Event detail for site: Llanthony Prima

1108X1118: Foundation

According to the foundation history of the house, Llanthony Prima had its origins in the late eleventh century when William de Lacy, a knight in the service of Hugh de Lacy (d. c. 1115), sought to live as a hermit in the Llanthony Valley, where a former chapel dedicated to St David stood.

Contemporaries commented on the beauty of the site:
'What more can I say?' he asked, 'The entire treasure of the king and his realm would not be sufficient to build such a cloister.' When he had held the minds of the king [Henry I] and his court in suspense for a long time by this assertion he finally explained the enigma by revealing that what he really meant was the circle of mountains which enclosed the monastery on all sides.
[Bishop Roger of Salisbury [d. 1139], cited by Gerald of Wales in his Journey through Wales, trans. Thorpe, p. 99.]

In 1103 William was joined by a hermit-priest, Ernisius, who had previously officiated as chaplain to Henry I's queen, Matilda. According to the chronicler, from this time the two men dwelt together 'in one mind and one heart, strengthened in Christ'; they encouraged one another by example and helped each other withstand temptation. William and Ernisius rebuilt the chapel of St David's and in 1108 the new church was dedicated to St John the Baptist by Bishop Urban of Llandaff and Bishop Reinhelm of Hereford.
Not long thereafter Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1109), advised the hermits living there to form an Augustinian community under Ernisius, who would preside as prior, and with Hugh de Lacy, lord of Ewyas, as patron. Since there were no other Augustinian houses in Wales at this time canons were brought from the English houses of Aldgate (London), Colchester (Essex) and Merton (Surrey) to offer instruction in the Augustinian way of life. Once the men had been adequately informed they requested their bishop to confirm the election of Prior Ernisius; the new community was officially established. This may have been as late as 1118.
The founding community at Llanthony was seemingly recruited from these English houses. Accordingly Llanthony was an Anglo-Norman house and a target for Welsh hostility in later years.

The canons of Llanthony enjoyed the right to elect their prior during a vacancy and to present their choice to the bishop without first acquiring their patron's consent. They claimed this privilege had been granted to them at their foundation and confirmed in the late twelfth / early thirteenth century. Their right remained unchallenged and was acknowledged in 1322 when the priory was in royal custody.

Bibliographical sources

Printed sources

The Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire, ed. Robert Atkyns (London, 1712; repr. 1974) vol. 1, pp. 505-6.

Cowley, F. G., The Monastic Order in South Wales 1066-1349 (Cardiff, 1977) pp. 30-1, 201

Roberts, G., 'Some account of Llanthony Priory, Monmouthshire', Archaeologia Cambrensis, 1:3 (1846) pp. 49-54

Williams, David H., 'Llanthony Prima Priory', The Monmouthshire Antiquary, 25-26 (2009-2010) pp. 14-15

Archival sources

British Library, 'The History of the Foundation and Translation of the Monastery of Llanthony', (Document), (View website)

Other events in the history of this site