Abbot Hugh of Eversden, 1308 -1327

Abbot Hugh has been variously described as a man of the world and a cultured gentleman. He was a close friend of the king, Edward II. The Abbey was in financial difficulties and during this time there were problems between the monastery and the town of St Albans, and between the monastery and its daughter houses. The chronicler laid much of the blame for these problems on Hugh himself, saying that he was unpopular with his monks and an incompetent administrator and financial manager. On becoming abbot, Hugh said that the brothers might have chosen a wiser and more learned man, but not a friendlier abbot. He had spent four years as cellarer, so was not lacking in experience, but he made a mistake at the beginning of his abbacy by sending proctors (these were qualified practitioners of law in ecclesiastical courts) to the Pope in Rome, and yet still had to go himself afterwards, causing significant financial expense. He was also accused of neglecting the Rule of St Benedict and particularly of allowing the entertainment of ladies within the Abbey.

Hugh did much to improve the fabric of the monastery. He made sure building work continued on the Lady Chapel and on the retro-choir. He made the monks’ cemetery a pleasant and less neglected place. From 1312-1314, he made sure the Abbey’s charters were confirmed by the king. He encouraged scholarly writing in the scriptorium and he improved the Grammar School. However, the wall of the lavatorium fell down and had to be repaired and in 1323 columns on the south side of the nave fell and also had to be repaired at great expense.

Hugh had a special relationship with Edward II and received gifts from the king for the monastery. Edward had bad relations with the barons, particularly over his favouritism of certain individuals and his disastrous war with Scotland, when England was defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn. In 1327 Edward abdicated and was murdered.

In St Albans in 1327, the people of the town staged an uprising against the authority of the Abbey. They demanded more freedom from the rule of the abbot. They wanted the town to be made a borough, to be able to use the Abbey’s fishponds, hunt in its woods and use their own hand-mills for grinding corn. The Abbey was besieged, but the monks were defended by 200 soldiers hired by Abbot Hugh.

The townspeople convinced the new king, Edward III, to grant them a charter which made the town a borough. The townspeople invaded the Abbey’s ponds and warren and set up their own hand-mills. The borough court was reinstated and they sent two MPs to parliament. Abbot Hugh died in 1327, however, and the town’s victory was short lived under his successor, Richard of Wallingford.