Lleision ap Thomas or Llyson Thomas etc. (died ) was the last abbot of

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

West Glamorgan West Glamorgan () is a former administrative county in South Wales. It is now a preserved county. West Glamorgan was one of the divisions of the ancient county of Glamorgan. It was created on 1 April 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972 fr ...

, Wales. He was one of the most influential

Cistercians The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

in Wales in the period before the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He is widely rumoured to have settled as a farmer in the upper Swansea valley, raising a family who remain in the locality of the name Leyshon

Abbot of Neath

Lleision ap Thomas succeeded John ap Hywel (Hoell), who is mentioned as Abbot of Neath in 1507. Lleision is mentioned as abbot on 28 January 1510. He studied at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and obtained the degrees of B.Can.L. in 1511 and B.D. in 1512. In 1513 Lleision was appointed to a commission of the peace that met at

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. He was named Reformator of the Cistercian Order for Wales, and was noted for his zealous activity. In 1517 he was named a

definitor {{Catholic Church hierarchy sidebar, Administrative and pastoral titles In the Catholic Church, a definitor (Latin for 'one who defines') is a title with different specific uses. There are secular definitors, who have a limited amount of oversight ...

for the family of Clairvaux, and in 1518 became a definitor for the lineage of Cîteaux. He visited Paris in 1521 in connection with work for the Order. In 1532 King

Henry VIII of England Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

appointed Lleision to replace the Abbott of Chaâlis as one of five abbots on a visitation of England and Wales. In 1532 he was said to hold the leading position in public life of

Gower The Gower Peninsula (), or simply Gower (), is a peninsula in the south-west of Wales. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan, and is now within the City and County of Swansea. It projects towards the Bristol Channel ...

, and played a major role in handling disputes between the English and Welsh portions of this district. He was also charged that year with restoring the college of Saint Bernard in Oxford. Llyson, Abbot of Nethe, Lewis, Abbot of Morgo, and others were named in a commission of the peace on 24 February 1536.

Later life

Neath abbey had an income of only £132 annually at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries and therefore should have been covered by the Act of Suppression in 1536, which applied to the lesser monasteries. The abbey obtained a stay of this decision in exchange for payment of a fine of £150. However, on 9 February 1539 Lleision had to resign and to cede all the possessions of the abbey to the king. In response to an appeal to

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

by the Crown deputy, Sir

John Prise Sir John Prise (also Prys, Price; ) (1501/2–1555) was a Welsh public notary, who acted as a royal agent and visitor of the monasteries. He was also a scholar, associated with the first Welsh printed publication '' Yn y lhyvyr hwnn''. He was ...

, he was given a rectory and a pension of £48. His rectory of Llangatwg-iuxta-Nedd (Llangattock-juxta-Neath) was situated beside his former monastery. There are no records of Lleision after 1541. Lleision ap Thomas was the most influential of the late medieval Cistercian abbots in Wales. According to

Lewys Morgannwg Lewys Morgannwg (fl. 1520–65) was a Welsh language poet from Morgannwg, south Wales. He lived at St. Bride's Major Lewys was one of the foremost poets of the sixteenth century. Most of his poems that have survived are eulogies and elegies i ...

he was pious and learned, and Neath Abbey was a bastion of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

and culture. In 1539 one of the Crown Visitors said "He had ever lived worshipfully and well."

Notes

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lleision ap Thomas 1541 deaths Cistercian abbots Welsh Cistercians Neath 16th-century Christian abbots