Everdon Everdon is a village in West Northamptonshire in England, some south of Daventry. The population of the civil parish (including Little Everdon) at the 2011 census was 356. Nearby, The Stubbs is a wood belonging to the Woodland Trust, a UK co ...

is located about 6 km (4 miles) south-east of the town of

Daventry Daventry ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, close to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, Daventry had a populati ...

. Some time shortly after the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, the manor of Everdon was granted to the abbey of St. Mary of

Bernay, Eure Bernay () is a Communes of France, commune in the west of the Eure Departments of France, department in Northern France. In 2012, Bernay was designated one of the French Towns and Lands of Art and History. Geography Bernay is in the valley of t ...

, in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

. Bernay was a

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

abbey, which had founded in 1025 by Judith, wife of

Richard II, Duke of Normandy Richard II (died 28 August 1026), called the Good (French: ''Le Bon''), was the duke of Normandy from 996 until 1026. Life Richard was the eldest surviving son and heir of Richard the Fearless and Gunnor. He succeeded his father as the ruler o ...

. The abbot of Bernay became lord of the manor of Everdon and held a considerable amount of land around the village. The priory was built so that a small community of monks could administer these lands, acting as agents for the abbot. The abbot held

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, a ...

of the parish church, i.e. the right to present a priest to the living - a right that could be lucrative, as incumbents generally paid to be inducted, although this was technically the sin of

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to imp ...

. Another responsibility and source of profit was the manorial court. Evidently the monks primarily regarded it as a source of income. In 1329

Quo warranto In the English-American common law, ''quo warranto'' (Medieval Latin for "by what warrant?") is a prerogative writ issued by a court which orders someone to show what authority they have for exercising some right, power, or franchise they clai ...

proceedings, a way of legally testing claims of authority, were taken out against the abbey. It was found that the monks had been imposing fines instead of corporal punishment. They had been taking a

mark (money) The mark was a currency or unit of account in many states. It is named for the mark unit of weight. The word ''mark'' comes from a merging of three Germanic words, Latinised in 9th-century post-classical Latin as ', ', ' or '. It was a measure ...

for offences against the

Assize of Bread and Ale The Assize of Bread and Ale () (''temp. incert'') was a 13th-century law in High Middle Ages, high medieval England, which regulated the price, weight and quality of the bread and beer manufactured and sold in towns, villages and hamlets. It was t ...

, which regulated quantities and prices of these basic commodities; the culprits should have been subjected to the

tumbril A tumbrel (alternatively tumbril) is a two-wheeled cart or wagon typically designed to be hauled by a single horse or ox. Their original use was for agricultural work; in particular they were associated with carrying manure. Their most infamous u ...

and

pillory The pillory is a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, used during the medieval and renaissance periods for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. ...

, instead of which the monks had been using convictions as a source of profit for their order. They had also been impounding stray animals illegally. Everdon Priory was an

alien priory Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as monasteries and convents, which were under the control of another religious house outside England. Usually the Motherhouse, mother-house was in France.Coredon ''Dictionary of Mediev ...

, a subsidiary community to an abbey abroad, in this case in Normandy. This created great difficulties for the priory after

John, King of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

lost Normandy to the French in 1204. In times of war between England and France, the Crown took over the alien priories and their estates, granting them to prominent supporters to secure their loyalty: the coming of peace provided an opportunity to extort large fines for returning priories to their orders. This cyclical process was ended by

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1216–1281 ...

. Planning the war against France that would culminate in the Agincourt campaign, he put legislation before Parliament to dissolve the alien priories, Everdon included. Although many were given to royal favourites or sold, Everdon was retained as a Crown possession. This later allowed Henry VI to grant it to his newly founded

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

in 1440, a gift that was confirmed by

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

in 1462. The priory buildings themselves slowly decayed. Remains of the priory were still visible close to Eton's lordship house in the 18th century, but have since disappeared completely.Victoria County History: Northamptonshire, volume 2, chapter 46: the Priory of Everdon
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References

{{Monasteries in Northamptonshire , state=expanded Monasteries in Northamptonshire Benedictine monasteries in England 11th-century establishments in England Christian monasteries established in the 1020s Alien priories in England 15th-century disestablishments in England Eton College