Information about Bury St. Edmunds Abbey

Ruins of Bury St. Edmunds Abbey

Bury St. Edmunds Abbey was once among the richest Benedictine monasteries in England. Its ruins lie in Bury St. Edmunds, a town in the county of Suffolk, England.

When, in 869 AD, the martyred remains of Saint Edmund the Martyr were enshrined at the Saxon monastery, the site had already been in religious use for nearly three centuries. During the reign of Canute, monks were introduced from St. Benet's Abbey under the auspices of the Bishop of East Anglia. Two of them became Bury's first two abbots, Ufi (d. 1044) and Leofstan (1044-65). After Leofstan's death, the king appointed his physician Baldwin to the abbacy (1065-97). Baldwin rebuilt the church, and reinterred St Edmund's body there with great ceremony in 1095. The cult made the abbey a popular destination for pilgrimages.

The Abbey of St Edmund at Bury St Edmunds was built in the 1000s and 1100s, in cross shape, with its head (or apse) pointed east. The shrine of St Edmund stood behind the high altar. At some 505 feet long, and spanning 246 ft across its westerly transept, Bury St Edmunds abbey church was one of the largest in the country. St James Church, now St Edmundsbury Cathedral, was finished around 1135. St Mary's Church was first built around 1125, and then rebuilt in the perpendicular style between 1425-35. The abbey was much enlarged and rebuilt during the 12th century.

Abbey Gate opened onto the Great Courtyard. It was the secular entrance which was used by the Abbey's servants. In 1327, it was destroyed by the local people who were angry at the power of the monastery and it had to be rebuilt. Norman Gate dates from 1120-48 and was designed to be the gateway for the Abbey Church and it is still the belfry for the Church of St James, the present cathedral of Bury St Edmunds. This four-storey gate-hall is virtually unchanged and is entered through a single archway. Great Gate is an impressive 14th century stone gatehouse abbey, designed to be the gateway for the Great Courtyard. One of the best surviving examples of its type, this two storey gate-hall is entered through a single archway which retains its portcullis. The Crankles was the name of the fishpond near the river Lark; and the vineyard was first laid out in the 1200s. There were three breweries in the Abbey as each monk was entitled to eight pints a day.

The Abbey's charters granted extensive lands and rights in Suffolk. The Abbey held the gates of Bury St Edmunds; they held wardships of all orphans, whose income went to the Abbot untilthe orphan reached maturity; they pressed their rights of corvÃ©e. During the 13th century general prosperity blunted the resistance of burghers and peasants; in the 14th century, the monks encountered hostility from the local populace. Throughout the summer of 1327, the monastery suffered extensively, as several monks lost their lives in riots, and many buildings were destroyed. The hated charters and debtors' accounts were seized and triumphantly torn to shreds. Already faced with considerable financial strain, the abbey went further into decline during the first half of the 15th century. In 1431 the west tower of the abbey church collapsed. Two years later Henry VI moved into residence at the abbey for Christmas, and was still enjoying monastic hospitality four months later. More trouble arose in 1446 when the Duke of Gloucester died in suspicious circumstances after his arrest, and in 1465 the entire church was burnt out by an accidental fire. Largely rebuilt by 1506, the abbey of Bury St Edmunds settled into a quieter existence until dissolution in 1539. Subsequently stripped of all valuable building materials and artefacts, the abbey ruins were left as a convenient quarry for local builders.

The ruins are owned by English Heritage and managed by St Edmundsbury Borough Council.

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Benedictine (adj.) refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the autonomous communities of monks founded by him in central Italy.
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Bury St Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds (United Kingdom)

Bury St Edmunds shown within the United Kingdom
Population 35,015 (2001 Census)
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Suffolk (pronounced /'sʌfək/) is a historic and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south.
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Motto
Dieu et mon droit (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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8th century - 9th century - 10th century
830s 840s 850s - 860s - 870s 880s 890s
866 867 868 - 869 - 870 871 872
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St Edmund the Martyr
King of the East Angles

Detail from the Wilton Diptych.
Reign 25 December, 855 – 20 November, 869
Born 841
Nuremberg, present day Germany
Died 20 November 869
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Knut or Kanute is a Scandinavian first name, of which the anglicized form is Canute. It is derived from the Old Norse KnÃºtr meaning "knot"; other forms include Cnut and Knud.
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St Benet's Abbey is a ruined abbey situated on the River Bure within The Broads in Norfolk England. It is also known as St. Benet's at Holme or Hulme.

Background

St Benet's, according to abbey tradition, was founded on the site of a ninth-century monastery where the
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 11th century was that century which lasted from 1001 to 1100.

In the history of European culture, this period is considered the early part of the High Middle Ages.
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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages and is sometimes called the Age of the Cistercians.
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Saint Edmundsbury Cathedral
Cathedral from the east
Dedication St Edmund
Denomination Church of England
Tradition Broad Church Administration
Diocese St Edmundsbury & Ipswich
Province Canterbury Clergy
Dean Very Rev Neil Collings
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11st century - 12nd century - 13rd century
1100s 1110s 1120s - 1130s - 1140s 1150s 1160s
1132 1133 1134 - 1135 - 1136 1137 1138

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states
Birth and death categories
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11st century - 12nd century - 13rd century
1090s 1100s 1110s - 1120s - 1130s 1140s 1150s
1122 1123 1124 - 1125 - 1126 1127 1128

Politics
State leaders - Sovereign states
Birth and death categories
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1327 in other calendars
Gregorian calendar 1327
MCCCXXVII
Ab urbe condita 2080
Armenian calendar 776
ԹՎ ՉՀԶ
Bah' calendar -517 – -516
Buddhist calendar 1871
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14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400.

Events

The transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age
Beginning of the Ottoman Empire, early expansion into the Balkans

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As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages, and after its conquests in Asia the Mongol Empire stretched from Korea to
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CorvÃ©e is unpaid labour that persons in power compel their subjects to perform. It differs from slavery in that the worker is not owned outright -- being free in various respects other than in the dispensation of his or her labour -- and the work is usually intermittent; typically
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15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500.

Events

1402: Ottoman and Timurid Empires fight at the Battle of Ankara resulting in Timur's capture of Bayezid I.
1402: The conquest of the Canary Islands signals the beginning of the Spanish Empire.

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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
1400s 1410s 1420s - 1430s - 1440s 1450s 1460s
1428 1429 1430 - 1431 - 1432 1433 1434

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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Henry VI of England

Reign 31 August 1422 - 4 March 1461
and 31 October 1470 - 11 April 1471
Coronation 6 November 1429
Born 6 November 1421
Windsor Castle
Died
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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
1410s 1420s 1430s - 1440s - 1450s 1460s 1470s
1443 1444 1445 - 1446 - 1447 1448 1449

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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Duke of Gloucester (IPA: /ˈdjuːk əv ˈglɒstɚ/) is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch.
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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
1430s 1440s 1450s - 1460s - 1470s 1480s 1490s
1462 1463 1464 - 1465 - 1466 1467 1468

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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15th century - 16th century - 17th century
1470s 1480s 1490s - 1500s - 1510s 1520s 1530s
1503 1504 1505 - 1506 - 1507 1508 1509

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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15th century - 16th century - 17th century
1500s 1510s 1520s - 1530s - 1540s 1550s 1560s
1536 1537 1538 - 1539 - 1540 1541 1542

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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English Heritage is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government (Department for Culture, Media and Sport) with a broad remit of managing the historic environment of England. It was set up under the terms of the National Heritage Act 1983.
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